CHAPTER 16: MATCH

The combat evaluation center was loud as hell.

Rin stood in the staging area watching screens display ongoing matches from the previous day’s fights, people getting absolutely demolished by opponents who clearly had been training for months while he’d been in a coma eating through a tube.

The exam had two thousand participants, but only about three hundred made it through Stage 1, the hundred-mile run had filtered out everyone who wasn’t serious, everyone who thought having powers meant they didn’t need cardio.

Rin had finished in eighteen hours, walked most of it after mile forty, but he finished, that’s what mattered.

Joy made it too, came in at nineteen hours looking like she wanted to die but still standing.

Now came the part where they beat the shit out of each other.

The bracket system was displayed on a massive screen, names paired up randomly, winner advances, loser goes home.

Rin found his name near the bottom.

Match 47: Rin Matsuda vs Onma Kael

"Onma Kael," he muttered, pulling up the participant registry on his phone.

Male, twenty-three, fire manipulation specialist, ranked in the top thirty during Stage 1, finished the run in fourteen hours.

’Great, so he’s fast and shoots fire.’

[Analyzing opponent data]

[Onma Kael: Fire-type awakened, estimated output 3000-4000 degrees Fahrenheit]

[Combat style: Aggressive, relies on overwhelming offense]

[Weakness: Poor defensive instincts, leaves openings when attacking]

’How do you know his weaknesses?’

[I analyzed his Stage 1 performance footage]

[He sustained minor injuries from obstacles he should have avoided]

[Suggests tunnel vision during high-stress situations]

"Yo, Rin!" Joy jogged over, she’d finished her match twenty minutes ago, some poor guy with plant manipulation who apparently thought vines could stop emotion-induced panic attacks. "You’re up soon right?"

"Yeah, Match 47."

"Against the fire guy?" She made a face. "That’s rough, I saw him during Stage 1, dude’s intense, kept trying to race people even though it wasn’t competitive."

"Sounds stable."

"Right?" She grabbed a water bottle from the cooler nearby. "But hey, you closed a portal with your hands, fire’s probably nothing compared to that."

Except he couldn’t use his actual abilities, couldn’t reveal the fracture synchronization, had to pretend to be a normal awakened with normal powers.

Whatever those were supposed to be.

"Matsuda, you’re on deck!" One of the officials called from the entrance tunnel.

"That’s me." Rin stood, rolled his shoulders. "Wish me luck."

"Don’t die on live TV, that’s my only advice."

"Super helpful."

He walked through the tunnel into the arena, the noise hit him immediately, not a huge crowd but enough people to make it feel real, this wasn’t some training exercise, this was his future getting decided in front of cameras.

The arena itself was circular, about fifty meters across, floor made of reinforced concrete that apparently could handle up to A-rank combat without breaking, walls lined with barrier projectors that would contain anything too destructive.

Onma was already there, standing on the opposite side, arms crossed, looking bored.

He was tall, maybe six-two, built like someone who spent too much time at the gym, wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off arms covered in burn scars, probably self-inflicted from training.

His hair was dyed red with orange tips because of course it was, fire guy with fire-colored hair, real creative.

"So you’re the portal closer," Onma said, voice carrying across the arena. "Been wanting to meet you, see if the hype is real or if you just got lucky."

Rin didn’t respond, just took his position at the marked starting point.

The referee, some middle-aged woman with a whistle and a tablet, stepped between them. "Standard combat rules apply, fight until surrender, incapacitation, or until I call it, killing blows are prohibited but accidents happen so try not to die, medical team is on standby, any questions?"

"Nope."

Onma cracked his knuckles, flames already starting to dance across his fingers. "Let’s make this quick, I’ve got three more fights today."

"Confident," the referee noted, then stepped back. "Fighters ready?"

Rin took a breath, felt his heartbeat steady out.

[Combat mode activated]

[Recommendation: Observe first, counter second]

[Do not reveal fracture abilities unless necessary]

’I know.’

"Begin!"

Onma moved first, because of course he did, closing the distance in three steps while launching a fireball the size of a basketball straight at Rin’s chest.

Rin dove left, the fireball sailed past, hit the barrier wall behind him with a sound like a small explosion.

"Too slow!" Onma was already there, fist wreathed in flames, swinging for Rin’s head.

Rin ducked, felt the heat pass over him, came up with an elbow aimed at Onma’s ribs.

Connected.

Onma grunted, stumbled back, looked surprised. "You actually know how to fight?"

"Shocking right?"

"Not for long." Onma’s whole body ignited, flames coating his arms, his chest, his legs, turning him into a human torch. "Let’s see you hit me now."

He charged again, faster this time, throwing punch after flaming punch, each one hot enough to melt steel.

Rin backpedaled, dodging, weaving, looking for an opening, but Onma wasn’t leaving any, he was all offense, no defense, just constant pressure.

A fist clipped Rin’s shoulder, the heat seared through his shirt, burned skin underneath.

He hissed, rolled away, created distance.

"What’s wrong, scared of a little fire?" Onma laughed, hurled another fireball, this one bigger, faster.

Rin couldn’t dodge it, brought his arms up, braced for impact.

The fireball hit, exploded against his guard, knocked him backward, his arms screaming from the burns.

The crowd was cheering now, excited by the violence, by the spectacle.

’I need to end this fast or he’s going to cook me alive.’

[Agreed]

[Recommendation: Use fracture synchronization at 5% output]

[Enough to enhance your physical capabilities without revealing true nature]

’Will that work?’

[Unknown]

[But you are currently losing]

Fair point.

Rin focused, reached for that connection to the fracture energy, the same power he’d used to close the portal, but just a fraction of it, just enough to give him an edge.

Purple light flickered across his fingertips for half a second then faded, his body felt different though, stronger, faster, like everything had been turned up by ten percent.

Onma threw another fireball.

This time Rin didn’t dodge, he caught it, his hand wrapping around the flames, the fracture energy absorbing the heat, dispersing it harmlessly.

The arena went silent.

Onma’s eyes widened. "What the fuck?"

Rin crushed the fireball in his fist, extinguished it completely, then moved.

He crossed the distance between them in less than a second, faster than Onma could react, drove his fist into the fire guy’s stomach with enough force to lift him off his feet.

Onma flew backward, hit the ground hard, skidded another ten feet before stopping.

The flames coating his body flickered, went out.

He tried to get up, fell back down, coughing.

"Yield," Rin said.

"Fuck you." Onma pushed himself to his knees, fire reigniting around his hands. "I’m not losing to some nobody."

He launched himself forward, desperation move, all his remaining energy channeled into one massive blast of fire that turned the entire arena orange.

Rin stood his ground, reached for the fracture energy again, this time letting it flow through both hands, creating a barrier of purple light that the flames crashed against.

The two forces collided, fire versus fracture, heat versus void, the barrier held for three seconds, five, ten, then Rin pushed.

The fracture energy surged forward, cut through the flames like they weren’t there, slammed into Onma’s chest, sent him flying into the far wall.

He hit hard, slumped to the ground, didn’t get back up.

The referee rushed over, checked his pulse, his breathing, then raised her hand. "Winner: Rin Matsuda by incapacitation!"

The crowd erupted, some cheering, some booing, some just shocked into silence.

Rin let the fracture energy fade, felt exhaustion hit him like a truck, wait no, can’t use that phrase, felt exhaustion crash into him hard enough that his legs almost gave out.

Medical staff rushed onto the arena floor, headed for Onma who was being loaded onto a stretcher, still unconscious but breathing.

Joy appeared at the tunnel entrance, waving both arms. "Holy shit you actually won!"

Rin walked toward her, trying not to show how much his arms hurt, how his shoulder was still burning from that earlier hit.

"Yeah, somehow."

"Somehow? Dude you caught a fireball with your hand then punched him so hard he flew like fifteen feet, that was insane!" She grabbed his arm, winced when he flinched. "Shit you’re hurt, come on, medical tent."

"I’m fine."

"Your shirt is literally smoking, you’re not fine, move."

She dragged him to the medical area where a tired-looking doctor immediately started treating his burns, applying some kind of healing salve that felt cold, numbed the pain within seconds.

"Second-degree burns on the shoulder and forearms," the doctor noted, wrapping bandages. "You’re cleared to continue but try not to get hit by fire again, your skin can only take so much."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Joy sat next to him while the doctor worked. "So that purple light thing, what was that?"

"What purple light?"

"Don’t play dumb, I saw it when you blocked his final attack, your hands were glowing purple for like half a second, is that your ability?"

’Shit.’

[She noticed]

[Recommend minimal explanation]

"It’s just, energy manipulation I guess, nothing special."

"Nothing special? You absorbed fire, Rin, fire that was hot enough to melt the barrier coating, that’s not ’nothing special.’"

"Can we talk about this later?"

She studied his face for a moment, seemed to realize he wasn’t going to elaborate. "Fine, but you owe me an actual explanation at some point, training partners don’t keep secrets."

"Deal."

The doctor finished bandaging him, sent him on his way with instructions to rest for at least two hours before his next potential match.

Rin checked the bracket board, if he won his next fight he’d be in the top fifty, two more wins after that would put him in the top ten, qualified for Stage 3.

Four total wins needed, he’d only managed one so far.

His phone buzzed, message from an unknown number.

_Impressive performance. The purple energy was noted. We’ll discuss after Stage 2 concludes. - Ashford_

’Great, the Director saw it too.’

[Your fracture synchronization is difficult to conceal during active combat]

[Recommend developing a cover story]

’Any suggestions?’

[Claim it is a secondary ability]

[Rare but not unheard of for awakened to manifest multiple powers]

That could work, maybe he could sell it as some kind of energy absorption thing, play it off as less impressive than it actually was.

"Match 48: Joy Castellanos vs Marcus Vex!" The announcement echoed through the staging area.

Joy stood up. "That’s me, wish me luck."

"Don’t die on live TV."

"Using my own advice against me, rude." She headed toward the tunnel, paused at the entrance. "Hey Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever that purple thing is, whatever you’re hiding, I’m not going to push, but just know that when you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here."

She disappeared into the tunnel before he could respond.

Rin sat there alone, watching the screens display her match starting, some guy with metal manipulation who immediately tried to impale her with steel rods.

Joy dodged, her ability kicked in, the guy suddenly looked terrified, dropped his weapons, curled up on the ground crying.

Match over in thirty seconds, Joy advanced.

’She’s good.’

[Emotion manipulation is highly effective in one-on-one combat]

[Recommend maintaining alliance with her]

’Alliance? We’re just training partners.’

[For now]

The rest of the day passed in a blur, matches concluded, winners advanced, losers were eliminated, the bracket narrowed from three hundred to one hundred fifty, then seventy-five, then forty.

By the time they called it for the night, Rin had fought twice more, won both times, was now in the top twenty.

Joy made it to the top fifteen.

Tomorrow they’d fight again, the final rounds, ten winners would advance to Stage 3.

Rin lay in the medical tent that night, too wired to sleep, too exhausted to move, arms still aching despite the healing salve, mind racing with thoughts about his next opponents, about Ashford wanting to "discuss" the purple energy, about Kazriketh somewhere out there waiting.

His phone buzzed, message from Joy.

you awake?

Rin: yeah

Joy: cant sleep either. nervous about tomorrow

Rin: same

Joy: we got this though right? top 10. we can do it

Rin: we better

Joy:_hey random question but do you think leo would be proud? of what were doing?

Rin stared at the message for a long time before responding.

Rin: yeah. i think he would be.

Joy: good. thats what matters then

She didn’t text again after that.

Rin eventually drifted off sometime around 3 AM, dreaming about fire and purple light and Leo’s voice telling him to use his power, to not be afraid.

Tomorrow he’d fight again, tomorrow he’d get closer to keeping his promise.

Tomorrow the whole world would be watching.