The glyphs beneath his feet spoke of malcore threatening to end his opponent not in stylish fashion but the execution leaving no chance of recovery. Callista merely watched, her mind split between forming the glyph and eyeing Ryin.
She was halfway done, the outer circle done and the interior one halfway. However the problem lay not in the latter but making it work. If not she had other means of fending for herself.
*BAM*
Done playing tag, pincers of earth blocks made their way towards her. The ground beneath her feet softening to lock her in place. With a pole vault of crystal, she managed to escape the artificial quicksand and dodge the two walls directed at her.
*Boom*
Her figure crashed hard with a stray projectile that sent her flying however with a quick recovery managed to get herself back on her feet. Impressed with her recovery, he hurled more attacks at her. Melting the ground beneath her feet making it impossible to tread, surprise landmines of attacks that would leave one staggered covered the stage and even golems to attack her.
"He's wasting no expense in taking her down." Orissa concluded, aware that it was crucial given that even she didn't know what would come of the glyph once formed.
*Boom*
A surprise glyph that she had failed was directed at Ryin who dodged to the side, thinking little of it only to be met with a harsh reality. His stony body was sent flying before he regained himself, impressed with the power behind such a glyph.
'I'll have to start all over.' With that glyph wasted, she would have to start all over. Seizing this opportunity, Ryin shot more attacks as he made it personal. Aware of what was to come, her body grew skin that gleamed faintly under the sun's rays.
"So you still have some in the tank." Ryin chuckled as he hurled his fists at Callista. Some she barely dodged, others tanked staggering her but the glyph never once faltered. Done with the trivial games, a crystalline dome enveloped her body shielding her of any further attacks.
Her physical prowess wasn't lacking but with jow reserved she fought, it was clear that she wanted to form the glyph first and take Ryin down later. "Why is she so hellbent in forming that glyph? She could've taken him down by now." Orissa puzzled couldn't comprehend why Callista dragged the match like so.
"If she were to directly take Ryin on, she would expend way too much malcore given how easy he can shift the terrain to his favour. She wants to unleash an attack to completely put him down." Hearing this, she still felt that she was right with her judgement. "Her means of doing it isn't malcore efficient either. It's a miracle that she can stand her own after expending so much malcore."
She was right and that was because Jarren knew that if he hadn't intervened, Callista would have lost this match. There was no reason for him to intervene however the allure of chaos was something he couldn't resist.
Watching Ryin flail attacks towards her dome, it felt pointless as the rocks would shatter upon impact, manipulation the ground beneath her feet was a waste of time as it was coated with crystals as well. She was in a cage that he couldn't breach. 'Damn it!!' Ryin cursed, realizing the sorrow of the situation .
'She can't hold this doke forever!' With this information in mind, his attack on it landed like a barrage of rainstorm however the one holed up barely flinched. She came to a horrifying discovery with the necklace during the fight. It granted her malcore in accordance to much she used.
Thus if she was to execute a high effort malcore spell, the necklace would gift it to her but now with a price. The more she used it, the more alien her body felt. Her senses seemed to dim, control slowly slipping through her body as she felt as if someone else was puppeteering it from within.
From this she couldn't endlessly extract malcore without facing any repercussions. 'Just what did you give me Jarren?' A double edged sword in her hands, she chose to extract as little malcore as possible thus she wanted to form the glyph to half her expenditure.
'I can't keep on attacking her like this. I'll run out of malcore.' Ryin whose face was now plastered with a hint of worry laid back his attacks, now getting weaker as he tried to put on the mask of aggression while recuperating.
*Click*
The glyph she had spent the past hour forming finally came to be. Two circles twirling in endless throes as the outer circle contained it. The toll she had felt in her mind instantly halved and her reserves that had long been depleted started to grow back.
She put on a smile that threatened to end the fight, raising her hand akin to a conductor in a musical theatre, her attack began. The dome she hid under melted away and covered the entire arena. Ryin who wanted to launch an attack on Callista froze in fear as he sensed multiple projectiles directed at him.
The dome bore daggers, spears and swords. The glyph beneath her feet though crude expanding with each passing second and then it came.
*Boom*
Those on the outside couldn't sense what transpired but from the magnitude they saw, it felt that the battle was concluded. "Did she win?" The silence broken with a question no one could answer as they vision was obstructed by the dome she had made. A minute passed, then five before the dome showed cracks.
Shattering into countless pieces, Callista's figure was seen standing while Ryin laid unconscious on the floor. The arena a mess littered with rocks that dangerously jutted towards the sky, crystals impaling almost every inch of the arena and Callista's crystalline like body molting.
No one dared to speak, stunned with what they had witnessed as Callista aloof as always made her way off the arena. The commentator shocked before his voice rang through. "We have our winner, Callista Vaewlyn." The voice cracked and dry. Jarren on the other hand was busy on his phone before standing and taking his leave.
"I didn't think that she would be capable of such a powerful attack." Lirale finally brought herself to talk. She was both surprised and pleased with the altercation. "... It's that glyph. There's something... wrong with it..." Vhorren who watched he fight couldn't help but point out.
Saevin on the other hand remained speechless. "Well that was a fitting way to end the mock tournaments. At least now we know that this year won't end in an embarrassment like last year's." Lirale mused, still trying to decipher what had happened.
"There's more to it than just winning the tournament." Vhorren posed, Lirale feeling the saltiness in his tone due to his unexpected defeat. The three left and overtime so did the rest of the students. The event recorded by the academy sent to the professors for analysis.
*Knock-Knock*
Opening his door, Jarren was met with a disgruntled Callista who barged in without warning. "What is this?!" Showing the necklace to Jarren , she wanted answers. "Well let's just say it's a gift but you won't be satisfied with that answer. So which one do you want. What it is, where I got it or what it does?"
His smile shining through. "Everything! Or I'll expose you to the professor council. I'm sure they are just as curious as I am." Launching her final attack, her vision went black and opening her eyes, Ryin was unconscious at her feet.
Making his way to his bed, his demeanor calm and collected like a mask he fancied. "The necklace I gave you is a cage and the glyph a passage. Everytime you run out of malcore, your body will absorb the energy inside the necklace for replacement till you recover your malcore reserves."
"However the longer you keep that passage open, the more vulnerable you make yourself for assimilation to the soul trapped within the necklace. But luckily for you the passage is way to crude for a complete assimilation so you'll lose consciousness from time to time. Not to mention your body will advance with each assimilation." His words light in contrast to the storm of thoughts in her mind.
"Where did you get this and what is trapped inside this necklace?!" Jarren tilted his head, letting out a yawn.
"Somewhere from some dealer. I was drunk I can't remember but he told me that using it would make me ascend to the very heavens if I used it correctly. Told me that it had the soul of a Hollow Saint." The words that came out of his mouth felt more ludicrous with each passing second.
Artifacts that enslaved souls was extremely rare, those that could withhold high ranking experts even rarer. "So why would you give this to me?" He paused, ready to see her eagerness, her brows furrowing and that was enough for him. "Well I thought that you would want a boost in terms of ranking up."
"So far your reserves have doubled and now your activation of the glyph won't be as problematic as before." His eyes half open, it was clear that he was on the verge of snooze. "Just form the passage to help half the assimilation process. If you succeed then you'll have the power of a Hollow Saint but if you fail then the soul within the bead will take over your body but due to its weak frame die shortly after."
Her eyes narrowed, her mind now bothered with a question that would seem to tie everything together. "Are you the actual Jarren or not?" He let out a chuckle. "Why wouldn't I be? Or do you think that I'm some imposter? If some legendary soul were to take over my body, this flesh would explode into paste in am instant so don't worry."
Her palms balled, her eyes sharp daggers that wished to bore through his soul however in the end, she ended up merely staring at him. "Or do you want me to show you that it's me." A sleezy grin that promised nothing good for her made her stomach tie into a knot.
With a twirl of his finger, a glyph came to be, fetching him an apple nearby and taking a bite he relished. "So enjoy it and don't stress yourself out. You've already tasted it so why would you stop now?" And with that he refused to relay any more information, sinking into his bed ready to sleep.
Callista torn between the two sides in her mind took her leave. Making her way through the halls, she contemplated about what she had learnt about the glyph before making her way towards the Arcane Archives for some research.
***
"It would seem that there's something more at play here." The image of Callista's victory ran on loop as the eyes inspected every frame of the video. "Well whatever it is we can't see through it." Another professor pointed out before Harven let out his muse.
"And that's exactly it, so far during this fight, Callista's rank remained masked similar to Jarren. The two are already in contact with each other thus it would make sense." Those present fell into contemplation about the subject. Jarren as a variable was tolerable as his background despite nobility wasn't too outstanding but Callista was a whole other story.
"It would be better to let them be for now." Another voice came and looking at the source, those present were shocked seeing the headmaster.