With the explosions going off in all directions, the intense heat of the offensive Casts burned into Yuna's skin as she concentrated inwards and shielded herself with an outpouring coating of the Wave. Then, she opened her eyes wide, scanning the fields of light all around her before her sharp vision pierced through the distraction.

It is now abundantly clear that relying purely on her Wave sensing abilities is insufficient. She fell back into her comfort zone, her familiar skillsets, and what she deemed to be proficient in ever since the start of the battle, and that played directly into Lera's hands.

"Tsk...stupid pieces of shit..." Yuna cursed, squatting down violently into a counter-movement before she sprung herself up into the air, a trail of smoke tracking behind her body as she made a run for it deeper into the woods.

"Watch your mouth! You are the daughter of the Grand Master!" Xin, her sensei back at home said as he whipped a tree branch in a circle and whacked her on the forehead, "How can a little girl have such a vulgar mouth!"

"Why does what I say matter?" Yuna protested, her little wrists flinging in the air at Xin angrily, "If I am strong, I can do whatever the fuck I want!"

"But are you?" Xin said, avoiding Yuna's defenses and whacking her on the forehead with the tree branch again, "If you can't dodge the frail old man's tree branch, you haven't even stepped foot in the realm of the art of the Surging Tiger style!"

"Hmph!"

Yuna Hu, born the daughter of Grandmaster Hu, the founder of the Surging Tiger Wave martial arts style in the Eastern continent. Compared to the more brawly, free-flowing style of combat employed by the Channelers that grew up in the Western Continent, those that grew in the Eastern Continent were heavily influenced by the legacies of the First Savior's more disciplined combat styles.

After all, this is where the journey of the First Savior ended, and as his story reached the final chapters, he shared his learnings across the years with his families and friends, leading to the creation of the countless Wave martial arts styles in the Eastern continent. Then, as eons passed and derivative styles were created and lost, only the cores of his teachings remain, alongside the countless variants that are used all across the entire world, including the main discipline that is the Channelers.

One's fist is all that is needed to be strong.

That's was what he said when he faced off against an entire squadron of Riverbending, or country-level, Casters. And as the tyranny of the Order of Casters came seeking him out, attempting to snap his little rebellion out of existence, he stood strong and held back an entire army all by himself.

Legend has it that his kick created the canyon that ran down the middle of the Eastern Continent and forced the pursuing army to retreat.

"This is the legacy we carried as Channelers on the Eastern continent, Yuna." His father explained, holding her close despite her attempts to try to get away, "This is what I, and you, must do. This is our duty."

"I don't give a fuck about duties! I just want to be free!" Yuna protested, "I never wanted any of this!"

"Oh you little bratty girl..." His father laughed and shook his head as Xin watched closely with his face puffed up and a tree branch ready, "One day, you will learn."

Yuna never did.

She never learned about the true essence of the Surging Tiger and what they stood for. She never cared. However, she knew the importance of strength, so she poured her heart and soul into her own physical training for countless years. With her own claws, she will find her own truth, and she will make the style her very own.

That was already a big enough character change for her father, however, and he seldomly had the spare time to look after his own daughter as the Surging Tiger sect became more and more popular across the continents. And on the night of her adulthood, Yuna ran away.

Defeating Xin and the rest of the masters remaining in the school in a matter of seconds, she then exited through the front door with a small sack over her shoulder and a pair of sandals on her feet. Outside of the school laid her booze, her freedom, her adventure, her friends, and her...dreams?

But what are her dreams anyway? Does one even need to have a dream in this world? What's the point if you may never achieve it anyway? Yuna thought, stuffing the alcohol she got from the nearest store before she hid into the cargo ship departing into the sea.

There is nothing she wanted more than freedom, and the idea of being tied to a single idea or goal made her sick to her stomach. She'd much rather follow the flow, and let whatever happen happen.

That was until she met Matty and Braka. Matty wanted to become the strongest Wave user to have ever come out of the Down Under place, and Braka was much like her. Then, as she charted the next step in their journey, she suddenly realized something different. She's thinking about what Matty and Braka would have wanted, and she made her final decisions based on that.

Yuna shook her head and forcibly returned herself to the present. The entirety of the Surging Tiger style was based on rapid-reading of the opponent's Wave, and that's the entire basis of how she fights. But it is abundantly clear now that it is not enough. She needed something else...a better way to fight, a more dirty way to fight, a...more she way to fight.

A more free way to fight.

Yuna clenched her fist and climbed up the trees rapidly. Then, she leapt from branch to branch, lightening up her touch and becoming as quiet as possible. Lera's still expertly hiding out of sight from her, so Yuna instead paid more attention to the contextual tools.

Such as the Scouting Eyes that were left behind in the environments all around her. That's how Lera's been keeping track of her. In this game of hide and seek, Lera had complete and total advantage, and Yuna's every move were clearly registered by Lera.

What would the First have done? If his every step was known by his opponents, how could he even win? Yuna wondered, jumping down onto the surface and looking down at her fist. Then, the answer came into her head.

Simple.

He will just have to be so strong, that it doesn't matter what his opponents is doing. That's what she needed to do too. And in order to reach that level, she needed to tap into the deepest layers of her power.

"Surging Tiger Style...Yuna's Special...Unchained!" Yuna murmured, pulses of white energy shooting out from her body as her red hair flew straight up in the air and her eyes started to glow white with power. The Surging Tiger style was all about tight control of power and unleashing it in planned, sequential, aggressive strikes, but Yuna never liked holding back.

So she will hold back no longer.

"I don't care where you are hiding, or what you are planning..." Yuna said, her hands reaching out before her body suddenly snapped out of existence, dashing through the forest and leaving a massive track of torn-up earth and broken trees. Like a hurricane, she swept through the entire forest in a matter of seconds, absolutely tearing up everything in her path in a fashion far more violent and devastating than before.

With her kicks, she peeled away meters of earth and sent it flying in all directions. With her punches, she sent the tree trunks of the maple leaves flying into the air.

"What a violent way to fight..." Ver chuckled before turning to look at Fatera, "You two really seem like a match made in heaven."

"Hey, I don't always make a mess like this..." Fatera said, "But at this rate...Lera's going to be found since there will be nowhere left to hide."

"And her Cast array had been unintentionally ruined, even though she embedded it deep under ground."

"Shit!" Lera cursed, rolling out from behind a hiding place as Yuna's destruction came through.

"There you are!" Yuna shouted, her voice cracking like thunder, "YOU ARE MINE, FUCKING COWARD!"

Leaping into the air with enough Wave concentrated around her wrist to detonate an entire mountain, Yuna charged towards Lera and prepared to end this fight once and for all.

"Tsk!" Lera grunted, leaping back before she reached into the Book of Casts and flipped it all the way to the very last page, "I didn't want this! But I have no choice!"

"It's over for Lera..." Ver sighed, "She has always hated her matchups against Channelers."

Fatera nodded, picking a piece of grape from the tray on the table when suddenly, a black bubble originated from the last page on Lera's Book of Casts before rapidly expanding out and sweeping through the parts of the forest that she's in.

At that instant, it was as if someone had forcibly stopped the blood flow within Yuna's entire body. Her face was turned purple, and she dropped down onto the ground, her entire body stiffened and locked up as her face planted firmly into the mud.

"What...what is this..." Yuna cursed as her heart tried its best to fight against the immense pressure, yet there was absolutely nothing she can do. The more she tried to resist, the more the pressure she felt compressing her body from every angle. Channelers learn to guide the flow of the Wave in their body from a very young age, and the feeling of Wave flow are as familiar as the feeling of air in her lungs.

And now, she's surrounded by a suffocating pressure as if she had been dumped into the deepest abyss of the ocean, tied to an ever-sinking rock.

"I can't...I can't use my Wave..." Yuna cursed as she struggled to move her body. Then, the shadow of Lera hovered over her body as she glanced up, "What...what is this?"

"This is a bad match-up. For you." Lera smiled, squatting down and reaching her hands towards the bracelet over Yuna's wrist, "I made a promise to myself to never be run down by a Channeler ever again."