The Unbreakable Bow

"Go"

Both Aefrine and Moreno took the offense at their common foe. In a beach right next to the biggest body of water that Aefrine knew, it was obvious that Sophia was the strongest raider. She also knew that and as soon as the task began, she summoned four small fish. Moreno jumped at her trying to target her head while Aefrine shot an arrow to her arm which was holding her staff and pulled himself forward.

As they got closer, the small fish attacked. They were the explosive fish. The offensers both knew what was next. Moreno desperately tired to cover his face while Aefrine pulled his shield. The four fish exploded and ice spikes burst out.

Aefrine activated his shield with a good timing and none of the spikes got him. The same couldn't be said about Moreno. Sophia used this opportunity to float away far to the sea to the point they needed to swim to get to her. She had already summoned three new hammersharks that approached fast.

Two went for Aefrine and one for Moreno. Aefrine pulled put put his axe and jumped away. Then he slashed his weapon against the shark's head. He activated it and a shockwave was created pushing back the beast. However, the second one ambushed him and caught Aefrine off guard.

Its head glowed purple and a strong invisible force made Aefrine get pushed away and fell of his feet. His axe got thrown away as well. He immediately jumped away and ran for a short distance before he aimed at the cliff and pulled himself fast. The sharks kept following him.

My shield isn't going to help me a lot. I should aim for the source...

He aimed at the very far away hoping to take Sophia by surprise. It worked technically. Sophia did have to move away but the sharks seemed unaffected by it.

So her spirits are not directly controlled by her ...? Damn it. What now? ... Let's just see how durable they are..

He hastily jumped to another part of the cliff and took shot at the sharks and shot four arrows on the first. The spirit struggled tanking the first three but when the fourth landed, it exploded. The other was approaching fast. Aefrine took aim but just as he was about to shoot. Life faded away from the spirit and all the water fell to the golden sand.

He looked back at Sophia. She had summoned three new spirits. And they were much faster.

The swordfish!

He shot an unknown number of arrows at the enemy. However, these fish were much faster and only one of them got pierced by an arrow, yet it still continued its rapid approach. Aefrine kept shooting until they were too close. He jumped off the cliff and shot a string to ensure a safe landing. The first fish pierced the wall and got struck while the other two maneuvered and kept on with their attack.

They both aimed at Aefrine's feet with sharp noses. Aefrine who barely had time to react, jumped and pulled his way up desperately. The two fish striked each other and got killed in the process. Aefrine quickly landed and prepared another barrage of arrows to enleash on Sophia. However undenonced to him, the last one freed himself and attacked his arm from above.

Aefrine in a moment of ignorance completely forgot about this and let his guard down. He only noticed when it was too late, the fish was just too fast.

Fortunately, Moreno jumper and gave the spirit a stong punch with his left fist, destroying it.

"Eh, thanks?"

Moreno turned and slammed Aefrine to the cliff's wall with his right fist. Aefrine could feel a very cold sensation from the gauntlet as it shoked him.

"Don't you think they are going too far ?" Asked Clara, looking with the other judges from above the cliff.

"Nah, this is a real battle. I see nothing that we should worry about " Replied Fillo.

"The spirit summoner almost impaled the boys, you know..."

Added Elmo.

"She was just trying to demobilise them. Surely, she knows the consequences of her actions if the worst happens..."

"Listen here, smart boi. I help you with her spirits and you help me with her. And don't try anything funny!"

"Y-yes,haha, I was thinking of the s-same thing."

"Good. Get ready,"

And with that, he finally let go of Aefrine's throat. Catching his breath, Aefrine was trying to think a good idea for the current situation.

I suppose I did prove myself in the second task...I could have been eliminated just here...damn it... I better come up with something before Moreno changes his mind.

"Can you swim ?"

"If one of us gets in the water, we will definitely get eliminated!"

"Oh, yes..."

What was I thinking???

"Watch out! Here comes the next wave!"

Eh?

Sophia had summoned three new spirits. They were smaller than the sharks and bigger than the swordfish. That was the only observation, Aefrine could make from that distance. Now, they were approaching.

"Do you know what kind of fish are those?"

"Listen brother, you are the smart one here. I didn't even know you could make such things before morning. "

"Ok..."

As the fish got closer and closer, their feature got clearer and clearer. They had narrow long mouths and their tail was horizontal instead of vertical.

I don't think I ever saw a fish like that...not like I saw a lot of fish in my life..

He got in shooting position to test the speed of the new arrivals. Suddenly, a bizarre sound entered his ears. At first, it was just odd, but then his head got so dizzy. All his surroundings were shaking. The sea became yellow, the sand orange and Moreno's face blue. Moreno was laughing too much maybe because his body was like a floating pasta. The problem was his laughter didn't match his voice. He looked like he was laughing but the laughter was definitely not his.

"Is teaming allowed ?"

"Err, there isn't a rule against it so, no."

"That girl definitely has potential. I never saw a young person who knows about dolphins spirits let alone manage to summone such number of them."

"Then what should we say about the boy with a spirit bow, Clara? That alone is a new discovery. "

"Say what you like but, by the end of it, we will all see that the brawler boy will come out on top. Mark my words."

"Don't mind him, Clara, Fillo is just trying to make his defeat look less embarrassing..."

"Elmo!!!"

In a moment, Moreno seized Aefrine and put him on his shoulder and jumped away. Aefrine despite his knowledge of Moreno's intention, didn't really react and he couldn't explain why exactly. The world seemed like it was flipped upside-down. Aefrine was so confused but even his brain didn't seem right. He could barely do something. Moreno landed on his feet and tried shaking Aefrine roughly with his smiling face. Aefrine didn't really feel anything. He got slapped hard after that and finally the world went back to normal.

"What just happened?"

"Use phys magic on your ears."

"But how ? I tried it doesn't work like it should."

"Damn it... errr...just shot them. "

He pointed at the three dolphins that were now on the shore but didn't get any closer. Aefrine shot his arrows but the dolphins already died before they got hit.

"She is playing with us at this point!"

Aefrine didn't comment, he noticed something more important. Sophia was now herself close to the shore. He didn't wonder why, he saw her summoning new water spirits and immediately thrown his allie to his enemy.

"Ow."

And threw him away at Sophia. Moreno, in mid-air not knowing exactly what just happened, saw Sophia, and his instincts kicked in. He gave her a very strong punch with his left fist. Unfortunately, a turtle spirit shielded her. But the impact was felt.

He was about to fall into the water which beneath him turned into three squids. Aefrine hastily pulled him back to the shore with all his might. Moreno landed on him and both fell to the ground.

"You OK?"

"Don't do that again without my permission. "

He didn't waste time replying. Aefrine got his axe back and prepared his bow.

So,Sophia can use water to make spirits...she can summon a lot of small ones or a small amount of big ones. She always needs a water source. She doesn't need to control them directly so targeting her isn't very useful... but she needs to be in range , I suppose... and she can't summon more than one type of spirits at a time.

She summoned a dolphin, a shark and a squid.

Scratch that...

"Please help if I get dizzy again."

"Help yourself!"

The bizarre sound came back and the squids shot their light beams . Aefrine covered his eyes but the sound got him again. The world went out of focus. Sophia and her friends disappeared and everything else was laughing in a hellish manner. Aefrine knew this time what was happening. But didn't know how to react . He saw his friend laughing while dodging invisible attacks.

He is moving much faster then he used to be . Then both the shark and the other fish are after him...which means the squids are after me .

He tried to jump away. But his legs wouldn't move . He tried again.

Come on come on...

And finally they moved . He jumped high in the air but the land was nowhere to be found. It was like he was thousands of meters in the air. Yet, the ground appeared out of nowhere and he fell hard. He managed to get up but he didn't know what to do next the entire place was blury and nothing was clear, not even in a funny way. He felt a rock hit the side of his face. Before even the hit made him fall to the ground, a huge buzzing noise drummed his ears.

"Owwwwww"

He quickly got up and opened his eyes. The world was back to normal and the squids were just next to him. They tried to blind him but Aefrine hastily reacted and slashed them with his axe, destroying both of them.

"Some help, over here !!!" Cried Moreno.

Aefrine took aim and attacked the two water creatures with a barrage of arrows. However, this time they explored into many tiny fish. Aefrine couldn't count them . The arrows went through them. Only one if any caught their small targets. Moreno had a hard time trying to dodge them all.

After the attack was finished, all the fish reformed together but not back to the shark and dolphin but into many snake-fish like creatures. They quickly targeted both of them . Aefrine shot many down as he now used less arrows to make a better aim. While Moreno upon smashing one of them into oblivion, shrieked in pain as if he was just struck by lighting.

"Throw to me my stone !"

"What ???"

"My stooone!"

He looked around and found a weird ball that had some gems on it.

Is that what hit me ?

"Catch !"

He threw it lightly and made it fall next to him. Moreno hastily snatched it and threw it in the air. The fish following vibrated violently to the strong buzzy sound it produced. And moments later, they exploded.

With all the fish away, Aefrine quickly made his move.

"Moreno, get ready !!!"

"What? Oh,"

He shot a string and attached it to his allie and threw him at the target after spinning him. He tried to punch again but he got blocked again by the turtle and Aefrine pulled him back. However this time, as Aefrine pulled him back, he immediately sent him back using the mauvemetent and phys magic to make him even faster.

Sophia who was summoning another spirit, didn't even know what just happened when it did. Moreno on the other hand, caught her by the throat and quickly took off her headband. He was going to punch but by the time he understood where his body was, he was already in Sophia's face. Nevertheless, Sophia was now eliminated.

Aefrine not waiting to see the results, jumped high in the air and pulled his former allie up to him. He knew that Moreno would not hesitate to take advantage of him, the moment they are done with Sophia.

If there is an advantage in harming you, they will take that advantage and you should do the same . I guess I should take Çetin's word for it...

As the unexpecting body approached him, he lend his hand to take the headband as soon as possible. But just as he got in range, the annoying buzzing noise returned and melted his brain. Not soon after, a strong punch landed in his stomach and he was now falling into the water. The punch was so strong, he vomited his breakfast. He even felt one of his bones break.

His head was so dizzy, all his five senses could tell him was that he was now floating in the water if not downing.