The air thickened as the next names flickered onto the screen above the arena.
"Next Match: Auron Vs. Tyra Venn."
Two figures emerged from opposite gates.
Auron, lean and fast, carried the calm confidence of a seasoned Earth Elementalist. Stone gauntlets encased his arms, pulsing with hardened energy. Tyra Venn, by contrast, walked with the eerie stillness of a predator. Her Water Core glimmered under her skin like ripples over ice, and her fingers flexed with precision.
The bell rang.
Auron struck first—hurling jagged slabs of stone that warped into walls and spikes mid-air. Tyra flowed around them, quite literally—her form twisting into ribbons of liquid before reforming in bursts of motion. Their duel was elegant, brutal, and over in minutes. Auron's final wall-tilt collapsed, Tyra standing behind him—two fingers pointed at his neck, dripping.
"Winner: Tyra Venn."
More names appeared. More battles followed.
A Wind-user named Jex vaulted across the stage like a phantom, too fast to follow. He downed his Fire-wielding opponent with aerial strikes and spinning crescents of compressed wind. A girl named Lysa controlled vines from her Earth core, binding her opponent mid-lunge and slamming him against the arena floor.
Then—the screen shuddered. Lights dimmed slightly.
"Now entering: Reina Valloren vs. Draven Korr."
The reaction was instant.
The crowd exploded. Not with cheers, but with a kind of expectant silence, like they were holding their breath. Every eye locked on the black-gated side of the arena.
Reina emerged—slow, deliberate steps. Her light water-sigiled armor shimmered with condensation, the intricate patterns reflecting the light as she moved. She wore no helmet, only a crimson sash around her waist and bandages on her arms. Her pale eyes were fixed on the opposite gate.
Draven Korr stepped out—tall, draped in crackling blue robes. A Lightning user, notorious for brutal knockouts and no regard for restraint.
The bell rang.
Draven moved like a current—appearing beside Reina in a blink, his fist charged with static. But Reina wasn't there.
Her voice was a whisper across the arena.
"Too slow."
She appeared behind him. A crimson slash tore down his back—thin, clean, like a razor. No blade had touched him.
Blood.
Draven growled, turning to blast her with a storm of electric darts, but they bent away—warped mid-air as if his energy refused to reach her.
Then, she activated it.
"Blood Rush," her voice echoed—low and icy.
The arena pulsed with red light as Reina's body split—not physically, but viscerally. Her mortal shell blurred, and what moved forward looked like a crimson phantom. She vanished, then reappeared in front of Draven with her hand pressed to his chest.
A pulse. A soundless detonation of blood-forged energy erupted.
Draven flew backward. He skipped across the ground like a ragdoll, crashing into the barrier wall. He didn't rise.
Silence.
Then chaos.
The crowd exploded—screams, chants, utter disbelief. Some didn't understand what they'd seen. Others were simply too stunned to speak.
In the audience, Sofie was frozen. Fire bloomed behind her eyes—not envy, but ignition.
Kael stared, jaw slack. "She just… ended him."
On the field, Reina stood alone. Blood dripped from her knuckles.
She didn't bow. Didn't smile. Just turned and walked off.
"Winner: Reina Valloren."
The roar was deafening. The crowd screamed her name as if trying to drown out their own fear.
Sofie paced behind the arena gates, her fists trembling—not from fear, but from the build-up of heat coiling beneath her skin. Her name had finally been called.
Just as she reached for the gate handle, a shadow cut across her vision.
Reina.
Still in her blood-streaked bandages, the older girl leaned against the wall like she hadn't just flattened a lightning user minutes ago. Her eyes, pale and unreadable, drifted to Sofie.
"Nervous?" Reina asked, her voice like glass in frost.
Sofie blinked. "…A little."
Reina didn't smirk or nod. She simply stepped closer, gaze sharp but quiet.
"Don't waste time proving you're strong. Just burn what stands in your way."
Sofie stared—startled by the rawness of it. There was no kindness in Reina's tone, but no malice either. Just certainty. Like fire itself had spoken to her.
Then—
"YOOOO!" Kael's voice echoed like a clap of thunder.
He jogged up behind them, waving a protein bar in one hand and grinning like a dork.
"There she is! The flame prodigy herself."
Reina rolled her eyes and walked off without a word.
Kael looked between the two, then grinned harder."She's… intense." He turned to Sofie and held out a fist. "But don't let it mess with you. You've got this."
Sofie bumped his fist with hers, eyes glowing faintly.
"Good luck, sis," he added, his voice softening. "Make 'em sweat."
Sofie smiled. Then turned, and walked out into the firelight.
---
The gates opened.
Noise hit her like a wave. Chants. Screams. Her name, their name—blurring together.
Sofie stepped into the light, heart thudding too fast.
She took a breath.
Another.
Then looked across the arena—
Varrik.
Her hands tightened.
Up in the shadows, Reina watched.Not the match.Just Sofie.
And Sofie… moved forward.Still afraid.But burning anyway.
Her opponent stood like a tidal juggernaut.
Varrik Grenth.Six-foot-four, braided locks damp with condensation, every movement steaming in the air around him. His presence was like a storm held in flesh—coiled pressure, barely contained. The scars trailing his jaw weren't decoration. They were reminders.
He was a favorite in the lower circuit for one reason.
He didn't just win. He drowned his opponents.
Sofie's boots crackled as she stepped onto the arena floor, steam curling up around her. The heat under her skin flared like a second heartbeat.
The bell rang.
Varrik moved instantly—his arms cutting sideways, sending two high-pressure water jets screaming toward her. Sofie jumped, but one clipped her leg. A deep gash tore across her calf—blood mixing with hissed steam.
Up in the stands, Kael leaned on the railing, eyes narrowed.
Then—a gentle hand touched his shoulder.
He turned. "Mom?"
Lady Sera stood beside him, breath slightly quickened, cloak fluttering in the wind.
"Has it started yet?" she asked softly, eyes scanning the arena.
Kael gave a proud, crooked smile and pointed down."Oh yeah.
She landed rough, already limping, and twisted her palms outward.
"Ignar Element Art: Scorch Vein Burst!"
Flames exploded from her back like twin wings, rocketing her forward in a sudden burst. Her leg injury didn't matter—momentum was pain's enemy.
She shot low beneath Varrik's next wave, rolled, and uppercut his gut with a burst-heated palm. Steam hissed. Flesh burned. He staggered.
Then retaliated.
"Abyss Spiral!" he roared.
A cyclone of black water shot upward around them, slicing the arena floor apart in a vortex. One jagged tendril speared through Sofie's shoulder—blood arcing behind her like a fan of rose petals.
The crowd gasped.
Sofie dropped to one knee, her arm shaking violently.
Lady Sera's lips parted in horror. She stepped forward, heart pounding.
"Easy," Kael whispered, grabbing her arm.
"She's not done yet."
Varrik didn't wait. He descended on her, palm overhead, water forming a massive hammer.
Sofie's eyes glowed white-hot.
"Ignar Element Art: Heartflare Reversal."
She slid under his swing, grabbed his ankle, and let loose. Fire blasted from her arms, legs, and eyes, sending a vertical torrent of flame through his entire body.
BOOM.
Varrik screamed—his robe ignited. Flesh bubbled. He slammed backwards, skin blistered, trying to douse himself in a sudden downpour of summoned rain.
Sofie didn't let him recover.
She leapt through the rain.
Blood trailing from her shoulder. Hair soaked and scorched. Eyes burning.
"Ignar Element Art: Flare Chain Crucible!"
She launched six flame-chains from her arms, wrapping around his limbs, then snapped them tight.
Bones cracked. Flesh split.
The entire arena lit up red as Sofie yanked him forward, spinning him overhead by the chains before slamming him face-first into the stone floor.
CRUNCH.
His nose exploded. His jaw snapped sideways.
Blood sprayed across the ring.
The crowd lost their minds.
Varrik coughed up water and blood, swaying as he stood. His eyes were wild now—cornered, furious.
"DROWN—ALL—OF—YOU!!" he screamed.
He raised both arms and unleashed his Core Technique:
"Aether Drench Cataclysm!!"
A tidal sphere formed above the arena—dozens of meters wide. It darkened the sky, rotating like a mini-ocean. Pressure warped the air, moisture choking everyone watching.
He hurled it.
Sofie didn't blink.
"...Okay."
She stepped forward through the chaos, blood and flame dripping from her fists.
Months Ago
The training chamber burned hot, molten sigils flaring along the walls. Sofie stood, panting, arms bruised, hair singed.
Across from her, Varion Ignar loomed like a wildfire given form.
"This technique," he said, voice low but edged with steel, "isn't for honor. It's not for show."
Flames swirled around his arm as he demonstrated, and the air warped with its heat.
"Forbidden Arts are born from desperation. You use them when your life hangs on the edge of a blade."
He looked at her, stern. "If you use it too early… it'll break you."
Sofie, breathing hard, only nodded once.
"Understood."
Present
Her fist clenched, skin blistering as flame spiraled up her arm like a hungry serpent.
"Ignar Element Forbidden Art—Infernal Collapse."
The arena ignited.
She punched the ground with both fists.
Everything exploded.
A geyser of flame tore up beneath her, launching her straight into the falling tidal sphere.
The water met her.
And vaporized.
All of it.
The entire arena flash-boiled. Steam screamed outward in a shockwave, knocking people off their feet in the stands.
When the air cleared—
Varrik was gone.
Only a charred crater remained.
Sofie stood alone in the center, surrounded by boiling mist and bloodstained stone.
Her shoulder hung dislocated. Her mouth dripped red. But her eyes—
Those eyes were a furnace.
Up in the stands, Lady Sera's hands trembled. She stepped forward—
And then froze.
Sofie looked up at her.
And smiled.
Then—with cracked lips—she mouthed,
"I will burn it all down if I have to."