Scorch

The heat emanating from Victor's body permeated the air, drying up every hint of liquid. Beads of sweat lined the faces of the spectators, but quickly dried up once more. The air was extremely dry, causing a widespread irritation.

Victor's flaming hair extended to his shoulders, growing in length and ferocity. He also seemed to grow taller and bulkier.

"Third gear…" He said, albeit weakly.

That's pretty good mastery, considering they haven't had these powers for long… The Marshal nodded imperceptibly. He looked forward to the outcome and how Aaron Blackwell would fare.

The guy's constructs slowly melted under the intense heat. If he tried to attack with forged weapons, they would simply melt. He couldn't rush in for a close range battle either, that would be extremely stupid.

Truth be told, it seemed like the end. Victor clearly had the upper hand. Even if the flaming teenager didn't attack and merely stood, Aaron would be the first to go down.

Victor, however, didn't stand still. He arched his back and bulged his leg muscles.

Boom! With a slight tremor, he shot towards Aaron, hands flaming and ready to throw a punch.

The punch was followed with a sizzling sound and sparks– striking Aaron by the face, a clean hit. The latter staggered backwards, his right cheek tinged with a blackish bruise.

Bam! Another punch to Aaron's gut. He involuntarily bent forward and his knees buckled, seemingly about to collapse.

At that moment, something burrowed out of Aaron's back. It was another construct that glowed with a bright yellowish colour, however, it seemed really flimsy. The construct first appeared as limbs, then rapidly growed a torso, along with an upper body and finally, a head.

The thin-as-paper construct bore a striking resemblance to Aaron's facial outline.

However, this construct had four arms, each holding a sword.

Aaron Blackwell's eyes slowly shut as he slumped to the floor, face first.

The Marshal was momentarily confused. Aaron had fallen, indicating that Victor won. However, the humanoid construct remained intact. Shouldn't it shatter since the creator had passed out?

Victor was the same. With heavy breaths, he took a step back and stared at the construct that was standing still. Then, he looked at the Marshal, as though seeking confirmation of his victory.

At that moment, much to everyone's shock and surprise, the humanoid construct suddenly spoke, "Alright, let's get down to it, shall we?"

The voice was clearly that of Aaron's!

Since humans were essentially made up of energy, he had created a construct within himself and transferred his consciousness to it. Since it was a construct made up of his own energy, it was basically him!

The flimsy construct suddenly burgeoned and assumed a more bulky form composed of light and other energy particles.

"Damn it!" Victor grit his teeth when he realised that the Marshal hadn't deemed the match over. His skin was almost completely charred, and he could only hold on for two minutes at best.

Time was of the essence.

With a loud growl, he dashed forward and pounced on Aaron's construct. His flames expanded and devoured the target.

However, since it was a construct, it couldn't feel pain. The sentient construct stabbed upwards with all four swords, aiming to puncture Victor and further tear down his stamina.

The swords struggled to maintain form under the intense heat, but the humanoid construct didn't seem fazed in the least bit.

Two of the swords stabbed into Victor's chest, but the latter ignored them. With a loud grunt, he slammed his fists against the construct's chest, and a web-like crack immediately formed.

However, the target didn't go down. Victor was beginning to feel quite dizzy. He roared and flames descended from his lungs, pouring upon Aaron's construct. It wasn't melting fast enough!

Victor began to panic. If he reverted to his non-flaming form, he would probably last longer. However, the construct before him would take the chance to launch attacks.

If he retained his flaming form and maximised his output, he could at least hope to overwhelm his opponent and melt the construct into nothingness.

However, at that moment, he suddenly coughed. Victor glanced at his palm and saw blood. Then, a wave of dizziness took over him and he staggered backwards.

"You're done!" Aaron's construct cleaved forward with the either half-melted or cracked swords.

Victor raised both arms, guarding against the attacks. From the flames burning around him, various fire-ravens lunged forward and exploded in a timely manner, propelling both parties in opposite directions.

Victor crashed and fell to the floor, his flames rapidly dimming. With a vision tainted with crimson, he slowly raised his gaze and saw the construct rushing towards him once more. There was only one remaining sword in its hand.

"Argh!" Victor grit his teeth and squeezed out the left little energy he had left in him. A fireball flickered into existence and rapidly condensed.

Boom! Sword met the fireball and another explosion erupted like fireworks under the night sky.

When the flames subsided, the spectators eagerly looked forward to see who emerged victorious.

The humanoid construct was nowhere to be found– the only thing bearing testament to its existence being the tiny specks of shimmering yellow dust.

Victor was on the floor, completely charred and face bearing a cut.

The Marshal sighed and took a step forward. He said, "It ended in a tie."

"Damn–" Arden Jhumpa was greatly amazed. Compared to her non-destructive power, what she had just witnessed was a terrifying display of abilities. Victor's flames were quite powerful, and it was a miracle that Aaron was able to hold on for that long.

Undoubtedly, she would have lost.

Or will I… The girl thought with a faint smile playing on her lips.

Marshal Mathew Bates called upon a few Overseer officers standing guard outside the training room and they carried both combatants to the infirmary. Their regeneration was superb, so it would take less than a day to recover.

Afterwards, he looked at Adam and the rest, then said, "That was a very good battle. Both of them displayed great skill and understanding of their abilities, despite having only consumed the Power Orbs for less than a week."

He explained further, "Naturally, what you'll be able to do will be limited for now. The further your bodies assimilate the Orbs, the stronger you shall become. We have no time to spare, frankly speaking, we might have less than four months to train every one of you."

His gaze suddenly turned eerily serious as he said, "Humanity just might have to face its greatest tribulation soon."