(MC POV)
The twins were standing side by side, both of them ready to either charge in or hold their ground.
Sylphy and Brendan had adopted a more defensive position with Sylphy standing in front of Brendan, no doubt to either protect her new love interest or to give him time to cast his Techniques since he was slower in materializing them.
All I needed to do was to raise my hand before letting it drop in a descending motion, "Begin!"
Sylphy was the first to act, her Quark circulation being the fastest amongst them.
She raised her arms and a wall of air materialised in front of her, shielding both Brendan and her from the fireball that flew towards them a few moments later.
Noticing that Chris was shielding his eyes with the crook of his arm, I temporarily blinded myself by summoning a layer of darkness in front of my eyes.
The cry of surprise and pain from Brendan and Sylphy was enough to clue me in on what happened. A similar sounding curse from the pavilion also suggested an unfortunate bystander's predicament.
Just as I dispelled the blindfold, Brendan had shouted, "Throw the wall to our right!"
Sylphy showed no hesitation in her actions, swinging her hand in an arc to cause the wall of air blasting out in the same direction.
Chris, who had been in the midst of trying to flank them, was caught completely off guard and received a direct hit from the blast. The poor guy was sent tumbling head over heels away from them, crashing into the wall nearby.
Unexpectedly, the other twin did not panic, opting to send another ball of light their way instead.
Again, I protected my eyes before the ball of light detonated, blinding both of the other students again when they were trying to clear their vision.
This time, there was the sound of something shattering on the ground in the pavilion followed by another curse.
Once I removed the darkness again, 'Chris with a K' was already pulling his twin up, supporting him to let him materialise another fireball in front of him.
At this moment, Brendan knelt down to punch the ground with his fist.
At first I thought it was out of frustration but a water pillar burst forth from the ground underneath Chris, sending both him and his twin flying high up into the air
I realised a second later what he did. A really crafty fellow he was.
With the unexpected attack from below, the fireball that Chris had been created was blasted off course, heading directly towards me.
I managed to side step it in time but the pavilion behind me was not so fortunate. The fireball swerved up and exploded on its roof, setting it ablaze.
Perhaps I should have added a barrier inscription as well… Oh well, a little too late for that.
Not sure what's wrong with Elder Gong today but everything seemed out to get him for some reason.
Feeling a little sorry for him, I summoned a blob of water to help Elder Gong put out the fire on the roof of his pavilion.
Both the twins fell down towards the earth a distance away, both of them trying and failing to keep themselves airborne.
Taking advantage of their panic, Sylphy created two needles made of air and sent each one piercing through their heads.
The attack was considered fatal so they were teleported just outside the inscription safe and sound.
"Quite an interesting turn of events, but Brendan and Sylphy wins the duel," I announced, amusement in my voice.
Well, their performance weren't stellar but they're new, so it'll be unreasonable to expect them to be able to effectively use their skills right now. I mean, if they could they wouldn't be students anymore.
It's been a while since I last saw newbie Practitioners learning to use their Techniques practically that I already forgot how I struggled back then. When the Wendigo was trying to cast its lightning bolt, it was so slow and predictable it just looked so bad.
But Brendan has been quite a surprise though. It's obvious his cultivation is the worst amongst them but he makes up for it by using it the most efficiently as possible.
Still can't compare to Lian Li though, she had learned what most people will take years in months and could already be seen as a master in her own right. Then again, she has that cheat Divine Lightning Quarks inside her, one of the probable reasons why she learned and advanced so fast.
I think I've mentioned this before, but she's really a heaven sent genius.
Out of all the other girls, I think she has the most potential to overtake me as a Practitioner if given the right circumstances.
Oops, I should concentrate on the current students instead of my disciples right now.
I clapped my hands together, "So, let's do an after action review. I'm guessing the twins have no idea what happened?"
Chris groaned as he got up from the ground, "How… He couldn't have seen us with that light blinding him right?"
I smiled, "Well you see, Brendan is quite attuned to the water element. Since the start of the battle, he had been manipulating the water that was underground to build up pressure. That punch you saw him do at the end was a sensory Technique. Is that right?"
Brendan nodded, his eyes wide in obvious disbelief.
I continued, "Using the water veins to sense the subtle vibrations in the ground caused by your movements, he pinpointed where the two of you were before unleashing that water sprout right underneath the both of you. Quite an ingenious, if not difficult, Technique to pull off."
"As expected of Master Lin, nothing escapes your eyes. I didn't think anyone would have known what I did," Brendan bowed to me with cupped hands. "What you said was correct and I have Sylphy to thank for to buy me the time I needed."
I nodded at his words, tapping the ground with the heel of my foot, "Indeed. Though it seems your attunement with water is quite high, but your Quark circulation is just a little slower than it should be. We will need to work on that."
Now that I think about it, It is rather intriguing how he takes the longest to fully circulate his Quarks. I had initially chalked it up to inexperience but something tells me there's more to it than just that.
"As for the twins, it's obvious you two know each other well enough to support each other like that, although I will have to dissuade you from using this blinding tactic all the time."
Chris and 'Chris with a K' looked at each other before turning back to me.
"Why not?" Both of them asked at the same time.
I grinned at them, snapping my fingers to enlarge the inscription alongside adding a barrier to it as well.
"Well… You guys are about to find out."
