The world exploded.

  Master’s heavy step into the molten floor ripped out the stone and tore a chunk of reality with it. Blue skies appeared in the rip that chased him. Wind followed in after, rushing behind him and screaming through the cave.

  Black miasma reluctantly formed around my fingers. My shameful gun of rot and decay dripped guiltily from my fingertips. My honor or his honor? I needed to choose and choose now. Once I opened the door to use it, a black stain would form on my warrior’s spirit. If Master were to die in a boring way…

  “Are you still holding back?” He screamed as he careened towards me.

  I clenched my fist even harder. I let the small claws on the tips of my fingers to dig into my flesh. This was pissing me off. I kept feeling like I was getting called out, getting punked. My role was reversed from what it usually was. I couldn’t allow it. If he was so eager to die in such a boring way, maybe I should just give it to him. Does it make me look bad to shoot a guy in the head if he was begging for it?

  I attacked with [The Great Decay]. A somber feeling flowed through my body as it crossed the point of no return. This was the sacrifice that I had to make to see what the best the world had to offer.

  And it missed.

  Master came to a dead halt just a few inches away from the end of my extended fist. The winds that screamed behind him wailed over me and tried to lift me from my stance.

  A stomp from Master tore more of my world away and lifted my from the ground. I rolled out of the current and swooped in to deliver my cursed blow, but it was stymied by a wall of wind that enveloped Master’s body.

  I was pushed away again. Large gaps of open sky now riddled the roof of my lair. I pressed myself against the ceiling so that I would not be sucked through.

  “It seems you must touch me to use that ability,” Master growled. “You cannot hit me, but I can hit you.”

  Master swung his arm in my direction. A punch that felt like an anvil connected with my chest, pressing me into the ceiling. A massive fist print formed in the ceiling around me as though an invisible giant squashed me into the sand. I spat blood and pushed off the ceiling to crash down at the ground.

  “Since you showed sincerity, I will show you moves worthy of a fight.”

  Master swung his leg around and kicked me with a blast of wind. I was sent flying into the side wall. More of my liar chipped away.

  A follow up kick, knocked part of my body outside of the lair. Master’s workshop rested behind where my body impacted the cave. I pressed my legs into it and used it as leverage to force my way back inside.

  A gale of wind carrying loose rocks pelted me as I crawled inside like a slug. The rest of my lair was being sucked into a vortex forming around Master, wreathing him in impenetrable wind.

  I looked down at my black-wreathed hand and let the ability drift away. It was pointless to use it if I wasn’t able to hit him. I needed to put him in the perfect situation before I could deal the blow that he dared me too.

  Space creation, space control; I needed to fight him at his own game first. But, that was a much better scenario.

  I sprinted towards the tornado at the center of my crumbling domain. My body accelerated more and more as I covered the gap. I weaved between the winds, creating my own with the sheer amount of speed I produced.

  I gleefully prepared a new punch for Master. [The Great Decay] should wait. For now, I needed to show my newest creations, the ones that spawned from me and me alone.

  [Bomber].

  When I reached just a few feet away from Master, I launched it. A tar orb formed in front of me as my fiery fist passed through it.

  As soon as the flames touched the material, the air erupted around me. Shockwaves were sent in all directions. A layer of stone was pulled from all the walls and sent flying towards Master as the flames were sucked into the vortex.

  This time, the inferno was too powerful to suffocate effortlessly. The droplets of molten black mana clung to everything, sparking new fires where old ones died.

  Rocks flung up from the burning vortex and began to refill the gaps in my lair. The air grew hot again and the winds started to die.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I pressed, launching another explosive punch that boiled the air and coated the world in fires.

  Still, it was not enough to break through the barrier of air that coated Master’s body. The air steamed and burned his flesh, filling the cave with the scent of cooked meat and burning hair. Scorch marks and bubbling skin from the pair of blasts covered his braced arms. Between his arms, I saw his grin; full of energy.

  “Better. But, not good enough.”

  He calmly threw a simple uppercut. Mana so thick that it coated his fist coalesced around his knuckles. The fires all died in an instant, I felt the air disappear from my lungs; squeezed out like toothpaste.

  A whooshing sound passed my ears. Then, the molten cave shattered. It disappeared like a hologram, not even leaving shards behind. We were on top of the mountain again, bared to the whipping winds and cold air.

  This time, I truly understood how exposed I was.

  I quickly threw another punch towards Master. He kicked upwards, falling just short of my wrist. The power knocked my punch skyward, spewing fire all over the mountain side.

  A force punch directed at my center mass sent me on a tour of the sky. A flurry of strikes bounced off of me. I tried to fly with the wind to allow it to glance me, but there were too many strikes to effectively avoid them all.

  It was just as painful as being hit by his fists; bone crunched blows that assailed me from all sides. It chipped away at me. Slowly, but surely, he could kill me without us ever touching each other.

  Was this the shameful form that he did not want to face Wrath with? Was he doing this to show me his sincerity?

  Is that all it truly came down to? Showing everything that you have to offer without consideration for the quality of the fight? All I knew was, with every punch flung from hundreds of feet away, I could feel Master’s sincerity in the pain delivered. If I was to be a good student and offer proper thanks, I had to do the same.

  I summoned [Obsidian Spikes] below Master. He leapt out of the way and kicked at the attacks, turning them into fine black powder. He threw another punch in my direction before jumping out of the way of further attacks. As he paid attention to the ground, I dropped one on his head.

  The spike plunged on top of Master. The tip jabbed into his shoulder before he could smash it into nothingness.

  Still, it allowed me to close the distance and begin my own drop. I launched a fireball down upon Master using [Bomber]. A plume of smoke flooded the sky as Master’s winds sapped at the fire’s power, leaving only embers to scatter over the mountainside.

  I appeared through the smoke like a missile. My legs were pressed to my chest, ready to kick out at the final moment.

  I felt the winds envelop me and try to push me away. But, [Bomber] was not something I needed my fists for.

  Explosions kicked out of my feet and chopped off the top of the mountain. A wall of my lair started to build itself back up again as I sped towards Master’s burning body. An idea of an attack string formed in my head, bringing a sense of clarity to my head.

  Mana enveloped Master’s hand as he attempted to knock me away again. This time, I summoned [Obsidian Spikes] below me. The black pillars, much smaller than usual, tore through my feet and then split open at the top.

  Master punched through the air, the mountain tore apart, sending massive boulders flying through the sky like a child tossing marbles. My body was lifted up and my feet were snagged by the spikes. They acted as tent hooks, keeping me tethered to the ground while the hurricane force winds wailed and try to lift me into the sky. However, it did nothing to stop the pain from the metaphysical punch that landed on my sternum.

  I fired [Bomber] in response. He allowed to let himself get knocked backwards to create space away from me. My lair only grew and a wall formed behind him.

  As he struck the growing walls of my lair, I summoned [Obsidian Spikes] behind Master. The black spike skewered his hand and prevented his counter attack for a moment.

  I pounced on the delay. I wound up a close range punch. The wind still surrounded his body, but I had a different way to penetrate it this time.

  [Obsidian Lance].

  A jet black spike jutted out of my hand. I jammed it directly into the mana barrier surrounding Master. Our mana fought; his tried to drive me out while mine dug deeper. I added more and more of my [Hoard] into my magic stat, keeping just enough strength to stay tethered to the ground.

  It broke through, pushing into Master’s shoulder.

  [Stunning Strike].

  Master’s body stopped and his wind subsided for a second. It was just long enough. My soul had made its decision as my other hand struck out against Master. Black miasma fluttered through my fingers as my fist slammed directly into Master’s chest. The wall of the lair evaporated behind him.

  [The Great Decay].

  A renewed gust of wind blew me away from my foe. I skidded along the mountain top and came to a stop.

  But, I had succeeded in delivering my scornful attack on Master. Black wisps flowed out of the impact mark.

  He threw a punch that screamed through the air. This time, I was barely able to dodge out of the way. The success filled me with a pit of dismay at the weakening of the strike. The stat drain was already underway.

  “That was only the smallest piece to victory,” Master snarled as he ripped the sharpened mana out of his shoulder. “Is it your turn to avoid me?”

  I could not tolerate such a thing. Avoidance wasn’t my strategy. Even with the application of [The Great Decay], I would still be at a disadvantage at range for some time. I needed a place where we could do nothing but hit each other. I needed to feel the kinetic response if I was going to derive anything exciting out of this.

  “No.”

  Four ink-colored walls closed in around us as a ceiling formed above us. The walls started to press in, drawing Master and me closer and closer together. It squeezed down into a tight space, no larger than a boxing ring.

  It was a new ability, formed by my desires and molded by my skills.

  Master and I stood face to face, our fists raised. Finally, I would be able to finish this is a proper manner. Master had to kill me if he wanted [The Great Decay] to end. I was more than willing to give him the opportunity.

  “Don’t forget which one of us is the close combat expert,” Master growled.

  “There is no better arena for our finale than this, Master,” I said with a grin. “If one of us is to die, let it be in an arena.”

  “So be it. What are you going to name this one?” He asked with an air of amusement.

  “The box.”