Maya turned to face Orion and said, "But if I win, you'll have to change that wish to something else."
She observed his back for a moment before he slowly turned around to face her, a dumbfounded expression on his face.
Orion looked at the young woman in front of him. Although he had no problem with the idea of getting a Prismerion wife so easily, he needed to ensure she wouldn't backtrack on her word, so he questioned, "Are you sure?"
Maya nodded, a smile on her face, and she proclaimed loudly, "I vow in the name of Naka that I will do my best to keep my word, no matter the outcome of the battle. I hope you do the same."
Unlike Zephyrion, she had planned to give her all from the start.
However, before she unleashed her magical energy and revealed her true power, she needed to gain his assurance.
High above the seats, Merida slapped her face with her right palm, "This girl," she muttered once more.
"You see, I told you she wasn't that bright," her youngest sister chided.
Merida sighed in defeat, then turned her head toward the direction where their parents were seated. She was a bit surprised that they weren't intervening. However, seeing their calmness, she decided to remain composed and observe how things would unfold.
Who knows, her sister might just have an ace up her sleeve that gave her the confidence she could win.
Orion smiled, nodding his head in understanding. "I will. However, I hope you don't regret it," he said.
"Don't worry, I won't," Maya replied confidently.
She immediately released her magical energy, allowing her magical pressure to flow and spread all around her.
"GASP! Tier five Crystal Adept! The second heiress of the Luminaris clan is a Tier five Crystal Adept!" exclaimed a minor clan head. He was astonished by the light cyan aura that floated and radiated from Maya, even brighter than Zephyrion's.
"Hahahaha! I understand now... No wonder she seemed so confident!" chuckled an elder from the same clan beside him.
Seeing that Orion was silently looking at her, almost as if he were encouraging her to attack first, Maya immediately activated her clan's specialty techniques.
"The Radiant Sensing technique" allowed her to detect hidden dangers, providing her with valuable information about her surroundings. Meanwhile, "The Radiant Aura technique" radiated a soft, soothing aura that could calm emotions, making negotiations and interactions with others more harmonious.
In essence, Orion would become less vigilant against her attacks, almost instinctively welcoming her with open arms, even if she were to have a dagger aimed straight at his chest.
This was just one of the many applications of the technique.
Calming her senses, Maya activated another of the Luminaris clan's initial-tier specialties: "Radiant Infusion." This technique not only added a subtle glow to their Lightshaping abilities, making their constructs more vivid and illuminating dark areas but also allowed them to channel the minimal radiant energy they could access into their elemental abilities.
The Luminous Clan consisted of Prismerions with a natural talent for channelling and controlling natural energies.
As a result, they possessed the most diverse elemental abilities among all the major clans, thanks to their inherent affinity for one elemental aspect. When Maya activated this technique, her elemental power surged to life. A mesmerizing mix of whitish-blue arcs of light materialized around her waist, streaking downwards and flowing toward her legs.
As these radiant energies met the ground, they transformed into crackling lightning, racing up her legs and waist in a rhythmic, mesmerizing motion.
Observing this spectacle, Orion's eyes widened in astonishment. "She can control lightning," he mused silently as he watched Maya deftly retrieve a concealed, 5-inch milky-white, crystal-clear rod from her hidden pocket.
To his amazement, the rod stretched and extended until it reached a length of 1.8 meters (5.9ft), becoming a staff.
Maya took a deep breath, her focus on her staff as she channelled her elemental ability into it, before redirecting it back towards her legs. She opted to enhance her speed since she lacked the magical energy required to envelop her entire body.
The collective gaze of the onlookers transformed in that very moment as they beheld the stunning transformation of the Luminaris clan's second heiress.
"As expected, it appears the second heiress intends to give it her all right from the beginning," someone in the crowd murmured with keen anticipation.
This was a unanimous sentiment among the spectators, as they had all shared the same assumption.
Undoubtedly, they recognized that her optimal strategy in this situation was to exert herself to the utmost, potentially compelling her opponent to reveal his concealed strength, especially considering that he might have held back against the Gemheart Clan heir.
Orion, however, was also well aware that she intended to give it her all.
"Are you ready?" Maya inquired, her tone laden with determination.
Orion responded with a solemn nod, and just as he was about to...
Maya's body surged forward with astonishing speed, seemingly materializing in front of him in the blink of an eye - at least to most observers.
For Orion, who now had two Vylkr containers in his body - one enhancing his mental acuity and the other empowering his physical prowess, elevating him to the level of a 2-star warrior - her movement unfolded before his heightened senses.
He quickly sidestepped, tilting his head as he agilely extended his hand to support himself on the stage, executing a splendid side flip that carried him away from the path of Maya's staff, which struck the spot where he had just been moments ago.
Witnessing her initial miss, Maya's figure surged forward once more, her body fluidly shifting in various directions – sometimes right, sometimes left.
Each step reverberated with a resounding "Boom!" that echoed throughout the stage as she pursued Orion in a zigzag pattern.
Orion, on the other hand, effortlessly evaded each of her attacks. The more he dodged and increased the distance between them, the more her momentum intensified, rapidly closing the gaps between them.