Chapter 232 - Burt's Peculiar Proposal

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't," replied Burt.

"Then--"

"Maybe I don't feel threatened!" Burt mocked.

"Well… I guess that's fair." Chuckling, Oli quickly ran through one of the rough battle plans he had come up with during the intermission. With it fresh in his mind, Oli began to get serious.

As another hammer was thrown at Burt, it was quickly cut down by three wind blades. But Burt also stepped to the side to avoid a sudden earthen spike rushing out of the ground. He wasn't fazed at all. Burt continued to follow Oli with wind blade after wind blade. "Come on… What will you do to get out of this? You have a plan, right?"

"Of course. Don't you."

"Maybe…"

Seeing a need to act now, darkness suddenly rushed out of Oli. A layer of mist fell over most of the stage, fully engulfing both Oli and Burt. 

"Uh oh, what will Burt do now? How can he manage to counter Oli's dark essence?" the announcer questioned with a booming voice as he kept close to the finalists. Given Oli's condition, he wanted to be extra careful in case he needed to step in.

"Hmm… I wonder where you went…" Burt sighed, glancing all around him as he stopped throwing wind blades entirely.

Sitting still, Burt closed his eyes and maintained his smile. He patiently waited and stood on the ground, paying close attention to the stone stage beneath his feet. The moment he felt movements, Burt jumped back and threw wind blades into the ground.

Oli, however, wasn't anywhere beneath Burt. He let two crudely shaped spikes, mimicking hands, reach for Burt's legs while he ambushed from behind, where Burt was expected to jump in reaction to the spikes. His plan worked perfectly as Oli swung his most condensed hammer yet toward Burt's unguarded back.

Whiff!

Amazed, Oli watched carefully as Burt contorted his body in the air. Wind essence surrounded his body as he bent forward and let the hammer swing less than a breath's distance from Burt's dropped back. At the same time, Burt used the dipping motion to through a backward split kick straight into Oli's chin, with a razor-thin wind blade following Burt's heel.

While Oli managed to avoid the kick by throwing and dispersing the hammer, the edge of the wind blade drew the first blood of the match, though it was only a small cut on Oli's chin.

"Amazing! Despite using the darkness as a cover, Oli failed to ambush Burt and was nearly countered by Burt's stunning agility and reflexes!" The announcer gave a succinct play-by-play, making sure to include the audience in what took place beyond their sight.

"Hmm… You're pretty flexible for a big guy."

"And you see everything despite your closed eyes." 

Both competitors jokingly praised the other, searching for verbal cues or hints that may give way to a change in strategy. But both of them could only chuckle and act as if nothing had changed. 

"Let's make a deal," Burt stated with his confident, determined smile "If you don't use earth essence I won't use wind or lightning?"

"So you have three essences?" Oli asked with a depressed laugh.

"Maybe…"

"It's dark essence isn't it?" Though Oli asked, he didn't wait for a reply to drop the dark mist surrounding them. "It would explain how you sensed my attacks even easier than before…"

"Do we have a deal or not?"

"How can I trust you so easily? Especially when you could just overwhelm me with three essences at once all of a sudden?" reasoned Oli.

"Ref!" Burt showed his confident face to the man at the side. "If I so much as summon wind or lightning essence, please consider it an immediate statement of forfeit."

"That… Are you sure?" the ref questioned loudly for all to hear.

"So long as he agrees to the same…"

Sighing, Oli nodded. "Ref, consider it my surrender if I use any earth essence."

"ASTOUNDING! What a sudden twist!" the announcer shouted as loudly as possible.

But Oli didn't wait a moment longer. Surrounding himself in dark essence, he threw himself at Burt and closed the small gap between them. At the same time, Burt did similarly, shocking the crowd with his sudden use of dark essence despite his words from a moment ago. Neither person created a mist, seeing it as a useless ploy now that both were admitting to having dark essence.

"To think that Burttin not only has lightning and wind to make him our fastest contestant, but he also has dark affinity?! And he's willing to give up his advantage with wind? Why would he dare try such a thing? What could be the source of his unbound confidence?!"

While the announcer milked the crowd for more cheers and louder responses, Oli and Burt went back to the basics. Their attacks were simple punches at first, along with chops and some kicks. Burt was still slightly faster but Oli's natural strength still remained. After a few moments of testing each other, Burt stepped back once again.

"Come on, Oli, show me what you've got!"

"I already told you not to--"

"And I already told you to not hold back!" argued Burt. "Come on! Don't think I can't guess what you're up to."

"Then go ahead and guess!" Oli laughed, barreling toward Burt with fist after fist. 

Steadily and narrowly dodging the blows, Burt remained calm as he thought out loud for everyone to hear. "I think it's clear that neither of us is really trying right now. So you should show me your true strength before I just end it."

"And how will you do that?"

"With my trump card."

Oli chuckled, not letting up as he smiled, "Then why not show me already?"

"Because you'll just forfeit after seeing it. Ending the fight wouldn't be hard with those stitches on your chest…" Burt stated matter-of-factly.

"True… So you've just been toying with me the whole time?" asked Oli.

"Perhaps…"

"Well, maybe that goes for the both of us."