Chapter 10: A Battle Of Will

The fight between Kai and Elara raged on, their powers displaying both of their prowess. Kai's spatial abilities allowed him to teleport and manipulate the battle field, making it seem like he was everywhere at once. Elara's blood manipulation blood manipulation powers summoned waves of crimson liquid to crash against Kai, but he effortlessly dodged and countered with devastating precision.

Elara stumbled back, her eyes fixed on Kai's cold, calculating gaze. She had been struggling from the start, and it seemed like no matter how hard she tried she couldn't land a hit. Kai's teleportation made it impossible for her to hit him talk much about even touching him. The memories of their childhood duels continued to flood her mind, and she felt a surge of determination.

In the flashbacks, Elara remembered the countless times Kai had ridiculed her after every win. She still recalled the feeling of helplessness and anger she felt as he taunted her, his words cutting deeper than any physical blow.

"Damn it Kai, I will beat you next time" young Elara said while sitting on the dirty floor, an awkward smile on her face.

"Don't even think about it, you're so weak, Elara." Young Kai sneered, his voice cold as he stared down at her. "You'll, never be good enough."

The shock on Elara's face visible as she stared at the ground, her eyes going pale. She looked up just to see Kai's cold eyes staring down on her as if she was some kind of animal. "Why will you say that Kai, I thought we were friends" she said, her voice shaky.

"Friends!" Kai scoffed, "I don't need friends, especially a weakling like you, you're just cannon fodder too me" Kai said as he walked away coldly, leaving Young Elara sobbing silently.

As the flash back ended, Elara's determination only steeled the more, she didn't want to ever experience that again. She summoned a maelstrom of blood, the liquid swirling around her like a vortex, her body growing paler by the second, she was using large amounts of blood from her body causing her vision to blur, but her determination pushed her forward. She launched herself at Kai, her fists and feet flying in a blur of motion.

Kai raised an eyebrow, impressed by Elara's sudden surge of power. But he didn't hesitate, his spatial abilities allowing him to get behind her ignoring the vortex of glowing red blood, he couldn't care less about the vortex of blood, his specialty allowed him to move to any place with great speed as long as it is within his range. He struck a swift kick, sending Elara crashing to the ground.

"See what I mean Elara, you're still cannon fodder, and you didn't even make me break a sweat" Kai said as he looked at Elara coldly. "You knew you couldn't win from the beginning, why continue... you're just humiliating yourself and you're family as well, you're a disgrace. Just give up and let me finish you."

"It's not over!" Elara said with a shaky voice as she struggled to get back to her feet, her face as pale as a ghost as she spat out a mouthful of blood. She had already lost so much blood already. "You're too big for your britches! Just because you've beaten me now doesn't mean you have won, Kael is still in this arena, and am pretty sure Aria is in it as well."

'Kael is still in this huh! He is the only one I consider worthy, and the only one to ever beat me, But who is this Aria she speaks of!' he pondered with a surprised look on his face." I don't care whether is Kael or this nobody you speak of, I will still beat them both" Kai sneered with a cold expression on his face.

"Don't be too sure of yourself!" Elara said as she walked towards him, even losing her balance a few times, "you know Kael has beaten you once, as for Aria, based on the prowess he has shown, I can say with most certainty that he is as strong as Kael, maybe even stronger" She said as she wiped the blood of her mouth, a large grin plastered on her face. "All I can do is stall for time!"

Immediately, she began running towards Kai, her blood manipulation powers faltered, and she lost the ability to summon anymore attacks. She couldn't beat him with her specialty, now she wasn't able to even use it leaving her as fragile as a normal human. Kai saw his chance and took it, his spatial powers creating a localized gravity anomaly that pinned Elara to the ground.

"It's over," Kai voice cold and unforgiving. "You never stood a chance, Elara. You should have been more worried about yourself, but you just kept spouting bullshit."

Kai stood over her, his eyes gleaming with triumph. "You're just as weak as you've always been," he sneered. "You'll never be able to beat me."

Elara's eyes flashed with anger, but she couldn't respond. Kai's powers had left her unable to move or speak. She was already losing consciousness, her eyes blurry due to the amount of blood energy she had used.

With a final mocking glance, Kai raised his head up. "I'm done here," he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "Teleport her out of the arena, She's not worth my time." He sneered, his voice was carried throughout the arena.

Suddenly Elara's broken body glowed a faint blue hue as she was teleported out of the arena, leaving Kai standing victorious, surrounded by red snow, dyed with Elara's blood energy.

…

The Council of Ten watched in awe, impressed by Kai's talent and ruthlessness. "Remarkable," one of the council members said, his voice filled with admiration. "Kai's spatial abilities are truly exceptional. He has surpassed his father's skills when he was his age."

Another council member nodded in agreement. "Let's not forget his background. Coming from the number one family in the world, he has had access to the best training and resources. It's no wonder he's so talented.

The council members continued to praise Kai, their conversation filled with admiration for his skills and background. Elara's defeat was all but forgotten, her determination dismissed as insignificant.

...

20 recruits remain.