Of course, Azam attacked first.

A massive wall of fire burst from his mouth and everything around me rippled in its heat.

He was stronger than he had been last year. I barely managed to roll out of his way but before I could even start to gather myself, he was right above me. One of his fists was raised and ready to hit me.

Except, it was slower than before. I raised my arms and barely tanked the hit. And I did so again. And again. And again.

And again.

The ground had cracked below me. Even Azam himself was starting to get tired, and I didn’t even want to think about my suit and the situation it was in. Because he just stumbled. A stumble backwards and a breath that released a wave of smoke.

It gave me the single second I needed to put down my gloveless hands. The ground beneath me trembled as it was completely destroyed. Screw collateral damage. I coughed as dust started filling my lungs and I dropped lower and lower in a crater of my own making.

Flexing my fingers, I looked around the dust and dirt covered air.

A few beats of silence passed. Everything settled and I looked up to see Azam, breathing heavily but completely unscathed, and looking down on me. The area had become a mess. A steep slope had formed because of me.

People had gathered to watch, all of them looking down on me. He was being smart, keeping his distance and making sure I didn’t have any chances of getting my fingers on him.

So I needed to be smart too.

I ran up the slope, both my arms extended fully. He took a deep breath and his skin started glowing. Another fire attack. But I couldn’t let him attack first. Crouch and jump.

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Most of my attacks involved my arms. A single hit, even if I held back, was devastating with my power. So he didn’t expect me to jump. Jump right as he let out his fire breath–weakened thanks to his previous attack and the dirt cloud.

This was a move straight from the Paulsen family book. I raised my leg as far as I could. My heel connected to the back of his head. He flew straight down, rolling down the slope like I had.

Not that I landed with any grace. My whole body burned as I flew head first into the grass, rolling metres away.

People had gathered around us. There weren’t too many of them, and whatever they said wasn’t loud enough to not be muffled by the ringing in my ear. The whole world was spinning.

My hands twitched. I touched my face. It felt rough and I couldn’t help but wince. People tried to give me their hands to help me up but I swatted them all away.

Too dangerous. Couldn’t risk it. My arms spasmed and groaned. I could barely get them to move.

A cough bubbled up in my lungs. Still, there he was. Holding his head and barely keeping balance, but with enough anger to make this October night feel like a July midday.

Or maybe that was just me.

“A good kick,” he said. I barely managed to make out his voice amid the ringing. “But I’m still standing.”

“You’re not the only one.”

Alright. Maybe fighting with Azam right now wasn’t my best idea.

I was in no condition to go out with Birgit and her parents.

What I was in a condition to do was to finish this fight. I touched my jacket and tie with both hands, disintegrating it. All that was left was the crumpled, torn suit. Much better for me to move in.

Even if black spots had started to fill my vision. Every molecule of my body had wanted to stop.

He took another deep breath. This time his fire was met with a wall of ice that shattered as soon as they connected. I turned to the source of it. Standing there, almost shining from the crowd was Birgit.

She was dressed in a dark red dress. It was way too formal for her, like the kind of thing she’d complain her parents made her wear.

Seeing her, seeing the barely formed tears in her expression, was enough to make me sober up and realise what I was doing.

And, just as I did, what little strength I had left was gone.

I barely registered my body falling down as the black spots overtook all else and everything went to nothing.