Cross Worlds

Chapter 39: "Lightshow"

It isn't long before Riku roams the halls, searching for where Raichi and Sorey might be. He quickly ends up turning a corner and bumping right into Chiyako, who purposefully leans just a little bit more forward than necessary when turning. "Oh! I'm sorry, Riku. Then again, I doubt you're upset about what you just experienced." She smiles playfully, holding a hand over her chest.

Riku's face is steaming once again. "I-It's fine... Do you know where Raichi went? He said he wanted to fight Sorey and I'd like to watch."

"Oh? Learning about some of your toughest opponents by watching them fight? How smart." She giggles. "I can lead you to where they always spar if you like."

"You aren't going to lead me somewhere else entirely are you..?" Riku narrows his eyes.

"No, not unless you'd like me to." She winks. "You don't wanna train with me all alone?~"

"I think when I challenge you I'm going to make sure somebody is watching just in case..." Riku mumbles nervously.

Chiyako giggles once again before leading Riku to where Raichi and Sorey are. "How lucky, they're just about to get started."

Just as she said, Raichi and Sorey are on opposite sides of a large training room, tugging on the gloves they've just slipped their hand through. "What's with the gloves..? Is it a fashion statement?" Riku asks.

"Well, Raichi and Sorey both fight with their bare hands. They don't use weapons. So, they wear those gloves to keep them protected. They're much more advanced than the stereotypical barrier gloves of course. Elizabeth made them with her memory magic." Chiyako answers. "She's the reason we have so much advanced technology by the way. Sure we have sponsors, but without her I doubt the resistance would've gotten as far as it has."

"Really..? That's incredible..." Riku mumbles, speaking to Chiyako but keeping his eyes on the field of grass that the training room conjures up.

"Hope you're ready to lose today Sorey!" Raichi grins, his body starting to become enveloped in a blue light.

"Sure sure, whenever you're ready." Sorey answers with a smile. Though he's far from simply "used to" fighting with Raichi at this point, he always manages to take him on with a smile.

"He's ranked sixth right? I'm surprised such a laid back guy even wants to try to move up..." Riku mutters. "Don't judge a book by its cover I guess."

"Raichi has his reasons just as all of us do. I'd say if there was a person who wanted to learn more about our previous leader than anyone else, it would be him." Chiyako says in a soft tone.

"Really..?" He looks back at the field. "Everybody has their own stories. I wonder what theirs are..."

Without any warning at all, Raichi and Sorey's figures completely disappear, and in the same second, there's a powerful shockwave that shakes the entire room. "Holy-" Riku has to plant his feet to stay standing upright, as does Chiyako.

"Intense, isn't it?" She giggles, seemingly unbothered and yet clearly struggling as well.

Raichi and Sorey are in the middle of the field, forearms bashed against one another and both of their bodies glowing a royal blue color.

Sorey's quick to gather a whirlwind in his free hand, Raichi noticing after just a second and beginning to conjure a sparkling blue light in his hand. Unfortunately, he's just a bit too slow; Sorey quickly jumps back and fires a massive wind drill at Raichi point blank.

"He gathered that much wind? It's been less than three seconds!" Riku is stunned to say the least, but even more surprising is that Raichi seems to take it head on, holding the drill back with the blue light in his hand.