Ascend OCT - Round One

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Opponent: Psyche Juriek and C.C. - The-Magical-Ma

Read her round one here!

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Firstly: Credits!
I get most sound effects from here under the creative commons zero license. I edited most things minorly in audacity (which I also use to crop and fade in/out songs). Lemme know if you want a specific sound in this flash, and I'll try to root it up for you.
The first song is the latter half of From Peak to Peak by Chris Geddes. His music is awesome and could use more attention; go check him out.
The second song can be found in this listing and is named "Ryoran flame Takeshi."
The third song and the Shadhavar (unicorn creature)'s tune were made by me. The Shadhavar thing was Aethis' theme with a little Hall of the Mountain King mixed in. If you wanna listen 

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hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhey guys I got so engrossed with finishing this that I didn't sleep last night! It's the first time I submitted something over 24 hours prior to an OCT deadline, I think. Progress?

Doodle dump

Notes with tasty spoilers:
-As you can see, I ditched the full grayscale early on in favor of time and sanity (I've pretty much been drawing nonstop two weeks, and if you've seen me on a skype chat, you'll know I've also been talking about it nonstop). I'm not really satisfied with the daytime scenes, mostly because of the surplus of white, but ehh I'll figure it out next time I get to give it a shot. Yeah, my grayscale feels generally awkward. Any tips?
-I need to learn a little thing called story compression, because this thing is 265 panels and I am a slow drawer. I'm still not entirely satisfied with its pacing and... well, with it in general. Makes me want to try an actual comic but ehh
-I hope magic sensing/identification was established well enough.
-i know there's some wonky perspective shots and some stray pixels, i am sorry
-I went for a canyon/savanna type thing instead of a desert or wasteland

-Rollo's huge but also a huge nerd.
----i just realized now. i got him kind of. super wrong. im sorry
-Aethis is a helicopter parent, possibly
-Psyche and C.C. didn't deserve any of this
-Don't even get me started on Cu
-According to internet research, those runes Psyche drew were actual runes. The first one means "torch" and the second briefly seen in-battle means "day." He's supposed to be using a combo of light and the wind to blow Aethis back, which is why it looks so flashy but doesn't drain him too quickly, and it's also why he's confused when Aethis is so affected--it's not supposed to damage, just deter. But Aethis is weak to active magic, so...
-C.C. is a little snark monster, but she's usually reserving her words for Psyche telepathically. So unfortunately, we didn't get to hear many of her quips. Given all the drama, it probably would've been appreciated.
-yeah hoo boy i didn't expect to be writing all that drama, in a round one no less
-hope it doesn't feel corny but i won't get mad if it does
-sorry if i still got your characters too wrong despite all those questions, ma

Question: Do you think the music and sounds make the flash more interesting or immersive, or are they just distracting?