Aether Gardens, Psychedelic Region:

Xavier, Rodey and Marcus entered the core region for their final fight in the Aether Garden.

What greeted them was a pristine lake.

They cautiously walked over and looked into the lake.

At its bottom was the flag!

The eyes of the trio lit up and Marcus was about to jump in.

Rodey pulled him back and said. "Xavier, check if there's anything fishy."

Xavier nodded and his brown eyes flashed. After a while, he said with a bewildered expression. "Everything is normal. There are no enemies. Not even an extra mental force."

Marcus and Rodey were also taken back.

Rodey fell into thinking while Marcus simply jumped into the lake and dived in.

"Hey! We still don't know if it's safe!" Rodey yelled. "Come up!"

"Idiot!" Xavier crossed his arms and sneered.

Marcus caught the flag and climbed out of the lake. Waving the flag to the shocked guys, he chuckled. "What do you say now?"

"Die!"

"Huh?" Marcus was taken aback and instinctively wanted to create a fire shield to protect himself.

But suddenly, his brain ached and he almost lost control of his body. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

He yelled inside and barely managed to cover himself with a fire wall.

Right then, Rodey Nial appeared in front of him and punched him in the gut.

The hastily conjured shield couldn't withstand his strength and instantly broke.

Just as Rodey's fist was about to connect to his stomach, Marcus' body flashed red and another protective layer was formed on his body.

It still couldn't stop Rodey's fist, but it managed to offset the impact before his fist finally connected with Marcus.

Kacha!

Marcus felt like he was hit by a truck and flew back, crashing into a rock he didn't notice in the core area before.

"Argh!" His back ached and his entire body followed.

Even as he tried to move, his bones creaked and made snapping sounds. He gritted his teeth and channeled his fire mana, but before he could do anything, he clutched his head and coughed out blood.

"Argh! X-Xavier! Stop messing with my head!" Marcus cursed as he created a pair of fire wings and flapped them.

He decided to create distance from Xaviereven if it meant fleeing the core area.

He was too injured. He could face off Xavier alone, but not with Rodey.

But before he could even rise into the air, a figure flashed in front of him and smashed at his chest.

"Damn!" Marcus hurriedly channeled his fire mana in an attempt to block off the attack.

But the interfering mental power slowed him down.

As a result, the protective fire wall that could block off the complete attack faltered and Marcus felt an enormous impact on his chest.

"Cough. Cough. cough." He was sent flying once again, spewing blood into the air, mixed with parts of internal organs.

His mind raced as he tried to find a way out. But the stinging pain in his head stalled his thoughts and Rodey appeared above him with a raised arm.

He was aiming for a finishing shot!

"Wait, why?!" Marcus' mind flashed and he suddenly asked.

Then he suddenly breathed out and sighed.

Rodey and Xavier would never try to kill him. At least, not here.

Then the only reason this was happening was because

Marcus closed his eyes and focused on his fire sense.

The pain in his mind didn't stop, and Rodey didn't pause either. His fist punched through Marcus' chest and tore a big hole.

The searing pain coursed through his body and caused him to spasm involuntarily.

However, Marcus focused his fire sense and finally felt an abnormality.

Then like a mirror cracking, the world in front of him crumbled and darkness swallowed everything.

As he tried to break through the darkness, he heard two voices.

"He is waking up!"

"Oh. He's an idiot anyway. Can't believe people compare him to the likes of Ashtarh and me."

"He can be a bit impulsive at times, but he's a good fighter in frontal combat."

"Impulsive? Is that your euphemism for brainless? Whatever. But we live in a world were only kind of fight matters. The fight to kill your opponent before he can kill you.

Frontal combat like we have in duels? Give me a break. Only school kids believe real life fights are like that. Marcus is probably a kid-eh?"

"I'm not a kid." Marcus opened his eyes and yelled.

His fire sense already informed him of his surroundings.

He was lying on the green grass of the core area, a few meters away from the lake while Rodey and Xavier were talking.

Xavier held the flag and chatted with nonchalantly while Rodey smiled from time to time.

Their topic turned to him and he woke up at that time.

His scream attracted their attention and Rodey Nial appeared in front of him and crouched down.

"Are you alrig-eh?"

Marcus instinctively used his fire mana and slid away, surprising Rodey.

Xavier said with a boring expression. "Must be related to the illusion he saw. Probably he was fighting you and also me, I guess? For him to react this way, he must have gotten a good beating."

Marcus heard his words and balled his fists. Standing back on his feet, he looked at Rodey and asked. "What happened to me?"

"" Rodey looked at Xavier who nodded helplessly.

"Xavier told us that he found traces of illusion formations, but you still jumped in."

"Wait, what?" Marcus stood up with a severe headache and asked.

"After you asked Charles about the lake, he said the lake is dangerous. But right then, you were in an illusion and the illusion said it's safe. So you went in." Rodey explained patiently.

Ah! So that's why I didn't feel it was odd.

Marcus felt his body. It was drenched in sweat and his heart was racing at an insane rate.

The longer he stayed in that illusion, the more dangerous it was to his real body.

"Who is the culprit?" He asked, clenching his fist.

'Whoever you are, you made a fool out of me. I'll torture you.'

"This guy." Rodey kicked his feet and only then did Marcus observed a rather translucent snake on the ground.

It had no signs of vitality anymore. The only one who can kill it like this was Xavier.

Xavier looked at the snake and shook his head. "It used the illusion formations and charged them with its mental power."

He pointed to the small patterns in the now empty lake. With various materials, herbs and others, there were at least twenty formations at the bottom of the lake.

"An illusion formation wouldn't work against you. It can barely affect mid level 6s. But it's ideal target is low level 6.

Even then, it needs to be set up before hand. But the illusion snake used twenty illusion formations at once and managed to fool you." Xavier explained calmly.

"Anyway, thanks you taking brunt of the snake's attacks, we cleared this stage far more quickly. I'm afraid we're the quickest team to get the flag. Your injuries are well worth it." At the end of his words, he smiled.

"." Marcus lowered his head and raised his hand.

A fire spear was quickly condensed and he was about to throw it to the formations.

"Act like an adult. We promised our messengers these rewards." Xavier said slowly.

"Youhmph!" Marcus took a fighting posture against Xavier, but realizing that the other party wasn't trying to fight, he snorted and crossed his arms.

"We got the flag, now what?"

Marcus' comm rang right then.

"Senior, Charles Xander has.Beep!"

The trio suddenly fell silent.