The realization hits Obinai like a punch to the gut.
Ki user.
"Shit."
The word tastes like copper in his mouth. His mind races—distance is my only advantage, and he's about to erase it.
The tiefling's grin widens, showing too many teeth. "What's wrong, little mage? Never fought a real opponent before?" His tail flicks lazily, stirring up puffs of arena sand.
Obinai doesn't answer. He acts.
[Magic Missile].
Three cerulean streaks scream from his outstretched palm—but the tiefling is already moving. Not dodging. Vanishing.
WHOOSH.
A gust of wind kicks up sand where he'd stood. The missiles spiral harmlessly into empty air.
"Too slow." The whisper comes from behind.
Obinai spins—
CRACK.
A knee slams into his ribs. White-hot pain explodes through his side as he's lifted off his feet. The world tilts violently. For one nauseating second, he's airborne, staring at the arena lights through watering eyes.
Gotta—
He forces his trembling fingers. [Gale Burst].
Wind howls beneath him, cushioning his fall just enough to roll instead of splatter. Sand grinds into his fresh bruises as he comes up spitting blood.
The tiefling claps slowly. "Cute trick. Let's see you do it with broken hands." He lunges—
Obinai barely gets his arms up in time.
THUD-THUD-THUD!
A flurry of punches rattles his guard sending him into the air again. Each impact sends shockwaves up his arms. His forearms scream. One more hit and—
CRUNCH.
A hammer-blow uppercut slips through. Obinai's head snaps back. His vision strobes white. He staggers.
"Pathetic." The tiefling grabs his collar. "They really let anyone into this academy, huh?"
Obinai's fingers twitch at his sides. Almost... there...
The tiefling rears back for a finishing strike—
[Bind].
Invisible chains snap around the tiefling's muscles. His punch freezes mid-swing. Eyes widen. "The hell—?!"
They're falling now, the tiefling locked rigid as a statue. Obinai twists in midair—
WHAM.
He hits the sand back-first, all air blasted from his lungs. The tiefling lands beside him like felled timber, still paralyzed.
Obinai rolls onto his knees, coughing blood. His ribs shriek in protest. But he's grinning.
"Got you," he rasps.
The tiefling's jaw works. "Cheap... tricks..." he spits.
Obinai staggers upright. "Still counts."
Obinai staggers upright, blood dripping from his split lip. Finish this. NOW.
The tiefling snarls, his voice guttural. "You worm. When I get loose—"
Obinai doesn't let him finish. With a roar that tears at his raw throat, he slams his palm into the ground. The earth shudders. Sand leaps into the air as jagged cracks race toward the paralyzed tiefling—
"[EARTH SPIRE]!"
The ground erupts.
A monstrous column of compacted earth and stone spears upward, catching the tiefling square in the ribs. The impact lifts him clean off his feet, his body folding around the spire like a ragdoll. For one suspended heartbeat, he hangs in midair, eyes wide with shock—
Then the spire shatters.
The tiefling tumbles upward, still locked in [Bind]'s grip. Blood arcs from his nose, spraying droplets that catch the arena lights like tiny rubies.
Obinai doesn't wait. His fingers hook into claws, summoning fire that hisses against his sweat-slicked skin.
"[FLAME LASH]!"
The whip cracks through the air, its blazing tip coiling around the tiefling's throat. The stench of burning flesh floods Obinai's nostrils.
"GYAAARGH! YOU—ACK—"
Obinai yanks.
The tiefling plummets like a comet, trailing smoke—
"[EARTH SPIRE]!"
Another pillar erupts at a brutal angle, catching the tiefling across the jaw.
Teeth shatter.
The crunch of cartilage echoes as his head snaps back.
"HRGK—!"
The crowd's roar is deafening, but Obinai hears none of it. His world narrows to the tiefling's spinning form, the way his limbs flail as the [Bind] finally snaps—
Too late.
Obinai's boots screech against the sand as he leaps, channeling the last dregs of his mana.
"[WIND STEPS]!"
Invisible platforms solidify under his feet. He bounds upward, each step kicking up cyclones of sand. The tiefling's bloodied face swims into view—
"Gonna—cough—kill you—" the tiefling rasps, one eye swollen shut.
Obinai's response is a piston-driven knee to his gut.
"UGH—!"
The tiefling doubles over. Obinai grabs his horns, yanking his head down as his other hand presses against the tiefling's heaving chest—
"[INFERNO BURST]!!."
The world whites out.
Fire detonates between them. Part of the tiefling's uniform vaporizes in the blast. Skin blisters.
The tiefling plummets, a screaming meteor wreathed in flames.
BOOM.
He impacts the arena floor like a cannonball. Sand geysers upward. Cracks spiderweb outward, swallowing whole sections of the battlefield.
The shockwave punches Obinai backward like a ragdoll. His body tumbles end over end through smoke-choked air, limbs flailing uselessly. The world becomes a nauseating blur—flashes of arena lights, streaks of blood in his vision, the distant scream of the crowd reduced to muffled static.
Can't... breathe...
CRUNCH.
Sand explodes upward as he impacts. His ribs scream. His left arm bends at a wrong angle. Blood fills his mouth.
Through swimming vision, he sees the tiefling's crater.
Smoke curls from the blackened pit where his opponent lies motionless.
"Ngh... fuck..." Obinai spits red, rolling onto his stomach. His muscles tremble, threatening to give out. Get up. GET UP—
A twitch from the crater.
Obinai's heart stops.
Did I...?
A single drop of sweat (or is it blood?) trickles down Obinai's nose as he struggles to his knees. The movement sends fresh fire through his ribs. His vision tunnels dangerously, black creeping in at the edges.
"Stay... down..." he rasps, more plea than threat.
The tiefling's fingers twitch.
Obinai's stomach drops. No no no—
Then—movement.
The tiefling's head lolls to the side, revealing the one bloodshot eye. His split lips part.
"L-lucky... shot..." he gurgles, a bubble of blood bursting at his mouth. His horns scrapes against stone as he tries and fails to rise. "You... I'll... skin you... alive..."
Obinai barks a laugh that turns into a wince. "Looking forward... to it."
Obinai's legs tremble like saplings in a storm, but they hold. The arena's murmurs don't rise to cheers.
From the noble boxes, voices creep through the arena:
"That's the human they admitted? Disgusting." An elf fans herself delicately, nose wrinkled. "I can smell the gutter stench from here."
Beside her, a lord in velvet sneers. "Clearly cheated. Did you see those unnatural flames? Probably smuggled in artifacts."
"Outrageous!" A duchess's pearl-clad fingers flutter to her throat. "First they let vermin enroll, now they allow such blatant rule-breaking? Lyth's standards have fallen indeed."
Obinai's vision swims, but their words cut crystal clear. Fuck y'all, he thinks blearily.
Near the royal dais, a cluster of second-years exchange knowing glances:
"Pathetic," scoffs a mage with twin silver bands on his sleeve. "That tiefling should've crushed him in three moves."
Obinai's last conscious thought is surprisingly peaceful:
Worth it.
Then—
GONG.
The sound shakes the arena to its foundations.
"HALT!" Lyth's voice slices through the nobles' venom like a blade. "Victory to Obinai!"
For three heartbeats, Obinai hesitates, swaying like a drunkard.
But his body betrays him.
Collapse.
The sand rushes up to meet him, but strong arms intercept his fall.
"Damn, kid," rumbles a medic, hoisting him effortlessly. "Save some drama for the rest of us."
Darkness creeps in at the edges. The last thing Obinai sees is Bram nearly vaulting the barrier like a madman and Gideon right next to him.
"OBINAI! YOU SONOFABITCH!" Bram's voice cuts through. "THAT WAS THE DUMBEST, MOST BADASS SHIT I EVER SEEN!"
Gideon whoops. "Hell yeah! Ain't no way they put that in the school scrolls!"
Their voices chase Obinai into the void.
Then—
Nothing...