Conquering His Cold Heart

Master Pyro may be strong but so is Terra." As Geb spoke his eyes stared up at the screen showing Terra, his gaze suffused with adoration and pride.

Geb was Terra\'s Guardian, his teacher, protector and now significant other. He personally trained Terra and knew his deepest secrets even more than Sylph; he knew the extent of Terra\'s power. The young Dungeon core though avoided combat whenever possible made damn sure he was ready for the times that that wasn\'t an option. Pyro was sure to lose if he kept up his arrogant and dismissive attitude.

Geb\'s words were like a bright light in a tunnel, changing how everyone viewed Terra.

"If you don\'t mind me asking what weapon does Terra use?" Frost asked with a great deal of respect. Geb was of the same position as Maya and sported equal possibly even greater strength.

In response Geb\'s smile stretched from ear to ear as he pointed his finger up at the large screen. "He is the weapon hahahaha." Terra was a pugilist, his entire body whether it was his hands, feet, shoulders or knees every part of his body was a weapon.

The siblings looked up at the screen and then at one another before quickly announcing their bets.

"5000 on Terra!"

"4000 on Pyro!"

"2000 on Pyro." Thanks to Geb\'s input the ratio was about 5.5 to 4.5 in Pyro\'s favour, rather close odds making this fight have a truly unknown outcome. Of course the duellers were oblivious to the ratios now that they were in a separate space. Pyro was just waiting for the go signal from Dark so he could quickly put an end to his younger brother and display his overwhelming power.

The only siblings in his eyes were Aqua and Yami and even then he still believed that it was just a matter of time before he surpassed them.

Terra meanwhile silently tensed up his body, readying it for battle as though dusting off a build-up of accumulated dust.

A few moments later above the two of them the word ready appeared before a count of 10 started.

"Try not to lose too quickly Terra hehehehe." Pyro tauntingly laughed as he summoned a blazing red great axe and wreathed his whole body in burning flames.

"Your arrogance will be your downfall Pyro." Said Terra as a brown sheen covered his body, transforming his skin into stone.

Pyro\'s flames roared fiercely in response to Terra\'s provocation and the moment the counter hit 0 and Dark\'s voice reverberated through the duelling space telling them to begin he dashed straight ahead with his axe overhead.

"[Volcanic rend!]" Pyro activated a high level skill that coated his axe in magma and summoned the image of an erupting volcano behind it. Few axe moves contained as much destructive force as [volcanic rend] Pyro wanted to end this fight quickly.

However it seemed as though his fanfare fell on deaf ears, Terra didn\'t even flinch as he saw the mighty axe crashing down upon him. Instead he balled up his right fist, spread his legs and lowered his centre of gravity. "[Titan\'s counter]" Terra activated his own skill covering his right hand in an abundance of golden energy, that took the form of a massive godlike arm.

The next moment the massive golden arm punched upwards striking against the edge of Pyro\'s great axe.

Booooommm!!!

A cataclysmic sound erupted the moment the two skills made contact. Terra endured what seemed like the full force of a volcano\'s eruption bearing down on him while Pyro\'s felt as though he tried to cleave apart a mountain rather than a person. Very soon a victor was revealed.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!" Terra roared deeply, a sound that was akin to the earth quaking as his entire body tensed up and twisted surging up strength from the floor beneath his feet to smash against the onslaught of Pyro\'s axe.

A moment later Pyro was sent flying through the air, his arms trembling from the residual impact as he struggled to control his landing. He landed with a loud thud at the other side of the room sporting a shocked expression and a sliver of blood leaking from his lips.

"What\'s wrong Pyro? Is that all you\'ve got?" Terra let out a breath and cracked his shoulders as if he was just warming up. "Seems that the useless bastard is you if that\'s the extent of the power you\'re so proud of." As Terra spoke his aura and earth chakra grew around his body turning him into a massive rock giant, furthering his already intimidating form.

Boom boom

He punched his fists together creating sonic booms. "Get up Pyro, it\'s time someone put you in your place!"

"Holy shit! That is Terra right, not some doppelganger?" Indra couldn\'t help but ask while trembling.

"Oh no that\'s definitely him, he\'s just angry that\'s all." Said Geb with a knowing look.

"Maya remind me to never piss off Terra."

"Un"

While Terra stood tall in his full battle mode Pyro silently wiped away the blood that leaked from his lips. He didn\'t respond to Terra\'s words at all, his mind completely consumed by the force behind his brother\'s unexpected counter. The flames around his body showed signs of decline but never went fully out as he processed the move.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Just as Terra was readying himself to go on the attack Pyro suddenly started laughing like a maniac, his flames responding in kind, reaching metres above his head and burning the air surrounding him. Following that his body creaked and cracked as it quickly grew in size, his original body incapable housing the force held within his muscles.

Though he was still a fair bit smaller than Terra the strength held within his body was no less potent. Pyro was no longer holding himself back. Terra was strong enough to earn his respect, a true opponent.

"It seems I judged you too quickly Terra, perhaps this will be enjoyable after all hahahaha!" Pyro\'s flames continued to billow outward, rising in temperature with every second. "Again! [Volcanic rend]" once again Pyro charged at Terra with his axe raised overhead, performing the exact same move but this time he was putting everything he had behind the blow.

Terra frowned as he saw the changes in Pyro\'s stature but nevertheless he entered the same stance and activated his defensive block [titan\'s counter].

Boooooooooommmmmmm!!!!

Am explosive clash rocked through the duelling space, magnitudes greater than their previous exchange. A gear like grinding followed as Pyro\'s red energy contested against Terra\'s golden arm before the coming of a loud bang. The Large rock armour covering Terra\'s right arm blew apart and the massive giant was sent skidding across the ground from the concussive force.

Pyro meanwhile had his flames snuffed out and his great axe rebounded upwards forcing him to flip in the air. The two Dungeon cores then steadied their bodies at roughly the same time, landing 30 metres apart, appearing equal in their exchange.

However drip, drip, drip from Terra\'s right arm a trickle of blood leaked from his fist, Pyro\'s axe successfully pierced through his armour and reached flesh.

Terra bore a deep frown as waves of biting pain flooded through his hand, the Earth element was known far and wide for its defensive prowess. The fact that Pyro managed to cleave his way in was not a good sign.

Opposite Terra, Pyro was also frowning, he put his whole back into that swing yet all he got was a shallow cut between the 2nd and 3rd finger.

\'Tough bastard.\' He internally cursed as the fire within him blazed out once more, determined to cleave deeper with the next strike.

"Come Terra, let\'s see how hard that skin of yours really is!" With a vigorous shout Pyro\'s flames once again covered his entire form before he charged ahead with his axe at the ready.

"Hmph!" Terra responded with a loud hmph as he replaced his rock exterior and slowly but heavily dashed forward to meet Pyro in close combat.

Boom! Dun! Clang! Thick fists repeatedly clashed against the sharpest points of the axe\'s edge. Terra despite his massive size moved without any wasted movements allowing him to keep up with Pyro\'s building onslaught. His progress as a pugilist was clear to the naked eye, Pyro felt his arms violently tremble with every exchange.

The weight held behind his brother\'s fists were so devasting that he was forced to rely on his axe to take the brunt of every blow. His own body though rather durable and tenacious held no comparison to Terra\'s. To Pyro what he was fighting was not a person but living breathing mountain.

Alas this only fuelled his battle lust, a durable body meant he could truly let loose without risk of accidently killing his opponent.

"[Meteoric crash]!" After utilising the leftover momentum from one of Terra\'s uppercuts Pyro launched himself high into the air, so high that his feet stood against the ceiling. A moment later he grasped his axe with both hands and activated his most destructive skill. Violent energy enveloped around his axe and body, yellow at the edge, orange below and deep within the centre was a bright red hue.

This giant sphere of energy pulsated like a miniature sun, threatening to burn away the duelling space.

Terra winced as the destructive heat washed over him despite being tens of metres away. It was clear that Pyro was taking the battle up a notch.