Transmutation: The Garden of Golden Statues

Fighting with Best Foot Forward (and Almost Losing It)

Esper smirked defiantly at the two opponents she was now facing. These kinds of competitions were the perfect stage for her to give it her all without any trifling rules holding her back. Any poor schmuck lacking in ambition might accuse her of going too far, but as far as she was concerned, nothing was going to stand in her way.

Her hands were covered in her element, as sparks of indigo jumped out of them. She set her gaze towards the boy in black. She had made her choice: he was going to be the first to bite the dust. His defeat would only make her eventual victory over that other plant user all the sweeter.

In an instant, she ran towards the shadow elemental, who reacted by slipping through a dark portal. How typical. Any shadow elemental could create portals to instantly warp behind their opponents almost immediately. This did not go ignored by Esper, who vowed to show that fool who really deserved to win the whole tournament. She charged her left fist once again with a level 1 technique.

"Like hell I'm going to fall for that one!" she screamed out as she turned around to counterattack.

"You just did," Esper heard. Before she could properly react, she noticed her forearms were bound: her opponent had managed to stop her counterattack by turning her own arms into vines and tying them around Esper's forearms. This move had left Esper with a wide enough opening for the boy in black to reappear beside her and use his shadow-imbued fist to hit her cheek.

Pow!

Due to the strength of the blow, Esper flinched, but she kept her balance regardless. She was not going to let anyone or anything throw her to the floor, especially not a sucker punch like that one. She glared at both opponents while caressing her cheek. Feeling a bit of blood welling up inside her mouth, she spit it out before speaking:

"Not bad, kiddo. But you'll have to punch me harder next time," an even wider smirk formed on her face. That attack was effectively a declaration of war, and she was not going to ignore it just like that. Her fists once again were sparking in indigo, as she was preparing a new attack directed at a new target: Espika. She dashed towards the green-haired girl, making sure that she was going to get it for having set her up like that. She hated being taken for a fool.

Several roots emerged from underground in response to Esper's dash. Was this really her opponent's way of stopping her now? One of Esper's many fortes was her proficiency in acrobatics. This was nothing more than an insignificant obstacle for her. She merely leaped over the roots and got closer to her new target. Even more roots started to dig their way out, while she noticed that the shadow boy was conspicuously missing. The idiocy of the other contestants did not cease to surprise her, she could at least give them that much.

From within the shadows of the roots on the forest floor, the other opponent reappeared, with his fists covered in shadows. Esper could only smirk in response. It was plain to see that both of them had severely underestimated her intelligence. Oh, how she was going to enjoy this.

Screaming, Esper created an indigo stream of energy close to the boy. The attack hit, making his hoodie start to burn and melt down, forcing him to discard it instantly. The removal of the garment revealed that underneath he wore a short-sleeved black T-shirt featuring a cartoonish skull with bulging eyes and its tongue sticking out.

"This is a fire-based technique!" he screamed, only making Esper's smirk widen even more as she resumed her sprint towards the plant elemental.

"Take this!" Esper prepared a level 1 fist as she got even closer.

"Espika!" the shadow user yelled at his partner in combat.

As all of this happened, Esper noticed the way that Espika glared at her, and how she extended one of her vine-arms towards a high branch of a nearby tree. The green-haired opponent jumped and spun mid-air with the intent of attacking via a roundhouse kick. The twin-tailed girl could only chuckle when she witnessed this.