Beast Speaker, Monster Tamer

35: Fire Show and Night Studies

The young hero across from Elise immediately bolted towards her, leaned forward, and ready to take her down. Elise spared them a look before pivoting out of their grasp at the last second and skipping back to the opposite end of the ring as she eyed the hero. They were a good bit taller than her, more muscled, and toned from actual hero work. If she was to be caught in their hold, the chances of her escaping their grasp were slim.

Wraith, despite being bigger than her, was still lithe and fast on their feet. They turned and gave her a grin and charged at her again. Elise met them halfway, ducking under their hold before ramming her elbow into their stomach and twisting back to kick the raven head. Wraith turned just in time to receive it straight to their stomach and went stumbling but they managed to grab ahold of her foot and yanking her forward.

Elise fell into their grasp but slammed her forehead into their face, hearing a cry of pain. Her head snapped to the side when a solid fist connected with her jaw as Wraith managed to get a blow in before the two separated. The girl dodged another strike at her face and countered against one more aimed at her chest, but missed the one going towards her stomach. Their foot planted solidly into her core and Elise was flying back, hitting the floor just shy of the sparring ring outline. She wheezed and got up, quickly moving to the side to avoid Wraith as they charged at her.

Not quick enough.

A leg hooked underneath hers, knocking the girl off her feet again as they were yanked forward. Wraith followed through with that movement, leaned forward, put their arm across her collarbone from shoulder to shoulder, and shoved her backward.

The breath was knocked out of Elise when she hit the floor, bearing the full weight of the hero, vision whiting out as her head made acquaintance with the floor underneath. She gave a strained wheeze and tried to struggle, but found herself pinned with Wraith's arm across her neck. It didn't move when she tried to pry the limb off and Elise found herself running out of air. Panic wormed its way into her thoughts and movement and Elise knew that she was done.

Pounding her closed fist down onto the ground, the girl wheezed out her defeat. Wraith immediately removed the self from her and popped back on their feet, rubbing their nose. "Man, you've got quite some force behind your blows, Monostrum!"

Elise rolled over and propped herself on her hands and knees and shot them a thumbs-up as she panted. "You... too," she wheezed, working her jaw. It throbbed where they had punched it.

"Good job, you two," Madara said. "Wing, you lasted quite well against Wraith. From watching the Sports Festival and now, I noticed that you tend to hit low and take your time to observe your opponents' movements before rushing them. Your stance is a bit poor but you do very well fighting against others bigger than you despite that."

Now on her feet, Elise awkwardly rubbed her neck. She was caught off-guard by the man's detailed synopsis and compliments. "Ah—erh—Thank you Madara-sensei," Elise muttered.

Madara nodded, a small smile twitching at his lips. "Hero school has certainly changed since I was last in it."

"Totally," Wraith agreed. "Even though I only came out of school a few years ago, school intensity seemed to only pick up. Or maybe because that's U.A."

The older hero shrugged. "U.A. or not, all I need is for the person to put in their best effort. Wing, good job. Now, I'd like to see your quirk at work, and I'll use mine as well so you can see. We don't have to fight."

Wraith stepped out of the ring to allow Madara to move in. He reached down and tore a slip of paper from the book, took a paintbrush from his sleeve, and dipped it in an inkpot on his hip. With a flourish, something was written on the paper and Madara folded it in half lengthwise, putting the folded edge in his mouth. He clapped his hand together and held them there, then blew. The words fluttered out from between the paper and a gentle glow washed over the black lettering as it morphed and formed into a trio of weasels, blades replacing their paws. They glanced at her, settling at Madara's feet.