Fire With Fire

The issue with this sparring match was that none of them had time to really rest, this day being exhausting as a whole. This was especially true for him at this point. He didn't dare to use the Combat Library technique he had created. On top of that he didn't want to risk fighting the way had before, using mana strings to control his body and replicate different movements. Regardless of how much he stretched and trained his body to relax to the utmost, the body was not designed to be forced into movements by outside forces. Doing so would risk any number of injuries that would send him to the medical ward.For this fight he would have to rely on other strategies to win and now that his vision was obscured, he couldn't even properly create a communication network with those he would need to rely on in this scenario. For a fight like this he would have leaned on Barret, Bernard and Lesley the most. Barret's skills were genuine regardless of the environment he was in. In fact, even now Jien was positive that the other side will have lost track of the stoic boy. Bernard was the most stalwart defender of their entire group, new members included. Even in this sandstorm he would be the one who could likely last the longest in a frontal assault.Lastly there was Lesley and his bow. One would think that a sandstorm would make an archer useless, the winds bending the path of arrows. This was true for many archers or those that just dabbled in it but for Lesley this was just another variable to add in. One could definitely still hit a target, even in a terrible storm, it was a matter of factoring in everything you could, allowing for a margin of error and having an idea of how much power was needed to break through the force of the winds.Even without having a direct line of communication with the three of them he predicted that they would be thinking close to the same thing as him. They may have never fought in a sandstorm before, but it wasn't too different from a snowstorm in those abominable woods during winter. Visibility only to the tip of your nose, harsh winds that felt like they would skin you alive and the knowledge that something was always aiming to strike you down. All of them were on their highest alert, knowing that soon they would be attacked.Jien reached into one of his belt pouches and drew out a simple whistle. He just hoped that his teammates would get the message and that he wouldn't find himself removed from the fight before he could help. He raised the whistle to his lips and blew it in a patter, two short blows, a pause and then two longer notes. The whistle itself was silent in the howling winds, as if it were broken, but Jien knew that it likely had gotten a fair amount of attention. He quickly moved from his current location, moving swiftly at a diagonal for about five to ten feet before stopping.The whistle was a type that while it didn't create a sound would force ears to ring. The message was for his original teammates since he hadn't had time to discuss such tactics with the others. He hoped that they would forgive him when everything was all wrapped up. He had to move quickly to ensure their victory, after all he had other uses for what money he had from his home. The education was a covered expense but if he wanted to do his own experiments, he would need to buy the materials himself.He quickly pulled a cloth from his pouch, a vial of a sickly yellow liquid and another that looked to be a pink so light it could almost be mistaken for white. He dowsed the cloth in the sickly yellow liquid, an acrid smell emanating from it that made Jien's eyes water and nose burn. He wrapped the cloth around his nose and mouth, enduring the horrid stench and popped the cork of the other vial, tossing it into the sandstorm roughly where he had been standing before.From the open end of the vial leaked a pale mist, the liquid within aerosolizing rapidly. While it started as a faint trickle from the opening as soon as in the open the mist seemed to explode outward rapidly, mixing with the sand laden wind. It was only a matter of time before they would either have victory or defeat depending on the opponent's level of preparation. He hoped that the group of rogues would be more like the typical bandits, but he wasn't going to underestimate them. Instead readying himself to be attacked at any moment from all sides, being close enough to his prior location to easily be caught yet.