"This should be a good fight...may the best man win," Remarked my opponent, as we stepped into the Duel Field.

"Oh, uh...thanks," I replied uncertainly.

​​

"Hm? What's that look for?" He inquired, as the countdown began ticking.

"Well, it's just that...I'm surprised at your attitude, usually I'd be expecting some condescending remarks or arrogant scoffs," I responded with a wry smile, taking out my X-Blade handles and activating them.

"I'd be a fool to take you lightly, having seen what you're capable of," Came the reply, before chanting, "!"

Purple XFE manifested around his forearms and wrapping around them, forming in the shape of cannons. Five seconds left...

My opponent, Nikolai Ivanov, was in his early-thirties, with spiked-up medium-length light blonde hair that had red streaks dyed across it, a tall and strong build, an average complexion and a heavy amount of stubble on his face. He also had heterochromia, his right eye was dark green and his left eye was dark red.

And more significantly, he's also one of the most highly rated K-Ranked X-Warriors, with a Mission record and success rate that was on par with the Aces. He's the real deal, this is gonna be a tough fight...but I can beat him.

I braced myself as the countdown ticked down, and the instant it reached zero, I swiftly took aim and fired a couple of shots from my X-Blasters at him. He immediately responded by pointing his arms down and firing out wind blasts from his cannons, propelling himself straight up into the air and evading my bullets.

I readjusted my aim without skipping a beat and fired at him again, he swiftly angled his arms behind himself at a downward angle and fired out another couple of wind blasts, rapidly zipping up further and forward to evade, before blasting himself down towards me, closing in on me in the blink of an eye.

I swiftly combined my X-Blade handles to form the long and wide mode and swung it up at him as he neared me. Right before my energy blade could slash him, he blasted himself up forward and then down, in an instant, and before I could even halt my upward slash, he was already behind me.

Right as he fired out a wind blast aimed at my back, I rapidly spun across and around to my left, his blast clipping my right hip as I narrowly evaded it at point-blank range, splitting my X-Blade handles back into their default mode and swinging my right energy blade towards his neck as I spun around, using the momentum to swing it across in his direction.

He swiftly brought up his left arm defensively, my blade striking his left cannon, cracking it but unable to break through...tch, the manifested energy is too thick, I can't slice through.

He then quickly pointed his right cannon at my head and fired, I swiftly shuffled across to the side to dodge it, feeling the blast whiz past my left ear and brushing past my hair, just barely avoiding it clipping the side of my head.

I then rapidly drove my knee up towards his abdomen, to which he quickly responded by springing back and pointing his cannons down at the ground to blast off. I don't think so!

I swiftly extended my leg up like a catapult as he sprang back, my foot grazing his chin as he just barely dodged me landing a solid blow, as he blasted off just in time, the force of his wind causing me to stumble back on one leg, with my right foot raised from the kick.

He noticed that I was off balance and began to take aim at me, I quickly responded by rapidly flicking my wrist up at him like a rubber band, flinging one of my X-Blades up at him, sending it spinning like a boomerang at a breakneck speed.

He swiftly crossed his arms defensively as my blade zipped towards him and closed in on him too quickly to dodge with his wind blasts. My blade struck his left cannon and pierced through it a bit, getting wedged in it. When I'm not holding these blade handles, the manifested energy only lasts for about ten seconds, but that's more than enough.

Nikolai fired a wind blast down from his right cannon to keep from plummeting, before deactivating it and reaching to try and pull my blade out of his left cannon...big mistake. The moment he touched it, he let out a sharp cry of pain as he got electrocuted, his manifestation destabilizing as he plummeted back down towards the ground with a dazed look.

I swiftly fired out a barrage of shots from my X-Blasters, all aimed at vital spots as he fell...and teleported him out before he could regain his bearings.

That...was the most satisfying win for me in the tournament so far...for the first time in this tournament, it genuinely felt like I had to work for the win.

That could have gone either way, this guy's strong...just for a brief moment, I was locked in one of the most high-paced battle encounters I've ever experienced, had I made even a single, minor misstep, I'd have lost.

I glanced his way as he re-entered the Duel Field...he looks calm and collected, no sign of frustration or anger...and that alone sets him apart from most of the other X-Warriors. He isn't flying into a blind rage just because I defeated him, like most X-Warriors I've met would...instead, he's sharpening his focus and concentrating on winning the next round.

I have a feeling that this fight is only going to get harder the longer it goes on...which means that I need to finish this off this round, I can't afford to let this go on to a third round.

I did set myself a Save point as I left the waiting room, but...I almost don't want to use it. It feels like it'd be an insult to an opponent that I can definitely respect...he's clearly put in a lot of training into using his powers, his Primary Manifestation may be powerful, but the way he blasts himself so precisely through the air with it, that's not something you can do so accurately without a crazy amount of practice.

Those wind blasts have some serious force and pressure, most wouldn't even think about trying to control them to this extent. I respect hard work more than I'd ever respect talent or powers gained by chance, skills gained through hard work are earned, while the latter aren't. Also, he's not a condescending ass like most Prodigies are, so yeah, there's that too.

As the countdown began, there were no words exchanged this time, instead, a look of absolute focus appeared on his face, as he slowly exhaled and fixed his gaze onto me, sending chills down my spine.

The moment the countdown ended, he blasted himself straight towards me, closing in in an instant. Crap, he's fast! I quickly swung my left blade horizontally across at him as he closed in, to which he responded by swiftly dropping his arms and blasting himself up and forward...he's trying to slip behind me again, I don't think so!

I swiftly spun around, ready to swing my blade...when suddenly, he blasted himself back and down, landing in the direction I'd just been facing...which means that he was behind me, I was totally fooled by that feint...

Not good-! I began to spin around but was too late, as he fired out a blast of wind at me, striking my side and send my flying off to my right and crashing onto the Duel Field barrier, letting out a stifled cry of pain as my right shoulder got dislocated upon impact, losing grip of my right X-Blade, as it dropped to the ground. Damn it, I think that might have fractured the ribs on the lower end of my left side.

I then quickly sprang out of the way as he blasted himself towards me again, wincing in pain as I did. He shot straight up as I took aim with my left arm and fired out a barrage of shots from my X-Blaster, before zipping around in the air to evade my bullets.

I can't keep this up, if I run out of XFE, I'm done. I ceased my firing and got on the move, keeping a wary distance from him...let's see if I can analyze what he's capable of and-...my line was cut off as he blasted down straight towards me, firing out a wind blast at me as he closed in, which I evaded by leaping forward and rolling out of the way.

Unfortunately, that sent waves of pain emanating out from my dislocated shoulder, I did my best to ignore it and gritted my teeth as my vision blurred from the pain, before quickly getting on my feet and zipping towards him, jumping up as he fired another wind blast at me.

I then swiftly extended both feet towards him, which he defended by crossing his arms in front of himself. As my feet slammed onto his manifested cannons, I backflipped off of them, and the instant I landed, I shot forward and unleashed a barrage of slashes with my left X-Blade, pushing him back little by little.

He began to raise one of his cannons, I quickly responded by suddenly swinging myself across to my left, whipping my dislocated arm towards him, causing him to halt his arm and take a quick step back to evade...even if he hadn't, this wouldn't even have hurt, but in the high paced nature of this fight, that doesn't matter, I just needed to break his concentration for a moment, and I did that by catching him off-guard and bringing my right arm back into play.

That said...holy fucking hell, that hurt like a bitch!

I gasped in pain as a blinding agony burst out from my shoulder as I swung it at him, but I fought through the pain and let out a roar of determination as I drove my blade straight towards him, which he just barely avoided by springing back...but his back hit the wall of the barrier, I had him cornered.

Time to end this. I swiftly closed in and began to fire out of my left X-Blaster at him from close range...there's absolutely no dodging this, his arms are out of position to blast off and evade this, or even block it...I win-.

"!" He suddenly exclaimed, a hint of desperation and alarm in his voice.

Right as I fired, a sudden and powerful shockwave of wind burst out from him, which then swirled around him and spun rapidly, a couple of cuts appearing on my face, and the next thing I knew, I was outside the barrier...and so was my opponent.

The crowd was stunned silent, as was the announcer, before he cleared his throat and spoke up, sounding a bit taken aback as he listened into his earpiece.

"I'm, er, getting confirmation...the winner of round two of the third quarter-final is...Nikolai Ivanov! Kilzachs Light was teleported out approximately two-fifths of a second before Nikolai Ivanov was, therefore, as each contestant has won one round each, the third and deciding round of the match will now commence!" He declared, and as the crowd began cheering, he turned to me and inquired, "Are you able to keep fighting?"

Like I'm gonna drop out after coming this far. And besides, I want to settle this fight, I want to win. I looked the announcer in the eye as I grabbed my right shoulder, and with a grimace, pushed it back into place, a sharp, stifled yell escaping my lips as a twinge of pain burst out from my shoulder, as I responded...

"Yeah...I can keep going."

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