Garden Of The Abyss

Watching the panda as residual energy from the blast remained on his fur in globs of white, burning masses of mana, Mencius caught his breath that was left in the dome turned oven.

"Come forth, Hongse!"

Tossing his treasured blade to the side, it embedded itself into the lot of sand directly next to Hongse's hammer.

"What's this!? Mencius casted his all-powerful sword to the side! Is he trying to play with his food here!?"

Announcing from the top-levels of the arena, Asmodeus' voice rang out as the crowd was left wondering what led to this unbecoming choice of the calculating, verdant-haired man.

"Ghh…! Right into the stand! The nerve of that bastard…!"

Ju-Long gritted his teeth at the sight of the treasured sword being planted into the sea of sand, his anger manifesting tangibly as the ground around him vibrated.

Woah there, big guy! Ren thought.

In truth, even being one bestowed with an affinity of Gaia, I was born with a frail body. A simple cold spelled a potential end for me many times as a child..

Sometimes I blamed that for my ineptitude as a warrior, but I was wrong; I simply didn't give it my all.

A victory with that blessed blade wouldn't mean a thing--I know that much, teacher. If I want to rise to the top, I have to embody everything a Jingpohuai must be--and stand at the pinnacle.

Show me, Hongse, show me how I've grown, he thought.

Inhaling a tranquil breath, Mencius slowly moved his hands in a circular motion before settling into a stance prepared for hand-to-hand combat.

"...Are you an idiot?"

Speaking with a cough of smoke, the panda who could only open one eye properly spoke to his green-haired opponent with perplexion lacing his words.

Pausing for a moment, Mencius held a small smile, "Perhaps. Don't get mistaken, however; I am not taking it easy on you. I simply find that sword vexing to use."

"That sounds like taking it easy on me with extra steps...but, at this point, I'll take it."

Even as he swayed side-to-side as if his consciousness was fleeting, Hongse clearly wasn't out of the fight yet--it was a simple observation made by Mencius just by a glance at the demi-humans form.

His body is bulked-up; whatever transformation he underwent is still active. I don't know if he's as resilient as can be or just pretending to be badly injured, but I can't underestimate him, Mencius thought.

A guy like him...it's hard to imagine a smart fella like himself would throw away his advantages so easily. I better watch out in case I'm being played, Hongse thought.

"The hell is that moss head doing? He totally threw away his chance at victory!"

"Isn't that a good thing…?"

Looking at how Macheo gritted his teeth at this development, Iris' question came with uncertainty as she looked at the young man's expression.

"I hate to admit it, but this might be his best chance...if his opponent wants to play games, let him play games."

Keeping his hand against his chin, Ren spectated closely as the two combatants prepared to meet fist-to-fist.

"You can do it, Hongse…"

Aiko's meek words couldn't meet the panda's ears, but the feeling got across nonetheless as he puffed his chest out.

"Enough beating around the bush; let's end this!"

Beginning his charge forward, Hongse pushed off the ground with a powerful kick of his legs as he roared out.

I'm nearly out of gas; my primal form burns through ten-thousand calories a minute--I might really die if I keep it up, he thought.

Looming over Mencius like a harrowing beast, Hongse was by far superior to the scholar in sheer size, throwing his massive paw down in a balled fist as his blunt attack was dodged by the man's slippery nature.

In terms of raw strength, you outclass me by a long shot, Hongse. However, fights aren't decided by those who hit harder, but by those who outmaneuver their opponents! Mencius thought.

Spinning himself around into a powerful kick, the momentum gathered despite his thin-frame allowed Mencius to land an impactful blow against the beastly demi-human's head.

Besides, I only intended to fight you without my blade--not without my magic! He added.

Manifesting from emerald particles gathering around his right arm, lively roots neatly intertwined themselves, wrapping around the man's thin arm like an oversized piece of armor. Squeezing this fist of empowered oak tightly shut, Mencius threw his arm back before crashing his fist against the head of the compromised demi-human with a roaring impact, kicking up a storm of sand.

"If you thought our green-haired competitor here only had brains, you'd be proven wrong right about now! Talk about brawn!"

Announcing with such vigor, Asmodeus' words caused a rise in the crowd as a mixture of cheers for both competitors flooded the arena's vast space.

"Go, Hongse! Go, Hongse!"

"Mencius! Mencius!"

All the same, in the climax of their bout, the two fighters paid no mind to such outside notions. Responding to the powerful blow originating from the wrath of nature itself, the primal panda roared out as he swung his length claws at the scholar.

"Gh!"

Raising his oak-clad arm in defense of the swipe, Mencius watched as the sable claws belonging to the demi-human carved straight through the intertwined, thick bunch of roots like parchment. Even with such dense protection, his flesh was reached--gritting his teeth as the abrasive talons tore chunks of his flesh straight from his forearm in one-go.

Did I underestimate his strength…!? No--he's using more than before! Mencius thought.

Before he could counterattack, another assault came from the towering, red-furred panda as he parted his maw, lunging forward with his fangs aimed at the man's exposed flesh.

"I've never seen him like this…"

"Me neither."

Watching with, Ren unsurprisingly found himself in the same boat at Aiko, finding himself mostly devoid of words at the sight of his savage comrade.

"What's up with him? I didn't take Big Hong to be the type to fight like that…"

Even Macheo found his crimson eyes worried at this sight, witnessing the demi-human attempt to bite a chunk right out of his foe.

"There's a reason he doesn't use his primal form often; he can't control himself well. He must really respect his opponent's strength to willingly push it this far."

Valerie kept her composure as her eyes remained readily set on the battle.

"...I don't think so!"

Before the jaws of the great panda could enclose on the man's flesh, Mencius grabbed hold of his jaws, pushing him back as saliva trickled down like a hungering waterfall from the demi-human's maw.

Distracted by this contest of strength, the green-haired scholar felt his stomach drop as his mind skipped a note at the glimpse of building, burning radiance birthing from within the maw of his foe.

Fire…! He thought.

Stomping his foot against the coarse sand, Mencius kicked the demi-human in the gut before manifesting spikes of nature from the lifeless ground below, sending them directly towards the ferocious beast before the flames sprouted from his maw could reach him.

Out they came like the bowels of hell, spraying across the arena as Hongse turned his head across the span of the arena, aiming the wild flames at all of the incoming, weaponized roots.

I'm already at a disadvantage in this environment--manifesting these roots without any living soil to draw from is taxing on me. But, to make it worse, he's burning through all of the roots like they're nothing to him. "Living Roots" is the only spell I can use without incantations; that was likely one of my strongest cards to play in this tournament--allowing everyone to assume I could use magic as a whole without incantations.

I'll have to change my approach, Mencius thought.

Drawing in a quick, filling breath into his lungs, Mencius ran his palms together as he jumped back, twisting around as he avoided the reach of the flames.

"Dangun: Coffin of Flowers!"

Manifesting from his words, vines sprouted from the sand which bore no life, stretching their vibrant, verdant form up into the air as they danced around the fire-breathing demi-human, enclosing him.

As soon as the cage of nature was formed around Hongse, an array of flowers sprouted along the length of the vines; roses, lilies--all which existed in gardens flourished.

Even so, the integrity of this spell was quickly diminished by the breath of flames as they desecrated the serene flowers, spreading their wrath along the vines as they withered to ash.

"What was he even planning…? Using plants against fire isn't very optimal…"

"You're right, but I have a bad feeling about this."

Ren spoke to Aiko as his voice fell quiet, witnessing the prison of plant life be turned to ash by the flames.

"It's over."

Jae-Seong's simple words weren't spoken with any frivolity as those standing beside the curly-haired man didn't even have enough time to question him before their answer came.

As the lumbering, savage demi-human broke free from the prison, his vision of the arena returned--greeted by a sight that even halted the mind that fell to animalistic instinct.

Completely clad in an armor of oak from head to toe, Mencius stood in wait just beyond the wall of burning vines and flowers, having foreseen this outcome.

The same as the large, powerful arm of roots he wrapped his left arm in previously, the same process was used for his entire body as flowers sprouted from the seams of this armor born of Gaia itself.

More than that, there was an immense gathering of magical energy in the fist Mencius held high--a coalescence of verdant mana danced around that very arm. It was a textbook usage of misdirection; trapping Hongse in the blinding vines that Mencius knew very well the demi-human would escape.

However, it was just a tool to buy himself time to gather his magical energy into this one attack.

Checkmate, Mencius thought.

Packing everything into that singular punch as Hongse was still stumbling forward in an effort to halt his brazzen speed, Mencius threw his reinforced fist directly against the panda's nose as a hum filled the space of the arena.

Even if this is my strongest punch, I wouldn't bet on it being enough to put you down--in most cases, that is. But you were caught completely off-guard by this, your defenses were down, and your awareness was nowhere to be had, Mencius thought.

A flash of verdancy erupted before the wind cracked, and the demi-human was sent propelling backwards at a rapid speed before crashing against the farthest wall.

Watching with such desperate eyes, the Weltwanderers waited for the sand to settle as the stands seemed to fall silent as well in this wait.

As the sand fell to normalcy once more, the sight of the unconscious, tubby panda was heart-wrenchingly revealed.

"We have a winner, folks! Taking the first round of the Champion's Culling, Mencius clenched out a clear-cut victory!"