What the hell was Haze's power? It caused both internal damage and messed with his vision. He couldn't figure it out; it didn't make sense.
Charlotte wasn't allowed much more time to think before things began moving again; Haze tried to pull him upwards while simultaneously going for an attack. Charlotte pulled down and managed to overpower him, which had the added effect of making Haze lose his footing.
Charlotte slipped past his attack and slammed his fist into his chest, a groan escaping Haze's mouth as his arm pulled Charlotte even closer, Haze's hand slamming into his side. Blood spilled from his mouth as Charlotte claws him on his side, making him weaken his hold as he ducks out from the hug and takes a step back.
Haze was bleeding from both his chest and side, but Charlotte's legs trembled as he wiped the blood off his mouth. It seemed Haze wasn't using Chi to strengthen himself; instead, he focused entirely on his magic. Haze's body was trembling subtly. The few attacks he managed, and the blood loss seemed to be affecting him more than he was showing.
Charlotte had the advantage; he pulled downwards, forcing him to lose footing. Haze reached out to try to grab Charlotte's shoulder. Charlotte attempted to stab the fingers of the gauntlet into his palm again; this time, he was going to make sure to really force them deep into his hand and hopefully make him think twice about attacking.
Charlotte had made a careless mistake, or rather Haze had pulled him into a trap. Not once had he used his legs to attack Charlotte during the fight, and he seemed to have forgotten about it as he felt himself lose his footing.
Haze had used his long legs and slipped his foot behind his leg, pulling them off the ground. His palm slipped past his hand as he tried desperately to transition into a grab to stop his attack. It was too late, though, as he felt Haze's palm slammed into the side of his head.
Charlotte felt everything go black; he couldn't even feel his body. When he came, too, he was on the ground. He was still on the stage, so he must have only blacked out momentarily. He tried to force himself to stand; the amount of blood on the ground was worrying, but he couldn't bother to focus on it. He barely managed to get on his knees before he puked out blood and small chunks of what seemed to be meat...was that his breakfast?
"How the hell are you still conscious..."
Haze's voice sounded distorted and weird. Did his eardrum get blown out? Forget it; focus. You have to stand up.
Charlotte forced himself to his feet; everything was a spinning mess, or at least that's the impression he got. The light was so damn bright; every direction he looked yielded nothing. The only reason he knew that Haze was ahead of him was the cause of his voice.
"Calling you the toughest wasn't a mistake; try not to die. I'll put you out of your sorry state soon enough."
Charlotte could feel his entire body trembling; the good news was that his hand had stopped locking up. He could barely remain standing, and he couldn't stop himself from constantly blinking. Had something gotten in his eyes? He shook his head to try and force himself to focus and nearly toppled over. The sound of footsteps grew closer and closer; Haze was getting closer towards him.
He tried to use his Chi to heal his body, even if he could. With how bright the damn light was, he couldn't see a damn thing. Why won't that damn light stop shining!
Suddenly, everything went dark again, and he felt his Chi drain almost fully. At the same time, his right leg gave out. He couldn't believe he had gone out in such a pathetic manner.
"I'm so weak..."
His world became filled with color as soon as those words left his mouth. Haze was practically face-to-face with him; his palm flew past Charlotte's head. His expression seemed surprised; Charlotte couldn't understand why. Had he dodged on accident when his right leg gave out?
The small Chi he had remained traveled down to his right leg as he managed to stop himself from falling over and brought his fist upwards. Uppercutting Haze with his right hand before slamming his palm and claws into his gut and sending him back. Haze hits the ground, and Charlotte tries to move to capitalize; as soon as he takes his first step, he topples over and falls on his knees. He felt like puking again as he gagged and barely managed to hold it back.
He looked towards Haze, who held onto his gut. Blood was pooling out quite a bit; he seemed to be struggling to get words out before tapping the ground three times. As soon as that happened, the teacher's voice rang.
"Congratulations, Charlotte, on winning your match, although I disagree with its execution. The results can't be denied. Haze, you did an impressive job; the trap you set was beautifully executed. Sadly, the trap Charlotte had set up was more devious and deadly. I hadn't expected you to hold off on using your ability till now. I expect great things from the two of you."
Charlotte was teleported off the stage and now sitting comfortably behind Iza; he felt significantly better. He was not fully healed, but enough that his vision was back to normal. He tried to wipe the blood off his face. His tunic was a nice light blue color and, unlike before, fit him perfectly. The voice of the teacher and a few of his mumbling classmates still sounded weird.
While he was busy trying to clean the blood out of his ears, the teacher called someone's name. He didn't catch it at all, missed the moment his name was called again, and was back on the stage. The student ahead of him was holding a broadsword and shield; he had a red tunic. He looked nervous, even more so when Charlotte looked at him.
"What's wrong? Why are you so scared?"
Charlotte asked as a nervous smile spread across his face. He hadn't even had a chance to recover his Chi and had to fight someone else again; this wasn't fair.