We walk back to where the rest of the guild is with Cadel and Bryce in tow. When we find them, I see that everyone is staring at the field, where Sythe and Spiral seem to be staring at one another.
"My gosh! The finals have already started!" Amma says, dragging me to where the rest of the guild is gathered. Bryce and Cadel follow us.
"Did you two have a nice walk?" Cyria asks
"Yeah. Have we missed anything in this round?" Amma asks.
"Nothing much. They've kinda just been staring at each other like this for a while," Avia says.
"And there's the battle. Gosh, how did Spiral beat Ri, though? I thought he was supposed to be invincible," Amma says.
"It was because of my leg. I couldn't run with it in this condition," Ri says coldly. Amma looks down, I can tell she feels awkward about asking now. Did Cyria really mess Ri's leg up that badly? Or is it just that Ri needs every advantage he can get to beat Spiral?
"So is Spiral using his 'world', or whatever you called it?" I ask.
"It looks like it. Why else would they be staring at one another so long?" Amma says.
"So he needs to look into your eyes to use his attack?" I ask.
"Maybe? I guess I don't really pay attention to those kinds of details," Amma says. Well, I know what I can try if I have to fight Spiral for the next expedition. Hopefully I'm stronger by then, and smarter. And maybe we can go on this expedition, too. Cyria's strong, and I won the first round. If we do some good rescue team work, maybe we can still go on the exploration.
All of a sudden, Scythe starts flailing his arms around. Many of his strikes hit Spiral, but they just go right through him. Spiral smiles, as if he's pleased that Scythe is flailing around so oddly.
Then, Scythe's attacks change, the strikes are lower, faster, stronger. He hits Spiral a few times, eventually knocking him back.
"H-how did he break through Spiral's illusion?" Amma asks.
"He... Didn't," Ica says. I look at her. She has many cuts, and it sounds like talking hurts her.
"You mean he's just throwing strikes blindly, even while in the illusion?" I ask.
"Pretty much. He's just hoping that something connects. Even so, you've got to be pretty strong mentally to even have that much control over your body while in his illusion. It seems like Scythe's been training," Ri says.
Scythe continues to flail, but Spiral's too far away for him to hit now. Spiral creates a pin of sorts using some kind of dark enegy, and sticks it into his body. The pin keeps moving farther and farther into Spiral's body, until it's completely inside of him. Scythe cringes in pain.
"He's using himself as a voodoo doll," Amma says.
"You didn't honestly think that his 'world' was his only method of attack, did you? Actually, his 'world', as you call it, is one of his weaker attacks. I guess Spiral's done playing around if it's coming to pins and needles," Ri says. Many other needles of dark energy appear and stab Spiral, moving deep into his body. Why aren't them hurting him? I would imagine that any ordinary voodoo doll would get damaged if stabbed with a needle, so why isn't he? Scythe screams in pain and drops to the ground.
Well, this wasn't a close fight. It's crazy to think that we have members of this guild who can beat Scythe so easily, especially when Scythe could easily beat me. I guess it just goes to show the difference in strength that exists in this guild.
"Well, that wasn't the epic fight I was hoping for. But it was nice to see Spiral use something other than his 'world'," Amma says.
"The final round is over! Our victor is Spiral!" Chatot shouts. "Thank you all for your participation, you have the rest of the day off! Take this opportunity to get some rest, it's back to work tomorrow!"
"A day off... Thank Arceus. I need it," Ica says weekly.
"Do you need me to carry you back to the guild?" Ri asks.
"I'm fine... Plus, you've got your leg to worry about," Ica says.
"It's just a leg. I've got two of them, you know. One can help the other. And you can barely walk," Ri says.
"I'm fine," Ica says. She tries to stand up, but she falls back down.
"Nope, I'm carrying you," Ri says. He grabs Ica and puts her under his arm. And with that he walks away.
"Well that was..." Amma starts.
"Heartwarming?" Avia suggests.
"I was going to say odd, but that works too," Amma says.
"So should be get going as well? I don't know about you two, but I'm beat," Cyria says.
"I certainly couldn't do a mission in my state, but I can still walk. So I'm fine with whatever," Avia says.
"Yeah, I'm not too bad off. I can walk... As long as I don't exert myself," I say.
"Have I ever shown you around town?" Avia asks.
"Around town? I don't think so... Is there anything special there?"
"Kinda." There's some shops that you should get familiar with, being part of a rescue team and all. And there's some fun shops, too. Oh, and I haven't checked on the Marowak dojo recently, either. It may be reopening soon! Plus, I have to introduce you to Sio!"
"Sio? Who's that?"
"Sio's... Well he's my big brother!"
"You have a big brother? But I thought..." Cyria trails off.
"Well, he's not really my big brother big brother. He's more of... An honorary big brother. But still, I need to introduce you to him! He's still my big brother, and he hasn't even met my rescue team!" Avia says.
"You two go and have fun, I'm going to get some rest," Cyria says.
"Aw... Okay. I guess I can still introduce Jiro to Sio. Oh! The names almost rhyme. Jiro and Sio!" Avia says.
"Are you feeling alright? You're acting a big odd," Cyria says.
"Am I? Sorry, I'm just so excited! Come on, Jiro! We're going to see Sio!" Avia says.
"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" I ask.
"Nope! Come on, it'll be fun. And you need to know the shops if we're going to be a rescue team worthy of being on the expedition!" Avia says.
"Well then, I guess arguing with you is useless," I say.
"Yep! Come on, let's go!"