haven - zb1

15

Taerae had to retrieve his bow before he could spar with Hanbin, so the other 8 waited under the shade, the sun now emitting blistering heat.

"I'd hate to spar with a fire user now," Gunwook said cheekily, sparing a glance at Quanrui, who only gave him an incredulous look.

Soon Taerae came jogging with his bow, and Hanbin leapt up, pumped and ready. "I'm not gonna go easy on you," Hanbin chaffed. Taerae smirked, "I should hope not."

Now that they've experienced two spars, everyone was relaxed and seated, as if watching a play. Taerae adopts a more passive posture, compared to the tense, aggressive stance Gunwook tended to use. Hanbin smoothly unsheathed his sword, pointing it forward.

"Let's begin."

Hanbin's easy-going grin vanished, and with a swift slice through the air, water molecules sprayed out, condensing into larger droplets and charging alongside Hanbin towards Taerae. Taerae's own kindly eyes were now sharp and focused, he jerked the bowstring back and unlike when Gunwook first started, he released three arrows, which zipped through the air and plunged into the water droplets.

The droplets faltered as they were enclosed by delicate yellow petals, but the water eventually broke through and pushed forward. Taerae dove to avoid a pelt of hard ice, the water Hanbin had manipulated turning ice cold in seconds. "Well that's new," Taerae gasped as he rolled to avoid another ice spike, he was now two feet away from his bow.

Sword flashing, Hanbin slashed at Taerae, but the latter had summoned a sheet of earth to block him. Water clustered to Hanbin's blade as he slashed the earth, before a vine came shooting out and struck Hanbin in the face. He pressed his hand to a slim trickle of blood slipping from his nose, grimacing. That was one victory for Taerae, but when he cleared his earth shield he yelped and was too late to summon it back as he was doused with what must have been five gallons of water slowly drawn from the surroundings.

Coughing and spluttering, Taerae sat up as Hanbin approached him, chuckling, "Sorry man." Hanbin drew the water from Taerae's drenched form and collecting it, "Got too excited there."

"I concede," Taerae laughed then sneezed, "I don't want to be any wetter than this." Then he took a look at his opponent and added, "I also wouldn't like to make you bleed anymore."

The observers looked slightly disappointed at the quick match, but with Hanbin's bleeding nose and Taerae's still damp body, they decided to let them be.

"We'll spar some other time. I still gotta beat you up my guy," Hanbin chuckled, and Taerae pushed himself up, "Only if you catch me."

As a handkerchief was shoved to Hanbin's nose, with no shortage of excitement, he asked, "So who's next?"

"Well, we have yet to see anything from the House of air," Jiwoong said, his eyes bright with encouragement. Gyuvin looked unsettled, so before he could say anything, Yujin quickly volunteered. Gyuvin seemed to want to say something, before Woohyun suddenly said, "I'll spar with Yujin. Almost everyone else has fought once, it'll be a shame if I sit back and do nothing."

Before he stood, Yujin snuck his book out of sight then sassily snapped open his tasselled fan and bowed slightly, "Let's have a good match."

With an endearing gaze, Woohyun drew his sword and took his position before Yujin, "I'll take it slow with you, okay?"

"Please don't," Yujin's calmness was unnerving, "No enemy in this world will take it slow with me."

"Woah, profound," Gunwook murmured softly, and Woohyun looked slightly taken aback, before laughing lightly, "Of course."

All playfulness had vanished from Woohyun's face. Yujin, despite his youthful features, looked so mature at the moment.

Unexpectedly, Woohyun drove the tip of his blade into the soil, a technique that Zhang Hao and Hanbin avoided using till the last moment. The other two water heirs scrutinised Woohyun's move, donning identical serious expressions.

Water pooled from the crack he formed, slowly crawling out like insects. His style was different, it seemed, he didn't play with the smooth versatility of water like his seniors did, he wanted to go forceful and all out right at the beginning.

As water began to rise into the air, Yujin sprung into action, pushing himself backwards while his fan swung before him, generating a large gust of wind that not only blew the water backwards but sent him up in the air as well.

Scoffing as he shifted his hair from his face, Woohyun flicked his sword lightly and the water molecules merged into one. The water swished around him as he carefully manipulated more water together, then he shot forward, the water clashing into an air bubble Yujin managed to conjure in the nick of time.

Relently, the water pounded at the shield as Woohyun, too, was stabbing at the tightly compressed air that Yujin struggled to hold together to fend off the multidirectional attacks. Finally, one of Woohyun's strikes cracked a chip into the shield, water seeping through the crack and the duo were thrown backwards in opposite directions as the air shield exploded.

The water he was consistently summoning had helped to cushion Woohyun's fall, so he recovered pretty quickly. Yujin lay still, which caused panic to overcome both Woohyun and Gyuvin. But before either could reach him, Yujin sat up shakily with a groan, wincing as he rubbed his head.

"Are you okay?" Woohyun frantically asked, running water over the other's temple to wipe at scrapes and checking for internal injuries. Gyuvin clutched his fan as he supported Yujin's body, stunned and silent. "I'm okay," Yujin grimaced as he tried to sit without leaning against Gyuvin.

"You should rest," Woohyun said, with the concern of an anxious mother, "Let's get you back to your-"

"I'll do it," Gyuvin interrupted coldly, "I can take care of him myself." With that, Gyuvin carried Yujin effortlessly and hurried off.