Hikari and the Soul Edge
Chapter 6: Tournament Days
Hikari, Kenji, and Mog continue their journey across the land in search for all information on their enemy. They were traveling between two towns on a dirt road.
"Kupo!" Mog happily said as he flipped through the air.
"Is that all he can say?" Kenji asked.
"I've been trying to teach him," Hikari said. "So far, it hasn't been working."
Mog flew up to Hikari and landed in her arms. He then yawned and fell asleep.
"He's so cute!" Hikari exclaimed.
"And so expensive," Kenji said as he pulled out his nearly empty wallet. "We barely have enough money for dinner, let alone any for a hotel."
"Your point?" Hikari asked.
"My point is we need money," Kenji said.
Hikari then spotted something ahead. It was a small building.
"What's that?" Hikari asked.
Hikari and Kenji ran up to the building. There was a poster on the front door that said the following:
"Calling all warriors! A fighting tournament will be held in this dojo! There is a large cash prize!"
"That's convenient," Kenji said.
Hikari read the poster even more.
"The tournament's tomorrow morning," Hikari said. "Maybe we can compete."
"That's a pretty good idea," Kenji said.
Kenji then read the poster even more. He then saw a fine print at the bottom.
"It looks like you'll be the only one competing," Kenji said. "Magic isn't allowed."
"No problem," Hikari said. "I can handle anything in my way."
They camped out that night. The following morning, they joined a whole group of warriors and adventurers who came for the cash prize.
"Now that we've signed you up, Mog and I'll be heading to town," Kenji said. "While you're fighting, I'll go to the library and get some information on the Soul Edge."
"Alright," Hikari said.
"Be careful, Hikari," Kenji said. "We'll try to be back in time for the final round."
Kenji and Mog then left the room. Hikari then felt something watching her. She turned in the direction of whatever it was and only saw the other fighters.
"What was that?" Hikari asked.
Soon, a bunch of referees walked into the room. Most of them were wearing black suits, but the one in the middle wore a white suit.
"Welcome fighters," the one in the middle said. "I'm surprised by the turn-out. There are 32 fighters here today. Only one of you, however, will be leaving with the prize."
"That will be me," Hikari thought.
"You'll all draw a number," the one in the middle continued. "The number will determine who you'll fight throughout this tournament. Please step up when I call your name and draw a number. First is X-Crusher."
The first man, who was fat man wearing a wrestler's spandex outfit (much to Hikari's disgust), walked up to get his number. Hikari watched as each of the different fighters walked up to get their numbers as their names were called. Most of them were your run-of-the-mill adventurers who don't tend to stand out of a crowd. Hikari then spotted something odd.
"Chai Xianghua," the referee called out.
A young woman, who looked to be 20-years-old, walked up to the referee. She had short, brunette hair. She wore a blue headband, a long-sleeved Chinese-style pink shirt, and light-blue pants. She didn't look much like a fighter to Hikari.
After Xianghua had gotten her number, she ran back to another fighter. He had short, brown hair and a scar on his left cheek. He wore no shirt, but he had a shoulder pad on his left shoulder. He wore gold and black braces on his arm and a gold and black belt of the same design. He wore long, red pants and blue boots. Tied around his waist was a tattered blue cape. Around his neck was a strange crystal. In his right hand was a red bo-staff.
Right after Xianghua, the young man, whose name Hikari discovered was Kilik, walked up and got his number.
"Hikari Kamai!" the referee eventually called.
Hikari walked up to the referee to get her number.
"Pull your number out of this box," the referee said as he handed a box over to Hikari.
Hikari reached in and pulled out a slip of paper. Written on the piece of paper was the number 1.
"I must be lucky today," Hikari said.
Her name was then written under the number 1 on the tournament bracket. Soon, all of the fighters were called up and put onto the tournament bracket.
"Alright," the referee said. "Now that everyone's name has been called, you have thirty minutes to prepare for combat. The first match will be between Hikari Kamai and Stu Smith."
The referees then left. Hikari walked up to see the tournament bracket. She found that Kilik was number 15 and Xianghua was number 30.
"I wonder how Kenji is doing right now," Hikari thought.
After thirty minute, Hikari was called out of the room. She stepped into a large arena surrounded by a whole crowd of people. She faced off against Stu, who wore a pair of grieve edges on his feet.
"It's time for the first match of the tournament!" the main referee announced as the crowd roared with cheers. "We all know the rules. Whoever is knocked out for 10 seconds or is pushed out of the ring loses! No magic is allowed! The first match is between Hikari Kamai and Stu Smith. Let the match…BEGIN!"
Stu charged forward as Hikari got into a fighting stance. Stu jumped into the air and performed a roundhouse kick. Hikari dodged by ducking. After sliding behind Stu, Hikari swept her sword across the ground as Stu landed on his feet. This caused Stu to trip and fall outside of the ring.
"The winner is Hikari Kamai!" the referee shouted.
The crowd roared with excitement.
"Compared to fighting dragons and training with Dad, that was nothing," Hikari thought.
Hikari stepped out of the ring and found a seat where she could watch the rest of the matches of the first round. Hikari watched as the competition lessened one person at a time. She then watched a match that was about as short as hers.
Kilik's round was against X-Crusher. As X-Crusher charged forwards. Kilik merely slipped to the side and angled his staff just as his opponent passed by. X-Crusher tripped and rolled off of the ring.
"Ring out!" the referee shouted. "And Kilik wins!"
Kilik bowed to his opponent and stepped off.
"He's good," Hikari thought. "He's definitely better than these other bozos. Now to see just how well that girl, Xianghua, does."
Soon, the last match of the first round was about to start. Hikari was paying close attention as the fighters came out. Xianghua was wielding a small sword now.
"I'm guessing you won," Kenji said.
Hikari jumped by the sudden appearance of her magician friend and Mog.
"When did you…" Hikari began.
"Just now," Kenji said. "Anyway, why are you watching this match?"
"She was with this other guy named Kilik," Hikari said. "He's was pretty good. I'd like to see how she does. What about you? What did you find?"
"I'll tell you after the match," Kenji said. "I'd like to watch this."
Kenji pulled out a bowl of popcorn.
"Hungry?" Kenji asked.
Xianghua's opponent was a man clad in armor. He wielded a large steel spear. When the match started, the armored man charged forward. Just before he got there, however, Xianghua flipped into the air and swung her sword faster than the eye could see. She landed on her feet behind her opponent. A moment later, the spear split in half and the armored man passed out. Xianghua bowed to her opponent.
"What the hell just happened?!" Kenji asked as he dropped his bowl of popcorn.
"About 5 strikes," Hikari answered.
"What?" Kenji asked.
"About 5 strikes with her sword," Hikari answered, "give or take a few."
"You saw that?!" Kenji asked.
"My Dad taught me to see fast strikes," Hikari said. "Being able to see rapid attacks is a skill that expert swordsmen should have, especially if you fight someone with small swords."
"That's just odd," Kenji said. "Do you think you can take her?"
"It all depends on a few factors," Hikari said. "A rapid technique like that requires an opponent who doesn't know what they're doing. If I pay attention, I might be able to block most of her attacks."
After the first round, the fighters were given thirty minutes to prepare for the second. Hikari and Kenji used this chance to talk.
"So what did you find?" Hikari asked.
"I didn't find much," Kenji said. "But I did confirm one thing."
"What?" Hikari asked.
"Soul Edge is definitely real," Kenji said. "I found an ancient book of magic that described the cursed blade. It's exactly the same description that I heard in a nearby tavern from swordsmen who saw Nightmare battle. This just proves it."
Hikari was about to talk, but she felt someone watching them. She turned around and didn't see anyone.
"What's wrong?" Kenji asked.
"Someone's been watching me this whole time," Hikari said. "I don't know why."
Meanwhile, Xianghua ran up to Kilik.
"Kilik, I just heard something interesting," Xianghua said.
"What?" Kenji asked.
"That Hikari girl who's in the tournament is looking for Soul Edge too," Xianghua said.
"Why is she after it?" Kilik asked.
"I don't know," Xianghua said. "But if it's for the wrong reasons, we have to stop her."
"That's right," Kilik said. "We can find out today, during the tournament."
The tournament went on. Hikari charged right through the competition. She also watched as Kilik and Xianghua won their battles as well. Soon, the semi-finals were coming. Hikari would be up against Kilik.
"I've watched this guy fight, Hikari," Kenji said. "You have to be careful."
"Don't worry about me," Hikari said. "I can take this guy on."
Hikari then stepped into the ring. Right behind her was Kilik.
"It's time for the semi-final round!" the announcer shouted. "The first match in this round is between Hikari and Kilik!"
The crowd cheered loudly.
"Let's go!" the announcer shouted.
Hikari and Kilik got into their fighting stances. A moment later, they both charged for each other. Their two attacks collided and repelled each other. The two of them then charged again. Hikari swung her blade horizontally. Kilik ducked to dodge. He then took this chance to sweep his staff across Hikari's feet, knocking her over. Kilik then slammed his staff onto her stomach and jumped back as Hikari writhed with pain.
"Hikari!" Kenji shouted from the audience.
"Kupo!" Mog shouted.
Kilik prepared for his final attack. He focused all of his power into his staff.
"Time to finish this!" Kilik shouted.
Hikari tried to get up, but the pain was too much for her to bear.
"If I don't do anything, I'm dead!" Hikari thought.