The morning of the third day of the tournament arrived. Kaito had moved on from his second-round match due to his opponent being a no-show. There were a handful of dropouts during the second round. Just as weird as that was, those same slots were filled almost immediately. Kaito was well aware of this because his opponent today was one of those individuals—and to top it off… she was from Myzen's crew.
"And now, for our next match! In one corner, hailing from the Starlight crew, we have Kaito!" The announcer shouted through the arena speakers.
The roar of the crowd quickly transitioned to a deafening silence, followed by murmurs as Kaito stepped into the arena. The sight of the arena stands packed with countless people was becoming more familiar, but the pressure never seemed to ease.
"I swear to you Finn, I will win this tournament." He thought to himself.
The announcer's voice boomed again, cutting through his thoughts.
"And representing the crew of Myzen, another late entry, a warrior as deadly as she is beautiful, Liora!"
The crowd erupted into a mix of cheers and catcalls as Kaito turned to see his opponent. From the far side of the arena, Liora stepped out the tunnel with a slow, almost teasing stride. She wore skin-tight black armor and her long dark pink hair flowed in the wind. Her skin was grey but seemed to have a scaly texture almost.
Her long and jagged dagger dragged along the metal walls of the arena's entrance, creating a screech that made everyone in the stadium wince. Her wicked smile only widened.
"So... you're the famous human everyone's talking about. Kaito, right?" She said playfully.
Kaito stayed silent.
"Ohhhh, come on. Don't be so cold! I've been dying to meet you for soooo long." She cooed.
She twirled her dagger between her fingers. Her eyes sparkled with a twisted joy, as if the idea of the upcoming fight was getting her off.
"After all… Myzen said you'd be a fun time." She said while licking her dagger, lightly slicing her tongue until pink blood dripped from her mouth.
"She's playing mind games. Don't give her what she wants." Kaito thought to himself.
He shifted his stance, rolling his shoulders back and bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet.
"Begin!" The announcer yelled out.
Liora's smile widened as she crouched low.
The next moment, she moved so fast, she seemed to teleport right in front of him.
Kaito barely reacted in time.
He sidestepped just as the jagged dagger sliced through the air where his throat had been just a moment earlier.
She smirked and followed up immediately.
Her movements were too fast for him to get a proper read on her.
Each attack came quicker than the last aimed at vulnerable spots, his neck, his ribs, his legs. He blocked and dodged as best as he could, but the speed at which she moved was unlike anything he'd faced so far.
"Oh come on Kaito! I expected more than this, don't tell me I'm making you nervous?" She cooed crazily while attacking.
She slashed at him again, and this time her dagger caught the skin right under his eye, drawing a thin line of blood. Kaito hissed as he jumped back, but Liora didn't relent—she stayed glued to him.
She danced around him, not fighting to kill… at least not yet. She was toying with him. He was dodging the best he could… but it wasn't enough.
Her dagger, now glowing with pink essence, slashed across his abdomen. It cut through the combat suit given to him by Talon.
The cut was deep.
Blood oozed out, dripping on his pants and the arena ground below
He jumped back while covering the wound, wincing in pain.
She seized on that opening, slashing at his arm with a crazed smile. The blade cut deep again, blood spraying across the arena floor. The crowd gasped collectively as Kaito stumbled back.
"What's wrong my sweet boy? Can't keep up?" She said as she licked his blood off the tip of her blade.
Kaito's body screamed in pain, each wound from her cuts felt hot as lava.
"She's too fast. I won't last much longer. I can't wait anymore, I need to try to use it…" He thought to himself.
His vision slightly blurred from the blood trickling down the side of his face. But amidst the chaos, he felt it.
The previous night after leaving the city, Kaito was down on one knee in a rocky clearing with the elf man, panting heavily after hours of training.
The man squatted down next to him.
"Lightning is not something you simply summon from thin air. It's formed when you charge and condense your essence, then release it in a controlled burst. Picture your power flowing like a current. You focus it, push it outward, and—" He said as he casually pointed his index finger outward and a thin lightning bolt zipped out.
In flight, it split off, creating dozens more until one became hundreds before destroying a large boulder fifty meters away.
Kaito's eyes became literal stars.
He tried to mimic him, closing his eyes and concentrating. For a moment, he felt a crackle around his hand. But then the energy fizzled and a jolt of electricity shot up his arm.
"Agh—!" He yelped, nearly falling over after accidentally electrocuting himself.
"Hahahaha! Harder than it looks, huh? Don't worry, at least you have muah here to help." The man teased.
Kaito's cheeks burned red with embarrassment.
"H-hey! Quit laughing, geezer or I'm going to electrocute you next."
Suddenly, the man stopped laughing, as if he took offense to what was said. He turned, raised his hand skyward, and in a single dramatic moment, a colossal bolt of lightning crashed from the clouds, striking his palm.
Residual sparks danced around his fingers.
"You're looking at one of the strongest lightning affinity users in the known universe." He said, turning back to Kaito with a sly grin.
Kaito stared at him, eyes shining with even more stars than before.
"He's like… Raiden..!" He thought to himself.
In that moment, all his doubts vanished, replaced by absolute amazement and trust in this mysterious mentor.
Back in the arena, Kaito took a deep breath, electricity flickering around his hands.
"I can do this. Charge and condense my essence…" He muttered to himself.
Tiny arcs of electricity crackled along his arm, faint at first, like a static charge building before a storm. It grew stronger, more defined, dancing between his fingers.
In the stands, Elara stood silently.
"So he has a lighting affinity, huh? When did he awaken it? Was it during his last battle?" She thought to herself.
Her CPI scanner flickered to life and what she saw made her stoic facade crack for a moment.
Kaito: 50,000… 80,000… 93,000 CPI
That look of shock slowly turned into an eager smirk as she watched him charge his attack.
Liora's playful demeanor was replaced with curiosity as she saw the electricity swirling around Kaito.
"Lightning…? HA! That's a cute trick! There's no way a runt like you has a lightning affinity!" She taunted.
But this wasn't just a trick and Kaito didn't respond to her taunts.
He raised one of his hands up.
"Raiden Garden!!"
Five small bolts of pure lightning zipped from the tips of his fingers towards Liora. They zipped around so fast, it looked like a group of snakes slithering through the air.
Halfway there, the bolts split off, turning into little over a dozen.
Liora's eyes widened at the speed. She dodge to the side, barely avoiding them, but one of the bolts grazed her side, sending a jolt through her body.
She hissed in pain, but that pain seemed to turn into pleasure as her grin returned, but now it was tinged with irritation.
As the sound of lightning crackling spread throughout the arena, the crowd was left stunned. The sheer intensity of the spectacle had them leaning forward in their seats, eyes wide with disbelief.
The rest of the crew stood in shocked silence for a moment, taking in what they had just witnessed.
"A freakin lightning affinity!? You're insane kid!" Jinx screamed out, her eyes wide and filled with excitement.
Finn laid in the medical bay on the ship with Elysia and Kaeline next to him, watching the match on a hologram. His jaw dropped as he saw the bolts of lightning tear through the air.
"Lightning?! That's amazing! How did he even do that?"
Kaeline, who was sitting in a chair next to his bed, spoke up.
"Lightning isn't just something you can summon out of nowhere. Each fighter has an affinity, a connection to one or more of the core elements in the universe and other cosmic based things. Some people are born with it and are able to use it naturally from birth, while others like Kaito, may lay dormant for a while before being awakened under extreme pressure. He's probably had this power in him for a while, but it's the heat of the battle that forces these abilities to surface… or something else. Still… the lightning affinity is one of the hardest primary affinities to use. Not only that, his essence control and usage is far below average. He's fighting off of pure instinct. If he doesn't finish this soon, that same dazzling power will be his downfall."
Kaeline turned her attention back to the fight, her eyes seemingly studying Kaito and his new abilities.
"When did you learn this… Kaito?"
Kaito's hand still crackled with residual lightning as the crowd murmured in disbelief. The rest of the crew continued to watch from the stands.
Liora, however, had no intention of letting him get comfortable with this newfound power. She lunged at him, her dagger aimed at his leg.
He barely managed to dodge, but the effort was wearing on him.
"Come on Kaito my sweet boy! Is that all you've got?" She screamed out.
Kaito skidded to a stop, panting heavily, electricity around him flickering. His body screamed at him to stop, but he couldn't afford to give in.
"I'm not… done yet." He said between breaths.
Back in the same rocky clearing, the elf man began to lecture Kaito.
"Offense and defense using your affinity starts with the same principle: focus your essence around your body. Let it envelop you. If you can't mold it properly, you'll either burn yourself out or leave yourself wide open." He said.
He demonstrated by letting lightning flow over his arms and legs, forming a crackling layer of energy. When Kaito tried to punch him, his fist bounced off the electric coating, sending sparks into the air.
"Woaahhh. So I can fight like Raiden from Mortal Kombat?" Kaito asked, eyes wide with excitement.
"Uhhh, yeah… Exactly. In a fight, the best ability is flexibility, to turn defense into offense in the blink of an eye." The man went along as if he knew what he was talking about.
Kaito closed his eyes, imagining a sphere of lightning wrapping his torso and limbs, sparking with raw power.
"Not bad." The old man said, nodding approvingly.
"Just don't blow yourself up… okay kid?"
Back in the arena, Kaito focused his essence, not only his hand but his entire body crackled with lightning.
Finn leaned up in his bed as he watched him prepare for his next move.
"What is he doing now?" He asked wide eyed.
Kaito crouched down low and his eyes locked onto Liora. In an instant, he moved.
Spectators in the crowd were shocked at the sudden change of speed and they began to murmur as they tried to keep up with him.
"What the…?!"
"Wh..Where is he? I can even see him!"
"What kind of speed is that?!"
His body blurred completely out of sight, leaving behind multiple afterimages as he ran in circles around Liora, leaving trails of dust, debris, and lighting arcs. Before she could react, he delivered a devastating punch infused with lightning straight to her gut.
But he wasn't done just yet.
As Liora tried to regain her footing, clutching her stomach, he disappeared again.
In the next instant, he reappeared behind her and landed a vicious kick to her back.
Without giving her a moment to recover, he disappeared and reappeared on the other side of her over and over, striking her with a rapid flurry of punches, each one crackling with lightning.
"Keep moving. Keep swinging. DON'T LET HER FUCKING BREAHTE!" He instructed himself in his head.
He darted around her in a tighter circle, before delivering an upward palm strike to her chin lifting her off her feet.
As she soared through the air, he vanished again, reappearing in mid-air above her. His body twisted as he delivered a brutal axe kick to her chest, sending her plummeting back to the arena floor like a meteor.
BOOOOOM!!
She crashed into the ground, destroying a large portion of the arena floor.
But Kaito wasn't finished just yet…
He floated in the air gracefully as he began to charge his purple essence for one final devastating move. His legs were covered with an immense amount of lightning.
"Raiden Strike!!"
With a thunderous roar, he descended like a lightning bolt, diving feet first into Liora's gut. The impact unleashed a massive shockwave that crackled through the arena, sending bolts of electricity rippling everywhere.
The announcer's voice came booming through the arena's speakers.
"Kaito's combo is relentless! What sheer power!"
Finn watched wide eyed from the hospital, astonished by Kaito's new moves.
"He's… so fast… He's completely overwhelming her. A–Amazing Kaito!" He muttered to himself in awe.
Kaeline, however, wasn't impressed as she continued to watch calmly.
The dust from the combo attack began to settle. Kaito fell down and jumped back at the center of the arena. He was breathing heavily, lightning subtly flickering around him. Liora laid sprawled on the ground.
For a moment, the crowd was silent, absorbing the spectacle they had just witnessed.
Kaito took a deep breath,but his eyes remained locked on Liora.
But she didn't stay down for long.
Like a zombie, she began to rise. But something was strange… Instead of looking beat up or defeated, she was smiling with a face of one who was… being pleasured.
"That felt so good. Come on Kaito my sweet boy. I know you've got more to give me." She cooed out.
Her taunts only fueled his determination even more. He raised his hand once more, this time channeling the lightning into his palm.
"Alright then, let's see if you can handle this."
He vanished again, dashing straight at her with blistering speed.
With a swift motion, he swung his arm, forming a lighting like blade.
"Raiden Slash!"
She barely had time to react, folding her body in half at the last moment as she leaned backwards to dodge the attack. The blade grazed the chest plate of her armor, sending sparks flying.
She placed her hands on the ground, kicking upwards as Kaito jumped backwards to dodge it. She began to stand, her breathing heavy, but that smile never left her face. She wiped pink blood from her lip, her eyes filled with euphoria.
"That's it... Keep going… Show me more!" She cooed between breaths.
Elara watched from the stands in silence.
"This isn't good, Kaito's CPI is slowly falling. Those lighting abilities… he doesn't know how to use them effectively yet." She thought to herself as a slightly worried look crept onto her face.
Kaito's body was screaming at him to stop, but he couldn't… he wouldn't.
His hand crackled with electricity once more, but this time, it was different, denser, more focused. The air around him seemed to buzz with energy and the sky above darkened slightly as the atmosphere responded to his power… or so he thought.
The pressure in the air shifted as Liora's essence exploded, filling the arena with a dark pink glow that radiated from her. Her body twitched unnervingly, her twisted smile widening as her pink blood dripped from her chin.
"Give it to me… Give it to me... GIVE IT TO ME!!" She screamed out.
The crowd that had once been cheering now sat in stunned silence, their excitement turning into a collective unease.
Kaito's CPI scanner flickered, struggling to keep up as her power spiked higher and higher.
Liora: 110,000… 190,000… 280,000…
"Her CPI… it's rising?! Wh–what is the power…?" He thought to himself completely baffled.
Her essence swirling around her like she was in the middle of a pink tornado. She stood tall and spread her arms wide, laughing uncontrollably as if she welcomed death itself.
"YES THAT'S IT! GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU GOT!"
The previous night, the elf man sat criss-crossed by a roaring campfire, Kaito across from him.
"Kaito… what do you think is the single most important aspect of any fight?"
Kaito rattled off answers with confidence.
"Strategy, timing, reading your opponent's moves—"
"WRONG!" The man blurted out, putting a finger in his face.
Kaito blinked, startled.
"The most important aspect is how you finish a fight. Your opponent can be stronger, faster, smarter… but if you have a signature move—something so sudden and devastating—it can turn the tide in an instant." He explained.
He stood and raised a hand, forming a swirling sphere of lightning at his palm. The essence crackled ominously, condensing into a bright, focused ball of electricity that lit up the surrounding area.
"Focus your essence and affinity into one concentrated point. It'll be harder than anything you've tried, but if you pull it off… well, you could end a battle before your opponent even knows what hit them."
Kaito watched in awe, the sphere glowing like a tiny star.
Back in the arena, Kaito raised his hand, steadying it with his other arm at the crease of his elbow. The electricity around his arm grew larger and louder. The ground beneath his feet cracked as he gathered the last of his strength.
"Tell me how this feels, you freak!—
—RAIDEN CANNON!"
He shot off a huge blast of purple essence surrounded by lightning. It tore through the arena floor, racing toward her with devastating speed.
Suddenly…
BOOOOOOOM!
A large blast ensues causing everyone in the stands to take cover. Dust and debris flew everywhere.
"Did… did I get her?" Kaito asked himself, trying to catch his breath.
The dust began to settle, revealing a figure still standing.
It was Liora.
Her armor was destroyed and the black suit underneath was tattered. Her body was bruised and dripping with pink blood, but still surrounded by her dark pink essence. Her smile was even wider than before.
"That felt so amazing… Don't stop now, give me more." She said teasingly to him.
The arena went completely silent, and Kaito's heart sank to his ass.
Liora was still standing… and her essence seemed stronger than ever.
The announcer's voice came through the speakers shocked.
"L-Liora… is still on her feet! What an unexpected turn of events!" He yelled through the speakers.
The crew exchanged worried glances.
Liora raised her hand, her fingers twitching as her pink hair began to glow.
"Now… it's my turn."
Her pink essence around her surged even more, nearly enveloping the entire arena.
"Pain Convergence!"