4 Win
(This man Kai is 13 by the way so I don't get why people keep saying cope about his height. Or it's just you guys' humor.)
"So we won't be facing each other in the semifinals." Zhao whispered as he looked at Kai facing another opponent, a soldier wearing a helmet. He then smirked to himself.
"Well, that just means I have to win my own. I'll be the one getting promoted, Kai! Not you!"
Meanwhile with Kai, he was facing his opponent in the semifinals. His opponent was definitely more skilled than the rest of the firebenders he fought, but Kai knows he'll manage to defeat him somehow.
Kai flipped back to dodge a fire whip sent from his opponent. He saw his opponent holding on to a fire whip in each hand. Kai narrowed his eyes and got to thinking.
'Well, that's gonna be a hassle to fight. I just have to fire an attack so powerful that he can't dodge then or even block them with those whips. It's gonna cost a lot of chi to do that though.' Kai sighed and started fighting back.
Kai sent out two fire streams from his hands towards his opponent who was forced to jump up to dodge them. He sent one of his flaming whips to Kai, intending to slice him.
Kai quickly reacted and sidestepped it before he created two condensed fireballs in his hands. He threw them towards his opponent who was forced to slice at it since he was falling from midair.
Him slicing the fireballs created explosions in midair, blinding his vision for a moment. Kai clenched his right hand and it started glowing brightly.
Kai took in a deep breath before he expelled a powerful burst of flames from the soles of his feet, blasting himself forward to his opponent.
Kai was charging a giant attack within his fist, the more chi he put in the attack, the brighter his fist glowed. In an instant, Kai was already closing in his opponent.
"Fool." His opponent whispered as he sent his whips towards Kai. Kai suddenly grinned broadly at him, scaring the shit out of him.
"No, you're the fool for not noticing this." Kai replied as he held up his glowing flaming fist. The firebender widened his eyes in horror, realizing that it was too late to do anything.
"Fire Fist."
*BOOOM!!!!*
Launching his fist forward, Kai shot out a dense stream of flames that engulfed his opponent's body. The fire whips immeadiately disappeared as his opponent was knocked out as soon as he was hit by the attack.
Kai ended the attack a few seconds later, revealing his smoking and burnt opponent who immediately fell onto the ground with no resistance.
The drill sergeant arrived beside the unconscious firebender and checked for his pulse. He sighed in relief when he felt a weak pulse before he looked at Kai leaving the arena silently.
'Agni, what kind of attack was that? That could've killed him if he put more power into it.' He thought before opening his mouth.
"MEDICS!!! GET THIS MAN STRAIGHT INTO THE INFIRMARY NOW!!!"
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"Light work." Kai whispered as he stood beside Zhao who was staring at him weirdly.
"What the hell was that attack? You didn't tell me you had that." Zhao asked him. Kai snorted.
"You think I would've revealed the Fire Fist to you that casually? Oh please, a smart fighter doesn't reveal his tricks." Kai replied while folding his arms. Zhao sighed before he stepped up to the arena.
"Fire Fist.... That is such a lame name." Zhao grumbled.
Kai will never tell Zhao that he made the attack up on the spot, not even when his life was depending on it.
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"Guess this is it huh?" Kai asked Zhao who was standing in front of him while they were on the arena. Zhao got through his opponent with no problems whatsoever.
Now they were facing each other in the finals.
"Yeah, don't even think about holding back." Zhao replied seriously. Kai smirked and cracked his knuckles.
"I don't plan to. Maybe I will if you're weaker than I thought." Kai taunted back, making Zhao hum a little. The drill sergeant looked between them before nodding to himself.
"Alright! This is the round which will decide your future in the Fire Army! Give it your all, but don't your dare try to go for killing blows! Fighters get ready...FIGHT!!!" The drill sergeant shouted before he whistled loudly.
Immediately, Kai and Zhao delivered a roundhouse kick each, sending an arc of flames at one another. The arcs crashed when they met, creating a giant explosion sending smoke everywhere.
Within the smoke, Kai blocked a punch from Zhao before he dodged a flaming slice from Zhao who created a blowtorch like knife from his fingertips.
Kai charged in and engaged in close combat with Zhao. Zhao kept slashing at him with his small fire knife while Kai kept dodging and countering his attacks by sending fireballs at the man.
"You gonna attack or what?!" Zhao taunted as he sent down a whip of fire to Kai. Kai sidestepped it and expelled flames from his feet, blasting himself forward and arriving in front of Zhao in mere seconds.
Kai took in a large deep breath before his right hand glowed orange and it ignited on fire. Zhao widened his eyes noticing the attack. Remembering the damage the attack dealt, Zhao knew he had to act immediately or else he'd risk getting knocked out and eliminated.
"Oh no you don't!" Zhao shouted before he got down and did a sweeping kick, sending an arc of fire at Kai intending to sweep Kai off his feet.
Kai narrowed his eyes and leaped high in the air before he performed a front flip, tucking his hands into his body for a split second before he landed back on the ground.
Kai then blasted himself forward to Zhao and arrived in front of him again. Zhao quickly threw multiple jabs, sending multiple fireballs at Kai who expertly dodging them.
Zhao had unknowingly made a mistake. While Kai was dodging his fireballs, he has done so in a way that made him get closer to Zhao each time he dodged them.
And now, Kai was right in front of Zhao. Zhao raised his arms immediately and prepared to blast himself back with the fire jet technique.
"You thought I was about to use Fire Fist on you huh?" Kai whispered as he raised his right hand which wasn't glowing anymore. Kai looked at Zhao before he shot his hand forward.
Zhao reacted immediately and blasted himself backwards. Kai suddenly opened his hand, revealing a small condensed fireball with a bright orange core.
"I was just charging up for this." Kai whispered before he threw the fireball at Zhao at full speed. It zoomed towards Zhao who didn't expect this sudden move from Kai at all.
*BOOOM!!!!*
Zhao was caught in a giant explosion. Kai stared stoically while secretly charging up a fireball on his fingertips just in case. The giant cloud of smoke cleared, revealing Zhao having burned skin and torn up armor.
Zhao's eyes were rolled back, showing the white of his eyes but he was somehow still standing strong. He quietly walked towards Kai who stared at him calmly.
Once Zhao was close to Kai enough, he raised his fist weakly before he tried to punch Kai in the face but Kai stepped aside casually.
Zhao tripped on Kai's foot before he fell down, never getting up again. Kai silently looked at Zhao before he exited the arena.
The drill sergeant checked Zhao's pulse before he called for the medics. He sighed before he looked at Kai.
"Soldier! Go take a rest! I want to see you in my office in one hour!" The drill sergeant shouted towards Kai who looked back at him. Kai saluted him.
"Yes sir!"
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An hour later, Kai was standing in front of the door to the drill sergeant's office. He knocked on the door gently and waited for an answer.
"Come in!" Kai twisted the doorknob and entered the office. The office was comfortable while having a serious mood to it, probably because most of the furniture in the offfice was dark red in color.
"Sit down." The drill sergeant beckoned towards the wooden chair. Kai sat down on it and looked at the drill sergeant.
"You've proved yourself to be a good fighter today. Kai, was it?" The drill sergeant commented before asking him. Kai nodded.
"Yes sir. That's my name." Kai replied. The drill sergeant nodded before skimming over a few papers on his desk.
"Well Kai, after discussing with the higher ups who were also watching the fight, we have come to a conclusion. You will be promoted straight to the rank of Sergeant. You are free to speak your mind." The drill sergeant replied. Kai tool full advantage of being able to speak his mind.
"That fast? I don't have the experience in leading a team. And I didn't see those higher ups watching the fight just now." Kai replied to him. The drill sergeant nodded.
"They were watching through camera. And don't worry, we won't give you the responsibility of leading a team just yet. You have a lot of things to learn to become a fully fledged sergeant of the Fire Army."
"Then why promote me in the first place if I'm not ready for the rank?"
"To not hold you back. Honestly speaking, in my platoon that I'm in charge of, you are our strongest fighter. If you don't believe it, look at the grades from your basic training. You became Private First Class immediately after completing basic training."
"Not hold me back huh...." Kai whispered while smirking inside his mind. This was great, he didn't have to go through as much struggle to climb through the ranks as needed now.
"What do I have to learn to become a so called fully fledged sergeant?" Kai asked, interested at what the drill sergeant meant by that.
"You will learn team tactics. We will also improve your firebending skills to the next level. And most importantly, you will receive a tutor in lightning bending."
Kai was sold. He was planning to learn lightning bending in the first place and having a tutor sped things up.
"You will also be staying at a new apartment starting tomorrow." He added. Kai widened his eyes and smiled a little.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me, thank yourself and your skills for getting you here."
"So I'm not going to be serving in this platoon anymore?" Kai asked him. The drill sergeant shook his head.
"Technically no. You are going to be leading your own team now and you won't have time to train with them since with the rank you have, you are now eligible to take missions." The drill sergeant replied. Oh yeah, Kai forgot that he could take missions now. To be fair, he just got promoted and was still surprised by it. You can't tell though, since he was maintaining a calm expression.
"Don't worry, we will take things one step at a time. By the way, Kai. Congratulations."
"Thank you sergeant. I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything, prove that you're worthy of this rank. First things first is to get you an apartment to live in."
To be continued...
