Ash's blade rested on the scorched metal ground, a streak of silver in a world turned black. Fire had kissed everything else. Burned bots twisted in heaps, walls blistered and weeping smoke, tiles split like bone under strain. But the weapon remained untouched.
Ash didn't know much about the blade's origins. It had belonged to his mother, and that alone made it priceless. He cherished it, and it had never left his side, nor would it, so long as he still drew breath.
The weapon was a steel-stone hybrid. The stone was dark as midnight, laced with veins of metal that caught the light like trapped lightning. Too long to be a dagger, too short to be a sword, its single edge was honed for speed and finality. Red lines wound along its length, etched deep into the grain, their glow faint but constant as if the blade itself still remembered blood. The hilt, worn smooth from years of her grip, seemed to mold to his own.
But the blade wasn't in his hand.
Ash's fingers twitched.
It shouldn't be there on the ground like that.
His gaze slid to Kael.
The ceiling cracked open with a groan. Metal shrieked. Five bots dropped, hitting the ground hard enough to crack the tile. Man-sized, lean, shaped like hunters. Their eyes lit red. Limbs locked into a fighting stance.
Kael rolled his shoulders. He smiled.
The first bot lunged.
Kael didn't dodge. His foot snapped forward. Metal crumpled like paper under the weight of his kick. The bot flew back, struck the wall, and shattered.
Another came low. Blade arm slicing for his legs.
Kael twisted, caught it mid-swing, and drove his elbow into its head. Sparks burst. The machine buckled. He spun, dragging the bot's arm like a whip, and slammed it into the third.
One broke apart. The other stumbled, chest caved in.
A fourth leapt from behind. Kael turned into it, fist driving into its gut. The impact crushed the bot's core. It dropped, twitching.
The last bot circled, assessing.
Kael stepped in, fast. Too fast. His knee found the bot's chest before it could react. The steel shell cracked. He grabbed its head and pulled it out. The red eyes of the bot turn black.
Silence returned.
Then the ground shook.
Two more bots dropped from the ceiling. Heavier. Taller. Shoulders like small towers. Their frames groaned with the weight of reinforced cores.
Kael's grin faded. He exhaled once.
The first brute charged.
Kael met it head-on. His fist hit the bot's shoulder, hard enough to knock it off-center, but it didn't fall.
The second flanked him, fists hammering. Kael ducked, slid low, fire trailing behind him like a burning shadow. He rose behind it. Hands flared red.
He struck once.
Heat exploded on impact. The bot's chest burst open. Its gears melted instantly.
The other spun, blade whirring out of its wrist. It carved through the flames, but couldn't touch him.
Kael stepped through the fire like it wasn't there.
His palm pressed to the bot's face.
A Wall of fire rose from the ground, a focused wall slicing through the air. The bot's head was gone before its body knew. The rest followed, crashing to the ground in two pieces.
Ash stood at the edge of the room. The blade still rested where it had been left. Untouched. It didn't belong here.
Across the wreckage, Kael moved through the smoke. Flames curled around him. Small at first, then hungry, crawling up his arms like they were alive.
"Thought they'd send something tougher."
Ash didn't answer. His eyes stayed on the blade.
He didn't move. Not until he spoke.
"Kael."
Kael turned. That grin was already there, carved deep into his face like it belonged.
"Oh, you're here."
Ash stepped forward. One pace. Then another. He stopped just short of the weapon.
"You've got a lot of nerve."
Kael's smirk deepened, like this was all going according to plan.
"Did you find it?"
He already knew the answer.
Ash didn't bother replying. He could hear the question behind the words.
"If you wanted a fight. You didn't have to take it. You could've just asked."
Kael tilted his head. The smile didn't fade.
"I know you too well. You wouldn't have come."
Ash's hand closed around the hilt. Heat rushed into his skin but he lifted it anyway. The weight sank into his bones. It was Familiar. But still the blade was Heavy. Too heavy if carried by a tier 0 - 2 human. But to Ash, it felt Right.
"You really think this is funny?"
Kael took a step back. Flames licked at his fingertips, rising with each breath.
"I think it worked."
'This freak... he'll burn the world just to see what survives.'
Ash sighed and then turned. He started heading for the exit. Dealing with Kael now wasn't on his schedule.
The ground cracked beneath his foot.
A line split across the floor. Flame burst upward, roaring into a wall, circling the room in a cage of fire.
Ash stopped.
He turned back towards Kael.
"Seriously?"
Kael's breath escaped in a laugh.
"Yeah… you're not leaving until I get what I want."
Their eyes locked.
Ash gritted his teeth, then he let out a sigh. His hand snapped to his pocket. A metal canister flew out, arcing left of Kael.
Kael moved, stepping away with ease.
Then from behind him, the canister burst.
Ropes shot out from it. They struck Kael mid-turn, snapping around his arms and chest. His stance faltered. One foot dragged back. Fire flashed in his hands.
But the ropes didn't burn.
Kael froze. His gaze dropped to what had bound him.
The rope gleamed in the firelight. Tensed, unmoving, humming with force.
"…What the hell—?"
Ash smirked.
"Gotcha."
Kael tugged once. Then twice. But the bindings only bit deeper.
"What is this?"
His eyes narrowed.
"You tied me up? You know I'm Tier Six. You think some rope's going to stop me?"
Ash didn't move. His hands remained locked forward like Kael might strike again at any moment.
"Then break it. Let's see if that would work. I'm actually curious myself."
Kael pulled harder.
Nothing.
He blinked. The grin returned, sharper.
"…Why can't I cut this?"
Ash's smirk deepened.
"Remember Mount Shale? Four years ago? The beast that tore through one of the cliffs at sector 1?"
Kael's body jerked against the ropes.
"The Shrouded Beast. Yeah. It killed dozens. Threw people off with those whip-like hairs…"
His eyes widened.
"No way—"
Ash chuckled, low.
"Yeah. After Dad fought it, we collected what was left. Max spent weeks breaking it down. That hair... it was harder than steel. Even Dad struggled to cut it."
Kael stared at the rope.
"You made this without telling me? This... This was for me?"
Ash shrugged.
"Not really. Max came up with it when working on a project. You're just the first test."
Kael's smile lingered.
"You remember how Dad escaped those ropes, right? If you didn't, this plan would've been even dumber."
Fire burst from Kael's skin, but the rope stayed clean. The flames rolled off, useless.
He narrowed his eyes. Focused.
Still nothing.
Ash tapped the floor with one foot.
"You thought you'd burn through it. But Max used the same material we wear in combat gear. It's Reinforced and Fireproof. It's not coming off. I win this duel, Kael. Now lift off the firewall."
Kael stared down.
Silent.
Then… he smiled wider.
Ash felt his stomach twist.
'Why's he smiling?'
Kael's voice dropped.
"Well, this won't do."
He relaxed his shoulders.
"I'll give you this. You planned well. Not everyone could've boxed me in like this…"
He tilted his head, gaze sharp.
"…aside from Max."
Then the ground cracked beneath his feet.
A low, growling pressure bled from his skin.
"You made strong ropes. But what happens when I use a strength that matches that creature's? Or maybe even stronger."
His body expanded.
His body swelled. Muscle stacking on muscle, tendons twisting like coiled steel. Heat shimmered off his skin. Even the air bent to his shape.
Ash stood frozen. Every instinct screamed to move, but that presence in front of him was raw and monstrous. Locked him in place. He hadn't expected this.
Kael's eyes burned inhumanely red.
His nails lengthened. The heat around him rippled like waves, warping everything near.
Ash's pulse slowed. Even the sparks in his hands went quiet.
'That power… He wasn't supposed to control it.'
"I thought you couldn't handle that form."
The rope around Kael's arms pulled tight, fibers digging in. But his body kept growing.
The rope didn't last.
With a loud snap, it tore apart. Threads flew loose, falling like ash as Kael stood tall again. He was taller, broader, something else entirely. Power bled off him in thick waves. Heat flooded the room.
Ash's fingers curled his blade in reflex.
'Damn it.'
Kael exhaled. His body shrank back, muscles easing. But the fire in his eyes stayed as it slowly dimmed.
His chest rose once, twice.
"Yeah,"
His voice was lower and a bit rough.
His fingers moved, claw tips pulling back into skin.
"I got kicked out of the academy because of it."
His laugh came short, cracked like dry wood.
"But the good thing is… I had to train with Dad instead."
He rolled his neck. The fire didn't leave his arms. It just waited there, just like him.
"He taught me a lot. Especially how to stop losing control."
Ash watched in silence.
Kael's cocky smirks, his trash talk. Those were just noise. This? This was what he'd been hiding.
Real power.
Kael's fists caught fire. He swung his fist forward as ash.
Ash Blade met flame. The hit cracked through the room, pushing back the heat for just a second. Their arms trembled with the force.
Then they broke apart. Feet slammed the floor, both landing wide apart.
Ash shifted his grip. The blade vibrated in his hand, still shaking from the clash.
Kael bounced his shoulders once. Flames licked his arms, ready.
They didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
Both moved again.
Then, right before they could strike—
A voice cut in, crackling from the speaker above them.
"As much as I would enjoy watching you guys beat each other up, I'm ending it here. We just got a call from Dad."
Silence.
Ash froze mid-step.
Kael's fire sputtered out. His hands dropped.
Just like that, the weight in the room vanished.