The tension in the arena was thick, heavier than any of the previous fights. Blessing and Kaito stared each other down, their eyes locked in a wordless standoff. The cheers from the earlier matches had died down into an eerie silence. Everyone could sense it, this wasn't just another battle.Kaito stood firm with hands loosely by his side, relaxed but dangerous. Blessing calmer than usual, exhaled slowly, his body lowered slightly into a stance honed through years of disciplined martial arts training.In a blur Blessing did a spinning kick, which Kaito parried effortlessly. The two moved with stunning fluidity. In an instant, the match had shifted from supernatural abilities to something far more ancient, pure hand to hand combat.Blessing's breathing slowed. He closed his eyes for just a second and then opened them sharply. He felt it. The airflow within his body.His blood, his breath, every small current of movement in his body."That's it I've been using airflow outward this whole time… but what if I used it to improve my body from the inside out."Kaito came in with a flurry of hooks, lightning fast, brutal, but Blessing dodged the last one by a hair, then vanished from the sport.The crowd blinked. "Where'd he go?!"Kaito's eyes narrowed. His arm suddenly caught and then before he could react, Blessing used the built up momentum to throw him.Kaito flipped mid-air and landed, sliding on his heels.Their fists collided, the thud echoed across the stone arena.The audience leaned forward. "They're not using their powers anymore?" "It's all hand to hand, but their speed…" "I can't even keep up with their moves…"The crowd was mesmerized. Even the proctors were stunned. This was supposed to be a trial of quirks yet here were two candidates, trading raw disciplined blows like hardened warriors.Blessing ducked under a right hook, redirected Kaito's arm and countered with a swift elbow to the jaw. Kaito took it, twisted his hips and drove a knee toward Blessing's ribs. Blessing barely managed to block, sliding back, skidding against the floor.Both were bruised and both neither said a word. Each strike was a sentence. Each block, a rebuttal. Every clash was part of a conversation only they could understand, a language of sweat, instinct and refined violence.Away from the raring arena and the deafening cheers for Kaito and Blessing's battle, Naoki sat alone on a low stone step near the edges of the trial grounds. His hands hung loosely between his knee, knuckles scarped and his clothes torn from the earlier match.He hadn't said a word since the mysterious girl Rika defeated him in seconds. He hadn't even seen her move.He clenched his jaw, replaying the moment over and over."I didn't even land a hit."The sky above was beginning to shift into orange hues, but for Naoki, everything felt dim. A bitter wind blew through, but he didn't shiver. His thoughts were louder than cold."If I can't even keep up… if I lost so easily… what's the point to it all?"He looked at his hands, trembling slightly. "At this rate… I'll never reach it. I'll never be strong enough to protect what matters. Never get what I'm chasing."A couple candidates passed by, talking excitedly about Kaito and Blessing's fight. Naoki didn't look up. He wasn't just shaken. He was doubting everything.Naoki clenched his fists eyes shadowed as he muttered to himself. "In life there only two kinds of people in the world… those who are handed everything just because they exist… and those who claw at the ground for scraps, only to come up empty no matter how hard they try."Back in the grounds Blessing's palm grazed the air. Kaito's shoulder twisted in response. A knee rose, blocked. A foot swept, dodged.Blessing had completely gave up on using the wind but decided to become it. He redirected airflow through his body, amplifying his speed, blurring his steps.Kaito's eyes narrowed. "You're faster now…" he said blocking a punch by instinct. "But you disappointed me." Kaito said now as he reached for Blessing's collar and gave him a headbutt to the nose.Blessing staggered back losing balance and fell to the ground."Chosen by the wind." Kaito said in a cold tone. "When I had those words I thought you were special but it turns out you're just another talentless loser."Blessing clenched his fists feeling provoked by Kaito's words but before he could react Kaito was already on the offense.The two clashed again fast, fluid and fierce. Dust spun around them fists cutting arcs through the air. Kaito landed another heavy blow on Blessing's chest. He stumbled but this time he didn't fall. He smirked."You hit hard I'll give you that," he said wiping blood from his lips. "But you haven't broken me yet."Kaito grinned. "The key point in your statement is yet."Elan observed the match closely. "Well that was faster than expected." She said. "I knew Kaito was stronger than Blessing but for the fight to end this soon.""Even with a success rate of one out of ten the fight isn't over until it's over." A voice appeared behind Elan "Your brothers Hinata Kanji's words."Elan stood up crossing her arms as she said. "You moron those are my words my brother just stole them from because I'm just that wise." She chuckled. "And besides this room is for the higher ups only, what are spare parts like you even doing here?"Before she could turn to see who it was Kairo interfered "Sir! What's a busy person like yourself doing here chairman Kaida.""Ch.ch.ch chairman Kaida." Elan froze as she turned slowly to see him. "Good morning, night, chair I mean good afternoon your highness I mean sir." She struggled to get words out of her mouth."Good afternoon to you to Elan," he responded voice low and firm. "Still a free spirit it seems."Elan completely shut down swallowed whole by embarrassment. "I wish the ground could just swallow me up." She thought."Anyways as chairman I've come to see the future heroes and they're showing to be quit the group."Blessing fight with Kaito still continued."What do you hope to accomplish?" Kaito asked as he punched Blessing again in the gut.The fight was close but Kaito had more experience in battle and now he was toying with Blessing.Kaito stepped forward again, cracking his neck and flexing his fingers."You're fast Blessing," Kaito said voice calm but condensing. "But that's all you've got. Speed and desperation. No finesse, no real power."Blessing stood, breathing heavily, shoulders tense.Kaito smirked, "At first I thought you had talent but people lie you… you're the type that believes hard work is enough to protect your loved ones I'm I right? The thing is you're wrong."Without warning, Kaito moved faster, sharper. He ducked under Blessing's punch and drove his knee into his stomach. Blessing's body folded, crashing to the ground."Get up," Kaito said coldly.Blessing struggled to rise. Another hit sent him down again."You don't belong on the same stage as me."Blood trickled from Blessing's lips as he pushed himself up, staggering.Then he looked up not with rage, but with fire."You're right," he said. "I wasn't born with talent but when protecting the ones I love means I should be strong," he said as he wiped the blood away and stood tall, battered but unbroken. "Then I'll get strong and prove to you hard work beats talent."Kaito laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke ever. "Hard work can beat talent, well that's only true if talent itself doesn't work hard."But Blessing didn't falter he stared Kaito straight in the eyes in a way that startled even Kaito. It was wasn't just Kaito but everyone else felt it, the amount of pure pressure as if a beast that was held in chains had just been let loose."If that's the case I'll work so hard that they call me talented." The words echoed through the arena.Yuki grinned as she looked at Blessing "I see now." She thought.And in the ring Blessing put his right hand down and held it with the left. "Time to finish this."Tiny threads of air curled around his fingers, compressing tighter and tighter, a vortex forming in his palm, swirling with raw controlled pressure.Gasp filled the arena. The sound of the wind was deafening now like a storm trapped in his hand."What… is that?" one of the proctors muttered.Kaito narrowed his eyes, serious now and Blessing's eyes locked on him."This technique I've been training to use it for a while now but didn't really know how but if the fight continues like this I'm gonna lose." Blessing thought.The sphere in his hand, pure wind condensed to a point, it howled unrelenting as Blessing called out "Airflow Manipulation….Full Thrust."This new found power Blessing displayed no one knew what it was but himself. And what it could do Kaito and the others were about to find out.
