EA Chapter 24 - Down to the Wire

Kiharu and Gravide came at each other with relentless ferocity, their punches and kicks shattering chunks of the arena and sending great tremors racing through the arena. With her weights removed, Kiharu’s strength and speed and risen to the point where even Gravide’s precognition was struggling to tag her movements in advance.

Even so, after taking a myriad of powerful blows from the beastkin, Gravide showed no signs of slowing or stopping.

By now, both girls had a few swelling bruises on their faces, and splashes of dried blood on their fists. Indeed, spatters of crimson had already littered portions of the arena, each Brawler giving as good as they got.

Their fists collided with another thunderous boom, sending both girls skidding away from each other with smoke hissing off their knuckles. “Come on!” Kiharu hissed, a manic grin breaking out across her face. “Thought you were supposed to be the best, Gravy! But I’m still standing! And I ain’t going down any time soon!”

“Big talk!” Gravide snarled, her prior cold expression now replaced with an angry grimace. “I’ll be sure to make you eat those words, Beast!”

Her aura swirled around her with renewed vigor, forming around her arms as a pair of sapphire cyclones. She threw a punch at Kiharu, despite the distance, sending a tunnel of wind from her knuckles. Kiharu raised an arm to block, only to cry out as the razor sharp gusts left several deep cuts in her flesh. She jumped away, narrowly avoiding another one.

Syri bit her bottom lip briefly. “Must be some kind of Ventius family technique. Never seen another Brawler make a move at first.”

Luna nodded, only half-paying attention to her ally. She had used techniques similar to Gravide’s in her old life. A very potent form of aerokinesis, able to slice through steel and flesh alike. Powerful for clearing swathes of enemies, or rabble in the streets. But with qi like Gravide’s, she would burn through her reserves too quickly if she relied too heavily on it.

Indeed, she was already trying to move into melee range again. She had Kiharu on the backfoot, striking her with swift jabs that snapped Kiharu’s head too and fro. Yet the beastkin stood firm, refusing to fall under the rain of punches.

Another blow came her way, but this time Kiharu swept her head forward to intercept it. Her forehead met Gravide’s knuckles, and there was a great crack as Gravide fist met a skull thicker than a steel plate. She howled, staggering away from the beastkin and vigorously shaking her hand,

“Heh...” Kiharu grinned, trails of blood running from both sides of her mouth. “Gotcha that time. You wanna see MY technique?!” She took a sharp step forward, tiles shattering under her feet, and caught Gravide with a great sweeping punch. Her hips swivelled and she decked her opponent with a punch from the other fist.

In an instant Kiharu had dropped from a repeating pattern, swinging her hips from side to side, each swing heralding another blow that carried the momentum of the last one in an ever increasing chain of harsh, thudding punches.

“Holy smokes!” Rema exclaimed, her eyes sparkling in excitement. “That’s gotta be some kind of... some kind of special beastkin fighting technique!”

“Kiharu’s always been a relentless fighter. And against a Brawler as tough as Gravide... she really has no reason to hold back.” Syri continued to watch, as if afraid to so much as blink. “I’ve only seen her use that move once in training. She said she saw it from some great warrior in one of the beastkin mountain arenas, a technique that mauled all opposition. The guy was called Dempshai, or something like that.”

Luna didn’t dare look away, watching as Kiharu’s pendulum blows repeatedly struck Gravide and drove her further back across the platform. With each blow she felt the bench quiver underneath her, as if the whole arena was trembling. She could tell, even from afar, that each blow could have flattened a house with frightening ease.

She smirked to herself. She could make good use of Kiharu, as a soldier.

“And did she fight in these... mountain arenas?” she asked.

Syri shook her head, her gaze focused on the platform. “Her father was a pit fighter, hails from a long lineage of them. I suppose she learned all the basics from him, and picked up other tricks from different arena fighters.”

Kiharu continued her relentless offence, each blow pushing Gravide back toward the edge of the platform. Just a little further, and she’d potentially push Gravide right out of the arena. But, as Luna looked on, she knew that Kiharu’s qi was steadily fading. As good as that technique was for pressing an assault, it put a good deal of strain on her body. Her qi was ticking down more and more by the second.

Gravide’s fist snapped upward sharply, moving to intercept Kiharu as she swept in for another punch. The force of the cross counter was near deafening in its intensity, violently jerking Kiharu backward. Blood and spit exploded from her mouth, the beastkin nearly falling over entirely.

A slew of shocked gasps filled the arena, and Luna found herself leaning forward for a better look.

Both brawlers stood apart, panting for breath. Gravide was dripping sweat and blood, while Kiharu was nearly collapsing and struggling to support herself on shaking legs. Luna winced. She had seen her share of bareknuckle fights in the undercity, back in her old life, and knew how devastating a solid cross counter could be. She could only imagine how rattled Kiharu’s head was with how fast her face had met Gravide’s fist.

“Good... effort,” Gravide huffed, one eye fully swollen shut under the rain of punches she had taken.

“Oh no,” Rema murmured. She glanced to Luna beside her, her eyes wide with panic. “She... Kiharu can still win right? We’ve seen her take hard hits, but she always keeps moving.” She didn’t sound so sure of herself.

“I doubt it,” Luna said, seeing no need to sugarcoat something for her. “Gravide’s punches are incredibly strong. When Kiharu came at her that fast, the force of the punch was likely magnified severely. Hard to believe she’s even standing at the moment, to be honest.” Gravide, conversely, was heavily damaged, but still seemed to have her faculties.

Gravid pulled a fist back, energy coalescing around her knuckles. Her next punch heralded an explosive boom of wind, slamming into Kiharu and knocking into her like a brick wall. She struck the arena floor, skidded across the shattered tiles and went still.

The referee made his way over, checked to make sure she was still breathing, and then motioned toward Gravide. “Winner! Cadet Ventius!”

The crowd erupted in rapturous cheers, many of them awestruck by the intensity of the battle. Even the watching faculty gave Gravide some applause, while the medical staff tended to Kiharu. The rest of the Hawks, however, looked on in worried silence. To see their physically strongest party member knocked out cold was, naturally, a sharp shock to the group.

Luna was the first to her feet. She had hoped her whole team could clear the first round at least... it was just damn bad luck that put Kiharu against one of her strongest peers right out of the gate. Still, she told herself, they could overcome this setback.

She was the first to her feet, giving her allies a quick look. “Come on,” she said. “We should make sure she’s alright.” She spared another glance to Gravide as they went along, The girl stood like a statue, her body rigid and moving only from the harsh shaking breaths she was taking in. The medical staff handled her with care, supporting her weight under each arm to lead her away.

She had won the bout, but... only barely.