The team started rushing towards the north direction with Advitya at front, Arjun at right and Nishant at the back.
"I can hear 2 Salt Water Crocs at the front 200 metres ahead. Be prepared." Kamini warned.
"Damn it! Nishant, I will need your help." Advitya said.
"I will take the right one." Nishant said.
"Ice Realm: Ice Coffin" Advitya casted, 3 Ice coffins fell on the Salt Water Crocs on the left side. The spell did better than expected as Salt Water Crocs hates Ice Element and tends to avoid it.
"Blazing Fist!!" Nishant stacked up the spells and targeted the Salt Water Croc on the right side. The Burning Fist sent the humongous croc flying several tens of metres back metres and bought the team enough time to run past it.
"Flower Sky: Heaven's Water Curtain" Arjun casted as a croc rushed towards the team.
"Holy crap! Was that a Soul Grade Spell?!" Siddharth noticed the spell's unique appearance of water spell even in darkness thanks to his Shadow Element.
"Nishant! on your left!" Kamini shouted in a frightened tone as a croc chased after the team.
"I know. Space Rhythm: Fissure!" Nishant casted, the spell chopped off croc's right front leg causing the croc to smash its head in the ground.
"Shadow Nails: Thorns!" Siddharth casted. 6 Shadow Nails impaled a croc's shadow only to do nothing. Everyone looked at Siddharth as if he is a retard.
"Don't look at me like this. I only wanted to help." Siddharth turned red from embarrassment.
"Heads up, there is water ahead. I will be using my Ice Element, try not to trip on it." Advitya said.
"What if there are crocs underwater?" Kriti voiced her worry.
"Kamini, everything is up to you now." Advitya said.
"Understood!" Kamini focused on her hearing. Everything around her turned dark and silent. Then she heard heartbeats. She found herself surrounded by 8 hearts. Her hairs stood to the very end as she jerked her head towards Nishant.
"Don't bother with me, it is an ability of my armor." Nishant lied. He has developed his Ki Armour to prevent his scent, temperature and sound from leaking out. Kamini shook her head and again focused on her hearing.
"There is one just in front. Then one on the left 150 metres ahead." Kamini alerted.
"Noted!" Advitya said as he prepared to cast his spell.
"Lonely Death Lightning: Thunder Arm" Advitya casted and directed the spell into the water.
RUMBLE! A humongous wave washed onto the shore and revealed a giant croc even by the standards of Salt Water Crocs.
"Fucking hell Kamini! Who is supported to tell us about this white monstrosity?" Kriti shouted in hopelessness. Others also went pale in fear.
"Damn it! Void Burst!! Space Rhythm Compress!!" Nishant pushed back the monster and then slowed it down.
"Keep running!" Nishant shouted as he held back the monster.
"We will not forget your sacrifice." Siddharth said with tears in his eyes.
"Fuck off!" Nishant cursed as he struggled with the monster. The opponent is a Medium Commander with insane raw strength.
"Ice Spread: Enshroud" Advitya froze water to make a makeshift bridge of Ice.
"Space Rhythm: Compress!!" Nishant casted when he confirmed his teammates left.
...
"I hate this, I didn't expect this training to be this terrifying." Niharika complaint.
"Poor Nishant, he sacrificed himself for us." Kriti said in pity. Others fell silent at the statement.
"You are poor." Nishant spat as he appeared in the middle of the group.
"Phew~ somewhere I knew you had some plans." Advitya said in relief.
"Of course I had, otherwise I would have run away leaving all of you behind." Nishant admitted.
"You didn't need to say that. You just destroyed your heroic image." Kriti said. Nishant flinched at the statement, this reminded him of his Interview with the national team committee members when he bluntly said that he would run away leaving behind the team if he found himself in danger, this cost him the position of vice-captain.
"As if I care." Nishant retorted, that's what he also said after the interview but only in his mind.
"Less talking more running." Arjun said in an annoyed tone.
NEXT DAY
"*Pant*... *Pant*..." Team panted like dogs after running for more than 30 kilometres. Mid Tier mages were in worst condition they exhausted all of their magic equipments just to keep up with Advance Tier mages.
"Whose Idea was it to rest on that Island?" Jitendra complaint.
"Mine but I don't know anything about sea monsters. It is Vice-captain's expertise." Shalini said. Everyone eyed Arjun with suspicious expressions.
"I'm deployed in Arabian sea. I'm not familiar with Bay of Bengal. I only found possibility of presence of Salt Water Crocs when it was night time and all of you were too tired. And there was a risk of encountering Salt Water Crocs if we happened to leave the island in the dark. And most importantly, they are a month early." Arjun tried to calm his teammates. As the Vice-captain he needs his teammates to have faith in him.
"Let's go away from the shore first. We are still not safe." Advitya said. His statement gave PTSD to Mid Tier mages.
"Ptfff..." Nishant find it hard to control his laughter which earned him a glare from everyone.
"Sorry..." Nishant quiet down instantly. He doesn't want to become enemy with others.
The group quickly travelled to the other side of the Middle Anandam using the cover of the forest.
"What now?" Siddharth asked in an irritated tone, he couldn't sleep peacefully which is getting on his nerves.
"Nishant" Arjun called. Nishant went into knee deep water and pulled the boat out of his Pocket Space.
"Holy crap!" Siddharth swore at the scene.
"You can actually store such big objects in your pocket space." Siddharth was having a hard time believing his eyes.
"I thought we abandoned it." Shalini asked in surprise, others nodded at the question.
"Well, we did decide to do that but Nishant happened to give it a try and he was able to store it. He had made some improvements in Space Element, he wasn't just aware of it." Arjun explained. Everyone nodded in understanding.
"Let's go!" Arjun started the engine after everyone boarded the boat.
The group reached Great Nicobar after evading Salt Water Crocs which could be seen on almost all barren islands.
"Rest well everyone, tomorrow we will need to reach Sumatra as quickly as possible otherwise we might clash with authorities." Arjun warned. He himself has served as a coast patrol and knew it wouldn't be easy to enter into another country especially with an unauthorised fishing boat.
In the morning the group stealthily reached Sumatra Island. They set up a camp in the forest.
"Vice-captain you were right, Salt Water Crocs are quite early and wrecking havoc in the Bay of Bengal. There are lots of cases of sea monsters attacking civilians especially children. Authorities can't do much due to the threat of Salt Water Crocs. Even for a small search party, few Advance Tier mages are required just to avoid getting wiped out." Siddharth informed.
"Let's not dwell in this matter. Where are we going now?" Shalini asked.
"Jakarta, it will be a great headache to reach Java. Sumatra is by no means small and waters between Java and Sumatra are very busy." Arjun was having a headache just by thinking about the problem.
"Can't we just bribe someone to smuggle us there?" Nishant suggested.
"Bribery is wrong." Advitya said unpleasantly.
"As if trespassing is not, we are on a mission captain and mission is supposed to be accomplished at any cost." Nishant pressed.
"Right" Siddharth agreed. He is part of Dark forces who deals with dark monsters and dark mages. He was taught to use everything to complete his missions unlike Advitya, Arjun and Jitender who mostly deal with monsters. The remaining team members also agreed.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"Then you better have enough soul essences." Arjun agreed reluctantly.
Arjun used some of his contacts and arranged for the team to get smuggled in Java. As a coast guard he has a keen eye for suspicious groups. The only reason he was against bribery is because the money can be used to strengthen the gang and increase the damage to the public.
"How did you arrange the boat?" Jitendra asked.
"There is a network of informers. I used them to find a small gang and here we are." Arjun gave a rough explanation.
NEXT DAY
The group reached Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Advitya led the team to the training hall. He can see impatience among the team members.
"So, who wants to go?" Advitya asked. Nishant, Raj, Siddharth and Jitendra volunteered and seeing no one else was showing interest, Kriti also volunteered.
"Hmm... let's start it then." Advitya hinted at the team to enter the arena. Defenders also enter the arena.
"Begin!" Refree signalled.
"Fiery Fist: Nine Halls" two defenders casted simultaneously.
"Light Blessing: Guard" Jitendra and Kriti casted and easily defended against the attack.
"Thunderbolt: Madness Dance " Raj attacked.
"Fiery Fist: Nine Dragons" Nishant also attacked.
"Rock Barrier: Stone Bunker" two defenders casted simultaneously.
"Light Blessing: Guard" third defender decided to put an extra layer of defence after seeing the Tier-4 Fiery Fist. But to his dismay it wasn't enough.
"Magic Armour!"
"Magic Shield!"
Defenders used their defensive equipment.
"Spirit Tear: Irritation" Defender casted.
"Spirit Wall!" Kriti casted and smirked at her counterpart.
"Violent Waves: Flooding!" a defender casted.
"Light Blessing Guard!" Jitendra easily stopped the spell.
"Fiery Fist: Nine Dragons"
"Fiery Fist: Nine Halls"
Nishant and Raj casted simultaneously. Defenders got defeated with relative ease.
"I didn't even need to do anything." Siddharth muttered. His Shadow Element was useless with Light Spells being used for defence.
"The winner is the Indian Team!" Refree announced.
"That was quite easy." Shalini commented much to defenders's distaste.
The team decided to stay in the capital until their next mission. They were focusing on their cultivation.
AFTER FEW DAYS
"Others are really busy these days." Nishant commented.
"What do you expect? They have gotten resources from their clans and families. They are busy improving themselves." Arjun commented.
"You don't have a rich family or any backers right?" Advitya asked for confirmation.
"Nope" Nishant replied in plain tone.
"Indonesia has the highest number of volcanoes in the world and a naturally high number of Fire Mages and a large amount of Fire Element resources. You should try to find some resources for yourself here if not by purchasing them then by exploring. If you want I can introduce you to some reliable information brokers." Arjun proposed.
"Sure" Nishant agreed.
Arjun led Nishant to some dark alley where he introduced him to a local.
"So what exactly do you want?" Broker asked.
"Something worthy for a Advance Tier Fire Mage." Nishant replied.
"Hmm... most of the accessible volcanoes on Java are almost explored but if you have a Poison Mage, then there is a place you can find something worthwhile but I don't guarantee it." Broker said.
"We have a Poison Mage." Nishant said.
"I wouldn't count on that it will be very hard for us to resist the heat of volcanoes without Fire Element. I doubt she will be of much help." Arjun pointed.
"Right... give me one more location along with this unexplored region." Nishant said.
"Of course, another one is an underwater volcano. Both of these will be 2 soul essences." Broker said.
"Isn't it too much?" Arjun argued.
"Maybe but who knows what you will get? Every volcano has given out at least one soul grade seed to the explorers and many other precious treasures. One Spirit Seed is guaranteed if you are not blind so I would say it's a fair price." Broker reasoned.
"Fine" Nishant readily agreed and got the two scrolls.
"Hmm... Ijen Volcano Complex and Water Volcano." Nishant read the name of the volcanoes.
"Water volcano is quite far while Ijen will need to be put on hold until Shalini come out of seclusion. It was really a waste of time." Arjun wasn't pleased with the information.
"Indeed" Nishant muttered subconsciously. He was in deep thought.
"Let's go, we are supposed to get our resources of WCT training in the evening." Arjun said.
NEXT DAY
Nishant is on the outer edge of Ijen Volcanoes. He can see a thick layer of gas accumulated around it.
"Black Armour!" Nishant summoned his armour and entered the perimeter of the Ijen Volcanoes.
"Environment is poisonous here." Nishant muttered when he found his Armour reacting to the air. Nishant ventured deeper into the region.
SPLASH! A bucket worth of gooey substance fell on Nishant.
"Poison!" Nishant got shocked when he noticed the substance eroding the rock. Nishant gulped hard when he couldn't see the bottom of the hole made by the poison.
BAM! something collided with Nishant.
"A mere servant takes the initiative to attack me." Nishant crushed the creature into pulp using 'Void Claw'.
"No wonder this place is not explored much. It is as dangerous as a purple zone." Nishant commented and continued on his way.
"Is this place that dangerous even monsters can't survive here?" Nishant wondered as he encountered very few monsters. The place can be considered as dangerous as a purple zone not because of the monsters but by the environment alone. The region was insanely dangerous from the very beginning and didn't give enough time to the creatures to adapt it.
Boom! an enormous force hit Nishant and send him crashing in the ground.
"Fuck! Scatter!" Nishant leaped into air without any delay.
"Arghh!" Nishant clenched his jaw and prepared for another hit when he felt a presence behind him.
Nishant was thrown to the ground from mid air. A small crater formed under him.
"Scatter! Scatter!!!" Nishant dashed in zig zag direction until he came face to face with the
assaulter.
"It is a commander." Nishant sighed in relief otherwise if he was being played by warriors doesn't that mean he will be dead if he ventured any deeper. The commander was Poison Death Drake, a kind of undead.
"Space Rhythm: Stasis!!" Nishant casted twice. The speed of the commander fell but it soon came out of the area of effect. Nishant decided to escape upwards.
"Space Rhythm: Lethal Crush!" Nishant casted Tier-4 Intermediate Spell. The commander shivered for once then nothing happened. This spell was kind of random and usually crushes one of the vital organs of the monster but for undeads only their cores were vital.
"Didn't work... Space Rhythm: Stasis!" Nishant casted 3 times and started falling down. The monster was slowed down a lot.
"Meteor Fist!" Nishant casted. The additional effect of Dawn Flame doubles the damage when dark monsters are attacked. The attack was already stronger than usual Tier-2 Advance Tier Fire spell but with additional effect it was twice as deadly now.
The attack did considerable damage to the monster. The monster was a Medium Commander, its defence and physical strength weren't outstanding as it's main weapon was its poison which was currently useless. If now for the fact it was a Drake it would have been done for.
Seeing that the monster survives his attack Nishant didn't wait a second and launched the second attack.
"Fiery Fist: Blazing Fist!" Nishant hit the commander's flank.
SPLASH~
"Water?" Nishant was surprised when he heard a splashing sound. He hurried in the commander's direction only to witness a horrifying scene. The commander was dissolving in the 'water' at a very fast rate. Commander as big as a 4 storey mansion turned into foam and then into nothing.
"This should be a crater lake." Nishant gulped hard. The acid lake is insanely dangerous.
BOOM! a fiery pillar shot out of the lake and threw the acid outwards.
"Void Wall!!!" Nishant casted immediately. The acid got blocked by the Void Wall.
"I should start my work." Nishant installed the Elemental Scanners. Usually such devices attract an insane number of monsters but in this poisonous region it couldn't attract even 100 monsters even after 10 hours.
BEEP BEEP! The device made some sound.
"Haha... it is a soul grade seed. It is... inside the lake." Nishant's joyful expression soon turned sour.
Nishant reached the edge of the lake.
'Let's see, magic right... so this should be the poison element.' Nishant dipped his little finger (covered in armour) in the lake. He pulled it out after some time.
"Armour was reacting, so it's obviously the poison element but the armour is also damaged a bit so it is not the poison element alone, maybe shadow element. What a pain?" Nishant pressed his thumb on his forehead.
BOOM! a fiery pillar shot out of the lake.
"Void Shield!" Nishant casted for protection.
"Hmm... let's see if this will work. Scatter!" Nishant leaped into the air and stopped in mid air using 'Void Shield'. He waited for some time and another fiery pillar shot out of the lake.
"10 minutes" Nishant noted.
After a few hours, Nishant roughly understood the pattern of the fiery pillars and waited until the appearance of the fiery pillar which is closest to the location of Soul Grade Seed.
BOOM!
"Now! Scatter! Space Rhythm: Stasis! Fiery Fist: Fiery Dragon! Space Rhythm Stasis! Fiery Fist: Fiery Dragon!..." Nishant repeated the sequence. He was now inside a cavity he created inside the acid. He is completely surrounded by the highly corrosive acid which can even dissolve a huge commander into nothing.
"Finally..." Nishant reached the Soul Grade Seed, it was Green with blue shade. Nishant started absorbing the seed. With his 2 consciousness he was casting 'Stasis' to slow down the surge of acid around him and his 1 consciousness were subduing the Soul Grade Seed.
"Done! Meteor Fist!" Nishant casted. His Fiery Fist opened a hole in the lake and Nishant quickly got out of the lake.
"Haha..." Nishant sat down on the ground while laughing.
"A Soul Grade Seed... this will make things easier." Nishant muttered to himself. He was feeling relaxed.
"I should leave, the armour is almost as it's limit." Nishant quickly stood and dashed out of the region.
AFTER FEW DAYS
"Nishant~ " Kriti approached Nishant with a charming smile.
"Yes?" Nishant turned his attention to Kriti.
"You see I have awakened Space Element, can you please help me with it?" Kriti asked politely.
"I'm afraid I can't." Nishant refused straightforwardly.
"What?! Why?" Kriti was taken back with an unexpected response. There hasn't been a single instance when she has asked for something politely and someone has refused.
"You see, I have learnt the usage of Space Element on my own and it is my Secondary Element. So I naturally have a high understanding of it but for you that is not the case. My methods might not be suitable for you and you might possibly ruin your foundation." Nishant explained.
"Hmm... You are right. I shouldn't waste my time like this." Kriti said with some annoyance in her tone.
'Hmph! As if I will waste my time teaching you.' Nishant thought.
YEAR- 0021
AFTER 1 MONTH
The group stayed in Indonesia until their next mission. They explored a lot of places in hope of finding some treasure but the best they got was Fire Fundamental Crystal which was bought by Niharika.
Nishant bought a Fire Element Magic Tool for himself with all the savings he had.
AFTER 2 WEEKS
"Do all the National Training Halls only have Intermediate Mages? What's the difference between fighting them or not?" Siddharth said in disappointment.
"It feels like we are bullying the weak." Jitendra commented.
"Don't get overconfident, it is only the beginning and defenders from reputed countries will surely be Advance Tier mages." Arjun rebuked.
AFTER 1 MONTH
The Indian team spends their time experiencing the culture of Thailand and Laos. They travelled through land to China, their next stop.
"China... China... did something big happen there recently?" Kriti asked as she tried to remember.
"A Chinese city was targeted by Red Cardinal Salan. There was also the appearance of Sky Scrapping Snake." Kamini replied.
"Right! I really wanted to visit the West Lake to see the Sky Scrapping Snake." Shalini said excitedly.
"You can do that after we get a stamp from the Chinese Training Hall." Advitya said.
The team made their way to the Chinese training hall.
"So any volunteers?" Advitya looked at the team.
"Me" Nishant volunteered. He plans to volunteer in every match to avoid unnecessary delay by defeats.
"I will also participate." Raj volunteered.
"Count me in" Kamini said.
"Me too" Niharika said.
"I want some opponents to test my spell." Siddharth said with a mischievous smile.
"Captain then can we go to West Lake." Shalini asked.
"Hmm... Arjun you will be responsible for the training hall team." Advitya ordered.
"Understood" Arjun led his team to the training hall.
"This place is off limits for tourists." a guard standing on the entrance stopped the team.
"We aren't here for a tour. We are here to challenge the training hall." Arjun said.
"Ok follow me." guard led the team to the incharge.
"Indian team, you are quite punctual... how about we have a team match with no time limit." Incharge proposed after analysing the team.
"We are fine with it." Arjun agreed.
Both teams entered the arena.
The Chinese team has Mo Fan, Mu Ningxue, Mui Nu Jiao, Dongfang Lie and Zhou Li.
The Indian team has Nishant, Niharika, Raj, Siddharth and Kamini.
"Begin!" Incharge signalled.
"Fiery Fist: Nine Dragons" Dongfang Lie casted as soon as the match begins.
"Blazing Fist!" Nishant casted and easily overpowered Dongfang Lie's attack.
"Magic Shield! Magic Armour!" Dongfang Lie summoned but he was still injured severely.
...
"Oh my god!"
"Dongfang Lie got defeated just like that!"
...
Defenders were taken back a little.
"Thunderbolt: Madness Dance!" Raj casted only then defenders came to their senses.
"Lightning... I will deal with him. Lightning Whip! Lightning Disaster!" Mo Fan diverted the 'Thunderbolt' to himself and attacked Raj. Raj was caught off guard and got injured but not enough to be eliminated.
"Heavenly Flame Funeral: Blazing Rain!" Niharika casted.
"This is bad!" an unknown defender muttered under his breath.
"Light Blessing: Guard! Mountain Barrier: Stone Bunker!" unknown defender casted. Niharika may have casted an Advance Tier spell but its power was wide spread.
"Ice Lock" Mu Ningxue used her Ice Lock to defend.
Mui Nu Jiao used her magic equipment to defend.
As for Mo Fan the spell wasn't threatening enough.
"Nirvana Ice Domain!" Mu Ningxue expanded her Domain.
"Got you!" Siddharth appeared behind Mu Ningxue.
"Shadow Nails!" Siddharth threw shadow Nails on Mu Ningxue's shadow but to his surprise they didn't work.
"I see, a fake shadow." Siddharth hastily retreated. He realised the 'shadow' he targeted was a reflection of real shadow.
"Death Song: Explode!" Kamini targeted the unknown defender and eliminated him.
...
"Two of our defenders are eliminated but the opponent hasn't lost a single one. We might lose."
...
"Ice Realm: Ice Coffin!" Mu Ningxue casted. 5 Ice coffins fell around Kamini.
"What?!" Kamini found herself in a pinch.
"Ice Lock!" Mu Ningxue targeted Kamini and eliminated her.
...
"Soul Grade Seed!... then why is she here instead of the National Team?" Arjun was shocked. He can't imagine someone with a Soul Grade Seed is just a defender doesn't that mean quite a few members of the National Team would have Soul Grade Seed.
...
"Fiery Fist: Fiery Dragon!" Nishant targeted Mu Ningxue who nimbly dodged the attack.
"Forest of Kun!" Mui Nu Jiao tried to entrap Nishant.
"What nonsense?! Fiery Fist: Nine Halls!" Nishant burned down the Forest of Kun.
"Meteorite Fist!" Mo Fan shot towards Raj who was trying to cast Advance Tier Lightning Spell.
"Magic Shield! Magic Armour!" Raj summoned his equipment but to his dismay they couldn't withstand the power as he hasn't changed them yet. Raj decisively forfeited the match.
"Thousand Fiery Feathers!" Mo Fan continued his assault and targeted remaining members of the Indian Team. Niharika also forfeited.
Nishant and Siddharth were protected by Nishant's 'Void Wall' and withstand the onslaught.
"Nyx Regime!" Siddharth casted. The entire arena got covered in darkness.
"Shadow Nails: Thorns" Siddharth targeted Mu Ningxue. His ego took a hit when he failed to eliminate her in the first attempt.
"What?!" Siddharth was taken back with sudden realisation. His Shadow Element is weakened. Mu Ningxue easily broke free from Shadow Nails.
"Shadow Evade: Flight!" Siddharth tried to escape but Mu Ningxue's domain provides her with a sharp magic sense in the domain.
"Ice Lock!" Mu Ningxue caught Siddharth. Nyx Regime disappeared.
"Meteorite Fist!" Seeing that only Nishant was left Mo Fan lunged at him.
"Blazing Fist!" Nishant's fist collided with Mo Fan's fist and an explosion took place. Mo Fan got thrown back.
...
"Holy crap!"
"You gotta be kidding."
"Mo Fan's strongest attack got nullified that easily."
...
"As I thought, he is tough." Mo Fan muttered as he stood up with some efforts.
"Ice Realm: Ice Coffin" Mu Ningxue casted. 5 Ice Coffins appeared on top of Nishant.
"Scatter!" Nishant dodged coffins and shot forward.
"Blazing Fist!" Nishant targeted Mu Ningxue. Mu Ningxue summoned tens of Ice chains to defend herself.
"Ho" Nishant was a little surprised as his attack got stopped by Mu Ningxue even though he wasn't using Soul Grade Seed's power but it was still praiseworthy to stop Advance Tier with Intermediate Spell. He smirked when Mo Fan, Mu Ningxue and Mui Nu Jiao stood against him.
"Nishant! no need to push yourself." Arjun said warily. It will be
troublesome if Nishant shows too much of his strength.
"You should listen to your captain." Mo Fan said, trying to manipulate Nishant.
