anwhile, the field began changing slowly again in ways that took a mont for spectators to process completely.
10 spikes were born in a circle around the field, structures erging from the ground in a symtric design surrounding the combat area.
They rose gradually, earth compacting and shaping itself according to the wolverine's will. Each spike was positioned at precise intervals, 36 degrees apart, forming a perfect circle with the Bashe floating at approximately the center.
But also, different stakes were growing in the 4 corners of the arena and in the exact center, 5 points that didn't follow the sa pattern as the 10 in the circle.
The wolverine stopped halfway through the process, pausing to recharge its external mana, then returned to work.
The energy drain was big. The wolverine's movents beca slightly less fluid during the pause, like an athlete catching their breath between sprints. But it was fine since it was hidden underground…
Liora thought of attacking, but calculated that there was too much mana left in Ren's beast so waiting for it to waste more was a better bet.
Then the wolverine finished, external reserves restored, it resud with renewed vigor.
The 10 stakes in the circle were specifically designed to be launched as projectiles.
They were pointed and aerodynamic, shapes that would minimize air resistance during flight and would penetrate defenses more effectively than irregularly ford structures. The angles were carefully calculated, each stake tilted slightly inward so its trajectory would converge on the floating Bashe's position.
It was obvious to anyone with basic ballistics knowledge that these were the 10 stakes Ren planned to use in the final assault against the Bashe.
But the other 5 stakes were strange in comparison.
Less aerodynamic, thicker at the base and growing vertically instead of at angles… Their purpose wasn't imdiately apparent to most observers watching them develop.
They looked almost like towers rather than weapons. Structures rather than projectiles. So spectators squinted, trying to understand what they were seeing.
"What are those for?"
"Supports? Anchors?"
"Maybe just decoys? Make her focus on the wrong threat?"
Liora didn't completely understand what those 5 structures were ant to do.
She could guess they served so purpose in Ren's overall strategy, he'd never built anything to waste mana without reason, but the specific function eluded her. They weren't placed to block escape routes or angled to launch. They just... stood there, growing slowly taller.
But Taro and Larissa understood, recognition hitting them almost simultaneously when the 5 began behaving in ways that confird their suspicion.
The stakes in the 4 corners and center of the arena began absorbing all the rock and roots from the field into their bases, a process accelerating visibly with each mont.
The field that had been shaped like a small hill during previous battles, that elevated terrain created by elental manipulation, now flattened bit by bit as material was drained toward the 5 growing structures by that exact sa manipulation.
Earth flowed like liquid toward their bases. Roots took mana from deep underground networks to grow and integrate into the structures. The entire arena's accumulated elental construction, all the modifications from earlier matches, now being repurposed into these 5 vertical towers.
"Oh," Larissa breathed. "Oh, that's clever."
Taro grinned despite his injuries, recognition bringing genuine delight to his face. "He's doing it. He's actually doing it in a real fight."
Larissa understood what was happening from general observation and her own combat experience.
It made sense that it also saved in mana using the roots channels to get so from around 100 ters deep.
But Taro especially recognized it because he'd done this with Ren many tis during training and practice sessions that had no real purpose except entertainnt.
It was a very masculine obsession, an informal competition about who could make the tallest construction using earth and wood elental control working together.
Seeing "how high you could go" with a structure you had to maintain stable without collapse. It was a challenge that had begun as a simple ga but had beco a serious project as both refined techniques and competed for records.
"Mine's 150 ters!" Taro would shout.
"182 ters," Ren would respond calmly, his tower growing taller.
"Damn it. 30 ters!"
"32."
The stakes grew upward without stopping, constructions that were perfect in structural aspects.
Very rectangular. Thicker at the base to support the weight of upper sections. With an internal core of braided roots providing tensile strength that simple compressed earth alone couldn't match.
It was elental engineering in its most refined form, application of principles that Ren and Taro had perfected during countless hours of experintation.
Trial and error. Failure and success. Collapse and breakthrough. Every fallen tower had taught them sothing, every stable structure had validated a hypothesis. The knowledge accumulated like sedint, layer upon layer of understanding building until mastery erged.
Taro realized this was the "perfect form" they'd developed together.
His throat tightened slightly with unexpected emotion. They'd spent so many afternoons on this. Hours that had seed wasted at the ti, juvenile competition with no practical application. And now, watching it deployed in actual combat...
Both had already built "the tallest possible tower" many tis, each iteration improving on the previous as they discovered what ratios of base thickness to total height were necessary for maximum stability.
A Minecraft player would be genuinely proud of how thin they'd managed to develop the design for extrely tall vertical construction. It defied intuition… sothing so slender shouldn't be able to support itself at such heights. But the math worked and the physics held.
Little by little they'd figured out exactly what was needed so height and weight wouldn't collapse it upon itself under pressure from gravity alone.
They'd discovered that a braided root core was better for preventing fractures than solid earth all the way through. The roots provided flexibility that absorbed stress rather than concentrating it at failure points.
They'd discovered how much thicker the base had to be as height increased. The weight distribution demanded careful calculation.
They'd experinted with what type of earth needed to be compressed and reinforced in specific layers for appropriate stress distribution.
In the end they'd achieved a structure so good and straight it exceeded the Sky Tasty towers by a considerable margin, an accomplishnt both had celebrated with the satisfaction of having mastered a big challenge.
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