novelraw Chapter 251 - 250 - Arrogant
Chapter 251 - 250 - Arrogant
"I am telling you, traps will not help at all. We need to make fortifications and attack!"
"Are you an idiot? We have never worked together and only 100 of us can advance! We need to create defenses and lay traps to let the idiots kill themselves!"
"You are both wrong–"
Lind felt a headache in his skull as the argument just kept circling. There were some valid points but no one was really listening or learning. Of the 97 people in his group, about 5 factions had grouped up.
None of them even once asked his opinion save to ask his specialty. Once he identified himself, many bowed in respect but then promptly ignored him. Of all the stragglers not in a faction, only Cara from the Divine Sword Sect stood next to him.
"Arrogant fools. Do they not understand half our time is used up?" Indeed, Cara was correct. The noon day sun was marked by the timer floating above the table. Lind glanced at it but he saw no reason to try and yell over the various arguments.
If it was a contest of production or even simple elemental control, he might have been put in charge without question due to his known achievements, but in the martial world, he had only a few unconfirmed encounters. The few demonstrations in the camp were only witnessed by the Divine Sword Sect and cultivators were reluctant to believe rumors.
Many cultivators also chose to not change their point of view as the belief in their own confidence and assumptions were what led them down their cultivation path.
Still, the result was the chaos in front of him. Cultivators of diverse origins but similar potential, had no respect for the opinion of others. Their success to that point made them arrogant and unwilling to compromise their approach to battle.
"I heard from Solon that the Divine Sword Sect trains in group battles. I know the Heavenly Maiden Sect does but none of them are here. Why would you not assume command, Lady Cara?" Cara jumped at the formal naming Lind gave her. She swept a part of her silver hair behind her ear as she looked over the table and saw her fellow disciples working within one of the factions.
"We value individual combat power but we do train for group combat. Nothing like this tournament, however. If it was simply group combat, I would have asserted my authority and expertise, but planning an assault with terrain is not something any power I know of to train in." Lind nodded but felt a smirk cross his face. His 'training' with terrain combat was only in the realm of virtual.
Strategy games might give Lind some ideas, but he would not have the godlike control such games gave their users. Individuals and units would act according to reality as well as their own priorities.
The very argument made it clear they could not work together as there was no one to bring them under one banner.
"What will we do about the 'leader?'" A question suddenly floated and all eyes turned to Lind once more. On that aspect, many seemed to actually unite which made Lind smile but he waved his hands.
"I will act independently but I will avoid combat with large groups. Is that acceptable?" Almost in unison all shook their heads which nearly made Cara giggle. All the arguments and arrogant posturing was nowhere in sight on this single issue.
"We will create a fortress where you will stay until the battle is over." A young man with golden eyes and a chiseled jaw spoke with such authority that his words were always right that Lind felt a vein throb on his forehead. Quite a few seemed to agree with the light brown haired man, but then another faction spoke up.
"That will be too obvious, we need to put him somewhere inconspicuous." More heads nodded and the argument started up once more but now it was how to deal with Lind. Cara huffed and LInd smiled.
"If you truly wish to help me, I am glad of it. I have some ideas but mostly, I think we should start to prepare." Cara nodded and he then summoned his Qi. No one really paid attention as Lind let his Qi cover the map and felt it completely.
He immediately felt the genius behind the coliseum and how they understood to create this moldable structure. The display allowed them to directly control and sense the environment outside.
Lind was surprised as the quality of Qi was just shy of Gold Tier level. He also felt an unexpected flow of light beneath the surface of the rocky area. Darkness was strangely lacking save from the shadows cast by the various objects.
He let his senses immerse in all of it and located several things below the surface that would be useful. He also realized that like much of Ruins and Relics he had encountered, it was usually far beyond an individual cultivator to handle manipulating the area.
He smiled as he realized being a 6 elemental would actually be an advantage in this round.
Before anyone could stop him, he began to manipulate the soil and stone. He did not ignore the ideas put out earlier but since no one could agree, he amalgamated several thoughts and combined them.
Simple pit traps were both hidden and easy to spot depending on his goals. He did not know the direction of invasion so he instead made a spiral on the outer edges that would lead to the main area.
The goal was to punish anyone that tried to brute force their way through.
He could not anticipate everything, obviously, but the lower a chance of something occurring, the less need to invest resources. He noticed the Qi in the display waned as he manipulated, so Lind compensated by pulling Qi from below as he changed things there as well.
It was only when a large swath of the rocky terrain suddenly morphed into a structure that the other cultivators realized someone was implementing ideas.
"Who dares?! We have not authorized this!" The golden eyed man from before was haughtily shouting as he glared at the other factions but they were just as shocked. It only too a few breaths for all to slowly look towards Lind who blazed with Qi.
"Someone stop him! He is ruining all our plans!" A woman with jet black hair and piercing orange eyes moved to stop Lind but Cara acted immediately. Her own aura was no less powerful than others, but she was only 1 against many.
The expected disruption did not happen.
When the conjured attacks flew towards Lind, they seemed to disperse and be absorbed! No one sensed anything like a fluctuation of an artifact or Art, but none of them could stop him!
"Attacks against the leader of your side are forbidden. If you continue, all offenders will be disqualified." The booming voice returned and made all freeze in place. A few had to vent their elemental Qi but they did so away from the table.
"How is that fair?! We are not his servants! Someone stop him!" A young man with pure white hair and silver eyes looked annoyed at the restriction just revealed. Cara felt it wise to make Lind pause as she did not want things to get out of control but just as with attacks, a solid wall of air seemed to separate Lind from her.
Her hand could not budge!
They all saw it and their jaws dropped. It was not the coliseum that time, they realized Lind was carefully controlling Qi in multiple streams while manipulating the environment! The level of mental ability far exceeded many of them.
"You are not chosen by us, Master Frey. Please respect our position and put everything back." The haughty golden eyed man waited for a response but Lind ignored them. Rather, he could not hear them. He was lost in the feeling of being connected to the environment.
A sudden change made them all look around as the sigils on the violet walls lit up one after another. A profound feeling filled the room, but it could not be comprehended by any of them.
"Condition unlocked. Master key transferred to Violet Hold." The booming voice returned but there was a change. Before it was impersonal and brisk, but that time there was a modicum of respect.
Lind began to glow with violet light once more but then it changed. It began to move to a flow of Qi and entered the display before them. The once slow changes sped up immensely and all were shocked as a single person was doing it!
"What is this? What does that mean a condition was unlocked?" Many confused voices echoed the question, but there was no response from the coliseum. What was going on?!
The terrain suddenly lit up for a brief moment but none could figure out why since it disappeared as quickly as it flashed. Lind was now sweating but it was clear he was not just setting up their battle, he was going much farther.
The previous arrogance faded from many faces as they grasped that Lind Frey was more than an elixir master and Forger. He was clearly becoming far more than the stories said about him.
The rumors from the camps came back to some and glanced at the other 9 Divine Sword Sect disciples. None of them seemed too surprised by LInd's finesse and display of power.
Could he be a martial expert at last? Would that not mean he had adapted the World Arts as he had once done for the Soul Arts? The thought made several feel impatient to find the modified Arts as the change in the Soul Realm had been explosive.
The power unleashed far exceeded even their wildest hopes when all the knowledge had spread.
"Condition unlocked. Rule change implemented. Leader of Violet Hold will engage in combat or forfeit will be assigned to his hold." The booming voice returned but it did not give good news at all.
The various ideas to hide Lind away were not only dashed, but their victory now hinged on his participation. It made things far too risky!
What had Lind done that made such a condition?
None of them could answer as the display finally stopped changing. The few that had been more focused on Lind felt shock flood their bodies as they saw all that had happened.
Where once the arena was split in half between stone and forest, it was now much more mixed. They could see the outer area was heavily trapped with obvious signs but they knew he had woven much more deadly traps as well.
The center now had a massive fortress with walls in 3 concentric rings. Each wall had weapons that looked like a cross between a crossbow and cannon. Between each wall were what looked a great deal like residences and shops but they doubted they were such things.
A few noted pools of Qi of each element at the heart of the 3rd wall with a massive castle lording over it. There were 6 towers allowing full view, but there were no arrays or any sign of formations.
"Forged. By the spirits, he Forged all of that!" Shock flooded them all and even the Divine Sword Sect members felt chills down their spines as they recalled the artifacts Lind once used to get past the evaluation hassle.
"P-peak grade 3!" Someone used their senses to sink it into the display and felt the results. As they watched, the 6 pools of Qi suddenly lit up and channels flowed under the inner wall to the other 2 walls. The weapons on each also lit up with various elements and all grasped what they were suddenly.
They were giant weapons crafted to accept any element. Lind Frey had made artifact weapons! They were very rare and refiners usually had trouble with the double core requirement, but Forging skipped all of that!
Lind came out of his stupor and nearly fell. Cara caught him and she noticed only a third of their time remained.
"Can you recover?" Lind looked up and smiled as an elixir appeared in his hand. Its crimson glow made all recognize it, but the shock was it was a low grade 4! He was casually using a low grade 4 elixir as if it meant nothing to him!
"I heard the words as well. I am not sure what I did exactly but it just came to me, I could Forge what we need. It was exhausting but then the coliseum spirit helped me with Qi. We only have a little time, let's go and familiarize ourselves with the toys I just created." Lind smirked at all of them and the arrogance from before was gone.
They followed him through the only doorway they could and saw the results of his work with their true eyes. The fortress was dark in color but was not terrifying to behold. Respect and awe filled them as they rushed down the road and made their way into the structure. The various traps would only arm when he commanded them to so there was no danger.
Lind looked around and saw empty seats but he was not sure if that was true. He smiled and waved up at the sky before running after the others. The battle was about to begin.