Pirate number five faced me down with a fierce glare, obviously ticked off at being the first to be knocked down in the fight, especially since it was by a little girl. His embarrassment fueled him, and the next attack he launched came much faster than his first. The pirate was obviously no rookie, and it became evident very quickly. I ducked the second and the third, but even as I felt that familiar state of heightened reflex creep back, the pressure I was under steadily increased.
I wondered how Ren and Leonard were holding up against two of them, but I could not spare the brainpower to check on them. I fought back as hard as I could, using everything I had learnt over the three weeks to try and get through the man’s defences, but he was far more skilled than I expected him to be.
Still, while I was obviously more pressured than he was, he didn’t have an easy time getting me either. His twin blades were incredibly quick, flashing out like vipers every time he attacked. But I was usually quicker, and when I wasn't, I used my hands to block.
As I slowly came back to my senses during the battle, I realized that I had reached the milestone Leonard had described. The flame burned directly on my hands, and burned far brighter and hotter than the flame I had been capable of earlier this morning.
It made my punches hurt a lot more than they used to, although the man had some sort of invisible protective barrier that would stop my fists from actually making contact – the few times I would be able to slip past his defence at all. Still, the fire that burned on my fists seemed to be able to break past his barrier, and would scald the man anytime they got close enough.
Things seemed to be quite stable for the first few minutes. While the man was stronger than I was, I was learning as I fought, and was slowly but surely closing the gap. And then – just as I was about to grab a blade that was headed to my waist – I felt the sharp, searing pain of a blade cutting into my back.
A wet “Argh!” was wrenched out of me as I stumbled forward, the pain on my back searing and overpowering all thought, only for the blade of the man I was fighting to lodge itself into my side.
The steel bit deep, severing what I was sure were vital organs in its path.
“Ruby!” two voices yelled from behind me, but I hardly heard them over the roar of pain in my head. I ignored both sounds, but instead focused on the smug smile of the man in front of me. His hand still gripped the handle of the blade, but the gaze that I met with my pained eyes was relaxed, almost uncaring.
So this is what it means to be a killer, huh?
The thought cut through the pain of the world, silencing everything else. It echoed in my brain for a moment, its implications profound. Still, I didn’t have the time to go through exactly what it meant, because I knew that death was not far from where I stood.
Instead of the fear I expected from that revelation, however, I felt nothing but an electric rush. My eyes widened as the world seemed to come into better focus than ever before.
The man was visibly intrigued as he watched the light flare in my eyes. The disinterest with which he was about to kill me vanished as he saw that I was still willing to fight.
His reaction only fueled my rejection of my impending death. There was no way I was going to let myself die here, and certainly not like this.
I grinned at the man, letting him see the drive on my face. The black smoke that swirled around me intensified suddenly, whirling around my legs like the beginnings of a tornado. It rose upward, quickly shrouding my entire body. The man didn’t even have time to remove his sword from my body before the smoke encompassed me entirely.
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Pain flooded me as the Flux interacted with my injuries, the black smoke rushing into me through the gaping wound on my back. I steeled myself through the pain, forcing it to fuel me instead.
The man, deciding that it had finally been long enough, let go of the sword in me and swung the other at my neck. It moved with a speed unlike ever before, with only the faintest trace of gray smoke rising off of it. I realized in that brief moment that he'd been holding back the entire time, playing around with me like a child.
No! I screamed to myself as I ducked and stepped out of his range, moving faster than I ever had before. I refuse to live like this anymore!
The man did not take me seriously – no one did – but I was going to prove them wrong. I would make him acknowledge me.
I did not have Ren's speed, nor his finesse, so no matter how much I tried to emulate him, I would never be able to catch up. And I did not have Leonard’s physical strength, nor his control over his affinity. But I did have something else.
I realized at that moment, as I yanked the blade out of my gut, that I had spent too much time trying to use other people’s strength. Perhaps one day, I’d have Ren’s grace, or Leonard’s control, but that was not my strength. That was not me.
The smoke around me suddenly dissipated, exploding outward before vanishing into the air, like it had never existed. In its place, I stood, the pirate’s blade in my hand. My eyes were closed, but the man in front of me did not attack, watching on with amused eyes.
The world faded away, as it was wont to do at times like these. All that was left in my mind was me, the pirate in front of me, and what burned within my chest: my strength.
Fire.
It exploded outward suddenly, catching the entire room by surprise. The temperature of the entire room shot up as an inferno blazed at my feet. I stood in the midst of the flame, right in its heart, but all I felt was a pleasant warmth. It was a nice feeling, especially after the waves of pain I’d just fought through.
The blaze was eye-catching, enough to stall the fight for a moment, and my side was the first to take advantage of it.
Ren and Leonard both managed to land heavy hits on one of their opponents, but I paid no attention to that. In fact, I had all but forgotten they even existed at that moment.
I leapt toward the man in front of me, the euphoria of the moment giving my face an insane light. But the man wasn’t fazed, not even balking as he lifted his smoking sword to counter my flaming one.
We met with a clash, with my full weight pressing down on his sword. Still, the man only held the blade with a single hand, and judging by the look on his face, he was more excited than scared by my newfound strength.
I could feel the Flux within me rage at his reaction, and the fire around me flared up in response. The man’s sword still didn’t budge, but the heat around me was definitely getting to him, if the sheen of sweat on his forehead was any indicator.
I grinned at the man as I realized. I’m still not using my fire properly.
Suddenly, I let go of the sword and ducked. The man lurched as he was through off balance, stepping forward awkwardly to meet my fist. It sunk into his gut, and this time, I felt it meet skin. The man was blown backward, flipping over one table before crashing into the next.
I jumped up onto the table in front of him, staring him down with my face split by a maddened grin.
This! I thought to myself in ecstasy. This is it! This is my strength!
I jumped down onto the man before he could get up, raining down fists. He blocked desperately, but with his sword lying just a few feet out of reach, he was almost defenceless against my overwhelming heat. His arms slowed down exponentially as mine slowly sped up until, eventually, I was pummeling his face in with no resistance.
After a moment, as blood streamed down from his nose, I picked the big man up by his collar and planted my knee in his gut. He was sent backwards again, crashing over two tables before landing atop the third.
The man was seething now, far beyond the embarrassment of the first time. He pushed himself up slowly, the Flux steaming off of his whole body now. As I watched, ice began to crystallize around his forearms. It was a stark, almost purple-blue, with jaded edges that looked like they could shred skin. As he got up to his feet, the ice finished forming, stopping right before his elbows. It had formed gauntlets, encasing his arms in armour-like ice. The fingers were especially sharp, however, almost like claws.
The man stared me down with a burning hatred, but I only responded with a grin. I didn’t even care that he had still been holding out on me. In fact, I cared for little else right now than the fire that burned around me. At long last, I had found what was mine, truly mine. And that satisfaction was all that occupied my mind.
This fire was my strength. It was what I had been missing for so long, the tool that I needed to begin my true journey to the top. And now that I had it, no mere pirate would stand in my way.