An Owl's Rise

Instead of a jungle, forest, mountain, or any sort of environment with a lot of cover, they were out in an open field that proved nothing to hide behind.

They were completely out in the open and while the heavy storm did lower visibility it was not enough to hide from the keen sight of another owl alone.

Already around a half kilometer away they could see the silhouettes of their opponents.

Swiftly before they were drenched Evelyn created a barrier of wind around them as they had practiced beforehand.

"Looks like they do were more afraid of your wires than we anticipated." Evelyn said.

They often used Rehni's metal magic to set up hard to see wire traps all over the terrain and turn the area to their advantage.

However, in an open field that was not going to be possible, and all they could really do was meet their opponents head on.

Of course, this would seem to put them at quite the disadvantage since they were at a lower level than their current adversaries and there were not really any tricks they could employ.

Not only that, but the heavy storm was also a far greater detriment to them than the opposing team that had two members with water affinities.

Overall, this was probably the worst possible condition for them to fight in.

"They even made sure that it was a lightning storm and not just a regular downpour." Rehni observed.

This was likely another way to counter her metal magic which had been the crux of many of their past matches.

If she were to use her metal magic here, she risked being struck by lightning and taking unnecessary damage.

"Top teams really do know how to plan better." Bylur said as they simply floated in the shield Evelyn had made.

Currently their opponents were just hovering in the air as well, likely making some preparations or waiting for Evelyn's Team to make the first move.

Either way, there was nothing to really do but engage in a head-to-head battle.

Of course, if one side wanted to use an invisibility talisman they could try and catch the opponent off guard, but even then, they would still disrupt the rain wherever they moved and any owl that was slightly attentive would notice that.

"They are coming. Bylur stay in front and prepare to intercept any water spells. Evelyn keep the rain off us and deal with any wind magic attacks. I will try using my sound magic to strike them back and disrupt their formation." Rehni said, acting as their strategist.

Between her and Evelyn, one of them would take the lead, and they had previously decided to allow Rehni to make their initial plans while Evelyn would keep watch over the battle and make adjustments as they went.

Within just a dozen seconds their opponents had made it to their location and began their assault.

Using the rain, the two with water affinities created a barrage of water arrows and fired them off at Evelyn's wind barrier.

Each one of the arrows did not have all that much power, but they were strong enough to punch through the relatively weak barrier Evelyn was maintaining to keep the rain off her and her team.

Before they pierced the barrier though, Bylur, who was acting as their tank, swung his wings forward and sent out a large blast of cold energy.

In an instant the hundreds of water arrows were frozen solid and began harmlessly falling all around them.

It was at this moment that the enemy owl that had a wind affinity had moved around to their back and sent out a large wind blade directly towards Bylur from his blind spot.

It moved fast and had a great deal of power. Slicing right through Evelyn's wind barrier.

However, this had been exactly what Evelyn had been on the lookout for and interposed herself between the wind blade and Bylur.

Spinning her body around she caught the blade of wind in her own personal twister and redirected it around Bylur.

Yet she was not done yet.

When the wind blade hit the other side of her barrier, instead of flying out it got caught up in it as Evelyn increased her control and output. The wind blade then began moving around and went back the way it had come. Flying towards the owl that had initially created the attack.

This caught it heavily off guard as redirecting an attack from another source was no easy feat. Even if you shared the same affinity.

Nevertheless, Evelyn's control over her wind magic had gone up leaps and bounds, since it was the only type of magic she used in the Ranking Hall, and straightforward attacks like a simple wind blade were easy enough for her to redirect.

Unfortunately, it was not enough to take out one of their opponents. As surprised as they were, the enemy with a wind affinity was able to avoid the oncoming attack.

Still, this left her open and Rehni who had been keeping herself poised to attack let loose a loud concentrated blast of sound.

Even when directed away from them Evelyn and Bylur were slightly shaken by the loud noise, but thankfully they had bought some earplugs that helped dampen sounds over a certain decibel level.

This would naturally not help if they were the target of the attack and got hit by the concussive force behind it, but thankfully Rehni was not their enemy.

'Damn! Their teamwork is pretty good. I guess that is just what to expect from a team that is in the top five thousand.'

Right before Rehni had launched her attack one of the opposing owls that had bene trying to break through Bylur moved over to defend their teammates and created a large shield of water in front of them.

This had absorbed Rehni's sound magic attack and made it so that her target got off without taking any real damage.