Everyone except Elysia gulped some saliva since they will be fighting the demon queen herself. It reminded Shaman and Elysia of when they duelled Himeko, but that was a lot more relaxed thanks to her being a family friend.
Elaina was a complete stranger on a personal level, so there was going to be no special treatment whatsoever. Of course, they wouldn't die, but everyone was thinking the same thing.
'We are going to get our arse kicked.'
"Don't look so worried, I will go easy on you and react to your attacks with a few of my own in between." Elaina smirked seeing the group's faces, but what caught her attention was Elysia's excited face. It happened every now and again she would train a combat manic who either has no power or actually poses quite a threat.
'Hmm let's fight her first, I'm sure she will be strong seeing as Freja knows them.' Elaina would fight Elysia with a bit more intensity and use her as a demonstration for the others.
Everyone calmed down hearing what kind of duel it will be, making them more eager than scared.
"Alright, Elysia you're up first." Elaina walked out into the open area ready to fight Elysia. Everyone else took a spot next to Himeko and the blue-haired lady of which they were still curious about.
"This is Jane, a human blacksmith and a very close friend of mine. After this, she will be helping you all with some new weapons." Himeko quickly gave Jane an introduction since curiosity was plastered on everyone's face. Jane gave a quick wave to everyone, but by then the fight had already begun.
*BOOM*
Elysia had started her offensive with a highly explosive arrow causing a massive dust cloud to form around Elaina.
Elysia then switched to her spear while entering her hybrid fox form. The red flames violently thrashed around showing she was not holding anything back. Elysia sprinted towards the dust, but before she could enter it the cloud was split in half as a gust of wind blew everything away.
Elaina stood in the middle unscathed as expected, but instead of letting Elysia get close, Elaina suddenly disappeared. Appearing behind Elysia just slow enough for her to react, Elaina swung down with her axe.
It wasn't a strong strike, but to a peak tier 6, it was a devastating blow if they were to get hit.
Elysia spun herself around while swinging her spear which was enough to redirect the axe from hitting her. However, she still felt the bones and muscles in her arms tear and break. The force of the axe caused enough shock in her body to do indirect damage.
Dropping her spear back into her inventory she jumped back while letting her flames heal her body. Once they were healed she took her spear back out, this time approaching the fight more cautiously.
Elaina realised what had happened which was a complete mistake on her part. She had gotten a little too excited to fight Elysia causing the strength in her axe swing to be higher than intended. The only saving grace was the fact Elysia could self-heal which was a relief to Elaina.
Elaina also noticed that Elysia became rather reserved, so she gestured for her to come.
Spotting the signal and the look of realisation on Elaina's face, Elysia no longer acted so cautiously. Rushing straight ahead with her spear, she also created fire spears around her aiming them to strike at the same time.
Elaina stood still waiting for the very last moment to dodge. Moving her body only slightly, Elaina was able to perfectly fit her body in between the incoming spears, evading them by a scant few millimetres.
However, Elysia's attack wasn't over. The spears that were made of fire erupted, which had caught Elaina off guard. Elysia's level of control over the flames was incredible, reaching a degree of proficiency which only a tier 8 could do.
The erupting flames engulfed Elaina's body looking as if she was being burnt alive, but that was far from reality. Standing up like normal, the flames that surrounded her body suddenly changed to a dark black, even darker than Freja's.
The flames then dispersed from her body showing no burn marks at all. It was no surprise to Elysia that Elaina could take control of the flames, but she still hoped that some damage would have been done.
"Don't look so shocked, you are facing what is probably your worst opponent as I have full control over any flame when it touches my body." Elaina felt bad for destroying Elysia's attempt at an attack so she explained her apparent immunity, hoping that Elysia will try to be more creative.
"Urgh." Elysia rolled her eyes at the explanation while jumping back to put a bit of space between them.
'How the hell am I even going to do a single scratch?' Elysia tried wracking her brains, but then she thought maybe using no elements was the better option. They are here to train, but it didn't revolve around improving just their use of mana.
Adjusting herself to the new plan, Elysia decided to use her flames more strategically. She still kept her hybrid form on since it enhanced her physical traits, and there was no stopping the flames it produced naturally anyways.
Ready to resume the match, Elysia charged forward and swung her spear upwards, hitting nothing but air. Elaina looked at her in confusion at first, but then Elysia's flames followed suite, rising from the ground creating a barrier around her. This blocked Elaina's line of sight, allowing Elysia to set up the next phase of her attack.
Spears started to emerge from the wall, yet instead of being made from dancing fire they seemed surprisingly solid, their shape and form matching Elysia's spear uncannily well. And yet as great as her fire manipulation was, Elysia still couldn't hide the fake spear's reddish glow, immediately giving away the game to the sharp-eyed Elaina
Perhaps if Elysia also imbued her own spear with mana she could have replicated the effect, but unfortunately as she just came up with this strategy Elysia failed to consider this allowing Elaina to quickly pinpoint all the fake ones.
After figuring out which was real, Elania blocked the strike as well as the follow-up as Elysia didn't stop her barrage. Every fake spear would fade to nothingness on touch while Elaina would block the real one.
Elysia tried to attack from unusual angles, but there was no penetrating Elania's defence.
Having enough of spinning around blocking strikes, Elaina reached out her hand to the wall causing it to disappear revealing Elysia to be mid-strike. She tried her best to pull away, but Elaina was too fast for Elysia to react to.
Feeling her stomach cave-in by a foot, Elysia was sent flying across the ground. This time Elaina held back so her bones were not broken, but she was winded like never before.
Stabbing her spear into the ground, she slowed herself down after being sent as far as 200 metres away. The gap would be quickly closed as Elaina appeared right in front of Elysia, yet instead of more pain she was assaulted by crushing pressure.
Fear suddenly washed over her as Elaina's body morphed into something non-human. The world around her no longer existed and she could only see what barely resembled a face. Sweat covered her body as she reacted on pure instinct, swinging her spear widely while sending out any and all fire abilities she had.
Suddenly the pressure disappeared and Elysia could breathe again. Elaina stood in front of Elysia offering a hand to help her up.
"W-what?" Elysia was confused as to what just happened. She felt death crawl on her skin, but now Elaina was offering her hand instead.
"You passed the final thing I wanted to test you on. You overcame the feeling of death and attacked. Even though it wasn't the most… elegant, the majority of people would just crumble under the pressure." Elaina was happy with what she saw and now had a good idea of what to do for her.
Elysia tried to process the information as what just happened felt more like a failure rather than a pass.
"Don't think too hard. It's now Shaman's turn so I'll take you back to your group." Elaina still had her hand out waiting. Seeing Elysia's hesitation did give her pause that she was maybe a little too hard on Elysia with the final test.
'I didn't plan to use it so early, but the potential of Elysia is so great… she might even be able to handle the black flame if her mind can withstand the insanity.' What Elaina had shown Elysia was the true form of the black flame and that same madness torments Elaina's mind whenever she uses it.
The reason Elaina had shown it to Elysia was very simple. At the very start of the battle, Elysia used a flame that she has never seen before, even proving to have complete control over it. If she was a tier 8 this wouldn't be something out of the ordinary, but because of how low she was it truly showed that she is one with fire.
'She fits all the requirements, but she is still physically weak for now.' Elaina was now fully invested in this group's training and couldn't wait to see what the others could do.
Elysia finally took Elaina's hand after calming down and returned to the group.
"Shaman your turn."
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