The moment Ash laid eyes on his new opponent he was overcome with something that could only be called a strong sense of déjà vu.
'Have I met this person before?'
Was his first though, yet thinking back on his past there were very little places where he could have met someone new.
"You seem familiar have we met before?"
Ash asked outright instead of holding back.
"If we did, I certainly don't remember it."
Hearing his answer Ash simply shrugged, discarding his prior feeling of déjà vu as nothing more than just that, déjà vu.
That was when he started properly assessing his opponent.
He had a dark crimson hair, one that spoke of his probable elemental attribute.
'Is he a fire User?'
And as he looked around for any sort of weapons, he found none.
'A mage.'
He assessed, it seemed his opponent was once again a mage. This time one using flames instead of ice, pretty much polar opposites of the spectrum.
He wanted to think for a bit longer, but the world cared little for this desire of his, as soon after the buzzer sounded.
*Bzzt*
Ash launched himself instantly at his opponent like he had been doing in most his fights up till now.
That was when a wall of fire was erected in his way.
This wall was different from the one he faced when going against Ilyana.
This wall wasn't solid nor was it something he could break.
His only two options right now were to wait for his opponent to dismiss it or to just charge through it enduring the bit of damage he'd take along the way.
His choice was obvious, he didn't stop upon seeing the wall and just kept on charging through.
Using his delusion he minimised the damage he'd take.
Jumping through the flames, what welcomed him were even more flames, everything beyond the wall was just a sea of flames.
It wasn't just a wall, it was more like an entrance into a world of only fire.
And amidst all this blazing fire stood Chase, perfectly fine.
Ash quickly assessed his situation and one thing became evidently clear.
He was already too commited.
He had to end it now, he could not turn back now.
Coming closer and closer to Chase Ash raised his hand already collecting the aura necessary for his Cleave.
Seeing that his opponent wasn't backing out, Chase's face quickly became grim.
"You are mad, just charging into the flames! Are you insane?"
But the words went right by Ash as he simply slashed down at Chase.
*Boom*
The air exploded and Chase was frozen solid.
Ash had won.
Looking around Ash observed that in the world of fire a small opening of clear space was created following his Cleave, leaving him to not be as damaged as he should have been.
Still, minor burn marks were visible throughout his whole body.
That was when all the remaining flames also dissipated as an unfamiliar bearded old man walked into the arena and patted Chase on the arm.
"You are truly mad."
Those were the first words that left Chase's mouth upon being unfrozen.
"Recklessness can both be a good and bad quality to have."
The old man remarked while looking at Ash.
"Or maybe your situation would be closer to desperation, but I feel even that would be the wrong description."
Ash looked at the old man standing before him, his uniform clearly out of place even when compared to the one Erebus wore.
"Another... professor?"
Hearing the words the old man laughed.
"Haha, me a professor? Not in a thousand years. I'm with the SCC private military."
Hearing the word SCC be mentioned immediately resulted in the surfacing of old memories.
"Then he is?"
"Yes, he's a wasteland recruit. One of the better ones of his batch."
'Wasteland Recruit.'
The word instantly resulted in Ash frantically speaking up.
"Hey old man, do you know a recruit called Will?"
Seeing Ash's change in expression the old man instantly became curious.
"A friend perhaps? Hmmm... Will isn't really a rare name, you need to give me more if you really want to find him."
A clear image of Will surfaced in Ash's mind and he was quick to put it into words.
"Will is someone lighthearted, talkative, kind of annoying and... yeah he wears glasses."
"Someone talkative with glasses... hmm can't say I've heard of him."
Ash instantly became disappointed upon hearing the old man speak, but that was when an unsuspecting voice joined the conversation.
"Could he be talking about the Captain? But there is no way, he has no friends. We are the only ones he might consider friends."
"Your Captain?"
Ash was quick to question Chase's words, but the first to speak up was the old man.
"There is no way, other than the name none of the traits he listed fit."
"I also thought the same at first, but then I thought about it and among my fragmented memories some of the traits he listed do match up with the old Captain.
'Fragmented memories?'
"Hmm..."
The old man pondered for a moment before once again turning to Ash.
"Do you happen to know what ability this friend of yours has?"
Ash knowing that this was his only way of ever finding Will didn't hesitate and answered truthfully.
"His core ability is of the steel attribute and it's called Weapon Master."
Upon finishing his sentance it didn't even take a moment for Chase to launch himself at Ash at full speed.
"WAAA!"
He shouted as he came at Ash.
It all happened so quickly that Ash didn't even have time to react as he found his head in the grip of the now enraged Chase.
"WAS IT YOU, HUH? THE ONE THAT DID THIS TO US."
Then while holding his head he started pumping flames at full power straight into Ash's face.
Ash could only feel the pain for less than a moment before the Self Defense System activated putting him under its protection.
Still despite it now being pointless Chase didn't let up as he kept on releasing his flames at full power.
Realising the situation the old man was quick to intervene, taking Chase off of the frozen Ash.
"LET GO OFF ME! HE HAS TO PAY! HE–"
*Slap*
A slap landed on the frantic Chase's face.
"I will allow no student of the SCC to act in such a disorderly manner. Come to your senses. Do you really think this boy before you is the one responsible for you memory loss?"
"BUT HE REMEMBERS, HE'S DIFFERENT FROM US. WHY CAN HE REMEMBER WHEN WE CAN'T?"
The old man just looked at Ash who was frozen solid, before opening his mouth.
"While it is suspicious, I'm almost certain he isn't the culprit you are looking for."
Then he hit the back of Chase's head knocking him out.
Upon unfreezing Ash he looked at Ash once more before speaking.
"As you can see, presently meeting your friend will be impossible. I'd also suggest you keep a distance from him, since believe it or not Chase's reaction was lighter than what his would be like."
Then he picked up the unconcious Chase from the ground and walked away.
"Well, then if you'll excuse us."
Ash was left there completely unable to process what had just happened.
He now understood where his sense of déjà vu came from. He had met Chase before, he was one of the friends that Will shared a vehicle with.
He was from Blackheart, and not only that he was also from the very same orphanage he attended.
'What happened to them?'
Thinking back on his brief encounter with Chase, he seemed like a well collected person like someone who was almost a full fledged adult, yet the face he showed at the end there was anything but collected. He seemed desperate and filled with hatred.
'And Will is supposed to be like that too, no he's even worse. Really what happened during their transport?'
He wanted to ask, but a part of him already knew where the problem lay.
It was the erasure of Blackheart, till now he thought that this only resulted in people forgetting about it, but indeed as people whose whole world was Blackheart the loss of it would result in... what he had just seen.
'In the end it all goes back to that, huh?'
Blackheart and Floch were still the two things from his past that seemed to constantly haunt him.
For Blackheart it was the thought, the consequences and the experience of having been there.
While Floch was a more literal form of haunting, as he seemingly followed him everywhere, feeling everpresent.
Ash wanted to just sit there a bit longer so he can keep processing what he had just witnessed, but his sticker cared not as it had already lit up.
A new match was upon him, he was now in the top four.
Left with no other choice Ash dragged himself to where his next match would be, still not knowing who his next opponent would be.