"Fire Muti: Devil's Furnace!"
The beam exploded out of Reggie's palms.
Orange-red light tore upward through the Mercy Deck like a furnace given shape.
The sound hit first.
A screaming warp.
Then the heat.
The backlash ripped at the stone under Reggie's feet. Cracks split out in every direction. Dust blasted sideways. Chunks of the flat deck kicked loose and skidded across the arena. The nearest barrier lines glowed red from the pressure.
Reggie's arms shook.
His teeth clenched.
The beam kept firing straight up, blasting toward the open roof of the Amphistad.
Above him, Sofia's eyes widened.
"Move!"
Big Bird snapped one wing hard.
The twenty-foot construct twisted sideways just as Devil's Furnace ripped past, missing its body by inches before shooting out through the open top of the Amphistad.
The beam punched into the sky.
Half of Magnara saw it.
People in the streets stopped.
Windows rattled.
Heads turned toward the Grand Amphistad as orange-red light split the morning.
Even inside the carriage heading away from the arena, the flash cut across the window.
Lila pressed both hands to the glass.
"Cool."
Kai leaned over her shoulder. "That was in the arena?"
Aria's eyes narrowed. "That's a big move for a rookie."
Rin stared out with one eye half-open.
"Reggie."
William watched the beam fade into the sky.
Then looked back at them.
"This is what y'all have to look for tomorrow," he said. "So when we get back, eat, rest, and let your muscles recover."
Lila still had her face against the window.
"But it was cool."
William sighed. "Yes, Lila. Very cool."
Back in the Amphistad—
Reggie was fighting his own technique.
His arms trembled as Devil's Furnace kept screaming upward. Sweat ran down his jaw. His boots dug into the cracking stone.
He shifted his wrists.
Just a little.
The beam did not bend.
It did not chase.
But the angle changed enough.
Big Bird was already climbing, wings beating hard to clear the blast line.
Reggie forced the beam a fraction closer.
"Come on," he hissed. "Come on—"
The heat caught the edge of one wing.
Then the beam clipped it.
Big Bird's right wing burst apart in graphite, paper, and blue-white aura.
The whole construct buckled.
Sofia's stomach dropped.
The bird came apart under her.
The crowd gasped.
In the stands, Rafael leaned forward with a grin.
"Not bad, little brother."
Sofia fell.
Wind tore through her blue hair.
Below, Reggie lowered his smoking hands, breathing hard through his grin.
What you gonna do now, princess?
Sofia looked down once.
The deck was coming fast.
Then she smiled.
Not bad, boy.
Her hand went to her notebook.
I underestimated you a little.
Her eyes flicked to the fading heat-trail above the Amphistad.
And that attack was beautiful.
Her smile sharpened.
But don't underestimate an artist.
She flipped the notebook open midair.
Do you really think an artist can't draw anywhere?
Aura tightened through her arm.
"Martial Muti: Muscle Memory."
Her hand blurred.
The pencil moved faster than panic.
Lines appeared across the page in seconds.
Wide.
Soft.
Layered.
A cushion.
She tore the drawing free before she hit.
The page expanded under her.
Whump.
Sofia landed on the realized cushion, bounced once, then rolled lightly to her feet as the construct dissolved into graphite and paper scraps around her boots.
The crowd exploded.
Reggie stared.
Then laughed.
Breathless.
"Not bad."
Smoke curled from his hands.
"You earned that one. That was my strongest technique."
Sofia brushed dust from her sleeve.
"Likewise," she said. "I suppose your fire has some artistic merit."
She smiled at him.
"But don't tell me you're finished after one grand gesture."
Reggie's grin came back.
"I'm just gettin' started."
He reached into his pouch and pulled out a red Wonder vial.
The crowd murmured.
Reggie bit the cap off and drank the whole thing.
Fast.
"Whoo," he said, rolling his shoulders. "That hit the spot."
The effect came quick.
His arms stopped shaking.
His legs steadied.
The smoke from his hands thinned.
Sofia watched him closely.
Body recovery vial.
Her eyes narrowed.
Bloody hell.
Reggie bounced once on his toes, testing his arms.
"Yeah," he said, smirking. "Miss me?"
Sofia giggled softly.
His body recovered.
Her gaze settled on his aura.
But his aura hasn't.
The glow around him was lower now.
Thinner than before.
No more great blasts then.
Reggie frowned. "What's funny?"
"Oh, nothing, darling."
She opened her notebook again.
"I'm simply going to show you something special."
Reggie reached for the dagger at his belt.
The old battered blade came free.
Small.
Ugly.
Used.
Then aura poured into it.
Fire followed.
The dagger screamed.
Heat wrapped the metal, twisting it longer, hotter, sharper. The blade stretched and bloomed into a jagged living sword of flame, serrated tongues licking along its edge.
Flamberge.
The crowd rose with it.
"REGGIE!"
"FLAMBERGE!"
"THAT'S HIS SWORD?!"
Reggie rolled his wrist, flame snapping from the blade.
"Come on then, princess."
Sofia finished her drawing.
Turned the notebook outward.
The page glowed.
Then split.
A pack of wolves leapt off the paper.
One landed without a sound.
Two.
Three, circling already.
Four with its teeth showing.
Five at his back.
They hit the Mercy Deck in a circle around him, sketch-gray bodies lined in soft blue aura, paws scraping stone.
Reggie's grin faded into focus.
He looked from wolf to wolf.
Five of them.
One of him.
Flamberge lowered.
Fire crawled up the blade.
Aight.
Sofia stood behind them with her notebook in hand, calm as a portrait.
"What will you do now, flame bearer?"
Reggie exhaled slow.
Rolled his wrist once.
The crowd held its breath.