The Duel

Shinoha entered the sparring hall and behind her followed Kuro. Hinako and Yamada were already here and with them another woman. She was tall, had long black hair, glasses and was dressed in a white lab coat. Underneath she had black band shirt and simple jeans.

“Ah, Yukiko! Thank you for coming down, just in case we need you.”, said Shinoha approaching the three women.

“No worries… I planned to come down anyway to check up on the rascal.”, said Yukiko with a smile.

She then came up to Kuro.

“Hm… a whole building collapsed on your ass, but you seem fine… How are you feeling Ku-chan? Well aside from pissed, that you missed that Live-Event you were looking forward to…”, Yukiko asked while looking him up and down.

“I’m… fine, Yukiko…”, answered Kuro quietly.

“That’s good.”

Yukiko smiled at him and then went to the side of the room, where a few chairs were.

“Okay, let’s get this duel started.”, said Shinoha.

“What are the restrictions for the duel?”, asked Hinako.

“There are no restrictions, you can use every spell at your disposal and don’t have to hold back. These walls are enchanted with multiple layers of powerful barriers, so you don’t have to worry about destroying anything.”

“But… if I go all out… I could really harm him, or… kill him…”, said Hinako a bit hesitant.

“Good. Do that!”, interjected Yamada.

Yukiko began to laugh and even Shinoha had a slight smile on her face.

“Don’t worry this guy here isn’t killed so easily… In fact, I want you to go all out. I heard of your magical skills, so I want to see them for myself. So, treat this sparring match like it was a real battle. The match is over if one of you gives up or is otherwise incapable of continuing. Understood?”, explained Shinoha.

“Understood.”, said Hinako.

Kuro nodded.

“Good, then both get ready and then we start.”, ordered Shinoha and went to Yukiko to the side.

Yamada whispered something to Hinako, shot Kuro another death stare and then went to the side as well.

“What did you say to her?”, asked Yukiko.

“To kill that stupid Otaku.”, she said with disdain.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“I am supposed to be back at my parents enjoying a nice and relaxing holiday, but because to that Dimwit I had to come into the office…”

“Don’t worry… everybody that had to come in and has to work during the holiday will get two extra weeks off…”, interjected Shinoha, snapped with her finger and a transparent wall with a slight purple sparkle appeared in front of them.

Hinako and Kuro went to the middle of the room and stood roughly fifteen meters apart from each other. She looked at her opponent and wondered if the man with the messy hair, the full of holes shirt and the baggy jeans was really a fighter or even a mage.

“Sorry, that I’m going to hurt you, but you heard her, I have to go all out.”, she said confidently.

Kuro did not say anything back and just looked at her. A bit of Hinako’s confidence disappeared, as she looked into his blue eyes gleaming behind the shaggy hair.

“Combatants ready?”, echoed the Shinoha’s voice through the room.

Both nodded.

“Okay then on three you can begin! One! Two! T-“

Shinoha did not finish the countdown because Hinako made a few quick gestures and stomped on the floor. A huge fire shot out from under Kuro, and he vanished in the flames. The blaze dissipated after a few moments leaving only a burned spot on the floor.

Shit, did I just burn him to a cinder? They said he could take it, Hinako thought slightly panicked.

She looked to the side where the three women were, but none of them reacted in any way.

“Good attempt, but unlucky for you… the one who taught me always went on one…”, said Kuro right into her left ear.

Hinako jerked around in surprise. Kuro just stood there looking at her with his blue eyes. Hinako immediately conjured up flames around her fist and went for a straight punch. Kuro caught her arm, but she expected it and extended her flames farther, engulfing his head. Hinako wrung her hand free and jumped back a pace. She watched with satisfaction as her flames swallowed more and more of his body.

I got him this time, she thought and smiled.

Hinako’s eye grew wide in surprise, when Kuro just shook his body like a dog and the flames came off. With growing anger, she watched as he just blew the last bit of fire on his shoulder out, like someone would do with candle. Kuro’s facial expression hasn’t changed at all.

“That all?”, he taunted a bit disappointed.

Hinako went into a low fighting stance and concentrated. Flames shot out around her fists and feet. With a loud explosion she lunged forward and began a flurry of blows and kicks against Kuro. He dodged some and parried most.

“Shit… She should go for some distance… Close range isn’t going to work against him.”, commented Yamada, watching as both combatants vanished in a blaze of fire.

“And you think she would beat him at other ranges?”, asked Yukiko with raised eyebrows.

“Well… hm… he is weaker at longer range…”

“Weaker maybe, but by no means weak, my dear. Aside from the Grandmaster, you are the only one ever to beat him at long range… and you carry the moniker of The Sniper Mage, Sacchan!”

“You give him way too much credit… and don’t call me Sacchan!”

“And you give him way too less, because you hate him… Yamada-san.”

“If you like him so much, why don’t you marry him?”

“Oh, I would! If I weren’t happily married, I would jump on him in a heartbeat!”

“That disgusting guy?”

“Have you ever really looked closely at his body?”

“What? NO! Why would I? I don’t want to look at a smelly and gross Otaku! I think I would vomit…”

“Well… As you know, I do the medical check-ups for… and let me tell you girl, you’d lose some liquids if you saw what I have seen, but it would definitely not be vomit… Shit, I could start drooling just thinking about his jui-“

“LADIES! Stay professional!”, reprimanded Shinoha sharply.

“Sorry, Grandmaster!”, both said in unison.

Yukiko gestured something with both of her hands. Yamada quickly swatted her hands away. Yukiko smiled deviously at her slightly flushed cheeks. Shinoha just sighed. Meanwhile, Hinako’s attack flurry went on, but the young woman still had not landed a meaningful blow on Kuro, who hadn’t attacked back even once. The three women on the side watched the one-sided exchange of blows in silence for a few minutes.

“Shit.”, exclaimed Yamada, as Kuro grabbed Hinako.

“Well, that’s it. The fight is done.”, remarked Yukiko, as the young woman went to the floor.

“Not yet…”, said Shinoha.

Kuro leaned over Hinako, who he had thrown over his shoulder to the ground. Two big brown eyes stared at him with a mixture of rage and surprise.

“You have one more chance, girl. You heard the old hag. Come at me as if you want to kill me.”, Kuro whispered right in her ear.

Then he straightened up, went back a few paces and waited. Hinako, filled with rage, got up and looked at her opponent just standing there.

“Fine… but don’t come complaining, if you get burned!”, she pressed through her gritted teeth.

Kuro just made an inviting hand gesture, which infuriated the young woman even more. She took a few deep breaths and concentrated on her next spell. Kuro felt the magic energy in the room stirring and watched with interest as small bright lines under the skin of Hinako became visible. The dark black hair suddenly turned to a crimson color and her eyes shone brightly. Hinako extended her arms in front and produced a flame between her palms. It flickered a bit, then turned blue and in the next moment it drastically expanded until it had around one meter in diameter.

“Burn you bastard!”, yelled Hinako and flung the flame forward.

The blue fire shot with a hiss across the room and what Kuro did next surprised everyone, except Shinoha. Instead of dodging or blocking, he made a step forward, cocked back his right arm and punched right into the oncoming flame. Kuro vanished in the following explosion, and the shockwave even made Yamada and Yukiko jolt in their seats. They were sure that if Shinoha’s barrier hadn’t been there, that they would be pressed to stay upright. The whole room shook a bit. Kuro appeared again, as the smoke and dust settled. He was looking at his hand. It was badly burned. But instead of screaming or wincing in pain, he began to smile. Kuro then focused his gaze back on his opponent and went into a fighting stance for the first time during the fight. Hinako met his eyes, and a shiver went down her spine. She had been training with her grandfather since she could remember, so even a sparring match with a more powerful mage was not something new to her but looking at the man getting into position a few paces away deeply unsettled her. She blinked for not even a heartbeat, but that miniscule timeframe was enough for Kuro to close the distance. Hinako had no idea how he did it, but when she opened her eyes, he was right in front of her.

“My turn.”, he just said.

Hinako reacted instinctively and put her arms up as a guard in front of her body. The impact came immediately, and she felt like a train had hit her. The woman flew backwards and crashed into the ground. Hinako felt numbness spreading through her body, but she pulled herself back onto her feet. Hinako saw Kuro where she had stood moments ago patiently watching her get up. It became crystal clear to her, that that man in front of her, was leagues above her in magical power and experience. Others would have lost hope in the face of this overwhelming force, but not Hinako. She hadn’t been called a sore loser all her life for no reason. Hinako let even more magical energy run through her body an her hair changed to a bright red color. Red and blue flames shot out in several places on her body and enveloped her in a fiery veil. Kuro’s grin grew even bigger. He made some hand gestures and fist sized rocks appeared, spiraling around his body. With a flick of his arm, they shot towards her. Hinako quickly dodged to the side and lunged forward. She flung her flames forward direct at him. A big stone appeared and blocked the fire. The charred slab then flew towards her. Hinako dodged to the side and blocked the following kick barely in time. Kuro pressed the attack with a flurry of punches and kicks. Hinako went on the defensive, which proved rather difficult, since she not only had to worry about Kuro’s direct attacks but also his rocks coming at her from every angle. She tried to weave some of her flames between the attacks to stop or at least slow them down a bit, but to no avail. Hinako knew that time was not on her side. She could not hold out against the relentless attacks for long, so she had to take a gamble. Hinako rapidly expanded her fiery veil like a flaming shockwave, which bought her a moment of respite. She concentrated as much of her magical energy in her right index finger as she could and pointed it at Kuro’s body.

Parry that, she thought grimly

With a deafening bang, a blue with a hint of purple line shot out from her hand with incredibly speed right at his chest. Showing an even more incredibly speed Kuro dodged to the ground and in the same instant he swept his hand across the floor in her direction. A pillar shot out and right back at Hinako. In contrast to him, she was unable to dodge in time. Hinako mustered all the energy she could in the short timeframe and hastily created a barrier in front of her chest. The pillar went right through it and struck her. She felt her ribs crack and her feet lose contact with the ground. Kuro suddenly got smaller and smaller and then she felt a second impact from behind. The air left her lungs and all went black.

“KURO! THAT’S ENOUGH!”, she heard someone yell in the distance.

After that she lost consciousness.