The Ark Of Round One: Circe

As the dust cleared, the Mage stood victorious despite his arms bleeding profusely. He then shook his arms to get rid of the blood, instantly healing himself. Then, without missing another beat, he aimed for the branch Circe had been sitting at.

Rina quickly rushed to where Circe had been and caught the falling child before backing away from the unknown man.

"I'm surprised that you still haven't figured it out... I just used my main move to fight your juniors. How could you not know who I am?" asked the Mage, seemingly depressed that Rina doesn't know.

The Flower Mage blinked and focused more on his sniper rifle. Then, she recalled that Mavislin had noted someone in particular who didn't need the use of a scope. Rina held a shocked look as she connected the dots. The Mage chuckled and placed his rifle on his back.

"That's right. I am Ashley Dalles. The First Pillar to be recruited by Mavislin. I am known as the First Seat Marksman Pillar. Nice to meet my juniors, so long as you guys don't aim for my head," said the Marksman, bowing down.

Rina instantly felt blood rush to her cheeks. How could she not have known? She looked to the ground, trying to avert her eyes from the Marksman.

"Don't worry, and I am not angry. That's Baldwin's job. However, please have some faith in me as I teach the kids. But first, let's see what the extent of their powers is. Duel with them, and I'll protect the rest from the splash damage," instructed Ashley, taking a seat on the grass floor.

"Oh, and by the way, that kid with the fire powers is a natural with the bow. I am assuming that she will be my Second Seat? If that's the case, I hope to be a good parental figure when the time comes. But, for now, I will be in charge of mentoring these kids with their Elements."

The kids looked at Rina with wary looks. She nodded and asked the kids to sit with Ashley. Circe was left standing in front of the Butterfly Girl as the two prepared to duke it out.

"Combust and burn. Ignite and create. The fire within my heart sets this hair ablaze..." chanted Circe as she closed her eyes.

Circe sounded confident as she pulled out a strand of her hair. As she did, the strand of hair burst into auburn flames and solidified to become a bow. It looked different than the previous bow but was still hazy. Her Aura surrounded her petite body, looking like a phoenix being reborn.

To everyone else, Circe was standing there, out in the open as her Elemental Powers started to build up. Ashley seemed hopeful that the kid would pull off something grand as he felt the power rise. Instead, however, she was surrounded by millions of bows to choose from within Circe's vision.

They were zooming doors as they each flew around the meditating girl. She then spoke the next incantation to narrow down her choices to get the bow she wanted and needed.

"The Greek Legends depict him as the God of Archery and Sun. Twin brother to the Goddess of Hunt, Artemis. I create thee..." chanted Circe.

"Solar Bow Apollo!"

Her created bow fully came to light as a short bow with three bowstrings. Like the first one, the top and bottom half were wings with feathers. This time, the wings are larger instead of slimmer than the previous bow. The entire bow was gold.

She then drew the bow, even though there wasn't any arrow. The three strings erupted in flames and amplified her powers three times. Finally, her fingertips glowed with fire, and an arrow made out of orange flames appeared. The arrow had a special cone head that took half of the body.

The end had two fletchings made out of burning feathers. It looks like the child with the hands of Ifrit doesn't mind touching scorching flames.

"Arsonist's Arrow; Thricefold!" roared Circe.

She released the string, and the spell of flames came tunneling towards Rina. Three rings of fire appeared at the tail of the barrelling arrow. Rina smiled as she pointed her spear's tip right at the incoming arrow. Her Aura flared up with colors of pink as she introduced a new dance.

The area started vibrating, drawing attention to a certain Baldwin Noble. The children didn't seem to mind. But Gillian prevented the Angry Man from leaving the children alone.

"Not to worry. I'll go and check on them instead. I fancy a few Elemental fights right about now," said the Headmaster.

"You're just saying that because you want to get out of babysitting duties," grumbled Baldwin, as a small child clung onto his coat.