Will stays in position for a second, his breathing heavy and rapid as his stare remains fixed on the dangerous woman. His knife, held tightly in both hands, remains fixed against her artery, remaining still as stone despite his adrenaline fueled heavy breathing.

  Suddenly he feels a firm hand on his shoulder.

  “She surrendered son. Calm yourself and let her up.”

  Will starts as he realizes he must have missed her muttered surrender.

  He carefully removes his knife from her neck and jumps back. Sheathing his knife as he lands a few feet away.

  The referee tosses him the other knife that he had thrown before.

  “Good move kid. But be more aware of your surroundings next time.” He says it with a disapproving tone.

  Will has to admit, he had been so wrapped up in the fight that he hadn’t thought of what would happen to the knife after he had sent it flying at the woman.

  He rubs the back of his head ashamedly. “Um, sorry about that sir.”

  The ref shakes his head as he walks up to him. He raises Will’s hand into the air and declares him the winner.

  As the ref walks away, Will walks over to the woman who had only then gotten up. He sticks out his hand to her and introduces himself.

  “Will Asher. You’re an amazing fighter. It was a good fight.”

  She looks skeptically at his hand and then back to him.

  “Astora.” She says as she shakes his hand.

  Will grins. “Good to meet you. Hopefully we can fight again someday.”

  Astora smirks at him. “Yea maybe. Good fight. Seya around blue eyes.” Will watches for a second as she walks away.

  Is she swaying her hips as she walks away on purpose or is that something women just do naturally as they walk?

  Will shakes himself from those thoughts and walks back to the observation booth.

  As he enters the enclosed space, he finds Amos standing there, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. In the far seat is Alea, arms also crossed and a frosty look on her face.

  “Uhh..what’s up guys?”

  Alea stares daggers at him while Amos’s scowl deepens.

  “What was that?” Amos asks sternly.

  “What was what?”

  “Don’t test me boy. You used your lightning to avoid that wind blade.”

  “Oh..that.”

  “Yes. That.”

  “It was instinctual. My body just sort of..reacted. I only used barely a fraction of my lightning but it just happened. I promise master it wasn’t on purpose.”

  Amos rubbed his hand over his face. A look of exasperation replacing the scowl. “You’ll be the death of me boy.” Amos grumbles silently to himself. “It’s not the end of the world.” He says out loud again. “Taleya and I had our senses over you the entire time. No one sensed your lapse. I don’t even think the ref really took notice.” His tone became serious. “However, this cannot happen again. Once more would be pushing fate too far.”

  “Yes master. I understand.” Will lowers his eyes, embarrassed by his slip. He might not fully understand how badly he screwed up, but he knows it’s serious.

  Amos puts his hand on Will’s shoulder. “Good fight kid. You’ve grown strong.”

  Will looks up at his master and can’t help the massive smile that spreads across his face.

  “Thank you sir.”

  Amos nods once and then leaves.

  Will turns toward Alea, about to ask her if she’s ok.

  “You should have cut the harlot’s throat.”

  Well that turned aggressive fast. “Uh, little cold don’tcha think?”

  “No.”

  Well then. “So what did you think of the fight?”

  She glares at him before rolling her eyes and answering his question.

  “Your technique was solid. If you had had your lightning you never would have had to wait so long before going after her in the air. Then again if you had your lightning the fight never would have lasted that long in the first place. Either way, having to wait until she got to a height you could reach without your elements help put you at risk to be obliterated. Which would have happened by the way if that attack had landed.”

  Will shrugged. “Had to take the risk. Couldn’t just stand there and take the hit could I?”

  Alea scoffed but didn’t answer. “This handicap you have to put on yourself is annoying. But it’s also putting a target on your back.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “What do you mean?”

  “People were watching your fight. A lot of people. Seeing you hold back your element against such a powerful opponent comes off as arrogance. People will want to make an example of you.”

  “You really think it came off that badly?”

  “Yes. No one here will hold back, but a few might try to play dirty after that display.”

  Will hummed to himself in thought for a second. “Well nothing to be done I guess. I’ll face each challenge as it comes and what happens happens.”

  Alea smirks and shakes her head. “Stubborn fool.”

  Will smiles. “Angry jerk.” Her smile widens. “So, you excited for your first match?”

  “Of course I am! Watching your fight got me fired up.”

  Will rolls his eyes. “What a terrible pun.”

  She laughs out loud. “Not intentional I swear. Those kind of things are cringy.”

  The two of them snacked while watching the remaining fights.

  The second day of fights went by quickly. The two of them found them as entertaining as the audience did. And trying to discern as much as he could about his opponents consumed much of his attention.

  Once both divisions were finished, the armored man and woman from the first day appeared on the massive white stone fighting stage once again.

  “Hello kiddies!” Boomed the man. “The Mind Realm fights are about to commence! Same rules as the other two divisions, only this time they’ll only be fighting on one side. This will maintain the five fights at once dynamic and keep the schedule of the tournament. It will also allow for two refs for each fight so don’t think that the higher Realm will affect the safety of the fights. You will all be fine. Now have fun and good luck!”

  The two disappeared, and within a few seconds the first roster was shown.

  Alea wasn’t on it.

  The fights were intense and fast and there was definitely a difference in power. The power of Astora’s final move seemed to be a mid-level attack for those in the Mind Realm.

  What’s more, while not impossible, Will did have a tough time tracking these fighters. Those who specialized in speed he couldn’t see move at all. While those who were slower than average for this Realm of power, he could track, but it was difficult.

  Alea was fast. Besides him, she was probably the fastest Spirit Realm cultivator at the tournament. But all that meant was that she was just below the slowest of the Mind Realm cultivators.

  Luckily she doesn’t base her fighting style off of just speed. She’s always been a talented fighter, and ever since master Amos started training her, her skill has only increased. Add that onto her well above average skill in wielding her element, and you have someone who actually has a shot hitting above her weight class.

  Still, this all depends on her opponent. If she goes against a few of the strongest here, then she’s done for. But middle of the pack or below? She has a chance. Slim, but there.

  Her turn finally comes during the fourth round.

  Will wishes her good luck and she confidentially walks to her designated ring.

  Her opponent ends up being a slightly bigger man. Just around six feet tall if Will had to guess, and while not massive like Will’s first opponent, still a decent size. He has a massive sword strapped to his back and he gets to the ring at the same time that Alea does.

  They both nod to each other, and after a few seconds of the ref re-affirming the rules, the fight starts.

  Just like Will thought Alea rushes in, flames coating her fists and igniting beneath her feet propelling her forward.

  Will didn’t think the man would have the chance to, but he had his sword drawn and was swinging down at Alea by the time she reached him.

  It was all one fluid motion, and it was certainly fast, but something seemed off about it. The weapon was being handled like it was lighter than what it was. The man was strong certainly, but he was swinging it like it weighed nothing.

  Whether Alea noticed or not he wasn’t sure, but her insanely quick reflexes added to the Orange flame that she can eject from anywhere on her body, means that she can change direction almost instantaneously and in almost any direction.

  It should have meant, while not easy, definitely a workable ability to evade this man’s strike.

  That’s not what happened.

  As if suddenly being strapped down by hundreds of pounds of weights, Alea’s movement slowed to a crawl. Her attempt to blast herself to the right ended up with her moving as if through molasses.

  Then the seemingly light sword accelerated as if it weighed a full ton, and was being brought down by the confident looking cultivator.

  The next thing Will saw was an absolutely massive explosion and then a slight cloud of dust.

  A second later it cleared and Will saw the sword just barely off to Alea’s left and a stunned look on the bigger fighter’s face. She must of used as much fire as she safely could in a sudden blast to just barely redirect the path of the blade.

  Alea took advantage of the moment of shock and blasted herself away with jets of flame from both arms and feet. Will knew she shouldn’t have needed propulsion from all four limbs to move herself just twenty feet away.

  What the heck is going on?

  Alea stands back up, a little bruised but none the worse for wear.

  The man smirks at her and bends his knees and launches himself at her.

  Will could tell that Alea was using every ounce of fire power she has to evade and stay ahead of the man. It was working, but only barely. And only because it seemed like the man wasn’t taking this seriously.

  Will smiles to himself. That’s a mistake he’ll regret.

  Alea ends up finally being able to get off a fireball at the man’s chest. Just enough to knock him back a couple steps. Then she takes advantage of the space and blasts off into air. Unlike the last time when her and Will first fought where she was only able to slow herself as she fell, she’s now able to maintain flight. Not forever, but Alea has never been one to stall for that long during a fight anyway. And this time is no different.

  Immediately Alea starts generating a massive amount of Qi and fire. Will understands the fire, she’s going to need every ounce of power she’s got to even have a chance. This guy is too tough to do anything less. But the Qi confused him.

  The man looks up at her and smiles. No fear and no hesitation. He rests his sword gently on his shoulder, holding it with one hand, and then raises an out splayed hand towards Alea.

  Alea visibly strains during this time, the veins and muscles in her neck, head and arms bulging. The fire beneath her feet double in intensity and the power in the fire she’s building above her outstretched right hand slows but continues to grow.

  The man frowns up at her. Obviously surprised at Alea resisting whatever he’s attempting.

  For thirty more seconds the two are stuck in a deadlock, one building power, the other presumably trying to bring her down.

  And then the tension doesn’t just snap, it explodes. Alea’s flame bursts switch to her back. Whatever downward force she was experiencing from the man is now being used to help her accelerate towards the other fighter.

  Whether he cancels his technique or not Will’s not sure but the man quickly brings his sword in front of himself in a blocking stance.

  Just in time too, because he gets it up a millisecond before Alea strikes.

  She hits him like a meteor, an absolutely massive orb of flame hitting his sword, which was almost his chest if the man hadn’t gotten his weapon up in time.

  Alea’s arm is covered in a swath of flame. Will knows this is to help bolster and support the massive amount of power she was putting into the blow.

  In all their time training, he has never seen her utilize this much power in her element.

  And when the two connected, a massive explosion ignited upon impact.

  When the sunspots clear out of his eyes, Will looks back at the ring and can’t believe his eyes.