Onigetsu
A Final Fantasy Story

Chapter 3

Endorsement

Paul rest his hands behind his head as the Coliseum's other contestants competed. He scratched his head as he looked at the roster.

'Hmm… I wonder why this guy's name is already in the finals by default,' he thought. He didn't dwell too much on it. Truth be told; Paul really wasn't very sure of his abilities. In no way did he believe that he would even make it to the semi-finals. He wasn't a soldier. He was simply a ninja who studied under a mentor long-since passed away…

"Come on, stop stalling and hit me already!" Tetsuo scolded.

Paul, only 10 years old at the time, leaped forward with his twin katana. A flurry of slashes, each fluid after the last, was all avoided by the much older Tetsuo. The old man himself carried a single dai-katana (Great Katana). It was the usual thin blade that you see swordsmen wield with two hands. It was roughly a foot longer than the blades that Paul used himself. Soon enough, Paul's rage would finally show promise. Tetsuo was having difficulty with Paul's never ending combination of strikes and the ninja in training saw it in his eyes.

'His anger, though based on frustration is intensely focused. He will be great someday if the time comes where blades must be used again.' Tetsuo thought.

Paul was beginning to become quicker. Tetsuo's age was beginning to take its toll and he would no longer be able to evade such fury. Soon enough, Tetsuo saw an opening in Paul's center and went for a deep thrust thatseemed to connect. Paul remained motionless… but there was no blood. Tetsuo's brows raised as Paul's image disappeared. The student was so fast that he left an image of himself even after he reached his destination.

'This is it,' Tetsuo thought grimly. He felt the blunt edge of Paul's blades press up against his throat and smiled.

"Sleepyhead, wake up, kupo!" a moogle squealed as he shook Paul.

The ninja let out a long exaggerated sigh and opened his eyes. It seemed like it was his turn to fight once again. He rubbed his eyes, stood up, and followed the moogle into the main arena area. He looked across at his new adversary… he was a black mage. He had to be one. It was fairly evident with his wide pointy had, beady yellow eyes peering from underneath, and navy blue robes. This went without mentioning the fancy staff he was toting there.

"Begin!" exclaimed the female voice.

The wizard smiled and his staff began to glow. Paul knew that he was at a disadvantage seeing how far away he was from his opponent.

"Crap…" he moaned as a green force surrounded the wizard and let a sudden outburst of large fireballs at machine gun-like repetition.

They were fast. Paul barely spun and ducked away from the trajectory of the incoming blasts of fire. The mage twirled his staff and a white force surrounded him this time. An orange ghastly clock face appeared and entered the black mage, giving him a red aura. His face didn't show, but he was evidently grinning.

Paul took this opportunity and began a dash at the black mage, totally dismissing the Haste 8 spell. With his twin katana, Paul thrust forward a stab with his left hand. Naturally the mage stepped out of the way. Paul ran his free hand's blade at the wizard just then. The mage parried the attack with his staff. However Paul wasn't so unskilled. The ninja would follow up smoothly with strike from his left hand yet again. The strike connected, spreading a stream of blood across the arena floor. The mage leaped back with a low grunt. Paul capitalized and continued to rush the wizard. The wizard took a chance and thrust his staff into Paul's abdomen. It took the ninja by surprise. He wasn't used to mages being so fast. Paul fell prone and the wizard began charging thunder power into his staff. Paul looked up and quickly caught his breath. He reached quickly into the folds of his uniform and took a chance of throwing a shuriken at the black mage. Paul cursed himself as the weapon left his hand uncontrollably on accident. The small weapon zoomed away taking only the black mage's hat with it. The black mage's true face was then seen. He wasn't too horrible to look at. His skin was tanned. His hair was long and bleached. His eyes however were still yellow as his magic was still being focused into his staff.

'So close…' Paul thought with a sigh.

He placed a scroll on the arena floor and a bubble-like green shield surrounded him. The black mage didn't see this and initiated his spell anyway. An intense yellow bolt launched itself at Paul. It pierced right through the shield and threw Paul back about 5 yards. The black mage let out a relieved sigh.

'That took all of my magical power,' the mage thought. Paul twitched a little but managed to stand up. The audience let out rejoices of surprise.

The black mage stepped back. "How did you..? That took all my power!" the mage exclaimed.

"You didn't see me use a scroll. The magic broke through my shell, but it stopped the main impact. That and your haste spell just wore off. You're completely drained," Paul responded wittily.

The black mage thought about alternatives, but there were none. He had his staff but with no magic power, it was useless. He closed his eyes and took a knee. Paul let out a sigh of relief. He and the black mage both knew that even though Paul was dangerously far from 100 percent, he would still win in an upright melee.

The sun was beginning to set. As Paul prepared for the final match against a man by the name of Zeth. It still bugged Paul as to how Zeth made the finals by default. Something was definitely up...