Asami moved the doorknob from the left to the right side of the door, opened the door revealing sand dunes, and threw Arashi through the doorway. Arashi twisted her body mid-air as she easily landed on her feet as the area where she landed created a small sand of smoke, she thought. … Shit… This day just went from bad to worse… Asami closed the door behind her with each step she took the sand beneath her feet didn’t move, she said. “Alright, ready when you are.” Arashi quickly adjusted her footing, she let out a sigh and thought. And here I thought losing to… Him today was enough…

Arashi suddenly started sprinting at Asami as she vanished and reappeared on her left. Asami glanced at Arashi who already threw a punch as her fist was a few inches away from her face, she thought. Feint. Arashi teleported into the air behind Asami as she tried to heel-kick her in the head. Arashi’s feet went through Asami’s head as she hit an after-image, she landed back on the ground and created a cloud of sand on where she landed. She positioned one hand near her stomach and face. Arashi thought. Alright, last time she only aimed for my stomach and fac-.

Asami was standing right behind Arashi as the two of them had their backs turned against each other. Asami said. “If you did a spinning heel kick instead, it would’ve done more damage.” Arashi quickly repositioned herself by placing distance between them, with each step she took the sand kept hindering her footwork. She said. “You shattered my femur when I did that in the past.” A hint of confusion appeared on Asami’s face, she said. “When was that?” Arashi forced herself to chuckle, she said. “At least try to remember our last couple of spars.”

Arashi’s eyes were darting back and forth between Asami and the space, she thought. About three meters-. Asami appeared right in front of her, she said. “What are you thinking about?” She placed her foot on top of Arashi’s feet and gathered mana into her right hand as it was enveloped with a thin layer of mana. Arashi reflexively took a step back as she almost lost her balance, she guarded her face using both her hands. The moment Asami’s punch made contact with Arashi’s forearm a huge explosion of sand erupted from the impact.

Asami appeared away from the blast as she watched the sand fall from a distance, she thought. Let’s see if she learned anything from her loss with Reiki. Her pupils faintly glowed a light blue as she watched Arashi dig herself out from the sand with one hand, she saw her left arm constantly shaking from the pain as she took out a tube with red liquid in it. Arashi took the cork off using her teeth, spat the cork onto the sand, and downed the potion in one go. She tried to move her fingers on her left hand and thought. I barely covered my arm with mana in time…

Her left hand slowly stopped shaking as she felt the feeling in her fingers returning, Arashi’s iris slowly turned yellow as her pupils changed into vertical slits. She saw Arashi’s faint figure in the distance and thought. Let’s start with, vision. She raised her left foot that was enveloped with mana and stomped her foot onto the ground. Sand started flying upwards as the entire dune was enveloped in a thick layer of sand smoke, Arashi started sprinting toward the general direction of Asami’s mana.

Asami used her hand to pinch her nose, as she breathed through her mouth. She thought. … Now I have to dust sand off my clothes… From the corner of her eye, she saw Arashi appear as she casually blocked her punch with the palm of her hand. Arashi vanished the moment Asami blocked her punch, she appeared roughly seven feet away from her. Asami could easily see Arashi’s yellow irises that were glowing through the sand smoke. Asami thought. Those eyes… Ikari didn’t even hesitate to make sure she would be the one to inherit the clan…

She shook her head sideways as she lazily spun her index finger in a circle a couple of times while Arashi appeared right behind her. In one swift movement, she tried to aim for Asami’s lower spine but she dodged it by sidestepping. Arashi continued her assault as she kept throwing punches at her organs which Asami easily blocked, deflected, or dodged. She slightly lowered her upper body and tried to kick her in the stomach. Asami grabbed the tip of Arashi’s foot and slowly moved her feet higher as she was forced to tip-toe on one foot to prevent herself from falling.

Asami said. “... Well… You’re a bit more level-headed. That’s for sure.” A hint of confusion appeared on Arashi’s face, before she could say anything Asami threw her foot away as she fell face first onto the sand. Arashi quickly tried to push herself off the sand and she saw a faint outline of Asami’s shadow above her. Asami raised her right foot as she aimed for one of Arashi’s knees. Arashi dodged by rolling on the sand once as she saw two fireballs floating above Asami’s head. Arashi saw the fireballs heading toward her as she kept on rolling in the sand.

Arashi hastily grabbed her hair with one hand as both of the fireballs barely missed as they hit the sand, the area the spells landed on instantly turned the surface of the sand into glass that was red hot. Arashi pushed herself off the sand as she flew a few meters into the air and landed back on the ground. She took a hair tie from her pocket and quickly tied her hair into a ponytail, she did a half turn to keep her eyes on Asami who was standing still. Arashi thought. A bit of-. She saw the smoke sand moving to her left and noticed that it was slowly getting thinner as she turned her head to the direction the smoke was going.

Arashi’s eyes widened as she saw a sand tornado that was at least a thousand meters tall as it was drawing in all the smoke. She thought. That’s one way to clear the air… She didn’t notice Asami appearing beside her, she said. “Consider yourself lucky that sand isn’t combustible. If it was, I would’ve exploded this entire area.” Arashi’s pupils slowly turned back to circles and threw a punch at her face. Asami leaned back as she easily dodged it, she continued. “Don’t worry about the tornado. I won’t use it to attack, just treat it as an environmental hazard.”

Arashi didn’t reply as she threw a couple more punches at Asami as the color of her irises changed from yellow to gold. Asami vanished and reappeared a few meters away from Arashi as she watched the subtle change in her eye. Asami thought. Finally, the infamous body strengthening of the Tiger clan… She watched Arashi’s mana triple in volume as she stared at her, Asami continued her train of thought. Everywhere I go you’ve been praised as a genius… Ikari told me you could already use this when you were ten… Her irises turned bright fiery red as her lips curled into a slight smile.

Asami thought. But I’ll be the judge of that. She raised her hand at eye level as if she was going to grab something. Arashi appeared in front of her as she threw a punch at Asami’s face. Asami grabbed Arashi’s hand by the wrist as she threw her toward the right. Asami let out a chuckle as Arashi looked like a shooting star from being thrown, she thought. Decent punch. Seven out of ten. One of her nostrils started to bleed as she wiped it using her thumb, Asami continued her train of thought. Let’s see if you can make those stories true.

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Forest

Arashi slammed into the side of a mountain as a large web of cracks started to spread, rocks of all shapes and sizes started falling to the ground as half of the mountain was barely intact. Arashi was buried in rubble as the top layer of the debris had slight movement indicating she was trying to dig herself out. From the crevices of the debris, a flash of mana glowed from the inside. The rubble violently shot toward trees as it pierced through the thick trunks with ease.

Arashi was lying on the ground as she glanced at her right forearm that was already bruised from Asami’s iron grip. On her forearm were the creases from Asami’s palm as Arashi slowly got up. Asami appeared a few inches above the ground as she kneed Arashi in the chest. Arashi was sent straight through the mountain as it started to crumble. Asami’s eyes narrowed as she sensed Arashi’s mana on the top of the mountain. Arashi was standing on a rock that was sliding down the deteriorating mountain, she waved her hand as boulders that were tumbling down the mountain were wrapped in a layer of mana.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Asami watched Arashi surf down the side of the crumbling mountain as large chunks of rock were thrown at her at high speeds. She started punching all the large stones that were hurled at her as Asami shattered all of them one after the other. Asami was overcast by a shadow as she looked up as she saw the entire tip of the mountain falling on top of her, she thought. That’s a big rock. She extended her index and middle finger and drew a cross mid-air.

The tip of the mountain was split into four pieces as it crashed onto the ground causing the ground to violently shake. Asami was in the center of the tip of the mountain she sliced into four she looked around as Arashi came crashing through one of the four mountain pieces and punched Asami in the chin. Asami was sent flying through the air while Arashi took a deep breath as her long hair which was tied into a ponytail faintly glowed a golden color.

Arashi took one step forward as if she were walking up the stairs, she placed her foot mid-air as she placed her right foot on the same height as her left. Arashi slowly squatted down as a golden web of cracks started appearing from under her foot and started to spread everywhere. The golden cracks kept growing as they instantly spread in a wide space covering the air and ground. Arashi suddenly leaped as she shot into the air chasing Asami while the golden web of cracks exploded destroying the tip of the mountain Asami split into four.

The area where the web of cracks grew was a large gaping hole that was roughly eight thousand meters deep and a thousand meters wide.

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Somewhere In The Air

Asami was floating mid-air as she reconnected her dislocated jaw and made a couple of practice bites, she said. “I got a slight headache from that punch of hers.” For a split second, she saw Arashi’s image pass by her. Asami turned her head to the side while Arashi appeared in front of her. Arashi lowered her entire upper body down as she kicked Asami in the throat which sent her flying.

Arashi exhaled from her mouth as she flew past Asami and stopped a few hundred meters in front of her. Arashi narrowed her eyes as she raised her right hand and held her hand up for a few seconds. She timed her karate chop and hit the back of Asami, sending her flying toward the lake on the ground. Asami did a pencil dive position as she dove into the water with minimal resistance. Arashi’s ponytail was floating upwards and looked somewhat ethereal with her current appearance. She glanced at her hand that was used to hit Asami toward the ground and saw that the side of Arashi’s palm was bruised.

Arashi clenched her hand into a fist as her knuckles let out pressure creating cracking noises. She used her other hand to wipe some sweat on her forehead, Arashi thought. Heat? Her eyes widened as she moved her gaze back to the lake and saw it was boiling to the point that she could see the steam and bubbles from the sky. She frantically searched for Asami but couldn’t find where she was. Asami appeared right behind her as she had her back facing Arashi, she was in the middle of combing her hair with a brush and mirror. Asami said. “Thanks for that, I needed to wash the sand off.”

The edges of her clothes were slightly damp as her body was constantly producing steam to dry herself. Arashi tried to elbow her but was stopped by Asami using the handle of the mirror to block her blow. Asami kept her gaze on the mirror as she continued to brush her hair, she said. “Wait, give me a timeout.” Arashi’s hands blurred as she threw a barrage of punches to try and land another blow. Asami used the handheld mirror’s handle to stop all of Arashi’s punches as she grabbed the end of her long hair.

Asami stared at it and thought. Split ends… I need to trim my hair again. She used her mirror to reflect sunlight into Arashi’s eyes and leaned forward to dodge her fist. Arashi closed her eyes for a split second while Asami slapped the back of Arashi’s back as she was sent flying toward the lake. Arashi was spinning out of control mid-air as she couldn’t control her trajectory, she gritted her teeth, covered her entire body in a thick layer of mana, and hit the surface of the water creating a tall splash.

Arashi quickly ran toward the edge of the lake as her entire skin was bright red from the heat, she took out a potion from her pocket and downed it in one go. Her skin slowly returned to normal as Asami appeared on the ground a few meters away from her, she said. “Alright, I’m done brushing my hair. You ready to-.” Before she could finish her sentence Arashi appeared right in front of her as she shattered the tube in her hands and threw the glass shards at Asami’s eyes.

Asami waved her hand to deflect the shards flying toward her as Arashi leaned in closer and lowered her center of gravity. Asami thought. Uppercut. Arashi used her left hand to grab Asami’s clothes and forced her to lean her upper body forward. Asami raised a brow in interest, she thought. This won’t-. Her eyes narrowed when Arashi threw her punch as she aimed for her liver. Arashi managed to land her blow as the impact created a burst of mana. Asami’s irises started to turn into a deep red as she glared at her, as Arashi threw another punch at her liver creating another rupture of mana from her fist making contact.

Arashi threw another punch at her liver as Asami caught her fist by the wrist. Arashi couldn’t free her hand while Asami stared at her dark red eyes. Asami said. “Since when did you start using other people's cheap tricks?” Arashi used her free hand to grab Asami’s hand that was holding onto her wrist. Arashi let out a chuckle and said. “Cheap tricks? I didn’t hear you say anything when Reiki used it on me.” She gathered mana into her hand and tried to crush Asami’s forearm, all the muscles in her hand tensed up while her veins started visibly throbbing.

Arashi’s golden eyes started to shine even brighter as she tried to muster up every ounce of her strength. Asami let out a chuckle and said. “True…” Her lips curled into a cold smirk as she slowly increased the pressure on her grip on Arashi’s wrist. Arashi felt the consistent rise of pain in her wrist as she let go of Asami's arm and started throwing punches at her.

With each punch, Arashi threw at her Asami wasn’t phased. Asami was hit in the face, stomach, and chin as she watched Arashi get closer to her while increasing the ferocity of her attacks. Every time a blow connected a burst of mana was created as it slowly destroyed the environment around them. Arashi threw three punches in quick succession aimed at Asami’s face as she didn’t even blink, she thought. Why isn’t she letting go!? Asami maintained her cold smirk and said. “I guess this is a good point to wrap it up.”

Asami added more pressure with her thumb as the sound of bones breaking came from Arashi’s wrist. Arashi stopped throwing punches, Asami thought. Now let’s hear you-. Before she could finish her thought Arashi started punching again as she increased her speed even more. Asami didn’t bother blocking the rain of punches as Arashi’s hair and eyes started to glow even brighter. Asami let out a chuckle, she thought. Since when did you ignore injuries and kept on fighting? In one motion she broke the bones in Arashi’s forearm as she stopped punching her and grabbed her broken forearm.

Arashi gripped her forearm even harder, the bone pierced her skin as it was exposed to the air. She started taking quick short breaths while Asami raised a hand and said. “Don’t worry, I’ll use a potion and you’ll be good as new. But until then, you won’t feel a thing.” Asami’s hand blurred as she used her index finger to apply pressure on her throat. Arashi started gagging and coughing, she reflexively placed a hand on her throat as she gasped for what air she could inhale. She thought. I wanted to at least make her bleed…

Arashi’s vision started turning black as she passed out and started to fall to the ground. Asami let go of her hand as Arashi fell onto the grass with a soft thud, she waved her hand as Arashi was covered in a thin layer of mana. Arashi’s body was lifted off the ground as she was positioned lying down in the air horizontally. Asami made her way to the side with Arashi’s broken arm, she used her index finger to create a couple of deep incisions on her forearm. Asami stared at the bone that pierced Arashi’s skin as she nodded to herself and thought. Clean break.

Asami roughly realigned the bone back into her forearm and took out a couple of potions from her pocket. She poured one of them on the incision she made, the bone started to mend itself together as the cut started to rapidly heal. The incision Asami made on Arashi’s forearm was already completely healed as it didn’t even leave behind a trace of a scar, she slightly tilted Arashi’s head upwards and slowly made her drink the other potion. Asami casually threw the two empty potions over her shoulder and said. “Tending to others is so much work.”

She waved her hand which made Arashi instantly drop back onto the ground as she let out a small groan. Asami said. “Now for my treatment.” She took off her shirt and placed it on her shoulder revealing countless small bruises all over her body along with two large bruises on her right side. Asami was wearing a gray sports bra as she waved her hand as a rectangular ice mirror appeared on her side, she thought. I need someone to send me clothes… Her sports bras are a bit tight on me. She did a half-turn to face the ice mirror as she inspected her body.

Asami casually touched the large bruise on her right and said. “Not original but, she did catch me off guard from the sudden pain… Six out of ten.” She took out another potion from her pocket, took the cork off, and downed it in one go. Asami lazily threw the potion onto the ground, she let out a yawn and did some light stretches as all the bruises on her body were rapidly healing. She said. “She managed to kill some of my boredom…” The ice mirror she conjured started to dissipate as she glanced at Arashi lying on the ground asleep.

Asami started to make her way out of the forest, she said. “She’ll live, not like there are any insects or monsters in this area.” She took out a bottle of wine from her pocket and flicked the cork off using her thumb. Asami thought. … At least not all stories are baseless rumors… Her lips formed into a smile as she took out a wine glass from her pocket and poured some wine for herself. Asami continued her train of thought. She's a genius, that’s for sure. Ikari wasn’t just bragging about her for all those years… Reiki on the other hand… Has a lot of potential, but is average with martial arts.