"Match Start!"

Killian received a rude awakening.

The girls closed in immediately as the command rang out. Kia’s leg slammed against Jane’s raised right hand, the block already in place like she had been predicting the attack.

The audience fell completely silent as the match already had its first move within the first second. No pacing. No conversations.

Killian leaned away from the wall. He had been concentrating when the first attack happened but it was only a blur to him.

He had been very wrong about that. "They are faster than I thought..." His words trailed off as he watched.

Kia didn’t jump back after the first kick. She hooked her leg on Jane’s arm, twisted her body, and sent another kick from her free leg towards Jane’s side.

Gasps erupted from those watching as Jane stumbled back only three steps. Her hand lowered slowly.

There was no expression visible on her face. No anger nor pain. The silence between them lasted barely a second before they rushed each other again.

Jane’s right hand swiped across Kia’s face. Another from the other hand. Kia dodged. The pattern repeated.

Punch. Dodge.

Swipe. Dodge.

Jane’s movements stayed within that pattern with slight variations going for a lower aim. Then she only swiped with her left hand.

Her right hand remained near her mouth while her left struck twice in quick succession, forcing Kia to weave away.

From her movements, Killian guessed that she had a boxing background and her blows landed hard enough to force Kia to prefer dodging them instead.

However, her patterns had become predictable to her opponent.

As Kia stepped back during one of her movements, Jane’s right hand shifted slightly. Her lips moved.

"Blast."

BOOM!

A sound wave exploded out, slamming into Kia and forcing her backward violently. Kia stretched her hand toward the ground to steady herself, her boots scraping hard against the stage.

But Jane was already in front of her. She rushed in and punched Kia across the face, who further stumbled sideways.

She planted her feet firmly again. Her head shot up again, checking if Jane had closed the distance.

Jane stepped back instead, keeping her fists down. The gesture made the audience breathe out. Killian exhaled.

’Thankfully she’s not like that Kirara girl who will attack an opponent when they are down.’

Kia recovered and stepped forward. The two girls stared at each other again, measuring distance, and predicting the others’ timing.

Neither of them had shown any emotion yet. Whether they enjoyed it or had opinions of the other, there was nothing shared.

Killian watched with growing interest.

Most elemental users focused too heavily on their abilities, but these two clearly trained their bodies because they understood their elements alone weren’t enough in close combat.

His eyes drifted upward briefly toward Juda and Evelyn.

Evelyn looked far more invested in the match than he expected. She leaned so far over the railing that a small push might actually send her falling onto the stage below.

Killian smiled faintly before looking back toward the fight at the exact moment Kia attacked again. He had easily noticed her movement this time and felt pleased with himself.

Jane jumped back instantly, but the moment her feet left the ground, her vision blurred.

Kia planted her feet on the ground.

From Killian’s position, he could see the cold air gathering around Kia’s feet. Mist burst upwards, engulfing the stage quickly.

Half the audience groaned as it happened, while the other half cheered as if they had been waiting.

The smile on Killian’s face faded when the only thing he could see was the mist drifting by. The fog spread thick enough to blur the outlines of the girls who were still throwing hands.

Their movements were swallowed, but the habitual sounds and stomps of feet were the only indications that they were still desperately fighting for position.

The audience started grumbling, and whispers spread across the stage because of the low visibility.

Then a sharp burst of sound echoed from within the mist.

"Clear!"

It forced part of the fog away for half a second, and just before it closed, Kia was seen flipping in the air and land a roundhouse kick against Jane. The audience erupted again.

Her kick sent Jane backwards, away from the fog, and they started throwing hands again. Slamming their fists at each other’s arms, and blocking the next attack. Chipping away their strength blow by blow.

Killian smirked. "She waited for Jane to use her sound waves again, then took advantage of Jane’s opening."

A typical ’work smarter not harder’ move that a reckless him might not have thought of if he had an element like Mist.

The mist soon began moving along with the girls, mostly Kia, hiding her traces as she launched barrages on Jane.

Jane stepped back, breaking out of the mist. Her eyes scanned the shifting white around her, and blocked another kick. The audience roared with excitement since the fight was visible again.

But Killian could see that the winner had already been decided. Despite Kia’s pattern being mostly kicks, using the mist made her next attack unpredictable.

"Losing visibility takes away a good amount of confidence in a fight."

The subsequent attacks involved Kia kicking, stepping back into the mist, and Jane blocking. She never returned into the mist again.

So Kia brought the cloud of mist to her.

Jane’s form was swallowed within it. She frantically tried slapping it away before sighting a shape behind her.

"Ah—" She whimpered just as Kia’s elbow slammed into her back.

Jane stumbled forwards but spun instantly, swiping her arm toward the blur in the fog. There was no one there.

She was swallowed by the fog again, and her frustrated groan echoed from the mist. She jumped out of it, and before it could follow her—

"Blast! Clear! Move!"

Three consecutive sound waves charged at the fog, fanning them away and giving Jane a view for exactly half a second.

As the fog spread out, it revealed Kia charging from the front. Her fists were balled and ready.

Jane’s eyes widened slightly.

There was a taunting smile on Kia’s face for the first time since the match started.