"What! You saw him?" Fonda asked.
"Probably, I and Hops watched it hurl in the sky. I didn't know what it was. but it could only be him." Jamal replied.
"He lost," Brat said, stunning them all.
"Lost? To who? Youden?" Ula asked, before realizing the answer.
"Wait, if he got defeated by Youden, then who knows how close they are." Jamal paced back to the room, beginning to eat his food, and looking at the maps laid around the room.
"Now what?" Ula asked.
They probably should leave, but they would have to wait two weeks before getting out of here. So for now, they were stuck.
"We'll just have to wait for a bit until the time comes. In the meanwhile, we should all just get some rest or do something to get our minds off this. I want to test something out, and I'll be back in a few." Jamal said, being to walk down the door.
"You're not going out to train again are you," Ula whispered in his ears, making sure no one heard what she was saying.
"Of course not, I have something better to do." he confidently told her.
"Okay, well, be careful out there," she said, kissing his cheek.
Nodding, he walked past the large crowds of people before finding a gap to free space. Once he was out of sight, he frowned. If Youden really did take out Boom, then he would have to prepare to fight in case they ran into his army or any trouble for real, and not against some low thief for petty cash.
Walking down the street and past people moving towards where Boom was probably fighting for his life, he looked around to see if there was anywhere he could practice something he wanted to try out since the national tournament. He found what he was looking for when he was in front of one of the entrances to the national forest inside the city. Here was where he could get some privacy.
Marching deeper into it, he passed through a thicket of weeds, before luckily reaching a small clearing. Grinning, he took a deep breath, as he began to feel the emotions to push onwards. He could feel the heat around his body begin to warp into that new feeling of turning into fire, but just when he was getting close, it stopped and died down.
Almost frustrated, he continued on his plan anyway, noticing his body was lightly surrounded by fire. Focusing deeply, he felt all the heat go to his hands, as the smoke on his back began to form and rise in the air. Grinning slightly, he fired a blast of fire from the air, as it flew high and thick into the sky. Perfect, he thought, as he let it die down.
"You look dumb doing this, you know." a male voice said behind him.
Turning around quickly, he saw a man wearing dark clothes sitting on a tree branch looking down on him.
"Who even are you?" he asked.
"Ha, oh you'll see alright." the voice said, as he jumped down and landed on his feet comfortably.
Getting a good look, Jamal couldn't recognize him. He was quite tall and lanky, but it was as if he could feel a mysterious force surrounding him. Something was off about him.
"Maybe you don't know my name? It's Chenji." the man greeted him, not extending his hand out.
"Okay, the name is Jamal, but why are you watching me?" Jamal began to ask the questions.
"Boy, don't speak to me like that. I'll finish you right now." Chenji growled at him.
"Do it." Jamal urged him.
In an instant, Jamal blocked an expected kick and fire-punched him back into the tree he dropped from, breaking it in half. Jamal grinned as he kept his stance, watching as Chenji slowly got up and out of the tree and brushed off the bits of the bark off him.
"Interesting, you seem to have some training. Now let's stop playing games." Chenji rushed towards him faster than Jamal could react.
Barely having time to block, Jamal was getting pushed back, as the wind from the attacks began forming a breeze.
"Yo! I don't even know you, plus I'm injured!" Jamal cried out, as he rolled back avoiding another sweep for his feet.
"I will kill anyone who is associated with Boom!" Chenji growled, "For Youden!"
"What are you, some sicko?" Jamal called him out, as he launched several fireballs toward him.
"I don't work with Youden, as I do everything alone, but I've seen you fight and I know a lot about you," he said, dodging all of Jamal's attacks.
Studying him cautiously, Jamal rushed out of the forest, only to see Chenji appear instantly in front of him, grinning widely. With no time to react, he could only watch as Chenji pulled a knife out of his pocket and rushed towards his throat.