Breezing Pages

  Chapter word count: 3325

  With the platform now fully extended, Elfein and Shanice stood at opposite ends, separated by a wide expanse. The floating stage stretched over the entire field below, casting an added layer of shade that the canopies alone couldn’t provide.

  A breeze began to stir around Elfein, swirling wind that gently swayed his overcoat and tousled his hair. Across from him, Shanice was casually stretching.

  “Shall we begin?” Elfein asked, raising one arm as the wind wrapped around it in spiraling currents.

  “With pleasure,” Shanice answered, breaking into a sprint.

  Reacting swiftly, Elfein thrust his arm forward, unleashing the built-up wind in a tight, horizontal cyclone. The blast shot forth in a rapid yet compact burst, but the distance between them gave Shanice time to sidestep with ease. As she closed in, Elfein leapt forward, propelled upward by a burst of wind from his foot.

  Shanice switched gears and stopped in her tracks, then reached inside her vest, pulling out a magazine. Flipping it open to reveal comic-style panels within, she hurled it toward Elfein. Midair, the comic book erupted, shooting out a long strip of paper. The strip was a flowing continuation of blank comic panel outlines, stretching outward at him.

  Witnessing this, he adjusted course and redirected a gust beneath him, launching himself higher. From above, he fired another concentrated cyclone at Shanice. As it neared her, the comic strip stopped extending and spread out midair, no longer reaching for Elfein, instead blocking the path of the cyclone.

  When they collided, rather than blowing the paper away, the cyclone disappeared as it came into contact with it. A single panel near one end of the strip began to fill in, now depicting blowing wind.

  The cyclone got absorbed into the comic strip.

  “Ah, that’s not good,” Elfein muttered, already summoning more wind around him.

  The comic strip simply fell down as Shanice ran toward it. Rather than picking it up, she jumped over it. The strip bulged before a large, stylized word sprawled out to life and glided upwards, covered in drawn markings of wind blowing, and carried her upward.

  “Whoosh!” Shanice called out with a smile, echoing the sound effect written in the air.

  Wind whipped around Elfein in a tight radius, forming the same swirling vortex he’d use when flying Haruku and Airot to the inn. Once encapsulated, he dove toward the rising Shanice, accelerating rapidly. Shanice maneuvered off the flying Whoosh text, gripping its side and hanging there, no longer riding atop it, allowing the wind-charged Elfein to crash into it instead of herself.

  They collided in the air, and the text shattered, yet also disrupting Elfein’s barrier at the same time.

  From the explosion of letters and wind, the comic strip reappeared within the broken text. While she still could, Shanice jumped off the disintegrating text and lunged at Elfein, but not before snatching a revealed part of the paper strip. Elfein, briefly stunned by the clash, focused on stabilizing himself in midair, leaving an opening in his defense.

  Grabbing onto his ankle, Shanice smirked. “Gotchu!”

  She swung her leg in a wide arc, striking the comic strip, sending one end flailing above Elfein. Another panel was colored in from the motion. Elfein tried to call forth wind to surround him, but the top end of the strip unfurled above him, unleashing another piece of illustrated text. With a more spiky shape than the last, it was painted in a vibrant red with yellow lettering.

  “Pow!” Shanice shouted just as it popped out, striking down.

  The text slammed into Elfein, stabbing him at multiple points and knocking him down toward the arena. He plummeted downward but recovered before splatting, controlling his fall. Fluttering as he touched ground, a gust spiraled around him.

  “Don’t even think about flying back up!” Shanice yelled as she descended. “Just stay on the ground!”

  Instead of replying, Elfein intensified the wind swirling around him before sending it skyward, forming a spiraling whirlwind. Though lacking the concentrated force of his earlier cyclone shots, it reached a wider area.

  As Shanice spotted the developing vortex, she reached for her comic strip. But before she could act, another cyclone burst out toward her. She twisted midair to avoid it, but the maneuver pushed her farther from her comic. With no time to recover, she fell directly into the whirlwind.

  Devoured by the wind currents mid-fall, the whirlwind converged on her position, solidifying into a dense column. In quick succession, the column extended up, reaching a fair height before the bottom began dissipating. The wind intensified as the spiral narrowed and compacted, almost disrupting visibility on Shanice.

  Trapped in the whirlwind’s grip, she hovered briefly, unable to resist the winds as she shielded her face with her arms. Then, the hovering column of wind exploded, ejecting Shanice straight down. She crashed onto the platform and slightly rebounded up.

  Since she was already blocking her face, she had some guard to protect her, but before she could even touch the ground again, Elfein appeared in front of her. He held a visible orb of wind in his palm and directed it to her face. She barely reacted in time to raise her arms, but the still blast sent her flying back.

  “You’re really tryna be a star, huh!” Shanice exclaimed as she skid across the ground to stop her flight.

  “Thanks! But don’t forfeit on me now!” Elfein shot back, already dashing after her.

  “Don’t you worry, I wouldn’t give up on the taste of victory!”

  She managed to halt herself, and now had her hand on the floor. Elfein closed in, charging up another gale in his palm. But before he could reach her, a door frame erected from the ground in front of Shanice’s outstretched hand. It had a simplistic wooden design, with a golden handle and hinges.

  Shanice straightened herself while Elfein still rushed in. He fired his gust early due to the sudden appearance, but failed to damage the closed door. Then, with a creak, the door opened, and Shanice ran on through. Both combatants were speeding down toward each other, colliding at their midpoint.

  Elfein’s winds lashed at Shanice, but she powered through, swiping at his position. Preventing her reach, Elfein released a blast upwards, which Shanice endured surprisingly well, the wind seemingly dissipating. She returned with a left hook, but Elfein parried her attack, using a wind current to guide her arm into missing.

  Seizing the opening, he aimed his open palm at her face, but instead of blasting her, a sudden force pushed him from behind. Thrown off balance, he missed and was opened for a counter. Shanice drove a heavy punch into his unguarded face, nearly flipping him just from the force.

  As he bent backwards, Elfein saw the comic strip floating with its panels pointed towards them. The first two panels that were colored in were now grayed out, as if unavailable. However, there was a newer third panel, depicting another set of swirly wind lines, though smaller and visibly calmer. It, too, was grayed out.

  Using the momentum of his flip, he twisted into a pivoting kick toward Shanice before he fell over completely. She smoothly blocked it, and as the strike connected, another panel on the comic strip began getting colored in. The new panel that was just added had the image of a leg kicking a figure out of frame.

  “Didn’t you need to hit the paper?!” Elfein bursted out as he hit the floor.

  “Did I?” Shanice smugly replied before punching downwards following Elfein.

  Gritting his teeth, Elfein grabbed her fist with both hands, using the floor to his advantage.

  Successfully halting her strike, he let out a strained shout. “You don’t know of the sky’s limits!”

  Shanice smirked at his response, but before she could reply, a gust formed around the fist Elfein caught. She tried to pull back, but it sucked her in. In the next moment, it exploded, hurling her arm back with such force that she was the one spinning midair now.

  Elfein shot up, blasting an explosive current from his back that launched him straight up to his feet. He readied another gale in his palms while Shanice brought her hands together mid-spin. Just as she finished her rotation and was about to touch ground, Elfein aimed his palm to her. Yet instead of shooting her, another door frame sprouted up from underneath his extended arm, redirecting him into misfiring.

  Shanice landed cleanly and immediately opened the door, throwing a straight punch that struck Elfein’s face again. This time, he held his ground and tried throwing a punch back. But instead of slogging it out, his fist hit a door, for Shanice shut the door before he could retaliate.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Elfein recoiled, briefly stunned from punching a solid door, leaving a noticeable dent on the wooden panel. Without missing a beat, Shanice opened the door again and charged through for another jab. Elfein stumbled back from the assault, but recovered quickly. He charged forward, aiming to reclaim his lost ground against her. However, she retreated back through the door frame and shut it once again. Annoyed by the repeated hit and run, Elfein opened the door and sent a wave of wind through it. The wind surged forward, but hit nothing, for Shanice was no longer on the other side.

  “Yoo-hoo! Don’t get so stuck up over the door now!” Shanice called out.

  She was now standing by her first summoned door frame.

  Elfein clicked his tongue as he simultaneously encased himself in wind.

  “Now, now. Don’t get too lonely over there with your self-realization. Just give me a moment and I’ll rejoin you,” Shanice spoke out, bringing her hands together.

  Now in a clearer space, she could be seen reaching inside of her gloves, pulling out several small pieces of paper. Each one depicted the same image: a simple, polished wooden door.

  Elfein saw no need to wait for whatever she was planning. All four of his limbs were already engulfed in circling currents, all spiraling outwards, away from his body. With them, he shot himself forward, piercing forth like an arrow. Simultaneously, Shanice threw the mini images forward to her sides, scattering them in symmetrical dotted lines. Elfein, undeterred, increased the wind around his legs to accelerate, speeding into the makeshift aisle.

  As he flew past the papers, pair by pair, they erupted, and a door frame rose from their position. All equally spaced from each other, they formed two rows leading to Shanice.

  Elfein extended both arms in front and merged their winds together, forming a spiraling tip, mimicking an arrowhead. It enlarged to cover his entire front before he fired it. Shanice merely opened the door and stepped behind the frame.

  The arrowhead attempted to follow, but as it crossed through the open doorway, it disappeared. The broader ends of the gale arrow, which extended beyond the frame, continued on, but still missed Shanice entirely.

  Elfein, still bursting forth, slowed down as he watched his attack vanish. But as he aligned with the last set of doors before reaching Shanice, the one to his right bursted open.

  From it, his gale arrow emerged.

  “Oh dear…” Elfein muttered as he saw his own attack return.

  He was blasted head-on and launched across, crashing into the opposite row’s door, cracking it, but not destroying it. Groaning, he rose using the damaged frame for support. Leaning against the door with his left arm, he hurriedly engulfed the other in wind, strengthening currents that spiraled inward, toward his body.

  Shanice rounded to the front of the door she used to redirect the gale arrow and entered it. The door closed behind her, and she disappeared in the process.

  “Hiding now? Have you reached your limit?!” Elfein yelled out, still resting against the door. “Afraid of the unknown results hiding in the sky?”

  Before he could taunt more, the door he was leaning against creaked open. The wind in his right arm then swiftly moved over his body, rapidly transferring to his left along a preset path he laid out. Elfein predicted this.

  The redirected gale shot out through his left arm, opening the door wide and forcing another door down the aisle to slam open. Shanice came flying out, blasted by a compacted cyclone. It was now her turn to crash into the opposite row’s door. Wasting no time, Elfein ran through the door he just fired into, and emerged from the door Shanice just came out of.

  Looking at it from its narrow angle, the two rows of doors made a hallway, with Shanice’s original door at the end.

  Shanice shook off the impact, opened the door she crashed into, and ran through it. Elfein followed suit. Somehow, Elfein came out first, from the second door on the right side. Shanice exited the third door on the left side. She darted across while Elfein changed direction to chase after her. He propelled himself using his wind, but Shanice managed to enter the door before he could reach her.

  Again, they exited from different doors. This time Elfein came from the left side’s fourth door, and Shanice from the right side’s fifth door. She continued across to the other door, while Elfein conceded into doing the same.

  Door to door, they weaved through the space in a dizzying pattern. First, second, third. They emerged and disappeared again, looping through each door and exiting a different one.

  After three more iterations of this, Elfein exited out of the right side’s first door and turned around to see Shanice was chasing him now. Rather than confront her, he flew forward and lifted his leg overhead, performing a flying axe kick down onto the cracked first door of the left side, where he initially taunted Shanice. The wind exploded on top of it and the door frame shattered.

  “My, what a violent outburst,” Shanice quipped, taking a step back. “We were just having a fun jog,”

  Elfein spun back and charged cycling winds around his arms. “These winds remain unknown to you, for their limits haven’t even been reached!” he exclaimed as a response.

  Shanice began retreating back to the door she came through, but Elfein unleashed a fierce cyclone. It surged wildly forward, faster and stronger than before, catching up to her before she could escape. He kept the torrent going, spouting out a relentless gale.

  Then, one by one, the doors of the makeshift hall began spewing wind that carried Shanice through them all. She tried escaping, but only ended up smacking herself on the door frames as the wind then forced her onward. Until eventually, the second door Shanice placed, the only door separated from the hallway, swung open as she was hurled out of it.

  She rolled on the floor, tumbling away as she forced herself out of the powerful winds, taking a moment of respite after she stopped.

  “I was hoping you’d eject from your first door, and get trapped in a loop,” Elfein admitted, grinning as he stopped his stream.

  He swiftly maneuvered around and began crushing the door frames one by one under his immense gusts. Shanice used the moment to recover, though her stance remained shaky. As she steadied herself, she reached into her pocket.

  Concurrently, Elfein finished destroying the ‘hall of doors’ and leapt towards her, soaring into the air, reclaiming the altitude advantage. Whilst he flew, the winds around him sharpened into a singular point, disrupting his forward vision. Then, high up into the air, he dove towards Shanice, piercing through the sky like a falling spear, encased in visibly thick gusts.

  “If you so insist, then I’ll happily claim my sweet, sweet victory right now!” Shanice remarked, pulling out a folded piece of paper from her pocket.

  It folded lengthwise, making a long paper slip. Though it wasn’t comically long like the paper wrap from her comic book. As she grasped it, the slip shimmered and began to materialize in her hand. She dual-wielded it as it came to life.

  A pole extended upward, rapidly lengthening until it stood nearly her full height. Then its tip materialized into something else. It widened and enlarged to ridiculous proportions. Simple, smooth, and wooden, it was a comically large mallet.

  Shanice reeled it back and readied herself as Elfein closed in at breakneck speed. The distortion of his wind concealed the mallet from him until he was right under it. With perfect timing, she brought it down on him, squashing his flight.

  He was swatted straight down, crushed beneath the mallet. Wind exploded beneath it, sending shockwaves outward. Shanice lifted the mallet, revealing Elfein lying face-down flat on the ground. She raised her mallet again, but a flicker of wind erupted from Elfein, spinning him around. Now face-up, he stared straight up with gritted teeth as spit trickled from his mouth.

  “Heaven’s gazer! The unknown sky’s the limit!! Brought down by me!” Elfein screamed out, forcing his arms upward and rotating them.

  A sudden cyclone erupted around him, faster than Shanice could react. As the mallet came down, an immense gale exploded beneath it, ripping it from her hands and sending it flying. Despite the opportunity, Elfein remained on the ground, still swirling his arms, enticing the winds to hasten and spread, threatening to carry Shanice off the ground.

  “Stop trying to be a star, man! You will not have my sweet victory!!” Shanice fired back as she stumbled backwards.

  But the wind didn’t follow her, instead it just grew continuously. Larger and larger, fiercer and fiercer, unrelenting and unending, it didn’t cease growth. While she still could, Shanice hurriedly grabbed in front of her, visibly clinging onto nothing, and motioned as if pulling something apart.

  Meanwhile, the air itself turned hostile, growing at an absurd pace. Only the spot where Elfein laid was peaceful. From a distance, the spectacle was clear. Elfein had created a tornado.

  The winds shredded the final remaining door frame within seconds, engulfing the rest of the arena. Its height rose to that of a seven-story building, though being on an elevated platform inflates the comparison. While shorter than one made by nature, the strength of its currents are no doubt equal.

  Sky and wind, gust and gale, the arena was fully devoured by an unstoppable vortex.

  Yet, despite all of that, Shanice couldn’t be seen.

  “Where has she gone?!” Urara cried, appearing on the live feed.

  The screen darted through angles, acting omnipresent within the arena, yet she couldn’t be found.

  “Was she consumed by the devastating winds of the head librarian’s student?!” Urara riled the audience.

  ‘Wait, haven’t I seen what she did before?’

  Airot tried recalling when he first saw Shanice appear before him.

  “No!” Urara announced, cutting off any murmurs from the crowd. “She’s used her ultimate skill! Having increased her output multiple times over… she! Broke! The! Fourth! Wall!” Urara yelled out, emphasizing each word.

  Airot was left dumbfounded by the announcement.

  “Following her theme of comics and cartoons—a confined medium—she has the ability to separate herself from our reality for a brief period, and exist in a spectral space where she has clear visibility over our world!” Urara explained.

  As if on cue, Shanice spontaneously appeared in the eye of the storm, high above Elfein. She fell straight down, legs extended, her sandal heels aimed directly for his face.

  Still lying supine, Elfein raised his arms, seeking to intercept her. But he had focused too much on maintaining the tornado, requiring a moment of windup to divert its wind into the calm eye.

  A moment too late. Shanice landed directly on Elfein’s face, slipping through the converging wind. His arms dropped down limp, and the tornado ran its natural course before gradually weakening.

  Shanice took a breather as she sidestepped away, adjusting her uniform, no longer concerned with Elfein.

  “Shanice Kent wins!!!” Urara declared with uncontainable excitement.