INTERSTELLAR ERA: MY MIND IS A LIBRARY

"How did all of this happen?" Max asked, his eyes wide with bewilderment as he beheld the destruction in the training ground.

A flashback of what had happened there replayed in his mind.

Billie’s figure fell from the wall, landing on the floor with enough force to crack the earth beneath her.

Max focused his gaze on Silas, who stood far across from Billie.

He had broken through to the Grandmaster rank mid fight.

Billie rose from the floor, her body straightening.

She fixed her eyes on Silas with a crazed smile.

Gone was the calm that had once settled on her face. Only madness radiated from her eyes at this moment.

"I hate this dual face skill," Alfred sighed from the audience.

This was one of the reasons Billie was a terrifyingly dangerous fighter.

The skill shifted her fighting style and power depending on which face took over.

There was the calm one, which she used against opponents of the same rank.

It made her almost invincible within the same rank because she could predict all movements and remain clear headed throughout.

Then there was this. The crazier one.

It allowed her to grow stronger the longer a fight continued.

Although she would lose herself to the battle, given enough time, she could fight across five major ranks.

It was simply too broken.

Max nodded calmly. "And not to mention the fact that," he stopped mid sentence, captivated by the sight before him.

Billie crossed the distance in an instant.

The earth beneath her exploded into a pile of rubble that shot into the air as shards of rock.

Her fist burst forward toward Silas’s unprotected face.

Silas was not to be outdone. He did not dodge, neither did he block.

He punched back, his fist coated with enough aether to make the air detonate around him.

The fists collided.

For a moment, time seemed to pause. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Everyone looked on with wide eyes. Then it happened.

Like a bomb, their fists detonated into a burst of aether that swept through the entire training room.

The spectating area was about to be caught in it when Alfred raised a barrier to cover them.

"This is getting dangerous. Do you not want to stop them?" Alfred asked with concern.

But Max did not so much as look away from the fight.

Both fighters, oblivious to the destruction around them, attacked again, legs shooting forward at the same angle.

They withdrew.

Silas took advantage, his left hand flashing toward Billie’s stomach.

The attack connected, folding her body inward from the force.

But instead of pain, she smiled. Her hand blurred forward, gripping tightly onto Silas’s leg.

Pouring all her aether into her grip, she lifted Silas by the leg.

Her foot slammed into the floor, sending slabs of stone into the air.

As the slabs began to fall, she swung Silas into them, smashing through the slabs with his head.

Silas hit the floor face first, blood dripping from his head.

Billie raised her hand as if to deliver the final strike.

But Silas’s form seemed to fade from sight.

Her instincts screamed danger but she was too slow to react.

Silas punched her from behind, sending her flying across the room.

He did not let her travel far. He burst forward, catching her by the leg.

Like a ravaged beast, he slammed her to the left, to the right, and to the left again.

Billie twisted in his grip, narrowly escaping.

Her body was bloodied from head to toe but her smile did not break.

It felt as though she enjoyed it more than the pain.

Silas gathered aether into his pinkie finger, letting it condense into a single mote of energy.

Billie lunged forward again. The air detonated from the force of her movement.

Silas fired the mote in that instant, directing it toward her shoulder rather than anywhere lethal.

Billie did not flinch. Instead of dodging, she punched straight through the mote like a bulldozer.

She reached Silas, her hand streaking forward toward his nose.

Silas raised his elbow, blocking the attack calmly.

But he had underestimated the power behind it.

He was pushed back only a few meters, but it was proof enough of the truth.

Billie was growing stronger mid battle.

There was no other way to explain why someone who had been matching him blow for blow earlier was now pushing him back with her punches alone.

Billie did not relent. She drove her free fist upward toward Silas’s jaw.

Silas stepped back, giving just enough space to avoid the attack.

He followed with a kick aimed squarely at her head.

Billie sidestepped, answering with a chop toward Silas’s shoulder.

Silas’s hand snapped upward, catching her wrist tightly in his grip.

Billie did not wait. She kicked forward immediately, her body acting before her mind could catch up.

Silas twisted, releasing his grip in that moment.

Billie, seizing the gap, pushed forward, her fist driving toward Silas’s head.

Silas tilted his head, letting the punch pass.

The air beside him exploded from the force behind it.

Silas retaliated with equal ferocity, his hand snapping forward.

Billie blocked with her other hand and backflipped.

Silas was already there, his fist clenched tightly, vibrating from the sheer volume of aether flooding into it.

Billie’s body twisted mid air, landing steadily with her hand flaring with aether.

As if controlled by the same remote, both of them punched forward toward each other.

The wind groaned from their combined power.

The earth beneath them began to quake even before they clashed.

Boom.

The entire training ground exploded as both fists met.

The floor shattered into massive chunks. The walls held, barely surviving the impact.

"Okay, I think I have gotten the hang of this now," Silas said calmly, his silver eyes gaining a cold sheen as they met Billie’s blue ones.

"Let us go for a round two," Silas said with a smirk.

Billie nodded.

Then they moved, like arrows let loose from their strings.