"Pleased to see you in something a little more comfy." Kyoya shot back, approaching the center of the battlefield.

"If I'd known that'd be your first remark, I would have worn my daywear."

"That's why we mix things up, y'know? Can't have you knowing all my little tricks." He crossed his arms, standing a few feet in front of her.

"I guess that is true... nonetheless, you and I have something to settle." She brought about a never-before seen intensity in her glare. "It's about time we decide once and for all which of us has come further; what say you, Kyoya?" Reika drew her blade, a poised stance suggesting absolutely no intention of holding back.

"I say..." A smirk crawled it's way onto his face. "...we do it to it, big sis." He then entered a stance of his own, earning a gawk from his opponent.

"I told you not to call me that!" She stomped.

"Hah, save it for the afterparty! Our old man looks about ready!"

"Right you are, my boy!" Guran announced, standing at the midpoint of their battlefield. "The rules are as follows..."

He raised one hand. "...The competitors of this duel are Kyoya Miskrit and Reika Daito! The first to be rendered incapable of further combat shall be declared defeated, and he left standing the victor! This duel will have a ten minute time limit, after which neither party having fallen will result in a draw. You will begin with a traditional twenty-meter power-clash! Reclaimers, to your positions!"

His pupils obeyed, each backing ten meters away from the center of the plot in their respective directions.

"A twenty-meter power clash..." Kyoya thought.

This would mean that the beginning of the duel would be a head-on assault, either combatant 10 meters from their collision point, that being the center of the field. They'd then battle on neutral terms until one side faltered, and kickstarted the real fight. The party overpowered would be considered in the Disadvantage state, in which they'd be forced to defend while the fighter in Advantage state went on the offensive.

These respective states dynamically shifted throughout a duel, but it was also completely possible for either side to prove equal, and neither enter any particular state. Regardless, he knew well enough that she wouldn't pull any punches in this. He wouldn't either.

"This duel will commence in three seconds! Mages, at the ready!"

Kyoya shook himself off.

"Two!"

Reika's fingers flexed around the grip of her sword.

"One!"

The immense tension in the air was severed with a final exclamation of the commencing battle.

"Begin!"

Both parties dashed into their power clash. Reika's sword met Kyoya's flaming knuckles in every attempt for one to best the other, each hit generating metallic clangs that echoed across the training ground.

"Not half bad, Pinkie!" Kyoya laughed above the sound, briefly meeting her eyes as the assault endured.

"Same to you, Miscreant!" Reika fired back, though not before attempting to silence his taunt. She reversed a slash and caught his forearm, but a deflection from his end allowed for a follow-up counter-punch that concluded their Power Clash, knocking her several meters away.

Failing to capitalize on the opportunity he'd been given by her being forced to recover, she spun in a forward roundslash and loosed an arc of reddish energy forward. "Blossom Cleaver!" Upon her command, the wave drastically widened, but left a minuscule window of room to avoid by going below.

He barely slid beneath it and used the momentum to transfer into a spinning kick, but his foot was parried and knocked to the side, followed by an expertly placed upward cut that sent him skyward. She pursued him into the air, but he faked being stunned just long enough to catch her swing with a block and dodge the follow-up. "Your agility is certainly admirable, but I'll remind you that you've yet to maintain an advantage! Helm Splitter!"

She returned his dodge with one of her own, then spiraled to gain enough momentum for an overhead smash, the shock extending her time to follow with a vicious diagonal spin. "Followed by Blossom Cleaver!"

That combination rocketed Kyoya back to the ground, leaving a crater in the wake of his impact. Something along his spine crumpled, so much as trying to sit up sending a flaring sensation through his tailbone; but, now wasn't any time to yield.

He wouldn't let one attack wouldn't do him in -- not in a damn lifetime.

"Jeez, that was a good hit..." The boy grinned, recovering and jumping away in time to dodge another plummeting blade attack.

"I only land 'good hits'. You would know!" She moved forward faster than he was able to completely react to, forcing him into several unstable blocks and finishing with a feint. Though, he didn't take the bait. Instead, he baited out her action and found the flaw in her strikes he'd been waiting for.

"Tell me about it!" Kyoya dodged to her right, which she took notice of and attempted to counter. This finally offered the opening he needed to land a compact punch to her abdomen. "Breach Flare!" He chased the attack with a shotgun burst of azure flame from his palms, furtherly extending his window of opportunity. Before the knockback ended, he followed up with a second direct hit, this consecutive attack carrying much more force than before and clearly overpowering her attempts to block. She was blasted into a surrounding cliff, but erupted from the dust with a vengeance.

"Where'd you learn to hit that hard!?" Reika challenged, her edge colliding with Kyoya's bare arms once more, a pushfight ensuing.

"I learn from the best, but my Affinity helps! I'm still waiting to see yours!" Her failure to dismantle is assault signified his victory over the resultant clash, managing to break the attack and loose a third punch with meteoric force behind it. The prelude to it's collision with her sword created just shy of a shockwave, recoil from raw impact alone blowing him back, though she was only barely able to maintain her footing.

Reika's eyes narrowed.

"Just what is that Affinity you seem so proud of?"

"I'll tell you when we're done. For now, let's get back into it... I think I'm about ready to call this a wrap." Kyoya assumed a boxing stance, his opponent sharing the intention.

"Consider this an agreement! Have at you!"

The two entered a third Power Clash, though Kyoya seemed to somehow retain this immeasurable force and almost completely overpower her attempt to reset their states. She caught a delay in his try at making another swing, successfully countering and sending him flying at a diagonal angle. Able to recover once more, he drew his hand skyward and opened his palm.

"Breaking Dawn!" As his hand stretched outward, a flurry of indigo comets seared into view from the skies above the arena. Kyoya threw that hand forward, sending all of them screaming toward Reika.

"This is checkmate!" She made no attempt to dodge, Kyoya's eyes widening as the girl spun backward and prepared to intercept the attack.

With a single spiral motion unlike any technique he'd ever seen, she unleashed her spell. "Affinity Extension: Critical Return!" The meteors met her blade and were immediately reflected by a roseate arc of similar stature to her Blossom Cleaver attack, moving with double their initial speed and leaving no room for him to dodge, as he was still airborne.

The first pummeled him, allowing the rest to strike him in succession, leaving an explosion of pink and blue swirling at their point of impact. He fell, landing hard on his back; though, this time, there weren't any cracks or crunches.

Guran was in the process of raising his hand to declare their battle concluded when Kyoya shakily found his feet.

"...So your Affinity involves reflection." The boy prodded.

"That it does. And seeing that I clearly have the advantage in close-quarters combat, I'd say this battle is over." Reika, despite clearly having a total advantage, still seemed completely incapable of losing focus.

"I'm still standing, aren't I?" Snickered a cross-armed Miscreant. "Remember, I've gotta be completely unable to battle."

"Then I'll see to it. There's no need to draw this out any longer, especially if all your own magic can do is defeat you.." She walked forward and closed the gap, but at about ten meters in front of him, a glint in Kyoya's eye made her stop.

"You're forgetting something."

He smiled his signature smirk, as charges energy materialized all over the battlefield. They were all no larger than a golf ball, but the immense, explosive burning within their cores could be felt without issue. "If you're gonna reflect my magic, you'd probably have to be able to react to it, yeah?"

"Not if you aren't able to cast it!" Reika charged, but the pause she'd taken to examine him gave the boy enough time to finish the fight where he stood.

"Hellraiser Roar!" Each individual charge erupted into a violent conflagration of entrancing sapphire blazes, completely nullifying any of her attempts at reflection and landing numerous chained hits. After only a few seconds, it finished with an earth-shattering explosion that razed a myriad of craters into the ground around them.

He was in rough shape, but once the dust settled, it was clear who had emerged the victor: given proof by Reika failing to raise herself past the height of her knees.

"An excellent duel! By definition of defeating his opponent, this battle's champion is Kyoya!" Guran announced, raising his hand and casting a spell that made a greenish mist float to either combatant. Upon contact, he could feel his energy being restored, until he felt as though he could fight just as hard all over again.

Reika soon stood as well, sheathing her katana and brushing the rubble from her clothes.

She looked to him with a warm, relieved smile.

He offered one in the same.