Extra's Rise: I Stole All The Women In The Hero's Party-Chapter 118: Testing The Party (IV)

"Bran, have you ever considered circulating your soul energy inwards?" Tobias asked as he took a long drink from the metal canister Kara had tossed him.

Bran grunted, stretching one arm as Elisse finished healing a wound around his ribs.

"Inwards? Thought that was more of a speedster thing."

Tobias adjusted his glasses, the cracked corner gleaming in the sun.

"While flaring it outward is efficient for external attacks, reinforcing it inwardly gives you better muscle control and response time. I see Zayn uses that technique a lot."

Zayn, now comfortably slouched on the bench again, raised a hand lazily. "It’s how I keep these noodle arms working overtime."

He flexed for emphasis.

"Your arms aren’t noodles," Elisse said with a slight smile, patting his shoulder. "They’re just... slim-fit."

Bran looked thoughtful, gripping his axe. "Alright. Next time, I’ll try inward circulation. Let’s see if I can make this slab of meat a little quicker."

He hoisted the axe over his shoulder and shuffled off to a corner to sulk in pain like a defeated gladiator.

Then, Kara stepped forward.

Quiet.

Focused.

Her boots crunched softly on the gravel as she walked toward the center of the sparring area.

She reached behind her and pulled the staff from its cross straps, spinning it once and stabbing the bottom into the earth with a practiced thunk.

Zayn straightened slightly, watching her every movement.

He hadn’t seen Kara fight outside a mission so this was interesting to him too.

Tobias seemed to sense it too.

He set down the canister, fixed his stance, and took a small step forward.

His face was unreadable, but his aura was dialed in — focused, sharp.

Kara rolled her shoulders once. "You ready?"

Tobias nodded. "Always."

Then she moved — and so did the earth.

Crack!

The ground split beneath Tobias’s feet as a jagged stone spike shot upward.

He barely jumped in time, rolling mid-air as another spike followed.

Then another.

Kara didn’t waste time — her staff was already glowing with a faint brownish-gold hue as veins of magical energy danced through it and into the ground.

Zayn and Elisse widened their eyes as a vine-covered boulder sprouted where Tobias had been standing a moment ago.

Tobias vanished in a blur again — but this time, he wasn’t in control.

A pillar burst up in front of him mid-dash, forcing him to slide under it.

Kara spun her staff and slammed it into the dirt — another tremor rocked the field as stone arms reached out like claws.

He flipped off a wall of rising rock, slashing his blades downward.

One hit crumbled a spike. The other hit air.

Kara was already closing the distance.

Zayn blinked. "Wait — why is she — ?"

Then she was on him.

Tobias ducked a staff swipe and blocked a knee to the gut with his elbow, but Kara twisted on her heel and slammed the butt of her staff into his ribs.

The sound was solid.

He staggered, but rolled away fast enough to dodge the follow-up.

"Earth mages usually stay back," Tobias muttered, wiping his mouth.

"I’m not most earth mages," Kara said.

She lunged.

Their exchange turned brutal.

Kara moved with tight precision — her staff dancing in wide arcs, but always recoiling fast enough to block or jab.

Tobias was faster, but her range and raw strength forced him to work twice as hard.

Every blow Kara blocked with her staff sent little shockwaves into the ground.

Every time he slashed, she used the shaft to redirect or absorb, then immediately followed with a burst of earth below his feet to throw him off balance.

It was the first time Zayn or the others had ever seen her fighting like this...

Tobias went for a feint — left blade high, right blade low.

Kara ducked both and spun inside his guard, landing a hard elbow to his stomach.

Then she used the recoil to slam her staff down — and the earth rose with it.

Tobias caught the base of the strike but got flung backward by the explosion of rock and dirt that followed.

He hit the ground in a tumble and rolled behind one of the remaining stone pillars.

Kara stood steady, staff glowing. Her breath was slow, measured.

Zayn whistled. "She’s got control. Like... monk-level zen."

"She trained for years before joining the party," Elisse said softly. "At least that’s what Bran told me."

"They?"

"Yeah she and Bran come from the same town."

’And I’m just learning that?’ Zayn’s eyes twitched.

Back on the field, Tobias reappeared from behind the pillar with a sudden burst of speed — soul energy flickering around his arms.

This time, he didn’t go for a direct clash.

He started cutting around her.

Blades slashed at her sides, her legs, her shoulders — but none aimed to kill.

They were to chip away, to wear down her stamina.

Kara spun her staff defensively, deflecting what she could.

But the pace was increasing, and Tobias was relentless.

Then — he vanished mid-step.

Kara barely had time to react.

Flash-step.

He reappeared above her and came down in a controlled arc — both swords glowing with condensed soul energy.

Kara raised her staff horizontally, blocking — but the impact blasted her backward, tearing up the ground and sending her skidding across the field.

Zayn stood. "Kara!"

But she flipped up to her feet, crouched and ready.

There was a gash across her shoulder and blood trickled down her arm, but her eyes burned with focus.

Kara thrust her staff into the earth, silently.

The ground split behind her and a wall of jagged spires launched toward Tobias, boxing him in.

He responded by flaring his soul energy outward, blades cutting clean arcs that sliced through the first row.

But Kara followed in their wake — staff twirling, feet light.

She vaulted over a crumbling spire and came down with a sharp downward swing.

He blocked with crossed blades.

They held — locked.

Soul energy against magical energy pulsed against each other in waves, one pushing from below like tectonic pressure, the other slicing forward like lightning.

Then Tobias twisted.

He shifted his footwork, broke the lock, and delivered a clean, flat strike to her side with the hilt of his sword.

She winced — but struck back with her elbow.