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The distortion was nothing more than the manipulation of time and space by an external source. Ripples assaulted several empty areas around the Rings of Neon Rain, swallowing up droplets of iridescent moisture, and eventually tearing through the very fabric of this particular universe. There were no catastrophes, no explosions, no supernatural flares; there was only a gaping hole which edges shimmered with a coruscating glow. A gloved hand soon touched the right edge of the circular gate, seemingly resisting whatever warping influences the distortion could have on its physical and spiritual vessels. Runic writing could be seen on the wristlets the individual pulling himself into this plane sported, coupled with a spotless attire crafted only from the finest silks and adorned solely with materials of the highest quality available to him.

The Eternal Scholar saw it fit to study this location, to analyze the phenomena occurring around this otherwise unimportant planet, and to grasp upon the magic the Rings possessed. Feathered robes saw themselves graced by the luminescent rain, adding another layer of light to his silhouette, however, they could not rival the golden glow exhibited by his body. Gariland Varuna, after all, practically radiated aether contaminated with his own particular signature. This aether, this energy, surrounded him at all times without fail, and caused a singular ring comprised of runic writing to orbit his form regardless of any active participation from his part. It was merely a side effect of his magical prowess. The glow given off by his aether and runes was often reflected off of the adornments hanging from his clothes, most notably every single artifact crafted out of blessed gold woven in the silk of his robes and the material of his lower attire. Luckily enough, they allowed him to move unhindered, regardless of his posture.

Once Gariland was fully on the other side of the gate he had created, portals and other forms of spatial distortions being his preferred method of travel, taking into account all the nuances the method possessed, a simple wave of his hand saw the fabric of this universe coming together yet once more as though nothing had happened. One would think the introduction of a foreign element would cause an allergic reaction, but the Master Arithmethician knew this was not the case. Not a single universe had reacted to his presence negatively thus far, as commonly it was the parasites inhabiting these previously unknown regions which attempted to gain something from approaching Gariland. Parasites such as brigands, bounty hunters, mercenaries without an enemy, and an all-around assortment of unsavory individuals.

Something in his mind told him things would be different here. His mind told him that there wouldn't be any issues and he'd be able to study the Rings to the best of his ability before departing back to his home between the universes.

Alas, it was not to be.

For every single scenario of safety his mind presented him, five more sprouted up with counterpoints and feasible arguments to refute the preconception of safety. The one point that served to fully justify his caution? The single ship which alarm could not stop blaring within the confines of its inner regions, within each and every single room, and which housed an individual whose strength could be felt even from a distance by the Golden Prodigy.

Nothing to do but approach the micro-asteroid the ship was currently settled upon in the most effective way Gariland knew, floating over as parsimoniously as he could whilst his mind studied the countless possibilities of the current scenario.

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@LeeRoy

Impeccable sight transferred information from his surroundings as one of many spells in his arsenal saw itself useful in this particular scenario. The White Magic spell by the name of Libra possessed a variety of applications, though the most prominent one was the enhancement of one's natural and supernatural eyesight to the point that the Eternal Scholar could identify the movements of the individual within the ship, as well as pinpoint various 'weak' points along the hull of the construct. The odds of pacifism being involved in any sort of encounter between the humanoid aboard the ship and himself were rapidly plummeting, which left only harmless tension and dangerous hostility as the remaining possibilities for the time being.

Amused, if anything, the Golden Prodigy lofted of an eyebrow in response to the humanoid's remark. It had been a long, long time since he had listened to such ignorance woven through any entity's voice, but then again, some years had passed since he last had any contact with unenlightened personages. Spending time amongst circles of learned people and putting his research on different forms of magic to use had left Gariland with little regard for the everyday troubles of commoners, and his well-mannered demeanor was reserved for either the weak and defenseless, or those showing a level of enlightenment similar to his own.

"... Have you not been taught how to address your elders, boy? I suppose even a mere worm can teach a microbe a thing or two, if only said microbe possessed the intelligence to learn."

Each and every single word permeated the empty space surrounding the humanoid, as though Gariland had chosen to forgo sound as the means of transport for his thoughts, and instead replaced it with simple air. The subtle echo remaining behind after the fact did, however, produce an irregular number of sound waves that scattered through the air until they became wholly inaudible. The soothing rain added another layer of complexity to the ethereal vocalization of his mind's words, though the sheer magical power of Gariland could soon be felt upon the surface of the micro-asteroid ship and humanoid were standing upon.

It started with the droplets of water before the Master Arithmethician himself. At a simple glance, they weren't any different; clear, transparent, and brightly illuminated by the bioluminescence from the algae each and every single droplet housed. Upon contact with the ground, however, tiny holes could be seen etched along the rugged surface, leaving behind micro-icicles shimmering of a vibrant turquoise. Gariland was using his flawless skills as a Calculator to take in every little bit of data from his surroundings, calculating the speed of the droplets falling onto the micro-asteroid, the mass and weight of every droplet, their relative position regarding himself, the ship and the other humanoid, and the very composition of the liquid itself.

All of these calculations allowed him to formulate a simple strategy to open this hostile encounter with. Tapping upon his knowledge of Black Magic, Gariland applied the gathered data to cast the spell Blizzard onto the droplets of water, allowing the liquid to transfigure and harden, with each and every newborn micro-icicle possessing an unbelievably sharp tip and a hardness beyond that of diamond itself. How strong the ice was spoke lengths about the skill of the caster, and for a prodigy such as Gariland, a spell like this was child's play. Unfortunately for the hoof-footed humanoid, this meant being under attack by a myriad tiny projectiles unless he was quick enough to notice what was going on in time to prevent being pierced over and over by a hail of falling 'bullets'.

Oddly enough, all the projectiles falling toward Gariland saw their trajectories corrected in the blink of an eye, tracing a curve around his form and falling onto the floor below him, given he was still floating over the rugged ground. The humanoid's 'lawn' was quickly being turned into swiss cheese, and if he failed to react properly, that would also be his fate.

Gariland's mind continued to rapidly calculate the variables in play, beginning to formulate his next step as though this was nothing more than a chess match against a complete rookie.

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@LeeRoy

The ancient customs instilled within the humanoid eluded the vast stores of knowledge of the Golden Prodigy. Unbeknownst to him, Gariland had apparently challenged the Pundambayan to a death match; however, what the Pundambayan did not know was that the Eternal Scholar approached each and every conflict with only one thing in mind - to suffuse with it, embrace it, and eradicate it entirely.

Back during his days at the Akademia, the master sorcerers would challenge each and every student to push themselves while embracing their connection with the raw magic coursing through their veins. To this end, they would present the students with problems of different kinds which, obviously, required to be solved within a certain time limit depending on the severity and difficulty of the problem. Gariland preferred those that dealt with elemental knowledge, given how quickly he had been able to master the basic elemental spells within Black Magic. One such problem dealt with the connection between the elements in the classic systems of magic as a whole within the Akademia.

Gariland had to identify what element comprised the body of the problem and resolve it accordingly, recalling the verses from the first chapter of "Essences & Permutations", a critically acclaimed book joint-written by various magic researchers, which dealt with the origin of the elements. In it, the book recites the 'Six Nativities & Myriad Creation', which states that:

"The spark of Lightning ignites when it strikes, and thus Fire is born.
The heat of Fire renders to ash all that it touches, and thus Earth is born.
The density of Earth shuns sun and harbors cold, and thus Ice is born.
The armor of Ice melts away, and thus Water is born.
The moistness of Water mists and rises, and thus Wind is born.
The gusts and sighs of Wind gather the clouds, and thus Lightning is born."

However, the solutions to the problems Gariland had to deal with were not found in the first chapter, for this simply denoted the origin of each element and their relationship within creation itself. What he was required to memorize, however, was chapters two and three of "Essences & Permutations", 'The Three Conquests, Boundless and Unwavering', and 'The Three Submissions, Timeless and Unending', which stated that:

"Earth grounds Lightning.
Water erodes Earth.
Lightning boils Water."

"Fire is extinguished by Wind.
Ice is melted by Fire.
Wind is obstructed by Ice."

With the birth and the death of every element coupled with their inherent weaknesses regarding the Astral and the Umbral in mind, it was clear what Gariland's plan in the midst of such a remote location in the present would be.

Ice is melted by Fire. The armor of Ice melts away, and thus Water is born. The moistness of Water mists and rises, and thus Wind is born.

Therefore, Rakatah had unknowingly aided the Golden Prodigy in the execution of his next stratagem. First and foremost, the centrifugal force generated by Rakatah amidst his spinning movement added a new variable to Gariland's calculations which directly affected the ice turned water and the water turned 'wind'. The elemental duality occurring in that very moment saw itself picked up by the Eternal Scholar, with two separate spells being chained together in the blink of an eye, seemingly without any sort of exertion from Gariland himself. The water droplets grew to weave together, as though beginning to surround the 'plasma shield' around the Pundambayan himself in the midst of his movement whilst the shimmering mist started to pick up an otherworldly kind of force that, much like the water, began to coalesce around Rakatah. The spells respectively were none other than Water and Aero.

If there was anything the Pundambayan needed to know about Gariland, however, is that no movement was wasted, with every pinch of aether coursing through his body and found within the environment being utilized to their utmost efficiency and effectiveness. By the time the Pundambayan reached the end of his trail, the Golden Prodigy was already several dozen meters in midair, with his arms crossed and simply observing how the currents of wind and the half sphere of water around Rakatah engulfed his opponent.

But even the micro-icicles that had landed on the relatively small asteroid and hadn't been used to attempt to attack the Pundambayan had their use, much like the constantly falling rain. Already, the cogs of Gariland's mind worked on his next stratagem, unable to miss a single beat regarding his surroundings.

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@Red Magister
I'm gonna go ahead and count this as a forfeiture on your part.

@LeeRoy

An effective countermeasure, to say the least, the young Pundambayan had managed to free himself from the imminent prison of water that had attempted to engulf him. Droplets of the translucent liquid were propelled outward to spread through the air, and while that worked efficiently and effectively to outright negate the formation of the Water spell the Golden Prodigy was casting, the wind elemental spell was a little trickier to disrupt. For, you see, the moment Aero clashed with the force emanating from Rakatah's fist, some wind currents dissipated; the majority of them, however, grew emboldened by the kinetic energy emanated from the shockwave.

Indeed, Gariland was applying one of the basic principles of what little martial arts he knew - utilizing the opponent's strength against themselves. Not only was this principle useful whenever weaving spells through his fists or blades, but also when a situation similar to this one occurred. In this case, what the Master Arithmethician focused on, was in the wind currents that managed to maintain their centrifugal and centripetal forces, rather than the ones that dissipated. Proper calculations of the additional force required for the wind currents to subsist and empower themselves saw the Aero spell turning into something else an entire order of magnitude higher regarding the orders of spells within Black Magic. What was Aero would have become Aerora, Aeroga, and Aeroja under the same order of magnitude; however, the renewed spinning motion of the additional forces enriching the zephyrs saw the spell becoming a veritable Tornado.

As Rakatah sat upon the low arc, the tornado trailed a direct trajectory toward the edifice whilst the forces enacted by it attempted to suck in not only the Pundambayan, but also any material object in the vicinity. With the Golden Prodigy resisting the pull and push of the wind currents in his flight, the calculations in his mind picked up on the effect of the Tornado spell in the micro-asteroid. The constantly falling droplets of water were pulled into the zephyrs, as did loose rocks within the environment, but the particularity was that the tiny shards of crystallized liquid that had not managed to assault Rakatah beforehand were also being pulled in from the ground. This made things a little more difficult for the Pundambayan. Wind currents behind, icy shards up ahead, and the Golden Prodigy overseeing it all from his high perch in midair with his hands outstretched as though readying himself for Rakatah's next movement.

One could say he was still toying with the Pundambayan, but the truth of the matter was that he hadn't even begun playing.