'空'

Emptiness. Void. To be without.

A central tenet of Buddhism - the Heart Sutra famously states, "Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is form."

A philosophical principle that highlights that all phenomena, while conventionally perceived as solid and distinct, are ultimately empty of inherent existence.

The underlying foundation behind the magic of the Kong family is that of absence, of emptiness.

And the absence of something, or the presence of its opposite, can be as much a force in our lives as anything else.

It is this that they have sought to manipulate, through their techniques and arts. To make the unreal real, and the real, unreal.

The absence of gravity. The absence of mass.

The void.

I could sense it as I turned to face Carrie.

A ripple in space. And in the air. A wave of mana.

I leaped back out of instinct, and I heard the sound of air being displaced, a loud 'woosh' as something invisible sliced through where I'd just been.

I barely managed to dodge as the space where I had been standing was deleted, disappearing.

The grass, the flowers, the concrete. All of it vanished into a perfectly smooth half-sphere.

I didn't have time to think or react. I didn't have time to plan or strategize. I dimly noticed a shimmering blue barrier erupt over the courtyard, but that didn't matter.

All I had was my instincts.

And they were screaming at me to move again.

I was already in motion before I knew what was happening, running across the courtyard.

I could hear the sound of the air being sucked into the vacuum, a low 'thrum' that resonated in my bones.

Carrie's fingers flickered in front of her, dancing in complex, intricate patterns, and then suddenly she made a pulling motion, like she was pulling a string.

A moment later, I saw the air in front of her distort and warp.

A slash then. I dodged to the side and the attack hit a nearby tree instead.

A line of the tree was simply gone, as if a laser had shot through it.

I gritted my teeth.

She had gotten so much better.

There was no hesitation, no doubt, and no fear. Just resolve in her eyes.

It'd only been a few seconds.

"Lady Kong is a true genius..." one of the students in the crowd whispered. "That magic is so advanced. And to use it in combat in such an efficient and brutal manner..."

"It's the Void clan! They do have a reputation as the greatest warrior mages of the East so I'm not surprised."

I ignored them all and focused on the girl in front of me. She was the one who mattered right now.

I could sense the mana being gathered. For a brief moment, I saw the silhouette of the insecure and uncertain little girl I'd dragged along with me.

Took for granted as a glorified scrying tool and cheerleader.

And now, she had grown up.

I couldn't see the little girl in her anymore.

Caroline's hair whipped around her as she danced in a series of complex gestures, and I felt her mana rise.

The mana gathering in the air around her was thick, heavy. And the more it gathered, the denser the air became.

I took a deep breath and then closed my eyes.

The air had become thin, and it was hard to breathe. It felt like I was standing in the middle of a hurricane. It was one of the tactics used by the clan when battling other humans.

But it was nothing I wasn't used to.

The world seemed to expand, to stretch, and slow as I executed the breathing exercise.

The fundamental principle of spellcasting - the manipulation of mana in order to produce effects that are not normally possible in physical reality. The ability to manipulate the world with will and imagination was the foundation of all magic.

But the art of casting a spell is not the same thing as the act creating a magical effect.

It's not the spell itself that is important. It's not the incantations, the hand gestures, or the runes.

What's really important is the connection between the caster and their mind. The ability to focus, to visualize and direct their mana into a specific shape or effect.

Having an ancient legacy like a widely adopted religion or a family like the Void clan inscribes your magic into the Akashic Records. It wasn't clear whether it was the belief that shaped the universe or whether it was just something that was always there, and humans had tapped into it by chance. But it gave mages a framework to work with.

Kong Jia Luo was a prodigy. Her family was one of the strongest and most prestigious mage families in all of Asia, and their magic was unparalleled.

To achieve Sunyata, a state of emptiness and enlightenment. It was their goal, their creed. The Kong clan had a unique form of magic, a form of magic that had been honed over millennia.

But all magic had its flaws, its weaknesses.

There's always a weakness.

I 'listened' to the flow of mana.

There was a hitch in the rhythm of her mana.

And that's where I struck.

The moment her focus tightened on the flow of mana ever so slightly, I attacked.

I exploded off the ground in a burst of mana, and my hand swept through the air, and three blades of wind sliced through the air.

It was a simple spell, and the mana required to cast it was small.

It was an air displacement spell, and I had mastered it a long time ago. A work of Common Magic that fit will well with the Kong family's fighting style. One that was not a secret, and one of the first I'd learned before I'd learned raw shaping.

She saw the attack and raised her hand.

A small barrier, barely noticeable, formed in front of her, and my attack hit the wall of emptiness. The air shimmered, and the blade I'd used as a diversion shattered.

The resulting shockwave sent us both flying backwards.

Caroline's eyes were wide as I landed on the ground. She was on her back, staring up at me, her face pale.

"W-what did she just do?!" a voice from the crowd shouted.

Several students in the crowd shifted uncomfortably.

"That's..." Laurel stated audibly.

Laurel and Cordelia shared a look at the front of the crowd, behind a barrier that'd been formed. Laurel's expression was one of surprise and awe.

Cordelia had a manic grin on her lips, her eyes sparkling with delight. "That's our Natasha! Go! Kick her ass!"

"I-Impossible!" Chelsea cried from her spot at the edge of the crowd.

I stood up and dusted myself off.

Caroline gracefully kipped up and stared coldly at me.

"Your grasp of fundamentals and your mana sensitivity are truly a work of art," she said, calmly. "You are even better than I remembered."

"What do you mean by that?! You have a reputation to uphold!" Chelsea shouted from her spot at the edge of the crowd. "A mongrel like her should be no issue for you."

Caroline just scoffed, before taking a deep breath.

"The flow of my spellwork was interrupted by an intentional disruption of her own mana timed with an external projection," Caroline stated calmly, and turned to Chelsea with an icy gaze. "Lady de Mornay, if you continue to speak in such an ill mannered, ignorant way, then this is over."

Her eyes were fixed on me. "I'm sure that Lady Brahms has already discerned what Natasha just did, but most of the rabble may be confused, so I will explain."

The crowd was quiet.

"It's simple. She detonated her own spell. At a specific timing and position while tracking the subtle resonance of my mana. She's always had an innate sense of the flow of magic," she stated matter-of-factly. "This is just a basic application of the same principles we are taught. She has merely honed her instincts to a supernatural degree, which has allowed her to see the patterns and connections in things. And that, in turn, allows her to disrupt the natural flow of any spell she can see. Her ability is similar used by the masters of my clan. The 'Voidwalkers', who can forcibly hammer the ebb and flow of mana. But her sensitivity to mana flow is a gift that is unmatched. She had a momentary, fleeting opportunity. One that she took full advantage of. It's a brilliant, simple, and effective use of the fundamentals. Mere mana sensing and shaping. A sign of a true master."

She turned to face me again. And there was something new there. A fire. An intensity that I'd never seen in her before.

She was serious.

And I couldn't help but smile, just a little bit.

My old friend, who had always been so timid and shy. Who would follow behind her brother and parents meekly, who had never stood up for herself. Who'd never shown the drive to push herself.

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She'd stepped up as we grew older to protect me. To be what she didn't want to be. To fill the gap left in my life.

And that had hurt her deeply.

And I had never truly appreciated the depth of that sacrifice until it was too late.

She had changed, but not entirely for the better.

It was a bittersweet moment.

"I'm proud of you..." I blurted out, almost inaudibly.

But I knew she could hear it. Her magic plucked words on the wind.

That seemed to catch her off guard for a moment.

Her expression changed from a cold and calculated look, to confusion. To a brief look of hurt, to anger.

She didn't say anything. She just screamed, and rushed forward.

Her hands flowed through a series of complex motions, forming a series of dark purple characters and symbols that hung in the air even as she blurred and sprinted at me.

I sucked in what breath I could in the field she was creating, and settled into a defensive stance.

Her fist flew through the air and slammed into the shield of force I had raised.

And she shattered it.

I gasped in pain as her fist slammed into my stomach.

The air left my lungs, and I was lifted into the air, before slamming down on the ground hard. The grass beneath me was ripped apart by her slam, and the dirt beneath me exploded.

Carrie pulled back her fist, and the earth that'd exploded around me floated in the air.

My body was screaming in agony. My chest felt tight and constricted.

But I'd been through worse. I kicked up, aiming a blow for her head, and then followed through with a kick to the chest, sending her tumbling backwards. I immediately fired off another wind blade, aiming to disrupt her magic once more.

Caroline saw the attack coming, and leapt into the air.

But the attack didn't stop.

It carved a line into the earth, and then suddenly it curved upwards, following Caroline's trajectory.

The air shimmered around it, and suddenly it was a series of smaller, sharper blades of air.

They cut into the earth as she moved, and then the wind changed directions, following her.

She blocked it with a flourish of her mana, but was thrown hurtling through the air, her face contorting in pain as I sliced through the field of mana surrounding us.

The world spun around me, and then I was back on my feet. My vision was blurred. I could barely breathe. I coughed up blood.

I'd been through worse, and I would endure.

She looked up at me from her knees, and then stood back up, shaking her head. She'd had to sacrifice her spell to block my attacks, and her breathing was heavy.

Caroline was still panting, her chest heaving. Her hair was tangled, her eyes were red, and she had a cut on her cheek.

She looked angry.

But I wasn't finished.

She was too focused on her spells and techniques to be paying attention to the environment.

I smirked. She never had gotten the hang of combat. She could do the motions, and had an aptitude for magic and athletics, but she'd never been good at the 'soft' skills.

My arms snapped to my side and my body bent over at an acute angle. A familiar stance, as I exhaled, and a torrent of golden light exploded from me.

Her hands flew up in front of her face, forming a shield of emptiness in front of her, blocking the golden blasts that slammed against her. Her eyes darted around, sensing it was a diversion. I took several deep breaths as I closed the gap, gathering my mana as I moved. I ducked under a blast of wind, and twisted my body, avoiding the rocks and pebbles that rose and swirled in the air. The wind around us howled and roared as she fought me.

She spun around and ducked under my punch, and slammed a palm strike against my stomach. The air around me was suddenly heavy and dense.

It felt like I was underwater.

And I could feel my insides being ripped apart by the pressure. I fell to my knees, my vision blurry, as blood trickled out of my nose.

"Got you," I whispered with a bloody smirk.

She gasped in realization.

The wind blades came roaring back to her, having completed a loop around the entire battle arena. The air around shimmered as the wind blades cut through her back.

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise, shouting in pain as I rolled out of the way. Blood splattered on my face from the wounds, but it was a glancing blow. Even in this situation, I didn't want to hurt her too badly.

To my surprise, she suddenly whirled around and kicked my knee with a sharp burst of mana, and I heard the sound of cracking bone.

Pain lanced up my leg, and I collapsed to the ground in a heap.

She flipped through the air, her feet coming to rest on the ground.

"Sloppy," she stated, her expression unreadable. "And full of hubris as ever."

She was looking at me with pity.

She raised a finger to the air, and her body pulsed with a dark purple glow.

I tried to push myself up, but my leg gave way. I gritted my teeth, forcing my mana through the injury.

"You should have finished the duel with that, Zamir. You had your chance... and now I have mine."

I gasped for breath, feeling my vision blur.

She exhaled and took a deep breath.

Then she started chanting.

A circle formed around me, the runes glowing a bright red, and I could feel the air being pulled towards me, and the ground rumbling.

I tried to pull myself away, but my body wouldn't cooperate.

The circle expanded, covering us in a black dome.

And then the earth trembled.

I gasped, feeling the air grow heavy around me, like the weight of a thousand pounds. My chest was tight, and I couldn't breathe. The earth was being pulled towards me, and the ground was shaking. I felt the ground tremble and quake beneath me.

A wave of heat and a shockwave knocked the wind out of me.

The world around me was dark. It was as if the world had been swallowed up by an immense, inky darkness. I was floating in the air, suspended in a bubble of darkness, surrounded by nothingness. The ground beneath me had been torn away and the grass and the flowers had disappeared.

I couldn't hear anything. My eyes stung from the lack of air. I was dimly aware of her standing a few yards away from me. For a long moment, she was watching me. I couldn't tell if she was smiling, or sad, or anything. It was just her. Looking at me.

"Amita," she whispered.

The earth was silent. The wind had ceased, and the ground had been torn apart and turned to dust.

I was barely conscious. My head was pounding.

I was on the brink of consciousness, and my mind was racing, searching for any last-ditch ideas.

Then, with an explosion of speed, she rushed forward, slamming her foot into my side.

I heard the sound of cracking bones and felt my ribcage rattle.

I was lifted into the air and sent flying backwards.

I crashed down to the ground and felt the pain from the impact. I coughed up blood, and felt my body go numb.

She blurred, reappearing behind me. She grabbed me by the back of my neck and threw me forward.

The world spun around me as I tumbled across the ground, and I felt the sharp sting of rocks digging into my chest.

"You... stupid. Arrogant. Piece. Of. Shit!" she shouted, slamming her foot into my back over and over. "How dare you? How could you?! You think you can just leave me behind? That I'd just forget?! I hate you!"

She picked me up by the collar, holding me above her as she pummeled my face with her fist, slamming them into my nose. The pain was unbearable, but I couldn't move. My head rang like a bell, and I could feel blood pouring down my face. The blows rained down on my body like a hail of stones.

"Did you really think that low of me? That I'd forgive you for abandoning me?! I trusted you!"

Another kick to the ribs, and a blast of wind to the chest sent me tumbling.

Abandon her? What... what was she saying?!

The pain in my head and body was too much to think.

She was suddenly on me, straddling my chest and pinning me down. Her fist slammed into my jaw.

"I did everything for you. I did whatever it took to protect you! To support you! And then you just ran off and disappeared on me?! They cast you out, but that doesn't excuse leaving without a word the next day! Leaving me alone to suffer for your crimes! You're a selfish coward, Natasha! I don't care about what happened to your father anymore. I don't care if he might have died for a good cause, or that he was trying to do the right thing. I just wanted to help you all those years. I just wanted to save you. We took you in. And that's how you repay us?! But you always run, don't you!? You can never face anything head on!"

I tried to block her blows, to raise my arms and defend myself. But I was too slow, too weak. I was helpless against her. She kept striking me, her fist pounding into my face.

"You think you know best? That you have all the answers?! That you can just do what you want and no one will care?!"

Carrie's voice echoed through my mind, and the pain from the beatdown was excruciating.

Her blows were merciless. And every strike was a condemnation of me. A declaration of hatred.

I was going to die here. At the hands of my former best friend. My former family.

She hated me.

I could feel my strength fading. I could feel my life slipping away.

She slammed a punch down onto my head. I was dizzy and in agony, my ears ringing.

I could barely see.

"I trusted you, Natasha. I thought you were my sister in all but blood. And now..."

And now, she was going to kill me. She had won, she had beaten me.

"You've ruined me," she said softly. The venom had faded from her voice. All that remained was a hollow sadness.

"The torment they put me through was unbearable. And I did nothing, nothing at all to deserve it."

Carrie was crying now. "They hurt me. They hurt us. All because of you."

I could barely move.

I couldn't even lift my head to look at her.

"I can never forgive you for leaving me to suffer, for letting me suffer," she whispered, her voice broken and full of grief. "Losing my mom and closest cousins was bad enough, but losing my sister was worse. I was mad. Confused. And I had to suffer alone. ALWAYS. In the aftermath of the mess YOU always leave!"

I couldn't see. My vision was blurred. I could feel my body trembling.

She had her hands on my throat, choking me, strangling the life out of me.

I gasped, desperately trying to draw in air. I could feel my heart pounding, and my lungs were on fire.

And then her fingers were gone.

"Get up. Stand up and fight," she spat. "Come on. Stand up and show everyone how brave you are."

I lay on the ground. I couldn't move. I could feel the dirt and the mud caking my skin.

"Get up, damn it! Show everyone how you're so brave, and noble, and how you always do the right thing! Show everyone how everyone's glorious savior can always be relied upon!"

She kicked my ribs, and a fresh wave of agony coursed through me. I couldn't even cry out.

"Get. Up!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the courtyard.

I couldn't. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. I was done.

"Get up, Natasha. Get up! Show us all that you can save the day! Come on now. You and I both know you're holding back on me. Get up, you fucking hypocrite."

I could barely see, and my head pounded.

But I saw her, her body shaking and tears streaming down her face, and her hands clenched tightly into fists. I could feel her mana surging, readying another strike to kill me, to end this farce.

And it hurt, it hurt to see her like this, to hear the venom in her words. The pain of her betrayal and anger. Of her rage.

Slowly, I crawled up to my feet. I couldn't even feel the ground beneath me, or the air on my skin.

Caroline took a step back, and her hands glowed with dark purple energy. She was preparing her final attack, and I couldn't even lift my arms.

But if it would satisfy her, and let her move on with her life, then I'd endure. If she wanted to be free of her guilt and anger, and if she wanted to get revenge on me, I would let her.

I owed her that, at the very least.

I could feel my body shaking as I reinforced my sprained knee, and I gritted my teeth, standing up straight. I was ready to take whatever punishment she would give me.

Carrie looked at me. She was panting, her chest heaving. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her hands were clenched tightly. She stared at me, and then she slowly exhaled, her breath coming out in a ragged sigh.

"Fire your best shot. Do it. I've waited for this for so long, but now it just feels empty with you looking at me like a pitiful dog, Zamir."

I halfheartedly formed a golden orb in front of me. A sphere that was glowing weakly, barely even lighting up the space in front of me. My head was pounding and I could feel the warmth of my blood on my skin.

She just watched me. She was still, unmoving. Her expression was unreadable.

"You can do better than that," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I won't forgive you if you hold back against me even now. If you had taken me seriously you wouldn't be in this state."

My body shook and trembled. My vision was blurry, and I couldn't focus.

The golden ball in my hand glowed brighter. It was a feeble attempt, but it was all I could manage. It was all I could do to stand up.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Carrie asked. "After everything you've put me through, is that all you can muster? I expected better of you."

I gritted my teeth, forcing more mana into the ball, trying to force my mana through it. I even tapped into my trump card. The deep reservoir of hope I truly called my own.

And then I fired it at her. If she truly wanted my all, then she would get it. It wasn't enough. It was barely anything. The blast was barely more powerful than a candle, but I knew that if it hit her, she'd be dead.

I watched, with blurred vision, as she just stood there, not even moving.

And it missed.

It sailed directly at her, before skidding off some invisible force and arcing to a wide angle. The ball of energy collided into the dome that had surrounded us and disappearing beyond the darkness.

She'd put up a boundary. Another miniature Amita plane to deflect the attack. I was too beaten down to notice until I'd missed.

Just like the one she'd put up to distort the images shown to the other students and isolate us in our duel.

She'd done this on purpose, to isolate me and let me suffer alone.

To give herself a chance at revenge in front of a crowd that wouldn't even be aware.

But it didn't matter. It wasn't like anyone would come to my rescue.

Caroline looked at the ball of energy as it flew past her. She looked back at me, expressionless again. She took a deep breath and then she walked up to me.

I didn't know if I could handle her hitting me again, and yet, I knew I had to try. I owed it to her to take the punishment.

I raised my hands to shield my face, to block the blow that was coming. But it never came.

Instead, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I flinched, expecting pain, and I was confused when none came.

Her hand gently squeezed my shoulder, and she leaned in, whispering softly in my ear.

"Next time then, Nat."

She pulled away from me and raised her hand, forming a massive purple ball of light, staring at me coldly.

I tried to brace myself for the impact, to prepare for the agony that was coming. I closed my eyes, ready to accept the pain, to endure the punishment that I knew was coming.

But it never came.

Carrie screamed. It sounded like a scream of torment and raw agony.

And then, the dome of darkness and silence around us shattered and vanished, revealing the courtyard again. I heard her shouting something unintelligible as I opened my eyes again to see the vibrant colors of the courtyard.

I was too weak to stand, my head swimming and my knees buckling beneath me.

I stood there in a delirium of pain and exhaustion. My ears were ringing, and my head was pounding. The crowd around us was in chaos. People were shouting and screaming. The sudden return of the outside world and all its sounds and smells and feelings were too much for me to handle. My senses were overloaded. It was all I could do to remain upright.

I was dimly aware of Carrie turning around to walk away from me.

And I collapsed, falling to my hands and knees. I gasped, my chest heaving, my vision blurred and unfocused, my body trembling.

I felt something heavy fall on my shoulders. There were people around me shouting. Shouting something.

And then, everything went dark.

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