I Said I Don't Want To
BOOM!!!!!!
"Shit!"
The curse slipped out before I could stop it. I didn't want to swear with Harang right there in front of me, but the second the whistle blew to start the spar, Senior Seol-hee hurled a massive lightning spear that skimmed past my earlobe at a speed I couldn't even react to.
Pride? I'd thrown that away the moment I failed to protect Harang. What I was looking at now was pure fact: even locked in and fully focused, I still couldn't keep up with Senior Seol-hee's speed.
Her lightning had only gotten faster through the training camp. By now, when she threw it for real, my eyes couldn't track it at all.
Thud. BOOM!!
Before she could follow up, I poured power into my legs, kicked off the floor, and shot forward.
CRACKLE-ZZZT!!
A vast net of lightning unfurled across the space where my foot was about to land. I was already airborne, and stepping on that net looked like a guaranteed future—
But if her lightning had gotten faster, my attacks had gotten slower and heavier. Which meant—
"That's obvious, Senior!!"
Whoosh! Crack. BOOM!!
I spun my body vertical in midair and drove my foot down through the lightning net with every ounce of rotational force I had, shattering the whole thing apart.
I caught a glimpse of the reinforced sparring-floor dipping under the impact. On any other day I would've shown it off to Harang, but I didn't have time for that now.
CRACKLE!! BOOM!!
Another lightning spear came for my head. I crossed both arms over my face and blocked it—and in the split second my arms blocked my vision, Senior Seol-hee was already sliding away from me again.
She could wrap her body in current and skate across the floor somehow, but using her power to slide like that meant her sense of distance and her ability to stop still weren't sharp.
Tap!
"Ugh!"
I eyeballed the direction she was heading, got there first, and by the time she tried to stop, she'd already put herself right in range of my fist. I swung.
Crack. BOOM!!!!
My fist connected with a heavy sound, but I ignored it and threw the other one. One punch wasn't going to put her down anyway—
CRACKLE-ZZZT!!!
Because of the lightning sheathed around her body, my fists never actually reached her. All I was doing was smashing through the lightning she was wearing.
BOOM!! BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!!!!
I chased her as she slid backward again, hammering with fists and feet. None of it touched her—only the lightning broke—but that was enough.
Unlike a Physical Type like me, an Emission Type like Senior Seol-hee burned through mental energy at a brutal rate. That came with its own advantages, sure, but if I kept the pressure on like this, she'd tire out first.
Crack! Crack!!
"Ahaha!! Planning to run forever, Senior?"
"Shut up."
I laughed and needled her as she fled again, but I wasn't exactly swimming in spare room myself. The lightning my attacks scattered, she left right where it fell—reshaping it into needle-sharp points—and chasing her meant taking those needles with my whole body.
There was a time when getting in close made her throw punches of her own. At some point, though, she'd shifted. Now she just kept opening distance, throwing lightning, and laying it down across the floor.
CRACKLE!!
"Ghk!"
I let my mind wander for half a second and a lightning fang from my blind spot punched into my side. It wasn't enough to chase the Seol-hee running in front of me—I also had to track the current she'd left behind, the current that turned into snakes and went for my back.
The pain in my ribs made me hesitate for a breath, and in that breath she opened even more distance, faster than before.
"Haa… haa… Senior, I think I finally get why Mom hates Emission Types."
Crack. Crack. Crack. CRACKLE.
I looked around. At some point the entire sparring hall had filled with the lightning she'd scattered. That was why she could move faster now.
"Surrender."
"Haha! You're hilarious, Senior."
With lightning already present, gathering more of it was easy. The moment I refused, dozens of lightning spears formed in a ring around me.
"You don't want to pass out in front of Harang. Surrender."
"Hahaha… Let me say it again, Senior."
I pulled a mechanical mask from the small bag at my hip and fitted it over my mouth. Harang had said watching me bite down on the raw opal looked awful, so I'd started using the mask again.
"I said I don't want to."
Crunch.
I bit down on the opal fixed inside the mask—and in that instant—
KRA-KA-KA-KRAAANG!!!!
Dozens of lightning spears poured down on me.
Dust boiled up and swallowed my vision. I'd been told this sparring hall got cleaned every day, so where all this dust kept coming from was beyond me.
I couldn't see a thing ahead of me, but I didn't look back. Dozens of lightning spears driven straight down still weren't enough to put Ryu-yeong on the floor.
Ssssss…
As the dust settled, Ryu-yeong's shape came into view—swaying, but still on her feet. I started gathering lightning in my hand again. My head throbbed and the world tilted a little, but I clenched my teeth and rode it out.
CRACKLE… THUD!!
While I was still charging, Ryu-yeong stomped hard enough to blast the drifting dust away. The mechanical mask was on her face now, and she was staring me down through it.
Current still crackled across her body in places—proof the spears had hit—and thin smoke rose off her, but she was standing on both feet, eyes locked on me.
CRACKLE!! BOOM!!!
I threw the spear I'd built. Ryu-yeong moved before the lightning even left my fingertips, slipped past it clean, and the bolt punched into empty floor.
It was so unfair. I had to keep flooding the space with lightning just to barely hold the upper hand, and all she had to do was bite down on one little gift from Harang to turn into someone else entirely.
CRACKLE. BOOM!!!
"Ugh!!"
Her fist came out of nowhere for my ribs. I bunched lightning into the impact point fast enough to block, but the shockwave still launched me into the air.
No room to think. While I hung there defenseless, Ryu-yeong jumped, snagged me by the collar—
Whoosh. THUD!!!
—and spun, dragging me with the motion, and slammed me into the floor. Pain exploded through my back so hard I didn't even have time to scream.
I rolled sideways to get out from under her as she dropped straight down on top of me. The second I started to move, though, she adjusted her fall like she'd known exactly what I'd do, and I had no choice but to gather lightning again and catch her descending foot.
CRAAAAACKLE!!!!!
I poured every scrap of lightning I could still call into stopping that foot. The bolt didn't detonate—but Ryu-yeong just kept staring down at me, making no attempt to shake off the current climbing her leg.
Whether it was the fall or overusing my power, the pain in my head kept getting worse. I forced it down and kept packing more lightning together—
BOOM!!!
—until the mass I'd compressed past every limit finally couldn't hold its own density and exploded. It was my lightning, so the damage to me was light, but Ryu-yeong caught the blast at point-blank range. Her body reeled hard and tumbled backward, and I used the opening to shove myself up off the floor.
The explosion had scattered fresh lightning across the area, so even after Ryu-yeong got her footing again, she couldn't just rush in.
She'd looked like she was crushing me for a moment there, but damage had been stacking on her the whole time. That last blast couldn't have left her in great shape either.
Which meant I couldn't hesitate. Giving her time to catch her breath and recover only hurt me. Then again, my own condition wasn't exactly ideal for pressing the attack.
CRACKLE-ZZZT…
I gathered lightning in my hand. Bigger. Stronger. This one attack—just this one—had to knock Ryu-yeong out or take her out of the fight entirely.
She'd been looking at the floor, steadying her breathing. Then she lifted her head, saw the lightning building at my fingertips, read my intent, and charged.
Instead of using the lightning already laid around us to hold her off, I started pulling all of it into my hand as well.
CRACKLE!! Crack!! Crack!!!
My head swam. My vision shook. The headache hit so hard I thought I might drop and throw up on the spot—but I never took my eyes off the Ryu-yeong running straight at me.
Crack.
In the instant before her fist reached me, the lightning spear I'd dragged together to my absolute limit—a spear as tall as I was—left my fingertips and crossed the tiny gap between us—
KRAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!
All I could see was light.
The massive bolt Sis Seol-hee had gathered at her fingertips detonated in a flash bright enough to fill the whole sparring hall. I squinted against the glare, then opened my eyes again.
Crack… crackle… crack…
Sis Seol-hee was still on her feet—swaying, deer-like horns of pure lightning jutting from her head—and Ryu-yeong was sprawled on the floor, smoke rising off her body.
"Match over! Han Seol-hee wins!!"
"Haa… haa…"
Thud.
The second the instructor serving as referee called the result, Sis Seol-hee—still reeling, still dragging rough breaths—collapsed right where she stood, and the lightning horns vanished with her.
Seol-hwa and I wanted to run to them immediately and make sure they were okay, but residual lightning still crackled across the floor after the blast. The instructors went in themselves, carried Sis Seol-hee and the unconscious Ryu-yeong out, and only then could we get close.
"Sis! Are you okay?"
"Unnie!! Unnie, you were amazing!! The lightning went KRAANG!! and sparkled!! And—!!"
"Haa… haa… Harang… how was it…? Was… haa… haa… was Sis strong…?"
The instructors and the maids took the unconscious Ryu-yeong away for treatment. I ran to Sis Seol-hee, who was sitting propped against the wall, and asked if she was all right.
She was clutching her head, her vision clearly swimming, and still the first thing she did—between ragged breaths—was ask me how she'd looked.
That, more than her own condition. I gave her a wry little smile, wiped her forehead with the cold towel I'd prepared ahead of time, and answered.
"Yeah. You were ridiculously strong. And cool."
"Hehe… haa… Harang, I'm gonna… sleep a bit…"
Whump.
She smiled at my answer, then tipped forward into my arms like she was falling into them. I patted her back and told her she'd worked hard. Seol-hwa copied me and patted her back too—
"Uurp—! Uweeeegh—"
"Sis? Sis!!"
—and Sis Seol-hee, still nestled against my chest, threw up all over the front of my shirt.