Chapter 13 - New Skill

Raiden crawled out of bed, exhausted. Every muscle was screaming at him to stop, he had worked himself too hard the last few days, not giving his body any time to rest.

He stood up now at least, he swiped at the alarm of his phone, tossing it back into his bed. Raiden walked to the bathroom that was stationed in his dorm, his feet planting themselves on the white floor tiles before he looked himself in the mirror. His vision was blurred, having just woken up, and bags under his green eyes showed his fatigue.

The boy brushed his teeth, trying to prepare himself for today. It was Saturday, meaning he had nothing officially scheduled, this of course didn’t mean he was going to take a break. He’d planned some light sparring with Kai sometime later and he still intended to train his body further, ignoring its cries for a day of rest. Tomorrow... Tomorrow I’ll take a break. He promised himself, knowing that he might have been pushing himself too far.

Monday was fast approaching, Raiden knew that he would need his energy.

Walking into the cafe, Raiden pleaded with the cashier for a coffee, the man understanding immediately and handing him a heavy, but warm paper cup. He took a sip before walking away, towards one of the benches on the exterior to finish his drink.

Raiden sat on the hard wooden plank, surrounded by people and greenery. He watched several people walk by, some going towards the central recreational building and some leaving in the other direction, heading towards the city. Raiden had sent Kai a message just seconds ago, asking when he wanted to have their bout. He waited patiently, enjoying his brew before his pocket suddenly vibrated.

Raiden Sullivan 9:23 AM - [When are you available for our spar?]

Salem Kaisen 9:34 AM - [Let me sleep]

Raiden Sullivan 9:35 AM - [How does 11 AM sound, we can get lunch after, maybe meet with Alex.]

Salem Kaisen 9:35 AM - [Sleep]

…

Salem Kaisen 9:47 AM - [Eleven sounds good. Arena two, right?]

Raiden Sullivan 9:50 AM - [That’s correct. With that said, I’ll see you at eleven.]

Raiden was sitting on his couch, watching TV while training his grip strength with finger strength exercises.

It was about 10:30 AM now, Raiden having switched from his morning attire of “Whatever is readily available” to more athletic wear.

He set out for the arena now, powering off the television and making his way out through the door to his room, locking it behind him. Taking the stairs, he made his way down to the first floor and waved to the secretary for the second time today. Her blonde hair flowed and she almost always wore a white smile, answering questions and providing favors alike, Hailey was a kind woman.

Raiden wasn’t sure of her combat abilities, but he imagined her to be powerful, nearly all the staff working near the academy setting good examples in that regard. He recalled Adam’s demonstration during his first few classes, when the man showed the power he wielded.

When he called Terra matter into his fists, encasing them in stone harder than obsidian, and pulverizing a rock with a single strike. Everything about that punch exuded a calm and professional lethality. Despite the man’s eccentric habits, he was respectable in the fact that when it came down to the wire, he was reliable. Powerful.

Walking out of the dorm, Raiden made his way towards arena two, prepared to engage in his bout with Salem.

“Hey!!” a voice called out behind him, Raiden looking back to confirm the voice.

“Heya,” he replied casually, “You ready to go?” Raiden looked at him, more observant now. Kai was wearing a green shirt with olive cargo shorts, the same black leather gloves on his hands confirming his readiness for a battle.

“That’s right! I won’t go so easy on you now you know.” Kai smirked, “Er- Assuming you won’t be using your second element, right?” he asked, not as confidently.

Raiden looked at him and smiled, finding his complete turnaround funny, “Yeah yeah, I won’t use my other element.”

Raiden pushed open the doors to the arena they were in front of, this place contrasted greatly with the dorm and academy constructions. This one, while still just as modern and beautiful as the other two, involved a wider variety of materials. The sandy area in its center was opened to a sky above it, and four rows of seats lined the walls encasing it.

Raiden had seen a few of the arenas now, while his class was currently limited to arena two, some of the other stadiums involved different environments. While the current one could be described as a flat desert, some of the arenas resembled forests, mountainous terrain, or even had pools of water, imitating lakes, rivers, and underwater combat.

“So, how do you wanna get started?” Salem asked his opponent, who looked towards him from his side of the field. They were standing just about in the center of the sandy pit in the arena now, the both of them not used to the silent emptiness it held.

Raiden thought for a second, considering something. “I guess something like this would be fine…”

And all of a sudden, sand was flung into the air. Raiden launched himself off the ground, his weapons already surrounded by sparks of lightning before he managed to reach Kai.

It of course didn’t take Kai long either, himself beginning to summon stone onto his fists when he noticed Raiden falling into a stance.

Stone and wood clashed, Sparks bouncing off of the rocks. Salem’s fists were stony and his knuckles had points on them, increasing his offensive potential.

This didn’t take away from Raiden’s fast strikes however, the man slashing at his opponent with both blades, his speed leaving audible cuts through the wind.

Kai, who was more evasive than the last time Raiden fought him, did a good job at dodging and deflecting the wooden swipes. Raiden attempted to account for this by staying behind him, his hands just slightly faster than Salem could consistently keep up with.

They traded blows for a while, well-placed fists from Kai deflecting the constant strikes that Raiden launched at him.

Getting frustrated, Raiden backed off to catch his breath. His defense is solid, I won’t be able to force my way through it… An idea came to him however, and a wicked smile showed itself under his green eyes when he launched back into the fray.

Shit!

Salem was barely keeping up, only just able to parry Raiden’s numerous slashes. His opponent had backed off for a second, relieving him of pressure for only a moment. Kai’s guard went up seconds later, when an eerie smile loomed from Raiden’s direction.

What the hell is that speed! Throwing his fists up in a block, Kai diverted his foe’s next attack. And this is only one element?

Raiden had thrown himself towards Salem, immediately vanishing after his block.

“AaGH!” A sharp pain scored from Salem’s back shoulder. Turning around, he threw a fist behind him.

Suddenly, a thrust from his left rib caused him to step to the side in recoil. Where is he? A dull impact on the back of his head caused him to stumble again, but this time he managed to catch his footing and strike back at the shadow behind him.

Kai had released the energy he’s imbued into his fists with a single punch.

A cough resounded, and the dust settled before he could see what had occurred. Salem was certainly injured, but he smiled when he saw Raiden picking himself up off the sandy floor.

“Damn! That was a good punch, you completely knocked the wind outta me...” Raiden said, exasperated.

Kai grinned, “I thought I had no chance for a second, I just couldn’t find you. You kept staying out of my sight, makes it really hard to fight back like that.”

“Well, that was the intention. I wasn’t quite able to get it the first time, but I’ll try my best to get it this time!” Raiden said, smiling back at him now.

Get what? Kai walked back to where he stood when they engaged the first round of their duel and prepared himself to receive Raiden’s attack. The man being much faster than himself.

Raiden watched Salem walk back over to where he was when their spar started, himself already being back in place due to the two men consistently moving in that direction while fighting.

I see… “Ready for round two?” Raiden shouted, looking towards Kai who was already getting into proper form.

The white-haired boy had tried something new at the end of their last bout, something that he had been thinking about for a while, but didn’t have the room or space to practice it. Going off of the premise of enhancing fists and weapons with elemental matter, he tried to imbue matter into his feet, giving them a taste of the speed and power of lightning.

While not a complete success, his efforts paid off in spades. The only thing that slipped Raiden up during their bout was a lack of focus; while he found that imbuing the soles of his feet was possible, it took a monumental amount of focus to properly charge them with matter.

The benefit, however, was worthwhile. His legs felt nimble and light, and while his strength and durability improvement was marginal, he was only getting started. He could apply what he knew of harnessing the matter in his environment to imbuing other limbs which made it just as fast as imbuing his weapons. But only having a surface-level knowledge of his muscular and skeletal structure, he was limiting his output.

Only a matter of time…

“Yeah! I’m ready anytime now! Come at me!” Kai yelled back.

Raiden felt the energy flow around him, targeting specifically the one he wanted, he forced it into the soles of his feet and pushed himself off the sand.

Channeling the same voltaic matter into his wooden blades, he slashed at Kai’s chest. His left blade meeting only a rocky surface, he swiveled and stabbed into Salem’s gut. The wooden impact left an audible impression, his rival stumbling at the force before immediately recovering and striking Raiden in the back.

Perfect!

Raiden fell lower, minimalizing the impact of the blow to his back and putting himself into a prime opportunity to slip behind Salem.

Stalking behind his opponent, Raiden launched several strikes to Kai’s back and sides. The soreness of the blows Salem had landed on him was beginning to show, but the sparks on Raiden’s feet made it nearly impossible for him to be struck.

Moving faster than Salem was able to react to, Raiden prepared to deliver the decisive blow. Losing the ground behind his adversary, he ran around in differing directions, distancing himself from Kai in a swift backpedal.

Not yet…

Almost.

Now!

Raiden who was now a decent distance away from Salem, changed from a backpedal to a pouncing approach, focusing all the matter he’d gathered to his legs, he advanced towards Kai at a rapid pace.

And then… Shifting the matter from his feet to his knives, he launched a dual-bladed attack in the form of a cross, expelling all the energy in his daggers.

“AawGh!!” Kai cried as an electrical pulse ran through his stiffened body. Muscles contracted while the stone on his raised hands blocked the majority of the blow. Despite this, shallow cuts visibly formed on his arms and clothing.

*Bzzzt!*

“W- What in the fuck was that!?” Salem shouted towards Raiden, frustration and pain showing themselves in his voice.

Ah- shit… “M- My bad, I went a little too far…” Raiden responded apologetically. “I didn’t- uh- mean to hurt you that badly”

“Nah, no that’s not what I meant…” Kai replied excitedly, “That thing with your feet, that’s why you were moving so fast, right?” he added.

“Hm? I’m surprised you noticed just like that.” Raiden looked at Kai with a grin, “That’s right, I figured out how to imbue my feet with lightning…”

“In theory, it should be possible to do with my entire body, but I’ve just barely managed to figure out how to do it below my knees.”

Salem began to respond before the color drained from his face. He raised a finger to point behind Raiden when someone planted a hand on his shoulder.

“That was great! When did you figure out how to do that? We’re not getting into that until Tuesday…” a familiar masculine voice said from right behind Raiden.

“I didn’t even hear you approach, your quite the scary man, Professor.”