[Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for what could possibly be a historic battle between underdogs. One hand, we have the People’s Prince, Khatuu! A beautiful man who had humble beginnings, coming from a distant land! He came to the Gauntlet and fought his way to where he is now, standing as the only man to ever attain thirty consecutive victories! But what’s this? Standing in front of him is an oddity of the highest order! Akairo, aka The Red Runaway! A young man who cam from seemingly nowhere only to lose fifty consecutive matches and draw twenty five others! He now stands before The Desert Prince with twenty nine back to back wins! This match won’t be the one to break Khatuu’s record but depending on the outcome, it may very well be the one that leads to the end of the reign of the prince!]

The announcer yelled as Akairo and Khatuu stood face to face.

Akairo squeezed his fists as the whole crowed cheered solely for Khatuu.

He didn’t want their cheers but it was definitely a hit to his confidence.

“Relax, kid. You’re gonna do great, I’m sure.” Khatuu smiled.

Akairo nodded before assuming a battle ready stance.

The crowd then fell silent as the referee signalled the beginning of the match and in the following second, Khatuu swung his fist to the side, sending forth a wave of air that knocked even the referee backwards.

Its here that Akairo realized that the move wasn’t a Level Five technique, it wasn’t a Tal Technique at all.

He had just swung his arm with so much force that it sent forth a devastating amount of air.

Akairo bit his teeth and stepped forward.

He then let out a breath of embers that was so hot it created a wall of heat which the air blasted around.

The crowd gasped upon seeing that Akairo was still standing but it remained silent shortly after.

Khatuu scratched his neck while tilting his head to the side.

“Ooh, that was cool! Nice to see you’re not boring.”

Akairo narrowed his eyes.

“Well? Come on.”

Akairo nodded before rushing towards Khatuu.

His fiery breath from before wasn’t a technique either and was just an unfortunate side effect of his condition.

But he and Zabu had spent the previous week strengthen his grasp on his own Tal and so, with enough focus, he could will his flame to leak or leave his body in ways that not only didn’t hurt him, but actively helped him.

Khatuu crossed his arms as Akairo sent forth a fist to punch him in the face but the muscular man stepped to the side and tried kicking Akairo, only for the young man grab his incoming leg and bash him in the face with his right elbow.

Khatuu’s face twisted.

He reached out to grab Akairo but the young man let go of his leg and quickly backed away.

Murmurs began to fill the air prompting Khatuu too look around with knotted brows.

His sharp eyes then returned to Akairo.

“Mmm... Sorry, kid but it looks like I’ll have to end this here.” Khatuu said and the entire coliseum erupted in gasps as Khatuu’s shadow expanded.

The referee quickly hopped off the platform and watched as the shadow reached Akairo who simply took a deep breath.

He then let it out along with a flurry of embers and although Khatuu’s shadow reached him, he didn’t feel it’s effects because rising from below him, from within his own shadow, were embers that formed a pillar of fire around him.

A pillar made from fire that didn’t burn him.

A manifestation of his will.

Akairo flexed his neck and felt some of the effects of Khatuu’s shadow.

He was trying to force him into his knees but Akairo had gotten tired of that after training with Zabu and so he raised his fists.

Khatuu’s eyes widened.

He then broke into a suppressed chuckle and uncrossed his arms.

“Fine. I wanted to go easy on your but you just can’t help but show off!” Khatuu yelled while dashing towards Akairo and his every step crushed a little bit if the stone platform.

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Khatuu raised his fist to punch Akairo and this act alone, tore apart the air but Akairo stood fast.

Khatuu’s fist then rocketed towards his head and, using every muscle in his body, Akairo leaned to the side, avoiding the punch and since Khatuu’s arm was now in Akairo’s shadow, it began to burn. Something that wouldn’t have been possible if Khatuu simply wore his protective jumpsuit.

Akairo punched Khatuu in the face only for the large man to retaliate by hitting Akairo in the right temple with his elbow, sending Akairo tumbling to the side and since he was technically still within Khatuu’s shadow, he struggled to stay on his feet.

Khatuu would give Akairo no quater and so dashed towards him again.

He tried kicking the hunched over Akairo’s head but Akairo, once again grabbed the incoming leg and kicked Khatuu’s other leg, making him fall backwards.

Akairo then raised both of his fists to crush Khatuu’s head but the large man quickly rolled away leaving Akairo with nothing to strike but the ground.

Khatuu looked at his leg to find that the right leg of his pants had been burnt off and his skin was covered in light burns.

Khatuu let out a deep growl before hopping onto his feet and charging towards Akairo who tried dashing away but at this point, Khatuu was moving way faster than he could run from and so the large man grabbed Akairo’s collar, pulled him closer and punched the young man in the face all while burning within Akairo’s shadow.

Akairo bit his teeth and punched Khatuu several times in the face, breaking his nose and some teeth in the process but the man didn’t let go and instead forced Akairo onto the ground where he punched the young man’s face again.

His punch was so powerful that it shattered the ground beneath Akairo’s head and if it wasn’t for the protective suit, his head would have been split open. That being said, in a display of what should have been impossible, blood began run fall from Akairo’s nose.

His face twisted in panic and so, as Khatuu raised his fist again, Akairo bit his teeth and just as the punch came, he shifted to the side, avoiding it narrowly.

He then grabbed Khatuu, who was covered in burns at this point, and commanded all of his embers to flood into his nose and mouth.

Khatuu screamed out in pain as he was burnt inside and out but just as he raised both of his arms to crush Akairo’s head again, the referee jumped onto the platform and, at a speed that tore the air apart even further, placed his hands on both Akairo and Khatuu’s shoulders.

What followed was rapid unconsciousness.

.

..

Akairo awoke with a yawn and a series of coughs.

He sat up to find that he was in a hospital room and sitting next to him, was Zabu who stood up while making a concerned expression.

“How are you feeling?”

Akairo looked himself over.

He was in a patient’s gown and his face was covered in bandages but he felt no pain.

“I’m ok.” He said before looking around.

“What happened to-“

Akairo was stopped by a knock on the door.

It opened to reveal Khatuu, who’s body was covered in bandages, and a woman who wore the pure black uniform of a priestess which had intricate white embroidery at its sleeves and collar. What made it a priestess’s gown was the style. It was a conservative piece of clothing with form fitting sleeves, a long, ironed out skirt and the main thing that cemented that she was a priestess was her black scarf which had white circle, with a single point above it, on both ends. That sigil was that of Emetism.

The most curious thing abou her was the fact that her entire head was wrapped in a fine black cloth which was lined with golden embroidery and as if this wasn’t shocking enough for Akairo, she managed to walk around just fine on her own.

She led Khatuu to the side of Akairo’s head and slapped him on the back of the head.

“Ouch! What was that for?” He whined but the priestess didn’t reply.

Khatuu let out a low groan before facing Akairo with a raised nose.

“Looks like things got a bit out of hand back there, huh- ouch!” He cried and the priestess slapped him again.

“I apologize for acting recklessly and putting both of our lives at risk.” He sighed after taking a few steps away from the priestess.

Akairo glanced at Zabu but silently gasped upon seeing that his eyes were glowing extremely brightly but none of their light touched the walls of the room.

He looked at Akairo and nodded prompting the young man to face Khatuu once more.

“It’s alright.”

Khatuu gave Akairo a curt nod before scratching the back of his head.

“That match kinda ended a bit anticlimactically, right? It was decided that it was my win but I- wait! I just wanna hear what he thinks!” Khatuu cried while backing further away from the priestess.

Akairo’s eyes fell as he though back to the fight.

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Yeah. It’s gonna take a while for you to get back to thirty wins and I really don’t wanna wait for that. I’m guessing your ultimate goal is the League?”

Akairo’s eyes widened a little.

“Yeah, thought so. Look, there’s nothing there that you won’t find anywhere else. And if it’s money you want- well, I can help you with that but only if you join us.”

Akairo's brows knotted.

“What?” He asked prompting Khatuu to cross his arms.

“Well, surely you know that we are at war? A clash between good and evil? The terrorists who threaten all that is and the saints who aim to protect? This world is far more broke than you might think and while there are groups that righteously want to do good for the sake of it, there are also groups like us who profit from the conflict in one way or the other-“

“You’re mercenaries.” Zabu hissed.

“Yes.” Khatuu nodded.

“We are the Wild Dogs and we do dirty jobs but we are also a man short.”

Akairo’s eyes widened.

“That fire of yours is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I think that you’d make an excellent addition to our team and I could use a rival.” Khatuu grinned but this just made Akairo turn to Zabu who’s expression was stiff.

“Oh- you’ll be compensated handsomely, of course. Way more than you’ll ever see in the league.”

Akairo’s gaze remained on Zabu.

“Give... us some time to think about it.” Zabu eventually said.

“Alright. I’ll be loitering around the coliseum for a bit so meet me there when you’ve made up your mind.” Khatuu waved his hand while turning to leave.

The priestess gaze Akairo and Zabu a nod before following Khatuu out of the room.

A moment of silence then passed as Akairo digested Khatuu’s words.

“Considering his offer?” Zabu asked.

“Y-yeah.”

“Mmm. Well, I don’t think you should accept his offer. Every fight you’ve had until now has been in controlled and relatively safe environments. You won’t have protective suits out there.” Zabu warned.

“This place isn’t much safer.” Akairo muttered.

“Nothing is when the sky turns red.” He whispered.

Zabu bit his teeth before taking a deep breath.

“Well... you have time to think everything through.”