The fiercest battle ensued between the two men. Their weapons clashing in a deadly match up of skills, speed and talent. The younger generation had seriously dropped when compared with two fighters.
Each of them fought without holding back, each stroke and attack delivered with the intent to kill the other. Anyone who watched them fight would never believe the story they had to tell. The two of them possibly could never have been friends.
Inferno had wrapped his blade with blue flames that dealt lethal damage to anything it touched. He was out to kill and it was obvious.
The two of them were evenly matched at the moment, countering blocking and rarely dodging. They were both so confident in their skill that dodging an attack from the other belittled their talent and skill. They were simply monsters with their Elements.
The room had suddenly taken a new shape and everyone did their best to stay out of their way while they battled their own foes. One little mishap would either end your life or completely ruin a fair and interesting battle.
A fire ball rampaged towards him shattering and burning anything that stood in its way. It's range was wide, a nice strategy that made it almost impossible to dodge but Nathaniel wasn't planning on dodging at all.
A stomp of his leg on the concrete created giant boulders from the earth which provided him the shield he needed from the attack. But he need not relax because he knew inferno never gave a recovering chance to any of his enemies whether weak or strong. And that was why he always emerged victorious in almost all his battles.
Inferno's tactics was to drain himself and his enemy too. Since he was a power house and had almost perfect control over his energy, him running out of power almost seemed impossible. He could create three fireballs with the same energy it took an average Elemental to create one. His power was simply broken and ridiculous and Nathaniel knew too well to never underestimate him. After all he had fought against Inferno and even though his victory counts weren't high, they still counted. But they weren't kids any longer, each of them had years to train, hone and perfect their skills and it was evident that they didn't slack off with their training.
Nathaniel replied inferno with flying balls of earth speeding towards him which he either sliced through or countered with more fireballs.
"If you stop now and join me, I might actually spare you. It would be a shame to watch such talent go to waste" Inferno offered while slicing through a rock with his flaming blade
"I'd rather die than join in your madness" Nathaniel replied blocking off a conflagration.
"Then death is your fate" Inferno uttered before rushing at Nathaniel head front.
The aura around him had changed, bloodlust and evil reeked off him as he gave his first strike. A blade of fire shot out from his katana with every swipe that Nathaniel had to dodge. The speed of his flames had increased and Nathaniel was already aware of what Inferno had in mind. He had finally gotten serious and things were now more fun.
A child prodigy, birthed in the hottest of days, which prompted his name. Inferno grew to possess skills and talents which even his seniors failed to acquire through countless training. He was born naturally to power and he had bested all who came across him until he met three other who were just like him.
They had grown to become best of friends, each of them pushing one another to surpass their limits until the strongest amongst them had gone berserk with power. Alexander. He had discovered a way to take people's abilities and had proposed for his friends to join him.
Being a power hungry person himself, he had joined Alexander without second thoughts while the other two opposed. The opposition had lead to a fight to the death amongst the four with Alexander and Inferno seemingly dominating in the battle. Everything was going their way until one of them had showcased a power that was hidden in him. He had the powers of Ancestral Elementals which was rare to find. It was expected to almost be a myth but this man somehow had this power flowing in his veins.
The course of the battle had instantly changed, and Alexander and Inferno were easily overwhelmed by this new power. However, the wielder couldn't bring himself to kill his friends.
His act of mercy had lead to his death from a literal backstab from Alexander before proceeding to take the man's powers for himself.
Nathaniel had managed to escape only to return to their village ablaze and the family of his deceased friend dead and soaked in their own blood. However, he couldn't find the corpse of his eldest daughter and had made it a life mission to find her and repay the debts he owed her father.
He didn't fear death, he had already accomplished what he lived for. He had found her and trained her to the best of his ability and it was obvious his training hadn't failed. Even if he was to die here, he would die in peace knowing he had nothing to regret.
He parried a sword attack from inferno before wrapping the chains of his nunchaku over the man's sword. He proceeded to slide down to inferno's side before elbowing him in the face. A kick to the stomach followed suite knocking the fiery opponent backwards with a reinforced earth enhanced kick.
Inferno staggered up from where he fell, blood on his lips and nostrils. His tongue crept out of his mouth and took the red liquid in with it. Inferno's face now lit with a maniacal smile.
"I've never seen my blood in years now" he said with a cackle. "I'm going to enjoy carving you up for making me bleed" He assured before rushing Nathaniel once again. His attacks heavier than usual and flames gradually growing faster in both speed and lethality. He was finally going all out.
"You underestimate me" Nathaniel said as he rebound an attack whilst looking the raging man in the eyes before sending him flying once again. It was obvious. Inferno had grown his Elemental prowess and neglected his physical combat skills. Even though he seemed more powerful than Nathaniel in the ability scales, he made up the difference with his physical attacks.
His infuriation only grew more and more with every hit he took until he had enough. He had realized that engaging Nathaniel in melee combat only left him with scars and injuries and he smiled at his discovery. His friend was smart as expected but he'd been figured out.
Picking up his fallen sword, Inferno marched front towards Nathaniel engulfing his blade with flames once more.
'I will teach him to obey' He thought to himself as he made his stance. His eyes turned red as he poured energy into his next attack. He was ready to pull the big stunts now and he wasn't prepared to loose.
He roared into the night as flames shot out from beneath him engulfing him completely.
"This is why I am called Inferno" He announced before advancing towards the expressionless Nathaniel who didn't even flinch at inferno's new power.
Nathaniel's mouth dropped in awe when inferno reached him in seconds and sent him flying backwards with a kick that burnt through his clothes and his flesh.
'This is bad' he thought quickly recollecting his movements midair just in time to block a kick with his nunchakus which heated up almost immediately due to the overwhelming flames that engulfed Inferno
He almost dropped them but dropping them would only invite more damage than a burnt palm. He instead commanded the earth underneath them to rise and Inferno as far away as possible. He needed some seconds to get himself under control.
Inferno landed more gracefully than Nathaniel had expected. His face still alive with the smile he had earlier. He dropped down his sword now fully focusing on his fire based attacks.
Nathaniel dropped his almost melted nunchakus also taking a stance that proved he was ready to go whenever inferno wanted.
Inferno released his first wave of flame which scorched the earth turning them momentarily into lava as they swept by. Nathaniel seeing the damage done by the incoming flames raised four thickened reinforced barriers but they were bypassed and liquidized by the flames.
He jumped out just in time barely escaping the already weakened attack. Inferno wasn't on this level when they fought years ago or could he have been holding back? Something had definitely changed and he could feel it.
"You should have come with us while you had the chance, this is the power of five fire Elementals you stand no Chance against me" Inferno revealed.
He should have realized earlier. This wasn't something a normal Elemental could do without dying. Alexander had also discovered how to share people's abilities or did inferno secretly discover how Alexander did his trick. It didn't matter anyway. He had one thing left to do now, and that was to kill his old friend. It was the only thing he could offer to the growing generation.