Phase Two, Defending the Ttitle - Reigning Champions, Rising Stars

The sounds of countless screams and cheers could be heard faintly filling the air surrounding the duo as they made their way down the hallway that surrounded their counterpart. The two walked diligently towards the destination before then, as the sound of its towering gates would slowly begin to creak as they began to emit a gust of wind as a result of opening. Aku could clearly feel the wind brushing against his clothes and hair as he exits from the darkness before him into the light of a stadium before him. As the two would walk out, many could hear the sudden roar that follows a surge of appreciation of the reigning rookie champions before them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome your reigning champions of BASKA!" You could hear the roar of the background as the announcer  signaled the duo to give a show of sorts. Aku himself would merely raise his staff in recognition, as well as Ika's response before cheering continues. "We can't forget about the Intermediate runner up's challenging today's champions, The Dynamic Duo, the Blazing Brothers!" As the announcer finishes you could hear the divided side of the crowd voicing their opinions loudly screaming their names. Across the other side of the stadium one could see two men bursting from the small crack in the large doors forming, and flashing their flame magic acrobatics for all to see. Suna would simply scoff as he looked to his ally in return. "Lets hope for their sake that the show is as good as the performance." He smiled before the announcer went on to continue, looking at and rowling the crowed. "AREEE YOUUU READYYY???!!"

WC: 300

Baska’s Tournaments could be considered one of the city's greatest appeals. People from all over travel there hoping to make a name for themselves in the various tournaments which occur. Ikazuchi and Akushitsuna participated in one such tournament in the past according to a request. It wasn’t difficult for them to become victorious at the time, but they were requested to defend or give up the title at a later date. The tournament organizer wasn’t particularly fond of the two who had directly killed their opponents, but they insisted that there was no denying their ability. Because of that, they were promised better rewards for their appearance in a title match that they would be organizing.

That was how Ikazuchi found himself at the tournament grounds once more. The darkness of the tunnel was slightly familiar after his previous experience. There wasn’t any need for the two to speak unnecessary words. They came here with a clear goal. Victory in battle was something that they both desired, and they wouldn’t be leaving with anything less. As for Ikazuchi, he didn’t doubt himself or his companion.

The time had come, Ikazuchi made his way out of the tunnel with Akushitsuna. His gaze shifted around as he appreciated the cheers of the audience. His growing excitement caused a slight smile to appear on his face. He gave off a relaxed impression as he listened to the announcer. Almost as if the two had rehearsed their actions before, Ikazuchi unsheathed his two katanas and raised one as Akushitsuna raised his staff. Based on the applause, it seemed as if the brutal acts that the two had performed previously had been forgotten by the crowd. They were being recognized as skill champions rather than killers.

The crowd followed the announcer’s lead and gradually calmed down allowing him to introduce their challengers. Ikazuchi couldn’t help but laugh a bit when he heard Akushitsuna comment on their opponents. “They’re just a couple of clowns. They couldn’t win the intermediate tournament, so they crawled back down here.” Ikazuchi treated their opponents with disdain. They were putting on a show for the audience with their magic and seeking popularity rather than actually relying on their strength. According to the standards of the magic council, the intermediate tournament would be the domain of B-Rank adventurers and mercenaries. On the other hand, the tournament that Ikazuchi and Akushitsuna and Ikazuchi reigned as champions over was generally for C-Ranks. If it wasn’t for the fact that the two of them possessed solid foundations and could challenge those of a higher rank, it’s likely that their defeat would be guaranteed.

Ikazuchi was only learning who their challengers were at this moment. Ignoring the shameless behavior of their opponents who were actually willing to appear here, there was something suspicious about the organizers as well. A situation like this could only occur if the organizers allowed it, so it could clearly be interpreted as them targeting Akushitsuna and himself. Ikazuchi couldn’t be sure, but it felt extremely likely that the organizer was aware of why they did what they did previously. If that was the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if they wished to use this to humiliate or even take care of them as a result. By this point, it didn’t matter if his thoughts were correct or not. He had clear killing intent aroused while facing these opponents due to how he felt, and it would be simple for him to find out shortly. As for Akushitsuna, Ikazuchi didn’t have the chance to share his thoughts before the announcer’s voice rang out signaling that the fight was about to begin. Ikazuchi could only glance at his companion hoping to express his intent as he readied himself to dash forward at the exact moment the announcer’s ‘begin’ sounded.

Word Count [630/1,500]

Phase Two, Defending the Title - A warrior's resolve, and a beast unleashed.

Aku couldn't help but be amused by his warrior partner's choice of words. It was certainly true that they didn't seem to appear all that 'strong'; rather, their obvious boasting and waste of magic showed just how naïve the duo seemed to be after not making the cut in the tournaments higher ranks. These opponents appeared to assume they would have the upper edge of the battle, and Akushitsuna had planned to take full advantage of such.

A smile appeared to show the excitement finally hitting the mages entirety, as if he'd be in a calm state of mind up until this point while observing his surroundings. He could hear the battling cheers of the audience swaying in motion between those who supported either side of the two teams that stand before them. Suna would transition a light squatting position with one held in front of himself against the ground for support. Aku would then take the other hand wielding his staff and flip it so the the middle rested upon his shoulders, with his hands gripping tightly near the base. While wielding his staff held much more similarly to that of a club, he would motion towards Ika for but just a moment. "Somethings off, keep your wits about you." He looked at the confident duo preparing for a battle themselves, as the announcer made his way from the line of fire to officially begin this tournaments finale. "Either they knew someone well enough to get such an easy chance at us, or its a setup from within."

He had wished to continue his conversation, but time had run far too thin to say much more. "BEGIN!" Aku would immediately burst into a sprint at such speeds that he managed to maintain an otherwise unstainable downwards angle. His right had since reached behind  him, as the tip of the mage's staff drags the ground lightly kicking up dirt in its path. His eyes were locked on that of the nimble 'blaze brother' who had before been performing for the crowd. IT would appear that both teams had decided for a 1v1 situation instead of duo battles in this particular scenario.

The smaller brother had since began sprinting towards Aku in return, but with a rather sinister look on his face as the hand dragging behind the nimble man grew a rather large fireball from his palms. "Hmph." The mage let out as his staff began to flip from its backwards position to directly in front of himself. His opponent had charged assuming that Aku would likely return with his own spell in this scenario for a clash, but Suna would lightly smirk as the two neared melee range. He would then use his staff as a lunging pole to leap into the air just shy of melee distance, before performing a rapid flip to bring down the tip of the staff with great force against the back of his opponents skull. The man had been caught completely off guard by Aku's physical prowess, allowing his foolish assumptions of a spell based fight to fill the mind. As the brother assailant came crashing to the ground immediately following, Aku would gain his stability while sliding backwards and taking a glimpse at his allies progress thus far.

WC: 580
TWC: 880/150

The announcer took more time than Ikazuchi had expected to truly announce the start of the fight. During that period of time Ikazuchi clearly heard his companion inform him something along the lines of what he was also thinking. ‘So it wasn’t just me.’ He was naturally more comfortable knowing that Akushitsuna had a similar feeling based on this situation. “Understood.” Ikazuchi didn’t give a long response as the announcer had made his way comfortably outside of the range of the fighters. “BEGIN!”

Ikazuchi could tell from his brief glance that his partner intended to dash for their opponents in a similar way to himself. Based on the way that Akushitsuna held his staff, it was apparent that he intended to use it as a weapon. Ikazuchi also noticed the lack of spell circles indicating magic usage that he had grown accustomed to. He was naturally curious about this, but with the fight beginning he couldn’t give too much attention to the changes of his companion.

Essentially at the same time as his companion, Ikazuchi also dashed towards the blazing brother who clearly seemed to be separated and waiting for him. ‘So they want to fight us separately?’ Ikazuchi took the two even less seriously upon seeing that. Based on what he saw previously, neither of them were particularly strong. It would be more accurate to say that their place as B-Ranks was determined by their ability to work together. As for their intention to take Ikazuchi and Akushitsuna down separately, he could only assume that it was due to overconfidence based on them being lower ranks.

Being underestimated was naturally infuriating for a prideful young man like Ikazuchi, but he also enjoyed the thought of what would soon happen as a result. Ikazuchi was roughly halfway to his opponent when he noticed the distinct magic circle belonging to the fire element appear in front of the man’s outstretched hand. As the glow intensified Ikazuchi couldn’t help but smile at the man’s action. “Firebolt!” The man directly called out the name of his spell, clearly still intending to appeal to the crowd with his pointless action. The man had fired at basically the exact moment that Ikazuchi had entered the range of his B-Rank spell, but his apparent actions allowed Ikazuchi to predict the spell path and lunge forward and to the right.

Ikazuchi’s speed allowed him to just barely miss the spell and also place himself within a few meters of the man. The fact that Ikazuchi had so cleanly avoided his spell startled the man as he quickly turned to face Ikazuchi. On the other hand, Ikazuchi didn’t immediately rush to attack. He raised his left arm and rested his left katana on his shoulder as he spoke to the man with the same smile from earlier. “So, what made the runner-ups of the intermediate tournament come to challenge the beginner tournament again?” Ikazuchi was clearly watching the fire mage, so he noticed the man’s eyes widen slightly at that precise moment. ‘That’s not quite a normal reaction now is it?’ Ikazuchi felt his suspicions were more likely as a result, even after the man gave a generic reply of sorts justifying their actions.

“I see… We will have to see if that is the case here shortly.” Ikazuchi still had that smile on his face, but his eyes were noticeably cold at that moment. It was obvious that he didn’t have any good intentions based on the way he was looking at the fire mage. It even scared the mage into immediately starting to cast another spell. Ikazuchi was in motion at the same moment, stepping forward and slashing down with his left sword.

He was surprised to find out that the spell that he expected to be another attack was actually a dashing spell that was used to escape his range. ‘It’s not that easy…’ Ikazuchi was thinking this as he lunged in pursuit of the man. Ikazuchi was able to immediately close the distance as the man had instinctively used a lower ranked spell for the sake of casting speed. Still, the man wasn’t a B-Rank for nothing. Another spell circle had appeared in front of his left hand in order to attack Ikazuchi, but it was slightly too slow compared to his pursuit.

Ikazuchi was naturally able to adapt due to his Father’s training, so he was able to instinctively turn his body to avoid the magic spell upon arrival. At the same time, he had already released the katana in his right hand allowing it to fall. Without any hesitation his empty right hand grabbed the man’s right wrist. Faint crackling noises could be heard due to the strength exerted. The man winced at the pain, and as a result missed the swiftly arriving left fist of Ikazuchi to the right side of his rib cage.

With his sword still in hand, Ikazuchi struck cleanly causing the clear sound of ribs breaking to be heard as his fist dug in. As a result of the strike the guard and blade of his sword also dug in as well. The man let out a pained groan as a result along with a burst of air as he collapsed to his knees uncontrollably. Ikazuchi stood in front of the kneeling man with his broken arm still in his grasp. “So, you weren’t put up to this by anyone?” He spoke emotionlessly to the man but he still had a smile on his face, one of disdain.

The man seemed to wish to reply, but couldn’t produce any words due to the air being knocked from him. Ikazuchi watched as the man struggled for air, squeezing the broken arm tighter and tighter. Blood had already started to run out of slight wounds formed by bone fragments piercing the man’s skin. There were tears running down the man’s face that wore a pleading expression.

Ikazuchi naturally eased his grip upon seeing that the man truly seemed willing to speak now. “It was the organizer! He hired us because he said there were some arrogant newbies who made a mess out of his tournament!” The man’s words were heard clearly by Ikazuchi, and could potentially be heard by Akushitsuna if he were listening from nearby. Ikazuchi’s smile faded upon hearing that due to the anger that he felt at that moment. ‘You actually want to scheme against us?!’

He was naturally thinking about the person targeting them at that moment, but he didn’t forget about the man in front of him who thought to take advantage and try to cast another spell with his good arm now that Ikazuchi stopped squeezing. What the man didn’t expect was that just as he intended to raise his good right arm that had a spell circle in front of it to attack, Ikazuchi had already placed the sharp edge of his katana on the man’s throat bringing his actions to a halt.

“Do you know how we made a mess out of his tournament?” Ikazuchi asked the man who seemed frozen this question. What he received in return was silence. “He didn't tell you? We made a bloodbath out of the finale.” Ikazuchi answered the man causing fear to appear on the man’s face as even his spell circle vanished due to a loss of focus. “I can only imagine that he wants us dead as a result, so…”  Ikazuchi trailed off for a moment, but the man started to struggle at this point. “...you’ll have to die.” Ikazuchi swiftly swung his katana as he finished and cleanly removed the man’s head. ‘The price you have to pay isn't cheap if you want to take our lives…’ Ikazuchi thought this to himself as he turned to check on his companion.

Word Count: [1,900/1,500]

Aku would eventually come to a sliding stop, as dust fills the air surrounding the mage. He caught a glimpse of his ally on the other side of the stadium, and could tell in just that moment that he'd appeared to have the upper hand at this current moment. Suna hadn't much reason to worry about the warrior, especially since he was caught in the middle of combat himself.

In the flash of a moment Aku had lunged directly at the opponent who had his back turned mid-way through attempting to stand. As he were mid-air soaring towards the assailant, the man would turn with a burning blaze of fire beginning to compact into a sphere. "I wont go down that easy!" The man had a cocky tone of voice, which was likely due to Aku not theoretically having anything to do against it mid-air. He wasn't one to fear from a scuff or two however, and simply gripped the staff with a second hand just as the man launched the close-range spell. Suna then preemptively swung his staff like a bat as it came into range, while his enemy appeared to be consumed by confusion. In the exact moment that the staff made contact with the sphere it would explode; or rather, it combusted as the mage was momentarily engulfed in flames soaring through its entirety. He'd kept the moment of the now charred staff's swing, rolling roundabout while engulfed in the cover of the flames, and arose from its blaze with great speed towards the now defenseless enemy. A mere foot from the flames one could see his burning staff strike the brother's ribcage followed by a cracking sound as his body was slung a few feet to the side.

Akushitsuna would then turn towards the man who seemed to struggle with the idea of standing up, and walks in his direction as the steam slowly rises from his tattered clothing. It would've appeared that he suffered minor burn wounds from his relentless onslaught, but the fury in his eyes was about one aspect in particular. Aku had taken one look at the singed spot on his otherwise flawless tail, and things were no longer about a victor.

Just as he began to approach this now struggling to stand defeated shell of a man, he could eerily hear his colleague in the background speaking with the other contestant. It was at this moment that it all had become completely clear to the mage, as he raises the edge of his staff to the neck of his enemy. The fire mage had begun to try and cast a spell, but stopped in mere fear of the wild man before him. "Try it, and ill roll your head across this stadium grounds." Aku would then begin to kneel down and bring his entire body closer to that of the poor soul who was a pawn in the grander scheme of things. "You're going to go back to those scum who offered you this job with a message, that not only does it not end here, but now we will rise in the ranks to ruin every fraction of the false status they hold above what should be a warriors fame within this coliseum."

Suna would then stand up and gather his calmness about himself once again. Just as his defeated opponent would gather his footing once again, Aku merely swung his staff across the back of the neck of the nearly standing soul. He didn't need to be in one piece to spread a message, and he certainly didn't need to be in good health. Aku felt as though he deserved to be carried from this place as opposed to leaving on his own two feet, with his head tucked between his legs and in shame. With that said, Aku walked once again towards his partner Ikazuchi, and would be off to discuss their next move with this current knowledge. They would most certainly collect their dues before heading off to do anything else though.

wc:690
TWC: 1,570/1500

QUEST COMPLETE