Elementalists
Chapter 11 - The End of the First Round

"Aryans? Until when are we going to delay checking the caves?" asked Asuna in a bored tone.

That night the two of them were sitting by the bonfire as usual, for some reason this has become their habit lately after they have eaten their dinner. Arya was cleaning her sword blade so as not to rust, she heard Asuna question but she chose to remain silent and continue her work.

"Hey Arya's? Did you hear me? We only have one week left, you?"

Arya turned her gaze from her blade and looked at Asuna, she was silent for a while. Then he resumed his work.

"Hey! You're ignoring me on purpose, aren't you?!"

"Not yet" Arya replied calmly.

"Why?"

"For now it is better to collect food first to survive"

"But now we can already get food every day right? Why collect it then?"

"Open it clear? We gather food to continue training your archery skills, I don't want you to do anything stupid like when we hunt for the first time. Do you want something like that to happen when we meet the Minotaur?"

"But.....is not my ability better?" asuna asked sounded a little moody.

Arya felt a little guilty after hearing the change in tone of Asuna's voice, to be honest Asuna's ability was much better than when they first hunted. Even now he has been able to shoot the fish in the river from the top of the cliff as high as 5 meters without missing a bit, it shows a very remarkable development according to Arya.

"Not enough, just be patient a little more. We'll definitely go check out the caves soon, but with your abilities now still too dangerous"

"Are you worried about me?" asked Asuna while twisting her black hair.

Arya just kept quiet and looked at him with a questioning look.

"A..a....what?! Don't look at me like that!" asuna said, turning her face away with a red face.

"Don't piety like that dong, basic" said Arya while standing.

Arya walked over to Asuna who was still turning her face away from her.

"I don't care--" said Asuna annoyed while turning to Arya.

But he did not manage to finish his words because Arya was already in front of him and stroked his head with a smile.

"I will protect you" for sure"

Hearing Arya's words, Asuna's eyes widened and she just looked down with a reddened face accompanied by a small nod of omen she approved of what Arya said earlier.

"But we don't know yet if there really is a Minotaur in those caves, right?" asked Asuna while still looking down.

"Just calm down, I'm sure there must be" Arya replied confidently.

"Why can you be so sure?" asked Asuna again while venturing up to look at Arya.

"Mmm my gut says that"

"Huh?"

"Well time to rest, good night, princess"

"Don't make any more strange calls, you son of a bitch" Asuna said, annoyed as she stood up.

Asuna walked towards the pit where she used to rest leaving Arya outside with the night sky studded with bright shining stars.

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Arya stared at the bonfire in front of her while pondering, her head filled with many thoughts about what she should do in order for herself and Asuna to escape this stage immediately. Actually he had his own reasons for delaying checking the caves, it had been a few nights he and Asuna planned to check the caves the next morning. But Arya always canceled the plan the next day.

It's not without reason, he feels something strange every night while he's awake. There's something going on around here that's affecting his body, I don't know what it is. Clearly this was not a good thing because only he felt it, he had asked Asuna about it but the Princess of the Bedouin said he did not feel anything strange. And according to Arya this matter is quite dangerous, she has a bad feeling about this.

Arya's daydream faded when suddenly Asuna came out of the hole where she was resting with a strange facial expression.

"Ah, the Princess ti-eh I mean Asuna, what's wrong?" ask Arya quickly.

He wished that Asuna had not heard what she said just now.

"Hey Arya?" call Asuna slowly.

"Hmm?"

"Are you......"

"What's? Don't be shy, it doesn't match your nature" Arya sneered.

"What did you say?! You suck!!!"

"Well, what's the matter, princess?"

"I want to ask for help"

"Solicit what please? Just tell me"

"I want....."

"Hmm?"

Asuna looks hesitant to convey it to Arya.

"I want to pee, can you take me?" asuna said at last while bowed with a face flushed with embarrassment.

"Eh?" arya was confused.

"Don't make me repeat that stupid shit!"

"Ta..ta..but Asuna why? You're this big still being ushered in to poop?" arya asked withholding laughter.

"In the house the bathroom is inside" murmured Asuna slowly.

"I forgot you're a Hime-sama"

"Stop calling me that jerk"

"Yes-yes I delivered, lest this time you throw a big one, huh?" Aryan Goda.

"I want to pee, you idiot........!!!" asuna shouted while lashing out at Arya.

In the end Arya drove Asuna to urinate even though on the way Arya did not forget to take the time to tease Asuna with taunts that Arya sure would make her very upset.

"Why is the place so far away?" ask Asuna when they finally arrived at their destination.

"I'm sorry, lady, I don't want to smell bad when I'm awake all night" Arya replied as she stuck out her tongue.

"What is that really?" muttered Asuna slowly.

"Who knows"

"Ekkh....Arya...if only I can use my powers" exasperated Asuna.

"I'll run away with my power soon, isn't that quick you can't stand it?" reply Arya casually.

"Very well, don't you dare to take a peek!" asuna's medal.

"Thank you, but I'm sorry I'm not interested" Arya said as she leaned against the tree.

Asuna also walked towards the river with a sour face.

"Don't forget to flush?" arya said while chuckling.

"Without you even telling me I must have done it" Asuna said annoyed.

After hearing the sound of water splashing Arya turned her head from behind the tree and saw Asuna walking towards him while wiping her hands.

"Required?" Aryan Goda.

"Whisper!" asuna.

Arya smiled at the woman's behavior, but the smile disappeared as she saw something behind Asuna. Arya immediately pulled Asuna's hand and laid it on the ground so that they were both hidden behind a bush, Arya closed Asuna's mouth with one hand while the other hand she put on her own lips to signal Asuna to be quiet.

At first Asuna rebelled but after she saw a serious face and a gesture from Arya she was silent, Arya saw something, exactly someone. He did not know if the person was male or female because the person was wearing a headscarf, the person jumped from tree to tree very agilely. It was like dancing among the trees, Arya thought.

At the same time Asuna who had her mouth held captive by Arya felt something sticky and slimy stick to the skin of her hand and she could not hold herself anymore. He revolted and made the bushes they were hiding move around, but it was enough for that person to realize there was someone there. Arya swiftly restrained Asuna and put away the earthworm on Asuna's hand.

But it was too late for the man to look at the bushes where they were hiding.

"Who's there?" his yell.

He came down from the trees and walked closer to the river, he squinted his eyes and stared at the bushes across the river with a watchful face. Arya looked at that person's face and what Arya remembered the most from that person was the color of her blue eyes. Suddenly there were voices behind the man, he turned his head quickly and jumped back into the trees and disappeared.

Arya only realized that from earlier she was holding her so tense breath, she took a deep breath and exhaled with relief. That was very dangerous.

"Arya can you get away from me" Asuna asked softly.

Arya looked down at Asuna, she just realized that they were in a position that was difficult to explain. Arya quickly moved away while raising her hand.

"Sorry Asuna I didn't mean to" Arya replied as she stammered.

Asuna tried to calm herself down by taking a deep breath and cleared her throat while covering her mouth with her right hand.

"What was that" asked Asuna at last.

"We must return immediately and it looks like we must abandon our intention to inspect the caves as soon as possible" Arya replied as she stood up and cleaned her pants.

"Hey answer me first what was that?" ask Asuna again.

Arya pulled Asuna's hand for her to stand up and held her hand while walking to get away from the place immediately.

"Hey Arya, please explain our situation"

"Elf" muttered Arya quietly.

"Eh? What did you say?" asked Asuna in surprise.

"We are right on the border between the Neutral Region and the Elven Territory, in other words, the forest across the river is the territory of the strongest race. And of course we don't want to steal their attention, do we?"

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In the end they decided not to do anything a few days after the incident of an unexpected encounter with the Elf, because Arya was worried that some Elves would be ordered to patrol the area due to the incident. But due to the demands of time to complete their mission in accordance with the predetermined time they both set out to inspect the caves when the deadline they only had 3 days left.

"I hope your premonition of the Minotaur in the caves is true" Asuna said.

"I hope so too" said Arya.

The two of them were on their way to the cave that Asuna had seen last week, both of them had been wearing equipment to fight and were ready at any moment if they suddenly had to face off against the Minotaur. But it turned out that they were unlucky not to find anything in the two caves they first examined, they only found a damp cave filled with unpleasant odors due to bat droppings.

"This is the last one" Asuna said as the two of them were right at the mouth of the last cave.

"Yes, let's bet everything on this last cave" Arya said as she pulled the sword from its sheath.

The two of them looked at each other and nodded together then walked into the cave, surprisingly it turns out that in the last cave they did not find the unpleasant smell of bat feces. But they found skeletons of animals like deer and many other animals in there.

"Asuna, seeing this I can deduce two things"

"Hmm? What'sthat?"

"It's actually more like good news and bad news"

"Don't beat around the bush, tell me quickly"

"You want to hear the good news first or the bad news?"

"Whatever, let me know quickly"

"The good news is that this place is actually inhabited by Minotaurs"

"really? Thank goodness then" Asuna said happily.

"And the bad news is, it looks like they're carnivores"

"Eh?"

Just now Arya said like that, they both felt that there was something behind their backs. They felt the hot breaths of each of them, slowly and together they turned their heads behind them.

Then the two of them shouted with all their might in surprise when they saw what was in front of them, a Minotaur with a height of 3 meters and a body full of muscles standing in front of them. The minotaur had reddish feathers and black horns, it also carried a large war axe with one hand.

Without waiting for anything else the Minotaur raised its battle axe and prepared to swing it towards Asuna, Arya swiftly pulled Asuna back and prepared with her sword. Arya held back the swing of the axe from the Minotaur with her sword, it turned out that the blow was heavier than he had expected so he had to use both hands to hold his sword so that it could hold the Minotaur's battle axe.

After Arya said that Asuna quickly slid through the foot gap of the Minotaur because the Minotaur's body covered the exit, after Asuna had made it out safely. Arya threw the Minotaur battle axe with all her might, this made the Minotaur somewhat staggered and the opportunity was not wasted by Arya to get out of the cave in the same way as Asuna did.

"Asuna prepare your arrows" Arya shouted as she exited the cave.

Without Arya telling Asuna to be ready with an arrow in her hand, the red-furred Minotaur quickly caught up with Arya and Asuna who had come out of the cave. He let out a battle cry from his mouth, the sound of screaming made the birds around the place fly over in surprise. Arya quickly ran towards the Minotaur while swinging her sword, but the Minotaur was no less quick to swing her battle axe.

Their weapons clashed at high speed in the air causing sparks due to two metals rubbing against each other quickly, Asuna was not just silent. he attacked the Minotaur by continuously pouring arrows at it, but the Minotaur nimbly and deftly always managed to avoid the arrows.

Arya though superior in speed against the Minotaur and managed to injure his body several times but the injuries seemed to have no influence whatsoever. Arya realized that if her sword slash was too shallow if it continued like this she would not be able to inflict fatal injuries on this monster, the skin of this monster was too thick. Only Asuna's arrows could inflict fatal wounds on this monster.

"Asuna can't you get over it?" arya asked while dodging the attack from the Minotaur.

"Don't you see I'm trying?" asuna replied annoyed.

"He has good reflexes so your arrows can definitely be dodged"

"Then what should I do?"

"Stand behind me and follow my movements"

"Eh?"

"Just do it"

"Like this?" asuna asked after being behind Arya.

"Yes, now point the arrow at my back" said Arya while still avoiding the Minotaur.

"Ehh?! Whatchu mean? If I do that you could get hit too"

"Ckk no other way, by doing this can definitely make his reflex late, just do it quickly"

"T..ta.but if my arrow misses the bagaima---"

"Just calm down, I trust you" Arya said as she turned her head and smiled at him.

Upon seeing that Asuna unhesitatingly released an arrow right towards the back of Arya, Arya used what she learned from Supervisor Romero. He increased his sense of hearing in order to hear the whirring of the wind as the arrows shot towards him, and in a timely manner dodged. The arrow finally stuck into the thick skin of the red Minotaur, the monster bellowed in pain.

"Continue Asuna" Arya ordered.

Asuna quickly followed all of Arya's movements and released her arrows, in other words Arya became the target of her arrows. It was Arya who determined the arrow would be directed to the Minotaur body which, in just a few moments the body of the Minoataur was full of arrows that stuck. But still full of energy, Arya did something that came to her mind, she climbed up the Minotaur's body quickly and sat on the shoulder of the huge monster.

He thrust his sword into the Minotaur's right eye and a few moments later the arrow from Asuna followed to destroy the Minotaur's left eye, after both his eyeballs were crushed the Minotaur went on a rampage so blindly that Arya was thrown off her shoulder.

He snorted loudly and then ran as hard as he could towards Arya while directing his black horn, Arya did not have time to dodge and had to be hit by a header from the Minotaur that made a bounce on the wall near the mouth of the cave. He felt some of his bones were broken as a result of the attack.

"Don't come any closer" Arya shouted as she saw Asuna wanting to approach her.

The minotaur returned to attack as before, chasing Arya even though he continued to dodge. The minotaur, even though his eyes had been shattered he used his kisser to figure out the position of Aryan.

"Asuna please aim for her foot"

Asuna did as Arya told her, Arya quickly herded the Minotaur towards the wall near the mouth of the cave. The minotaur was still with endless power chasing Arya tirelessly.

"Now!!!" yell Aryan.

Asuna released her arrows just before the Minotaur reached the wall, this attack left her slightly hobbled and upset her balance. Seeing that Arya quickly ran towards the wall and put her sword on the wall, as a result of the speed of his attack the Minotaur was unable to stop and continued to approach the sword Arya had prepared on the wall. And when the Minotaur almost reached the wall Arya with her feet and jumped behind the Minotaur, the Minotaur hit the wall with her head stuck on the sword of Arya.

Arya gasped at the fierce battle earlier, suddenly her consciousness disappeared and the last she saw was Asuna who ran towards her while calling her name. When he realized that his head had been laid on Asuna's lap, he saw Asuna's worried face and there were a few tears at the end of her eyes.

"Stupid" he said after seeing Arya muttered.

"Hey is that how you say hello to someone who just woke up?" arya asked with a smile.

Asuna was silent and speechless for a while.

"I'm sorry I worried you" Arya said at last as she woke up from her position.

"A.a.a.I'm not worried about you" Asuna replied.

"Looks like we made it"

"Yes, but haven't we failed yet?"

"Just calm down, if we've failed, we've both been sent back"

"You're right"

"Alright let's go back to Elemental City" Arya said as she stood up.

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"I don't think you're coming" Timothy greeted Arya and Asuna out of the portal.

Arya looked at it with a saturated look, then turned to Asuna and asked.

"Who is he?"

"I don't know either" Asuna added

"Hey! You two made a deal not to know me?"

Arya was actually quite happy to meet Timothy again, but it was still too early to listen to the insignificant chatter from him.

"So unknown sir can you explain the current condition?" ask Arya.

"Ahh basic, you guys almost failed. You are the 4th team to arrive, in other words you are the last team to qualify for the next stage"

"really? Thank goodness we succeeded" Arya said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Who hasn't come yet?" ask Asuna.

Asuna's question was answered a few seconds later when the portal near them was active and gave rise to two figures who were none other than Ali and Selena.

"It looks like we failed?" selena asked with a weak laugh.

Ali too could only bow listlessly.

"You are only a few minutes late, we also just arrived" said Asuna.

"It seems like we were both too cool to do a lot of things there" Selena said, scratching her head.

"Doing a lot of things? Likewhat?" ask Arya.

"Mmm you know, make waterways, shelter, gathering places to eat and much more"

"Ehh Selena? Are you planning to make a settlement there?" arya asked looking at him with a strange look.

"Ahahaha it seems so" Selena replied with a laugh.

"So what's the sequence?" ask Timothy.

"Zayn and Elizabeth completed their mission in just one week, followed by Kevin and Rena 2 days later, then me and Lexa just arrived last night, and you're praying today" Timothy obviously.

"Waahh so great that they can finish their mission so quickly" said Selena amazed.

Arya thought that she and Asuna should also be able to complete their mission even faster if only they were not trapped on the border of the Elf realm. Then Arya saw the Astral Watchers coming near them, she bowed to the four of them.

"Eventually everything has arrived, can you give me the items you have collected?"

Arya immediately gave a leather pouch containing the Minotaur horn that they had obtained to the Astral Supervisor.

"The stuff you gathered is also Miss Wave" the Astral Watchdog told Selena.

"Eh? But aren't we late?" selena asked while removing a bag of skin as well.

Astral's supervisor just smiled and took the pouch from Selena's hand, gesturing them to follow her. The Astral Watchers took them to one of the rooms where they used to practice, in that room the other Elementalists had been waiting for them.

"Alright I will explain what you should do next" the Astral Watchdog said after they had all sat down.

"First congratulations on the 4 teams that qualified for the next round, the eight Elementalists would follow the next round. And from now on you are not a team anymore, from now on you will fight for yourself"

As the atmosphere in the room changed, they all glanced at each other with suspicious gazes. Arya did not care much even though Asuna did the same to her.

"Eh.....Supervisor then we both have to do what?" ask Selena suddenly.

"Ahh Mr. Sand and Miss Wave, even though you were the last team to arrive you both managed to collect the requested items. And it shows that you are just unlucky, so you two can still take the 2nd stage Elementalist Examination, but cannot participate and get the rewards of this first stage Exam"

"really? Thank God, isn't Ali?" selena said to Ali.

They both looked happy after hearing the news.

"But you still have to serve the punishment for coming last"

"Eh?!!!"

"Alright I will explain this round of 2, in this round there will be a 1-on-1 fight between the remaining eight Elementalists. At this stage you are allowed to use all your abilities while fighting, I hope that no one will be killed"

The Elementalists who escaped listened carefully to the Astral Overseer's explanation.

"You are allowed to carry weapons and the like, and whoever wins this round of 2 will be crowned as the Chairman of this generation Elementalist"

"I want to ask the Supervisor" Arya said as she raised her hand.

"mmm? Please Mr. Frost"

"Why should we fight?"

"Because the most powerful person must always be listened to by others" the Astral Watchdog replied calmly.

Arya agreed with that opinion, but honestly she didn't like it very much.

"Do we have to fight with women? Wouldn't it be like that we're a little superior to them?" ask Arya.

"That's right the Supervisor, it's a little off balance in my opinion" Timothy added.

"I don't think so" replied the Astral Watchdog.

"What do you mean?" kevin asked, clenching his forehead.

"This way you guys shouldn't underestimate women too much, otherwise you can regret"

"What is your basic saying like that?" ask Arya.

"Mmm because the Stage 1 Elementalist Examination of the previous two innings the winner was a woman" the Astral Supervisor replied as he returned a gaze from Arya.

"Mmm?"

"The previous match winner was your mother, Lyan Frost. And he was the Elementalist Leader of his generation"

Arya's eyes widened to hear those words, was it true that her mother was that great?.

"Wouldn't you underestimate us too much Aru?" sahut Lexa while looking towards Arya.

"He's right, I'll definitely burn you. Just look at it later" Asuna added.

Arya let out a long sigh, she forgot that these female Elementalists were ferocious monsters that were ready to attack at any time.so she had better be careful"

"Alright if there are no more questions, please go ahead here and take the lottery number in the box in front of me" said Astral Supervisor.

One by one they came forward and took out a piece of paper from the box, when Arya's turn came she walked leisurely. But his steps stopped as he passed through Asuna.

"I will definitely defeat you" Asuna told him.

"really? Do you really think you can beat me BAKASUNA?" aryan taec.

"Let's see if I meet you later in this match, I'll burn you"

"Hahaha I can't wait, fight" Arya said with a smile and continued her steps.

After they all got the lottery numbers, the Astral Supervisor created a chart for them and filled out the numbers on that chart that consisted of numbers 1 through 8.

"Everybody got their number, right? Let's see who will fight in the first match, please number 1 and 2 show your number"

The owners of numbers 1 and 2 held their numbers up high. The Supervisor's eyes widened to see who the owner of the two numbers indicated that he was a little surprised, then he smiled slightly.

"First match of the 1st round Elementalist Examination, Elizabeth Light vs. Arya Frost"