Chapter 214 - Lightning vs Earth

"BEGIN!"

"HMM!" Naten grunted loudly, tensing up as he took a powerful stance as quickly as possible. At the same time, Naten ducked away in a strange, unexpected motion. "You won't find me so easy to deal with…"

"Good! That's how it's supposed to be!" Burttin's laugh echoed as his body came into view, now directly beside his opponent. His hand had swiped out for Naten's neck but missed as the attack was predicted and evaded, which had momentarily confused commoners in the audience.

All smiles, the announcer watched Burttin and Naten step back to reevaluate each other as opponents. "Amazing! From this point on, Burttin has proven himself and deserves better than being called a no-name. He's most definitely worth standing among the top ten seeds!"

"Hm… that's high praise for someone without a sponsor," Naten chuckled sarcastically.

Burttin smiled cheekily and replied, "Well, it's just too bad you found out too late. I'll thank you in advance for padding my pockets."

"And I'll thank you for committing your life to my cause and serving my every whim!" Lunging forward, Naten showed no fear as he ignored the petty joke of his foe. Earth essence covered his arm, with a great abundance covering his fist as he barreled into Burt, who carefully yet quickly dodged.

"Aaah… I can't believe that kid…"

"What do you mean? We all should've seen this coming."

"That's enough laughter out of you. Given your responsibilities, you should've given us a heads up that he would crash the tournament." Dean Jarrit sighed, eyeing Lizbeth like he would a mischievous student, "And don't tell me this was Rhyner's idea… I know the kid convinced you with something, but I don't know what."

Chuckling and glancing back to her aging professor, Lizbeth laughed, "Well… we all know that information is the most expensive commodity. When he brought up something that our informants had been missing for quite some time, I couldn't say no."

Laughing, Nixt chimed in, "Well, let's see how he handles his natural enemy and discuss the details later."

"He's already in the tournament. Regardless of what we'd like to do, he's managed to enter one way or another and there's no reason to interrupt everything because of him. If anything, this may lead to an increase in the Institute's earnings," stated Bastol, brandishing a slight grin as he nodded to Nixt.

While the hosts quietly shared their thoughts with one another, Burt evaded yet another strike of Naten's earthen fist. It seemed easy to Burt but Naten didn't seem upset or fazed either.

"Your lightning or my earth? I wonder which can overcome the other. Why not prove me incapable?" mocked Naten.

Grinning, Burt nodded, "You're better than I expected. But you're too slow."

"And you're too weak," refuted Naten. "You're fast, but your speed can't make up for strength when your lightning is neutralized by my earth."

"Then let's both get serious!" Burt's laughed again, shouting as the lightning around him expanded violently. Loose strands of lightning sprayed out against the platform, staining the ground with black streaks. "Come on! Or this won't be any fun!"

"RAAAAH!!" 

Sensing the drastic increase in Burt's power, Naten didn't back down. His guttural growl sounded out as his earth essence took the form of armor about his body. It was similar in concept to what Oli had done, but it enlarged his body while maintaining his usual, human proportions instead of creating a bestial form. With his essence armor maxed out, Naten dared jump into the walking electrical storm that was his opponent.

A fast explosion of essence ensued as the two young men collided full force. Bits of hard earth essence scattered through the air while those closest to the stage felt the static electricity tingling across the back of their necks.

"Stupendous! What a show!" marveled the ref, ogling over the explosive decisiveness the two combatants showed. "And the winner is…

"Incredible! It's Burttin!" 

Standing over his opponent, Burttin was smiling wide and breathing heavily with his arms raised to the heavens. "OOOOHHH YEEEEAAAAAHHH!!!"

"WOOOOOO!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we may have just witnessed the greatest upset this tournament has ever seen! There's no telling how far Burttin will go, but now we all know that he's not to be underestimated, even when compared to the most prominent competitors!"

But Burt suddenly let loose a long sigh and plopped down on the stage for a seat. Chuckling and holding his belly, Burt looked to his half-conscious, defeated opponent. "You got me good."

"No… You win this round," Naten chuckled lightly with a cough. "But I'll get you in the Institute…"

"I look forward to our rematch! Make sure to bet even more next time!" 

They both laughed as Burt helped Naten to his feet, half-carrying him as they stepped off the platform. Two medics approached them, one focusing on Naten's electrocuted body and the other focusing on the damaged internals of Burt's torso.

"But that's merely the halfway point for this round, so don't get settled just yet," added the announcer, motioning for the next contestants to come forward. "Now, we'll get to see if another upset can occur between our fourth seed and eighteenth seed!"

"I-I forfeit!"

Looking to the eighteenth seed, the ref shook his head slightly and asked, "Are you sure? Given your beauty, I'm sure our fourth seed wouldn't try to--"

"Good. It saves me time and effort," sighed Fulkar, not moving at all from his seat or even giving his opponent a single look. "Perhaps if she were in the top ten, then the fight would at least be entertaining for the audience. But as she is, she won't manage to do anything beyond annoying me like a fly…"

"Well, folks, it seems we'll be moving on to our sixth fight!" Changing pace, the announcer turned the next people in line. "Now, we'll be having--"

"I forfeit too!"

"Come on… I'm not like him. At least I'll let you have a chance," joked the fifth seed, demeaning his twentieth seed opponent.