I Never Let Her Die! (Aerith x Male Gamer Reader)

Disk 01: Chapter 29: The Book of Counted Joys

A few hours after our meeting with Dio we were all gathered just outside the entrance to the Battle Arena. Cloud was fussing with his equipment while everyone else offered suggestions. Red produced the Yoshiyuki Sword from, well, wherever the hell he kept things and said "A perfect time for this, I think."

Nodding, Cloud agreed. "Good. Yeah, if it really gets stronger when you're fighting alone it'll work out well."

"What about your materia?" Yuffie asked. "You need balance, survivability. Hey, try this!" She removed an enemy skills materia from her armor and tossed it to him.

Everyone stared. "Yuffie... Giving someone materia...?" Cait said.

"Damn." Barrett agreed. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed.

Holding the materia, Cloud said "Wow... You've gotten a lot of spells imprinted on here."

"Yeah! I even got some spells from the Wutai area... Magic Hammer might be useful."

"Thanks... Now let's see, what else could I add in?" Cloud mused.

"Why you worryin' so much?" Cid asked. "I mean you heard Dio... You don't really have to win, just give it a shot..."

"It is a matter of honor." Vincent said. "It would not be just to throw the match simply to get things out of the way sooner."

I added "And remember this is Dio... I'm sure he meant what he said but I also expect he'd know if Cloud wasn't really trying and maybe back out then."

"Plausible." Vincent agreed.

As Cloud finished his preparations, Dio entered the room and approached us. Clapping Cloud hard on the back he asked "Well my boy, are you ready!?"

"Think so." Cloud answered.

"Good, good... Now, I've selected your opponents by hand, but otherwise this is an ordinary Battle Square challenge following all the usual rules. So, let's get started." He turned to the rest of us and said "My personal viewing box is upstairs, I've told the guard to let you use it." Dio then led Cloud into the arena while we made our way to watch...

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In Dio's box, we looked down onto the Battle Arena. Cloud was standing ready, and Dio's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Ladies and gentlemen! We begin our night's activities with a very special guest! A personal friend of mine who will engage in a gauntlet of opponents sure to test even his extraordinary skills! Let us begin!"

Across from Cloud a door opened and out raced his first set of enemies: A trio of Zemzelets. The ugly green birds rushed forward, wings flapping, and Cloud struck. He downed the first with ease, then ducked behind to handle the second. The third turned but wasn't fast enough and also went down.

"Excellent start lad!" Dio said. "But now let's up the ante shall we?" The slots spun and landed on 'Speed Break.' "Oh, too bad my boy! One 'Slow' spell coming up!" The spell took hold as Cloud faced the next enemy: A Nibel Mountain Green Dragon.

"Seriously?" Tifa exclaimed. "A dragon solo?" Cloud dodged a blast of fire-breath and struck, but the dragon's second attack was too quick for him in his slowed condition. He was thrown backwards. Regaining his footing, Cloud used the enemy skills materia Yuffie had given him to cast White Wind. The spell healed his wounds and removed the slow effect. The dragon struck again, but now that he could move normally Cloud was ready, and dispatched the creature with a hit from Deathblow.

The third round saw Cloud get lucky with the slots, which landed on 'No Penalty.' The enemies were two Bull Motors and an Adamantoise. Up fourth came a group of three bombs. The slots really stuck it to Cloud on that round, landing on 'Armor Break.' By the time the fourth round was finished, Cloud wasn't looking too good. All three bombs had detonated before he could kill them. And then the fifth round slots gave him 'Green Materia Disabled' against a group of four Judge creatures and four Muus. White Wind came to the rescue once more, but that round was longer than the ones before. "And he's still got three more rounds." Cait said. "I dinna think he's gonna win lads and lasses..."