Fayn Itagral

So there really was a barber. I should review what Hogan had been approving without my authorization. A barber in a prison was an unnecessary expense.

Helena's hair had been washed and expertly cut, now falling just above her shoulders with no bangs. She wore a short-sleeved white shirt, camouflage pants, and boots.

When we stepped out, dozens of soldiers were waiting outside, including Captain Monroe. They all glanced toward me and Helena before whispering among themselves. I spotted a bucket with money being placed inside. Monroe followed my gaze to the bucket.

"They placed bets. Most think Helena will lose without even landing a hit on you."

"Your division is quite casual."

The captain let out a soft laugh. Helena exhaled through her nose and crossed her arms.

"That's too much flattery."

We walked until we were farther from the prison area. The wind had died down significantly, making the cold much mo re bearable without enhancing myself with eternum. When we stopped, Helena and I stood facing each other on a snowy plain. The soldiers who had followed us kept their distance, several dozen meters away.

Helena glanced at them as she stretched.

"They seem excited to see you in action."

"Considering it's been a year since my last battle, they probably see this as an event. Especially with you as my opponent. I hope you're not too out of practice."

"Don't worry about that. The only issue will be holding back enough not to hurt the soldiers."

I expanded my eternum and connected with the environment's. Instantly, a barrier formed — a dome of hexagonal panels, translucent so the soldiers could watch the fight. Helena raised an eyebrow as she observed the dome.

"You can really use ambient eternum as you please?"

"It's one of the things I can do. But I won't use it for anything other than maintaining the barrier. I want a fair fight."

"Then let's begin." Helena raised her fists near her face, like a boxer.

I nodded, placing my left hand behind my back. Helena's eternum fluctuation exploded in an instant. A burst of crimson fire propelled her toward me, her fists igniting with matching flames. Within her, I could see the speed of her eternum flow — it was comparable to Alissia's or Estela's. Impressive in every way.

Her right fist shot toward my face. A dark red explosion erupted at her elbow, boosting the punch's force. Now it was time to react.

I accelerated the flow of eternum within me — not even a hint of cold remained. I ducked, letting the punch pass over my head. The necklace Alissia had given me the night before swung into view, then dropped as I pushed off with my legs and leaped backward.

Helena used another explosion to close the distance. I noticed a broad smile on her face — her flames, the same color as her eyes and hair, revealed her excitement, melting the snow around her. She threw another punch, even faster than the last.

I pivoted on my heels, letting the flaming fist brush past my face. But she had already anticipated it, spinning to strike with her other flaming fist. I expelled my eternum and created a panel to absorb the blow.

The bright white square was struck with tremendous force. The displaced air forced me to reinforce my eyes to keep them from shutting. The impact sounded like thunder, disorienting me for a moment — less than the blink of an eye, but enough for Helena to take another action. A flaming fist was already rising toward my chin.

I stepped back, letting the strike hit empty air. I considered ending the fight with a blow to Helena's stomach, but she seemed to have predicted it. Her body turned sideways, her free hand palm-out, aimed directly at me.

By the time I processed the attack, the eternum shot had shifted from white to deep red, speeding toward my abdomen. Once again, I twisted aside to evade.

I leaped back, keeping my eyes on Helena. She had impressed me far more than I'd expected. This time, she didn't try to close in. Instead, she extinguished the flames on her fists and brought her hands together, interlocking her fingers.

A storm of crimson fire surged toward me — and I was still in mid-air. I resisted the urge to rise using ambient eternum and went with my second option. The moment my feet touched the ground, the mass of heat and fire engulfed me. However, a barrier had already formed over my body like a second skin.

Through the flames, Helena emerged, her hair blending with the dark red inferno. Her smile seemed to widen as she threw another punch. I was still crouched — I'd just touched the ground, and she was already here? I'd underestimated her ability to predict my movements and act accordingly.

I'd forgotten she'd been active during the peak of the war against Inferno — a year back then was like three years in the current conflict. Besides, I only had about two years of experience in the army. Of course, none of that would be such a big problem if it weren't for who I am.

With my right hand, I caught her incoming flaming fist. The heat seeped through the protective layer I'd created, scorching my skin. More than a second of contact at this proximity would cause burns.

Using my accelerated eternum flow, I pushed her fist aside. Helena spun with the force I applied but didn't lose the rhythm she'd established. Her free hand released a jet of fire as her body rotated.

I managed to leap back, avoiding the crimson jet of flames. That's when I realized something — the firestorm Helena had unleashed hadn't dissipated. She was spinning like a tornado, and we were both trapped inside it. A fitting arena for a close-combat fighter.

Both of us advanced using only our speed and leg strength. Our right fists collided at the center of the fire tornado. Like a shockwave, the impact of opposing forces displaced the air, extinguishing the entire fire tornado and scattering what little snow remained. Now we were fighting on a green field amid the white.

I gripped Helena's extended fist and spun, sliding across the ground. The moment my back touched hers, I bent forward and exerted force with my right arm.

She arced over me but hadn't yet hit the ground to complete the motion when she was already reacting. Her left fist was palm-out, the concentration of eternum terrifying.

The speed and precision of her attack were excellent. Not to mention the high rate at which Helena absorbed ambient eternum and converted it into her own. All of it was clear evidence of an elite warrior. Yet, what caught my attention most was the persistent smile on her face.

The concentrated eternum shot shifted from white to red, then to blue in less than a second. It was launched straight at my face.

I released Helena's arm and jerked my head to the side. The heat grazed my protective layer, close and hot enough to redden my skin. At the same time, Helena completed her circular motion, her back hitting the ground.

A dark red explosion erupted beneath her, lifting her into the air and forcing me back. Helena used jets of fire from the soles of her feet to fly toward me. Now it was my turn.

I accelerated my internal eternum flow even further and charged. Helena couldn't keep up as I seized her heel, spun her around, and hurled her against the barrier. When she hit the panels, they cracked — something I repaired instantly.

I aimed my right index finger and began firing bursts of eternum at Helena. She exploded to her right, dodging one shot, then upward, then to the left. This repeated four more times until she was positioned exactly at the top center of the barrier, right above me.

I stopped firing when I felt the buildup of eternum at that point. The explosion was large enough to shatter the barrier and blot out the sky as Helena descended for another punch. It was time to end this.

I spread eternum throughout my body — every cell, every nerve flooded with it, to the point of pain. This pushed me into a state I was still experimenting with: instantaneous acceleration. The entire world slowed to a standstill from my perspective.

I raised my right index finger and gathered my eternum at its tip with one purpose: to finish this. Unlike Helena, my gathered eternum remained the size of a fingertip and darkened. To be more specific, it became a sphere of pure black.

I fired the sphere made of my power as it absorbed airborne particles and scattered eternum along its path. Light bent around the sphere in a reddish, almost golden hue as it spun on its axis.

The spiral of red and gold pierced through Helena's extended arm while she seemed frozen mid-air, that euphoric smile still on her face. It was as if there were no obstacles — my attack passed through flesh, bone, blood, and muscle, destroying her cells one by one as if nothing could truly hinder it.

When it emerged from the other side, I took a step back and dissolved the black sphere. As if it had never existed, it vanished. I released the eternum suffusing my body, and the world returned to normal.

A cloud of dirt and grass erupted, crashing against the protective layer over my body. At the center of the blast was her — a woman with red hair and eyes, clutching her right wrist, her eyes wide with shock. Blood flowed from the wound running the length of her arm. Yet Helena didn't scream. She just stared at me, fighting the urge to get up and run.

At my command, the layer of eternum covering me expanded and dissolved in a white glow, preventing the dirt from falling on me. Meanwhile, I gathered ambient eternum around Helena, focusing it on her wound. In an instant, her arm was healed, as good as new.

For the first time since the fight began, I moved my left arm. I took the black bracelet and let it fall onto Helena's lap.

The redhead stared at me for a few seconds, analyzing my entire body. When she confirmed there wasn't a single scratch, she turned her gaze to the bracelet and put it on. Throughout it all, only the sound of the wind could be heard.