Point-of-View: Katie Cummins

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Why can't I calm down? I feel so anxious and nervous...I haven't felt this way in a long time, not since I was a little kid.

"Hey, you sure you're okay? You're looking kinda pale," Whispered Kilzachs, nudging me.

Is it that obvious? I'm apparently hard to read, but it sure doesn't feel that way right now

"I said I'm fine," I replied, more trying to convince myself than him.

"Remind me when your match is?" He inquired slyly.

He's annoyingly sharp...

"...shut up."

I've been called emotionless and robotic many times, but this is the first time I've actually wished that was true. When I was in elementary school, I was the type of kid that cried a lot and was very loud...and I got teased a lot for that. I wouldn't exactly call it bullying, I was just nicknamed stuff like crybaby and chatterbox.

Though as a kid, it definitely had an impact on me and made me really self-conscious. I then happened to see a bit of a live professional poker match that my parents were watching, and one of the players was being praised by the commentators for having a flawless poker face or something along those lines.

And my seven or eight year old self thought that was amazing, and I had the bright idea that if I have a constant poker face, the teasing will stop. As it turned out, I was wrong, and the teasing simply changed to calling me emotionless and whatnot.

But...keeping a straight face and giving away nothing in the tone of my voice...I kinda enjoyed it, so I kept at it. And at some point, it just sort of became natural to me. Plus, I like it when people say I'm hard to read and stuff...to put it simply, it makes me feel cool, and I know that's kinda dorky, but I don't care.

And besides, I've gotten way too used to and comfortable with this demeanor to go back on it now, it doesn't feel like I'm putting on an act or forcing it, it's been my new normal for years now. The other day I tried smiling and frowning in front of the mirror, and it just felt...wrong.

"Looks like the first match is starting," Remarked one of the Level K students, the girl with ringlets, as the large monitor screen in the waiting room switched on, showing a live feed of the stadium arena, where two X-Warriors were making their way out onto the middle.

"The winner of this will be your second opponent, huh," Remarked Kilzachs, as the match began.

"Assuming that I win my first match," I replied with a quiet sigh.

"Your first opponent may be a K-Ranked X-Warrior, but you managed to inflict a fair bit of damage on my sister, an Ace, so I think that's a fair assumption," He said with a shrug, while absent-mindedly scrolling through his holoscreen.

He...didn't seem like he was trying to encourage me or make me feel better or anything like that, it just sounded like he was making an objective assessment. Which...actually makes me feel better, more than baseless encouragement would have.

Anyway, it didn't take too long for the first match to end, it was a somewhat one-sided fight. The two combatants were a K-Ranked and Q-Ranked X-Warrior, the former winning pretty comprehensively. And now...it's my turn. I stood up and exhaled slowly as the announcer called up the participants for the second match.

"Good luck out there!" Called out Sakura, as I headed out.

I glanced back with a nod, as Kilzachs gave me a slight thumbs up, before returning his focus to his holoscreen. I turned back around and headed out of the waiting room, making my way through the corridor that led to the arena.

The rules are simple, a Duel Field is placed around the arena once both participants are in, and then a ten second countdown begins. You're not allowed to move while the countdown is ticking, but you are allowed to activate your manifestations. There's no time limit, but beating your opponent once isn't enough.

There's two ways to win...knock your opponent unconscious or have them surrender, or win two rounds. And by the latter, I mean having your opponent get teleported out by the Duel Field twice. In other words, even if your opponent defeats you once, you still have a chance to come back and win the match.

As I stepped onto the arena along with my first opponent, a K-Ranked X-Warrior, the Duel Field activated around us as the announcer began to declare the start of the countdown, introducing me and my opponent.

"The second match is about to begin, we have the K-Ranked Sofia Lopez vs the Level Q student Katie Cummins!"

A murmur went through the crowd as he mentioned that I'm a Level Q student, my opponent smirking as the countdown began.

"Give up now, kid, or you'll get hurt," She remarked cockily, ", !"

Kid? She only looked about a couple of years older than me...she was on the short side, with medium-length black hair that was tied in a single tail on the left side of her head, thick eyebrows and sharp black eyes. As she recited her activation chants, a purple XFE spear formed in her hands, with the blade at the end being unusually long, wind violently swirling around it as she activitated her Secondary Manifestation. Alright, then, my turn...

"," I chanted as the countdown reached five seconds, electric yellow XFE manifesting from my lower back and extending out in a thick, long energy tail, before the end took the shape of a dragon head.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to keep myself calm...damn it, I still feel nervous...I need to snap out of it or I'm bound to be stiffer than I would otherwise be. The countdown is almost done...two...one...zero.

My opponent then shot towards as the countdown ended, I quickly responded by having my dragon tail zip forward with its jaws open and snap at her as it closed in...but she easily jumped over it without a problem. Damn it, no, I was a bit too early, that gave her an extra split second to react to my attack...come on, focus!

The dragon head then twisted around while she was still in the air, but before it could move back towards her, she swiftly swung her weapon across towards it as I opened its jaws. Upon swinging her weapon, she fired out a slash of wind and cut off the upper jaw of my manifestation.

She then raced along the length of my manifestation rapidly, closing in on me before I could shake her off of it. I sprang back as she leapt forward, re-forming my dragon head as I had the manifestation zip back towards me, right as she swung her spear down towards me.

That blade may be long, but I reacted fast enough to avoid it-...no, I spoke too soon...the length of the blade suddenly extended significantly, nearly doubling in length with wind...I can't block or dodge this...damn it, I'm gonna lose...!

"Round one of match two goes to Sofia Lopez!"

Sure enough, the next thing I knew, I was outside the Duel Field, having lost the first round of my fight...I felt a rising sense of frustration, but pushed it down...there's no sense in me getting agitated. I need to calm down, or I'll-...

"Is that all you've got? Well, that's about what I expected from a Level Q student, you're way out of your league, kid...come on, why don't you just save yourself some pain and give up already?" Inquired Sofia with a smirk.

Bitch...alright, that's it, I refuse to lose to her...

"Say that again after I beat you," I replied, meeting her gaze defiantly.

"Ugh, you sound so emotionless. Like, that's so creepy, what are you, a robot or something?" She scoffed, as I re-entered the arena and the countdown for round two began.

That's it, keep riling me up...it makes this a lot easier. And I mean that literally, the less calm I am, the easier this technique is. I'd have preferred to keep it under wraps for a bit longer in the tournament, but...I'm far too annoyed to care right now.

I focused my XFE into the spot between my shoulder blades, while letting my emotions run wild...activating this makes it feel like adrenaline is violently pumping through me, and as it turns out, it was a good thing that I hardly used any XFE in round one of this match, because just activating this takes about a fifth of my XFE, maintaining it takes about one percent per two seconds, and using the finishing attack takes about another fifth...but it's going to be worth it...

"What's the matter, so scared that you forgot to activate your manifestations?" Inquired Sofia with a laugh, as the countdown reached three.

I'm going to wipe that cocky look of her face in less than a second...

"You're the one who should be afraid...."

As my yellow XFE rapidly enveloped me and took the form of a dragon, with a long body, four short but strong limbs, a long row of spikes along the back and a head with horns and jaws with sharp fangs, it was a lot bigger than my Primary Manifestation, my own body wasn't visible in this form, I was inside the manifestation.

In other words, not only is my offensive power maxed out, but my defense is extremely high too. The lightning crackling through the manifestation was linked to my senses, so I could easily move it around and see through its eyes.

"Tch, d-don't get cocky!" She exclaimed, as the countdown reached zero and she sprinted towards me with her spear poised.

Right back at you...

"Time to even this out," I remarked, the jaws of my manifestation, a massive amount of lightning charged up.

Her eyes widened and she began to try and get some distance with a look of alarm, but it was no use...the range of this blast is wide enough that in her current position, she had no chance of escaping, I don't even need to charge it up much more. Now, take this...

"."

A blindingly bright, violently crackling blast of lightning burst forth from the jaws of my manifestation, striking forward and hitting the Duel Field, the impact traveling throughout the barrier as heavy streaks of lightning sparked and crackled around it, and as the dust cleared, to reveal that I was the only one still standing inside the ring.

"Round two of match two, goes to...Katie Cummins!"

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