CHPT 123: Ice Cold Defense.

Ursula, Warren and Maris stood in the field across from the Defenders inside the barrier. The students on the sidelines waited for the match to begin in silence while others talked amongst each other due to lack of interest in the match up.

"Ok. I think I've got a plan." Ursula said to her group.

"I want the big one." Maris said out of nowhere.

Warren looked at her like she was insane, "You do realize he's the size of like three of you, right?"

Maris glanced at him sideways as if she was offended by him questioning her. "That also means I move like three less of him." She said, confusing them both for a moment.

"...."

"No, no. She's got a point, you know speed kills and whatnot." Warren said.

Ursula considered it for a moment. She initially planned to go after Adrian, considering that her class was very similar to a Tank. But if Maris did, it would definitely confuse him and force him to fight differently.

"It's risky. Maris, if you get hit once you'll probably be out." Ursula warned.

"Then I won't get hit once." She replied robotically.

Warren and Ursula shook their heads in disbelief before moving on.

"Ok. Warren, your best matchup is against Zach. You know how Archer's move and have a size advantage so if you get close enough to use daggers, you should be good." She told him,

Warren looked from Ursula to Zach who grinned smugly in the distance. "Ursula....." he said fearfully.

"What?" She replied.

"He's one of— if not the best Archer in this class...I won't be able to get close enough without being stuck like a pig." Warren whispered.

"Of course he is. Dammit!" She said as she gripped her axes tighter and her mind began to scramble.

Her palms started to sweat and her breaths felt pointless. She couldn't imagine losing right off the bat so quickly.

"If I can't deal with three students....what's going to happen when the HellBreeder returns? I won't be able to do anything...he'll be by himself again."She realized in horror.

She tried to focus on her breathing as she turned and looked around at the students on the sidelines. They all stood with her fathers eyes, looking at her in disgust. Whenever things were going south that's all she'd see so she wasn't surprised.

Until she saw a student at the end of the line with a large Wolf sitting at his side. He looked focused and immersed in the buildup of the match.

Claude and Frosty caught her staring at almost the exact same time— moving in perfect sync.

Instead of finding her fathers eyes in him, all she saw was his own. He then nodded at her in an unspoken way of saying, "Do your best."

Ursula turned around and called over to her group for a huddle saying, "Nope. We are not losing this!"

***

"Alright. Defenders are you ready?" Prof. Raizen yelled after a few long seconds.

"Yes, sir!" They responded before raising their weapons.

"Mob, are you ready?!" He asked.

"Yes, sir!" The team responded, all looks of fear or distraction gone from Warren and Ursula's faces.

Warren took his bow off his back and dropped it to the floor as he walked over to Ursula.

"This plan is so ridiculous....heheheheh. I LOVE IT!" he said with a laugh before pulling out his daggers and placing the handle of one in his mouth as he slowly placed himself behind Ursula's large frame.

Everyone on the field was confused by what they were doing and simply watched in wonder.

"We can do this. I have to catch up." She told herself as she remembered Claude hitting Drake with his own snake, if he didn't end up facing Samuel with a bad snake bite she was convinced he wouldn't have lost that day.

"Begin!" Prof. Raizen suddenly yelled, scaring some of the students on the sidelines.

The only student from the Mob that charged was Maris. She moved across the field and began to close the distance like a starved predator in pursuit of its prey.

Zach had his bowstring pulled taut with effort as sweat collected on his arms and head. He planned to shoot at Ursula until she had no choice but to move and allow him to hit Warren. But, Maris was already too close.

"Damn she's fast. Too bad arrows are faster." He thought as he turned his aim on her.

As soon as he was prepared to shoot, he saw her hand raised in his direction, glowing a cool shade of ocean blue.

He didn't think anything of it until she flicked two of her fingers down towards the grass.

"Ah!...the hell?!" He yelled as the beads of sweat that collected on his forehead were forced down his face and straight into his eyes. The blur in his vision and stinging sensation of his sweat saturated eyes killed his accuracy as Maris continued to approach the barrier.

By the time he was able to see comfortably again, she was all over Adrian and moving to fast to hit without risking a shot at his teammate.

"Whatever. Adrian will throw you out while I deal with your friends." Zach thought angrily.

As he turned to face Ursula, he noticed a determined look in her eyes. The same look was in Warren's as he peeked out from behind one of her hulking shoulders.

"Let's do this." She said as she raised her axes, forming an x in front of her face with her thick forearms.

The students were silent enough to hear the sizzling pops and crackles of ice under the sound of Maris unleashing an onslaught of attacks on Adrian. What they didn't expect to hear were the sweeping currents of wind Warren made to create a wind wall in front of Ursula.

Ursula and Warren began to move as the first dense layer of Ice coated her forearms and the wind in front of her reached a decent speed.

"Should I go help Adrian?" Stella asked as Ursula and Warren slowly approached.

"No! If you leave then when they reach me I'll have to go fight them both. Adrian will be fine. He's facing a frail swordsman. Relax." Zach snapped as he loaded up an arrow.

"Here comes the first shot." Ursula said to Warren.

Thwip!

The arrow sailed through the air at impressive speeds. A few inches before it reached her, it slowed down considerably before slightly changing its trajectory and grazing her Ice coated arms.

The students all gasped in surprise and confusion.

"Pay attention students. Ursula and Warren are engaging in a crude form of advanced team tactics called; Elemental Combination!..." Prof. Brennan told the students on the sidelines,

"We are?" Warren grumbled from behind Ursula.

"Stay focused!" She said as they continued onward.

"As you all can see. It looks like Ursula is performing as Warren's shield with her large body and Ice'd arms. But Warren is in fact, the first line of defense. He's using the Wind Wall you fellow wind users may have learned in class to slow and move Zach's arrows so they don't crack Ursula's Ice or directly hit her body." He explained to the class.

Certain students let their bias get in the way of them being impressed. While others— like Conner, were smiling admirably at the level of creativity the two students showed.

Ursula studied Stella under the fire of arrows ricocheting off her arms or slamming into the ground near her as she continued onward.

She was a Beast Tamer with a medium sized black cat of some sort, stalking the area in front of her. The felines muscles rippled under its oily black fur with every slow step. It looked incredibly agile and was probably just as powerful for its size. The cat was without a doubt, a threat.

Zach's back muscles ached from how many arrows he fired consecutively at the defensive duo. But he kept going— slowly driving himself into a maddening form of anger.

Thwip!

Crck!

Thwip!

Crck!

"DAMMIT!"

"Two more!" Ursula said.

"You've been keeping count?!" Warren yelled from behind her, pronouncing his words oddly from the dagger he was biting down on.

"You haven't?" She replied.

"Mmmm....Stella get over here!" Zach ordered as they continued to approach.

Stella took a few steps over, "What is it?"

"Hold these." He said angrily as he handed her his last two arrows. She took them as he began to rip off a piece of fabric from his shirt under his light leather armor and wrap it around the ends of the arrows.

"What are yo—"

Fwoosh!!

Stella was interrupted as Zach's hand erupted in flames. He grinned smugly as he brought the flame to the arrows and watched the ends ignite.

"Let's see how they handle this." He thought as he grabbed the first fire arrow and placed it on his bow.

"Awe shit." Warren said as he saw the flaming arrow being pulled back by Zach.

Thwish!

The flame arrow crossed the field like a high speed firecracker.

FWoooshhh!!

As soon as it hit the wind wall, the flame grew in power and heat, crashing into the ground like a low grade explosive. The impact caused both Ursula and Warren to stumble off to the side.

"If you get hit with that, your out before we even enter the barrier." Warren said shakily.

"He has one more. I can take it." Ursula replied.

Zach ran a tattered gloved hand through his hair and took a deep breath before grabbing the last flaming arrow.

"Last shot." Stella said.

"Don't worry. I'm not missing." Zach responded as he pulled the arrow back with all the strength he had.

Ursula closed her eyes as she walked forward. She was greeted by her fathers eyes of disappointment beaming through her from the darkness as she tried to increase her Ice guards. Instead of fighting to ignore it, she let the negativity they brought empower her. She let the anger they created run through her limbs like cold fire.

[Berserker's Rage: 30%....35%...50%....]

Crckckrckrckrc!!

"Come on!....colder.....colder...denser!" She told herself as the Ice grew and spread.

The thick shiny Ice climbed and grew until both of her arms were shielded by Ice all the way up to her shoulders. The increased use of her Element caused her to freeze the moisture in the air in front of her, causing snowflakes and ice shards to swirl chaotically in Warren's Wind Wall.

"Here it comes." Warren said before shrinking behind Ursula.

THWISSHHHHH!!!!

As Zach shot the arrow, the string on his bow snapped and he stumbled backward a few steps.

The arrow moved faster than before. It was headed straight for them, whistling through the air like a shooting star.

As soon as it hit the wind wall the flame exploded, stunning them both with its brightness.

FWO—Crck!

"Ah!"

The arrow flew through Warren's Wind Wall, melting the small snowstorm and growing in heat with ease.

The students jumped or flinched in reaction to the sound of the impact and brightness of the flame.

It sunk into Ursula's Ice'd arm with a loud cracking noise. The flame fought to grow and melt through her ice but it was too much. Her Ice was too cold, and it was only getting colder.

The arrow fizzled out in her shielded forearm and looked like it did almost no damage aside from the tiny spot of red forming beneath the Ice were the arrowhead scratched her.

"It's about damn time." Ursula groaned as she straightened out her arms, shattering the Ice that coated them and began running to the barrier.

Warren came out from behind her with his daggers raised and sweat soaking his arms and forehead.

***

Maris left cuts all over Adrian's body that had already been leaking for too long by the time Ursula and Warren arrived. She considered using her Water Element to draw out more of his blood until he simply lost consciousness but remembered the Defenders had to leave the barrier for them to win.

So, she settled with cutting him some more.

She lunged in again, slicing at his left side. In response, he raised his shield and blocked her attack with ease. He then pushed her sword away and swung at her chest with his own.

Woo!

Maris ducked while also swiping at the small area between his upper and lower body that wasn't covered in armor.

Shlick!

Adrian groaned silently and stumbled backward, wiping sweat from his brow.

She was lucky he wasted all his mana supporting his Aura earlier because if he would've been more sparing with it. She would be in trouble.

After the last cut, she noticed a familiar look in his eyes as he stood with his shield up and sword raised.

"Fear.." she whispered as the face of a Goblin in its final moments flickered in and out of her vision where Adrian stood.

"Ahhhh!" Suddenly, Adrian charged at her wildly. His sword glowed yellow from his last bit of Aura being used for a final attack.

"Fear makes you weak...." she said as she sidestepped his powerful overhead strike.

Woo!

Before he could recover, she cut the back of his leg and kicked him in the back, sending him out of the barrier and landing on his face.

THUD!

The students all flinched and gasped inwardly at the way his face slammed into the grass.

She looked up and noticed two blonde haired twins laughing their heads off while they pointed at the fallen Tank before she turned her attention back to the fight.

***

Ursula had been facing off against Stella for about 3 minutes by the time Maris dealt with Adrian. They both breathed heavily after dodging and evading each others attacks but looked ready to go again.

Stella and her Companion went on the offensive with the medium sized cat using its incredible leaping ability to try and rip into her face.

Woosh!

Ursula sidestepped the hissing flying ball of teeth and claws only to see a sword coming in her direction.

Clang!

She blocked Stella's sideswipe at her face with her two battle axes before pushing the sword away and elbowing her in the face.

Crack!

Stella stumbled back with a river of red running from her nose. Before she could recover, two axes slammed into the grass at her sides.

Thunk!....Thunk!

She looked up just in time to see Ursula grab the holds of her chest armor and toss her out of the barrier.

"Ahhh—"

Thud!

Stella hit the ground and rolled a few times before she stopped and sat up, hissing at Ursula through slitted orange eyes and bared teeth.

"Catgirl down." Ursula said before she turned and noticed Warren still fighting Zach.

***

Warren had cuts all along his gauntlets from blocking strikes and slashes of Zach's dagger. Despite this, he was winning.

Zach wore less body armor since he preferred freedom of movement as an Archer, which also meant he was at a disadvantage in close combat with someone equally as fast.

Red leaking cuts lined Zach's arms and hands from Warren's surprising skill with daggers and his breaths were getting increasingly more ragged after every engagement.

"I could win this! I just need to keep this up!" Warren thought happily.

Zach bared his teeth angrily as if he could read Warren's thoughts and threw one of his daggers like a throwing knife.

Fwoo!

Shlick!

"Ah!...damn!"

The dagger flipped through the air and grazed Warren's right arm, causing him to drop one of his daggers.

"Haha." Zach laughed before charging Warren.

Swoo!

Zach lunged at Warren's stomach with both of his daggers and wild look in his eyes.

Warren sidestepped and panicked, reaching for an arrow despite not having his bow with him. He decided to go with it and used the single arrow as a dagger, stabbing it into Zach's hamstring.

Shlck!

"AHH!" Zach roared and turned, limping but still on guard.

Warren backed away, looking at his right hand as if it's was imbued with newfound power.

"That was sick as fuckkkkk!" He said, completely disconnected from the battle.

"Come here!" Zach roared before hopping over to Warren and grabbing him by his shirt. He looked around once, noticing everyone was laughing at him for performing so badly throughout the whole match.

Warren's fear crept back into his heart as the veins in Zach's neck bulged and he shook slightly.

"You think you can beat me!? You think I'll let the class coward beat me!? IM THE BEST ARCHER IN HERE!" Zach yelled, spitting and shaking Warren angrily as he raised his fist.

"I'm.....the best AR—"

CLNK!

"OHHHHH!!" The students on the sidelines stopped laughing and flinched or cringed in reaction to the turn of events.

Zach's temper tantrum was interrupted by someone hitting him from behind, rendering him unconscious immediately. As he fell to the floor, Maris was left standing behind him with her sword raised and the bottom of the handle dripping red.

"Maris, what the hell? I had that!" Warren said, sounding hurt.

Maris looked up at him carelessly with small bits of blood on her pale skin and hands saying, "He was talking too much."