9 Duel

The man who had welcomed the test takers came on screen again. "Allow me to congratulate you, but now we are stepping into where things get serious. All of you will leave this room and go to the first floor. The stairs are located in the reception, the room you passed to get to this room." Taking a brief pause, he continued. "This is only for the test takers, as those who want to watch can use the elevator." As soon as he finished the screen went off.

Most of the test takers began murmuring, they had stood for two hours to take the test. Now they had to climb up the stairs, while those who were only here to watch could use the stairs.

Everybody got moving, arriving on the first floor. A man was waiting for them in front of the stairs. Those who were to watch were led by another person to a different location, probably so that they wouldn't interfere.

The man led the test takers to a room. When they got inside the room, they saw the man who had just spoken on the screen. Behind the man were four raised platforms, definitely arenas. From the ceiling, there was a four-way cube screen over each of the arenas.

There were cameras in the room, probably to send video feeds to those who were here to watch. All of them had been taken to another room.

When everyone came in, the man spoke. "Now we will begin the second and final test, the duel. Normally there would be other tests before the duel, but after careful consideration, we decided that it was pointless, as those who we need can be found using the duel."

Some of the test takers were not happy with the setup at all, but they had to swallow it how it came.

"Though you are not up to five hundred, we decided that each individual must partake in five duels. Those that have less than five duels will have to fight themselves to make five."

"Each duel has a 15-minute time limit, so if the time runs out, then it's a draw. At the end of the day, we will pick two hundred test takers with the best test results. The method for the duel selection will be randomly selected and shown on the screen above each platform."

" There are few methods to end the match. Knock out, surrender, fall off the arena, and forfeit. Now may the duels begin."

As soon as he finished, some people began anticipating, others did not want their turn to come up early. Asher was amongst those who did not want his fight to come early, he wanted to rest, but fate was cruel.

The four screens lit up, and when he looked at them, his number was on the first screen from the right.

"Fuck me sideways." Asher cursed.

Readying his gauntlets on his arm properly, he began heading towards the arena. His heart beat wildly, as this was his first ability combat.

"Asher before you begin, remember the way you used the lightning to go faster? " Elsa asked

"Yeah, I do, what about it? "

"If you can control the output of the gathered lightning, tuning it down, it will reduce the speed you move at, but you will still be fast and have much more control. " Elsa explained.

"So trade some speed for higher agility right? " Asher confirmed.

"Yes exactly. "

As the discussion was coming to an end, he reached the arena and climbed up. His opponent was already waiting for him.

His opponent was a tall boy, he looked like he played pro basketball. He held a spear, dressed in a navy blue tracksuit.

When all the arenas had their fighters on them, an alarm rang, signifying the start, as fifteen-minute countdowns appeared on the screens.

The tall boy wasted no time, he shot off the ground pointing his spear in the direction of Asher. The spear lit on fire, red-orange flames danced on the tip.

Asher readied himself, talking his stance. When the spear reached him, bent backwards evading the attack. He then pressed both hands on the ground, raising both legs to do a flip, slamming the face of his opponent with his legs.

"Argh" His opponent cried in pain, as he was forced a couple steps back. He never expected his opponent to flip and kick him in the face, the move was just unusual.

Asher finished the flip and stood upright, wasting no time, he used the speed method but dialed it down to a controllable speed. He smashed his knee into the gut of the still disoriented guy, sending him further backward.

Asher felt his blood pump in exhilaration, he had never felt like there before. He shot off again kicking at his opponent's head, but the boy blocked the kick with his arm, then he thrust his spear at Asher.

Asher immediately released a huge amount of lightning from the leg that was blocked, blasting the guy further back.

Asher was very grateful to Elsa, her training was what was helping him now. He gave an appreciative look to her at the side of the arena, before focusing on his opponent.

His opponent was now enraged, he had been pushed back three times, without being able to counter.

"Argh." The boy shouted, spinning his spear above his head. The spear was enshrouded in flames, the boy swung down with all his might releasing a flame arc straight towards Asher.

"Damn!" Asher quickly used all his gathered lightning, he shot off to the edge of the stage, avoiding the attack. From there he shot towards his opponent, his hands crackled with silver lightning.

The boy was not able to follow the speed Asher was moving, he only noticed Asher when he was near him. He stabbed out quickly, but Asher dodged to the side. The spear nicked the side of his face cutting and burning him at the same time, he pushed forward slamming his lightning-covered fist right into the guts of the boy.

The boy jerked back, coughing blood, and he landed on the ground unconscious. Asher stood, his blood still pumping. He started trying to catch his breath, as he had spent a lot of energy in the fight.

"Congratulations, you have won your first battle Asher." Elsa who was at the side of the arena congratulated him.

Asher walked down from the arena, he felt as though this was his real first accomplishment. His blood boiled in anticipation of his next fight.