The Five Evolution

Chapter 12: Duel!

『"Steel on steel, One of us is not walking away..."』

They both stepped in, and their swords clashed.

CLANG!

The sound rang through the fencing hall as the impact vibrated through Amara’s arm.

She stepped back, weight balanced on the balls of her feet, and her opponent mirrored the motion.

They circled once, testing distance, taking measured steps. Then surged forward in perfect unison, blades striking for openings.

Both tilted their bodies at the exact same moment, avoiding strikes by mere inches, then paused... both raising their blades as they waited.

As though a drop of Amara’s sweat to the ground was a signal, the mysterious female fencer exploded forward the moment the droplet hit the floor.

She went on the attack with sudden viciousness, moving faster and stronger with each passing second. Her blade became a blur, striking from multiple angles.

Amara parried on instinct, steel singing against steel as she retreated while tracking her footing, keeping her guard high, and circling wide to avoid being pinned.

Her body was essentially still operating on that strange muscle memory and embedded knowledge that felt both familiar and foreign.

The woman drove her backward across the polished floor, step by relentless step, until Amara’s back was nearly against one of the walls lined with decorative swords.

Red electricity suddenly crackled around her opponent’s blade, and the next strike came down with explosive force.

Amara rolled away at the last possible second, avoiding the blade that punched a hole clean through the reinforced wooden wall instead.

The impact sent splinters flying as smoke rose from the crater that still crackled with residual electrical energy.

Amara stared at the destruction from her position on the floor, her heart pounding.

What the hell was that?

She also noticed something when the strike came—her grip on her blade had felt stiff, unresponsive. Like the weapon itself was resisting her.

"Um," Amara said, flicking her blade and rising to her feet, "You want to ease up a bit?"

Her opponent said nothing.

Instead, she came again, faster this time. Amara parried a strike and lunged forward with a jab aimed at center mass, but the mysterious fencer spun like a dancer, rolling past the attack.

Her blade crackled with crimson arcs of electricity again as she circled it around Amara’s weapon in a complex disarming technique that tore the blade from Amara’s grip and sent it flying upward, spinning through the air.

There it was again, that same sensation of her grip being stiffened, making it harder to maintain control. Whatever this woman was doing, it was affecting her weapon directly.

Amara was left defenseless for a crucial heartbeat, and the electrified strike came for her again, aiming to end this.

But instincts kicked in like a switch being flipped. Her body moved before her mind caught up, with the phantom experience that came from eons of sword combat, even though she’d never fought a day in her life.

She backflipped once, twice, three times in rapid succession, boots skimming the floor as each flip carried her out of reach and allowing her avoid the strike by fractions of inches.

On the final rotation her hand snapped upward, catching her falling saber mid-air, reversed her grip and dropped into a perfect en garde stance, ready to continue.

Across the salle, her opponent tilted her masked head slightly in an assessing, surprised, or amused manner? Amara couldn’t tell which it was.

***

Hiro was just coming out of chess club when he ran into Ethan in the corridor.

"Duuude, that kinda sucked." He clapped Ethan on the shoulder and added, "I should have known super speed on my brain would make chess boring."

"You don’t say?" Ethan replied with a mild amusement that felt faked.

Before Hiro could elaborate, several students ran past them at full speed. One called back over his shoulder: "There’s some crazy duel going on in the fencing hall! Let’s go check it out!"

Hiro and Ethan stared at each other, and at exactly the same moment, they both said: "Amara."

Then they started running.

Hiro and Ethan hadn’t made it far when they nearly collided with Raj and Sophia coming from another corridor. Sophia had a massive slice of pizza in her hand, cheese stretching as she took another bite.

"Did you guys hear?" she said with a mouthful. "Some crazy duel in the fencing hall. Sounds like someone’s about to get their ass kicked."

"You don’t think—" Raj started.

"Yeah," Ethan cut in, already moving again. "Come on!"

There was no time to consult their maps. Ethan knew the way by heart, and they followed him through twisting corridors at a dead sprint.

***

"Naomi, is that you?" Amara called out as several jabs came at her so fast they felt like a hundred striking simultaneously.

She managed to parry and avoid all of them in fluid motions she still couldn’t explain. But she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I don’t think I want to do this anymore." She switched her stance to indicate surrender, lowering her blade slightly, making her intentions clear.

Her opponent’s blade kept coming regardless.

Amara was forced to parry, but this time something was different. The woman’s blade passed through hers like it wasn’t even there, cutting through metal like butter, and tore through the arm of Amara’s fencing uniform.

Blood bloomed immediately, soaking the white fabric red.

Amara looked at her arm, watching crimson spread across the material, and felt cold realization wash over her. This was more serious than she’d wanted to believe.

"What the hell, Naomi!?" she yelled.

But her opponent was already coming again with another brutal slash. Amara leapt backward, barely avoiding the blade, only to have a side kick follow immediately, catching her in the ribs with enough force to lift her off her feet.

She flew across the room and hit the polished floor hard, the impact driving the air from her lungs.

She wasn’t even given time to catch her breath as the mysterious fencer was already descending from above, blade crackling with energy, aimed directly at Amara’s head.

Amara looked up. Her eyes widened.

She rolled desperately, and the blade slammed into the polished floor where her head had been less than a second ago. The impact cratered the oak with a splintering boom as cracks spider-webbed outward from the point of contact.

She kept rolling, building momentum, then flung herself to her feet and grabbed another blade from the wall display.

"This is no longer funny!" she shouted, angry now.

***

Ethan and the others arrived to find a crowd had formed in the fencing hall. Students pressed against the walls, some standing on chairs to get a better view. The atmosphere had the electric energy of spectators at a gladiatorial match.

One Awakener in front was actively taking bets, his device out as he pointed at Amara and said, "The bustier one gets demolished in the next five minutes. Who wants in?"

Sophia, who’d just arrived, stopped mid-bite of her pizza. "Did that asshole just—"

"Later," Ethan cut in, already pushing forward. "Amara first."

But Sophia’s eyes tracked the betting student with a focus that promised future consequences.

Another student immediately pulled out his communicator. "I’ll take some of that action."

"Alright," Raj said, scanning the crowd, "which one of them is Amara?"

They all stared at him like he’d just asked which way was up.

"The one who just got her third blade sliced clean in half?" Hiro commented, craning his neck to see over the crowd. "I think. Can’t really tell from back here with all these people."

He wasn’t wrong though. That was the third blade she’d pulled from the wall that had been cut through like tissue paper.

"Naomi!" Amara’s voice rang out from somewhere in the chaos. "Cut it out already!"

From directly beside Hiro, a familiar voice responded: "Why does that bitch keep calling my name?"

Hiro flinched violently, one hand going over his head when he turned to find Naomi standing right next to him, arms crossed, looking confused. That pink-tipped hair was unmistakable.

"Wait," he said slowly, his analytical mind catching up. "If you’re here, who the hell is Amara fighting?"

"Wait, that’s one of you losers in there?" Naomi’s wicked smile spread across her face. Not really a question. More like a statement of pleased discovery.

Ethan was already moving, pushing through the crowd like he was willing to go through them if they didn’t move fast enough. "Let’s not wait to find out."

Raj stuck around for just a moment longer, because apparently reading social situations had never been his strong suit. He leaned casually against the wall. "What’s up, Naomi."

Sophia tapped on a random student and said, "here," handing him her half eaten slice of pizza, then immediately grabbed Raj by the collar and yanked him forward. "Not the time, big guy!" She pulled him towards Ethan and Hiro who were pressing through the crowd.

"The fuck?" Naomi said, even more confused, then added flatly: "Fuck this."

She stomped out of the fencing hall, her departure causing several students to scramble out of her way.

***

Back in the center of the hall, Amara was being actively pushed against the wall.

Her left hand was braced behind her blade, her back already cracking the reinforced wooden surface. The blade in her hands, which was another one pulled from the wall displays, was already showing stress fractures under the pressure.

Then the metal shattered with a sound like breaking glass.

And in a fraction of a femto second, Angel’s Bane took its place.

The black sword materialized in her grip, and this time, when she pushed back against her opponent’s crackling blade, she felt no lag. No resistance. No mysterious interference.

Whatever her opponent had been doing to weaken her weapons wasn’t working on Angel’s Bane.

She began pushing forward, inch by inch, feeling anger rise in her chest. She was new at this, at controlling her emotions, at managing the connection between her feelings and her weapon, and in that moment of unchecked rage, Angel’s Bane responded.

The sword released a powerful shockwave that exploded outward from the point of contact, sending both fighters flying.

The crowd scattered, students throwing themselves backward as the energy wave expanded. Several were knocked off their feet, and chairs were toppled.

For a moment, the hall went completely silent.

Then the whispers started:

"Did you see that?"

"Holy shit, what was that?"

"Dream Walker, my ass—"

"Someone’s getting expelled for sure—"

Communication devices came out, dozens of them, recording the aftermath. This would be all over Institute networks by tonight.

Amara slammed into the wall hard enough to crack the wood further. Her opponent was flung across the room in the opposite direction. They both hit the ground and the lady’s fencing blade immediately dematerialized.

"Amara!" Ethan was finally through the crowd, rushing over and dropping to his knees beside her. He lifted her head carefully and removed her mask.

She groaned, opening her eyes slowly as her lashes fluttered. "I think that lady was actually trying to murder me."

Relief washed over Ethan’s face so visibly. Then he raised his head and stared at the destruction surrounding them—craters in the floor, holes punched through reinforced walls, scorch marks from electrical discharge, cracks from multiple impact points.

"The reinforced wooden walls here are engineered to be ten times tougher than steel," he said quietly. "So yeah, I’d say she was really putting in effort."

His hand, still cradling Amara’s head, was shaking slightly from fury being held in check.

Hiro stood a few feet away, staring at the barely conscious fighter who lay motionless across the room. Raj and Sophia joined him, both taking in the carnage with wide eyes.

"So who is she?" Hiro asked.

Ethan’s face transformed into an expression Amara had never seen him wear before. His jaw tightened, his eyes went cold, and something dangerous shifted across his features.

"Who’s who?" Raj asked, still confused about what the hell was happening.

"I don’t care. But I do know what she’s about to be," Ethan said flatly. "Expelled."

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AMARA MURRAY | The Sword

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Spirit Weapon: Angel’s Bane (Sword of Truth)

Rank: Dream Walker (Newly Awakened)

Ascendant Sigil: ▮ (1 Bar - Right Ribs)

Abilities Unlocked:

┣ Lie Detection

┣ Blade Memory

┣ Shockwave Slash

┣ ??? [LOCKED]

Status: Injured, Confused, Extremely Done With Today