Confrontation

Now, standing in front of Mei, he couldn't help but feel nervous, after all it would be his first time actually fighting someone, not to mention an elite User too.

The two were standing in the makeshift arena situated in the back field of their school, and an energy barrier was slowly being deployed, enclosing them in a transparent blue dome. In it, they could battle to their full power as their attacks would be nullified the moment they hit any part of the dome.

Judging by the size, Kevin could tell that Mei had requested for the barrier to deploy in its largest size, easily covering the entirety of the square field, its size more than a football field. The barrier would only be deactivated if one side is rendered unconscious or unable to fight, or if one side surrenders.

Outside, a small crowd had gathered to watch, and with the barrier fully enclosing them, the fight had officially begun.

"What's wrong little boy? Scared to make the first move?" Mei sneered.

Kevin knew better than to give in to Mei's provocation, even though they were the same age, she always looked down on others and was an expert trash-talker.

With the summer morning sun beating down on him, and the growing crowd gathering to watch, he began to feel slightly uneasy.

"Fine, if you don't want to, then I'll make the first move!"

Raising her hand, Mei conjured up a barrage of fireballs, launching them relentlessly at Kevin, who was still hesitant. With no choice, he dashed to his left, narrowly dodging the fireballs. With another barrage fired at him, he kept running. Mei fired a split barrage at Kevin, intending to make him defend.

"Please let this work," Kevin thought as he shaped his Dark Matter into a shield, effectively blocking the attack in a burst of smoke.

Dashing into the smoke, Mei took the close-range offensive and sent Kevin flying with one

punch. His limp body slammed into the barrier and he hit the ground with a thump.

"Fuck, barely a minute in and I'm already on the ground" Kevin thought, wincing as he slowly got up. "Mei could've easily followed up, she's only toying with me and I'm already this beat up."

"Oh? You're still standing?"

Mei was slowly walking towards him, before speeding up at a blinding pace. Kevin dodged an uppercut, and blocked a kick to his stomach with his forearm. Mei's speed was nothing to be overlooked.

Having blinding speed, excelling at close combat and being a masterful fire wielder were what set her above the rest of her peers and solidified her position as one of the top Users in the school.

A burst of fire was shot from her palm into Kevin's abdomen, but instead of defending the final attack in her combo, he counterattacked. A sphere of Dark Matter shot out his own palm, straight for Mei's head. The attack was effortlessly blocked with her left arm, but she was pushed back a few feet.

"Not only does she have blinding speed, but also extreme reflexes?" The boy thought.

Kevin leaped in and threw a powerful punch, pushing Mei back even more, a pair of dark gauntlets with spiked knuckles on his hands. Without missing a beat, his gauntlets shot out two whips, and with a flick of his wrist, directed one for her head and one for her shins.

Mei was focused on defending her upper torso and head, and the whip made a crack as it hit her shins, making her wince.

Mei had gravely underestimated Kevin, but the gap between the two was still huge, Mei was using less than a fraction of her power.

Kevin dashed in, unleashing another barrage of melee attacks. Punch, kick, duck, counter, he was getting into the rhythm of the battle. He was no longer thinking, instead he relied on instincts and muscle memory he never knew he had, any spectators who knew not about his previous circumstance would have thought Kevin had been trained and fighting for years. But the only combat knowledge he knew of were from the films and anime he watched. Sometimes he would pretend he was in one of them, kicking and punching the air.

However, Mei was countering his attacks and matching his intensity, sensing she no longer had the upper hand, she raised her power output to a quarter. Mei was so powerful that she had to constantly keep her power output in check to avoid causing unnecessary damage or accidentally killing someone. After ramping up, she effortlessly deflected all of Kevin's attacks, and with a flick of her finger a burst of fire exploded onto him.

For the second time in the battle, his body flew and made impact with the barrier. Seeing his battered unconscious body, Mei couldn't help but laugh.

"How pathetic. A weakling like you, you couldn't even handle a quarter of my power!"

She had made it to Kevin's limp body after her walk of victory, and spat on it. With the heel of her shoe she rammed his head into the dirt before kicking his body aside. With Kevin being knocked unconscious, the barrier around them would be deactivated at any moment.

But it never did. Suddenly, Mei's body lurched backwards as she was thrown across the battlefield in a trail of smoke. With a blast of fire shifting her momentum, she managed to avoid slamming into the barrier. Still midair, she was hit by yet another unseeable attack. Caught off guard, her body tumbled onto the ground. Her assailant landed swiftly onto his feet.

"I'm gonna <kill> you," Kevin snarled, spitting out dirt and grass. Mid-sentence, his voice

became momentarily distorted. His body was pumping with adrenaline, and he felt like he was going to explode with all the energy coursing through his body.

Mei got up slowly, still shocked about what had happened. Kevin had moved so fast she couldn't even see him, exceeding all her expectations. It seemed like his power was growing exponentially.

Worried by this new development, Mei ramped up her power to 75%, intending to take him out before he could get even stronger. She was surrounded by a visible red aura, and her eyes glowed a tint of red.

"Fire Arts: Serpent!"

Two snakes made of flames snapped at the boy standing in front of her, lighting him on fire.

"Fire Arts: Flamewheel!"

As her attack hit its target, the unflinching Kevin started to falter, the sheer strength of Mei's attack was shredding through his defense.

Her fists, enveloped in a burning red flame, unleashed a barrage of attacks, outspeeding Kevin. Her fists connected with his body over and over, Kevin's counters were too slow.

"Damnit, if this keeps up… I'm gonna…" Kevin thought.

His body collapsed onto the ground in a heap of fire, his skin was burning off into a crisp.

"It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts…" The two words were all that was on his mind as he lay paralyzed in excruciating pain.

The pain was agonizing, he wanted nothing more than to die at that very moment. As tears ran down his face, he realized he was crying.

"I'm gonna die… I don't wanna die… This can't be the end" His mind was getting foggy.

He heard laughing.

"After all that, It looks like you're nothing after all. How pathetic, trying to protect your friends and ending up as a crying mess. You're the reason they get bullied in the first place, if you weren't so incompetent and useless, maybe they wouldn't have suffered as much. You're gonna die here. A loser all alone, having done nothing at all."

She turned around and walked away before muttering under her breath.

"You should just die now, it'll spare you of the suffering to come…"

Outside the arena, the crowd fell silent except for one girl banging her fist on the barrier.

"Kevin! Kevin! The fight's over right!? Open the damn barrier! He's gonna die!"

Kevin's eyes slowly closed, and his world became a blinding light.