Garden Of The Abyss

"Gaia magic, huh?"

"Hmm...Hongse told me about his magic while we were doing the qualifiers; "Zhou Shen", or magic of the hearth. It\'s a derivative of fire, but…"

Putting his hand on his chin, Jae-Seong\'s words trailed off as he honed his eyes on the birthed roots stretching up high into the vast space of the arena.

"But?"

Looking at the man that he recognized as more knowledgeable than himself, Ren awaited an answer.

"I don\'t take Hongse for much of a spell-caster, to me he definitely strikes me as a warrior...I mean, the giant hammer speaks for itself, you know? Against a full-blown wielder of Gaia magic, especially someone who manifests and manipulates nature, getting close can be extremely tricky."

"Is that right? I\'m more inclined to believe that fluffy guy can brute force his way through that."

Ren\'s smiling words in reply to Jae-Seong were met with a soft laugh from the glasses-wearing man before their talk fell to silence as the clash of the two competitors was quickly approaching. Contorting and twisting, the lively roots pointed towards the panda with their sharp ends as if looking at prey.

Using a spell without an incantation? Mages like this are the worst to fight; ignoring the advantage of not having to waste time using an incantation, it also makes it difficult to discern the spell…Hongse thought.

"Anyway, my best bet then is…!"

As he lifted his hammer that took a beige tinge, twirling it above his head, it suddenly multiplied in size--the head of the weapon itself challenging the size of a small person.

"Art of Zao Shen: Advent of The Harvest!"

This hammer is not just some tool! Fuwuqi is a part of me--it\'s bound to I, and I to it! That\'s why the Art of Zao Shen is also its power! He thought.

With a hammer large enough to twist the winds in its spinning movements, Hongse leapt into the air, swinging his weapon back as he prepared to crash it down towards his foe.

"Damn, I didn\'t take the big guy as someone willing to kill."

Spectating the fight from the side opposite of Ren\'s, Macheo watched the demi-human\'s attack be launched.

"You\'re not wrong. Hongse isn\'t the type to kill."

Without batting an eye at this maneuver, Valerie spoke calmly with her arms folded across her chest, supported by her plump mounds.

"Then what the hell is he planning?"

"Who knows? That guy is as unpredictable as they come."

Smiling to herself with her naturally glossy lips, the draconic knight watched the red-furred panda begin to plummet.

"Not happening."

Calling in the plentiful roots he manifested, Mencius gathered a dome of natural wood around himself; the sound of the inflexible material being forcibly stretched filled the arena with creaks.

Crashing down against the dome of nature with a roar, Hongse landed hammer-first as the wind cracked and hissed under such strength.

"He went on the defensive…"

Aiko commented quietly, having to stand on the tips of her toes to witness the battle.

"Is that the right move? He\'s made himself a sitting duck for Hongse."

"I wouldn\'t be so sure; Mencius is a renowned scholar, no?"

Pointing these words more so towards Ju-Long, who remained mostly silent as he intently witnessed the battle, the man nodded his head slowly in response to Jae-Seong.

"I\'d venture to say that right now…Mencius has the advantage."

I\'m just noticing it…but that stance, Ren thought.

Looking at the way Ju-Long squatted down; his feet firmly planted and squared—it was reminiscent of a position sumo wrestlers took.

However, this momentary distraction was dragged away by roars from the audience—shifting his attention back to the battle to witness something birthed only by magic.

The stagnant dome formed of wood had revealed its malicious nature, countering the demi-humans attack as spear-like formations of roots shot out towards the panda.

"Woah! Woah! Woah!"

Stumbling about as he maneuvered out of the range of the malevolent roots, the panda\'s dodges couldn\'t look any more unrefined as he jumped away from the dome\'s form.

"That was close!"

Letting out a relieved breath after narrowly escaping the ends of the spear-like roots, Hongse wiped his forehead as if removing sweat.

Still, even if he found himself out of the range of the tendrils of nature—there was still a problem.

He\'s up to something in there, and to make matters worse—I can\'t see a damn thing he\'s doing. Trying to break it could just end up with a bunch of holes in my body. To top it off, he immediately rebuilt the damage I did to it! Hongse thought.

Remaining still, the towering panda-man planted his sizable hammer into the sand-covered ground as he watched the large dome amidst the center of the arena.

"What\'s he doing? This is exactly what that scheming bastard probably wants from him!"

Gripping the sill of the window as he called out without any restraint, Macheo was promptly pulled back by the draconic knight who stood head and shoulders above him, pulling him back like a raging kid.

"Unhand me, you oversized woman!"

Macheo knew as soon as those words slipped from his lips the wrath he had invoked, receiving a swift smack against the head from the metallic knuckles of Valerie\'s gauntlets.

"Cut it out, would you!? You\'re going to get him disqualified with that crap!"

Being reprimanded by the fiery-headed demi-human, the young Lucrauvian noble clicked his tongue before folding his arms across his chest.

Watching this, Iris interjected to try and break up the flaming tension between the two hotheads, gently waving her hand with a nervous chuckle, "I think we should just support Hongse with everything we have, okay?"

"Okay."

"Yeah."

Just seeing her bright smile that encompassed the very facette of light itself, the two broke up their quarrel as their eyes returned to the fight.

"Like I said though, kid--Hongse knows what he\'s doing. Despite his personality, he\'s a smart guy--probably one of the smartest I know. All I\'ll say is...Hongse ate a feast last night."

"Huh? The hell does that have to do with a fight?"

"Just watch."

Holding a confident smile, Valerie\'s eyes were on the red-furred panda as he was busy inhaling a large breath into his lungs.

The obvious move would be to attack me with those roots while you stay all nice and cozy in your little sphere there, but you aren\'t. That tells me two things: the reach of his roots is probably limited, and he can\'t see past his own dome.

Which means he\'s completely in the dark unless I make direct contact with the form of that dome, Hongse thought.

Deducing this, the panda with fur exhibiting a mix of crimson and black took a stance; spreading his arms and planting his feet against the stand as if preparing to wrestle.

"You were curious about demi-humans, right? I\'ll give you a lesson on our most prized abilities then!"

Suddenly, the usual chubby body of the panda bulked up with muscularity that presented itself even underneath the heavy coat of fur. The sable claws he possessed, that were mostly left retracted into his dexterous paws, extended out like curved daggers being unsheathed from fluffy sheaths.

Breath left the maw of the bulked-up panda like steam, rising from the sides of his slightly parted mouth as his fangs were on full display.

As this change seemed to catch the eye of the audience, who watched closely, Asmodeus, stationed far above the arena, posted on an isolated balcony decorated with a crimson curtain, made a comment that reached all ears present, "Are you seeing what I\'m seeing, folks? It seems a rousing development is coming from the powerhouse panda!"

"Wait, isn\'t that totally cheating?!"

Ren stuck his head partially through the small window that led to the outskirts of the arena, yelling out as he listened to the announcer.

"Yeah...I\'d say it\'s an oversight on their part, but knowing how the demons are…"

Speaking as if trying to avoid her words catching the ears of entities that shouldn\'t be privy to such information, Aiko twiddled with her fingers, sweating visibly as the anxiousness of watching a companion fight was definitely getting to her.

"Not to play Devil\'s Advocate or anything, but I think it could work both ways."

"And how do you gather that, Jae-Seong?"

Looking at the taller man with a raised eyebrow, Ren pressed him for an answer as all seriousness was left behind by that frivolous smile plastered on his unfairly fair face.

"Just think about it: even if Mencius heard the announcer, he doesn\'t know exactly what he\'s talking about. He\'ll be left guessing, and be left with the choice of maintaining his advantageous position, or revealing himself and getting a peak at his opponent. Basically, this information is going to run laps in that guy\'s head."

Holding an O-K sign up with his hand, Jae-Seong winked at the white-haired young man--which was surprisingly enough to buy a smile from Ren, who sighed softly.

"Truthfully, I think it\'d be best if we shut our mouths and let Hongse speak with his actions."

Jae-Seong\'s words were the consensus; all eyes fell on the bulked-up, steaming demi-human as silence filled the room.