Who's ready for more fighting? This chapter was a lot of fun, and shout out to TheSib for the idea of the main event of this chapter!
Disclaimers go to TheSib, Mataras, Reki Kawahara, I only own my OCs!
Chapter 36: Size Matters Not!
Ion logged on quickly after breakfast, he wanted to explore the floor before the event started today. Arriving at the arena floor, he saw a couple of players mingling around, some sat outside a café and even a few friendly duels going on in the plaza.
Ion decided to head towards where the race course was still open. There, he saw a couple more duels, leaning against a tree, he watched one fight between a girl with a katana and a girl with a rapier.
They weren't Kione and Asuna or Mai, but they had skill, Ion's eyebrow rose when the katana user got the upper hand, and the rapier pinged out of the other girl's hand, Ion casually tilted to the left as the blade shot towards him, stabbing into the tree he had been leaning against.
He took the thin weapon out, and tested it as he walked over to where it's owner had surrendered.
"Excuse me, I think you dropped this," He said, approaching the two.
The rapier user's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" She apologised, taking the weapon and sheathing it at her waist.
"It's ok, I know that light weapons are easy to drop sometimes," Ion said, gesturing to Frozen Heart at his beltline.
"Wait… You're Ion, right? I saw your duel with Reinhardt," the katana user asked.
"I am, and you are?" Ion nodded.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I go by the name Proton," the rapier girl smiled, she then gestured to her opponent. "This is my sister Electron."
"Huh, that's a coincidence, considering the science behind our names," Ion chuckled.
A message alert then appeared before him, "excuse me, I have to check this," he politely told Proton.
Tapping the icon, he silently read the message, 'We're all waiting at Lizbeth's stall in the plaza, where are you? - Melody'.
Ion composed a reply, 'Was taking a walk around the floor, will be there in a flash,' he typed, before sending. He then turned back to the girls, "If we ever meet in battle, don't ever hold back, farewell."
With that, he blurred out of existence.
"Where is he?" Melody huffed, glancing around. She had just gotten her brother's reply, and now was waiting expectantly for him to appear.
"Right behind you," half the group jumped at the sudden appearance of Ion behind them, leaning against the stand. The only ones that didn't jump were Kirito, Mataras and Kione.
"Where've you been? When I peeked into your room, you were already diving," Melody asked.
"I walked over towards the race course, didn't run it, but I saw some players sparring there and watched for a bit," Ion shrugged.
The morning continued normally, more and more players flocked into the plaza. The moment the server clock hit midday, Reiji Mitsusuda appeared on his screen again, "Welcome to the final round of the ORO Swordsman Tournament!" He began.
"Today, the remaining sixty-four players will be placed into a bracket system, one-on-one duels until a champion is decided!" A screen appeared beside him, showing the portraits of all the remaining players. Then, they were shuffled into a big loop before the screen blinked, showing the formation.
The first thing Ion looked for was his own portrait, in a bracket against another player that he didn't recognise. He then looked at the entire thing, the final round was going to take place in a multiple block format.
His eyes examined every face in every block, until he saw that in Block A, there was himself, Klein, Leafa, Mai and Sachi.
In Block B, there was Kirito, Pyralis, Alice, Orchid and Angel.
In Block C, there was Melody, Flibjib, Silica, Himiko and Ren.
And in Block D, there were Riku, Asuna, Kione, Helios and Mataras.
"There are going to be a lot of battles today," Helios grinned, cracking his knuckles.
"Yep, and I can't wait," Angel nodded.
"There's that Yaksha guy that considers Ren his rival, they're in the same block!" Mai pointed up at block C. A young man with a mask covering his eyes was seen there.
"Noodleypasta and Sinon must have been knocked out in the race, I'm not seeing their faces up there," Kirito muttered, his eyes settled on that of Pyralis, something about him felt unique.
Kione, who had raised her bandana to take a look at the brackets, spotted her own face. She then saw who she was against.
"Sorry pipsqueak, I'll try to make the match quick," A certain ashy haired teen, with an ego the size of a mountain. Her first opponent was Helios.
The six arenas vanished, and a larger, more impressive coliseum appeared in their place. Battles went on all day, some minor faces recognised during the tournament, like Eugene, who duelled Ren and lost to the tactician. There was also the battle between Leafa and Sakuya, the Jedi Battlemaster. Leafa won by the skin of her teeth.
Melody's rival from ORO, Reaper, showed up against the young greatsword user herself, he used a single-handed longsword, and lasted a decent amount of time, in fact, Melody advanced only due to the timer running out.
The next match would pit Silica vs Himiko, Ion and Ren both stood by, ready to watch their sisters, one by battle, the other by blood, face off in the arena.
The two young girls entered the field, getting cheers from everyone, but none were louder than the Moonlit Black Cats and Wyvern's Inferno.
The timer began, Silica drawing Dragon Fang from her belt, while Himiko drew Murakumo into a defensive stance.
When the timer bleeped, both pushed forward, dagger clashing against katana, Silica then ducked under a swipe from the longer weapon, and launched a skill, several quick slices that whittled away at Himiko's HP.
The young Wyvern counter-attacked, her sword lighting up red with a skill of her own, a diagonal slash that cut Silica's HP by a quarter.
The dragon tamer however activated a new skill, tossing her dagger like it was a boomerang, however, Himiko deflected the small pinwheel, and it landed in the dirt.
"Now's your chance! Press the attack!" Ren called out. Ion wasn't worried though… why was that?
He got his answer when Silica landed a swift spin kick that sent Himiko sprawling off to the side.
She then continued the attack, another speedy kick flying towards the recovering Wyvern, sending her rolling even further.
"Looks like Angel and Mataras have taught her well," Ion grinned, watching Silica finally recover her dagger.
"I would never have expected that…! She's full of surprises, ain't she?" Alice gasped from Ren's left.
"Atta girl Silica! Now bring it home!" Angel called from Ion's right.
Silica's dagger started glowing yellow, the girl lunging forward, stabbing her dagger into Himiko's chest, rotating it in her body, then twirling around and pulling the dagger up over her.
Himiko's HP plummeted, completely disappearing from the three-hit skill, 'Savage Fulcrum'.
The Wyverns and Black Cats cheered and clapped, especially when the girls shook hands after Himiko's revival.
"Oh boy, I can't wait for this next fight!" Liz cackled.
"I agree, this is going to be something to watch," Sinon chuckled darkly.
"Wait… it's Helios against Kione next, right?" Mai asked.
Ion and Angel both smiled, "Go tear them up kid," they looked up at the girl, who was sat behind them.
"I won't let you two down," she grinned back.
Two flashes of light teleported the two competitors out of the stands.
Kione took a deep breath, equipping Buraindo, her faithful katana to her hip, and gripping her blindfold and making sure it was on her head right.
She felt her feet hit solid ground, so she began walking until she sensed Helios about ten paces from herself.
"Sorry about this kid, but I'm not going to lose here," Helios said, as the window to start the match appeared before them.
Kione slightly uncovered her right eye, just to interact with her menu. "Helios, I'm about to teach you a valuable lesson," she smirked back, drawing her blade.
"Oh? What could a girl who doesn't like to see in game teach a guy like me?" Helios laughed, bring his axe around to bear.
"The most important lesson of all. How to break an ego like yours!" During their conversation, Kione had been waiting for the buzz starting the match, and when it did, she sprung forward.
"Whoa! She's fast!" Kirito muttered with wide eyes.
"Duh, she is the pupil of Ion, Mataras and Asuna after all," Leafa chuckled.
"But this is all her now, she's taken what we taught her and turned it into a fighting style of her very own," Asuna told the siblings.
Kione's katana was a blur as she rained blows down on the bigger axe user. He did his best to duck and weave around them, but the only reason he was lasting this long was because of his thicker armour.
Helios then launched into a skill, attempting to swat the small girl away, but the girl saw it coming a mile away, casually leaning back like she was at a limbo contest and avoiding the massive swing. Since the attack missed, it counted as interrupted, so Helios was stuck in the body-lock effect.
Kione then sheathed her sword, the blade in its scabbard glowing a crimson red.
Several players in the crowds seemed to gasp, freeze or cheer. Klein's eyes widened as he watched her stance, "There's no way…. She got that skill already?!" He demanded.
"Alright Klein, you know Katanas the most, what's the deal with that stance?" Sachi asked.
"That there is the stance for the single most powerful skill a katana user can get, you need a katana skill level maxed out before you can even go on the solo-quest through a super hard dungeon," Klein explained.
"To think that such a young girl could master such an art…" Everyone turned, seeing Ion, Mataras and Asuna as equally surprised by the skill as the rest of them.
"It's over musclehead! Take this! Amatsu no Homura!" With blinding speed, Kione's katana finally moved, drawing the blade to deliver an upwards diagonal slash to her opponent, following up with two more lightning fast slash attacks to Helios. She then got back into another stance, and let out a battle cry as she continued the attack with three unbelievably fast 360 degree slashes, sending Helios rocketing into the arena wall. As he flew away, she stylishly finished the skill by twirling the blade and sheathing it again with a satisfying click.
Everyone was speechless as the unrelenting psychopath's HP shot down from a safe green to zero in less than a second as he slammed into the arena wall, right below where Wyvern Inferno and the Black Cats were watching from. "Lucky shot!" He yelled, as he washed away into a force signature.
Ion's eyes widened again when he glanced up, where it had pointed Kione as the victor, it did so with spectacular display, with the word 'PERFECT!' appearing in golden lights.
"She…?" Ren was a loss for words.
"Just beat him…!" Alice muttered.
"Without taking any damage at all!" Mataras, Ion and Kirito breathed.
The stadium then exploded with cheers as the crowds went bananas over that outstanding display.
"There is nothing more we can teach her now," Mataras smiled.
"It's up to her now to take herself further than before," Asuna muttered, a grin on her face.
Ion turned to Dagger, who had come to watch, "How much did you lose from that one?" He asked.
"Well, I kind of didn't bet on him…" The red-haired girl giggled sheepishly, much to the shock of everyone there.
"Dagger…! You sneaky little witch, I don't think Helios will be pleased at that, so I have an idea, transfer the winnings you got from that match to your guild savings so he doesn't see the amount you got," Melody laughed.
"Good idea, Ren, can I have access to the guild storage?" The merchant asked.
"Sure," Ren nodded, transmiting the authority to Dagger so she could carry out the deed.
All the Wyvern Inferno members decided to peek into the guild savings and check, and Ion, who was next to Ren, peeked over his shoulder to whistle at the sudden increase in col.
Kione and Helios rejoined them shortly, "As much as I hate to admit it. No really, this hurts saying this… but you beat me good small fry," Helios sighed, as he sat down next to Dagger.
"She didn't just beat you, she perfect KO'd you!" Ren dropped the news.
"I think you're becoming quite popular," Ion nodded. True enough, at least in their section of the stands, there was a lot of players cheering and applauding the young blind girl.
She glanced around, feeling a sense of pride at all the players that were congratulating her on her victory.
"See, now that you're known, take it as far as you can," Angel hugged her, and pulled her into the open seat between Helios and herself.
Kione's face broke into a huge grin, and she laughed, "I love my life now," She sighed.
Helios: Can I call hacks?
Ion: You can, but none of us would care.
Helios: ... For being the kindest guy in your guild, you can have a frosty cold attitude sometimes.
Ion: Thank you. Anywhoo, again, thanks go to TheSib for use of Wyvern's Inferno, and I hope enjoys watching his psychopath get destroyed.
Next time: The Berserker Lotus!