Inception: Book 1 (FFVII Remake)

Ch.18

Sephiroth and Angeal both watched the two fighters in front of them. Angeal didn't like Genesis's arrogant attitude towards Sara. Though it surprised him that Sara would suggest a duel against his childhood friend. Yet, he had hoped that Genesis would go easy on her. He was wrong.

Genesis's fighting skills mainly were brute force, along with using powerful magic spells. Sara, on the other hand, seemed more fluid and focused on precision than force. She mainly targeted her opponent's vital spots and left no room to find an opening. Angeal was impressed by Sara's fighting skills, yet he wondered why Sara was in the ranks of 2nd Class. Shouldn't she be in 1st Class?

Sephiroth carefully watched Sara. The first thing Sephiroth noticed was like Angeal, Sara focused on aiming Genesis's vital spots. Yet, he saw something else that Angeal did not. It seemed that Sara was holding back her strength. Sephiroth could tell by the look on her eyes and her expression. The way she bit her lower lip, it would seem that she was trying her best not to hurt Genesis. Yet, like Angeal, he wondered the same thing. Why is Sara not in 1st Class?

While the two men were watching, Genesis was getting frustrated. How could a woman like Sara be able to keep up with him and not break a sweat? He didn't think that Sara would put up a fight to where he would have to defend himself most of the time. Every time Sara would aim for his vital spots, Genesis had to protect himself. Whenever he saw an opening, Genesis tried to attack her with fire spells. But Sara would deflect any spells before they hit her. It was as if she was trying to out skill him, looking for a weakness in every movement he made. As time went on, Genesis concluded he was not dealing with some weak opponent. He was dealing with someone dangerous, and he had to think differently. The two broke off and stood still, giving each other a break.

"Seems like you're no weak woman," Genesis sneered.

Sara humphed, "And you're one cocky red-headed punk."

"Well, I think it's time to raise the bar a bit."

After saying that, Genesis's left hand glowed brightly. Sara dashed towards him in an attempt to not let him cast magic. But, he had already cast a fireball towards her; naturally, she sliced it in half, and her katana collided with Genesis's sword. Genesis held up his sword one-handed while his left hand still glowed. He moved his left hand away, which confused Sara. Why would he thrust his hand out? A second later, Sara felt her back becoming hot; she quickly realized what was coming from behind.

She kicked Genesis away before jumping high into the air and below where she stood. Dozens of fireballs hit the metal floor, creating a small crater. Where did those fireballs come from? Then she remembered when she sliced the giant fireball and Genesis moved his left hand? She wondered was he controlling the fire?

"Great, the punk can control fire," Sara muttered.

Sara landed a few feet away from the crater, and Genesis was coming her way. She readies her sword and attacks Genesis again; she uses a bit more force than before. Sara held back her strength because she didn't want to hurt Genesis the whole time. Sara knew at least from fighting against combat sims that she can take on at least four fully grown behemoths and not have any injuries. Though she did not know the full extent of her powers, she knew that she had superhuman strength. But now that the punk wasn't going to go down that easily. Sara had to rethink how much she could do without severely injuring her opponent.

Sara and Genesis continued clashing swords. Whenever their blades hit, sparks flew as both fighters glared at each other with the intent of not backing down.

Sara swung her sword, sending Genesis a few yards away from her. Genesis was getting frustrated; he was not going to let a woman beat him. He regained his stance and infused his fire magic with his sword, creating a fire blade.