"Let's fight at the Battle Hall!"
Like the name suggested, it was a training room for the Heart Soldiers and there was one on every Sector of the place. Leaving their living quarters, they arrived at the Battle hall which was to the extreme left of the corridor, also with lanterns between each room. Opening the door, they emerged in a wide empty room with wooden flooring, and happened upon two female soldiers sparring.
Judging by their faces, Ace could tell that they were new recruits. He sputtered his lips dispiritedly. "Aw, man. Guess we have to wait for-"
Raten glared at them straight in the eyes with murderous intent, ordering with his face alone for them to clear out. They quickly interpreted the message and rushed out, much to Annie's surprise. She assumed that they were just being nice but Ace knew better and ultimately decided not to comment. "So how are we deciding this match? First one to lose one of their vital organs?"
Annie burst into laughter while Ace let off an amused chuckle but they looked dead in his eyes and didn't detect a hint of humour. 'Wait, was he serious just now?' They thought, but Annie quickly intervened, acting as referee for the sparring that was about to take place.
"First one to land flat on their back loses and no fatal attacks. Alright." Annie added more to her statement, "No weapons either."
"We'll see," Raten uttered under his breath. Annie had two of her fingers placed on the hat she had been wearing while they both stood on opposite ends. She dropped the hat, signaling for the fight to begin.
"Energy creation: Nii Blades!" Two swords with long blades materialized in Ace's hand out of golden light. It was clear that Ace was an Energy User.
The hat-wearing girl huffed assuredly to herself. 'This guy's got nothing on Ace.'
On Raten's end however, a large solid, silver ball flew out of his metal container, floating by his side.
"Hey! I said, "No weapons!" Annie shouted, pointing at the spherical mound of metal.
"It's not a weapon. This is my power. My Zen." Raten's Zen was branded as Metal Manipulation which he had successfully recovered in his memory bank which meant he was most likely a commoner. Most forms of Zen were usually creation types such as a Lava Wielder being able to form lava out of nothing but he was different. His Zen was strictly manipulation and it was something he remembered practicing day and night. But for what reason, apart from being a soldier, he couldn't recall. 'I was probably a closed-off perfectionist.'
The two brawlers were about three meters away from the centre and Ace took the initiative in cutting the distance. He sprinted forth with the Blades still in hand. Raten grinned. "Metal Manipulation: Needle Storm!" The ball morphed, shifting and splitting into a galore of needles, all being directed at his opponent with a hand gesture from their crafter. Seeing this, Ace spun the blades defensively, deflecting and slashing the needles in his way. He spun and slashed without relent, closing the distance between them with each step.
Ace exclaimed, finally closing the distance to about three feet, throwing the blades. He wasn't much of a swordsman in the first place.
'Let's see what he does against this. I'm getting animated just thinking about it. Ooooh.'
But to his surprise, a shield manifested right in front of the Zen Wielder.
"Nice try!" Raten willed a coat of metal around his fist, enlarging it and dishing it out but Ace was no longer in front of him. His eyes darted around the room until he noticed a figure floating in the air. 'When did he…'
'Surprised ya, didn't I? New guy.' Ace hovered in the air, using a flat disc made of energy. "Haaaa!" Ace produced several energy balls, thrusting them in his direction. 'What about this, then? What'll he do!?'
Raten reacted. "Silver Net!" A crude carrying case formed from liquid metal, one wide enough that it was able to catch all the energy balls within itself. He squeezed his fist, willing the Net to fold around the energy-based objects, condensing and dispersing them into dust before returning the metal to himself.
'Damn, he doesn't disappoint, does he?'
"You'll have to try better than that if you want me to touch the planking."
'Okaaaay, that was… staggering.' She huffed again, attempting an indifferent look to mask her awe. 'My Bestie's still gonna win, though.'
The fight went on with the Energy User attempting to land a solid blow on Raten with larger energy spheres whilst circling around him with his Hover Disc, maintaining his aerial advantage. It looked like Raten was beginning to grow impatient with the unending fight, a vein forming on his forehead like it was about to pop.
"Ha," she snickered, her voice being just out of earshot, and she was fortunate for it too.
"Enough!" Raten gathered more liquid metal out and formed a gigantic arm made of steel. He extended it upwards faster than Ace could anticipate his motive, grabbing him and jerking him off his Hover Disc, constraining him mid-air. He compressed the steel arm, knocking the wind out of his opponent's body.
At that moment, Annie wanted to end the fight as soon as possible, ready to step in between the both of them. That was her plan anyway until the Zen Wielder turned his head to the side, casting a death stare right at her.
Ace struggled for breath and Raten smiled almost like a sadist. He knew he couldn't kill him but just wanted to torture him. "Where's your smile now?"
"You might wanna look behind you." The former was sure he had turned the situation around, to no one's advantage.
"Huh?" Raten turned for a second and to his utter bewilderment, a large sharp projectile had formed, just a hair's breadth away from his neck. 'When did he-? He's capable of far-ranged formation?!" Not many could manifest objects or structures from afar as it required an ample amount of concentration but he had done just that, copying Raten's large needle technique.
Even he had to admit, it was more than impressive.
"Touché."
"Uh... tie!" Annie stepped in the moment the opportunity presented itself and declared. Raten let go of the Energy User and the Energy Needle in turn had disappeared.
"That..."
"Was..."
"Aweeeesoooome~! I've never met a Metal-type Zen Wielder before. It must be super rare and you're able to form things out of metal so flexibly!" Ace exclaimed all together in one utterance, visibly praising the person who would probably see him at the edge of a mountain and kick him off of it and throw down a boulder as well.
A heavy one.
"You must have trained a lot! Come on. Let's fight again and again, okay?"
A ringing sound resounded throughout the Heart Base, at least most of it, notifying them of something, ringing three times, akin to a Japanese school bell.
"What is that?!"
"Dinner time," Ace replied. "Let's go down and eat. We can't fight on an empty stomach!" He rushed down the stairs, leaving the two of them alone. 'I hope Florian gets back soon.'
Raten noticed Annie was just standing there, deep in thought which was something he didn't expect for a character type such as herself that would wear her emotions on her sleeve.
Although he didn't care, he just had to ask. "Aren't you going down to eat?"
"Don't talk to me!" She spat back, heading out of the training hall and leaving him to himself.
"What's her deal?"
His stomach grumbled, clearly yearning for a decent meal or any meal for that matter. He was starving actually.
'Guess it wouldn't hurt to grab a bite.'