The Clash between Garry and Seka creates a powerful impact.
The impact gets so heavy, all the crowd calms down; time slows.
Garry tries to hit with his big gauntlet.
Seka runs down, dodges the attacks, and jumps.
She reaches very high from the ground; mid-air, she closes her eyes and starts to think.
"Never will I fail again. Thank you, Mom, Dad, and my prince charming..."
Silence. Darkness. Quiet fade of the wind as she falls, blowing in her hair.
Huff... She exhales her breath. With a slight light in the darkness, we see her mouth slowly start to leak magic again—pink, brighter, stronger.
Swish!
The air cracks as she dives through the air.
Garry looks at her, steps back, getting ready for the impact.
Garry releases pressure from his gauntlet and covers its knuckles with rocks.
He pulls his punches and squats to jump toward Seka.
"Too slow," a voice from behind. "Behind me," Garry thinks aloud in his mind.
In an instant, Seka reaches behind Garry.
Woosh! He swings his gauntlet toward her. She jumps so fast it seems like she just teleported in the air.
" Magic Ice—Weapon Master." The sword starts to freeze from its tip. "Blizzard Glaze."
The enemy looks at her; he smirks and dashes.
Boom!
The whole Arena feel chills. In an instant, the whole arena fills with a snowstorm. People can barely see what's going on. After a while, the snowstorm explodes.
Seka slowly opens her eyes. She sees the sky. "And there it is, the battle has ended." The announcer starts to hype up.
The whole place looks white with the cold, chilling wind around the place. The wind clears slowly as they see Seka on the ground, barely making it alive as she leans on her sword. Her face is freezing cold, looking pale white as snow, with her lips faintly pink. Still, half of her hairline is already grey, with her blue eyes glowing and the wind breezing as we see her golden eye as well.
The announcer takes the microphone. "The winner of this match is... Seka!"
She gets all red from the cold. "I—remember it all now," she starts talking to herself. "I guess it wasn't any fluke we got together so well even after forgetting you. Just glad you're with me now."
"Release the virtual mana," the announcer commands.
Swish!
Seka's wounds, exhaustion, and magic effects from the battle with her effect on opponent slowly form particles that disappear.
In the lobby.
"That was a nice battle, Seka. I really enjoyed it," Chio comes running toward Seka.
"Yup. And at least we have this virtual mana tech, otherwise I don't know till when I would have been in bed," Seka replies.
She walks and sits in a chair nearby. Chio follows and buys some chips.
"Chio, we have match after this," Seka shouts at Chio
"I know," she says, munching on the potatoes.
"Seka, we have one match before our match," Chio corrects Seka.
Seka brings her hand to take one.
Smack!! Chio slaps her hand.
"Meanie," she says with a pout.
She puts a chip inside her mouth, and Seka gives a cute smile. "Thank you," Seka says.
Bzzb.
"Ahh!" Chio screams. She grabs her head tightly, dropping the bags chips. Seka gets concerned and goes to Chio.
"What happened? Are you all right?" Seka asks her.
Chio grabs her shoulder and clenches it.
"We are going to duel after a while with each other, and you're here caring for me. Will you even be able to hit me?" Chio says with a smile.
"I can hit you, because whatever I do in there won't really hurt you. It's just an illusion created by magic that feels and looks real. After the battle, you'll be the same Chio eating potatoes."
Chio smiles. "I am okay. Then it's settled. I won't hold back with you, my girl."
Seka replies, helping Chio stand. "Let's see then who will win." Both smile at each other.
"You were the reason?!" an ominous voice in darkness.
Chio looks at the dark turn in the lobby—a dark figure standing with black magic leaking.
"It is her—let me out—" the voice continues.
"Chio? Chio?" Seka calls Chio.
"Huh? Yeah, what were you saying again?"
"I said if you want to watch the current match... Chio, you don't feel good or something?" Seka asks out of concern. "If you want, I can try giving you a heal."
Chio sits on the bench. "No, it's okay. Let's just watch the fight." They look at the fight.
"Help me kill her," the voice continues.
"The winner of the first final round is—" the announcer finalizes the round. "Now we have another battle coming up! It's a battle between members of the same team! Welcome our captain of the Royal Scarlet, Seka! And following her, another B-rank member of the same team, the Dark Heart—Chio!"
"Activate the virtual magic," the announcer commands.
Bzbz.
"It seems you have already forgotten. Let me control you again."
Chio gets a flashback. "What is this I am seeing? Memories?" She sees a war clashing between two clans. "What is this memory?"
"I shall see who is the stronger one! The winner gets all of the property and the wealth we have accumulated so far; the loser gets just the things necessary for survival!"
A noble-looking person speaks.
Zasda!
Another scene with lots of people. "So the master said today will be the fight, huh?"
"Velmorin and Dharovin, you two shall take your stances for the battle," the referee tells them.
"Velmorin? Wait, isn't that Seka's last name? Dharovin—that's my last name. Which place is this? They have no shoes and no flooring—just dirt, with only pants. Both look the same: black hair and black eyes."
"Master is the wisest of all in the entire district. Hope the wiser one wins—"
The fight starts. Both strike equally.
Swit.
Velmorin swipes his feet on the ground. Dharovin jumps, dodging, grabbing him by the shoulders, and smacking him on the ground—
He breaks his fall and Dharovin's grip.
Both pull a punch. Their punches collide, both getting blown back a bit.
Both close their eyes. "Focus," both say in their minds.
They activate their focus; their eyes start leaking some magic.
"It's different from Seka. Their hair is glowing too. Is magic not allowed or something? They are not usi—"
Bzbz.
"This is an act of scorn! Magic is not allowed in an honorable battle like this!"
"But trust me, Master, I did not do it!" Dharovin tries to defend himself.
"Dharovin, this is a holy battle that has been carried out for generations. You not only tried to poison your own brother, paid the referee for an upper hand, and used your magic—it's an act of greed and selfishness."
Velmorin tries to help his brother. "Master, but I think my brother is not capa—"
"Silence! My judgment has already been set. Dharovin, I banish you out of our village, from the respect of any person in the world that knows of this battle. The family of Dharovin are nothing more than selfish and—"
Bzz.
Thuu!
a boy spits
"There, that's what you get for cheating! Tell your father that I just got caught cheating!" A small boy bullies a smaller boy.
"You son of a—" The smaller boy attacks the bully.
"It's right, as their name says—they are heartless, incapable, selfish, greedy!" people start talking.
Bzz.
A girl screams. "Wait, you're from the Dharovin family!! Why didn't you say this earlier? We have a baby—I cannot—take the child, I am leaving..."
Chio thinks. "This is the memory of my ancestors, through the generations—all the trauma."
"Yes, that's it. Feel the rage. Feel how Velmorin cheated us, made the Dharovin suffer, how they still live in peace now while we have no people to talk to, no place to eat. Nothing," the ominous voice comes back.
"Don't you want to crush her—the one who made you suffer?" the voice asks her.
"It's happening again, just like my nightmares." Her vision gets darker.
Chio opens her eyes.
The announcer starts speaking. "Now let's see who will win this final round!"