The Dojo was filled with anticipation, the dominant changing star stood silently against the newcomer, one who appeared out of nowhere just to attempt and prove his equal. They were distinct opposites opposing each other.
Nephis embodied the stoic image that awakened aspired to be, but with a flame of confidant dominance in her silver irises. While Kade embodied passion with the violent life he lived, every crowd member could distinctly tell that he was ready to pounce, eager to have his fun.
Nephs did not need to say much, her presence did the talking. Waiting for Kade to make the first move. While Kade began to inch closer.
Kade cracked his knuckles with a grin and summarised his victim.
'Build: slightly shorter than me, thin and athletic, confident and domineering, probably used to winning, probably cause she hates losing so much' It would help if she talked once and a while, but she seemed to be the strong silent type.
'Shame, they don't really have much going for them the second they lose their strength'
A hunger burnt in his veins, [Battle Lust] demanding to be satiated.
'Ill just have to make her talk'
Kade shot forward, powerful strides towards his opponent. Nephis remained unmoving, undisturbed by the powerful echoes Kade's boot made against the floor. like an immovable statue, her stoic expression growing sharper.
Kade met face-to-face with the legacy a moment later, his fist carrying for her head, the air whistling away from the force. ' A good old jab – have to test the waters after all'.
He didn't know what aspect the girl had, and for that matter, he wasn't too interested. What Kade wanted to know was how a legacy of her status was taught to fight. How would a style build upon sharpening a sword to perfection, like a blacksmith on his masterpiece?
Compared to the warrior who repaired and sharpened his blade upon every battle, the one striving for perfection or the one that strived for adaptation. Kade gave in to the curiosity to test his might against someone deemed the best.
Nephis saw his fist home in, she diligently ducked down, avoided the catastrophic blow, and responding with a leg sweep, it curved in like a beautiful arc, but met Kade's ankle like concrete.
Kade looked down at the failed attempt and laughed, Nephis feeling the immediate danger and dashing backward, just in time to avoid a brutalising slam, Kade's fists crashing into the floor where the legacy once was.
"That was good, I expected you to be more upfront about it, but your surprisingly tricky". Kade listed, wiping the dust of his knuckle before huffing in amusement "I like it!!
Nephis only grimaced, the confidence in her eyes only dimming slightly, as she took a lower stance. Her opponent hadn't shown to much skill, but what he did show was complete confidence, and the strength to back it up.
No matter; she still had plenty of ways to win.
Nephis this time bolted forward; running low to the ground she made distance quickly,
Kade let her come, casually raising his leg for a brutal front kick.
She twisted at the last second, narrowly dodging the blow, and slammed into his chest.
Kade felt the impact. The world tilted.
But his hands struck the floor behind him, fingers digging in with trained force. The momentum carried him into a backward flip.
His coat fluttered as he landed on both feet with a heavy thud.
The crowd's eyes widened at the scene; they had expected a Nephis to domineer like she had done with the rest of the sleepers in the cohort, yet the newcomer seemed to shrug off the initial stages, the dumb grin still having not left his face despite the circumstances.
Kade rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms, violent anticipation in his expression.
"That was a good warm-up, but I'll try now"
Nephis's eyes narrowed, the silver in her gaze gleaming sharper.
The two were charged.
The wind rushed in Kade's ears as he surged forward.
He struck forward with an experimental jab to test the waters, but she bypassed it and went for the throat, and Kade intercepted with his other hand and grasped powerfully at her wrist.
She sure is violent.
If Kade weren't such a brilliant combatant, that last strike could've left him reeling. He was no stranger to brutality—but from someone this skilled? It thrilled him.
Nephis's calm facade finally cracked, her silver gaze flaring with raw resolve. Without warning, she launched a ruthless kick, her boot arcing upward with vicious speed toward the most vulnerable spot of all.
The crowd gasped in shock and winced in anticipation.
Kade's instincts roared. A jolt of [Never Ending Fury] surged through him, lighting up his body with borrowed speed. His shin snapped into position just in time.
Her boot slammed into the bone. The impact was brutal—but compared to what could have happened, the pain was a gift.
"Tsk." Nephis clicked her tongue and sent a lightning-fast hook with her free arm; Kade stood there and let it happen. Her knuckles crashed into his face, the force pushing Kade's head to the right. Nephis watched as the veins on Kades neck seemingly burst forward.
Pulsating as his face turned to look at her despite the fist being driven into his face, with gritted teeth and a happy anger taking place. Staring death into her eyes. Her wrist, which was held in his grasp suddenly being crushed under pressure.
"Really? REALLY!" Kade spat, his strength emboldened by [Unyielding Asura] crashing over Nephis, who winced slightly from the pain. "There's a line between fun and fucked up; going there right now, of all places, is fucked. Even I don't normally do it. WHY GO FOR MY NUTS NOW!"
Nephis stared back into his fiery eyes and responded, her irises starting to glow a shimmering bright silver. "It was tempting" . Suddenly her skin shinned with a slight hew of radiance, and her strength soared to match Kade's.
"You little—" Kade uttered his words cut short by Nephis; rocketing, she grasped his hand to the left to strike Kade with his own fist. The slight moment of daze from her opponent allowed for Nephis to deliver a powerful kick to his ankle, sending Kade falling to the flaw.
Kade weightlessness under him as he fell; time slowed as Kade tried to understand what the hell was happening. 'How the hell is she getting away with this? Why am I so... Faulty, I should be wiping the floor with her beaten body, especially with [Unyielding Asura]'.
It clicked; he let himself get caught in her flow of battle, and Kade let her initiate and continue the fight, all because he was interested in how she fought. And in trying to slow down and understand, it was where he fell short.
She was the complete opposite; her style was robotic in a sense. It was as if every move was mentally calculated to be the best option to achieve sweet victory, ruthless and crushing; there was little room for any spice, emotion, or passion.
It was victory incarnate.
It left a foul taste in his mouth, and the motions of combat fell beside him as he observed with disgust. To lose against this would be pitiful, to be crushed against the legacy, to be pushed along the wayside, to fall without fighting with what he had.
To lose so pitifully in a brawl of brawn.
He could not allow it.
He wouldn't allow it.
Death would have to drag him down before he let himself fall like that.
'I'm such a fool', Kade thought, catching himself on the dojo floor. 'There's fun in a good fight—'
He muttered aloud:
"But there's also fun in a devastating victory."
If Nephis wanted to win so badly, then Kade would match her craving. And raise her everything.
Nephis watched Kade fall with disregard; he fell like all of her opponents, pitifully falling as she dimmed there hopes and dreams, for her violence to a path anew made all those who witnessed in bend under its dominance.
He caught himself.
Their eyes met. Where once she'd seen cocky bravado, now there was something else.
Blank. Focused. Unreadable.
And before she could react, Kade twisted his entire body upon landing. Nephis felt danger coming her way, she leaned her head backward just in time as Kades heel burst through the space her head had just been.
She darted back further, Kade still carried by the inertia of his spinning kick flipped back to his feet. The once laid-back body language of her opponent was gone; all that remained was pure vigilance in his steps and focus in his expression.
The crowd dared not to make a move, the tension crushed them all. Nephis did not dare to move and waited to pounce. While Kade simply reached for his coat pockets. The sleepers watched in surprise as he brought out to small objects.
A cigarette and a lighter.
The room watched stunned as Kade lit up the stick, placing it between his scarred lips, and taking a deep, slow breath. He exhaled and the viscous grey smoke flew back onto him, Nephis watched as he flicked the cigarette onto the floor.
It rolled under the tension, and Kade stomped on it, the bang crashing through the dojo.
"I'm going to beat the ever-loving shit out of you"
He was already on Nephis before she had time to react; she desperately attempted to block, but Kade's fist tore through her defences, sending the legacy back. Nephis tore desperately with her might to get the tempo back in her favour.
But Kade played to his own beat, the rhythmic drums of his Heart of Chaos. Kade swallowed the light and opportunity of escape like black hole, from a left to a right, into a shoulder bash and high ward kick. Nephis was unable to escape or stop the tirade.
He wasn't faster; he wasn't stronger, but her eyes felt veiled compared to his influence. Every move she calculated to use seemed already proven; every counter was denied, every feint was ignored, and every blow that didn't have enough power behind it, he simply absorbed.
She was pushed back further and further to the edges of the arena, Kade's fists and kicks sending shockwaves through her bones, her skin bled and bruised in response, yet she didn't falter, still crawling for a desperate way to end his fury.
Yet it was for naught, Kade surged from a anomaly to an unpassable wall, her actions were not a surprise anymore, as if he already figured her out. The calm look as he broke down her style that she had polished for so long shook her.
Nephis felt a sliver of fear in the exchange, and the devastating impact of his knuckles into her nose sent her reeling back, the world dazed as she lost clarity, her viewpoint tilted back as she fell, her body starting to collapse backward out of the boundaries.
The eternal flame that burned inside her roared, and she urged her body to respond, but it was too late; there was no ground to go off, as soon as she met the floor, she would lose.
But suddenly she stopped; Kade stood in front of her, grasping onto the collar of the police tracksuit.
Her muddied eyes met his. She saw not triumph—but disappointment. Pity.
It made her want to gouge out his eyes.
No words were exchanged.
Silently, Kade pulled her back into the ring.
She stumbled from the tug; still dazed she struggled to not collapse. Nephis's blood dripped from her nose onto the dojo, the crowd watching with shock; never had they thought to watch the brilliant changing star bleed.
Kade didn't even turn to face her. He stood with his back to her, eyes on the audience. Watching. Waiting.
"C'mon Nephis, defeat this scoundrel!" a pompous concerned legacy broke from the crowd and urged; the rest of the sleepers joined in the chant.
"You got this Changing Star!'
"Wipe that stupid smile off his face!"
"GO NEPHIS!"
The sleepers roared, fists in the air, they cheered for her, it was if they viewed her as the hero of the story, while Kade was the despicable villain who entered only to cause chaos and violence.
The thought made him chuckle 'They're not too far off'
Nephis heard the chants and brought herself back from the imbalance, her skin radiating the glorious shine as if doused by the hope of the sleepers.
The fire in her eyes burnt like her namesake, Changing Star shot forward to Kade's back like a comet, her shimmering fist ready to strike the back of his head.
She was aiming for the kill; sparing be damned.
Kade felt the presence behind him roar; he turned just in time to see the attack about to make base.
He watched it get closer, his mind surging with energy as [Never Ending Fury] took place; his once exhausted muscles and fatigued nerves faded away, and [Unyielding Asura] blessed him with the speed and strength needed to crush the divinity that dared face him.
And [Vigilance] powered him further against the incoming danger.
In that moment, the synergy pushed Kade into what he truly was.
An Asura.
He caught the fist, the shockwave sending a cold breeze erupting from the impact. It revibrated into Kade's skeleton, yet he endured with a grin.
"Not bad, but a barehanded fight against me?"
He whispered happily to the shocked legacy.
"You never stood a chance"
He struck forward with his left before she had the chance to respond; the blow echoed like thunder in the dead silence of the arena. No one dared breathe.
The changing star fell, unconscious.
Before she hit the ground, Kade prepared his leg, a final kick while she was down.
'Don't think I forgot about you going for the jewels earlier'
But Kade's kick never landed; a blur swept between him and carried the legacy away, his brown hair flowed in the breeze, and his green eyes that reminded him of Dawn stared at him with disapproval. And spoke sternly.
"The fight is over, you may not strike her again"
Kade might of made a snarky remark, but the spell whispered in his hear, the other sleepers' words fading to be unheard.
[You have unlocked your Aspect Legacy.]
[Stairway to Heaven]
[1] - Defeat a being of divinity.
[2]-?
The boy who had stopped him now cradled Nephis carefully in his arms, her blood staining his sleeves. Her glow had faded.
Kade lowered his foot. Turned back to the pale-faced crowd and walked back to the walls of the dojo.
His work here was done; right now, something else demanded his attention.