Roads Best Left Untraveled (Private, Ardere)

Smoke and heat was all Kaia could see and feel. The intense heat of flames all round her as the smoke billowed through the room, she struggled to keep herself from coughing as it continued to envelope her. Putting a hand to her chest, she wheezed for a moment looking down to see, aside from a few scuff marks on her shirt, she had been completely unharmed. Not exactly knowing if this was some sort of trick, or maybe she was stronger than she thought, Kaia quickly got to her feet again, her fists lighting up with fire.

"ALL RIGHT YOU JERK! SHOW YOURSELF SO I CAN HIT YOU IN THE FACE!" She yelled angrily as the smoke filled room before her eyes lit up once again and she charged forward to strike a punch randomly. The force of the punch caused a stream of fire to fly forwards from her knuckles! The stream temporarily dispersed the surrounding smoke, before it exploded! Another wave of fire exploded from her fist and now feet as she kicked and punched the air around her, the anger swelling with each missed attack!

"UGHHH! WHERE ARE YOU!" She yelled furiously, fire exploding from her body, and now even her mouth! Suddenly the lotus symbol appeared underneath her feet once again, and lit up instantly! Without warning it exploded, the fire from it covering the entire dojo as Kaia stood in the center of the explosion.

It wouldn't be much longer until the flames that Kaia had angrily produced had vanished completely with the use of her far more skilled opponent. There Ardere stood, watching her with a stare that Kaia didn't like. It was true that she had idolized the man... But when faced in battle any previous feelings of awe and respect had faded away completely. She changed and only had one desire. To burn anyone who tried to stop her.

As the smoke cleared the room, Kaia stood still for a moment, breathing heavily and glaring at Ardere. Her teeth gritted as he lectured her about how she had to control the fire, but in her current state she didn't know exactly what he was talking about. She had complete control over her fire, didn't she? Of course she did! She wouldn't let this man tell her any different. She'd prove it to him! Without saying anything else, the girl clenched her fists tighter as another magic seal lit up underneath her feet. The force of it caused the air to uplift around her as it grew brighter and hot. Soon the very ground began to shake slightly. As Kaia stood there staring Ardere down with a enraged expression, multiple spots on the floor around him would begin to grow very hot.. Until finally other magic seals appeared above them! Suddenly the ground melted away as plumes of scolding hot lava exploded from the floor boards and arched through the air towards Ardere. She wasn't going to let it end there, however. Getting into stance, the girl hit her palm on the ground as a seal manifested behind her and two fire serpents came rushing out twirling around each other before converging on the flame slayer, similar to their first training session back in Hargeon.

And just like that, her attacks were effortlessly avoided. Kaia stared at him breathing heavily, as it was evident now she had used up a lot of her magic energy trying to prove to her new mentor how powerful she could be, but it seemed that wouldn't be the case for now. Instead he only proved how much training she really needed, and how difficult it would be to ever get to the same level that the fire slayer had been on. Now he did something unusual, however. It appeared to be his turn to take the offensive. Growling angrily , she stood there at his mercy as he pulled the blade from its sheath. And with one quick swing the flames came barreling towards her.

Suddenly something triggered inside the girl. She had no idea what exactly it was, or how it came to be, but she felt the strong and incredible feeling. Without even warning herself, her body quickly moved forward towards the black flames! The young girl sprinted towards them, before sliding on the floor straight underneath the arch of black flames! The fire was inches from her head as it passed her, and without hesitation she let out a flurry of synchronized attacks. She rolled to her feet again punching the air releasing a firebolt. Spinning around and doing it again, before finally punching the ground. Without any control the red fire exploded from the floorboards and erupted towards the fire slayer with a brilliant light.

This was getting worse for Kaia. Not only did her attacks not even make a scratch on the wizard, but she was quickly running out of magical power to keep this pace up. It seemed he had only been playing with her, and she did not like that. Not one bit. She wondered if she was actually just a source for Ardere to get rid of his boredom... She wouldn't have it. Kaia would growl, but her eyes would widen suddenly when he finally retaliated. THis time it came in the form of a massive wave of black flames. She knew she'd have no chance of dodging this one, and it was clear her master was relying on her to defend herself somehow, otherwise she risked serious injury. And so she had little choice but to follow his expectations.

Raising one arm in the air, the magic seal appeared above her hand, and with a quick swing across her body, the largest spell she had activated! The red fire lit up around feet, and quickly climbed through the air to form a massive dome around the girl at the last second! Just like the previous time they sparred, the fire dome formed to protect herself from the dark magic. But she wouldn't let it break... Not this time.

Kaia raised her hands and extended them outwards to her sides, closing her eyes and concentrating as hard as she could to keep the barrier intact as the black flames swallowed the surroundings. Sweat formed on her brow as she grunted. Her arms shook with exhaustion and pain, trying their best to resist the black fire... And then it was over. Opening her eyes again, Kaia saw no more fire... It was completely calm outside her barrier. Finally she lowered her arms and her dome shattered into the air... She actually resisted it this time... But now the lack of magic energy she had finally caught up to her. Her legs felt weak and she fell to her knees, breathing heavily as the magical seal around her faded and her eyes returned to normal. The regular Kaia returned.