Chereads / Rise of the Blacksmith / Chapter 45 - Burning payback

Chapter 45 - Burning payback

"Amber, you may pick your opponent."

Amber stood up and pointed at the wind user; he wasn't surprised, especially with how peeved she had been about them.

"Alright, I expect quite an interesting match from you two."

The two appeared up on stage as Amber reached into her pouch. He didn't see what she pulled out as she hid it in her hand. While the wind user he was familiar with had a short sword in his hand. It had two dragons running up the blade. The hilt seemed to be made of jade. It was impressively made; he was curious to know who made it.

As soon as the teacher motioned for them to start, he tossed the blade at them, and she quickly sidestepped it. The blade, however, stopped moving once it passed it and slashed her across the back. She turned around only to have him rush at her as the blade once more tried to swipe at her; she conjured up a flame wall in his way and ducked under the blade.

The wall barely managed to stop him as it dispersed quickly as wind scattered the flames and was easily snuffed out. He brought his foot down onto her head as she rolled to the side, the blade once again thrusting down onto her. She managed to throw what looked like a tiny metal ball to the side of the blade and barely changed the angle of the blade. It gave her a small cut on her right shoulder, and she quickly got back on her feet. The blade flew back to his hand, and he smirked slightly.

"You could surrender; this is a terrible matchup magic-wise." 

She tried to form fire orbs around him, only to have the wind scatter and extinguish them. He shook his head as wind surrounded his blade, almost like a hurricane. She gathered fire around her hands and sent out a wave of flame. He slashed with his sword twice as blades of wind were flung out, cutting the fire apart and leaving wounds on her chest. Blood poured out as she quickly used the fire to cauterize her wounds.

He whistled, and as the wind surrounding his blade grew weaker, more gathered around it and strengthened it.

"I must admit I'm impressed. I like a woman with a bit of fire."

He laughed at his joke as she reached into her pouch and pulled out three tiny metal balls. He regained his composure as he stepped back, holding his blade ahead of him almost as if he were hiding behind it.

"All that talk, and you cower away at any little thing."

She smirked, trying to get a reaction out of him; he didn't seem to budge as she clicked her tongue.

"I'm not that stupid...or I was before, had a certain brat give me an important lesson in not underestimating my opponent."

He opened his hand as the wind gathered above his palm, and he shot it towards her, flinging the metal balls off her hand. It had the added effect of lifting her slightly on the ground as she stumbled back; he didn't miss his chance as he ran forward and thrusts his blade, aiming for her chest. Fire formed underneath her feet as she used them to correct her footing, and she moved forward, shifting herself a bit to let the blade pass between her chest and arm as she trapped it between the two. The winds surrounding the blade cut into her body and arm; before he could pull the blade back, she opened her palm, revealing a tiny ball of fire.

"A-are you cra-!"

Those were the only words he managed to utter before the ball of fire exploded outwards, sending the two flying to opposite sides of the stage. Amber had deep but tiny cuts running across the side of her body as well as her arm. Her arm looked to be a mangled mess as the skin and flesh were slashed so aggressively it revealed some bone. She wasn't as severely burned by her attack; it seemed that she had adequately prepared for such an outcome. The wind user was taken off guard; the fire explosion had left his entire body scorched. His clothes were gone, and he looked almost like a giant piece of charcoal in the shape of a human. 

It was no surprise when the battle ended right there and then. As the two were teleported off the stage, the stage seemed to fix itself immediately. Beside Charlotte was the wind user, who didn't look like a burnt corpse anymore. His skin looked pink, and he had a distinct lack of hair; his tunic had also been replaced by a black one. He seemed a bit dazed; as for Amber, she had taken his spot, her clothes had been fixed and replaced with a light red color, and her wounds had seemingly been slightly healed as she moved her hands and slowly placed the metal balls back in her pouch. He did notice that one of the metal balls had smoke and was slightly glowing red before she put it back in her pouch. She didn't seem fully healed as she kept noticeably wincing, and when she tried to touch her injured side, she flinched and pulled her hand away.

"That was a good showing by both, although it was clear Amber had come to this battle seemingly more prepared. I admire your tenacity to take such damage for the win, as for Juba. You should have been more careful, even if it meant going into the next battle without Chi. Your magic could easily dispatch her magic; you should have tried to tire her out."

With that, he simply reached back into the hat and went about pulling out the next name. Juba, beside Charlotte, seemed to finally regain his senses as he cursed under his breath.

"Crazy woman...I'll pay you back for this."

Charlotte gave them a passing glance, and he could swear that his cheeks were a bit more pink than the rest of his body. It was strange.