Fear No More

Chapter Eleven

I stood upon the far left stage staring intently at Jake. With me at the north end and he the south. The fourth match had already ended by this time and the Elite's held onto the overwhelming victory across the board. Four wins. Soon to be five.

Time passed slowly as our gazes locked. The rest of the students only watched on in silence. One person who held onto a smothering reputation against another who was nothing in their eyes. A new piece of meat to grind to uplift their rankings. It would seem that none of them saw me as an Elite.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." The announcer's voice burst over the sound system built into the arena. Without any distortion, it would be as if he was standing right next to you. "We have an unexpected fifth battle for you to witness. From the fifth year, ranked eighty three. Jake Scaro!" The announcer almost shouted which resulted in the screams and shouts of admiration from the audience. It would seem that even though he is not the greatest of men, he still had fans. "And to the transfer, ranked four thousandth and forty one. Victor Mc'Arthur!" Silence.

I didn't let the audience's silence faze me in any way as I focused my mind at the task at hand. I needed to remain calm enough to not let my real nature show through, but still win this battle. I couldn't let the name of the Elite's be ruined by attaching it to Jake's name.

Didn't the announcer say Jake's last name was Scaro? Does that mean he is related to Bo? It can't be. I thought Bo was an only child.

"Is there any relation to Bo?" I asked Jake as a slightly confused look crossed my features.

"How do you know my younger brother?" He asked with surprise filling his eyes.

His answer angering me. That means that there is another like Bo. Someone more powerful. The fact that Bo even touched Julie made me want to exterminate his entire family. My anger rose further and further at the memory of Bo's arm around Julie's shoulders.

"Contestants, begin!" The announcer shouted after a few moments. Jake's arms lifting as they began to shimmer before catching alight. A bright orange flame, purer than Bo's erupted forth covering his clenched fists.

Fire shot down from above me as it collided with my entire body. Smashing into the arena floor below. Although the impact of the blast did not affect the floor, the heat most certainly affected the first few rows of the audience. The flames covering a dozen meter diameter as if quickly formed into a large ball of intense flames. Rotating clockwise at a tremendous speed.

Jake's laughter ran out over the crowd as they themselves shouted at the attack. He was at least giving them a show. Some of the audience were worried for me. As looks of concern filled their expressions. Jake thought that he had already won seeing that I didn't even dodge. Maybe he thought his attack was too fast, or the fact that I was too weak to do anything. One thing he was certain of was his control over fire. He had trained in his families magic to the extent of being accepted into Ashford's Academy so an air of importance and arrogance filled him.

The flames were low class against my skin. It barely felt uncomfortable as I lifted my hands up to let them flow through the fast moving flames. As if cutting butter with a hot knife, my arms moved as they pleased under the attack's pressure. The clothes I was wearing burnt off, and before I knew it I was already standing there naked. Luckily for me, the flames blocked me from view.

Feeling for the power within me, I grasped a hold of it tightly. Fighting every second against its wanting to control me. Wanting to destroy the filth before me. My power holding an intense hatred for Jake.

When I felt for my power, an understanding of the flames surrounding me came forward. I could feel their paths. Feel their intensity. Feel their purpose. I could mould it to what I wanted. Move it how I pleased. After all, fire was the very essence of my being. Therefore I had complete control over it.

I formed a half robe that covered my lower half from the flames surrounding me as I quickly sucked the fire orb dry. Every bit of the fire becoming my bottom robe. When the fire began to disappear, a look of disbelief filled Jake's face. He had just used an attack that was seen as a medium level skill within his family. And yet, instead of hurting me, it became mine.

My torso, riddled with scars was open for all to see. Yet, I didn't feel the need to cover up. I didn't feel the need to hide what I had become.

"Jake." I began as I captured his attention. "You have made the same mistake as your brother." I added as I slowly began to walked towards him. Noticing that his fists were still ablaze with fire.

"What?" Was all he could say as he took a few steps back at my approaching figure.

"You and your brother thought that you could control fire. That you could command it." I said as the distance closed to only half. My arms rose up on either side of me, as small orbs of fire that leaked from my lower robe shot outwards and spiralled around my hands in an almost atom like nature. "You do not control it. I do. You do not command it. I do. I am fire. You mean nothing to me." I added as the small orbs of fire shot forward with speed that could not be seen by the naked eye of normal humans.

The small fire orbs burst outwards when coming into contact with Jake. The bursts of fire eliciting a gasp of pain after each hit. Jake falling back a few meters until he was at the edge of the stage. One more step and he would be balancing on the edge hoping to not fall.

A small stream of blood fell from his lips as he slumped forward. A look of pure rage taking over his expression. Within his mind, he could not understand how someone he did not know would have this much power. He couldn't believe that some useless peasant was actually pushing him down. He couldn't take it. He wouldn't believe. The fact that I knew his brother was not even a factor.

His entire arms erupted into a dark red blaze that shimmered with the heat it sprouted forth. Tensing his muscles his burst forward with speed far above the norm with a blast of fire behind him. He used the blast to propel himself forward.

I stopped walking and waited for him to arrive as I watched his right arm pull back. As he shot it forward, air pressure began to push against me. Yet I didn't take a step back. His attack was still too little to force anything of me.

Yet I dodged to the left as I twisted my body to the right. His punch flying passed me landing on nothing but air. My right foot shot up as my body twisted to the left. My kick hitting his chest with enough power to shoot him backwards. Using my speed I appeared behind him almost instantly, cutting off his path after a mere meter. My right hand shot up and grabbed the back of his head.

Pushing forward, I directed his head to the floor below. Pushing his face into the arena floor itself. Cratering it underneath him. If he was ranked in the eighties, then this school's power was lacking substance. Hopefully the single digit rankers are able to push me further. Otherwise what is the point. I need to push myself to greater heights if I want to fight equally against this Quin.

The entire audience was silent as they watched the fighter that they had previously cheered for was utterly defeated without resistance. It seemed as if their minds couldn't understand why it happened. Yet it did.

After a few moments they crowd erupted into cheers as the fight result was announced. The announcer himself seemed unsure of his words.

I left Jake there as a few of the older students came forward and rushed to his aid. I instead walked off to find Rosalie. Having my clothes utterly torched, I needed the fire to remain around me. I controlled the heat enough to not bother her when she was once again by my side.

When I walked alongside her on the way to the academy building once more, I noticed that she was quite quiet. When I turned to face her, I found her cheeks holding a slight tint of red. She seemed embarrassed about something. Maybe it was my half nakedness.

I willed the fire to crawl up my torso until it wrapped around mu chest and abdomen. At the end, it looked as if I was clad in a fire sleeveless robe. Dulling the heat further, the fire began to take on a soft blue colour.

"Is this better?" I asked her and noticed her jumping a little. Maybe she was too involved within her own thoughts that the mere sound of my voice caused her a small fright.

"W-w-what?" She let out in an almost squeaky voice as her gaze found mine. Her cheeks rising in the red colour that made itself ever present.