02: A BAR SET TOO HIGH

“Wishing you luck, Jalon.” Luciana said as she boarded the elevator and pressed the button that closed the doors and started the elevator's descent. The elevator abruptly stopped on a random floor and the doors flew open while it was halfway to the ground floor.

Stanier entered the elevator, adjusting his brown gloves on his hands as he did so. He fumbled with his leather jacket for a few moments before noticing Luciana in the elevator. He froze for a fraction of a second at the door before entering.

“Hello,” he said as he shifted closer to the elevator's right-hand button panel. Luciana never bothered to respond to his welcome, but he didn't appear to mind. He reached for his turtleneck's collar and stretched it out for a second before returning his gaze to Luciana. Luciana's head suddenly turned and looked down, as if she was trying to spy on him from the corner of her eye. He couldn’t help but smile at the clumsy effort of her trying to seem inconspicuous.

“I apologise for what happened to your friend...”

“could you stop talking? I'm trying to get out of here as swiftly and quietly as possible, okay?” Her voice was on the verge of breaking when she spoke it. She tried to come off as hostile, but her softened voice gave it away. Stanier could see the red blotches on her cheeks starting to emerge from beneath her eyes. With his rubber gloves, he stroked his hair and smiled. Luciana couldn't help herself and let go of her reserve, peering at Stanier's smile. The pearly teeth glistened back at her.  For a long time, she had her gaze fixed on them, and she couldn't see that he was also gazing at her. She jerked her feet as soon as she lifted her eyes and saw his attention, as if she had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do. She couldn't take the humiliation any longer, so she stepped up to the control panel and punched the stop button repeatedly until a buzz began to ring inside the elevator every time she hit it.

He explained, "You're only supposed to press it once."

“Shut up!” she said again, attempting to be abrasive. She didn't even wait for the doors to fully open when the elevator eventually came to a standstill. She easily slid through the small gap left by the door and began pacing down the hallway, unsure of where she had landed.

“Well, best of luck in your battle. I am just telling you in advance!” As the elevator doors closed again, Stanier yelled. As she heard the elevator begin its descent once more, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“I guess it's the stairs then,” she thought to herself as she approached the stairwell entrance.

“Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves! Warm up your chairs and get your cameras ready for the next fight, because it's going to be epic! We'll watch Jalon Barr, the teen sensation, face off against Vandrad Stanier, the lone wolf from the south!” The crowd erupted in cheers, raising their banners and screaming the names of both competitors.

Jalon was standing on a hallway leading to the arena, staring at a reflection of himself cast by a glass panel that functioned as the passage's wall. He ran his fingers through his hair several times, occasionally smiling as he heard the audience yell his name.

“It's showtime, buddy, time to show the crowd what you've got!” he exclaimed to himself, smiling and pointing to his reflection. His ghoulish mask dangled like a scarf beneath his chin. Another hallway was located on the opposite side of the platform. Stanier jogged on his feet, occasionally fiddling with the Velcro strap on his gloves, ripping it off and reattaching it just to rip it again. They didn't appear to be nervous in the least.

“First and foremost, there's the lone wolf himself. Give it up for Vandrad Stanier, the self-made lorth mage from the south!” exclaimed the announcer. As Stanier approached the podium, the audience began howling like wolves. The platform was constructed from huge square concrete tiles that could be removed from the original raised platform foundation and replaced with a new one. Due to the explosions in the last fight, a few tiles were damaged, so new tiles were installed, and the arena was as good as new. Stanier climbed to the top of the platform and moved to the centre, greeting the umpire with a hearty handshake.

“And on the other side of the street, we have our own teen sensation. The man who spent his entire life on the cover of magazines and is the epitome of how deceitful appearances can be. Put your hands together for Jalon Barr, a master swordsman and unrivalled alchemist!” the announcer continued. As Jalon made his way to the platform, the stadium's roof-mounted screen zoomed in on him. The gathering erupted in applause for him, largely young girls who had come to worship their teenage idol. As he walked to the platform, he winked and gestured in all directions. The stadium was filled with banners bearing his face and name, and the fans couldn't get enough of the show he was putting on.

As he got to the platform, Stanier couldn't help but laugh at him quietly. He wondered how a man so infatuated with himself could be a decent fighter.  In fact, one could argue that he pittied.  He made a mental note to finish the battle as soon as possible to spare the man the embarrassment of having to disgrace himself on the stage.

Jalon moved up to the top of the platform and greeted the umpire with gusto, then moved over to Stanier and did the same. As Jalon shook his hand, Stanier couldn't help but laugh. Jalon, on the other hand, didn't seem offended; in fact, he seemed to embrace the underestimating. He enjoyed proving people wrong and demonstrating that he was more than his theatrics and appearance. Jalon took a step back, and the umpire stepped in between them, explaining the regulations as he had done in the previous bout.

Stanier walked to the opposite end of the platform, behind the blue line, while Jalon walked to the red line at the platform's end.

“I'm going to simplify things for you. Stanier adjusted his glove as he said, “If you step out of the platform and get yourself counted out, you will avoid the punishment I am going to inflict on you.”

“You truly have no idea who I am, do you?” Jalon remarked, laughing at the other end.

The umpire eventually gave the signal, and a massive blare sounded, indicating the match's official start. Jalon dug into the enormous pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out many vials, which he held in his hand. He then slowly rolled them across the ground towards Stanier, who was preparing to make his move when he noticed the vials rolling towards him.

Jalon then pulled a blade handle and another vial from within his jacket pocket. He shattered the vial over the blade handle, and a blade sprang from the handle, garnering a thunderous applause from the audience. Stanier, on the other hand, thought it was all for show; he was unaware of Jalon's reputation as one of the kingdom's most prolific swordsmen. The vials strewn over the floor were what had him perplexed. He had no idea what the act's objective was, but he couldn't take any chances.

“What are you trying to achieve with this?” Stanier enquired, humorously glancing down at the strewn vials. Jalon gave him a friendly smile before lifting his mask and placing it over his face.

Luciana sat in the stadium's front row, watching the action unfold. She couldn't help but smile as she thought of Jalon's strategy. She was completely aware of it all, and it infuriated her whenever Jalon used it against her when they fought in their battles back in IAA campus. The vials strewn across the floor acted as flash grenades. Jalon would scatter them over the fighting field and shield his eyes with a mask or glasses to avoid being blinded by the blast. He'd then charge at his opponent with his sword, purposefully stepping on the vials to cause them to explode, temporarily blinding his opponent and leaving him vulnerable to his swords. Jalon had previously defeated them using this method.

Stanier ripped a page from his black grimoire and tore it out. He then chanted, "Dragon's skin," while holding the page over his chest. His skin stiffened and calcified. It was strong enough to survive an onslaught from Jalon's blade, which he was swinging around. He took another page from the book and crumbled it in his palm while chanting, "Blade of the Lorth Knight." Under his hand, a sword began to form, develop, and eventually thrust into the ground. The two faced off, gauging each other from a distance for more than a minute, neither of them wanting to give up the edge by making the initial move.

Stanier was careful not to walk on one of the vials, but it was exactly what Jalon wanted. Playing with someone's mind was a ruse. Because he was out of his comfort zone, he knew that putting the vials on the ground would mess with his form and stance, altering it and making his assaults less effective. Even though Stanier was aware that the vials could only be activated by an alchemist, he did not want to take the chance.

Stanier took the initiative and charged towards Jalon. Jalon reacted by charging straight at him. Stanier soon realised the vials were useless after stepping on one and having it shatter under his feet. It inspired him to be more aggressive in his attack, and he dashed forward, treading on the vials and closing in on Jalon.

A brilliant burst of light exploded in front of him, blinding him completely and preventing him from seeing where he was heading. Jalon flipped his blade and made the end of the handle point Stanier as he drove it into his chest. As he was sent skating across the platform back to where he started, shards of his crystallised skin broke off. Stanier eventually lost his footing and collapsed, landing on the vials and crushing them with his back.

Once the velocity of the fall had tapered down and his body had come to a halt, he swiftly stood up.

“And Jalon Barr has been awarded the first critical hit! “Said the announcer,”

Jalon took off his mask, and Stanier was enraged by the confident smile he saw. He could see the broken vial under Jalon's boot when he looked down; he was the one who had caused the explosion.

Jalon placed his mask back on and asked, "Do you still want me to surrender or are we going to have a proper fight?"

Luciana smiled from the stands as well, delighting in the crowd's chanting of "I, A, A!" I, A, A!”