Burnice and March exchanged glances as they slowly backed away from Kat. They'd come out of that interaction rather poorly. Nell was down, Kat managed to catch the ball, and they missed their own shot at Kat. Things were looking rather bleak for the duo, but they weren't ready to give up just yet.
On Kat's side of things, it felt like it was already over. She hadn't pulled out any of her ruder tricks and two people just didn't seem that scary anymore. *I wonder if Thyme actually turned this thing on properly. I can feel it limiting me… but nowhere near as much as last time. Wait. Does Thyme know I'm Rank 3 now? Surely they can tell… right? But it's been so smooth… hmm…*
"Thyme, just to check, this armband is calibrated for me at Rank 3 right?" asked Kat.
Before Thyme could answer, Stan shouted out, "You're RANK 3!"
Kat just gave him a nod as Thyme let out a polite cough and answered, "Yes, I am aware of that. Is there a reason you're asking?"
"Um…" Kat kept her eyes on Burnice and March as she answered. Sure they didn't have any balls right now, but they might have a magical trick or two. "It just feels different to last time. It was… I don't want to say bad… but rather noticeable when I was being restricted. It seems to stop and start even while running in a straight line, but now it seems quite smooth,"
"Those were all intended improvements," said Thyme. "Once I knew it was something I needed for the tournament, I commissioned someone with more experience than I to make one. They managed a much superior version in only a week,"
Kat nodded, "Right well… as long as it's working that's fine then,"
"Wait, are we not going to talk about the fact you're Rank 3 and yet somehow eligible for this tournament?" asked Stan.
"I mean…" Kat looked around, nobody was moving, the cannons hadn't sounded. I don't know if this is a distraction or not but I can answer I suppose. "I'm in the right age range? And I've got two good friends around my age that are Rank 2 already, so is Rank 3 that much of a surprise?"
Stan shook his head in, "Kat, Rank 2 is something some demons take decades to reach! And you're at Rank 3!"
Kat just shrugged. While she was doing this, Burnice and March were whispering to each other. They were using Kat's responses as a way to sneak under the radar and hopefully avoid being overheard. Sadly for them, despite the restrictor band working on physical prowess… it did nothing to stop Kat's enhanced hearing.
"You got any spells you can use?" whispered Burnice.
"Not really. Mostly just channel through ma armour and weapons. I got exactly one move, but I'm not sure it'd help us," whispered March.
"I'm in pretty much the same boat. My knuckles have wind enchantments in them but as I am the only thing I could do is summon up a bit of wind, but nothing sharp or whatever. I've been trying to learn a technique that speeds up my movements but I haven't got it down," whispered Burnice.
*Huh, so Burnice has wind affinity? Interesting.* March nodded and continued the conversation, "My affinity is steam, and I happen to know my family technique 'Steam Engine'. The full version of the technique can drastically raise my physical abilities… but I can't use it properly, I need to rely on my armour for that. What I can do though, is spit out a respectable amount of steam from my mouth using my poor-woman's version of the technique. You think that would be worth trying?"
"We don't know what Kat's other powers are… actually, do you think we could get away with spitting steam just towards her? If she's an ice based demon doesn't that mean she's weak too heat?" whispered Burnice.
"I don't know? Is that how it works for them? Oh… and I can't make me steam too hot. It does need to form in my body after all. So I suspect… no?" whispered March.
Kat felt a change in the air, the cannons hadn't quite sounded, but it felt like they were just a moment away from doing so. She opened her mouth to try and distract the two… but she was too late. The cannons went off and the conversation was cut short. The cannons fired just barely over everyone's heads. It was at March's head height, which meant Kat needed to duck a little bit because of her horns.
The only problem was the bottom row was filled with thin dodgeballs. Burnice had clearly gotten the technique down though, because she snatched up TWO dodgeballs in during the 'attack'. Kat managed to make use of her tail, and smack one of the dodgeballs higher up into her hands… but well… "Hit on Kat," said Thyme.
Kat winced. *Dammit. I want to protest that but fine. I understand why I still got 'hit' by that ball even though I was clearly smacking it into my hand. I wasn't thinking so that's on me.* March and Burnice grinned widely at the news, ready to capitalise on Kat's mistake. Kat just rolled her eyes, deciding to bring them down. She was going to inform the two that she'd heard their plan… but after that? Kat was going to make them pay for underestimating her hearing.
Kat watched them both carefully, Burnice made an offer of one ball to March, who shook her head, denying the offer. Kat just continued to star them down, for a moment before dashing forward. March once again took a goalie stance, but Burnice didn't move behind this time. Perhaps to take the hit? Kat wasn't sure but she was ready for anything.
Just as Kat was about to approach, Burnice hurled the first ball, not at Kat, but at the floor beneath her feet. Kat leapt over it and hurled the ball straight at March's feet in the same instant. Burnice retaliated by throwing the ball back at Kat, while March tried to catch the speeding projectile. Kat's shot hit March's hands… then exploded, showing March in gunk. "March out!" said Thyme as they teleported March out of the arena.
March yelled "GET EM BURNICE!" from the sidelines, seemingly not too annoyed about her forced retreat.
Kat bowed, to Burnice. "It was a good match… and I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but I think I've won,"
"Getting a bit cocky aren't you?" asked Burnice.
Kat nodded, "Perhaps I might be, down a life as I am. But well…" Kat summoned up a large amount of demonic fire to her hands. Burnice watched carefully, but Kat kept the fire building for a few more seconds before unleashing it around Burnice. Encircling her fully. Burnice's eyes went wide, she went to jump over the mass but Kat closed the top off as well.
"Hey! This is a cheap way of winning!" hissed Burnice from inside the fire.
Kat nodded and said, "Yes it is. I was attempting to win without resorting to this sort of thing… but I'm down to one life, there's only you left and it's within the rules. I might be a good sport, but I do want to win, and it would be disrespectful to hold back too much and lose because of it. Perhaps if I had some formalised honour code I could get away with it without looking like an arrogant ass… but I don't,"
"Can she really do this?" asked Burnice to time.
Thyme thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes… it's not exactly a glamourous strategy but it's not breaking the rules. You could technically run through it… but then you'd be on the clock for permanent damage so I don't recommend it. Do you want to forfeit?"
Burnice clicked her tongue, "Not just yet. I'm probably not winning… but I've gotta give it at least a try don't I?" Thyme nodded and didn't say anything else. Kat and Burnice both waited for the cannons.
It took a while for them to fire, and Kat even sent a confused look at Thyme who answered with, "The cannons are preset. I'm not triggering them manually," which did explain the holdup.
Eventually though, the cannons went off. Burnice tried her best. With just sound to guide her, she managed to shift to roughly where she though she'd be safe. The cannons had shot in lines again, and Burnice was correct in her guess of safety. Sadly, she wasn't quite keeping the best ear out. The cannons had fired from two separate walls, and the second set smacked into her. Multiple dodgeballs exploded against her side.
"Multi hit on Burnice! Kat wins!" shouted Thyme.
Kat instantly dismissed the fire and walk over to Burnice, and put forward a hand. "No hard feelings?" asked Kat.
Burnice glared at the offered hand but shook it. "Some hard feelings. I do feel a bit cheated, and I feel especially bad March took the fall for me at least once, maybe twice… but I do know I'd feel a lot worse if you let me win. So… I'll get over it,"
"Yeah…" Kat paused in her speech, letting the handshake win before stepping back and turning into water for a moment. "I had a few more tricks too… so… yeah,"
"Damn, I guess we should've sent our magic users into this one," grumbled Burnice.
Kat shrugged. Perhaps… but then Kat likely could have bullied them all with speed, and it was doubtful they'd have been able to catch the balls like Burnice. *Might have worked. Might not. I doubt it would've really helped that much.*
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢