Zteel

On the court stage, Kilo and Faris traded blows, each dealing a medley of swift kicks and strikes. Kilo's attacks were not without his flames, but Faris managed to keep up, though barely.

They went on for many minutes nonstop, almost like practiced choreography, until the two briefly backed away from one another, rebounding from the impact of clashing against each other.

Kilo had his hands up, still covered by fire, ready to attack and defend simultaneously.

Faris reviewed the new scathes on his arms, then wiped his face. "I'm impressed," he laughed. "I don't know where you three disappeared to for so long, but wherever you went improved you as a warrior.

Your flames are indeed scorching," He raised an open palm, prompting water to appear from within his hand.

"However, whether it be another or a simple frailty of the user, every MO has a weakness."

Meanwhile, Cadel and Sage were still in the peak of battle. They, too, traded blows with persistence, although Cadel attempted earnestly to strike Sage, who, per usual, remained on the defense.

Sage rejected and evaded almost all of Cadel's attempts, many of which he executed and landed counters for.

To prevent Sage from continuing to land hits, Cadel was forced to retreat and leap backward.

"This shouldn't be happening!" Cadel growled. "I almost killed your flashy friend before, there's no reason why you should be keeping up with me!"

Sage shook his head in pity. "See, your first problem is insinuating there's anyone stronger than me, friend or foe.

I hope you're ready, it's important that the haughty such as yourself are taught humble lessons."

As if it wasn't already the case before, Cadel was infuriated as a result of Sage's patronization.

"Don't mock me!" He shouted as liquid metal seeped through the court's concrete flooring, causing it to crack in various places, miniature spikes of said material emerging as it surfaced.

Sage continued. "Since we're all training for the tournament, now would be the best time to test out a new ability." He held his arms up to form an 'X,' then separated them, prompting a threatening circle of blue flames to form around him, engraved into the concrete of the court floor.

"Blue Flames MO: Sweltering Shield!"

"I can't stand him," Cadel snarled. "I can't stand him at all, flaunting his abilities, his snarky remarks… I'll kill him, just like I should've finished the one before him."

He finally yelled, alluding to his past match with Nyota. "No one will stand in my way!"

Suddenly, an innumerable amount of liquid metal spikes seeped through the ground of his territory and grew massive, each erected some feet into the air.

At once, they tilted in Sage's direction and swiftly glided across the court toward him.

"Liquid Metal MO: Valhalla!"

Unfazed, Sage chuckled and closed his eyes. As each metal thorn crossed his vicinity, the flames that were, at a point, limited to the ground sprung up and constructed billowing walls, dissipating and shredding through the metal spikes with ease.

Eroding Cadel's furious attack away, Sage saw an opportunity to catch him off guard, so he darted toward him and jumped high in the air.

"Blue Flames MO: Blazing Carousel!"

--

Nyota charged up, triggering his electric powers, static coursing through his veins and flashing beyond his skin. He was so used to doing it so often, it became effortless muscle memory.

Shiloh stood a distance from him, hands jammed into pockets, his face still concealed by the shadow of his hood.

"So," Nyota started. "Who exactly are you?"

Following a brief silence, Shiloh responded, "Wouldn't take you to be the type to talk too much." He cracked his knuckles as well as his neck. "I came for a fight, not an interview.

"And I see you're not the talking type," Nyota joked before stretching and assuming a fighting position. "Maybe after."

With swift haste, the two clashed and met one another at the center of the court stage in the form of a grappling stalemate before separating.

Returning to exchange blows, both refused to have the advantage slip away from their reach.

"Since I've been charged up from that start, I should have the advantage here," Nyota thought to himself. "I won't need anything special."

He sent a mix of charged punches and kicks at Shiloh, and almost all of them delivered. However, he didn't seem fazed at all.

Instead, Shiloh recoiled backward from the impact, laughing almost hysterically, no obvious sign that he had been inflicted.

"That's it? That's all you've got?!" He began to yell. "I was told you were some child prodigy. Well? Surely you have something better than that!"

Nyota grew angry. Usually, his static alone was enough to defeat his opponent. But something was off.

Shiloh seemed unfazed, energized almost.

"No worries," Nyota reasoned. "I just need more power behind my attacks." Without hesitance, he sent another flurry of attacks at Shiloh.

Once again, most of them were blocked, but there were still more that were delivered.

Despite more damage clearly being dealt, Nyota noticed Shiloh growing more amused, laughing almost maniacally the more he attacked him.

However, there seemed to be another problem.

The more contact Nyota delivered, the more he noticed a rising heating sensation within him, starting in his feet and traveling up to the rest of his body.

The sensation crippled him, slowing his movement speed until it practically prohibited him from moving.

"What the—?!" Nyota grew alarmed.

Naturally, his lightning abilities raised his body temperature, giving him regular rushes of adrenaline.

However, this one was different from the one caused by his Modus Operandi. Because of that, he knew there was a problem.

"What the hell? What did he do?!"

"So, you're noticing it now." Shiloh chaffed. "I tried to be generous, but you kept pushing on."

Nyota couldn't respond, let alone move. Although he wasn't frozen stiff, one arm clenched onto the other as his legs grew weak and his arms began to go numb.

"It's funny, actually—you asking if I cared to speak to you. Now, I could be the one asking you the same thing."

Nyota managed to mutter some words. "What… what is this?"

"I'd be a fool to give my enemy information regarding my abilities. But I guess I'll let you in on a bit, considering that you've already lost." Shiloh jammed his hands into his pockets and approached Nyota.

"Radiation, that is my MO. Not sure if you've noticed or not, but the more you come into contact with me, the hotter your body temperature rises, and the hotter you are, the more crippling the effect.

This is just my passive ability. How much your body temperature rises is relative to the damage dealt to me, so keep that in mind before approaching me."

Nyota panicked. What was the extent to which Shiloh's power could reach? Would he be able to move again? How could he recalibrate? These questions ran through his mind, frantically.

"What happens when it's all said and done, huh? When my body reaches a certain temperature, is that it?"

Shiloh laughed. "Oh, relax, I'm not here to kill you. It's just a friendly match." He then looked Nyota dead in his face with a sadistic expression.

"Besides, if I wanted to, I'd have to wait until the big stage, the tournament, before I do anything of the sort."

"This is humiliating," Nyota thought to himself. His abilities were rendered useless, and he knew he had to get out of the paralysis, so he tried in the only way he knew how.

He closed his eyes and controlled his breathing. Just like when he first learned to control his MO, he imagined a series of double doors with locks, one after another, his controlled breathing being a lockpick of sorts.

He visualized his controlled breaths manifesting into a blue stream, entering into the keyholes of the doors. As each door was pried open, he regained control of a portion of his body, starting from his legs and moving up to his neck.

"What?" Shiloh exclaimed, bewildered by Nyota's quick recovery. "How… how are you doing this?"

Nyota slowly regained power over his own body, returning its temperature to regulation and activating his Modus once again.

"You see," he started. "I didn't exactly win the last match back then against your friend, Cadel. Your Radiation's nice, and I'm sure it has the capacity to be fatal. But I have no intention of losing again, especially not when everyone's watching."

"Impossible! Nobody's recovered this quickly before!" Shiloh growled before sniggering to himself. "No worries, after all, it was just a passive ability. The real fight has yet to begin!"

Nyota balled his hands into fists, electricity continued to course through his veins. "It's as you've said," he started before rushing at Shiloh. "I'm afraid this will have to continue on the big stage."

Provoked, Shiloh became irate with anger. "Now you've done it! Come at me!" He returned the gesture, leaping at Nyota with two flame balls that resembled the sun, one in each hand before bringing and fusing them together to form a larger one.

"LET'S SEE HOW YOU HANDLE THIS! RADIATION MO: FLYING PHOENIX!!"

"Time to finish this off," Nyota thought to himself. "There are no second chances, so there's no holding back."

Nyota did the same, forming two orbs of electricity in the palms of his hands, bringing them together to form one.

"BLUE LIGHTNING MO: ROARING FLASH!!"

The two collided, causing a huge explosion and debris to fly everywhere.

Everyone waited for it to clear to discover who the victor would be, including Sage, Cadel, Faris and Kilo.

After a single minute, Nyota could be seen, hovering above a defeated Shiloh.

"Good game, man." He declared, dusting off his shoulders.

Faris and Kilo looked over at the opposite side of the court.

"Well," Kilo teased. "There goes your teammate."

Annoyed, Faris formed an orb of water in his hand and charged at Kilo, throwing a barrage of them at him up close along with a few punches.

Kilo tried to counter them with flames, but as expected, they were immediately extinguished.

Being unable to keep up with Faris's movements, Faris struck him in his abdomen, propelling him backward.

Before Kilo could catch his balance, Faris kicked him once more, striking him down into the concrete stage.

As Kilo struggled to stand, Faris walked over to him.

"Somebody's got to do some winning on our team. At this point, if not me, then who else?"

Waiting for the perfect time, Kilo reached his hand out at Faris's legs, preparing blasts of ignition in his hands. "Ruptured Cham—"

Before he could complete his assault, Faris unhurriedly kicked Kilo's arm aside, followed by another one, pushing him backward. Finally, he raised an arm across his body, a blade formed from water attached to his forearm.

"Water MO: Hydro Blade."

Before Kilo could react, Faris uncrossed his arm, slapping him onto the concrete again.

"One-one. Cadel!" He called. "What's taking so long?"

Cadel was still struggling in his brawl with Sage. "Shut it, will you? I'm trying over here!"

Sage quickly leaped over to Cadel who continued to evade until Cadel found himself backed into a corner.

With no other option, Cadel formed small blades of metal in his hands.

"Playing dirty, are we?" Sage smiled. "Alright, do as you feel."

Cadel swung vigorously in an attempt to make space between him and Sage and, more importantly, to make more space for him to move about the court.

His strategy seemed to work as Sage gave him more space than expected, backing away to the opposite side of the court.

Cadel laughed. "What's this? Scared of a little scratch? Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!"

Blinded by his impatience, Cadel was so focused on harming Sage that he hadn't noticed he was preparing a culminating attack.

As Cadel leaped at Sage, covering much distance, Sage cupped his hands and drew them to his side, a ball of blue fire formed within them.

"Blue Flames MO: Genesis Beacon!"

Before Cadel could change course, Sage thrusted his hands forward, shooting out a streaming, powerful beam.

"Damn it! He was plotting this from the very beginning, I couldn't see it coming!"

Bracing for impact, Cadel crossed his forearms with the blades of metal in front. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the beam of fire connected with him, thrusting him backward and scorching his arms.

Faris, who was still watching from a distance, bowed and shook his head. "Cadel, Cadel, I tried to tell him about moving too hastily. Alas, he doesn't listen.

And as for Shiloh…" Faris turned his attention back to Nyota and Shiloh. Although Nyota was standing and Shiloh remained seated, he could tell they were both equally exhausted.

Shiloh sat with his hood on his head, his face obscured by its casted shadow.

"That kid Nyota has no idea what he's in for."

Sage and Nyota looked at Kilo, who struggled to stand, one hand clenched onto the opposite arm, leading them to laugh.

"Two-one, huh?" Nyota observed. "Should we call it?"

Sage nodded. "Yeah, let's wrap it up."

The teams converged before shaking each other's hands.

"When are we going to get a perfect win, Kilo?" Sage joked. "We were close."

Kilo sighed and responded with a simple, "Shut up."

"Cadel," Faris called. "I've been trying to tell you—that's the kind of stuff that happens when you don't listen to advice and get tunnel vision."

"I know how to fight!" Cadel retorted, the two were now face-to-face. "He got lucky. He got scared and backed away, I had him! Besides, I'm not the only one who lost!"

Shiloh bumped past both of them without saying a word, off the court and onto a bench nearby. Faris and Cadel watched.

"Utterly ridiculous," Cadel grumbled before leaving Faris and following Shiloh off of the court. "I shouldn't be on a team with either of you. He doesn't even speak!"

Nyota and the brothers watched as Cadel, Faris and Shiloh's chemistry eroded.

"I lowkey feel bad for them." Nyota started. "They're great guys to fight against."

"Yeah, well…" Sage responded. "You can't be a force to be reckoned with from the outside when the inside is imploding. It's a recipe for disaster."

The three turned their attention to Jora, who could be seen spectating the fight from afar with the Big Three and a few others, Noriko with what appeared to be an entourage of sorts.

"Wait a minute," Sage paused. "Could that be…?"

Without another second to spare, Nyota and the brothers dashed to meet with them.

"Jora!" They called. "Don't tell us that this is who we think it is."

Jora nodded. Although he appeared calm, something about his demeanor suggested to them that he was on edge. Of course, they figured why and hadn't dared to ask.

Jora nodded. "Yes, actually. Sage, Nyota, Kilo, I'd like for you all to meet the famed Director, Noriko Tachi."

The three of them bowed.

"Sage Hikari."

"Kilo Hikari."

"Nyota Atar. It's an honor."

"Pleased to meet you all. I've heard great things about you from Jora and the Big Three, here, from your skill sets to your advanced accomplishments abroad."

"Just doing our jobs, Director." Nyota assured her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Elwin's peculiar gaze fixed to him, an intent stare.

"What's his problem?" he thought to himself.

Noriko continued to speak. "I'm glad to hear that. Well, I must get going, as there is more business for me to attend to.

It was nice getting to familiarize myself with you six. Looking forward to seeing you all perform well during the tournament."

"Please, it's been an honor," the cadets replied. "Enjoy the rest of your time!"

Following her departure, Idalia, Enki and Tatius prepared to reconvene with their squadron for the remainder of their instruction period.

"Well, we've got to get going, too, can't be too late." Tatius announced. "You guys did great out there, you're almost at our level."

"Eh, too much praise, but they've definitely improved." Enki joked.

"Alright," Jora waved as they returned inside of the building.

"Well, she seems nice." Nyota started.

"Yeah," Jora looked off into the distance, deeply exhaling.

Sage examined. "You seem pressed."

Jora nodded his head. "Nope, everything's alright. You guys did very well, almost a perfect win.

Continue to hone your skills, and you'll be primed soldiers in no time." He smiled before walking down the steps to speak with the rest of their squadron.

Nyota and the brothers followed behind.

"What was that just now?" Elwin's glare remained on Nyota's mind until he concluded it was nothing of importance.

"Maybe he was just having a bad day."

Meanwhile, Noriko marched down the hallway of the campus building, Elwin and the rest of her entourage following close behind.

She noticed Elwin's disturbed expression. "Is everything okay, Elwin?"

Returning back to consciousness after deep thought, he nodded his head. "Yes, Director. It's just that kid."

"Which one?"

"Nyota, the one with the electric abilities. He seems familiar… familiar like I've seen him recently, as recent as the past year or so. I just can't place my finger on it."

"Seen, you say," Noriko commented.

"Yeah…" Elwin trailed off.

"Well, maybe it's just a case of déjà vu. Plus, he's just a cadet, how important could he be?" He laughed.

"Sure, but he's no bygone." Noriko assured, her comportment turned serious. "Neither are those friends of his, they appear to be promising. I'm looking forward to this tournament, indeed."

"O-Of course! As am I." Noticing a shift in Noriko's demeanor, he concluded it was best to agree.

"I'm sure it will be quite the show."