It was a possibility that had been theoretically present in previous battles but had never felt as plausible as now.

His parents, seated in the special section near Selphira, had been observing with pride and concern throughout the day. They were natural worrywarts when it came to their only son. But even they were already accustomed to seeing Ren handle challenges with confidence and hadn't perceived the adrenaline that NOW made them clench their fists unconsciously.

Could their son win this time?

Rarely was the new Ren seen in genuine combat distress.

Without doubt this team structure that forced individual combatants to face waves of opponents had been good for pushing him to limits in ways one-on-one confrontations would never achieve.

It was ironic in a certain sense. The opportunistic nobles had proposed changes to the exam format during their machinations... And perhaps they had been onto something with that specific suggestion, though sad for them that it no longer had much impact so late in the year when it was about to end and their political influence was severely reduced.

♢♢♢♢

The mantis had eliminated the ninth opponent with a clean cut that separated the head from the body of its beast. And now, after this extended "warm-up", the moment everyone had been anticipating had finally arrived.

Liora walked onto the field with confidence that came from knowing exactly what cards she had available and how to use them optimally.

She was the last opponent, a position she herself had chosen when Taro and she had decided their positions in the line. Not because she was weaker than Taro and needed protection from being at the end, but because her specific beasts were particularly effective as finishers.

And as Ren had feared when he saw the initial arrangement, Liora had left the Bashe for the end of her own beasts as well. That terrifying creature that could absorb mana from fallen beasts and strengthen itself as battle progressed would be her closing card if they reached that point.

But first would come her other beast, the one Ren recognized immediately when Liora manifested it in an explosion of energy that made the temperature around the field increase noticeably.

The Will-o'-Wisp. Now at Gold rank after months and years that had elevated it from its modest beginnings at Iron rank.

The spirit that had been bright blue when Liora originally acquired it was now more purple, a tonality that communicated fundamental transformation in its nature.

Ren thought while observing the manifestation that the change was due to the spirit's constant interaction with the Bashe's demonic energy.

Maintaining two beasts with contrary energies bonded to the same tamer inevitably caused them to influence each other, to balance, particularly when one of them emanated a presence as strong as that of the giant demonic serpent.

The spirit had become something more neutral than purely 'good', not as close to the black miasma of the serpent but also not as pure as the blue that had characterized it in its most initial levels.

It was an evolution that intrigued Ren slightly in terms of what it meant for the creature's fundamental nature, but that he also knew greatly increased the potential for capabilities that normal spirits wouldn't develop.

The Will-o'-Wisp still didn't have a very defined form despite having reached Gold rank.

It had simply grown more and more with the levels, accumulating spiritual mass without crystallizing into a specific configuration. Now it was an enormous and threatening ball of purple fire that floated over the field with a presence that made the air around it undulate visibly from the intense heat.

It had weak form manipulation capabilities it had developed recently. It could elongate like a serpent when it needed additional reach, extension of its body that maintained coherence while stretching several meters. It could create what looked like long "hands" that emerged from its central mass, appendages that could grab or strike though they lacked defined fingers. And sometimes it manifested what could only be described as a macabre "mouth", an opening on its surface that gaped with the suggestion of teeth formed by more intense flames.

But not much beyond those basic manipulations. The spirit hadn't reached a point where it could assume a completely different form like some elemental spirits eventually achieved.

Ren wondered, observing the purple mass fluctuate slightly while Liora completed the manifestation, if when he finally recovered his mushroom he could see the initial draconic form of such a spiritual creature. He'd had an idea when he could still see information in interaction with the mushroom, that purple lizard silhouette, could it become a black fire dragon?

A dragon made completely of black fire in a shifting silhouette would be incredibly 'cool' in his opinion, though perhaps it was a form more appreciated by boys than girls generally...

He thought of Larissa and her beautiful light fairy, another "jumper" but elegant and ethereal creature that fit perfectly with more refined aesthetic sensibilities. Completely different from the terrifying fire dragon Ren imagined.

But thinking of Liora and how she had many tastes that aligned more with typically masculine preferences, a personality that didn't fit perfectly in the "simple feminine" or conventional category. He could easily imagine her happy too about how "cool" a spiritual dragon would look instead of wanting something more traditionally beautiful.

The immediate problem however wasn't speculation about future beast forms but how to deal with the present enemy that already represented a serious threat to the mantis in its current configuration.

Common water wouldn't work against spiritual fire...

Ren knew it... and already many people had also seen the Will-o'-Wisp simply pass through elemental water attacks in other battles and exams from past years without being significantly affected. The spirit didn't operate under the same rules as ordinary physical fire, its immaterial nature allowed it to ignore counter-elements that would normally be effective.

Ren had two viable options...

He could use light combined with water, elemental purification that would affect the partial corrupt nature the spirit had developed. But that would be revealing more cards than he wanted to show publicly… a demonstration of light control in ALL his beasts was perhaps too much.

Or he could attempt to "heal" Liora's beast directly, using a healer's mana pattern to the point where water would work appropriately. But that would be much less efficient than simply attacking with light alone or combined with water from the start, and would be considerably more risky because it would require approaching closer than he'd normally attempt against an opponent of this type.

Liora didn't give him time to finish evaluating options completely.

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