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Chapter 2 - Prodigy 

Kai spat on the floor. He glanced down to see there was spit in his blood. Then he quickly looked up, fully aware that he couldn't take his eyes off his opponent for a second. Unfortunately for him, he'd learned that the hard way; he'd lost his left ear the last time he was foolish enough to lose sight of his enemy. Blood dripped down the side of his neck, warm and thick, and the fabric of his clothes soaked it up eagerly, turning his entire collar and the front of his torn shirt crimson. 

Grunting in pain, he squeezed his shirt in a shaking fist and pulled hard, ripping it off his person. He dropped it to the ground and it made a loud splat. 

Erasmus' prodigy student regarded him with a smug glint in his eyes. He stood with the confidence of a foe who was convinced he had won the match after delivering a powerful blow. 

Kai was determined to prove him wrong for the very first time, even if it meant losing all his limbs doing it. His pride needed the win. He was done taking a beat down from the conceited prick Erasmus called pupil. The only thing that thin bastard should be learning was some humility. 

But it was going to be supremely difficult, bordering on impossible. The loss of his left ear was throwing him off his balance. The only thing he could hear with his lost ear was a disorientating ringing, like a grenade had just gone off next to him. Well, technically, it had. The blast of fire magic had blown off his ear clean off. 

More than his injury, he wasn't anywhere near the bastard's level. Not even close. Day in, day out, Erasmus' pupil destroyed him. Today was the longest he'd managed to stand against him. Well, 'stand' was a bit of an exaggeration. He was barely staying upright. 

"Time for you to give up?" Elliam prodded, the note of conceit lacing his soft voice. He sounded like he was inviting Kai to a hot cup of tea and not another shameful defeat. 

Kai clenched his teeth until his skull protested. 

He needed to do something to turn the tide of the battle in his favor and secure himself a whooping victory -and by whopping, he meant whopping Elliam's perfect ass. But what exactly was he meant to do with his lacking magic skills? He hadn't even been able to light up a single candle until last week, and that had taken everything he-

Concentrate, the Spirit commanded, silencing his disorganized thoughts. 

You, shush. You're not allowed to help me in any way. 

The Spirit muttered something in a language that Kai had never heard before. 

Kai hesitated as his resolve weakened for the tiniest of moments, then he quickly squashed that train of thought before he lost not only the battle, but his dignity as well. No, he swore to Erasmus that he wouldn't seek the Spirit of the Sea's help during his training. 

"Enough of this. Let's finish-" 

Gut twisting, Kai ducked behind a pillar, knowing full well what came next. 

He could not take another direct hit from those balls of fire. 

Elliam chuckled evilly. Dammit. He knew damn well he had Kai cornered. 

"Come out, my Prince." Elliam all but sang, confident of his crushing victory. "There's no use prolonging your suffering. The sooner I finish this, the sooner Master Erasmus can mend your ear." 

Kai pressed himself against the pillar, the cold stone biting into his spine. 

What should he do? He was out of strategies. The last one he'd attempted had gotten his ear blown off. 

Think, think, think. 

His heart beat a staccato rhythm against his ribcage. He could mentally yell 'think' at himself all he wanted, but it wasn't going to change that fact that he was currently weaker than a-

Kai spotted the destroyed floor tiles close to him. The stone had been shattered into small rocks, pebbles and dirt where Elliam had thrown a ball of fire at Kai and missed minutes ago. 

He stared at the jagged rocks and his eyes slowly narrowed, an idea formulating in his mind. A dangerous idea. 

It was bold. It was daring. 

It was suicide. 

It was his only choice. 

A ball of scorching fire hit the pillar's left side, sending rocks and pebbles flying in all directions. The pebbles pelted him, scratching and tearing skin wherever there was skin visible. A thick cloud of dust engulfed him and the entire pillar. He ignored the searing heat followed by the maddening agony that erupted up his left arm -or where his left arm should have been- and made a mad charge to the next pillar. 

The cloud of dust parted as he ran through it like a bullet as he headed straight for the pillar closest to him. Another ball of fire came racing toward him. He felt its burning heat singe his feet as it struck the tiles and another cloud of dust and rock soared into the air. 

The next pillar suffered the same fate as the one before it. So did the one after it. 

Kai continued until the entire hall was filled with a thick, unyielding screen of dust, impeding vision. In fact, unless you had safety goggles on, you couldn't see much of anything due to all the dust stinging your eyes. 

That included Kai. But it also meant Elliam was having the same problem. 

Now's my chance. 

Kai lunged.