The fires reached out to wrap around Karlyle's legs, and soon his torso and arms, then his neck. Finally, it stretched out its fiery claws to grab at his head. Nails of flames pierced into his jawline, scraping up and going for his cheeks.
'You are a wielder of fire, don't let it harm you.'
A voice continued to speak in his head, trying to guide him away from his family; what it didn't know was that Karlyle would never turn away from his family. Different bright shades of orange and red reflected in the whites of his tired eyes. The voice continued to echo through his mind, corrupting his thoughts and infecting his emotions. Karlyle's body started to move on its own out of the fire. In response, Karlyle forced himself to remain in the fire as it scorched his flesh- but he continued to not feel anything but warmth and comfort.
"I surre-"
'Go Karlyle!"
As if reborn, the final command of the voice brought a wave of energy across Karlyle's system. Refuelling each muscle, each tissue, each cell. The usual colour returned to his skin and he was no longer as pale as paper; his body thickened, bringing back his muscles and covering the visible bones. The ragged hair that sat atop his scalp untangled and brushed itself before rejecting the approach of the fire.
Karlyle's hand moved through the air by itself, and the flames which encircled his body and the house gathered into a singular string that followed his arm's movements. An entire inferno, reduced to almost nothing but a few raging fires and sparks. His body spun with the string before releasing it in all directions. It burnt through Emilia's ghost and melted the snow around, bringing back autumn even if just for a moment.
His entire world was set ablaze by the singular string which combusted everything in its path. It only took a few seconds to burn through the very fabric that made up space and time. Flames spread through the sky, reducing clouds into nothing and making the sun seem like it was nothing but a piece of decoration. Shadows were evaporated and darkness no longer tainted the world, until darkness was all Karlyle could see.
Every inch of his skin sprouted fervent flames that burnt through something that wrapped around his body. When the heat of his flames covered his face, the covering that obscured his vision went away and he once again could see.
"What? How-"
His opponent, Emma, stood thunderstruck at the sight of someone breaking out of her nightmares. No one so far had managed such a feat.
The fires that were spread evenly across his body burst out in a shockwave. Tendrils of starry black smoke shrivelled and dispersed under the influence of Karlyle's flames. Emma shrieked in pain. Karlyle dashed forward, boosting his movement with an explosion of compressed fire. In the movement, he took out his sword and slashed it against Emma's chest. It dug through her shirt and skin, releasing streams of blood that caused discolouration in her shirt.
To defend herself, Emma released a dozen tendrils that further halved like the heads of a Hydra when Karlyle cleanly cut through them. Her simple defence wasn't enough to stop the beast she somehow unleashed. The flames of Karlyle's blade spread around the tendrils, reaching Emma's fingers. They burnt her skin and the tendrils immediately retracted, her painful groans got worse.
With no mercy and a lust for death, Karlyle brought his palm to face Emma who collapsed onto the ground, clutching her chest trying to rub the pain away from both the cut and her burnt fingers. Flames swirled and gathered in his palm, ready to burst forth at any point under Karlyle's command. Her head was bowed, unwilling to see her opponent before he burnt her body to ashes. As Karlyle's fires were about to release from the confines of his hand, the announcer spoke and broke his focus.
"Round 3's winner is... Karlyle Montgomery!"
[EF 2 - 3 KM]
Only one more battle and the odds seem to be in his favour.
Mimi and Foster appeared within the arena, and Mimi was the first to speak to Karlyle, her face filled with a mixture of terror, worry, and shock, "What was that...?"
She wasn't wrong to feel the way she did. One of her friends, barely hesitating to take the life of another.
"I don't... I don't know. Something just... something just took over me."
Karlyle's entire body was trembling. The fiery blade ceased and returned to the ring, but his hands continued to shake. How could he do that? How could he have such blatant disregard for someone's life?
Foster wrapped his broad arms around Karlyle's body with a grip as tight as Emma's nightmare-inducing tendrils. The familiarity of such a hold almost sent him into a panic, afraid he was once again going to be in a nightmare. Even if his family were alive and well - and it surely wasn't winter at the moment - he still felt worried and hurt at their false demise. Such a symptom came with nightmares: post-nightmare anxiety and depression. He couldn't even check up on them to make sure they were ok.
"Shhh~ it's okay."
His gentle voice calmed Karlyle's nerves slightly, reducing the shakiness of his limbs. Once his breathing steadied and his heartbeat could no longer be heard from a mile away, Foster let go and stood back. Both he and Mimi faced Karlyle, their faces occupied with worry; one worried about what her friend was becoming, and one worried about what his friend was feeling.
"Let's go celebrate."
A failed attempt at brightening the mood from Foster, but the other two people with him still accepted the offer - mostly because they wouldn't be paying. The trio left the arena and headed to the same tavern they visited every time, sitting at the same spot they sat at the first time around. They ordered the same things they got last time, apart from the custom cake, and ate in silence. Out of nowhere, Mimi spat her drink out and stared blankly forward.
"Jeez, what happened?"
Again, Foster was the one to speak.
"Lyle's rankings..."
"What are they?"
Foster spoke for the both of them as the fright in Karlyle's mind prevented him from talking.
"He has 2 SS ranks alongside the other SSS+ rank."
This time, Karlyle spat his drink out.
"Damn, the judges must've loved that scene then."
While the two panicked, Foster remained calm and continued to eat his food and drink his drink.
"Are you not excited about it? Karlyle is surely going to keep his kinetic now."
Her sentence finished weakly, some terror still remaining after seeing her friend almost scorch someone to death.
"I expected nothing less."
Foster made eye contact with Karlyle and smirked, giving him a wink before turning back to his food once more. Karlyle and Mimi continued to fan over his grades before beginning their plan for the next fight. Like Emma, this new opponent has been winning every fight, it was quite easy with such a kinetic.
+-+-+-+-+
Gyrokinesis, manipulation of gravity.
+-+-+-+-+
"May sound like a dumb question, but does gravity even drag down fire?"
"It doesn't, I think. Mostly since your fire isn't really attached to anything physical," Mimi was the one to answer Karlyle's question, "It's not as if you set some wool on fire and toss it forward."
"I guess."
Foster remained silent throughout their small exchange, unwilling to get involved, and continued to peacefully feast on his food. Sure, he was rich, but he wasn't going to waste a single bit of food that he purchased - a trait the rest of his family doesn't particularly share with him. He was raised in a wealthy household, but he still managed to succeed without their direct help. Refusing to use their connections, Foster achieved everything himself.
"But your body? That's a different story."
"What did he do to the other fighters?"
Karlyle was curious to find out his fate.
"Crushed them like a piece of paper."
Something sat in Karlyle's throat at the image of his body being squished by gravity. He gulped it down and responded, "So what do I do to not, you know, die?"
"I think that his gravity manipulation has an effect on his body as well, unlike your fires."
"Just wear him out then?"
"It's not that simple," she took a bite of her food and a sip of her drink, "Sure, it affects him, but he has a stronger resistance to it."
"Will I have to use my fire on him? Would that help?"
"Think so, that's how it is with virtually every kinetic."
The group finished their meals and headed back to their respective homes. Foster to his family's manor, Mimi to her small flat, and Karlyle to his assigned housing. They all got a proper amount of rest as Karlyle's final training began in the morning.