Liv and Rep regarded one another in the ring, arms up and slowly circling at opposite ends. They weren’t approaching one another. They knew they were both wielders of Elemental Fire and were trying to read where their opponents had weaknesses.

“Time to settle who is the best Elemental Flame wielder in the Journey House,” Liv said confidently.

Zalan sat on the edge of his seat.

“What if she knows how to imbue herself better than Rep?” Zalan asked Nold.

“Then she trained better than he did,” Nold replied unsympathetically.

“And if her fire is a lot stronger? I want Rep to take on another Fire user and feel really confident in the end. What if she’s really good at hand-to-hand?” Zalan asked.

“Why are you asking me?” Nold said, annoyed.

“I don’t know, I’m nervous,” Zalan said.

“Mmm. Interesting that you seem more nervous now than you were in your previous match.”

Zalan realized how odd it was that Nold was speaking the truth. Moss had really put him at ease in the fight. He enjoyed the battling and thinking on his feet against someone with a unique power. He liked coming out on top in the end. It made him realize that the hate and rage boiling within him was able to be ignored. But Zalan still thought there was use for it in combat. He felt invincible when he was angry enough.

All of this newfound power made him think back to the real focus of his time in this realm. Finding a way home really was within his means. He had to be strong enough by now. There had to be an Artifact or some way to navigate back home. He would go on whatever quest it took to find his way back. He would shake Madam Hikma and demand she told him everything she knew about ways to jump to other worlds.

The tournament was much more exciting when he thought about it as an avenue to get closer to home instead of just a friendly competition. He glanced around the stands for Madam Hikma, wondering where she was watching from. She couldn’t have been doing much adjudicating when it seemed Umdarr ran everything in the tournament for her. He dismissed the idea of her being in the stands. It wouldn’t make sense for such an important person to be sitting casually with the masses.

“Pay attention,” Nold snapped.

Zalan complied, figuring that seeing Madam Hikma probably wouldn’t increase his anger anymore. He was angrier at something more nebulous. Like “society” or the whole of the realm.

Liv threw forward two fireballs. They were straight shots going right for Rep’s torso and legs. Rep moved his arms nervously, crashing both fireballs into the ground without touching them. Liv raised an interested eyebrow and threw forward a slew of fireballs. Rep sent them all downward before they reached anywhere near his body. He tested throwing a fireball of his own and watched her sidestep with ease.

They exchanged a few fireballs in this way, sizing one another up and trying to measure the limits of one another’s Wisdom and response times. Liv could jump and bob out of the way in the nick of time where Rep was content to continue redirecting flames into the floor or off stage. After a few seconds of fiery trades, Liv began to take a few steps forward. Rep remained in place, uncertain how to respond to the incoming threat. Rep threw a fireball and she leaned back, just avoiding it.

“She keeps dodging instead of redirecting,” Zalan said. “She’s not as good at controlling fire as he is.”

Nold nodded, happy that Zalan picked up on it.

“The question is whether Rep has noticed her lack of power.”

Liv continued her progression toward Rep and Rep stepped back. His foot slid over the edge of the arena and he flinched and adjusted himself back to stable ground. He had nowhere to run. Liv was getting closer. Liv threw flame and Rep barely managed to slide it aside. Rep tried to retaliate with a thin column of flame, aimed right at her center. She adjusted its angle slightly midair, giving her enough space to weave out of the way of the attack.

They were within kicking distance now, and Rep had nowhere to step. Liv threw a wall of flame at him and Rep split it down the middle, yelping as it singed him. He responded in kind with a wall of flame summoned from his feet. Liv also cried out in surprise as she got a bigger burn than Rep. Liv threw a large fireball in frustration, targeting Rep’s chest. Rep held both his hands out defensively.

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The fireball stopped midair, totally in Rep’s control. Rep looked the flame over, confused. He let it fall to the floor, dissipating as it landed.

“Can you not redirect as well as I can?” Rep asked her sincerely.

“Heron said I should not be concerned with redirecting!” Liv said, frustrated.

Liv threw three more flames at him and Rep threw two aside and caught the last one. He watched Liv carefully, waiting for her to reveal something. He didn’t actually believe that he was able to use the power better than her.

“I suppose you can imbue yourself much better than me,” Rep guessed, offering her the benefit of the doubt.

Liv went mad, screaming in frustration and letting out a rush of fire directed right at Rep’s face. Rep placed a hand in front of his head and split the flame down the middle, passing harmlessly on either side. Rep laughed to himself in incredulity. Zalan imagined that he and Rep were having the same image run through their mind at the moment. Rep was as good with fire as Fran was before she passed. Maybe even better.

Rep looked up at Zalan in the stands in disbelief, not certain he was really capable of what was happening in front of his face. The flames licked around him, none reaching nearness that could cause him any pain. Liv strained herself, trying to send more fire into the attack to no avail. Zalan gave him a thumbs up. Rep’s face grew determined.

Rep waited patiently for Liv to run out of energy. It was much easier to redirect flame than it was to consistently conjure it. After about thirty seconds of searing hot flame being easily redirected, Liv finally lowered her strained arm. Her face was caked with sweat. Rep let out a small line of flame for Liv to have to smack away from her. In this time, Rep took steps toward the center of the ring, keeping himself a good distance from Liv. Then, he wove his arms around him like he was blending the air and a small tornado of flame began to grow in front of him.

“No! No!” Liv snapped, throwing two fireballs at him.

Instead of deflecting them, Rep took command of her flames and incorporated it into his growing attack. Liv took a step back, uncertain what to do now. Rep threw the tornado forward, and Liv covered her face and screamed. It didn’t touch her. At the last second it jumped up and landed so that she lay in the eye of the fiery storm. The tornado of fire surrounded her.

Her scream continued to ring out loudly, and the onlookers shielded their faces, scared. Zalan leaned forward, interested. He knew that Rep would never seriously injure her. It made him one of the first in the audience to understand what Rep was doing. He surrounded her in the flame, but wasn’t hurting her. The scream was one of fear and anger, not pain.

Rep continued to stir his arms in the air, the tornado reaching multiple stories of height. Occasionally, the tornado would bulge outward as Liv tried to blast her way out, but the fire would just be added to the tornado. Rep had a small smile of pride on his face.

“Do you yield?” Rep asked.

“Never!” Liv screamed defiantly.

Rep’s smile disappeared. That seemed to be the extent of his plan and he wasn’t sure what to do now. He looked over to Umdarr, who was approaching the arena from the side.

“Liv! You have to break free,” Umdarr announced.

Liv let out an enraged, frustrated scream. She threw everything she could at the tornado. The tornado bent outward, but Rep held it tightly together. The audience gasped as she reached her arm through the flames, then immediately retracted it in pain. Rep winced, but kept the flame alive.

“Ten seconds,” Umdarr warned.

She shouted angrily, a spike of flame peeking out from the top of the tornado. Another series of futile attempts to extract herself from the flames went by. Then, nothing. Rep looked back at Umdarr who was waiting diligently for the last few seconds.

“By Elemental Overwhelm, our winner is Rep!” Umdarr presented.

Rep raised a hand in victory, the tornado immediately evaporating into the air. Liv was revealed sitting on the stage with her hands behind her for support. Her face was a bright pink and her clothes singed and smoking. She sputtered and looked up at Rep.

“I never thought I would be overwhelmed by someone with the same Elemental I held,” Liv shook her head to herself.

“I was surprised, myself. You are a good fighter. I did not think I would stand a chance,” Rep said encouragingly.

“Good fighter? Then that makes you a great fighter, eh? A good sign for the guild,” Liv said, picking herself up.

Rep didn’t know how to reply, stunned at the statement. Umdarr placed the prize money in his hands and he and Liv left the stage to the infirmary tent. Rep looked as though he was still in shock when he sat next to Zalan and Nold in the stands.

“Great job, Rep! Way to show off your redirection,” Zalan said.

Rep seemed to be brought back to reality as Zalan hit him on the back.

“I did decently,” Rep admitted. “Do you think I can make it to the finals?”

“You’d have to get past me in the Semifinals to do that,” Zalan replied.

“Then I can make it to the finals,” Rep said confidently.

Zalan laughed, glad to finally see Rep taking himself seriously. It was nice to see Rep stand tall and accept that he was a decent fighter, especially for his Level.

“We are shaping up to have an interesting Quarterfinal!” Umdarr said. “But before then, let us move on to the next fight!”