The sky above the East Arena was a flawless, piercing blue and the weather was perfect for a duel. The murmuring crowd hoped it was a bloodbath.
Students packed the stone tiers, their uniforms were a living mosaic against the grey amphitheatre.
Even some of the second-years had to come, their Resonant eyes watching the proceedings with a detached, almost clinical curiosity. This was Eryndor's oldest form of theatre and they hoped for a show.
The Arena wasn't usually open to first-years, but Death Duels were an exception. It was a brutal, archaic privilege.
Of course, they didn't always end in death, but they always ended in blood. Most of the time.
Kaitri stood on the sun-bleached sand of the arena floor, the weight of the two short Tanto blades in his hands a cold, familiar comfort. Opposite him, Cassian Draevos was a study in relaxed arrogance.
A faint smile played on his lips, but his eyes were hard and empty.
'What is he thinking?' Kaitri wondered, his own grip tightening on the hilts. "He hasn't said a single word since we arrived here."
It didn't matter. Kaitri had spent every spare moment in the dojo with Obi, her sharp critiques echoing in his ears long after the sessions ended.
He'd been training for this.
He wasn't a Resonant, and Cassian wasn't either, not officially. But the son of a House Leader, even a fallen one, was never to be underestimated. He would not let his guard down. He would get his win, and he would get his answers.
As if hearing his thoughts, Cassian finally spoke. His voice was smooth, cultured, but laced with an undercurrent of something sharp and ugly.
"Thank you for acknowledging my challenge, Anam. I know this is my only chance to duel a student until graduation. I am sure you have questions, and I will be more than happy to answer them. Right after I have my fill of your blood."
A wave of whispers washed through the crowd.
"Must be a family feud…"
"Annex owns Draevos now anyway. Them having an acting leader is just a formality to keep the house's army from disbanding."
"Where's your proof, horse-mouth?"
Then, a single loud voice shot from the crowd, cutting through the murmurs from the stands. "MAKE HOUSE DRAEVOS PROUD AND BEAT THAT ANNEX BRAT!"
Kaitri's eyes flicked toward the sound. It was one of the boys who had flanked Cassian the day of the challenge. He was not amused.
A low, almost inaudible growl escaped his lips as his gaze snapped back to the six-foot-tall katana wielder before him. He forced the anger down, replacing it with a cold, cutting calm.
"Isn't it Eryndor's unwritten rule to earn answers?" Kaitri's voice was steady, carrying across the sand. "I intend to follow that rule. But the answers I seek might be too much for you to bear."
Cassian's smile widened into a predatory grin. "I see. Then, I'll try my best to keep you ignorant, Annex boy."
Just then, a voice rang through the arena — loud, piercing, and infused with a melody that vibrated in the structure. Professor Obi stood on an elevated platform, her presence silencing the crowd more effectively than any command.
"I need absolute silence while I explain the rules." Her gaze swept the arena, missing nothing. "As the challenger, Cassian Draevos has declared his rules for the duel. They have been reviewed and deemed fair and acceptable. The battle will be in the form of hand-to-hand combat."
Another ripple of confusion and disappointment went through the crowd. Hand-to-hand? No weapons? The murmurs started again, louder this time, until a wave of indigo energy, Obi's Soul Energy, pulsed through the arena.
The pressure was immense, a physical weight that pressed down on every student that had made a sound, forcing the air from their lungs and silencing them instantly.
'Such accuracy and control,' Kaitri thought, a flicker of awe cutting through his focus.
Of course, it was nothing compared to the raw, world-breaking power of Archedes, but it was a masterful display nonetheless.
A small smirk touched his lips. His friends had anticipated a hand-to-hand confrontation.
He'd spent hours with Obi, drilling counters, practicing holds, learning to use his shorter reach as an advantage. He was ready.
Obi continued, her voice unwavering. "The time limit is one hour. The requirement to win is to draw first blood."
A collective sigh of relief and renewed disappointment swept the stands. Jenny and Varik, who had been holding their breath, let it out in a whoosh. This wasn't an execution after all.
Cassian didn't want to beat Kaitri to a pulp; he just wanted to prove a point. Some of the second-years, clearly bored by the lack of promised carnage, stood up and left.
Obi's gaze settled on the two boys in the centre of the ring. "Begin."
There was no warning. One moment Cassian was standing still, the next he was a blur of motion, closing the ten feet between them in a heartbeat.
The speed was terrifying, far beyond what a normal Terran should be capable of. But Kaitri, thanks to being in a literal Resonant's body and with Obi's brutal training, could follow it. Barely.
He brought his arms up in a cross-block just as Cassian's first strike, a vicious knife-hand chop, came whistling toward his throat.
The impact was like being hit by a steel bar. A jarring shock ran up his arms, and he was forced back a step, then another, and another.
He was on the defensive immediately.
Cassian's attacks a relentless storm of fists, elbows, and kicks. Kaitri couldn't find an opening, couldn't focus enough to execute any of his planned counters.
Cassian was a whirlwind of controlled violence and his movements were fluid and precise. For a tall guy, his reflexes were insane, his reach seeming to extend impossibly far.
After a solid minute of Kaitri doing little more than deflecting and dodging, Cassian's frustration began to show. His movements grew sharper, more aggressive. Finally, he broke off the attack, stepping back and giving Kaitri a precious moment to breathe.
Kaitri's arms ached, his lungs burned. He hadn't expected this level of sustained intensity. He was already breathing heavily, sweat stinging his eyes. Cassian, on the other hand, looked completely fine, not even a flush on his cheeks.
"You're fast," Cassian said, his smile returning, but this time it was laced with contempt. "But you are not fast enough. Prepare yourself."
The world dissolved into a blur. Cassian moved with a speed that was simply inhuman.
'Too fast,' was Kaitri's only thought as a brutal palm-heel strike slammed into his chest, dead centre. The crowd gasped, then cheered.
The force of the blow lifted him off his feet, sending him staggering back. He felt the coppery taste of blood fill his mouth, the urge to cough a wet, ragged thing he had to swallow down.
He gritted his teeth, held his breath, but before he could recover, a vicious kick connected with his ribs, sending a fresh explosion of agony through his side.
The strikes came faster now, more connecting than he could block. His pace faltered. He was slowing down. He was losing.
'Think, Kaitri! Patterns, patterns… He's too fast… There…'
How it came to him, he didn't know. Through the haze of pain and exhaustion, he saw it. A rhythm.
A subtle and almost imperceptible pattern in Cassian's relentless assault. He was smart, he knew that, but this was different. Cassian had been trained since birth as a weapon being forged by a powerful House. He shouldn't be able to read him. But he could.
Just as the thought surfaced, that familiar, cold voice whispered in his mind.
[Pattern Recognition Quirk Acquired…]
[Improving Reflexes for Ten Minutes.]
The sudden intrusion shocked him so much he missed a block. A sharp, stinging blow connected with his thigh, buckling his leg and forcing him to tilt forward into a crouch.
He's going for a flying roundhouse while I'm down.
The thought was instantaneous, a flash of absolute certainty. He didn't know how he knew it. Cassian hadn't used the move once.
'The voice again.'
The system. It had interfered. It had helped, once more. He didn't understand it, but in that split second, he made a choice.
If he couldn't understand the gift, he could at least use it.
The crowd gasped as Kaitri, instead of trying to rise, dropped lower. He coiled his body, and as Cassian launched into the air, Kaitri lunged forward, grabbing his opponent's grounded leg and lifting with all his might.
He was only 5'7", but he used his lower centre of gravity, a lesson Obi had drilled into him.
He tried to slam Cassian to the ground, but Cassian was too skilled. Mid-air, he twisted, spinning his free leg to grip Kaitri's head in a perfect hurricanrana.
Kaitri found himself flying and he world around him tumbling in a dizzying spin. But then, everything slowed.
The roar of the crowd faded to a distant hum. The frantic spin of the world became a calm, deliberate rotation. He wasn't panicking. He was… calculating.
He controlled his descent, twisting his body and landing on his feet, albeit awkwardly. He was facing the crowd, his back to Cassian. He couldn't see him, but somehow, he knew.
He knew Cassian had moved.
Without hesitation, Kaitri planted his left foot, a solid anchor in the sand, and swung his right foot backward in a blind, spinning hook kick.
It was a perfect dance pose, a move of impossible grace he had learned from watching Aris Veylan in class.
In the stands, Obi's lips curled into a rare, genuine smile. The crowd, for the second time, gasped as one.
The back of Kaitri's foot connected with Cassian's face with a sickening, wet crack.
The impact was so strong that Cassian was thrown backward, landing hard on the sand. A single white tooth spun through the air, and blood gushed from his nose.
"Such lower body strength," Obi muttered to herself, a flicker of pride in her eyes. She rose from her seat, her voice ringing out with finality.
"Winner, Kaitri Anam."
For a moment, there was stunned silence. Then the arena erupted. Varik and Jenny were on their feet, screaming themselves hoarse. The Draevos supporters booed, shouting that it was a fluke, but Kaitri didn't hear them.
'He made the rules, not me.'
He turned to Cassian, who was slowly pushing himself up, blood dripping from his chin. "You're fast…" Kaitri began, but Cassian cut him off with his voice low and his face forming hateful snarl.
"You Annex bastards are strong, but you still couldn't protect your own. I lost a lot of my family that day… It all went downhill. Your parents ruined my life."
Kaitri stared at him, his brief moment of victory turning to ash in his mouth. "They died, too. Trying to protect the city."
"NO!" Cassian roared, staggering to his feet. "They were our escorts! They were at the hotel, in a meeting with us! They abandoned the people they were sworn to protect! My father, one of the two Fated-ranked in our entire house, wasn't there because he thought we were in good hands!"
Kaitri's blood ran cold. He remembered that night. His parents appearing out of nowhere, already in their combat gear. They hadn't been home all day.
Cassian's face was a mask of grief and rage. "One kid was chosen over three Diaphanous delegates and thirty Bounded. I lost four siblings that night, Anam. Four. I only survived because my mother could teleport one person out of the city. One. And she chose me. I know the question you want to ask."
He wiped his bleeding nose with the back of his hand. "I asked for this duel because I wanted to see if the person that the Annex Duo, two of the strongest Diapahous in the world, sacrificed their lives for was worth it. They gave their lives for you, Anam. For you. And you are still this weak?"
The words hit Kaitri like a physical blow. He couldn't think of an answer.
He hadn't thought about the implications of that night. He hadn't thought about anyone else. Not his friends from school, not the other people in the city. Just himself. Just his loss.
"I hate you, Anam," Cassian spat, his voice trembling with years of buried pain. "Everyone who knew what really happened that night does. You and your bitch little sister…"
The world went silent. The roar of the crowd, the sting of his own injuries, the weight of Cassian's revelation — it all vanished at that point.
Kaitri heard nothing after that. He could take the blame. He could take the insults. But there was one thing he would never, ever take.
He saw red.