With time against you, speed is your best recourse in this situation. That in mind, you draw on your reserves, blending ki and mana into a dark golden blaze.
Othrym blinks as you shimmer into view, invisibility spell unable to conceal or withstand your surging aura. The pale boy makes to grab at you as you rocket past him, but he's far too slow to keep up with you in this state, and his attempt to turn the floor into a slick trap fails as the energies of your aura tear at the sorcerous ice he conjured, breaking it down where you stride to reveal the perfectly stable floor beneath. Othrym's arms scissor shut on empty air.
"Sorry, boys," you call back, letting your aura keep burning for a few heartbeats longer until you're safely clear of the ice. "But I've got a match with a cute girl, and I know better than to keep a lady waiting!"
As you cross the line of the ice and let your aura fall, you look over your shoulder to find that a dozen tournament officials have appeared as if straight out of the woodwork, surrounding Othrym and William. While most of the nondescript robed men go to work subduing the two troublesome boys, one looks in your direction and bows his head to you, hands making a formal salute.
Gained Filial Piety F+
"What happened to you?" Cordelia asks as you come running into view a few seconds later.
"Had a little run-in with William and Othrym," you respond. "You remember, the big guy from yesterday?"
"You didn't-"
"I just dodged 'em," you assure her. "The officials are handling the chuckleheads now."
"Well, good."
"Indeed," Ayane says, as the Announcer calls your names. "I would have hated for you to miss our fight on account of those two brutes."
"Perish the thought," you say, following her into the ring. The two of you face each other, bow, and then take your opening stances.
KUNOICHI (IN TRAINING) OF THE MUGEN TENSHIN HAJIN MON: AYANE
In keeping with your pre-determined plan, as soon as the Announcer begins the fight, you cast a spell that surrounds you with a field of energy that carries something of the nature of electricity. Each time Ayane touches it, a portion of the magic will discharge into her like lightning - which happens almost as soon as you finish weaving the spell. The girl is quick, and with your guard unavoidably weakened by the distraction of working magic, you're unable to avoid taking a high kick to the head. By the same token, Ayane isn't able to escape your magical counterstroke, but as you stagger away from her trying not to lose consciousness, some part of your confused thoughts concedes that she got the better of you in that exchange.
It takes you a moment to get your fuzzy thoughts into some semblance of order, but the pain provides a convenient focal point. You want it gone, and are able to flush ki through your system, settling the ringing in your ears, vanishing the sparkly points of light, and numbing the ache that radiates outward from the point where Ayane's foot made contact with your skull and just about sent you to the floor. Din's name, that girl can kick.
As your vision clears, the first thing you clearly see is Ayane, gritting her teeth as she stomps one foot on the tiled floor in a very deliberate manner, about three arms' length away from you. The leg in question seems stable enough, although the stomping makes you think that it got numbed by your electrical defense, and she's trying to force some feeling back into it.
"Interesting technique," she comments.
"Nice kick," you retort, refocusing your ki from healing to physical enhancement. Then you attack.
Ayane falls back before your assault, avoiding contact except for a few quick blows. Each one is different, probing the limits of your spell. A light brush of fingertips carrying no real force at all is still enough to provoke a short snap of purple-tinted energy, about the same intensity as a snap of static built up by rubbing your socked feet on a carpet. A defensive deflection, keeping the point of contact to your respective hand-wraps, generates a larger burst. The same cloth-wrapped palm striking your chest yields an even greater shock, although the added layers of insulation provide something of a buffer. Then Ayane strikes at you with her other palm - except that it's not her hand that hits you, but the length of her handwrap, which she contrived to loosen in the last few seconds. That impact also provokes a response from your armor - a jolt that makes the white bandage dance for a moment, but which doesn't get more than a slight twitch from Ayane's fingers.
The young kunoichi doesn't quite smile, but her eyes light up. You, in turn, try not to frown. Although your electric armor is sufficiently "aware" to respond to each impact with a proportionate level of force, it can't distinguish between contact with a living creature or an inanimate object. It also has a limited charge, a certain amount of mana incorporated into its casting that runs down with each shock it delivers. You can replenish it at will from your reserves, of course, but that will get expensive quickly, and the expenditure will be for naught if your opponent isn't receiving the jolts herself.
Your advance and Ayane's planned retreat have taken you both near the edge of the ring. Knowing better than to let herself be cornered, Ayane darts to your left and ducks into a forward roll, avoiding your attempt to catch her. She must be use ki enhancement herself, to outpace you when your speed is being boosted in that manner. You turn to confront her and keep the pressure on, but the girl completes her roll and comes back to her feet running, making for the far side of the ring without looking back. Though you follow at once, a few strides make it clear that Ayane accelerates much faster than you do. While it's possible that you could overtake her if you broke into a dead run, you're a bit wary of trying; just as it takes you a few seconds to reach your top speed, it likewise takes you some time to slow down again, and you don't doubt for a moment that Ayane knows all sorts of tricks for exploiting an opponent's momentum.
Rather than pursue Ayane, you come to a stop and raise one hand above your head, gathering ki and mana. The forming Power Ball comes out a bit differently than the one you used to finish off Arrogante: you were rather angry at the sinister cephalopod, and had every intention of killing it with that attack; in comparison, you're not angry with Ayane at all, and seek only to defeat her in this match, not inflict any kind of permanent harm. Thus, this Power Ball comes out less violent and intense than its predecessor, the golden glow somewhat lighter, its form closer to a proper sphere than a shifting starburst of unstable energy. Oddly enough, it is also wrapped in crackling arcs of purple lightning, which chase each other back and forth across the surface like high-speed serpents.
"Would you look at that, folks?" the Announcer says. "It's definitely some kind of ki attack, the latest in a line of new techniques revealed by Alexander over the course of the tournament. Just how many tricks does this young fighter have up his sleeve?"
You scowl faintly at the man's commentary, mostly because it causes Ayane to look over her shoulder. Her eyes go wide as you fling the Power Ball at her, like some kind of nuclear-powered dodgeball - even if she saw your fight with Kahlua, this attack is quite a bit larger than the small, short-range blasts you used in that match. Not to mention that it's being aimed at HER.
It comes as something of a surprise to you when, instead of using that trick where she disappears amidst an explosion of flower petals, Ayane tries to dodge your attack by throwing herself bodily to the right. The evasive move gets her out of the flight path of the main body of the Power Ball, but isn't quite enough to escape the lashing tongues of electricity that leap out from its surface for a good half a foot. At least three of those hissing arcs connect with Ayane, who lets out a brief scream as she goes down, twitching violently, while the Power Ball explodes behind her - a pale golden nova, shot through with more jagged bursts of purple lightning.
Gained Power Ball F+
Even you are somewhat taken aback by the results of this attack, but you recover your wits and begin closing in on Ayane, who is struggling to her hands and knees. As you close the distance, you note that your electric armor spell is much weaker than it was before you cast the Power Ball - you'd guess about half of its remaining juice got absorbed by the attack, leaving it with two, maybe three good counter-strikes before it needs to be recharged or gives out.
You have to admit that closing in on an injured ninja strikes you as a rather dangerous idea; however, giving that same ninja time to recover and come up with a counterattack strikes you as an even worse idea. You've got a chance to end this fight, and you're going to take it.
Rushing forward, you move to grab Ayane and flip her face-down on the mat. You catch sight of a momentary gleam of triumph in the kunoichi's eye, right before she springs up from the floor to greet you with a leaping punch. With your arms extended to grapple, you aren't able to block the blow, which takes you clean in the stomach, but by the same token, Ayane can't avoid receiving another dose of electrical retaliation. She planned for that, though, having wound both of her handwraps around one fist, insulating it as much as possible and then going for one of most heavily-clothed target points on your body, reducing the amount of damage she sustained even further.
Ayane doesn't punch as hard as she can kick, but if you weren't still burning ki to reinforce yourself, that shot might have put you down regardless. As it is, you still double-up rather abruptly. You do, however, have the presence of mind to scissor your arms shut, catching Ayane from both sides and letting what's left of your electric armor spell discharge. She shrieks, and you hear a different note from the fake cry she used to lure you in a few seconds ago - this time, your spell really did sting her good. Too bad that it exhausted its charge in doing so.
And doubly bad that Ayane has either been trained to remain combat-effective even when experiencing remarkable levels of pain, or else is just that tough - because even numbed by shock and with her arms pinned to her side, she still manages to bring one knee up between your legs. The only things that save you from being disabled outright are your height - which messes up Ayane's angle of attack - and the fact that no matter how tough and/or well-trained she is, the girl's aim is still screwed up from her exposure to your mystical lightning. You suffer a bruise on your inner thigh, rather than the crippling personal injury that might have ended the match in Ayane's favor.
That said, you can feel her readying a second strike. You have a nasty suspicion that, fouled aim or not, this one won't miss.
Before Ayane can strike, you lock your hands behind her back, lean back slightly, and squeeze. The girl lets out a choked gasp as she is abruptly hauled several inches into the air and crushed against your chest, what little room she had to maneuver a moment earlier lost, to say nothing of the pressure you're now applying on her. Ayane struggles to escape, but you have both her arms firmly trapped, and while she starts kicking you repeatedly, you're so close that she's having trouble building up enough force for it to really hurt.
"Do you give?" you grunt at her.
"In your dreams," Ayane growls back, before trying to use her altered elevation to headbutt you. It's a glancing blow, suggesting she doesn't have a lot of practice with the technique. You glare at her for a moment before responding in kind, channeling the spirit of the Rampaging Boar to show her how it's done.
Gained Headbutt F++
Ayane's head reels back from the impact. "Ow, ow, ow..."
Thanks to ki reinforcement - and perhaps a naturally thick skull - you definitely won that exchange. "Do you give now?" you ask the kunoichi as she hisses in pain.
"Not... on your life!"
Stubborn girl. And she's still kicking and kneeing you. It's starting to ache.
Right, enough is enough. Time to finish this.
"You asked for it," you say, readying your spirit and focusing your ki. Then, while Ayane is still frowning at the words, you tighten the lock of your arms and begin a truly devastating combo.
"WISDOM!"
Headbutt.
"OF THE!"
Headbutt.
"RAGING!"
Headbutt.
"BOAR!"
And suplex.
Gained Headbutt F+++
Gained Totem of the Raging Boar F
Gained Wisdom of the Raging Boar F
Gained Words of Power F+
"What a ferocious attack!" the Announcer cries out. "Alexander really uses his head, and leaves Ayane seeing stars! Folks, I don't care what country you're from, something like that has got to hurt! And yet the boy doesn't look dazed at all!" he continues, as you release your grip on the girl and roll to your feet. "What is his skull made of?"
Heh. Actually, ki reinforcement or not, you are feeling sore after that. Seems there's a limit to how much of a pounding even your head can take, at least in a fixed period of time. You're far better off than Ayane, however, who seems to be having some trouble coordinating her movements - or hell, even thinking - after being squeezed, smashed in the head, and slammed down on the cold, uncaring surface of the ring like that. Although you've planned to boost your enhancement, the sight of the girl lying in a groaning heap seriously tempts you to conserve energy and make do with your natural strength. Then you consider how she suckered you the last time, and raise your ki.
It turns out to be an unnecessary precaution. Ayane does take a swing at you when you grab her, but it's a blow running on pure reflex, with no control or strength behind it. With no trouble, you roll her onto her stomach, lever one of her arms behind her, and pin her. The Announcer wastes no time to begin the count, and though Ayane struggles a bit - more fiercely as the numbers add up - within ten seconds, it's over.
"Winner, Alexander!"
You release Ayane and stand up. "You okay?" you inquire.
"I have a headache," comes the slightly muffled reply.
Heh. What can you say to that?