GLASS || The Catalysts Series, #1

XLII || Amongst The Strongest

Caelus barely dodges the fist that misses his face by a hair. It must be his own instincts or some sort, because he only felt the attack at the very last millisecond—without the help of the atmosphere. That makes him curse himself for being so careless for letting his guard down and for being unable to cope without his ability, because he only peeled himself away from the atmosphere for a mere two seconds.

The punch is all sloppy, Caelus notices, but it still is an offensive that nearly left him a bruise on the cheek. And the Ace never gets marked—at least not by anyone in this Academy.

The cloud of dust hasn't even settled. Yet Nova appears, aiming a second kick. This time, though, Caelus is already prepared for it. His barrier is already up, and he focuses on observing his opponent. Nova may not be bright, but he is rather resourceful: that first attack was something Caelus never thought he'd pull.

By approaching silently and attacking without his flashy ability in such a low visibility battlefield, any normal person would have been hit and probably already be pinned, however sloppy Nova's combat moves are. But Caelus is nothing if not normal.

Caelus backs away quickly and, instead of knocking Nova out immediately with a burst of wind, he plays along with hand-to-hand combat. He delivers a swift kick that hits Nova directly in the side, sending him flying and knocking the edge of the earth.

The surprised look on Nova's face tells Caelus he isn't at all expecting Caelus to be equally skilled in physical combat. Truth is, Caelus isn't that much great in physical combat. In fact, he is surprised by his own strength—after that mission, he didn't think he had the resilience to kick so hard. But Nova doesn't need to know any of this, nor of that injury Caelus still has despite the doc's best efforts.

If anything, Nova only grows irritated, and somehow all the more excited. He springs back up to his feet, and immediately does the exact thing Caelus is expecting him to do: taking out his anger through his ability. Sparks and colours concede at the tips of Nova's palms, the elements for destruction readying at their master's command. A supernova is imminent.

"Let's fight!" Nova announces, his trigger ready.

His enthusiasm is never misplaced, and Caelus wonders where he gets his energy from. He always knows Nova for his hot-blooded nature, constantly challenging him for a fight. But right now, watching Nova spur up his spirit even knowing full well he can never beat Caelus in a million years, Caelus admires him for that.

Nova pulls his battle stance. "It's me and you!"

Caelus merely sighs in response, his shoulders sagging, the complete opposite of Nova's composure. When the next explosions are aimed directly at Caelus, he doesn't flinch as he deflects them with his atmospheric barrier. He can, at any point he wishes, combust them instead with the molecules of the air and hence bring forth a greater supernova—but that would destroy the entire Academy. That isn't exactly what he is hoping for, so after deflecting them, he even extinguishes them by putting pressure into all the explosions, completely suppressing them and diminishing the source.

He hasn't exactly done such a thing before, but to be fair, Caelus and Nova never really fought one on one before. The roles are clear, and even if their ranking is the first and second of the Academy respectively, it doesn't take an idiot to understand that the power gap between them is simply too large. Caelus is one of the rare S-class ability users in the City, and even if Nova is only a class below him, the mere title of S-class speaks volumes even if Caelus isn't much in agreement of the ranking and classification system.

Yet Caelus once again forgets the fact that he's dealing with not just any ordinary idiot, but Nova. Nova, who, one second seems genuinely surprised but also laughs mere milliseconds later.