Battle - (Clouding Exercise)

The two chairs were spaced apart the length of a couple coffee tables. The room was silent besides the occasional squeak from one of the two chairs that were in use. The slate tiled floor emanated a cold feeling that spread throughout the room. The intense glares that attempted to burn holes through the body of the other were focused and firm. Neither person seemed able to move. The frozen bodies sat motionless in the vastly vacant space. The walls were a dingy white that contrasted heavily against the slate floor. The two men continued to stare into each other's eyes looking for a way to rip out each other's soul without moving a muscle. Both of the men had the fortunate and unfortunate ability to read minds. Through the use of this gift they are able to take down their opponents with great ease. Up until this time neither had ever gone against another mind reader. This made this situation especially difficult. The knuckles of the men turned a pale white as they grabbed the chair arms tightly as though it help them to concentrate. The battle was dead even up to this point. Neither man seemed to be stronger than the other. Flash. A bright light flooded the room rapidly and disappeared in one instant. A man was now lying face down upon the floor. He had let his guard down for just one second. A fly had been buzzing past his head. Thankfully he pulled his defenses up fast enough so that he was still conscious. His dark brown eyes burned with fury. The chair scraped along the floor as he lifted himself onto it. That was a close call, but he would not let it happen again. The other man continued to stare intently as the fallen man regained his strength. In that instant he had been able to read the other man’s mind. He knew his secrets and his weaknesses. He leveled up in a sense. All he had to do was focus for just one more minute. One minute and the other mind reader would be destroyed. He would dissolve as though he was a piece of salt in boiling water. His blue eyes filled with enlightenment and rage all at one time. The shock of what he had learned from the man’s mind had all of sudden hit him like a ton of bricks. Another bright light flashed into the room. This light however lasted a second longer than the last time. The other mind reader was now sprawled across the floor, his limbs pulled in all different directions. At first glance one might believe him to be dead, but the man knew better. He kept his brown eyes upon the man’s skull. Losing concentration for a second could prove to be deadly. The man on the floor fluttered his eyes open. He had sustained injuries in that battle, but he now knew he could not give up without another. This brown-eyed man knew his secrets and weaknesses just as he had found out the secrets of the brown-eyed man. One must die. There were no other options.