Burn My Dread (and my boredom) - (Karin, Sugimoto, Solis and Bashiro if they care)

Finally, something interesting was happening. Karin folded her arms, still leaning on her desk, as the new face showed up. A particularly hot-blooded girl was barking out challenges at the top of her lungs- For a quest, perhaps? Karin vaguely remembered something about the quest system starting soon, though it was hard to remember the exact date when every day was just as boring and uneventful as the last. Either way, it gave Karin something to do that didn't require leaving the branch, meaning she could avoid irritating Cero and keep herself entertained at the same time. That way, everyone would be at least a little happy.

Now if only the echoes on this kid's shouting weren't so ear-pounding. Karin was beginning to feel an actual headache form.

"Alright, alright, keep it down." Karin put her hand up and shook it at the girl. "The boss is loud enough as it is, I don't need another voice joining that obnoxious chorus. Now, you wanted a fight?" Karin stood back up straight, approaching the center of the room. She snapped her fingers, and a panel in the floor opened up, a fight table raising up out of it. It seemed a bit silly to her at the time, but Cero insisted on having one of these installed in every room in the building, to ensure a fight could take place anywhere at any time. Well, it wound up being convenient for her, so she wasn't going to complain. "If anyone will do, then I'll take you on. I've been meaning to get a look at the new blood anyways."

Hikari grinned at the woman who had approached her to accept her challenge. Come to think of it, she looked vaguely familiar. Wasn't this one of those women on TV earlier today? If this lady was supposed to be important in the Vanguard community, then this was going to be more exciting than Hikari had expected. She slammed her right fist into her left palm, "Yeah, you'll do just fine," she said, inclining her head at the woman. Hikari firmly planted one foot forward, then swung her arm out dramatically and pointed directly at the woman, "My name is Hikari Sugimoto! I may be new blood, but you'll be hearing my name a lot from now on, so etch it into your memory!" she declared proudly.

Hikari took her cellphone out of her pocket and balanced it on a nearby structure, and set the camera to begin recording the fight, then walked up to the fight table and slammed her deck down onto it. This would be her debut battle as a member of the new generation, against some big shot no less. But no matter how outclassed Hikari may have been, she wouldn't give up this chance for anything. She was ready to make her first mark on the Vanguard world with every last ounce of her hot-blooded spirit. "Ready when you are!"

Sparks flew. Flames burst in all directions, and the loud clang of metal echoed throughout all of Dragon Empire. The Overlord stared down the next generation of Nova Grappler units, led by the Exxtreme Battler, Victor. Over the first few turns, Karin could tell this girl was a total newbie; Misplacing trigger bonuses, forgetting to use some of her skills... She was getting so caught up in the excitement of the fight that she was failing to notice much more optimal plays on a number of her turns. But, despite all of her mistakes, she still put up a commendable fight.

The game dragged on for turn after turn, both of them viciously charging one another with everything they had each attack. Hikari went through over half of her G Zone, striding over and over, her offenses leaving Karin unable to stride more than twice. Most of her hand was lost on the very first Stride turn, where she had to defend against two White Hanks restanding eachother, pushing her to five damage. However, Karin managed to hold her own through the immense power of her unique Legion: The Twin Dragonic Overlords, "The Cross" and "The End", burned through four of her rearguards in a single turn, and two Heal Triggers in her drive checks turned the tides of the game in her favor.

But despite those trigger checks, it was still an uphill battle for both of them from then on. Neither of them could replenish their hand, being forced to guard with almost everything each turn to avoid losing, The Cross clashing with Viktplasma over and over. It wasn't until Hikari had completely run out of resources, striding Viktplasma again without the Counterblasts needed to activate its skill, that Karin was able to get her footing. Hikari's attacks were fierce, but with only one critical trigger backing her up, she couldn't push for the sixth damage. And once her turn ended, Karin counterattacked with the same- A fateful critical trigger piling onto Karin's rearguard marked the end of a long and difficult battle.

Karin let out a sigh of relief. She'd actually gotten pretty into that game, reacting to Hikari's naturally high energy. She scooped up her deck and tucked it away, then threw her hand out at the hot-blooded teen before she could speak, holding up three fingers.

"Three things!" Karin bellowed out, glaring intensely. She dropped her fingers down to one.

"First! During your first grade three turn, you checked a critical and put your trigger power on your Vanguard, even though it would hit! Remember to split your trigger effects!"

She put up her second finger.

"Second! During the two turns after that, you failed to use your Heartbeat even once! Had you not made those mistakes, you would have won on the spot!"

Her third finger raised up.

"Third! During the entire match, you let your excitement get the better of you, and failed to truly resonate with your deck!"

She dropped her hand and shook her head, putting her hands on her hips. "When you participate in a Vanguard Fight, treat your Vanguard, your Avatar, like a reflection of yourself- Victor, in your case."

Karin reached to her side and gripped the handle of The Cross' blade, drawing it slowly from its sheath. She held it upright, holding it in front of her. The heat around Karin became more intense, making her glow a faint orange color, the flames of the sword creeping across it. "...Your Avatar is a representation of you, just as your G Units represent your 'Potential'. When you fight, don't think of your Vanguard as another unit. Think of it as yourself." She spoke solemnly, swinging her sword down to her side, causing the heat around her to dissipate. "Practice more. Keep playing, make mistakes, and learn from them. Fight other people, learn about them, and then learn from them. Then, one day, you'll be able to resonate completely with your Avatar... And when you do, that's when you'll create new potential for yourself."

Karin sheathed her sword again, snapping her fingers a second time to send the fight table back under the floor, its panel sliding into place with a click.

Hikari was completely blown away by the fight. She knew she was in for something exciting, but she never expected something this intense. A high-intensity fight, all the way from start to finish, with every single card seeming to change the entire course of the game. At times, Hikari was completely certain victory was hers, only to be blocked at every opportunity. At others, Hikari could only hope against hope that she would make it through the turn. Her stalwart determination carried her through a long, intense battle, but in the end, she faltered, when that one critical trigger she knew she absolutely could not block against revealed itself.

Staring in shock at her damage zone, Hikari was practically unable to speak for a moment, but quickly recovered, and began to shout, "That was-" before being cut off by the woman. One by one, the woman listed off all the mistakes Hikari had made during the game. It was hard for her to listen to. She was a novice, of course, and that couldn't be helped, but she didn't realize she could make so many mistakes in just a single game. The sudden surprise attack on her skills caught her completely off guard, drove right through her hot-blooded defenses, and caused her pure, unfiltered embarrassment. At each instance, Hikari found the words for a counterargument rising in her throat, but found herself unable to get them out when faced with this woman's intense presence.

Showing some amount of calm for the first time, Hikari quietly picked her Vanguard off of the table and stared at him. "Victor... a reflection of myself..." she said quietly to herself. Had she truly not resonated with her deck? She let out a light sigh, then collected and put away her cards. After just a moment, though, she recovered. "That fight was so amazing, though!" she said with clenched fists, "It's clear I have a lot to learn, but I won't stop fighting and training until I can win amazing fights like this all the time!" Just like that, her excitement had returned, as she forcibly pushed her embarrassment and sadness at losing to the side. She didn't want the woman to know how the loss had affected her. She collected her cellphone, stopping the recording, then looked over to the woman once again, "I'll keep getting better nonstop. And then one day, we'll fight again, and when that time comes, I'll defeat you!" she declared proudly.

Hikari swung her arm forward dramatically, pointing at her once again as she had done before, "That's right! From now until I beat you, you'll be my benchmark, uh..." she hesitated, "What's your name again?"

Karin slipped a copy of her avatar unit out, holding it up and flipping it in her fingers. "My name? Dragonic Overlord 'The Cross'..." Karin let her comment hang for a few seconds before chuckling and stowing the card away again. "Just kidding. It's Karin Ouriel- Kagero's current Clan Master and the right hand to Dragon Empire's annoyingly absent Director." She hopped back up onto her desk and sat on top of it again. Technically, she wasn't kidding when she identified herself as an Overlord, but only a select few people would have known that statement was actually true. Instead, Karin simply wanted to leave an impression on her first encounter with the New Generation. Maybe her name could spread a bit more across the younger fighters... She'd relish a chance to fight and teach other newcomers, even when she wasn't suffering from the intense boredom her job provided.

"Yeah, that's a good mentality. Keep it up, and we'll fight again some day, sport. But right now, I assume you've got a quest to finish up, right?" Karin's eyes moved from the girl to the girl's phone, still resting on another nearby desk, still recording everything it saw. "Go on and get out of here before the heat gets to you. I'm sure a youthful spirit like yourself's got plenty to do." Karin threw Hikari a wave. "Come back anytime, though. Our doors are always open."

Hikari nodded once, vigorously, "Alright, Karin Ouriel! You can count on me to come back when I'm stronger!" she said, then turned and ran out of the building, taking her phone with her, raising a hand to Karin as she left. Kagero's Clan Master... no wonder she was so strong! And still, Hikari thought that if she were just a little more experienced, she could have clinched that win and not made the mistakes that led to her downfall. But that was in the past, now. A bitter loss to serve as a reminder of what to do right in the future.

As she made it out of the Dragon Empire branch building, Hikari looked towards the sky, "A quest to finish up?" she thought, "Heh. I'm only just getting started!" Once more, Hikari took off running, looking for the next location to get picture for the old man's quest.