Ara's chest heaved as she took in deep breaths to calm herself.

The days of training seemed to have passed by in just a flash, and before Ara knew it, it was the day of her match with Somin. She felt like she had spent the days pretty eventfully, suggesting that the blonde Warrior worked on increasing the intensity of his attacks even further and make them even quicker. In other words, she had told him to make his attacks more lethal than before.

The Warrior had instead wanted to explore other kinds of attacks and work on his defences, because he had a hunch that his Master’s cousin wouldn’t be easy to defeat. He had tried to tell her, but he found his words constantly stuck in his throat whenever he wanted to speak his mind. He was still a little mad at her, and didn’t want to give her the idea that he was ready to open up. Thus, the blonde found himself repeating his same attacks over and over, although they did become fiercer and faster.

He honestly had a bad feeling about the whole match, but it wasn’t like he could say anything. It was a fight his Master wanted to have after all, and it was like a family matter that he knew not to pry in. His Master had seemed so determined and enthusiastic to fight her cousin after all, and he didn’t want to risk offending her. It was her personal score that she wanted to settle.

After the last bell had rung, Ara quickly packed up her stuff and left the classroom, Yuna following after her. Ara had decided to tell her new friend about the battle with her cousin, and Yuna was more than happy to see the queen bee in action. Of course she was still worried for her friend, but Somin was her idol!

As soon as the duo stepped into the arena, Ara was surprised to see her cousin already there. She seemed to be as enthusiastic as her about their battle, and she heard how Yuna quietly gasped beside her once she landed her eyes on her idol. Ara rolled her eyes.

“I see you brought your little friend. No worries, I brought a few of my friends as well,” Somin said, and once the words left , did Ara notice that the bleachers were almost half full. This was way more than just a few, Somin should have just invited the whole school! Ara’s face drained of colour once she saw the amount of people there, and only then did she begin to doubt her resolve. If she lost here, she would be the joke of the school.

Seeing how her friend’s face had visibly paled, Yuna placed a reassuring hand on Ara’s shoulder, shooting her a smile. “Just do your best. Don’t worry about them.”

Yuna’s words seemed to encourage her, and her confidence came back. Yuna was right. she only had to focus on Somin and nothing else. If she won, she would finally get the recognition she so desired. Ara returned Yuna’s smile with a determined one, and Yuna took that as her que to go up to the bleachers to cheer for her friend.

“Rules are just like in the Placement Test. Five minutes to take down your opponent, and only one card allowed,” Somin backtracked. “Oh wait. I forgot. You only got one.”

Ara scowled at her cousin’s mockery.

“Enough talking, let’s do this.”

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

Ara had no idea what was happening.

After the battle had commenced with the protective barrier being put up, she had expected her cousin to attack immediately. They both had summoned their Warriors, Ara’s blonde Warrior appearing beside her while Somin’s at hers.

Somin’s Warrior was…peculiar. He looked like a normal male on the outside, but something told her that there was something deeper than that. Even as a Dealer, she could feel the dangerous and powerful aura Somin’s Warrior was radiating. He was definitely an S-rank like her Warrior, but he surely had a different element from hers.

Seeing as how Somin’s Warrior had just stood still without attacking, Ara told her Warrior to fire his attacks first. Ara missed the smirk that had appeared on her cousin’s face once the blonde sent five tornadoes in their opponent’s direction, one at a time, each one faster and stronger than the last.

The first tornado was closing in dangerously onto Somin’s Warrior, and Ara was sure he was going to get hit. What she hadn’t expected though, was for the Warrior to raise his leg and land a kick on the incoming twister with a swing of his leg, sending the tornado flying back in her direction.

The Warrior did the same for the remaining attacks, and soon, five angry twisters were sent flying towards Ara and her Warrior’s direction. She panicked, and her Warrior took the initiative to disperse the flying spirals of wind.

How is that possible? He just kicked them like soccer balls!

While lost in his thoughts, the Warrior’s Master regained her composure, reminding herself to remain calm and think of her next attack. Soon, a lightbulb flickered on in Ara’s head, and she snapped her head towards the blonde’s direction.

“Attack him with the fists!”

The blonde simply nodded before sending his attack, the ferocity and speed at which his attack was flying making it look like a blur. One could see the way the wind had morphed into flying fists midway, and not long after, they landed on the opponent’s body. Ara cheered as the attack worked, but her smile soon faded away once she saw Somin’s relaxed posture.

The opponent’s skin had dented just like anticipated, and Ara was sure he would be suffering way worse internal injuries than Daehyun had. But what she and her Warrior hadn’t expected was for the Warrior’s skin to bounce back after a while, and it looked as if he hadn’t received any injuries at all. Ara’s jaw dropped open at the sight, and she could tell the blonde beside her was equally surprised. The blonde was the first to recover from his shock before turning to his Master.

“He’s a Spirit Warrior.”

Ara’s body tensed at the mention of the opponent’s element, and her brain went into a frenzy. Her Warrior’s attacks should have worked! They were way stronger and faster than before, so how did the opponent deflect them so easily?

The blonde had paused to think about the specificity of the opponent’s power, but before he could some to a conclusion, Ara had told him to fire another attack. He really wanted to oppose his Master’s decision, fully knowing that there’s very little possibility it might work. But he couldn’t, not when she was so desperate and furious for the win.

He followed his orders, and soon, the dust and stone particles on the ground were brushed up, irritating the opponent’s eyes and hindering his vision. The blonde took the opening to dash forward, his speed even faster than before because his wind was trained to be quicker, and he moved in accordance with his power. The blonde appeared in front of his opponent within a millisecond, and he was sent flying straight towards the wall behind him.

Ara squealed as soon as she saw how the attack worked. The opponent had surely been hit now. The dust cleared soon after, and Ara smiled, knowing she was right. there was a huge indent on the wall, and in the center of it lay the opponent’s struck body.

“I wouldn’t be so happy just yet, little cousin,” Somin gave an evil smile as the pleased expression on Ara’s face disappeared. “That was a low trick, even for you.”

Gasps were heard as the body in the middle of the crater vanished, and the blonde Warrior froze with shock. There was no way the Warrior could have disappeared into thin air that fast, unless he had ability to teleport. And the only person that he knew could do that was not even present.

The cogs in his brain started to turn faster as the Warrior thought about his opponent’s abilities. He realised that the enemy had been doing nothing but deflecting his attacks the whole time, opting to thrive on defences. But why?

He was given little time to think before the opponent reappeared right under his nose, and his body was sent flying straight into the air at a similar rate that Daehyun’s body had been the other day. The opponent’s speed almost rivalled his own, and the force at which he punched was almost as strong as the wind that the blonde controlled.

He’s definitely not an air element, so there is no way he could have caught up with my speed. His element is Spirit, and if he could replicate my move just like that…

The blonde thought about the times where the opponent sent his attacks back at him and seemed to have absorbed his punches. He had been on defence the whole time, but he always made sure to keep in contact with the air attacks that he was receiving. Especially the time where the flesh on his body had bounced back seconds after getting hit.

The blonde could barely hear his thoughts when he felt another kick on the square of his back, sending him into the wall beside Ara. He tasted something metallic pooling in his mouth before he spit it out, the redness of his blood coming into vision. A voice seemed to speak then, but he could barely make out its identity with the way his head was starting to spin. He was sure that his head was bleeding, and his broken rib was making it a little difficult to breathe.

“See what happens when you just attack blindly? You have really proven yourself to be quite the amateur,” Somin said, a smirk creeping up her face. “Why do you think I haven’t asked him to attack after all this while?”

The injured Warrior struggled to get up as Somin’s words confirmed the conclusion he had come to. That explained why his opponent could catch up with him and hit him with the same intensity he had.

“He absorbs powers.”

Ara felt her eyes go wide at what the blonde beside her said, and his words made her turn to look at him. Her heart constricted painfully at the sight before her. She had never seen him in such a bad condition before. Somin then continued speaking, and her words made Ara focus back on her cousin, going dry.

“Bingo. Your Warrior is smarter than you,” Somin laughed as she saw the defeated expression on her cousin’s face. she looked like she was going to break, and as her cousin, she would gladly shove her in the right direction. An evil sneer adorned her face as she finally told her Warrior to attack.

“Now that my Warrior has absorbed enough to replicate your Warrior perfectly, its time to see how strong his element really is. It’s time you had a taste of what its like to be destroyed by your own power.”

No.

Ara watched with horror as Somin’s Warrior made his way slowly to the centre of the arena, his fingers outstretched. The blonde had barely managed to get up before he was entrapped in a twister, much like the one he had used against Jo. It seemed that his opponent wanted to end him the same way as he did to the female warrior. But the only difference was that instead of depleting his supply of air, the twister seemed to be getting tighter and tighter.

Somin’s Warrior slowly started to wrap his fingers into a fist one by one, starting with his pinkie. The blonde was progressively finding it harder to breathe with the way the wind whirling around him was closing in, and he instinctively put out his arms to push against his cage, bursts of air coming out of his palms in order to push the harsh wind back. He could have thought of another way to escape, if his mind wasn’t so foggy and his body wasn’t so in pain. His efforts seemed to be in vain as he was reduced to his knees as the wind around him overpowered his, and the twister around him was closing in dangerously fast.

“Better think of something fast, little cousin,” Somin cackled as she saw Ara frozen on the spot, still taking in the horrid sight in front of her. “I think its getting a little hard to breathe.”

It was like Ara couldn’t move nor speak, her whole body was paralysed with shock and fear. How could she have not seen that coming? She should’ve thought something was fishy when the opponent just stood there and let himself be hit. How could she be so impulsive and naïve to think that she could ever anticipate what Somin was going to do?

There was a reason why her cousin was one of the elites in school, and she proved that by showcasing her battle techniques and analysing skills whenever she stood in the arena. She never gave away what her next plan of action would be, and always observed her opponent’s abilities and weaknesses before planning her attacks accordingly. She adapted fast and had quick wits, and now that Ara was facing her, on the verge of defeat, did she realise how weak and clueless she was in this world. Somin was right, she would always be a loser that got lucky.

“Ara! Kim Ara!”

A voice shouting from the bleachers pierced into her train of thoughts, and even though her eyes were blurry with tears and the sound was a little muffled in her eardrums, she could make out her friend’s voice.

“Snap out of it! If you don’t do something soon, he’ll die!” Yuna screamed at the top of her lungs, making sure her voice could reach her petrified friend. It seemed to have worked, and Ara snapped out of it.

She knew she was crying, she could feel the wetness on her cheeks. She shakily turned to her Warrior who was still trapped, and was a few seconds away from being crushed. She knew she looked pathetic, but she couldn’t continue wallowing in self-pity. Her pride was hurt, but her heart hurt even more at the thought of losing her friend.

“Stop it Somin. I admit defeat,” Ara’s voice cracked as she collapsed on her knees. “Just please let him go.”

Ara didn’t look up to see what was happening, but the deafening sound of the tornado beside her slowly ceased, and following right after was a ‘thump’, probably the sound of the blonde landing on the ground.

The crowd was stunned into silence for a while, before cheers erupted from almost every corner, cheering for the victory of their queen bee. Somin put on a prideful smile and raised her hand, signalling for them to quiet down. The students heeded her command, and they continued to watch.

“Ara. As you can see, you will never be a part of us. You’ll always be the same pathetic loser that you were since we were kids, and you will never be able to defeat me,” Somin sneered as she crossed her arms in front of her. Ara still hadn’t looked up, feeling too humiliated to do so.

“You thought I considered you a threat just because I asked you for a fight?” Somin laughed at the audacity before turning to leave, her Warrior trailing behind her.

“I just wanted to remind you of your place here, or rather, lack thereof.”