The Moonlight Hero

Chapter Seven: Hero's Tournament Round Two Begins!

I returned to the waiting room in a blue tunic and shorts at around eleven at night, after my shoulder had been mended. It was still extremely sore, but at least I could move it. When I opened the door, the short, white haired kid was sitting on the ground, his eyes eerily glowing a light blue in the dark room. Light leaked in from another part of the room, which was closed off by a curtain. I could hear the others talking. The white haired kid stood and stared at me. 

"Good job. I've been waiting for that guy to finally lose to someone other than the higher tiered top fifty. My name's Teo, rank twenty nine in the top fifty. Nice to meet you," the boy said. For his size, he did not sound like a child at all. In fact, his voice was deeper than mine. I nodded. Teo shrugged. "I guess you did have a rough time in the first round. We were one of only two rooms whose participants all went to the next round. My match was directly after yours, so after the match was over I was asked to bring your outfit back to this room. It's on the bench over there," Teo said, pointing at a bench on the back of the wall. A pile of clothes lay on it. 

I walked over and picked up what was once my hoodie. It's sleeves were almost completely ripped off, only the left side had a bit of it intact. I ripped the rest of the left side off, and tied a knot with two of the thinner strands of the cloth. I lay the temporary mask to the side, and picked up my pants. They were alright, but there were several holes in them. I lay them aside as well. My shoes were simply dirty, and the tread on them worn off. I tossed them aside. "Thanks," I said quietly, exhausted from the medical treatment. Teo shrugged. "You can thank me by giving me a fair fight in the next match. You will be my opponent in the next round. Good luck," Teo said. I turned around, but he'd disappeared. I sat down on the bench next to my clothes. I held out my palm, and summoned a ball of fire. Even though it was black, it illuminated the entire room. I put it out quickly, as the plastic on the seat began to melt. I put my outfit on, stood up, and walked out of the room.

I walked the dark halls, most of the room's lights off. I could feel a presence lurking in the shadows, but I didn't turn around. I kept walking until I reached a set of stairs. There was no sign hanging above the walkway, so I decided to walk down into it, curious as to what was down there. When I arrived, it was pitch black. I could make out a floating object that resembled a massive torch. I sent a ball of fire towards it, and it caught fire, illuminating the massive room that I was in. It looked like an empty, smaller version of the training grounds. I walked forward, and a wave of water rushed towards me. Whoever had been tailing me had the ability to control water. I held my arm out and black flame met the water, dissolving it into steam. In front of me, I could make out a silhouette of a tall figure with spiky hair similar to Hako's. The person's eyes began to glow, one red, one purple. I jumped to one of the walls as a roaring column of flames came crashing into the wall that I'd entered from, which was now solid. A spike of rock came shooting at me from the ground, and I jumped, sliding down it to break my fall. A separate column shot out, hitting my back and sending me falling to the ground. I landed flat on my stomach, and got up immediately, ignoring the pain in my back. The figure held out it's right arm, and a gust of wind cleared the steam and threw me back into the wall. I braced myself, and bounced off of the wall as I hit it. 

Now that the steam was cleared, I could see the figure in their true form. It was an eighteen year old boy with hair just like Hako's. His right eye was purple and his left eye was red. He wore a hoodie like me, but his face was covered by a leather mask, with air filters on either side of where his mouth would be. He was skinny and tall. In his left hand was a ball of fire, the other a ball of wind. I finally realized who he was. My attacker, this tall man before me, was James, the strongest person to have ever been here. I wiped the blood from my lip. The left half of my body began to spark with black electricity, and my right half burst into black flame. James' hair began popping with purple and red electricity. His narrow eyes pierced into mine. I burst towards him, propelling myself with fire. I was about to strike him with my left hand, balled with electricity, but James simply stepped to the side. I sent an explosion of fire into the wall, throwing me backward just before collision. I reached my right arm out, and shot a fountain of fire from my palm. James fought my fire with his own, and my fire dissipated. His column of fire engulfed me entirely, and I hit the ceiling. I came back down to the ground with a thud. The electricity in James' hair was gone, and so was the wind and fire in the palms of his hands. He stood over me.