"Begin!"
Garrett exploded forward.
Body enhancent turned his first step into a crater, propelling him across the distance in a blur of blue-coated muscle and raw montum.
His fist ca in like a battering ram aid at Caleb’s head.
Fire erupted from Caleb’s feet like a detonation. And.
He wasn’t there anymore.
Garrett’s fist hit empty air so hard the displaced wind cracked like thunder. He pivoted imdiately, essence-enhanced reflexes tracking movent.
Caleb had appeared ten feet away, fire still dissipating from his exit point. His expression remained unchanged. Lazy eyes. Relaxed posture.
But he wasn’t standing still. He was already moving.
He launched three fla arrows mid-motion. At different angles, cutting off Garrett’s approach vectors.
Garrett charged straight through. His essence coating flared, absorbing the fire. Smoke rose from his arms but he didn’t slow.
Caleb vanished in fla again.
Garrett skidded to a stop, scanning.
Above.
Caleb had used the arena’s protective barrier as a launch point. Fire at his feet, he’d kicked off the invisible do, now coming down at an angle Garrett wasn’t positioned for.
And shot a fireball at point-blank range.
Garrett twisted impossibly fast, brought both arms up in guard position...
The explosion drove him backward three steps. His coating cracked across his forearms but held. Smoke rose from burned skin beneath.
"That actually hurt," Garrett admitted, grinning through the pain. "Good."
He moved.
His fist ca in from the left, Caleb ducked, right hook following, Caleb leaned back, flas licking up his spine, knee coming up.
Caleb’s hand shot down, burning hotter than before, the heat alone forcing Garrett’s knee to redirect.
But Garrett was already adapting. His other hand ca around in a hook—
It connected.
Not full power as Caleb had twisted enough to bleed montum, but enough. The impact sent Caleb tumbling across the arena floor.
The crowd gasped.
Garrett pursued imdiately, not giving ti to recover.
Caleb rolled away, ca up at distance, breathing harder now. His ribs scread where Garrett’s fist had connected. Probably cracked.
"There it is," Garrett said, rolling his shoulders. "There’s that look. Recognition. You know you can’t win. Just like last ti."
He advanced again, thodical now. No rushing. Just steady, inevitable pressure.
Caleb’s mind raced.
Garrett closed within ten feet—
Caleb raised his hands.
Fire erupted in a five-ter radius around Caleb, creating a wall of fla between them. Not an attack. A barrier.
Garrett stopped at the edge, essence coating intensifying. "Cute. But I can just—"
He charged through.
His coating protected him from direct burns but the heat—the sustained, intense heat—was different. It penetrated deeper, wore down defenses by degrees rather than single impacts.
He erged on the other side, coating flickered and weakened.
But Caleb wasn’t there anymore.
He’d moved the mont Garrett entered the flas. Used the visual obstruction, used the heat distortion, used Garrett’s own montum against him.
Now Caleb was behind him.
Fire condensed along Caleb’s arm, extending like a blade. He struck, not at Garrett’s reinforced torso but at his leg.
The burning edge cut through weakened coating, bit into flesh.
Garrett roared, spinning with a backfist that forced Caleb to abandon the attack and retreat.
But now Garrett was limping. Just slightly. But limping.
"You little." Garrett’s grin was gone. He touched his leg, saw blood. "Alright. No more playing."
His essence coating surged. He pushed more power into it than before, accepting higher essence consumption for greater defense and strength.
The arena floor cracked under his next step.
He ca at Caleb like a hurricane.
A punch, that Caleb evaded by a hair.
Elbow, that flas barely deflected it, a knee, which Caleb took it on raised guard and got thrown backward, and a spinning heel that caught Caleb across the shoulder. Sothing popped. Dislocated.
Caleb hit the ground hard, rolled instinctively.
Garrett was on him, fist coming down like a hamr.
The fire detonation launched Caleb away, but his injured shoulder made the movent sloppy, he didn’t get full distance.
Garrett’s fist grazed his leg.
He ca down wrong, stumbled, caught himself on one knee.
Garrett charged, sensing finishing move.
This is it.
Caleb’s lazy eyes snapped fully open.
Fire essence erupted from his core, flooding his channels, overwhelming his usual careful control with raw volu.
And he whispered.
"Immolation Aura!"
Heat radiated from his entire body, distorting air, making the arena floor beneath him glow red.
Fla Sphere layered on top. Multiple overlapping walls of fire.
Both arms extended, fire condensing into crescents.
Garrett hit the flas at full speed.
His coating held. Barely. He powered through...
Straight into the fla slashes.
They struck his weakened coating like hamrs. Once. Twice. The already-damaged defense cracked completely.
Fire touched flesh.
Garrett scread.
But his montum still carried him forward, fist still coming.
Caleb didn’t try to evade this ti. He leaned into it.
Both hands shot forward, catching Garrett’s wrist. Fire essence discharged directly into the junction points, not burning, but cooking.
Sustained heat transferred through contact, no coating to block because Caleb was touching skin-to-skin.
Garrett’s punch lost power as his flesh literally cooked.
Caleb didn’t stop. He twisted Garrett’s arm using the montum, redirected the charging body path user’s force.
Garrett stumbled past.
Fire strikes ca from multiple angles. Each one landing on exposed flesh where coating had failed.
Garrett swung wildly, trying to connect.
Missed.
Another burning touch. Another. Another.
Garrett’s movents grew sluggish. Pain and essence depletion taking toll.
"What’s wrong?" Caleb’s voice was quiet. Cold. He appeared behind Garrett, fire trailing. "Thought we should be friendly."
Garrett turned, too slow.
Caleb’s palm struck his spine.
Ignited.
Garrett’s back arched, muscles spasming.
Caleb appeared in front now, lazy eyes completely cold. "Let teach you."
He launched himself vertically, flas propelling.
At apex, he inverted, fire concentrating at his feet.
Fla Sphere condensed into twin jets, sending him down ca down like a teor, both feet aid at Garrett’s shoulders.
THUD!
The impact drove Garrett to his knees.
The arena floor shattered in a five-foot radius.
Caleb landed in a crouch beside the kneeling body path user, both legs extended from the strike, fire still blazing around him.
Garrett tried to stand.
But couldn’t. His essence coating was gone. His body was covered in burns. His legs wouldn’t support his weight.
"What happened now?" Caleb’s voice was barely audible beneath the crowd’s roar.
"You said I am weak."
He stood slowly, fire condensing around his right fist.
"Want to see weak?"
He drove the burning fist into Garrett’s face.
Not full power. Not trying to kill. Just enough to make the point crystal fucking clear.
Garrett’s head snapped back. He collapsed fully, unconscious before he hit the ground.
Caleb stood over him, fire still blazing, chest heaving, screaming.
The arena had gone silent.
Then—
"Garrett Steelwind is... incapacitated. dical intervention required."
She paused.
Everyone waited.
"THE WINNER IS CALEB DUSKWOOD!"
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