I reach out forward, grabbing him by his shirt, getting a clean shot straight to his stomach. I rear back again for another punch. However, to my disdain, my momentum quickly stops short.

Cain stops retreating and deflects my fist on his wrist, redirecting the blow then advancing forward with unexpected power.

Damn it! I try to lean back, but Cain completely overpowers me and smashes me between the eyes.

With tears in my eyes, I stumble backwards, almost tripping over a branch before stopping myself.

“Ah yes, that’s right, the biological disadvantage of being a woman.” I mutter to myself. I also had a somewhat thin figure, due to my attempt to keep myself young and pretty which certainly didn’t help. That combined with the fact that he was also clearly physically trained, that smack almost sent me to the other side.

Can’t use it all… Gotta save some of it for myself.

Fire faintly flickers across Cain’s arm as I reabsorb some of my Anku from the surroundings.

A flash of flame whistles towards me. Without skipping a beat Cain begins to unleash his Tetsu the instant after getting some of it back.

The fire dissipates as I run forward, negating it completely, in fact it served as a good smokescreen to close the distance.

I pivot on my left foot, throwing all my forward momentum into rotational and twisting into a roundhouse kick.

Cain grunts as his arm is pushed straight into his ribs, the block not enough to counteract the force of my kick. I twist to the other side and snap my leg back to the right, swiping him straight across his other armpit.

“What’s wrong with you?!” I scream as Cain’s eyelids flitter in pain. “Before this moment, you absolutely were the strongest person in the world! Yet you just… Did nothing!”

I stomp forward, driving him straight to the ground with a heavy kick. “Enslaved by choice.” I say in a low tone.

“Of course you would say that, you don’t care about the consequences of your actions, just doing whatever you want.” Cain growls as he finally speaks. “Well life’s just not that simple!” As I hear something I’ve heard hundreds of times by now.

And there’s only one response I’ve ever given to this.

“Are you jealous?”

“What? Why would I be—“ Cain’s interrupted as I rush into his range of attack. Almost instantly, Cain’s leg bursts into red hot fire as he moves forward and kicks down low, near my shins.

I block… Wait, if I block the kick the fire will burn me, and if I block the fire the kick will—

I twist on my foot, jump and glide over his leg, turning my movement into a swift heel to the cheek.

Fire erupts from all over as temperatures soar, my leg phases through Cain’s face as he dematerializes into fire, a result of how much Anku I had to draw to do that move, which backfired immensely.

Almost instantly, I cool everything back down so I wouldn’t get burned. Cain throws a punch in retaliation, I block.

then a kick,

a block,

some fire,

quick punches,

timely dodges.

The two of us descend into never before ventured combat, a clash of Tetsu and Anku utilized in new and innovative ways. It was as if both of us were starting from scratch, breaking new grounds. Rather than being a contest of power or abilities, it was quickly becoming a test of talent. Which one of us could adapt faster, which one of us could move ahead before the other caught up.

I catch Cain’s fire filled wrist as he punches, sliding up to his fingers, and then I squeeze firmly. I smile away the pain as my body shudders, a cracking sound could be heard as my palm begins to burn and fry, blood boiling and popping inside the vessels of my hand.

But pain was just a signal sent by the body, which meant it could be controlled by Anku. Pain was something I could deal with, but it was something Cain could not do so easily.

“You use your hands a lot huh?” I tighten my hand into a vice-like grip, flames bursting through between my fingers. Within a split second I completely shatter his hand, and before the pain even registers on his face. I violently pull him into a crushing headbutt, temple to nose, and for an instant I could sense the shape of his skull under my head, every tiny groove and texture being compressed under my temple. Blood along with shards of teeth fly into the air as the two of us then fall away, one of us much more damaged than the other.

“DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING! WAKE UP! ” I howl at Cain writhing on the ground, I begin to walk forward before a sword flies into the edge of my vision. I glance backwards as more swords spin through the air.

I pull back most of my negating Anku and weave my body through the hail of blades, the pace of combat speeding up immensely.

“I’ll deal with her! Get away from here!” Rainel yells over the fire.

I catch the last sword by the handle and hold tightly as it tries to wrestle from my grasp, my blackened hand, bleeding and flaking from the skin with every movement.

“You think you can deal with me alone?” I gaze at him soulessly. “Especially with your arms like that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your arms, they’re dysfunctional aren’t they? You have to control them with Anku.”

“Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rainel continues to deny it.

From behind I could feel Cain slowly dragging himself away, deep into the fire to a place that would be difficult for me to reach.

I sigh… It’s fine, I’ve given him enough of a push, now I have to focus on what’s in front of me.

Veins bulge from my forearms as I put both of my hands on the handle to calmly wrestle the tension away from Rainel. After a while he reluctantly gives up and releases the sword to me. I then take a practice swing with enough power to create a sizable gust of wind, re-familiarizing myself with the feeling of a sword, and then, I bring the tip up and point it towards him.

“I’ll jog your memory then.”