Vincent’s Perspective
Logging onto my computer I opened up my messaging system. I clicked on my friend Vajra Pratel preparing to send him a message. Before I could send anything off he started a call with me. I answered the call and got my microphone ready.
“What up Vincent,” Vajra said as soon as I picked up.
“I’m going to need you on the other end of the virtual training room,” I said not wasting any time. If I let Vajra talk more he’d be more likely to spout out an insult.
“Haha, I knew you’d ask,” he replied, “Your sister told me about your little girlfriend. Or actually not so little, I saw the picture of her, I’m surprised you found someone like her.”
“Damn it, she really wants me to get involved doesn’t she,” I said seething at my sister’s actions.
“You didn’t deny it, so I’m going to say it’s the truth,” Vajra said gleefully, “Now where should I post this? Oh, maybe I should ask for the footage of you carrying her, that would be good.”
“Yeah, no, get in the room so I can beat your ass,” I said attempting to placate him.
“Don’t do to me what you did to that girl,” Vajra said getting the last word in before hanging up.
“You’re done,” I said as I got off my chair.
I walked over to the training room on the lower level and prepared to open up a gate. One of the advantages of being part of the other world was that with enough money and resources you could have access to futuristic technology and borderline magic. Of course the magic was a lot harder to transfer over, but it was well worth it. The training room I was going to use was one of those feats of technology and magic. I could open up a space and meet up with Vajra to beat the shit out of him. Well, almost, the room comes equipped with suits that absorb energy according to the settings that are programmed and dispel that energy in the form of light. Looks cool, but it’s stopping me from trashing Vajra unless I use grapples. I’ll have to pretend to be weak and bait him into a spar without the suit.
“Let’s go Vajra,” I said once I had my suit on.
“Ready when you are,” he said tapping his fists together to make a light red light emit from his elbows.
Wasting no time I put my legs slightly wider than shoulder length and bounced on the balls of my feet. I would practice my kicks on him first. I inched closer slowly and on the third movement I pushed off moving in for a kick aimed at his hip. In response to the explosive movement, Vajra moved back a bit and used his hand to push my foot down. I planted that for down and used the momentum to turn backwards and and sweep my heel towards his head. In my peripherals I could see him duck down and lunge for the opening I left.
I accelerated my foot to the ground and crossed my arms to block the punch he was throwing. It wasn’t pleasant to say the least as I saw dark blue light explode towards my face from the back of my arms. I shifted into a regular guard to see Vajra retract his fist. The perfect moment to initiate the end of this spar. I used my left arm to throw a jab towards his face forcing him to put a guard up higher. As soon as he couldn’t see I drove my arm in a slight uppercut into his ribs. Feeling the discomfort he made a small hop back and threw out his own jab. My response was grabbing his arm and pulling it towards me to increase the power of my next strike which was on his chin. His head tilted back emitting a violet light from the back. Feeling him pull his arm back I let go of it and launched into a southpaw kicking stance. Upon my set up he hopped back panicking and put up a hasty guard.
I made one side shuffle in his direction and lifted my leg as a fake out. Vajra reacted as I predicted and raised his own leg to counter my kick. I switched to a standard stance and snapped out a kick towards his midsection. This time it connected causing his body to fold. I grabbed his head and used it to catapult my knee to his face.
Right before contact he yelled out, “No! I can’t fail here!”
When my knee connected with his face a miraculous shield took all of the force and Vajra slipped out of my hold retreating far away.
“So we can use powers now?” I said smirking at his desperate escape.
“Well if your aim is to kill me then yes,” he replied.
“You said it,” I said taking off my suit.
Putting on my mask I felt the surge of power run through my body. In reality my powers could be activated without the mask, but that was only once my power was sufficient. In earlier stages the mask was a catalyst to get my powers going.
My mask resembled a lion’s head made from a tribal artistic style. The colored lines on it were pure with little gradients causing there to be a contrast from one area to the next. Two holes were left for my eyes and one for my mouth. Unlike masks made in the regular world, this mask didn’t put any restrictions on breathing, nor did it add weight onto my head. The mane was made of the flames of my powers, golden yellow flickering in response to the air consumed by them. Although to be more accurate, flames were the most rudimentary form of my power.
“The hero never backs down against the scary monster,” Vajra said as he put on his own mask. “I’ll save the damsel in distress from you.”
In contrast to mine, Vajra’s mask was more modern than mine. The mask was made of a pliable solid red material and covered his entire face. A matte black visor covered his eyes and had a white outline. If I really had to give a description of it, I’d say it looked like the kind of mask you’d see in a show with a team of different color themed heroes.
“One day I’ll beat the smart ass responses out of you,” I said preparing a flame to throw at him.
We spent the next three hours sparring, most of which was a blur. In spars like these I didn’t need to analyze myself along the way because of the cameras present in the room. Later I could go back and review it if I desired, which by today’s standards, I didn’t. At the end of the time Vajra and I were both battered, but he more so than I.
The intercom in the room clicked on and a voice came through, “Vincent, I’m hungry, cook something,” my sister whined.
“You couldn’t find anything from yesterday? I cooked enough to feed a family of four,” I said in fear of the amount she had eaten.
“I don’t want any of it anymore though. I think I want a salad,” she responded after a bit of silence.
“Really? Practically everything is there, all you have to do is put it together,” I said sighing at her stubbornness.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t do anything, but she didn’t want to do anything. However, knowing my sister there was probably at least three other reasons she wanted me out of the training room.
“Better go to your duty,” Vajra said getting up from his resting position, “I’ll be in touch on the other side. Let me know if you find any more cute girls, I could always use a self-esteem booster.”
“You have enough self-esteem from playing hero with yourself,” I said flippantly.
Lantern Dragon Works 