The sound of shattering echoed throughout the room.
Orrin crushed an orange shard in the palm of his hand.
Hollow stepped on a white sphere.
Nyra crushed a blue shard between her hand and the wall.
Another yellow-haired boy bit a red spike.
The fragments they shattered turned into dust and enveloped them.
Before Zero knew it, everyone had passed out except him.
"What the hell happened to them?"
"They're getting their first memory ability! People always pass out when learning a new memory ability." Auctor tapped Zero's shoulder.
Zero jolted. "When did you get here!?"
"Just now!"
"So… what am I supposed to do while they're… like that?"
"Wait."
"How long?"
"If it's their first time… two hours at least!"
"Hey! Why don't I get a fragment!?" Zero pointed at himself.
"You don't need one! You already have that black-red lightning thingy!"
"Black… red… lightning thingy? That's what you're calling my power..?"
"What else should I call it?" Auctor looked confused.
"ANYTHING BUT BLACK-RED LIGHTNING THINGY!" Zero shouted.
"How about… red-black lightning thingy?"
"THAT'S BASICALLY THE SAME THING!"
"Fine… how about blackarc?"
"Yeah… I'm fine with that."
Zero slid down the wall his back against it, and Auctor vanished away in a swirl of blue particles.
"Looks like I have to wait two hours…" Zero muttered, already drifting off.
Time went by, and Zero felt his shoulder being shook.
"…ro!"
"…ro!"
"Zero!"
Zero then suddenly woke up, Orrin standing before him.
"Stand up, we are about to begin the ranking battles."
"Okay…" Zero forced himself upright.
Then Auctor's voice came in. "PARTICIPANTS! YOU HAVE ALL DONE WELL TO PASS THE FRAGMENT EXAMS! NOW YOU WILL FIGHT AGAINST A FELLOW PARTICIPANT IN A ONE ON ONE BATTLE! THIS IS SO WE CAN DETERMINE YOUR RANK!"
"It seems there will be five matches in total." Orrin adjusted his glasses.
"Hey Orrin, what ability did you ge-"
"THE FIRST MATCH IS BETWEEN ORRIN ARKWRIGHT, AND NYRA VIRE!" Auctor's voice came in just before Zero could finish his sentence.
Then Orrin and Nyra were transported by the blue particles.
An image appeared before the remaining participants.
It showed a field stretching on endlessly, no trees, no rocks, only short, green grass drifting in the wind. Nyra and Orrin stood in the field, a few meters away from each other.
"YOU MAY BEGIN! IF YOU MAKE THE OTHER PERSON UNABLE TO FIGHT OR SURRENDER, YOU WIN! AND THIS TIME, THE INJURIES ARE REAL!" Auctor signaled the start of the match.
Orrin wasted no time.
I do not know what Nyra acquired from the memory fragment, so I shouldn't reveal all my tricks yet! Only some to figure out her ability, I do not have many to begin with! Orrin thought before summoning an orange book, surrounded by orange aura, in his hand.
What's he up to? Well, I should attack before he pulls anything! Nyra thought before extending her arm toward Orrin, her palm open.
A half sphere covered Orrin and a bit of his surroundings.
What is this blue thing? Orrin thought.
"Anything inside the zone will slow down!" Nyra said.
As Orrin was flipping through the pages of the book, his movements suddenly became really slow, taking a few seconds to flip a page. The grass beneath him was drifting slower as well.
What is this!? Orrin was confused.
Nyra then ran toward Orrin, entering the zone. But she didn't slow down. Instead she delivered a powerful punch to Orrin's face.
Orrin was knocked out of the zone, falling on his back. His broken glasses landed beside him, and blood dripped out of his nose. His book was next to his glasses. "What was that… Nyra?" Orrin forced himself upright, also picking up the book.
"You expect me to reveal my ability to my opponent?" Nyra extended her arm again, the previous zone disappearing, and a new one covering Orrin again. "All blood leaving a body in the zone will be sped up."
Orrin's nose bleed sped up.
Not good! Orrin thought before jumping backwards, out of the zone.
Orrin then rapidly flipped through the pages, before stopping.
Orrin then took two glass vials out of the book. One contained an orange liquid, and the other contained a yellow one.
He then took out another glass vial, but this one was twice as long and empty.
"Seriously, Orrin? What is that supposed to do? I thought a son from the Arkwright family would get something better than that." Nyra looked at the vials. She then extended her arm again, but Orrin was quick to think.
Water from the furnace realm… Orrin looked at the orange liquid, then turned to the yellow liquid. And the blood of an explosar… when combined, they create an explosion!
Orrin immediately poured both liquids into the long vial, and quickly threw it at Nyra.
"What's this?" Nyra grabbed the vial.
The two liquids inside started bubbling.
"Huh?" Nyra looked at it carefully. And then…
BOOM!
The explosion sent shockwaves across the fields, and Nyra was sent back.
Nyra stopped after several brutal bounces on the ground. "—kh!" She forced herself upright. "That was a dumb move! A move like that won't work twice! Since it wasn't instant, I'll just step away before it explodes!"
She immediately made a zone around Orrin. "Gravity inside the zone will increase!"
Orrin immediately felt himself being dragged down. He tried to walk out of the zone, but the pressure was keeping him from walking too much.
"I'll keep this up until you surrender!" Nyra said.
Damn it! I'll have to waste some fragment energy to get out of this thing! Orrin thought before taking out explosar blood and furnace realm water out of his book. He then made the same explosive he did before.
Orrin took a deep breath. Here I go! He then placed the explosive on the ground behind him.
BOOM!
Orrin was knocked out of the zone, and he rolled on the ground several times before stopping.
"Useless! I'll just do it again!" Nyra extended her arm.
"Not so fast!" Orrin then took out two more vials out of his book, one of them containing water, and one of them containing a grey liquid.
If water makes contact with greysore, they create a smokescreen! Orrin smashed the vials together, creating a massive cloud of smoke bigger than Nyra's zones.
If I'm right, Nyra's ability is to create some sort of zones and add a rule to them, so if she can't see me, she won't know where to create the zone! Orrin took out another vial, this one holding a purple, slimy substance.
Damn it..! I'll have to get closer to see! Nyra walked inside the smokescreen.
"Got you now!" Orrin threw the vial at the ground, breaking it. He then leapt out of the smokescreen.
"Huh?" Nyra found herself completely covered in a solid, purple material. Only her head remained untouched. The area around her was also covered in this purple material.
"When purple slime comes in contact with any gas, it immediately combines with it to create this hardened material." Orrin looked at Nyra. "You are now unable to fight, I have won."
"Damn it… you beat me! So, is your ability science or something?"
"Yes, it is."
"THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS ORRIN ARKWRIGHT!" Auctor announced.