Chapter 115 - Petal Storm
Silence filled the lobby.
Iris and Theo just looked at each other for a few seconds.
"Shall we go?" Theo finally asked.
Iris smiled faintly and nodded.
They both stood up at the same time.
Without another word, they turned and began walking toward the corridor leading to the starting rooms.
Owen watched them go, his usual grin nowhere to be seen for once.
"...Don’t go easy on each other," he called out.
Theo raised a hand slightly in response, not looking back.
"We won’t."
Iris glanced at him, her smile radiating warmth.
The noise from the lobby slowly faded away behind them as they entered the corridors.
Finally, they came to a halt in front of two different doors opposite each other.
Iris glanced at hers for a moment.
Then back at Theo.
"...Good luck," she said.
Theo nodded once.
"You too."
They fell silent for a moment.
Then Iris turned and pushed her door open, stepping inside without hesitation.
Theo watched it close behind her.
’I wonder how much stronger she’s gotten.’
A small smile grew on his face as he turned to his own door.
’Guess there’s only one way to figure that out.’
He continued down another corridor and arrived at a small preparation room. A large screen hung in the room, displaying a timer with five minutes still left on it.
Theo sat down, already hearing the cheers and shouts echoing through the walls.
He glanced at his umbrella, seeing a faint ripple move across its canopy.
’I’ll be using you again today,’ he thought, brushing it softly. ’Though... I wonder if I can use that now.’
It had been on his mind quite a bit recently.
The next stage of the Tidal Wave spell.
With how sturdy and large his core was compared to others due to his two SSS-rank affinities, wouldn’t it be very possible to use such a thing in advance?
’I’ve been partially doing it already too,’ he thought. ’Using the water around my umbrella to turn into a shield... except now I push it forward as a wave.’
Just then, a loud voice echoed out.
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
"Welcome to the third and final day of this year’s Santa Barbara tournament!"
Theo snapped out of his thoughts immediately, his gaze falling on the screen in front of him.
The timer had ticked down and now... there was only a minute remaining.
He pushed all the unnecessary thoughts out of his mind right away, his grip tightening around his umbrella.
A deep breath left his lips as he stood up.
"Ladies and gentlemen — let me hear your loudest cheers for our contestants!"
The cheers outside only grew louder, vibrating faintly through the walls.
"Quarter-final match one!" the announcer’s voice rang out. "Iris Blackwood versus Theo Lane!"
Theo rolled his shoulders once, loosening up. His eyes stayed on the timer the entire time.
’10...9...8...’
He cracked his neck and closed his eyes.
’5...4...3...’
The door in front of him began creaking open, spilling bright light into the room.
Theo’s eyes snapped open immediately.
’Let’s do this,’ he thought, snapping his umbrella shut.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward.
The noise outside hit him instantly. It was way louder than before, even making the ground tremble faintly.
People shouted, chanted, cheered, called out his name... yet, Theo’s focus didn’t waver.
His gaze was locked on the opposite side of the arena.
The door there had also opened, revealing Iris, holding a long spear in her hands.
"Both of these contestants were excellent, mostly finishing off their opponents within a few exchanges," the announcer continued excitedly.
"Who will best the other? Will it be Theo Lane with his mysterious water element... or Iris Blackwood with her powerful metal element?"
Both of them continued walking toward the center of the arena, only stopping within a few yards of each other.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The world around them seemed to fade into the background.
"Are you ready?" Theo asked.
Iris nodded once.
"I won’t hold back."
A faint smile appeared on Theo’s face.
"Good."
Then—
The announcer’s voice rang out again, starting to count down.
"Three..."
Water began gathering around Theo’s umbrella.
"Two..."
Thick pieces of metal floated up beside Iris.
"One..."
Both of their eyes sharpened.
"GO!"
Iris moved first.
The metal beside her shattered into dozens of tiny petal-like fragments, gleaming brightly from the arena’s lights.
Then—
She dashed forward.
The tip of her spear was pointed straight toward him. Her petals began rotating around it like a razor-sharp storm.
Theo’s eyes widened slightly.
Water burst forward from his umbrella in an instant, forming a dense layer in front of him.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The fragments struck the surface, each impact sending ripples through the water as their momentum was absorbed.
But they didn’t stop there.
Some just barely curved around the water shield, heading straight for him.
’Tch,’
he thought, flapping open his canopy. CLINK! CLINK!
Theo spun his umbrella around him, blocking each of the stray fragments.
That’s when he noticed it.
Each blocked fragment quickly returned to Iris’s side, reforming the storm of petals around her.
Theo’s eyes narrowed slightly.
’I can’t let her take control like this.’
He lunged forward, pushing through his own water shield.
Iris’s eyes widened in surprise.
Theo clipped his umbrella shut and held it above his head with both hands.
Then—
He swung down.
Iris quickly raised her spear. The petals around her surged forward, molding together into a thick metal plate.
CLANG!
Theo’s umbrella collided with it.
The metal dented in under the sheer impact.
But... it didn’t break.
Iris didn’t give him a chance to recover, though.
She stepped in immediately.
The metal barrier split apart in an instant, a glimmer of light flashing through Theo’s eyes as he saw her spear pierce between the gaps.
Theo clenched his jaw and flapped open his canopy.
CLANG!
The spear bounced off immediately.
But Iris wasn’t done there.
She let go of her spear and moved her hand calmly.
The spear shot further into the sky under her metal manipulation.
Then, it plunged straight down.
Theo squinted his eyes and swung his canopy up with water surging around it.
The spear got sucked into the water in an instant.
But he continued his motion, carrying the spear within his water toward the ground with its full force.
Then, his water vanished.
CRACK!
The spear plunged deep into the ground.
Theo lifted his gaze from the embedded spear, his grip tightening around his umbrella.
As he’d dealt with the spear... another storm had formed above him.
And this time...
He was standing in the middle of it.