Over on the third floor of the coliseum, a dark-skinned lady, who looked to be in her late twenties, was kneeling on the icy floor of one of the igloo rooms with her hunting rifle perched atop a bench. Her outfit was that of a Victorian adventurer, fit for outdoor exploration. A flask at her hip, a beige shirt and pair of shorts with a brown belt and various straps, that conveniently held useful tools, resting across her shoulder. It very much screamed safari soldier, someone who was well adapted to jungle environments and stalking vulnerable prey. She had a relatively lazy and annoyed look on her face at pretty much all times but the truth of the matter was that she was actually just a quiet loner who preferred to stay clear of everybody else whenever possible. She was described frequently as a lone wolf and very few people in the Umbras actually knew anything about her at all. Her name was an open secret, Asha, but what only Calla and Aster knew about her was that she had a unique revenant form unlike everyone else''s.


    Asha wasn''t particularly high ranking, only a delta so nowhere near the top of the food chain, but her mutation more than made up for it. See, Asha was an arctic wolf and was the only known, so far at least, pure white revenant. It was effectively a previously undiscovered sub-race of revenant that came with its own perks. Specifically, Asha could use her water pillar magic while still in her revenant form which was something nobody else, who was an adept like her, was capable of. Being a reflex type adept came in handy occasionally but the loss of magic during her revenant form would have been quite hampering. She had an incredible affinity for the ice pillar, though, so being able to use her magic while physically enhanced by her revenant form was a deadly combination. the only reason she didn''t stay in her revenant form all the time was because it made her tired, that was the downside. She would slowly freeze over after long periods of time in her true form, as her revenant form passively generated a snowy aura, so she had to take breaks. Plus walking around as a revenant was practically asking for trouble most of the time. Throw on top of that the fact that she was a rare breed and it wouldn''t be all together too shocking if cultivators tried hunting her down thinking she was a mythical creature that would give bountiful cultivation resources when killed. Now, actually killing her was basically impossible for any ordinary cultivator but that didn''t mean she wanted to deal with the hassle. Again, she really wasn''t very sociable so dealing with murder attempts daily wasn''t something she wanted to put up with. She spent most of her time back on the home planet hanging around the jungle area practicing her marksmanship and training, only ever really leaving when Calla or Aster called upon her or she had seasonal duty to attend to.


    As for her specialties, she was fantastic at tricky warfare as she could summon snowstorms that only she could really navigate properly. Like Pele, she was capable of summoning her own army thanks to an ice aspect art called ''Sgnolldiers''. The humanoid hyenas dashed around like obedient minions, pestering her target until she could line up the killer shot. Her rifle was a personal treasure but it was one that was incredibly simple, it was just extremely powerful. That was literally it. It Just packed one hell of a punch. Simple but Asha didn''t really need or want anything else out of it so she was happy to keep it basically forever. Asha was an annoying opponent to face because finding her was the real issue but, even then, her revenant form was great at defending itself while creating distance and forcing the situation to revert back to square one. She was a very hit and run style cultivator but she was competent at closer ranges to. You really had to stick to her like glue to beat her otherwise it just wasn''t worth wasting time fighting her minions off while being pestered at range by her rifle. To top it all off, her ice magic was above average and could really lay it on thick if you weren''t careful about dodging the arts she chucked at you. It was because of all of this that, actually, she was a horrible matchup for Theodore. For starters, Kiss Of Death couldn''t be used on someone he couldn''t locate. Sure, if Theodore could apply Kiss Of Death then the situation would maybe change but getting to that point against Asha, who was way too clever to fall for any of Theodore''s ruses, was pretty hopeless. Theodore could fire his artillery blind into the coliseum but he may hit some civilians and that would be disastrous for the Legions so he couldn''t do that either. Asha had already summoned a snowstorm covering the entire third layer of the coliseum putting Theodore in an unfavourable position. If he stayed far away, Asha would snipe all his long range attacks. If he got closer he would play into Asha''s hands and be at the perfect range for her to endlessly strike at him uncontested. Theodore was going to have to figure something out but, in the meantime, Ya Ye and Bravo had started off their fight with a few light strikes.


    The one armed, handsome swordsman and the mechanical elf commando each took a step back from one another after a brief clash and Ya Ye started up an impromptu conversation. "Why does it feel like you and I always disagree on everything? You would think Asha and Theodore would be at loggerheads more than us and, yet, I don''t recall us ever fighting side by side and we''ve all fought many times by now. Why none of us can ever unanimously agree on anything I don''t know. Are we truly that incompatible with one another? When was the last time we even discussed a matter instead of just devolving things into a fight? We used to debate each other, once. What a shame this is what we''ve become."


    With a gruff grunt, Bravo opened his own mouth to give a few comments of his own. "No point debating. Asha never showed up anyway. It always became a fight regardless. This way is just quicker. No need to complicate anything. Ares is an abomination..."


    "Oi! I''m right here, you know! I can here you!" Ares protested but was completely ignored.


    "... And he needs to be put down with regularity until a permanent solution can be agreed upon."


    Ya Ye sighed and shook his head. "If he''s the abomination you claim him to be, then surely you can feel some empathy?"


    Bravo snarled as there was nothing more he detested than being called a monster, it was a particularly sore spot that people targeted when trying to get on his nerves. More than anything, he hated it because he agreed with it. "He and I are of a different calibre and you know it. When he reaches our cultivation how is any of us supposed to stop him if he bares his fangs at us. Just like a mecha dryad that can potentially get out of hand, it''s wise to put it down early before it becomes an unstoppable threat. Kill it in infancy to prevent the spread of terror."


    "Spread of terror? That''s a rather unsubstantiated opinion you have there. Ares is going to marry two main branch Legions and just openly spared a bunch of elders whilst in a semi-berserk state. When he has full control it will be even less of an issue."


    Bravo looked past Ya Ye and growled at Ares. "I know his type; manipulative, lying, treacherous, un-trustable. He''s like me. He has a vision for this world and will stop at nothing to achieve it, no matter how many people he has to let down. That kid has secrets and ulterior motives, I can see it in his eyes. He won''t act until nobody can stop him; until then he''ll play the innocent clown. I may be an abomination but at least I''m honest. I show others my true colours, he hides his. It might not even be as big a problem as I think it will be but, to be honest, I just don''t like him."


    Ares was speechless, this guy hit the nail on the head almost perfectly! What a rude bastard, outing Ares like that in public! Shmuck! "Ahem. Just because you''re partially correct, that doesn''t mean you understand me as well as you think you do. You have no idea what I''m up to or why I''m doing it so maybe you should keep your mouth quiet? You''ve told me what you see in me but I know what I see in you. You''re consumed by revenge and have nothing else on your mind. You are a one-track creature with who will not hesitate to do good things for evil purposes. I take it you have issues with dryads? I could see the vitriol in your words when you mentioned them. You''ll go around killing them like some kind of hero but, really, you''re just a selfish bastard aren''t you? So don''t judge me because I''m the opposite. I''ll do unpleasant things for the purpose of attaining peace for as many people as possible. Don''t judge me by your low standards or I''ll seriously be offended. While I''ll be out there saving the world you''ll be spending the rest of your life healing a bruised soul. Keep your self-righteousness in check, you haven''t earned the right to comment on other people''s intentions until you can be ''honest'' about your own." ... Sometimes Ares could be pretty mean. He definitely knew how to hit a person where it hurt and, arguably, the worst part about all of this was that he was like a tiny dog yapping at a tiger while standing behind his owner. Ya Ye was the only thing separating Ares from the imminent death growling at him a few feet away right now so he was absolutely leveraging a borrowed knife right about now.


    Bravo was clearly agitated but didn''t want to respond as getting into a spat with a lower realm brat was not a good look. Also, for what it was worth, Ares had hit the nail on the head far more precisely than he had. Sometimes you would be lucky and find an opponent who was easy to demoralise. Sometimes you would run the risk of talking smack to someone who could do it back to you a thousand times over. Bravo wasn''t even fighting Ares and yet just dragging him into this conversation had been an annoying mistake that left him feeling anger he couldn''t really direct anywhere. He wanted to smack some respect into the kid but Ya Ye was obstinately blocking him off so there was only really one thing for it. "World Tree: Base Of Operations."


    This art was an interesting one. Typically, World Tree was an art of the nature pillar''s unwavering wood aspect that summoned a giant tree. The size of the tree scaled with the cultivation of the user and, in this case, as Bravo was the origin of the art, it would grow to be almost as big as the coliseum. it was a massive art that changed the immediate terrain and provided a few different benefits that weren''t relevant here. Why not? Well that was because that art was not this art. The Base Of Operations unique art was a variant created by Bravo for the automatise aspect that mirrored the original in some ways but improved upon it in others. For starters, the tree was mechanical in parts and was a combination of nature and technological marvel on a large scale. It was more like a fortress, loaded with bunkers, automatic turrets, and land mines. It was a summonable military base in the shape of a tree, that functioned like a home away from home for Bravo. It didn''t pack any passive benefits, like the original art did, but the firepower was immense comparatively and more than made up for it.


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    The tree sprouted from underneath the ground, roughly the same place where Bravo himself had emerged from in the arena, and rapidly covered the entire arena floor. It grew at incredible speeds and not even a few seconds later it was towering above the coliseum, dominating the skyline. It was half wooden, half metallic. Some leaves were completely natural but some looked like aircraft carrier runways with small white lines running through the middle of their metallic surface. Small holes within the tree contained turrets within that would automatically extend and shoot at nearby invaders and there were also a few bunkers dotted throughout the tree that provided absolute safety. The tree was dotted with extremely difficult to locate landmines along the major pathways which meant if anyone wanted to navigate this place safely they would be regulated to the thinner branches. These branches were very capable of flicking at opponents who came near to them so even that wasn''t really safe but, for the most part, as long as you followed Bravo around you''d be safe from too much interference. He knew this place like the back of his hand so chasing after him meant you wouldn''t set off any landmines and his various weapons had to avoid friendly fire.


    Make no mistake, Base Of Operations was still an impressive and powerful unique art despite all of this. It was definitely one of the stronger arts Ares had ever personally seen as it was a very versatile art with many functions, each of which covered different bases. Ares wanted an art like this, something that created a massive area in which he reigned supreme. His annihilation enhancement sort of already did that, to an extent, but he wanted something more than that. He needed to raise his cultivation significantly before he would be able to do such a thing but it was worth keeping in the back of his mind... As for where he currently was, Ares had been dragged up into the sky by the tree as well. Ya Ye was still a short distance ahead of him but Ares was aware that, in order to protect him properly, he was going to have ironically abandon him. Ya Ye could end the fight faster if he took a more aggressive stance and that was really the best course of action. For the most part, other than a few branches which Ya Ye could deal with from afar, nothing was going to bother Ares up on the tree. You could very well find a safe place and just hide because this art didn''t yet reveal the location of everyone on it although, actually, that was something Bravo was working on. He would one day be able to add a feature to his bunkers that possessed scanning technology and could identify all intruders while he was in one. It would also one day be able to launch aircraft from the metal leaf runways which could be used for strafing runs, bombing runs, and napalm strikes but that was still a long way away despite Bravo''s high cultivation. This was an art that really relied on the cultivator''s cultivation to improve rather than anything regarding clever usage.


    As of right now, Ares, Ya Ye, and Bravo were all on the same branch. It was probably the longest of them all, and was dangling the furthest away from the core structure of the tree, so no doubt the two seasons were going to fight along it as Bravo retreated to safety while Ye advanced in pursuit. This assumption was immediately proven correct when Ye left a few petals behind to guard Ares as he steadily advanced along the branch. A few other branch tips that were nearby came over to try and impede him but with two swift flicks of his wrist the branches were all severed, falling harmlessly back down into the arena below. With grace in his well-trained steps, Ye danced down the length of the branch, avoiding and / or deflecting shots from Bravo''s semi auto rifle. Twirls gave him a 360 degree view to bat away any branches trying to sneak up on him and long, elegant steps allowed him to close the distance quickly. He took every challenge in his stride and performed a beautiful routine that enabled him to catch up to Bravo despite the initial distance and various obstacles.


    Bravo met Ye head on by swinging both axes at the same time while Ye opted to take a more methodical approach and deflect the strikes. As both axes came bearing down at the same time from different positions, Ye had to curve his wrist and twist his body to sequentially deflect each hit, a series of movements which, after succeeding, he then transitioned into a counter attack. Bravo dropped a poison smoke grenade to cover his retreat and leapt back. Ye was forced to weave around the outside edge of the smoke by jumping off the tree, lodging his sword into the side of the branch, and swinging himself back up and around the purple smoke. By the time he recovered Bravo was already in the middle of using a grappling hook to swing back to the flat, core area of the tree where he''d have a massive advantage. During the latter half of his grapple swing, Bravo let go and went soaring through the sky whilst swivelling his body around to continue firing shots at Ye as he fell to the floor. Ye intercepted the various seed bullets with his own petals as he slid down the branch to catch up while turning his head to check in on Ares who seemed to be fine. A few branches had made an attempt to shift around Ye and strike Ares but the petals he''d put on guard duty were still circling Ares and acting like an impenetrable wall of greenery.


    Bravo was nearing the end of his backwards freefall so he twisted around and activated a leaf parachute he carried with him at all times for situations just like this. He slid down on the floor, took a few specific steps to avoid the well-hidden mines, and pulled out his bow to fire pot shots at Ye. Ye figured it was high time he fought back so he silently chanted an art under his breath, the result of which was currently unknown. It was clearly a stealthy art that would aim to take Bravo by surprise but, right now, it provided no immediate benefit. Still, Ye had a lot of faith in this art as it was the one he was certain would win him this fight in the long run. As for the current predicament, with the homing arrows being fired at him from afar, simply blocking them would be a pain. It wasn''t that Ye couldn''t do it but then he''d be slowed down considerably, at which point the branches, and some of the automated turrets that were just now activating, would be able to pepper him into submission. He needed a better way of dealing with the problem and he was planning on utilising this forts own defences against it. Ye threw his sword forward, causing it to hover a short distance ahead of him, before jumping atop it and layering the bottom of it with various plants. The reason he did this was simple, to defend it from the incoming blast! Ye directed the sword to fall flat on one of the many spots Bravo had avoided earlier, setting off a landmine and rocketing him and his flying sword many feet into the air. The explosive burst gave him a ton of speed to work with such that the turrets that had awoken were all struggling to trail behind his afterimage. Countless bullets were fired but hit nothing but air as Ye sailed past the forts defences and closed in on Bravo with impeccable form despite his mind boggling speeds.


    The elf didn''t panic and, instead, calmly put the bow away without firing anymore shots. It would be a waste of time and he had a better option right at his feet because he''d planned for this outcome. He knew Ye well enough to know he was the type of guy to take advantage of the mines and land smack dab in Bravo''s face so he intentionally positioned himself above a platform that could split in half and open up. he pulled a nearby lever and, after some brief whirring, a mounted weapon rose up in front of him from within the floor.


    Ye flew within range, grinded to a halt on his sword, hopped off, and was now staring down Bravo who''d hopped atop a mounted flamethrower and was jetting blistering flames in his direction. Having successfully predicted Ye''s movements, Bravo was now in a power position to just keep hurling jet-fuelled misery at his opponent. Ye would struggle to block so he danced sideways nimbly, swapping between his leading feet regularly to set a confusing tempo and make Bravo''s life more difficult. Ye was a slippery target when he wanted to be as his practiced movements were unpredictable. Sudden shifts in direction or body position were common and so it was generally better to tackle him in closer ranged combat but that also happened to be where he shined. Still, Bravo was no slouch in that department either so, after singing Ye''s legs a couple times, Bravo decided it would be for the best to try a new strategy. He dismounted the flamethrower but flicked a switch on it to keep it running at full force even while he was elsewhere. He then kicked the bottom right corner of the swivel chair, causing the weapon to spin wildly in circles. The flamethrower was spewing every which way and had become a deadly obstacle that intermittently spouted flames in your direction, forcing you to jump or duck to avoid it. As Ye opted to go under, Bravo slid under the flame as well and met Ye down low to go blow for blow under the searing heat.


    Clang


    Bravo''s buzz axes pushed Ye a step back and Bravo chased him down. He could sense the rapidly approaching heat, as the flamethrower had made another full spin, so he performed a side flip over the top while Ye chose to slide under once more. The flamethrower passed between them, separating the two, before racing off to complete another rotation. Meanwhile, Bravo utilised the height from his jump to bring both his axes down on Ye, from above, who was still rising to his feet. They clashed again but neither of them were thrown backwards, creating a stalemate. A stalemate that couldn''t last as, shortly after it began, the flamethrower was coming back around again for another attempt on everyone''s life. Both cultivators jostled for superiority as they aimed to push the other into the line of fire but nothing was happening. Neither could overpower the other and, at this rate, they were both going to be hit by it. Bravo was willing to take the hit if it meant Ye did too as he could handle it better. Ye was swifter and could hit a little harder with his arts but Bravo was a more resilient fellow with a larger number of tricks up his sleeve.


    Ye wasn''t fond of the idea of getting needlessly burnt so he prepared himself to disengage and look for a better opening but that was when Bravo beat him to the punch, jumping slightly backwards and pulling out a detonator. Ye could tell that thing would set off all the mines behind him so escaping wasn''t a safe option anymore, and he had to press forward, but how was he supposed to do that safely with the flamethrower constantly harassing him every so often? Bravo was a difficult foe to fight as he could create a powerful offensive at the drop of a hat from any range provided you were in his home field. Granted he was still withholding a lot of his firepower right now, and so was Ye, but even when he was taking things slow that didn''t make him any less dangerous. What was crazy to Ye was that this fight could even be considered ''slow pace'' but, for Bravo, it really was. His arsenal was hidden within this tree and just waiting for the right chance to strike. And yet, Ye was confident in himself that he had enough firepower of his own to win this. The current situation was not favourable to him but, thanks to the secret art he casted earlier, things were likely about to take a turn for the better. But that was the fight between Ye and Bravo, a hectic dance, a foxtrot if you will, between two nature enthusiasts. Down in the arena, a very different style of fight was playing out between Asha and Theodore...