Lei
The top of the barrier crackled with energy as bolts of lightning passed through. Every spot the lightning struck became blackened.
Burai jumped as he avoided them. "Seems you've lost your cool."
I gasped and shook my head. Ugh. I had to remember to maintain my composure. I couldn't let him get to me.
Taking a deep breath, I launched several burst of wind toward Burai while maintaining the wind barrier around me. Burai was fast. I couldn't afford to lower my guard around him.
The air hummed with tension, charged with the raw power of my storm. Burai's taunts echoed in my mind, fueling the tempest within me. I wouldn't just stand there and be the butt of his jokes. No, I was Lei Lan, and my name would be synonymous with victory.
With a fierce cry, I unleashed a torrent of wind blades, each one sharper than the last, slicing through the air with a deadly hum. Burai's eyes widened slightly as he realized the gravity of the situation. He might have been fast, but even he couldn't dodge forever.
He leapt and twisted, but the blades nicked him, drawing first blood, and a cheer erupted from the crowd.
"Is that all you've got, Lei?" Burai taunted, wiping a smear of blood from his cheek. "I expected more from you."
I smirked, feeling the wind gather at my fingertips. "You haven't seen anything yet."
With a snap of my fingers, lightning arched from the barrier above, a spiderweb of electric death. It struck the ground, leaving scorch marks in its wake, and Burai narrowly avoided a direct hit.
The crowd gasped, their eyes wide with anticipation and fear. This was no longer just a schoolyard brawl; it was a display of raw magical prowess.
Burai, for all his bravado, had begun to sweat. His movements were still graceful, but there was a hint of desperation now. He knew he was outmatched, and yet, he smiled.
"You're full of surprises, Lei Lan," he said, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm. "But so am I."
And with that, he charged, not away from my magic, but directly into it. It was a bold move, one that could end in his defeat or my own. But as he moved closer, I could see the determination in his eyes, the unspoken challenge.
This was it, the moment of truth. I could either falter or rise to the occasion. I chose the latter.
With a battle cry that shook the heavens, I met Burai's charge head-on. The wind howled, the lightning crackled, and the earth itself seemed to hold its breath.
Burai struck the barrier with a relentless furry of kicks. I gritted my teeth as he dashed around, aiming for the weak spots in my wind construct.
"Good luck finding a weak point," I muttered.
Burai snickered. "There's always a weak point!"
My barrier, my defense, was nothing but air—crafted from the zephyrs and gales at my command. That was both a strength and a weakness. But as long as I could maintain my winds and get some slashes on him, I could inflict chip damage on him!
Burai's onslaught was relentless, a barrage of blows that tested the very limits of my control. Each kick sent shockwaves through the air, reflecting and reverberating against the wind that I had woven into a fortress around me. The barrier of green wind rippled like water, distorting with every impact, but it held—barely.
I could feel the strain in my arms, the tension in my fingers as I fought to keep the winds from scattering. Burai's smirk was infuriating, a silent mockery of my efforts. He was pushing me, driving me to the edge, and I teetered on the brink of collapse.
"Come on, Lei Lan!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the roar of the wind. "Is this the best you can muster?"
I wanted to scream, to unleash the storm within me and wipe that grin off his face. But I couldn't. The more I pushed, the more the barrier wavered, and I knew it wouldn't hold much longer.
My heart pounded in my chest, a drumbeat of panic and frustration. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I was the one who was supposed to have Burai on the ropes, not the other way around.
As another kick landed, a jolt of pain shot through my arm, and a section of the barrier flickered out of existence. I stumbled, and for a moment, I saw defeat staring me in the face.
"No," I whispered, the word lost in the howling of the wind. "I can't lose. Not like this."
Burai's smirk widened as he pressed his advantage, sensing weakness like a predator scenting blood.
I hung my head low as Burai continued to kick at my wind barrier. He wasn't even using magic, yet I could barely keep him at bay. His kicks could exert so much air pressure that they pushed back against my blades of wind.
Was this where my magic met the wall? Could this truly be my limit? I was dumb to think I could stand against the strongest, more so, the strongest among the strongest.
"Don't give up, Lei!" Yen yelled. I looked up and saw her and the others screaming, even though I couldn't hear it other than my sister's. Even Nyima was standing, cheering me on. Adela however, didn't yell. Instead, she stared at me while she had her hands crossed in prayer.
I curled my hands into fists. What was I thinking just now? Was I really about to give up? I was Lan Lei! I never surrendered without a fight! Not even when clearly outmatched!
Yen smiled as I locked eyes with her. I nodded back as my wind pushed back against Burai. Suddenly, the butterfly knives without any indents filled had one of the five empty holes glow bright purple. The synergy between me and Yen just now, did it give birth to this? What kind of power could it be? Kun gave me warping. Ny gave me a blue barrier. Adela gave me a speed boost. And Iah gave me an attack boost.
A blue barrier surrounded me as the indent symbolizing my bond with Ny glowed a radiant blue.
Burai grinned as he punched my sphere. "Here I thought you were ready to throw the towel!"
I chuckled. "You clearly don't know me well just yet. If you did, you would know that I never give up!" Although was this new power enough to turn the tide? I wasn't even sure what it was. Regardless, I had to give this battle my all. I knew I had a lot of growing to do, but I hadn't reach the ceiling of my current power just yet!
Taking a deep breath, I lowered the barrier and switched over to using the speed boost from the first indent on my right sword. Ny, Ade, my siblings, and the rest of my friends were cheering me on. I couldn't let their cheers fall on deaf ears.
The arena was a tempest, a maelstrom of clashing wills and elemental fury. Burai's relentless assault had pushed me to the edge, but the edge was where I thrived. The purple glow from the butterfly knife was not just a sign of power—it was a beacon of hope.
Burai's laughter was drowned out by the howling wind as I tapped into the new power granted by my bond with Yen. The air around me shimmered with a violet hue, and I felt a surge of energy coursing through my veins. It was as if the very storm had become a part of me, its chaotic essence fueling my magic.
With a roar, I unleashed a barrage of wind blades, now edged with a purple glow, each strike more potent than the last. Burai's eyes narrowed, his previous confidence faltering as he realized the shift in power. He dodged and weaved, but the blades were relentless, homing in on him with a precision that was almost sentient.
"You're not the only one who can surprise, Burai!" I shouted, my voice rising above the storm. "This is the power of bonds, the strength of connections!"
Burai smiled and nodded as he launched himself at me, his body a blur of motion. But this time, I was ready. The speed boost from Adela's gift propelled me forward, and I met his charge with a counterattack that sent him reeling.
The crowd was on its feet, their cheers a cacophony of excitement. They could sense it—the tide was turning. Burai, the unshakable, the unbeatable, was now the one on the defensive.
He recovered quickly, his fiery gaze locking onto mine. "Impressive, Lei Lan," he conceded, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. "But it's going to take more than fancy tricks to defeat me."
I grinned, despite the exhaustion clawing at my limbs. "Who said anything about tricks? This is raw power, Burai. And I'm just getting started."
The sky above us roiled with dark clouds, lightning dancing within them like serpents of light. I raised my hands, and the storm responded, bolts of lightning arcing down to strike the ground around Burai, hemming him in.
Burai leaped high, avoiding the electrical onslaught. His eyes widened as he saw my left knife flying next to him.
In an instant, I warped over to it and launched a kick of my own. Our kicks met in a collision that sent shockwaves through the arena, and for a moment, everything else fell away. It was just Burai and me, raw physical strength versus magic, locked in a battle that would be remembered for ages.
As we broke apart, I could see the respect in Burai's eyes, a recognition of my strength. And in that moment, I knew that no matter the outcome, I had already won. But I still wanted to win! Even though I knew my chances were still very low. Burai had yet to use any of his magic.
"Fight me for real," I said before rushing at him again.
Burai dodged my attacks even as he fell through the air.
With a huff, I grasped his body with a hand of wind. He thought me impressive, yet he still wasn't taking this battle seriously.
Burai took a deep breath. "Fine. But I don't think the audience will like what is to come."
I gasped and activated my blue barrier as twin tails of flame emerged from his lower back, setting my spell on fire. He looked at me with cold cat-like eyes.
"A cat? I thought you were a kitsune," I muttered.
He smirked. "Shows how little you know about me." In a burst of flame, he appeared in front of me and tapped the barrier with one claw, causing flames to spread out, forming cracks like a planet about to collapse back into a molten mess.
Taking a deep breath, I warped back to the ground. Before forming my barrier. I'd the wind conceal and carry my knife away. I still wasn't sure what boost the purple indent gave me. But I sensed it allowed me to become one with my surroundings. That's why it felt like I had merged with the storm earlier.
It was time to test out my theory.
My eyes widened as Burai appeared behind me. But a second had just passed...
I gritted my teeth and formed another barrier.
Burai snickered. "I congratulate you on slipping out of that first attack. Makes things a lot less anti-climatic. But, the result is all the same. Lei, today, you lose!"
My eyes glowed golden as electricity coursed through my body. "No! I didn't come here to lose, but to win!" I yelled, rushing at him.
A burst of light exploded as my lightning met his flames. Shockwaves more powerful than those Nat and Shuai had produced shook the entire battlefield.
**Solar Note: Some parts of this chapter were written with the help of Bing Copilot. Hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Sorry for the lack of an update in two over months.**