Chapter 68: Blackout

  (Scarlette’s POV)

  I gulped as I opened the email.

  --

  Welcome to the semi-finals

  Your opponent is: Asher Marez

  School: Waning Crescent Institute

  Venue: Block A, Grand Arena

  Time: 10 AM

  --

  Asher huh. I guess this was the best possible draw for me. Out of the remaining 3 contestants, he was probably the weakest. Well, perhaps weakest was a poor choice of wording here. He was the least strong out of my possible draws.

  “So you got Asher,” Cadel said, not looking up from his phone. “Zara might be interesting for me. It won’t be the first time that we’ll be fighting.”

  Back during the camp, Cadel had basically soloed her and her entire team while protecting the rest of us. Now, it would be a 1 on 1. If anything, Cadel would have an even easier time now.

  I nodded. “I wonder how my match will go. Asher’s kinda unpredictable.”

  “He shouldn’t pose a problem, so long as you don’t underestimate him,” Cadel replied. “The lift’s here.”

  The lift stopped at the second floor and Cadel got off. “Good night, sleep well,” he waved as he headed towards his room.

  As I washed up and flopped into bed, various simulations of how tomorrow’s match could pan out played in my mind. On paper, it looked like I had a huge advantage. My Ability should cancel out his.

  But I couldn’t shake the feeling he might have some trick up his sleeve. The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. When I first saw his name on the email, I had almost felt relieved. Now, I realised I might have gotten a little ahead of myself.

  What was Asher thinking now? Was he already formulating plans on how to take me down? Or was he just doing whatever he did in his spare time? Come to think of it, what does he do in his free time? Just practising? Maybe doing some shadow exercises in his room?

  If I had his number, would I have texted him about it? Maybe wish him good luck or something? Whenever he and I interacted, it felt like he always knew something I didn’t. He reminds me of Cadel, I thought. They shared an eerily similar way of thinking.

  I wondered if I would’ve been as calm as I had been earlier if I’d received that email now, alone in my room. Did Cadel have an effect on how calm my reaction had been earlier? With him, everything seemed to be under control. I thought back to what Felix had asked in the cafeteria, if I was Cadel’s girlfriend. What a ridiculous thought!

  No, this wasn’t what I should be thinking about. Cadel was my friend, and he expected me to win tomorrow. Still, sitting on my bed overthinking wasn’t helping the situation. I took out a bag of chips and started munching on them, browsing the Net for cute animal videos to distract myself before settling in for the night.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the semi-finals of the Intra-District Games! Kicking things off we have Scarlette Falcon against Asher Marez, both from Waning Crescent Insitute…”

  I could hear the announcer hype the crowd up from my holding room, but I couldn’t really focus on what he was saying. I attempted to compose my breathing before I stepped out of the room. Why was I so nervous? I hadn’t felt this uneasy in any of my previous matches. Even against Ignar, I was more fired up than anxious.

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  Was it because it was finally the semis? Or was it because my opponent was Asher? I had to admit, even though he was technically a 4-Star, I somehow found him intimidating. I shook my head, trying to snap out of it. Come on, think from his perspective. He’s gonna be facing you, Scarlette Falcon, who’s probably the most famous 5-Star in the school!

  The same Scarlette who famously lost 3 duels in a row? A nagging voice reminded me.

  But I’ve just won like 5 duels in a row!

  Against easy opponents—

  Ignar wasn’t easy! He’s another 5-Star! If I can beat another 5-Star, I can beat a mere 4-Star too…right?

  I swallowed hard as I made my way to the player’s tunnel. Why were these thoughts appearing now?! Surely I—

  “Hey.”

  I nearly jumped. Standing right before me, was my opponent.

  “H-hey…” I forced a polite smile.

  Asher studied me for a moment. “You look pale. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. It’s probably the lighting or something.” Really? That’s what I’m going with?

  “Relax, okay? Just think of it as a friendly match. Anyway, it’s nothing personal,” he assured me. He extended a hand. “Good luck.”

  That was true… maybe it was a good thing that Asher was from the same school as me. I shook his hand. “Good luck,” I said.

  “Your hand is a little colder than I expected from the fire girl,” he noted. “I didn’t realise you were that nervous.”

  I hadn’t even realised that my hands were cold and clammy. Embarrassed, I discreetly used my Ability to warm them up. “Sorry… just the semis, you know…”

  “Yeah, but you’re the favourite to win and it’s not even close. I’m the one here with a massive disadvantage,” he smiled at me. “Everyone expects you to win. I hope you don't disappoint them.”

  “Please welcome… Scarlette Falcon!” roared the announcer.

  I shivered upon hearing his response. “I… should probably get going now,” I mumbled as I took to the arena. The crowd here was surprisingly lesser than yesterday—probably because the Horizon High students had no one left to root for—but there was still a sizable audience.

  I squinted into the crowd where I knew my friends would be sitting. There! The four of them were waving at me. Somewhere out there, I knew the rest of my classmates were cheering for me too. Heck, most of the stadium was probably on my side. Who wouldn’t support the cute, pretty girl with awesome fire powers? A smirk tugged the edges of my lips. I can do this.

  “…Asher Marez!”

  Asher strode up to the platform, as cool and collected as ever. He briefly acknowledged the crowd with a small wave before he turned his attention to me. Visions of him dividing his opponents in half back in the DreamVerse flashed in my mind. But this was no time to dwell on them. I had to focus.

  Ding!

  Instantly, I took to the air and started flinging down balls of fire at him. Asher melted into the ground just as they rained down on him. Where was he? I whirled around. Shadows… under me!

  I spun to the side just as a shadowy spear erupted from directly below me, its tail still attached to my shadow. Instinctively, I launched another fireball at it. The shadow morphed, turning into a giant hammer which also swung at me, intending to flatten me against the ground. In the nick of time, I managed to dodge that attack as well.

  The hammer struck the ground, creating a cloud of debris.

  Where was he going to strike next? From what Cadel had mentioned, it looked like he could only disappear or reappear from a shadow that wasn’t his own. I desperately scanned for other visible shadows on the ground. Fortunately for me, the arena was completely exposed, so there were no other sources of shadows except for my own.

  I set myself ablaze, my entire body becoming a beacon of light, erasing my own shadow and illuminating the ground beneath me At the same time, a long shadow arced across the arena, and Asher materialised where it landed, looking rather inconvenienced.

  The ground under my flame flickered like a mirage, but it looked like it wasn’t enough for his Ability to consider it as a shadow. The only shadow left in the arena was his own, and if Cadel’s observation was right, he would be unable to blend into it.

  Still, I decided to play it safe. I approached him, intending to keep just close enough for my flames to reach him. Unless I missed something, he was now completely defenceless.

  I sent two long streaks of fire in his direction. He barely managed to dodge one, but the other seared his leg.

  Gotta be more precise… Again, I launched two more streaks a little closer to him, but suddenly, a small, round object came flying towards me. What was that? A pebble?

  But it didn’t look like it was going to hit me. I easily sidestepped Asher’s futile attempt and refocused my attention on him, retaliating with another burst of fire.

  Suddenly, a black flash shot after the pebble.

  Huh—? I spun around, my brain making the connections. The pebble! Was that from the rubble earlier? And if it had cast a shad—

  Before I could react, a dark mass collided with my face. Dazed, I fell out of the air and crashed to the floor, my fire going out in the process. I struggled to my feet, shaking my head to clear my senses. Before I could steady myself, something struck me in the face again.

  The crowd gasped as my knees buckled, but I was too disoriented to focus on anything. I keeled over, hunched on all fours. My own shadow stretched beneath me as it if were taunting me.

  Without warning, a fist shot out of it, uppercutting me in the chin.

  I flew backwards and landed hard on my back. My vision darkened as Asher stood over me.

  No. I can’t black out now… I struggled to sit up as Asher calmly stood over me.

  The referee blew his whistle.