Chapter 60: Collision

The training hall didn’t feel like a place meant for learning anymore. It felt like a cage.

Victor stood at the edge of the arena floor, hands clasped behind his back, watching them all with the calm detachment of someone about to conduct an experiment.

"Begin," he said.

The was no countdown, no warning just that one word and the room snapped into motion.

Markus moved first, not forward but sideways.

A small shift, barely noticeable, but deliberate. His eyes locked onto Ash instantly, reading him, measuring him.

Ash didn’t wait.

His chest expanded sharply behind the mask, and when he exhaled, the air shimmered.

A cloud of microscopic diamond particles spilled outward, catching the light like dust made of glass.

Then he moved. A sharp flick of his wrist and the particles condensed.

They were solidified.

Dozens of small, jagged diamonds formed mid-air.

Ash stepped forward and threw them in a wide motion.

The projectiles shot off to Markus’s left, completely missing him...or at least, that’s what it looked like.

Markus didn’t flinch, he just watched and waited.

The moment the diamonds cut through the air, they shifted, the wind caught them and their sngles changed.

The trajectory bent, they curved inward like hunting birds.

Markus tilted his head slightly then moved. A quick step forward he pivoted.

The first diamond sliced past his cheek, the second one clipped his sleeve and the third one..

He caught it barehanded.

For a split second, the crystal pressed into his palm and then it froze.

Crystallizing further trying to invade Markus’s hand.

Ash’s eyes narrowed behind the mask. Markus crushed it...

Shards fell then Markus closed the distance as he ran towards Ash.

Ash reacted instantly with another breath followed by another wave but Markus was already inside the arc.

He was already close.

Ash twisted his body and a sharp elbow aimed at Markus’s jaw..

Markus leaned back just enough, the strike missed by a whisper.

Markus stepped in and drove his shoulder forward and struck him.

Ash staggered back a step, boots scraping against the floor but he didn’t fall.

Instead, he exhaled again. It was a short controlled breath.

A burst of diamond particles exploded between them.

Markus turned his face slightly...but it was too late.

The particles scraped across his skin.

Tiny cuts, nothing deep but they were enough.

Ash didn’t stop..he stepped in with a right hook.

Markus raised his arm and blocked it.

Ash followed immediately with a left palm strike to the chest.

Markus absorbed it as he barely moved an inch.

Then countered with a sharp upward strike.

Ash twisted trying to dodge but the strike grazed his ribs and in that same motion.

Ash jumped using the momentum.

His knee came up fast. Driving toward Markus’s face.

Markus caught his leg mid-air.

Everything paused for half a second. Then Markus tightened his grip.

Ash’s leg was caught. The fabric stiffened up.

Ash reacted instantly...A violent exhale..Diamond particles blasted outward from his mask in point blank range.

Markus released him immediately, stepping back..

Ash landed, rolling once before springing back to his feet.

Both of them paused for a moment breathing heavily.

The silence broke when Ash spoke, "If you had caught me with your other hand that situation could have turned worse."

Markus exhaled, "Yh I know which is why I’m being extra careful."

Across the arena Blade was already surrounded by six men.

’ I think they are like six of them.....Maybe even seven.

Doesn’t matter anyway.’ Blade realized.

They came at him all at once.

’Bad decision.’ Blade thought, ’to come at me all at once.’

The first one rushed him head-on. Blade didn’t even step back.

He swung a wide hook...it was heavy...The kind that didn’t need precision.

It connected and the man’s head snapped sideways as his body followed, crashing into the floor.

Second attacker came with a low angle. Trying to sweep Blade’s legs.

Blade lifted his foot and stomped down hard.

The impact echoed as bones cracked. The attacker screamed, clutching his leg.

Blade turned and the third attacker was already mid-swing.

Blade ducked and came up with a brutal uppercut—

The man lifted off the ground, dropping like dead weight.

Fourth and fifth came together, one high, one low.

Blade took the high hit as a fist slammed into his shoulder.

It barely moved him.

The low strike connected with his side.

Blade grunted lowly then grabbed the attacker’s arm and pulled drivin his knee into the man’s face.

Bone cracked instantly as the body dropped.

The fifth tried to retreat but he was too slow.

Blade grabbed him by the collar and gave him a headbutt.

The man collapsed instantly, Blade exhaled sharply, "Ha—"

For the first time, he looked tired and that’s when the last one hesitated.

Blade rolled his shoulders, breathing heavier now.

Then a new sound was heard.

A faint scraping. Blade turned and Vire stepped onto the arena floor.

The sword in his hand wasn’t held. It was part of him.

Embedded In him...Fused together.

His grip wasn’t a grip...It was permanent.

"Move," Vire said calmly.

The remaining fighter didn’t argue, he backed away quickly.

Now it was just them.

Blade straightened up. Fatigue still lingered in his stance but something else crept in.

It was anticipation.

Vire moved first. He was visibly fast.

Faster than the others. He went with a forward dash.

Blade raised his arm in an attempt to block.

The blade struck Blades arm and sparks flew.

The edge of the sword scraped across the crystalline surface forming along Blade’s skin.

Blade countered immediately with a heavy backhand...slapping Vire but Vire ducked.

The sword came around in a low arc.

Blade jumped, barely clearing it. He landed and immediately drove his fist downward—

Vire rolled aside and the punch cracked the floor.

Vire came up with a thrust straight toward Blade’s torso.

Blade twisted, the blade grazed his side and a thin line of blood formed.

Blade growled.

Then it happened, the crystals spread.

They erupted in almost every way. Gray diamond structures burst across Blade’s arms, shoulders and chest...they were jagged, layering over each other.

His presence changed instantly as he stepped forward and the floor cracked beneath him with every step.

Vire didn’t hesitate he attacked with a rapid sequence, slash...turn and a reverse cut.

Blade blocked the first, took the second on his arm.

The blade scraped against Blades diamond but didn’t cut deep enough.

The third attack came. Blade caught the sword with his hand that was covered by gray diamonds

The edge of the sword pressed against crystal, grinding hard.

Vire pushed but Blade pushed back harder.

Then Blade yanked the sword.

Vire stumbled forward as Blade drove his knee upward straight into Vire’s face.

Vire staggered back but didn’t fall. Blood dripped from his nose.

He smiled slightly then rushed again.

This time faster and more aggressive.

Blade met him head-on with a punch.

Vire blocked it with his sword, he turned at a fast rate launching a elbow to Blades stomach.

Vire slipped inside and drove the hilt of the sword into Blade’s ribs.

Blade grunted then grabbed Vire by the shoulder lifting him up. He then slammed him into the ground, the impact shook the arena but Vire rolled to the side.

He recovered his breath and came back up swinging.

The fight intensified even more...they moved much faster, delivering heavier blows.

Neither of them holding back now.

Back on the other side Markus and Ash collided again.

Ash threw another wave of diamonds. They scattered wide then curved inward.

Markus ran through them with his Diamond arm raised slightly as he teared through them.

One cut his arm another grazed his neck but he didn’t slow down.

Ash stepped in with a right hook.

Markus blocked it

Ash followed with a left and held Markus in place.

Ash started breathing much heavier, he turned a dial on his mask and a compartment in his mask opened spreading out a blue gas..After a few seconds the gas started to solidify.

Markus saw this and quickly threw Ash away and lunged his hand forward punching the diamond structure.

Ash didn’t waste time he jumped up while Markus was still on the ground.

Ash delivered a knee and it connected with Markus’s jaw.

Markus spit out blood as he stumbled a back slightly.

Markus slipped to the side and came back with a palm strike to Ash’s chest.

Ash staggered but immediately exhaled...Particles exploded between them again.

Markus shielded his face with his hand.

Ash used the opening and spun delivering a back kick. It connected with Markus’s side.

Markus slid back half a step. Then stopped mid motion.

Both of them breathing harder now.

Sweat, blood and dust all mixing in the air.

At the edge of the arena...Reina watched, ’Felix..’ the thought lingered in her mind.

Beside her, Kael leaned slightly forward, eyes tracking every movement.

"They’re learning," Kael muttered.

Reina didn’t respond her gaze stayed fixed on the fights.

’Something about it all, the movement, the power, the chaos. Didn’t fit neatly into anything Victor had explained....and that botheres me.’

Victor observed everything, every strike, every adjustment and every time they faced hesitation.

His expression didn’t change but his eyes—

They were alive..calculating, recording and understanding.

’This isn’t training...well not really. This is to measure their power..

And they were all just data.’ Victor pondered.

The fights raged on with no clear winners and clean endings.

Just collision after collision. Power against power.

Control against chaos.

And somewhere in the middle of it they were becoming something else entirely.