The announcer called their names and the crowd buzzed with curiosity as Ji-hu, Yuna, and Ara stepped into the arena. Nameless Guild versus Iron Fist. Three hunters from a small but respected guild who had been climbing the ranks for the past year.
Ara walked toward the wall without waiting for instructions.
Yuna: Where are you going?
Ara: You wanted to test yourselves, right? I'll watch.
Ji-hu blinked. He hadn't said anything yet.
Yuna: How did you know?
Ara: You get a certain look when you're about to do something stupid. Both of you.
She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, clearly done with the conversation.
Iron Fist's team consisted of three hunters who moved into position with practiced ease. Their leader, a woman named Soyoung, had a power that created invisible barriers, walls that could block attacks or trap opponents. Her partner Joonho wielded wind blades from a distance, sharp and precise. The third, Minseok, had a strength amplification that made him dangerous up close.
They looked at Ara standing apart and then at Ji-hu and Yuna. Confusion flickered across their faces.
Soyoung: Your S-rank isn't fighting?
Ji-hu: Not unless we ask her to.
Joonho: That's arrogant.
Yuna: We'll see.
The bell rang.
---
Joonho struck first. Wind blades sliced through the air toward Ji-hu, three of them in quick succession. He dodged the first, blocked the second with his twin blades, and took the third across his shoulder. Blood sprayed but he kept moving.
Ji-hu: Yuna! Barriers!
Yuna: On it!
She reached out with telekinesis and grabbed Soyoung before the woman could raise her first wall. Soyoung stumbled, her concentration broken, and the barriers she was forming dissolved.
Soyoung: Minseok! Go!
Minseok charged at Yuna with strength amplified, his fists like wrecking balls. She threw up a telekinetic shield but his first punch cracked it. The second shattered it completely.
Yuna: He's too strong!
Ji-hu tried to reach her but Joonho was already there, wind blades forcing him back, keeping him pinned.
Joonho: Where's your S-rank now? Watching? Useless?
Ji-hu: She's not useless. You just don't understand.
Joonho: I understand you're losing.
---
Yuna was on the defensive now, barely staying ahead of Minseok's relentless attacks. Each punch drove her back. Each block drained more of her energy.
Soyoung recovered and raised a barrier around Ji-hu, trapping him in a small circle. He slashed at it with his blades but it held.
Soyoung: You're not getting out of that. It's reinforced.
Ji-hu looked at the barrier. At Yuna struggling. At Ara watching from the wall with that unreadable expression.
He stopped slashing and started thinking.
Ji-hu: Yuna! When I say go, drop everything and hit the ground!
Yuna: What?
Ji-hu: JUST TRUST ME!
She didn't understand but she trusted him.
Ji-hu raised his hands to the barrier and started pumping steam into it. Not attacking. Just filling the enclosed space with thick, blinding vapor.
Soyoung: What are you doing? You're just trapping yourself!
Ji-hu: GO!
Yuna dropped everything and hit the ground. Minseok, mid-swing, stumbled forward off balance.
Ji-hu released Flash Boil inside the barrier. The steam exploded outward, superheated and violent. The barrier cracked. Shattered. And a wave of scalding vapor rushed directly at Minseok and Joonho.
Joonho tried to block with wind but steam isn't solid. It rolled right through. He screamed and fell back, skin reddening.
Minseok took it full force but his strength amplification didn't help against burns. He staggered, gasping.
Yuna: NOW!
She grabbed Joonho with telekinesis and slammed him into the wall. He went down and stayed down.
Ji-hu ran at Minseok, twin blades blazing with steam. The big man tried to swing but his eyes were swollen, his lungs burning. Ji-hu dodged and hit him with the flat of his blade behind the ear. Minseok crumpled.
Soyoung stood alone, her barriers useless without her teammates to protect.
Soyoung: I surrender.
---
The match was over.
Ji-hu stood there breathing hard, steam rising from his body, blood running down his arm from the wind blade cut. Yuna leaned against the wall, exhausted but grinning.
Ara pushed off from her spot and walked toward them.
Ara: You almost died.
Ji-hu: But we didn't.
Ara: Your footwork is still sloppy. Yuna telegraphs her big moves. But using the barrier against them, turning their own trap into a weapon? That was smart.
Ji-hu: I didn't know if it would work.
Ara: Now you know.
Yuna: Coming from you, that's practically a celebration.
Ara: Don't push it.
---
The crowd erupted. A nameless guild taking down Iron Fist without their S-rank lifting a finger? That was a story.
Minjun came running down from the stands with Soojin bouncing behind him.
Minjun: THAT WAS AMAZING! The barrier lady! The wind guy! The strong guy! And you BEAT THEM ALL!
Soojin: Oppa, you're being loud.
Minjun: I'M ALWAYS LOUD! IT'S MY THING!
Soojin: Your thing is annoying.
Minjun: YOU'LL MISS IT WHEN I'M GONE!
Soojin: You're not going anywhere.
Minjun: ...okay that's fair.
He looked at Ji-hu with wide eyes.
Minjun: That thing you did with the steam inside the barrier? That was SO COOL! Can you teach me?
Ji-hu: Your power is different.
Minjun: SO? I can adapt!
Soojin: Oppa, he's bleeding.
Minjun: OH RIGHT! First aid! Does anyone have first aid?
Yuna: I have potions. In my bag. Which is outside the arena.
Minjun: I'LL GET IT!
He ran off before anyone could stop him.
Soojin: He'll forget what he was doing halfway there.
Ji-hu: How do you know?
Soojin: Because he always does.
---
Later, they watched Dohyun's team win their match. It was brutal. Efficient. They didn't just win. They destroyed.
Yuna: Tomorrow.
Ji-hu: Tomorrow.
Ara: You ready?
Ji-hu: I don't know.
Ara: Still the right answer.
END OF CHAPTER 26