Echoes of The Flame

Kaelen, standing dumbfounded, raised his tone to Master Cronos

"What the hell did you just say, old man? You want me to fight her?"

Master Cronos shook his head.

"No, I said I want her to fight you."

Master Cronos' simple response only angered Kaelen further. What was the old man thinking, suddenly spouting something as crazy as a fight between Kaelen, who had just completed his attunement, and a princess of the kingdom, who had likely seen her fair share of battles and was already familiar with her own powers. 

He was used to the old man's outlandish demands, but he couldn't grasp the meaning of this latest request. If the goal was to train Kaelen, who now had access to his astral resonance, there must surely be better ways to accomplish it. But yet again, Kaelen was too quick to jump the gun, knowing that among the old man's demands, most were ultimately beneficial to him.

He slowly caught his breath to calm himself down when Serephira asked Master Cronos a question:

"Any reason why we should fight?"

Master Cronos was silent for a moment before looking at her with a stern expression.

"Because it would be fun."

Serephira just sighed and shook her head, as if she'd been expecting that kind of answer.

'Cursed this old man and his antics!' Kaelen thought to himself, struggling to restrain his urge to punch Master Cronos right then and there.

"But i did promise that if you win, i will train you even harder"

Kaelen immediately jumped in and asked Master Cronos a question:

"What's in it for me, old man? You're not forgetting me right?"

Master Cronos approached Kaelen and tapped his shoulder firmly, holding it in place as he grinned without saying a word to him for a while.

'Has this old man started to lose his mind or something?'

Master Cronos leaned in close to Kaelen and whispered to him.

"This will be a good experience for you. And don't worry, I'll consider it your win if you can hold your ground for ten minutes."

"You're nuts, old man!"

Forget about winning—Kaelen didn't even have the confidence to survive for a mere two minutes, and the old man had the audacity to tell him to stand his ground for ten minutes.

Seeing the boy and the old man whispering to each other, Serephira cleared her throat.

"Fine, I'll do it, but what happens if I lose?"

Kaelen shifted his gaze to the girl, who seemed determined.

'No! No! Why is she getting so worked up all of a sudden?'

Master Cronos turned around and smiled at Serephira.

"He'll be your new training partner, of course."

***

After what seemed like a long back and forth arguments between the three, they have arrived in the middle of some kind of an abandoned arena with the help of Master Cronos teleportation ability.

Crumbling stone walls, streaked with age and neglect, rose high into the darkening sky. The grandeur of the arena was faded, its once-polished marble now chipped and stained. Broken columns jutted out like skeletal remains. In the central of it, where they stood is a vast circle of cracked stone, overgrown with weeds and debris.

Serephira walked to the edge of the arena, seemingly ready to start the fight, while Kaelen still stood in the middle, looking dumbfounded. Master Cronos then approached Kaelen and patted him on the back.

"Think back to the time when you were going through your attunement. That's my one piece of advice."

How could he forget? It was at that moment he experienced a supernatural and traumatic event that almost cost him his life. And in a few second, his life was about to be threatened once again in the hand of the girl in front of him.

After Master Cronos had given his advice to Kaelen, he teleported to the stands above, leaving only Kaelen and Serephira in the center of the arena. The girl assumed a battle stance, signaling that she was ready to begin the fight. Kaelen, on the other hand, stood with nervous anticipation, still contemplating Master Cronos advice.

Not long ago, he had already battled against something that was after his life, so surely a fight against a sane princess of the kingdom with his master watching couldn't be that bad, right?

"No hard feelings okay." 

As soon as the words left Serephira's mouth, she sent a stream of flames hurtling toward Kaelen.

'Shit! why is it fire again?!'

As Kaelen dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast, something strange happened—he could see Serephira's every movement with startling clarity. She wasted no time, leaping forward with a speed that should have been a blur, yet Kaelen could track her approach as if in slow motion. Her eyes locked onto his position, and before he could fully regain his footing, she was already in mid-air, her fist, covered with fire was aimed directly at him.

Kaelen quickly raised his hand to block the punch he could clearly see coming towards him, but the sheer force behind it sent his entire body flying back a few steps. Despite his best efforts to defend himself, the impact was so powerful that it lifted him off his feet, leaving him disoriented as he struggled to regain his balance.

'Wha... what just happened?' 

He was shocked not because of the princess's brute strength, but because, for a brief moment, he could see her swift movements so clearly. Although it did hurt getting punched by a fist enveloped in flames, the pain was bearable for now, as he had experienced something much worse.

The princess continued her barrage of attacks toward Kaelen, who narrowly dodged each one. Her face began to show signs of annoyance.

"Are you just going to keep dodging?"

'Trust me woman, if I had any way to attack you, I would have done it from the start!'

Kaelen knew he couldn't possibly beat the princess in a fair fight, but that wasn't his intention. He just needed to survive for ten minutes in the arena. If you were to ask him why he was trying so hard in this fight, he would say that he still had a sense of pride and didn't want to give a girl an easy win without any resistance from his part.

As Kaelen steeled himself for the next onslaught, the princess suddenly leaped into the air, hovering above the arena. With a determined expression, she chanted:

"Velum Pyra!"

From her raised hand, a surge of intense, fiery energy coalesced into a blazing punch, descending toward Kaelen with a menacing, unstoppable force. The heat from the attack was almost palpable, and it seemed as if the very air crackled with the intensity of her power.

"Hey wait!"

Sensing the foreboding danger that can end his life heading towards him, Kaelen reflexively thrust his hand forward. As he did, dark, crackling flames erupted from his palm, forming a swirling barrier of black fire. The dark flames surged out, meeting the fiery punch in a dramatic clash. The black flames roared as they collided with the incoming attack. The tendrils of Kaelen's black flames wrapped around the princess's fiery assault, causing her to be thrown off balance. Despite landing hard, she managed to quickly regain her footing on the ground.

The impact was explosive, sending out a shockwave that shook the entire arena, which caused it to illuminate with a fierce contrast of black and red. As the punch dissipated, Kaelen's dark flames flickered with an ominous glow, and the princess's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected resistance.

Shocked by the event that just happened, Kaelen stared at his hand, which was still enveloped in swirling black flames.

"What the—?"