A loud screech penetrated through the sky as everyone on the ship suddenly tightened their muscles. Their senses peaked as they hurriedly looked around for the source. They might not be that experienced in the inner part of the forest, but everyone knew the sound came from a different direction than below. The people that were mainly here for research hurried under the deck as ranged mages and explorers lined both sides of the airship.
Another screech came from the front as a giant bird dived down through one of the clouds towards the airship.
"One from above! Prepare yourselves!" yelled one of the mages as he spotted the giant bird.
Orrlin's voice spread across the deck like a cold wave as he yelled "Careful youngsters. Let these old timers take the first round!"
Orrlin had long since sensed the presence of this tier 6 beast. He himself ranked tier 6 so they where considered equal in rank. This bird had clearly been spending quite a few years in the forest to gain this sort of power!
As the bird continued its dive towards the frail wooden airship Orrlin made his move.
Orrlin pulled his hands to his front as he pulled out a core from his robe. Pointing it upwards towards the sky he readied himself as he wanted to make a show of force.
His face turned maniacal as he released burst of mana from his core. The mana quickly formed a seventh tier spell array at his palm. The array started out with a strong blue hue, but it quickly dimmed as it reached the seventh form.
Standing on the side Senna looked in awe at her childhood hero as the giant array formed. She had long since heard of Orrlin's powers. But seeing them up close were breathtaking.
As the array finished Orrlin suddenly crushed the core in his hand as the mana imprisoned within flooded into the array. The sudden surge of fuel made the array light up brilliantly as it activated.
A moment later a a sharp blinding light erupted from the array as a bolt of white light surged through the sky. The flying beast quickly broke off its dive as it dodged to the side. An unnoticeable smirk formed across the old mans lips as he drew his hand downwards. As if alive the bolt of light followed along and caught the flying beast midair as it ripped it in two.
A short breath of silence fell across the battlefield as friends and foes alike froze at the sight. Suddenly cheering sounds erupted from the deck as people yelled out. The birds in the air were undeterred by Orrlin's show of force as they grew maddened by their elders death. They mindlessly attacked the airship from all directions as the mages and explorers fought them off.
Orrlin were in good shape. Even after using a higher tier spell he still brimmed with a strong sense of energy as he stood straight and overlooked the fight next to Senna. The reason for him being able to cast a spell of higher tier were quite simple. If the mage knew how to form the array the only thing a tier six mage needed to cast a tier seven spell were essentially just mana and control. By breaking a tier seven core he allowed the mana to be fed into the array and thereby feeding it the power it needed to activate.
This might sound simple. But Senna knew of only two people who could do this. Orrlin and his student Henrik.
