Nova leapt toward the nearest wall, planting one foot against a broken section of stone before using it to launch himself into the air. He twisted over the bully's shoulder and landed behind him, immediately driving a knee into his lower back. The impact forced the boy forward, and Nova followed with several rapid strikes to his shoulder and upper back, refusing to give him enough room to turn around.
The bully grunted and twisted his body, throwing a kick backward. Nova saw it coming, but his injured leg was a fraction too slow to move. The heel struck his chest and sent him sliding across the uneven floor. He stopped himself with one hand, only to regret it when his damaged knuckles scraped against the stone.
"Fuck!" he muttered, pushing himself upright. His ribs protested as he took a breath, the pain sharp enough to make him hesitate before drawing in another. 'All right. Getting kicked in the chest is officially getting old.'
The bully did not give him time to recover. He raised both arms, and the loose fragments scattered around the arena lifted off the ground. Dozens of jagged shards hovered above them for a moment before plunging toward Nova. There was no clear path out of their reach, so he ducked beneath the first few and knocked another aside with his forearm. A shard tore across the back of his hand. Another struck the ground near his ankle, sending splinters against his trousers.
He moved between the falling stones, twisting his shoulders whenever there was enough room and striking the pieces he could not avoid. Each blow aggravated the cuts across his palms. Blood ran between his fingers, mixing with the dust that covered nearly every part of him. By the time the last shard fell, both hands were trembling.
'If I keep punching rocks, I'm going to run out of skin before he runs out of mana,' Nova thought. Unfortunately, moving away would only give the bully more space to attack. He needed to get close again, even if doing so meant taking another hit.
Nova lunged through the dust with his elbow raised. It connected with the bully's ribs, drawing a sharp grunt from him. Before the boy could recover, Nova drove a knee into his stomach. The bully folded forward, but instead of retreating, he slammed both fists into the ground.
A violent crack spread across the floor between them. The stone shifted beneath Nova's feet and threw him backward before he could regain his balance. He landed hard on his side and skidded through rubble, collecting fresh scrapes along his forearm and the leg already injured during the earlier exchange.
For several seconds, Nova remained on the ground, breathing through clenched teeth. He had suffered worse injuries over the course of the tournament, but they were beginning to add up. There was only so much punishment a mortal body could endure, regardless of who happened to be living inside it.
'I'm going to need a ridiculous amount of treatment after this. Assuming I get out of here in one piece.' He rolled onto his knees and forced himself to stand. 'One problem at a time.'
Across from him, the bully wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled. "You're still getting up? You should've stayed down when you had the chance."
"And miss this wonderful opportunity to get buried under another pile of rocks?" Nova asked, raising his fists despite the pain. "I'd hate to disappoint you."
The bully's smile disappeared. He spread his arms, and thick stone walls rose from the floor around them. One emerged behind Nova while another pushed inward from his right, reducing the space in which he could move. The bully was turning the enclosed arena into an even smaller one, forcing Nova to face him where every step was easier to predict.
Nova struck the nearest wall at a weak point where two broken sections met. The stone cracked and fell away, giving him barely enough room to shift sideways. Another barrier rose almost immediately, and a pointed column pushed up through the gap. He twisted away from it, feeling the rough edge scrape across his sleeve.
'He's trying to take away my footwork,' Nova realized. 'If I let him control where I stand, this fight is over.'
Rather than continue retreating, he stepped toward the boy as another wall formed. Nova planted a foot against the rising stone, used its momentum to redirect himself, and turned into a spinning backfist. His knuckles connected with the bully's jaw. The impact knocked him sideways into a jagged section of wall, and a thin line of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"You little bastard," he growled.
"You've said worse things to me already," Nova replied, though his breathing was becoming increasingly uneven. "At least try to be creative."
Several spikes erupted from the floor. Nova knocked the first aside and stepped around the second, but the third forced him to throw himself against the wall. He caught his balance with his shoulder, twisted away from another incoming fragment, and ducked as smaller projectiles cut through the air above his head. Every movement was costing more energy than the last.
His training had improved his stamina, his reflexes, and his control over his movements. It had not made him immune to exhaustion. His injured leg felt heavy, his ribs hurt whenever he turned too sharply, and the skin on his knuckles had been torn open so many times that closing his fists was becoming difficult.
Still, he kept moving. The bully was spending mana to reshape the entire arena, and even with his ability, he needed to see where Nova was going. That meant there was a brief moment between choosing an attack and moving the stone to intercept him. Nova focused on those moments, watching the boy's shoulders and hands rather than every fragment flying through the air.
The bully ripped a large section from one of the walls and hurled it forward. Nova stepped aside, caught the edge of the broken mass with both hands, and used its momentum to turn it back toward its owner. Pain shot through his arms, but the unexpected return forced the bully to raise a barrier in front of his face.
Nova followed immediately. He slipped past the barrier before it had fully risen and drove a straight punch into the boy's chest, forcing him backward. The bully stumbled against the corner of his own enclosure. Stone broke loose above them, and Nova had to lean away from the falling debris before he could press his advantage.
"You're fast," the bully admitted through gritted teeth. His hands began to glow faintly again. "But this isn't over just yet!"
"I noticed," Nova answered. "You keep rebuilding the damn place."
The bully struck the ground with both palms. Spikes raced outward toward Nova's feet, then rose at different angles as he tried to escape. One cut across his forearm deeply enough to draw another stream of blood. He hissed and stepped away, nearly losing his footing on loose stones, but managed to bring his elbow down against the next spike before it reached his side.
'Focus. He's attacking from below whenever I close the distance. Don't watch his face. Watch the ground.' Nova adjusted his stance, putting less weight on his injured leg. He could feel the boy's earth manipulation growing less precise whenever Nova reached striking distance, even if the power behind it remained dangerous.
He charged again, stepping between two rising columns and striking the bully across the shoulder. The boy blocked the next punch with his forearm, but Nova changed direction and drove an elbow into his ribs. Another wall rose between them. Nova moved around its unfinished edge and kicked aside a smaller stone before it reached his knee.
For the first time since their confrontation began, the bully was being forced to retreat more often than he advanced. His attacks remained powerful, but Nova was beginning to recognize the way he used them. A barrier to block the first strike. Spikes from below when Nova moved around it. Larger stones whenever he tried to create distance. The pattern was not absolute, but it gave Nova something to work with.
'There you are,' Nova thought as he saw the boy glance toward the floor again. 'You're not as unpredictable as you think.'
He feinted toward the bully's left side. As expected, stone rose to meet him. Nova changed direction before the wall was complete, slipping to the right and delivering a hard punch to the boy's ribs. The bully staggered, then tried to retaliate with a raised column, but Nova was already moving. He struck the boy's arm before the motion finished and followed with a knee to the stomach.
The bully snarled and swung at him. Nova ducked beneath the punch, although the movement sent a painful jolt through his ribs. He answered with an uppercut that forced the boy's head back. Blood spilled from his mouth, and he stumbled away, barely managing to keep his feet beneath him.
Nova took a step after him, then slowed. The sudden movement had pulled painfully at his injured leg. His hands were almost numb, and he could hear his own breathing over the rumbling stone. He wanted to finish the fight quickly, but rushing without thinking was exactly how he had ended up trapped inside this arena.
"What's wrong?" the bully spat, struggling to straighten. "Getting tired?"
"Extremely," Nova admitted. "And you're making it much worse."
The boy lifted his hands once more. A crooked section of wall pushed up between them, and jagged pieces of rock gathered around its upper edge. Nova did not wait for them to launch. He moved forward, struck the weakest part of the barrier, and forced his way through the opening as fragments fell around his shoulders.
The bully tried to bring another wall up at Nova's feet. Nova jumped over the rising edge and landed close enough to strike. His fist caught the boy's jaw and turned his head sharply to the side. The boy fell to one knee, reaching for the ground, but Nova drove a knee into his ribs before he could summon another obstruction. An uppercut followed, knocking him back against the broken stone.
For a moment, the boy remained hunched over, trying to catch his breath. He attempted to raise an arm, but the movement was slow, and the stones near his hand only shifted slightly. His face was bruised, blood ran from his mouth, and each breath sounded more difficult than the last.
Nova stepped backward, finally allowing himself a little space. His chest rose and fell heavily. Blood coated the backs of his hands, and his fingers hurt whenever he tried to straighten them. He wiped a smear of blood and sweat from his forehead, leaving another dirty streak across his skin.
The arena had fallen almost silent. Broken walls stood at awkward angles, with rubble scattered across the floor and a faint cloud of dust still hanging in the air. The bully remained among the shattered stones, breathing raggedly, while Nova stood several steps away and watched for any movement.
'Is that it?' he wondered. He wanted the answer to be yes, but experience had taught him how dangerous it was to assume a fight had ended simply because an opponent had stopped attacking. 'Don't get careless now.'
Nova flexed his bloodied fingers and took a slow step forward. Every muscle in his body ached, and the adrenaline that had carried him through the exchange was no longer enough to hide the exhaustion beneath it. Even so, he kept his eyes on the bully, ready for whatever resistance the boy might still offer.