"So how are we gonna use it...?"
Karlyle looked over the gas mask in his hand, it would only cover his mouth, ears and nose if he put it on. Not only that but it also resembled more of a bandanna than a functional gas mask. Then again, he also had a ring that could form fire into an actual sword so anything was possible.
"I'm having a friend come in who can manipulate toxic gas."
"And you're sure I won't die?"
"Hopefully not."
"..."
Karlyle's silence managed to speak for him and revealed his annoyance. Mimi laughed at his reaction, in her mind that is.
"You won't die."
"I'll come back to haunt you if I do."
A knock sounded on the wall and Mimi waved her hand in response. The wall split apart and slid to opposite sides, revealing a tall woman with a short afro. Her skin was visibly smooth with no imperfections. All her pores were tightly closed - practically invisible to the human eye - and there wasn't a single zit or pimple in sight. Not only was her skin flawless, but her beauty was comparable to that of a supermodel if she wasn't already one.
She wore a lengthy pearl white trenchcoat over a thick porcelain turtle neck and a black leather skirt. It made it seem like she was a scientist that just left her esteemed laboratory. Her whole presence gave off an aura of authority and leadership. Seeing her, Karlyle already felt fairly threatened by her.
"Well what a nice view, I haven't seen you in forever Mi."
"I missed you too Si."
The two embraced each other deeply, as if they were reunited after years of separation. Once they separated, the women turned to Karlyle and held her hand out.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Simone."
Karlyle shook her hand and looked up to make eye contact. She was most likely taller than Foster.
"I'm Karlyle."
"Mi tells me you're her trainee?"
"Yeah, how do you guys know each other?"
"We fought in the same tourney. The great Mi passed the first time and helped me pass the second. That's enough talking, let's get down to what I came here to do."
Mimi moved to stand next to the wall while the other two hopped onto the raised platform.
"How likely am I to die from this?"
"With the gas mask, the worst outcome that could happen is some severe illness. The healing enchantment will prevent that though, so in this training the worst outcome is difficulty breathing, itchy or warm skin, and swollen eyes."
Simone took her coat off and dropped it onto the floor. Its landing was as graceful as the material it was made out of - which probably cost more than Karlyle could imagine. Karlyle wasn't aware of just how rich Simone was and he already thought Foster was unimaginably rich.
"Arkana, start the countdown."
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Go!]
A shamrock-green and dense fog poured out of Simone's hands. It slithered on the floor towards Karlyle like a group of snakes. Half of the arena was rapidly covered by the gas and it then rose up to the ceiling. Simone's entire body was soon hidden behind it.
The ring around Karlyle's finger sprouted flames and formed the fiery sword again. He gripped the handle tightly and it solidified into a mix of smooth red and orange crystals. The actual crystal was unknown to Karlyle, or anyone for that matter, as it didn't appear before.
He slashed the sword through the air and a wave of fire shot out into the gas. It burnt its way through, pushing the smoke apart and slightly revealing Simone's figure. The small glimpse of her showed that she dodged Karlyle's attack by jumping further into the fog. Realising it wouldn't be too helpful in this fight, Karlyle retracted the sword back into its ring.
Karlyle tied the bandanna, or gas mask if you prefer, around his neck and pulled the front up to cover his mouth and nose. The part of fabric around his nose hardened to secure it from falling down. He took a deep breath in and went into the smoke. As expected, his skin warmed up and got slightly itchy but there were no other effects. The air he breathed in while inside felt fresh; considerably fresher than the air outside the city even.
The mask sparked flames as a reaction to the toxic gas. All of the fabric was obscured by swirling fires that disappeared as quickly as they appeared. The area around him was slightly illuminated by this occurrence but he still couldn't see further than a few centimetres. The gas quickly surrounded him and he couldn't tell the way out; more specifically, he couldn't see which side he came from. If he were to just run straight forward blindly, he would reach the end of the arena and lose.
"This fight isn't really fair Simone."
Simone responded from within the fog and Karlyle couldn't tell where it came from specifically, "I know."
Karlyle spun a string of fire that circled him before quickly expanding through the fog. Unfortunately, he didn't get to witness Simone skillfully bending her back backwards and sliding under the ring. As he used his kinetic, the gas around him became denser so his skin reacted in a harsher way. Blisters slowly formed on his exposed hands. His gloves weren't repaired yet by the tailor so his hands remained uncovered.
An unknown hand reached out to Karlyle's neck and grasped it harshly. Pulling it towards herself, Simone caused Karlyle to fall on his back. The crash sounded throughout the entire room and Mimi giggled as a reaction to it. Even if she couldn't see the fight, she still wanted to enjoy it..
"Hey!"
"Well my gas alone won't harm you so what else am I supposed to do?"
Simone's voice continued to not have a direct location attached to it. It was most likely an attribute of her kinetic's gas: voice distortion. Karlyle got up and gathered flames around his body. They burst out shortly after, acting as a sort of self-detonation, but it was one of his smaller fire bursts. It still managed to cause the gas around them to disperse and reveal Simone.
Setting his right hand on fire, Karlyle pounced towards Simone. However, as his hand was about to clutch her neck, she smacked it up and forced her hand onto his face. The toxic gas released from her palm and went directly into his eyes; some even went underneath his mask, causing it to react ferociously. It managed to filter some of it but the direct attack was much worse than simply entering a large collection of the gas.
"Mmmgmghghmmm."
Karlyle's pain was muffled by the smoke and Simone's hand on top of his mouth.
[Gas Mask is nearly destroyed, would you like to order a new one?]
He ignored the notification as his vision faded away into the eternal void of darkness until it disappeared. Grabbing her wrist, Karlyle released as many fires as he was capable of at the moment. They burnt Simone's entire hand and some of her shirt's sleeves, causing her to let go of Karlyle and jump back. Karlyle's eyes felt like they were becoming crisp raisins as they burnt like hellfire. Simone, on the other hand, was clutching her left wrist in hopes of soothing the pain.
The training room's healing enchantment kicked in although the fight was ongoing. This means that its effects were minimal compared to what it could do outside of a fight. The enchantment subdued Simone's pain while helping Karlyle to gain his sight back. They still had their physical signs of damage but just lesser effects.
"Bad calculation from me."
"Did you have to do this to me?"
Although his sight came back, Karlyle's eyes continued to water as they remained sensitive.
"Yes, now let's continue. I'll be less 'cowardly' now."
With Mimi, that meant she'd beat him until he'd rather be dead but with Simone, Karlyle had no idea what could happen. He did assume that she was going to be more physical now so he unleashed the sword from his ring.
"Nice toy. I have my own."
Simone rolled her sleeves, revealing a tight-fit bracelet on her left wrist. From the bracelet, the same gas poured out but it formed into a weapon. Though, instead of a sword, it made a giant hammer. Due to it being a gas, it was easy for her to swing; but it still had the same strong impact on hit. She even demonstrated that by smashing it into the arena platform. Pieces of the materials that made it flew through the air. Of course, as part of some weird enchantment, it quickly repaired itself.
"Oh god."
Karlyle spoke in his head now. Even if this fight wasn't going to be as tough as the ones with Mimi or the ones with Foster, Simone was going to be an interesting and terrifying opponent.