Section 4

  Part X The final showdown at the 4th round

  I walked to my designated spot on the large middle stage of the event, and my eyes were scornfully locked on Treelif. He met my gaze back with a look of indifference, waiting to get this fight over with to get to whatever he had to do that was more important than the conclusive fight of the tournament. I didn’t see him worthy at the time to be fit to earn that prize, regardless of his merit and skill, but when I later looked back, that shallow belief was only fueled by rage, and I was later impressed by his fighting abilities when I moved past his fight with Sopheia. I stood on my side of the stage, waiting for the start of the event to be announced, my cloak ruffling in the wind to my left behind me and Treelif's strange cloak of intricately woven leaves and moss; that was a different one compared to the one he wore in all his other fights, I speculated that he chose this cloak of leaves as ammunition for his wind-assisted leaf barrages, or maybe even to blind me, either way I didn’t have much time to contemplate all the possibilities Treelif might be capable of with that cloak, staff, or any of his other unknown powers. I was exhilarated to be fighting such a strong and mysterious opponent when I looked past the hate, the essence of my dragon heritage was flowing under my skin and rising through pores, solidifying as scales when enough of what my dad called Transformative Dragon Majic complied on top of my Friel skin. My scales rapidly formed in my excitement, covering me head to toe. I had already told the attendants, and they ran it by the hosts that I had dragon-related powers, so I was cleared to take my boots off; they didn’t care if the stage got torn by my foot claws.

  I was wearing my most fire and tear-resistant tunic and pants that I fetched from my bag before the fight. I was planning to burn his leaves to a crisp; if he didn’t use his cloak as a weapon, I would spare what I could. I pulled out the scarf I got from the benevolent Cat-nye people with an enchantment on it from Sopheia’s dad, Efai Neyko, and an addition from my mom that I haven't yet discovered. I wrapped the scarf around my neck tightly; I wanted to pay respects to the people who had harbored me for so long by winning for them. Underneath my tunic, I wore the pendant that my dad had placed on me when I was in a majic depravity coma about 7 years ago. I had only taken it off on one occasion to see what would happen without it. I found that my fire easily burnt my non-dragon flesh if I wasn't wearing it, hiding my scorch marks didn’t work, and I was given a lecture from my mother and father that I would never forget. O pendant, may you protect me today. I thought to myself.

  After a few moments that felt like forever had passed, the match started. “You may now begin the first final match of the 4th round. Good luck, and remember that we are grateful for all of the participation in our tournament. The winner of this match will win a to-be-revealed mysterious majic tome and 150 plat-shard coins.{valued at 300 saph-cryst coins or [1200 total coin]}....” what the announcer was saying was trailing off as I processed what he said the prize was, I had already been given an estimate of what the yearly prize is but the amount blew me away; that would be alot of coin for me Sopheia, and I doubt phaz was much interested but a portion would go to her for her guidance, the amount meant I could buy a few recipes and a weeks worth of high quality ingredients and still have over 100 plat-shards left over to get the party more equipment later on. I shook my head, trying to shift my focus from the prize and worry about winning the fight for at least the title of champion, but I could tell you that I was also thinking about that majic tome and what its contents could do to help my party.

  Treelif stood there waiting as he had since we were called on the stage, but with the addition of an abundance of leaves swirling around him. He looked at me with the same neutral expression he had when we stared each other down, waiting for the match to begin. I flared some fire out of my palms, the smoke wafting up to my enhanced nostrils, awaking me from my calculative and thought-filled stupor.

  I aimed my dragon hand at Treelif’s head to get him to use the leaves to redirect it and leave his legs exposed. I launched the stream of fire at Treelif, and he blew it off the stage with a gust of wind to his right. I guess that’s what I should have expected, but I pushed on anyway. I opened both of my hands, realising fire into my palms, my claws holding back the fire orbs as they solidified into small fireballs. I released the one in my left hand and clenched my right to encase the fireball in my right. A “Fwooooshaaa” sounded as the compressed fireball unfolded and cut through the air, being met with a rustling swarm of leaves and wind that diverted my fireball of target in a sideways arc past Treelif, striking the dirt half a dozen meters past the stage and dying out in the dirt. The fireball left a trail of smoke behind it. I used the thin smoke to conceal which hand I would lead with to strike him down. I ran to the still idle Treelif, who still sent a flurry of fast-circulating, sharp leaves around me. The leaves scratched across my scales with every pass they made in less than a second. The sharpest leaves couldn't get past my scales and sent sparks flying as they slid off me. As I continued to run in the smoke, I released a plume of fire from my throat to burn the leaves circulating around my head before they could cut my eyes. The leaves around me dropped to the ground, leaving a gust of wind all alone, and the wind dispersed without anything to carry. With the wind carrying away the smoke I was taking refuge in, I took the risk and jumped out of the smoke, landing to my left, preparing to strike him in the ribs. Even with me advancing on him, Treelif looked uninterested in moving an inch from where he stood with his hands outstretched, controlling the wind-driven leaf storm. When he saw me, he took a deep breath and took both outstretched hands back before moving them in front of himself again and crossing his hands, then taking them back and stretching them above his head at a 45-degree angle, then curving his hands' trajectory and swiftly clapping them together and clasping them tightly. He made that motion in about 4 seconds. It woulde be another 3 seconds or so for me to reach him if he hadn’t ordered the wind to raise the leaf cloak he wore, separating the leaves from the vines, followed by the leaves splitting into two groups one to Treelif’s left and another to his right slightly above where he held his hands above his head, before they swooped down and surrounded me in their sharp embrace.

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  I felt the leaves spinning rapidly, as they tried to dig through my scales. As it went on, the leaves started making shallow cuts in my scales, my body sending a flood of pain signals. The initial gust of wind set me back by about a second. I took another heavy step in opposition to the wind, pushing me away from Treelif. I stomped my foot onto the ground and dug in with my claws, covering my left arm in fire. I swiped at the air around me, adding flames to the gale, consuming the leaves it encountered. In reaction to my attack against his leaf storm, I saw him through the widening space between the leaves. He unclasped his hands, releasing his order on the wind to surround and cut me with leaves. He swiped both of his arms and palms with them to his right, calling the wind to follow his directive. He slowly spread his hands away from each other as if he were drawing a sword from a sheath, the leaves formed and interlocked together into the rudimentary shape of a large sword. Treelif then gripped onto an imaginary sword hilt and swung his leaf blade using his wind manipulation.

  I was waiting for a moment like this, I stepped forward into the path of his blade and swung my clenched right hand towards the blade of leaves. I dug both sets of claws at the ends of my feet deeply into the stone underneath me, so I wouldn't go flying backwards when my right fist opened and launched a ball of compressed fire. I continued to swing my right fist and when i was mere inches from making contact with the sharp leaves I opened my fist and unleashed the hyper-compressed ball of fire and it flew into the blade in less than a second and blew up the entire congregation of leaves in an explosion that sent his glue like wind and the leaves attached to it in every direction burning as they flew away. The shockwave of the blast sent Treelif flying back towards the edge of the stage, and would have sent me to the other side of the stage if I weren't anchored into the stone beneath me. I exploited the opportunity to defeat Treelif here and now before he could recover and blow me off the stage. I ran over to him with haste and gave him a swift kick in his side, getting a grunt of pain in response. I raised my right fist to strike him in the ribs, then I would grab his legs and roll him off the stage and out of bounds.

  As my fist neared his stomach, Treelif wacked my hand away with the staff he held in his right hand. I pulled my hand back to strike again, as Treelif raised himself into a crouching position fending off my next punch with my left fist with the head of his staff. He took back his staff and used it to prop himself back onto his feet. Treelif charged me with his staff, striking me in my ribs, causing me to stumble backwards. I felt a crack and stumbled to the side, then Treelif followed up his attack by throwing some sort of vine from one of his sleeves at my left leg, and from his other sleeve, he launched another vine, to which I promptly stepped away from, but my legs were bound together, causing me to fall despite my evasive maneuver. As I fell towards the ground face-first, I launched a blast of fire at his left foot. As my face reached the ground, the last thing I saw was Treelif step back, obviously aware of the edge of the stage. I blacked out for a moment, unsure of what the fight's outcome would be….

  *Author's note

  I hope you all enjoyed this longer than I expected tournament arc of Blazzin.

  If you would like to know more about the unmentioned fights in the tournament, check out the bonus section when it comes out in the paperback release in the summer of 2026.

  See you all next time. Bye.

  Just kidding, just turn the page, silly ->