The mont fire wrapped around Luke Fern’s fists, the first year students froze.
Because what they were looking at was real fire.
A stunned silence swept through the crowd then soone swallowed loudly.
"Is that... fire?" a first-year whispered, even though the answer was right in front of him.
"No way... he didn’t use a catalyst." Another replied.
"That’s not normal pyrokinesis," soone else said, voice trembling. "He started it himself."
The realization hit them one after the other as they discovered that he was a Fern.
"A Fern is here..."
"We’re actually seeing a Fern fight..."
"That’s a Firestarter..."
Several first years looked at Luke with wide eyes, awe and fear mixing together. This wasn’t a senior they could grow to beat one day. This was soone born with power that most people could never touch.
Then their gazes shifted back to Ares.
He stood there, bruised and bleeding, facing a wall of fire.
"Shit! Dude’s done for..." a boy said quietly.
"There’s no way he wins this," another muttered.
Even the students who had been cheering earlier fell silent. So turned their heads away. Others clenched their fists, unwilling to watch but unable to look away.
Ares was strong. So people knew that but Luke Fern wasn’t just strong. He was kind of unfair.
Luke went in for another blow and this ti, when his fist hit Ares, it exploded with heat.
"Gahhh!" Ares scread.
The fire didn’t just burn his skin. It went inside him.
Axel’s eyes widened.
He could feel it. Ares was absorbing it.
Luke kept delivering punches after punches and with every punch, ca massive shockwaves that slamd against the glass do.
The sheer force of a Fern was almost enough to crack the glass, but luckily, it was designed for far worse.
Every fla was being pulled into Ares’s body.
Luke laughed.
"Oh? You like that?" he mocked. "Here, have more."
He kicked Ares with fire bursting from his foot. Then he punched again and again.
Flas filled the do. Fire crashed into Ares over and over, lighting him up like a torch.
Ares scread and his body shook as he tried to hold it all in.
Ares was absorbing the fire but it was too much... way too much
Absorbers didn’t just take energy. They had to control and balance it.
If they couldn’t.. They exploded.
Rick stepped forward, tears in his eyes.
"Stop it!" he shouted. "Please! He’s going to die!"
Luke didn’t listen. He raised both hands and fire roared out like a wave.
It smashed into Ares, lifting him up in the air and slamming his body hard on the ground.
Inside the do, Ares lay on the ground, barely breathing. He was defeated. He lost his last battle...
***
Axel watched as Ares collapsed inside the glass do. His friend was barely breathing. His chest rose and fell in shallow movents, like each breath was a struggle. Burn marks covered his body and his limbs no longer responded. Whatever punishnt the second years had planned next for when Ares lost, Axel knew one thing for sure. He did not want to see it.
His fingers clenched at his sides as his thoughts raced. If Ares stayed here, anything could happen. The rules no longer protected him anymore. The second years had already proven that much.
Axel needed a way out. A solution of so sort And there was only one thing he could turn to. An AI
He pulled up the system interface and navigated through it quickly, his mind focused. With a thought, he turned Aurora back on.
"Oh, look who crawled back," Aurora’s voice echoed in his head. "The Imp returns after—"
"I do not have ti for this!" Axel muttered fiercely, cutting her off. His voice seed calm on the outside, but inside he was panicking.
"I need your help."
That got her attention.
"Oh?" Aurora replied, her tone shifting slightly. "And here I thought you enjoyed suffering alone. What do you seek, dear host?"
"I cannot explain everything out loud. You can see my thoughts, right? Look through it."
There was a pause. The noise of the crowd faded into the background as Axel felt a strange pressure in his head, like sothing was sifting through his mories. Aurora was silent. For once, she didn’t mock him or insult him.
She was thinking. Several seconds passed then she spoke.
"Challenge them. Challenge them in exchange for your friend." Aurora said simply.
"I’m sorry... WHAT?!" he shouted inwardly, his heart skipping a beat.
"Do not be so loud!" Aurora replied sharply. "I am right here."
"That makes no sense!" Axel shot back.
"They’re second-years. So of them might be Apex. They would crush ."
Aurora humd. "You underestimate yourself, Imp. Besides, you’re not fighting all of them. Fight the Firestarter instead."
Axel frowned as he listened.
"The second years are proud," she continued. "They are arrogant. They believe first years are beneath them. A Lumina challenging them for a prisoner would be amusing to them. Humiliating, even."
Axel’s gaze slowly lifted toward Drax. It made sense.
"They would accept," Aurora said. "Not because they have to, but because they would want to. They would enjoy it."
"Yeah! And then they would kill ... you seem to be forgetting that part. " Axel thought.
"They will try. That is the point."
"A Lumina 3 stepping forward to second years. To them, you are a joke and they would easily agree to it, thinking you’re an idiot... you are, by the way. But they lack the comprehension as to what you are."
"You are not just a Lumina," she said. "You are a demon from hell. And demons thrive when they are underestimated."
Axel looked at his hands. He could still feel the heat of evolution in his veins. The strength that had not been there before.
Slowly, the fear inside him shifted into sothing else called resolve.
"...They’ll take the bait," Axel murmured.
"They will," Aurora confird. "And if you win, they cannot refuse their own rules. Pride will bind them tighter than chains."
Axel exhaled. Then without another word, he stepped forward.
The crowd parted slightly as he walked toward Drax. Several second years glanced at him, confused. So scoffed. Others did not even bother to look.
Axel stopped a few feet away from Drax and lifted his head.
"I have a proposal to make," he said. Drax turned to acknowledge him and asked, "What kind of proposal? Your friend has already lost."
"I officially challenge the Firestarter to a duel in exchange for Ares..."
***
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