Flames of Adversity

  What was death truly? The end? The beginning? The flames of rebirth? Or the falling flames that wished to incinerate his soul?

  ?Those were the only thoughts running in Blade's mind as he could only watch the flaming inferno head fall towards him and Leo, who was going insane and screaming from the incoming death. Blade couldn't give up, though, not yet. He didn't know what it was. Adrenaline? A need to survive? Yet it was all telling him to do something, anything, to lessen the chance of death. And so he gripped his blade harder than ever and drove it into the ground.

  ?Mana exists naturally in all things. No matter how little, it's still there. And so he drove his blade into the ground, using some of the little mana he had left to forcefully collide and fuse it with the existing mana in the ground. This created a type of chemical reaction that led to a giant mana explosion, dispersing the flaming head, and resulting in an even bigger reaction of flames and mana bursting outwards.

  ?The surroundings were left burnt, not incinerated. The double-explosions having left a permanent scar across the landscape. Blade had survived, now lying in an enormous crater caused by the two explosions. Yet the ash that remained gave way to a bigger problem.

  ?"So you survived. Too bad your friend didn't. I had hoped both of you would be strong enough to give me a challenge, but I’ll take what's left.”

  ?The voice reached him, just as the dust was blown away by aura, or was it mana? Blade didn’t know as he had never seen something like this, but as he looked aside he saw Leo’s incinerated body, destroyed in the collision of the two explosions. Blade knew that whatever the man standing in front of him was, he meant danger. This person had to be one of the [Twin Stars] Leo had talked about.

  ?Blade’s muscles refused to go any longer. He had pushed on far enough with his limitations, and here was where he stopped. His mana usage had been far too high, and even if it wasn’t, he was far too tired . Even so, he could sense the danger of this man. It felt as if he was being crushed by a giant puppet’s hand.

  ?"So who are you? I have never seen you around before. I would like the name of my opponent before I kill him.”

  The man looked to be barely older than Blade, ?yet his presence was far greater.

  ?"My name is Blade. Who are you, and where did you come from?"

  ?Blade replied, trying to stall for time while he figured out something, anything that would help him.

  ?"Nice meeting you. Seems you're in rough shape. Guess you and that weakling weren’t that far apart.”

  Opening his palm, the man watched as green fire sparked in his hand.

  ?"Phoenix Flare

  ?As he did, green fire shot forth at Blade, enveloping him completely. The flames did not burn or even sting. A soothing sensation like the warmest healing spells, watching his skin knit together as his wounds closed and healed perfectly. His mana that had been dry refueled almost instantly.

  Both the sensation and sight were weird. As if hugged by the warmest sun and tucked into a heated blanket, yet none of it hurt.

  ?Blinking from surprise, Blade stood up, feeling his arm fully fixed.

  ?“Why did you heal me? Wouldn’t it be easier for you to finish me while I was hurt?”

  ?At his words, the man couldn’t help but laugh, trying to stifle himself, but failing as he continued.

  ?"If I killed you when you were weak, I wouldn't have any fun. A fight is at its most enjoyable when you destroy someone at their strongest."

  ?The man replied as his laugh died down, leaving only a smile. Blade knew he was telling the truth, yet he didn't feel the same as Leo, who would aimlessly kill for joy.

  ?Though by the way he had dropped in, he had a feeling this man was partly sadistic. His thoughts were cut short by his words.

  ?"Now come on, let's get this started.”

  ?The man rushed in with astounding speed, with Blade barely managing to deflect as the man said.

  ?"Oh, and my name is Indra. Nice meeting you [Devil's Blade].”

  ?Catching Blade's sword, Indra kicked him away.

  Using his sword, Blade managed to slow himself as he asked.

  ?"Okay, you are the second person who brought up my title without me saying it. Is it plastered on my face or what?"

  ?"Well, it is clearly stated when I use Appraisal on you”

  ?"Appraisal?"

  ?"... you don't know what the Appraisal is? Didn’t you learn about it whatsoever? Seems you're more inexperienced than I thought.”

  ?Indra said before rushing at Blade again. This time, Blade used his foot to stop his own sword swing before using the flow of power to kick Indra in his face. Now upside down, Indra shot fire from his hand to gain distance while sending a wave of fire at Blade, only for it to be split in half by him.

  ?"I'm glad you're not totally dumb.”

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  ?Recovering before stomping the ground as a new wave of fire erupted towards Blade, who tried to cut it again but couldn’t this time. Surprised, he resorted to dodging, only for the fire to follow after him.

  ? Blade thought. Even the most powerful fire users from Blade’s world, creature or god, didn’t have this type of fire manipulation. Though Blade wasn't given much time to think when he jumped in the air, as the wave of fire turned into dragons made of fire hunting him even in the air.

  ?"Don't think of escaping that easily.”

  Giant pillars of fire erupted around them as Indra lifted his hand, turning into dragons that spit fire in the form of lasers.

  ?"Seriously? How strong are you?”

  ?Blade muttered, noticing the glow as he had less than seconds to dodge the lasers coming at him. Using his sword to deflect some of them to move in the air.

  ?As he went to cut down one of the dragons, he suddenly had his arm grabbed, seeing Indra’s other hand leveled at his face.

  ?"Hope you didn't think of destroying them already?"

  ?"I was actually hoping you wouldn't let me.”

  ?Blade said as he managed to turn a bit to grab Indra's other arm, narrowly avoiding incineration, using the momentum of the failed sword strike to flip in the air and toss Indra towards the fire dragon shooting at him.

  ?It was only then that Blade noticed Indra's eyes, or rather two pairs of eyes. His first pair had a black sclera with a six-pointed star, colored red like the sun, with a crimson outline. This became especially remarkable when the laser aimed at Indra suddenly split apart into six, completely dodging Indra and connecting with Blade, sending him flying back to the ground.

  ?Indra, who had now recovered, simply floated back down, landing slowly as he pondered out loud.

  ?"This is weird. You easily cut my first attack, but you seem unable to do it now. Holding back, or is there another reason?"

  ?"I noticed that myself, though I have no knowledge of why.”

  ?The words were uttered as Blade got up. It was weird, really. He managed to cut some, but not all of his flame attacks. Cutting fire wasn't unknown to him either, so it should not be something as simple as luck or lack of skill.

  ?"Do you have any idea why? Maybe it has to do with your mana and aura properties?"

  ?He had heard about different mana properties and how they could lead to different outcomes when using magic, so to Blade it was the most logical reason why.

  ?”How do you use your mana and aura?”

  ?"Mana and aura? Wait a minute, could it be?”

  ?Indra suddenly looked as if he discovered something, before sending two fire slashes at Blade.

  ?Blade, confused but not slow, cut the first slash but was only met with an explosion when he tried the same with the second one.

  ?"Do you not know how to use mora?"

  ?Indra asked as if realizing something.

  ?"Mora? What is that? And was throwing the fire necessary?"

  ?Blade asked warily, though curious.

  ?"Isn't that something you learn at school? I realized you were inexperienced, not totally out of it.”

  ?Indra responded.

  Did Indra perhaps believe he was from this place? Well, for now, it seemed better not to correct him. Knowing more about this “mora” could prove useful, especially if it was going to make him stronger. A risk worth taking was the conclusion he came to.

  ?"Why don't you teach me then? If you want a better fight, you would like me to be stronger, right?"

  ?Blade asked, playing off Indra's seeming battle-hungry nature.

  ?Indra debated it over in his mind for a bit before deciding to go for it.

  ?"Sure. What do you know then about Mana and Aura?"

  ?"Not much actually.”

  ?His words were a reflection of his lack of knowledge about the powers he used.

  ?"Well then, mana is something that exists in all realities, even in those where using it is impossible. Mana exists in all things, alive, dead, or in between. Most times it is colorless. Though those who can sense it claim it has color, that is just their mind playing tricks on them to more easily sense the mana. With mana, you can use magic, among multiple other things. Mana takes on multiple different names depending on the reality, but in the end, it is all still mana.”

  ?Indra said, before opening his arms and releasing his mana, almost blowing the surroundings away.

  ?"This is what mana can do.”

  ?He said before stopping.

  ?"Aura, on the other hand, is the manifestation of one's will. Aura, like mana, has other names, but the most common one is haki. It also has a bunch of types, like hero aura or demon lord haki, but those aren't of importance. To use an aura, all you need is a will, meaning not everything has it. Aura is often used either to create spiritual constructs or empower things with your will, though it has other functions.”

  ?As Indra said this, he created a small orb using his aura, his aura being dark red with bits of a lighter color, before firing it at Blade, purposefully missing him by a hair.

  ?"All power systems throughout all realities can be categorized between these two categories.”

  ?Blade nodded at the information given so far, making sense of it before asking.

  ?"So what is mora then?"

  ?Indra only smiled at the question.

  ?"Mora is the combination of these two things. The perfect fusion of mana and aura. Think of it as mana given color. Even you should be able to use it.”

  ?Slowly nodding, Blade understood what mora was now. He took a few breaths before trying what he had been told, subconsciously using his sword as a conduit as he blended his aura and mana together. As his mana began to flow his aura began creeping into it, until it was dyed black.

  ?"You're doing surprisingly well. I didn't think you would get it this soon, but it's a welcome surprise.”

  ?Indra remarked, observing his progress.

  ?After a couple of minutes, Blade opened his eyes again, having managed to use mora.

  ?"You got it?"

  ?Indra said, almost knowingly.

  ?"Yeah, how did you know?"

  ?"Your eyes.”

  ?Was all Indra responded with, as if that clarified everything.

  ?"You will have to explain more than that.”

  ?"Have you never heard of it? Eyes are the doorway between a person's body and soul. The core is the doorway between someone's body, soul and mind. Mora reveals these doors, especially in your eyes.”

  ?As if suddenly gaining an epiphany, Blade looked in his sword's reflection and saw it. His eyes changed from their normal black to a dark grey, with three spiral-made, cross-shaped swords intersecting each other, similar to a star.

  ?"I see, is that the reason for your eyes too?”

  ?Wondered out loud, Indra only laughed in response to Blade’s question before saying.

  ?"Good. We can finally finish up our fight then.”

  “Are you going to go all out then?”

  Curiosity about the depth of Indra’s power had led Blade to ask, yet that depth was one that wished to swallow him whole. A maniac grin spread across his face, and in an instant the area lost all signs of life.

  “You only had to ask!”

  No, that was wrong. Because a singular thing remained alive, more alive than ever. The flames erupting from where Indra stood, as if he was facing the sun itself.

  Blade had killed gods of flames, volcanos, even the sun. So what the hell was this illogical abomination, laughing flames as a step removed all remaining vapor.

  This irregularity, this calamity. This was the [Hellborn Angel], Indra.

  Character Card:

  A never ending burning flame, and the root of all fire throughout all realities. A battle hungry fighter, who is unable to know love nor fear.

  Name: Indra

  Age: Unknown

  Race: Unknown

  Mora: Dark sunny red

  Absolute Authority: Fire

  Title: Hellborn Angel

  Appearance: Indra has the appearance of a tall teenager with messy black hair. He has a second pair of eyes underneath his normal ones. His normal pair of eyes are made up of a black sclera, six pointed star as a pupil. The star is a flowing red color, similar to the sun, with a crimson outline. His second pair have normal colored sclera and round shaped eyes, with a crimson color.

  Indra wears a black pants and a grey t-shirt under a black coat with red linings and gold trimmings. He wears a pair of dark grey shoes, and has a singular earring on his right ear in the form of a bright, sun droplet.