"The match begins in three."
Devon rolled his shoulders.
"Two."
Andrew bent slightly, weight shifting forward.
"One."
The barrier enveloped them.
"Begin."
Andrew launched himself forward the instant the signal ended.
His boots discharged compressed SE which thrusted him forward, launching him across the arena in a straight line.
His right gauntlet started glowing as he pumped solar energy into it and it started shifting, taking the form of some type of ram like boxing gloves.
His goal was to end this match as soon as possible, thereby embarrassing this annoying first year as much as possible.
Devon reacted instantly.
He slid sideways just as Andrew’s punch slammed into the space he’d just occupied.
The shockwave was visible to everyone and it seemed to slam straight into the barrier, causing it to tremble.
Andrew pivoted smoothly and followed up with a knee, his SE powered boots amplifying the motion.
Devon ducked under it, barely avoiding contact as heat washed over his back.
"Damn it," Devon muttered, "he’s fast."
Andrew didn’t let him catch his breath.
A second punch came in low, followed by a sweeping kick which, again, was enhanced by his boot thrusters.
Devon jumped back, arms raised, but the kick still clipped his leg, throwing off his balance.
He stumbled once and that was all Andrew needed. His gauntlets.... boxing ram gloves, slammed into Devon, causing him to fold in an awkward angle before he was launched towards the barrier.
The crowd reacted immediately.
"That’s more like it."
"Show him who’s boss!"
"Bellshot keep going harder....fine, I’ll shut u—"
"That hurt like hell," Devon complained as he let out a wheeze before shakily standing up.
Andrew straightened, there was a small smile on his face as his confidence returned.
"You can dodge," he said, "but you can’t keep up with me."
It felt so satisfying landing that blow, but something seemed off. He had charged his gloves with enough SE to ensure Devon stayed in the medbay for at least a week.
So how the hell was he still standing?
"Wanna bet?" Devon replied, he then seemed to shrug off the damage and took a combat stance.
"Then I guess I’ll have to hit even harder," Andrew said as he poured more SE into his gloves and boots before launching himself towards Devon again.
Everyone could clearly see that if the attack landed, being knocked out would be the least of his worries.
Best case scenario, he’d walk away with a couple of broken bones, but that was not what Andrew was aiming for.
He wanted to destroy this first year’s core, maybe that would shut him up for good.
Devon had no intention of dodging as he watched as Andrew approached him with a grin on his face.
"Is he crazy?"
Some other the first years in the crowd started.
"Dodge you idiot."
"Why the fuck is he not dodging?"
"Is he too scared to dodge?"
"It’s over, and here I was hoping we’d actually have a chance."
Even Andrew was a bit surprised that Devon was making no effort to dodge, but that made his grin wider.
The moment he was close enough , he noticed the grin on the first year’s face and that’s when he immediately got a bad feeling.
But it was too late, his arms were already extended and his punch was heading directly for Devon’s chest.
There was no way to stop his momentum now.
Just before his gauntlet could connect, a force slammed into him.
Andrew’s vision blurred as the overwhelming force slammed into his center of mass, ripping the air from his lungs.
His feet left the ground before his brain could process what happened.
One moment he was attacking.
The next, he was flying backward.
He crashed into the arena floor, skidding several meters before slamming hard into the barrier.
The reinforced wall rippled violently on impact, shockwaves racing across its surface.
There was absolute silence as the crowd froze.
Andrew slid down the barrier and collapsed to one knee, coughing violently as he tried catching his breath.
"What...?" he wheezed, "w-what the hell did you do?"
Devon slowly put his hand down before lightly shaking his hand.
"A technique from my clan," he answered, "but I wasn’t sure it’d work."
Devon flexed his fingers once more, shaking out the lingering sting that ran up his arm.
Truth be told, his heart was still pounding. He’d felt it connect, felt something push back, but not the way he expected.
He’d gambled.
Hard.
Andrew was still on one knee, coughing, one hand braced against the floor as his SE struggled to stabilize.
"A... clan technique?" Andrew rasped, lifting his head. "You’re lying."
Devon snorted. "Man, if I was gonna lie, I’d make it sound way cooler than that."
The crowd erupted all at once.
"What just happened?" "I didn’t even see him move!" "Is this some type of error?"
Up in the stands, Linda frowned as he turned to Cass and asked, "did you see what happened?"
"Hmm," Cass nodded with a small smile on his face.
"And?" Linda asked again.
"And I have no clue how he was able to store and release that energy with just his body alone."
There were quite a few things that piqued Cassian’s interest, namely, books.
But whatever his friend just did, also worked to get him curious.
Back in the arena, Andrew forced himself to stand, legs shaking despite the reinforcement in his boots.
He stared at Devon a lot different than he previously had, reassessing the threat of this first year.
"You’re telling me," Andrew said slowly, "that you blocked a full SE-charged rush... with your bare hands?"
Devon shook his head and let out a chuckle. "Nah. Blocking that would’ve got me folded."
He raised his palm slightly, fingers relaxed.
"I just... stored your previous attack, then sent it back with a bit of mine."
"Storing a SE charged attack in your body," Andrew repeated before trailing off, "that’s bullshit."
"I ain’t gonna try and convince you," Devon said as he put his fists back up, "now square up."