Pushing my body, my eyes caught a faint glimpse of a metallic material, long and intertwined, materializing from thin air.
'Walk could that be?' I thought, staring at Noelle as she maintained her calm composure and gradually broke free from the boy's grip while I desperately tried to free myself, only able to squirm.
It was the harsh truth—I was weaker than Noelle. I watched her make her move, wielding the chains that flowed into her grip. In an instant, the metallic confines wrapped themselves around the boy, illuminated in a faint white light.
The boy lost grip, and I pushed myself free, gasping for air. I held myself in the air; midway from falling, I glared at the boy in his hopeless situation, chained and immobile.
'What was that skill?' I asked Noelle, although slightly jealous of her powers. She ignored me for a while and checked the chains' tightness before returning her gaze to me, swiftly arranging her hair.
'Oh, it's nothing. It's just Celestial Bind, a skill I found after I was granted the system. Don't you have your special skills?' For a moment, her usual shy self had completely disappeared and only her confidence was left.
She didn't care to explain how her power worked, but it was least important as a few others had begun charging towards us. I stared in the distance, viewing the calm figure of Lucas who had slowly returned to us.
It seemed like he had seen Noelle's magical prowess and it was truly shameful being useless at the moment. I immediately turned toward a boy who charged toward us. He made his first move, extending his fists towards my face.
I swiftly dodged it, impressed at my speed. He immediately diverted his arm and it barely missed me.
'Don't underestimate the son of a boxer!' he barked, continuing his attacks. All I could do was evade and block, as I didn't truly understand my powers yet, and I wasn't particularly skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
However, Noelle quickly took out any opponents that came her way with her effective long-range attack, Celestial Bind.
Blaze? I called out, hoping for a response from the flaming beast within me. Honestly, I had no idea where it resided. My mental space? My core, perhaps? I desperately questioned my powers hoping to make a breakthrough.
As I stood, still in combat with the boxer's son, Lucas came to the rescue, brutally injuring him, almost to the verge of death.
'Don't kill hi–' I was immediately disrupted by Lucas's sharp, thick and cutting voice, 'Shut up, don't speak. You couldn't even scratch him.'
I was immediately enraged, and I soon lashed out, baring my fists against Lucas, who effortlessly threw me to the side. Faced with immediate defeat, I stared at my fists, disappointed at my poor strength.
'That's it,' I thought, suddenly struck by an idea. I had remembered Aura Shield, the only common ability but it seemed like no one was using it. They were all engrossed in their special skills, showing off. However, Aura Shield was all I had, unlike them.
I quickly prepared my dominant voice, trying to hide the faint tone of disappointment. 'Aura Shield.' I stared at my body as it slowly but surely started glowing. The bright blue light grew brighter and larger, and soon, it enveloped my entire body.
'That's more like it.' I stood up, ready to fight a boy who came my way. Noelle took the girls on, while Lucas and I intercepted the boys. A boy headed straight at me but suddenly stopped, leaving a large distance between us.
I didn't understand his plot, but I blindly took a step forward and noticed him gradually place his arms atop his head. He began glowing, from head to toe, in bright violet flames that spat out balls of fire.
'What kind of magic is this?' I muttered as I fell back and relied on my Aura Shield as protection even though I barely understood it. I hoped for the best and covered my vital spots with my hands.
He advanced towards me and suddenly pointed his fingers at me. His unusual gesture began a wave of flaming barrages, each one incredibly heating my environment. Luckily, none had seemed to damage my physical body but I could feel myself growing weaker.
'That's probably my Mana depleting.' My eyes began shutting, and in my moment of distraction, a stray fireball pierced through my shield, directly contacting my chest.
The sudden heat and pain brought me back to reality, my eyes widening in intense fear. My legs felt weak as well, wobbling as though without any bones. I fell to the ground as the boy advanced even faster attempting to finish me off.
Lucas was busy with his opponent, who he had been brawling with for a while, therefore, marking Lucas out as any form of help. Besides, I doubted he would have any intentions of saving me even if he was free.
Noelle, on the other hand, was weakened, having to face a group of girls charging towards her in full force. As I stared back at the floor, darkness flooded my mind and my head fell to the ground, the steps of the boy growing louder each second.
Thick empty darkness. That was what I saw or at least, what I felt I saw. It was too dark to truly know if my eyes were even open. Amidst the darkness, a faint glimmer of hope shone, bright red and slowly growing blue.
A tale grew and scales formed. The sight was heartwarming and reassuring, seeing Blaze once more.
'Blaze, is that you? I'm sorry, but... it's like I'm dying,' I called out as the reality of death began to strike me. Blaze seemed to ignore me and a few tears began slipping for my eyes.
Is this how my life would end? I was unsure and I deeply hoped it wasn't. I stared at Blaze, entrusting my last hope in him as he took flight into the darkness.
Immediately, my eyes closed involuntarily and it seemed like something in my body had shifted.
'Infernal Resonance!'
I saw myself uttering those same words as the boy before me burned to ashes. I looked down at my hands, wondering how I was alive and, more especially, how the fire had erupted all around me.
'Noelle? Lucas?' They all stared at me, baffled and for some reason, my lips couldn't move. I could only feel my warm body slowly move towards the boy, stepping on him as a final, disrespectful blow.
'Did I just...kill someone? What's going on here? Why can't I control my own body?' Tears began flowing down my eyes, although I couldn't truly feel any; it only felt like it did.