Why Illusion is feared

"Participants Ender Rialto and Alex Saka, please step up to the arena."

Once again, Ender took a deep breath and started walking toward the arena.

'Why do I feel more nervous than usual... it's just another fight...'

["You are going all out against a friend, it happens most of the time so get used to it."] Ren said.

Ender sighed and got to the arena, with Alex already waiting for him. He smiled at him and waved at him with friendliness. Ender thought, squinted his eyes while thinking, 'Yeah, he is so fucking smooth...'

Something that surprised him was the vast amount of people cheering for Alex, including Emma and Rachel. Loren on the other hand stood disinterested, glanced at Ender, and gave him thumbs up.

Not going to lie, Ender blushed a little bit before slapping his face, 'She will hate you like every other person, stop getting the hopes up.'

People stopped cheering and the instructor started talking, "Firstly, congratulations to both of you for reaching the finals. I must say that this year's tournament was extraordinary even for the little people we had.

I will remind you, the winner of the fight will get ten thousand Earthies plus a part of the bets placed on him, so go all out. Whoever wins, please stay in the arena to receive the prizes and so."

He then took a seat and everything went silent. Ender stared and Alex, and Alex stared at Ender. Both of them got into stance and Alex said, "Good luck Ender."

"Likewise."

They stood like that for ten seconds, each one being slower than the last, feeling like an eternity, Alex even glanced at the instructors wondering when it was going to start...

*Pheeeew!!!*

The barriers got up, marking the start of the match. Alex made the first move by running toward Ender while throwing a white ball toward his left. Ender dodge it effortlessly and prepared for Alex's punch.

He could easily calculate where it was going to land so he moved to the side but when he did so Alex said, "Lights out baby..."

Suddenly, the white ball came out of bouncing with the barrier while making a sound similar to a kettle, brightened up akin to the Sun, and then exploded, acting as a flashbang. And Ender took it all, blinding him.

'Fuck! Why do I have to eat everything!'

Ender had to close his eyes due to the immense burning sensation he was feeling in his pupils. Alex started beating the shit out of Ender. He first punched his stomach sending him backward.

[-13 HP; 47/60 HP]

He crashed, yet again, into a barrier making his ears ring for some seconds. Luckily, the blind effect already wore off but his eyes were having problems trying to get used to the light.

Alex kicked Ender on the jaw and punched him in the nose, also banging his head against the barrier.

[-20 HP; 27/60 HP]

[-6 HP; 21/60 HP]

'Fuck! Healing and Dash!'

Amongst all the pain that Ender was currently going through, he dashed to the side, rolling on the ground while spitting blood. His body slowly mended itself, as the Level 2 Healing was far better than Level 1.

He tried getting up using the barrier as support but was having problems. He could somewhat see now, and Alex was slowly running towards him with another ball prepared, which threw under his feet.

Instead of not looking at the ball, he kicked it backward and made it collide against a barrier. And because of the speed and the barrier, the ball went somewhat up and exploded behind Ender.

Alex didn't expect this and this time he was the one blinded.

"So much for your little fucking balls..." Ender said while chuckling and the Dash effect wearing off.

He grab Alex by the head and made him fall by putting a foot behind him. When he was floating in the air, he pushed down with all his force, smashing his head into the ground.

Alex groaned in pain while clutching his head. Ender kicked him in the back, sending him flying. He began running behind him to assist another punch. Alex rolled on his back and used the momentum to stand up.

When he did, he dodged Ender's punch and took another white ball. This time, he punched it, cracking the ball and throwing it behind him. Ender tried to avoid it but it exploded way quicker than before.

Already blinded, Ender activated Dash and ran away from Alex. He tried opening his eyes to see where he was and almost crashed into a barrier. This time, the burning sensation went away faster than before.

'I don't have time to find a pattern on those balls, I need to end this quickly.'

Dash effect wore off and Ender saw Alex standing near him with three more balls. He launched one behind him, one in front of him, and another one to his left. Alex then ran toward his right and started throwing some kicks and punches.

Ender could easily dodge all of them while being careful not to look back or to the sides. When he heard that kettle sound he quickly crouched to dodge Alex's punch and made him face his flashbangs.

Strangely, Alex decided to look back and run away. Ender was stunned for some seconds while watching Alex looking at him from afar when suddenly, a slight violet light came from behind, and felt his entire body burning.

He quickly activated Dash and ran towards Alex, who didn't expect the sudden burst in speed and was rewarded by a clean kick in the shoulder, making him slide to the side.

Ender started getting closer to Alex when a sudden wave of pain assaulted his entire body. He even dropped to the ground while hissing in pain.

["Hmm?"] Even Ren was left dumbfounded by this, but once he noticed the condition of Ender he couldn't help but feel sorry for him, ["I hope you got burnt before, if not, good luck."]

Ender stood up using the momentum and looked towards his hand. It was red and bleeding, his skin slowly peeling off while feeling a burning sensation all over his body, especially his back.

He turned to look at Alex and said while laughing, "I thought you needed some UV light, you look pale..."

'Motherfucker... Light Element means every single fucking light?' He said while clenching his teeth and activating once again Healing. He saw Alex walking toward him and tried getting into stance, but when he tried moving his legs he could help but scream in pain.

Hell, even screaming in pain was painful. It was so painful that he didn't even notice Alex's punch.

[- 17HP; 43/60 HP]

He tried to dodge or block but every movement was hell to execute. He wished that he was naked so that the tracksuit won't stick to his flesh. Luckily, Healing was making a good job while slowly regenerating all of his lost skin while cooling off his body.

"C'mon, that's all? I expected more..." Alex said with a bored tone. He took Ender by the hair and said, "I thought you would give me some sort of entertainment, but seems like you are even lacking a proper combat sense."

He then kicked Ender multiple times in the stomach and ended with a quick punch to the jaw, throwing Ender to the ground.

"Wooooo!"

People started cheering for Alex as he lifted his arms in the air. Ender, on the other hand, was trying not to lose consciousness as he read all of the holograms in front of him.

...

[-5 HP; 29/60 HP]

[-5 HP; 24/60 HP]

[-12 HP; 12/60 HP]

[Warning: If HP drops under 10 host will fall unconscious due to severe internal damage!!]

'I'm going to faint either way you fucking idiot...' He thought while inwardly chucking, 'Seems like I won't get away from that fucking house... Healing.'

Ender activated Healing in an attempt to regain some force but he could sense Alex getting closer and closer to him. Hearing his last words, he felt somewhat hurt. Seems like in the end, being weak meant being nothing.

Alex grabbed Ender by the neck and took a look at his pathetic state. He didn't even bother to talk to him, he just lifted one of his fists.

Ender watched said fist like it was the Reaper. There was only one way now to get away, and he was going through it no matter what.

["Wow, wow, wai-"] Ren shouted but Ender didn't listen.

He put his right hand in front of his belly and transformed it into claws, piercing him instantly. Not only that, he lifted his hand, traveling through his entire body. He deactivated it just as it got out of Alex's body, but some people have already seen it.

Alex on the other hand just looked at Ender like he was some sort of clown and said, "What was that, your triumph card? Won't work..."

He threw his fist toward Ender, but suddenly his head snapped backward and released Ender from his grip. He stared at... nothing, with his mouth wide open.

Ender started coughing while catching some air and watched Alex walking toward the center of the arena. Everybody started muttering about the situation while the instructors stood up.

"Wha... what a-are you... how are you...." Alex started muttering while looking down.

Ender looked at Sakura, who was staring at Alex with interest. He stood up, still with that burning sensation crawling all over his body.

"No, I... I-I-I did everything... I... I swear...." Alex said while his eyes started tearing up.

Ender slowly walked towards Alex, trying not to get him out of the trance. He saw how his hands started trembling while he made little crying noises.

"No, I... o-of c-course I l-l-loved you... I-I tri-" Alex looked backward as he heard a noise behind him.

'Fuck...' Ender cursed him and his ability to shut the fuck up and endure the pain. He tried moving too quickly and almost tripped because of a random wave of pain.

Alex looked in front of him again and started searching around the place while trying to contain the tears themselves. Then, he stopped and looked back at Ender.

Ender looked at him and saw the infinite rage that was building behind that glint. Alex turned his entire body around and said, "I'll fucking kill you..."

Then, he started running forward and threw a random punch toward Ender who quickly dodged it. Ender grabbed Alex by the mouth and smashed him onto the ground with all of his force, knocking him out.

"Ender Rialto has won the fight and tournament!"

The barriers went down and the medical team rushed inside once again. Ender kept his hand on Alex's mouth while looking at his tears. Then slowly released his grip while looking at his hand.

Instead of a massive ruckus, cheering... nobody did so and instead stared at Ender like he was some sort of monster, but the boy kept looking at his hand, not daring to move.

["I knew the kid was hiding something... what bad timing."] Ren muttered.

Ender looked toward Loren, Emma, and Rachel, who were looking at him with mixed feelings. He snapped back towards Alex who had three doctors applying some first aid to him. A red syringe for physical wounds, and a green one to calm the psychological.

Ender looked at his hand again while thinking, 'You owe me an explanation... and a good one...'

["Fear... Fear comes in many ways. He went through something fucked up, and he relived that moment. That's how scary this Element can be."]

Ender drew a breath and felt worried about Alex now, 'Now I get why Illusion Manipulators are feared...'