Ayanokouji POV
As I was watching the fight between Lu Bu and Thor play out, I was asked questions by Goll who was standing near me.
Goll: Why are you watching these fights? They aren't going to help you!
Me: I have a feeling something unorthodox will happen during this tournament.
Goll: What do you mean?
Me: Oh, nothing you need to worry about. All you need to do is play the role of my trusty weapon.
Goll seemed to grow red with anger as she stomped on the ground.
Goll: You should at least tell me what your thinking if I'm already planning on risking my life as your weapon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: I guess that's understandable... if you were human. But your a demi-god, I believe. And from what Brunhilde told me, vollund imbue their spirit along with the person they combine with, forming one entity. Which means you'll find out everything that's on my mind when we fuse for the fight that's going to occur in... less than 2 hours.
She didn't like that answer and she seemed to get annoyed.
Goll: Why are you arguing with me?
Me: Because it seems you're too childish for your own good despite descending from gods.
She was going to say something but I put my finger on her mouth.
Me: We should finish these tapes. As a reward, I'll let you in on my little schemes.
...
3rd Person POV
As Ayanokouji and Goll were speaking to one another over the film and his little schemes, Brunhilde went, along with Ayanokouji's father, to discover who he would be fighting in the upcoming battle. As they walked away, Brunhilde saw Zeus, Hermes, and Ares walking down the hallway.
Zeus: Oh, what do we have here? Brunhilde and, a human soul?
Hermes: It seems to be a recent one, given the attire.
Ares: Who cares about that?! I want to see the fight already!
Professor Ayanokouji: I was a politician in Japan. A pleasure to meet you all.
Brunhilde: You can ignore him, old man. Just know that when the time comes, you won't know what hit you.
They walked side-by-side as Zeus's smile creaked onto his face while Ares and Hermes walked confidently in each side of him.
Zeus: Odin died because he underestimated the humans, despite your many victories. We won't make the same mistake in our final battle.
Hermes: Let's go, Zeus, we have to approach the individual who will be fighting in this final round.
Brunhilde's eyes widened as Professor Ayanokouji stayed quiet, observing the exchange of words as they passed them.
Zeus: Now, now. We ought to keep that to ourselves, Hermes.
Hermes: Right, my apologies.
Zeus: As long as you know.
They left as Brunhilde walked at a higher speed away from them as Professor Ayanokouji was trying to keep up.
Professor Ayanokouji: I understand you want to get to your destination quickly, but I'm not a young man to keep up with a vibrant demi-god like you.
Brunhilde: Then you can stay behind in my dust. I need to meet with your Idol Buddha on something.
Professor Ayanokouji: Oh! Where is he?
Brunhilde: He's still recovering from his battle in the 6th round. He overused his ability in his eyes so he should be in the hot springs in this stadium, cooling off for now.
Professor Ayanokouji: Well, it wouldn't hurt to see what he has to say regarding this matter.
Brunhilde: yeah, yeah, alright. Let's go.
Brunhilde was keeping her composure, but in reality, she despised Professor Ayanokouji. The experiments he did in order to chase after his own enlightenment is the main thing she is disgusted with from his character. However, thanks to him, she was able to find a suitable champion in such little time. Now all she had to worry about, was the god he would be fighting. And she still couldn't fathom who it would be...
...
Back in the stands, the crowd was getting restless. The 3 hours of wait was too much for some who began to scream out despite the strong speech given from Zeus some time ago. In the human's section, Ayanokouji's classmates were restless. Some were theorizing who it would be. 3 of the 4 first-year classes concluded it was Ayanokouji while Class D believed it was still someone entirely different. Leading the rumor was Ike and Shinohara as well as other nonessential Class D students who didn't believe that Ayanokouji was their champion for humanity.
And it warranted the laughs and jiggles coming from the prominent leaders of upper classmen, as well as lowerclassmen, and classmates from other classes. These included Sayanakagi, Ryuen, Ishizaki, Albert, Nagumo, Amasawa, and other first years.
This continued as Kei grew incredibly furious. Ichinose, despite her calm temperament, lashed out on Ike and Shinohara, shocking her own classmates including Kanzaki.
Kanzaki: Ichinose, you need to calm down. It doesn't concern our class.
Ichinose: It does! Because they are badmouthing Ayanokouji who's helped me time and time again!
Kei seemed suspicious of her behavior. She believed that Ayanokouji and her would have a talk regarding this.
As this commotion continued, an announcer came to the front. Everyone quieted down as he made his announcement.
Announcer: 1 hour and 30 minutes before the next fight. Bets may be placed at this time at the concession stand near star booth of our lord and round 2 victor ZEUS!
All the gods cheered as the human section all booed. And just as the announcement was stated, so did the amount of gods rushing towards the betting pool with humps of gold and other blanket promises to bet in favor of the gods. In the entire event of the 13 matches, not a single human dared to place a bet, since they didn't see the purpose. However, one living human, got off his seat and walked towards the betting pool to the shock of his entire school. 3 of his classmates were trying to get him to return to his seat but he didn't mind it.
He arrived at the betting pool, where the announcer was and many gods looked at the man who was wearing a school uniform.
An Egyptian God looked at him with surprise and laughed.
Egyptian God: And why are you here, human child? Don't tell me you plan to make a bet right in front of the gods?
He spoke up.
Ryuen: Dipshit, if I didn't want to make an offer, I wouldn't be here.
All the gods there were surprised as one of them went towards Ryuen, ready to tear him apart, but Ishizaki, Albert, and Ibuki went in front of him, trying to explain the situation. Suddenly, a god came forward with two lost arms out of his original 4. It was Shiva, the god of destruction from India.
Shiva: Well what do we have here? If he wants to bet then let him bet. But it seems you don't have gold, so would you like to make another wager?
Ryuen didn't back down and instead became even more confident.
Ryuen: Sure. I plan to wager my soul.
Ibuki, Ishizaki, and Albert: WHAT???
Shiva: You certainly are very confident. It's a shame I won't see you fight. But maybe at another time, human. What is your name? I'll remember it.
Ryuen: It's Ryuen. I'll only give you my last name since we don't know each other.
Shiva: Well, have it your way. I can't wait to see the person that you wagered your life for against another god. Let's both have fun watching this match.
Ryuen: Of course.
He placed a paper signing his soul in the wager. In the event he did win, he would be given gold weighed in the same manor as the soul he wagered, which could be a fortune altogether.
As he left, his three classmates berated him as the gods laughed at his proposal.
Ibuki: What the hell was that Ryuen?
Ryuen: You three are really dumb. Didn't you hear what the tall miss said? If our fighter doesn't win, we all die. So what's the point of not betting on the outcome when we need him to win in order to survive.
He shocked the rest of them as they understood what he just did.
Ryuen: Now let's go to our seats and patiently wait on the fight that monster will have...
...
1 hour later
Ayanokouji POV
I went through a couple of the fights, skimming through each of the gods' abilities and the human race's tactics. I didn't see them all in their entirety, since I picked out the more integral and turning points of each fight I went through. They were varied, from full-on confrontation, to strategic downplay, to a stealth battle. Each and every one of these fights were unique in their own way. They all shared one thing: their length. Each fight never went more than 35 minutes. They were somewhat short, but fast paced for the majority.
Goll: So what did you learn from all that?
She still seems skeptical.
Me: I told you, remember? Reviewing this will help me with strategies regarding what I should do.
Goll: Well, anyway, we should go over how the vollund works, since I need to fuse our souls together.
Me: We can do that later. I need to do something first.
Goll: What could be more important that learning about your weapon???!!!!!!!!
She seemed very childish at times, but she made a good point. However, there was something that came first in my eyes.
Me: Let's go and meet up with Brunhilde. We still have 50 minutes until the match begins and she still isn't back. Which means we won't know who I will be fighting until he is introduced.
Goll: So why are we going to see sis?
Me: To put in my suggestion for the stadium.
I got up and walked out along with Goll. I can deal with the weapon issue after this stadium choice is submitted. It would most likely be more valuable than a weapon.
We walked together as she stayed close but a bit scared of the ongoing gods that saw us walking by. They probably don't know that I am humanity's fighter so they ignore me. As we walk through the corridor, Goll suddenly seemed to have a revelation.
Goll: Wait! Sis said she wanted to check on Buddha! She should be there right now!
Me: Where's there?
Goll: At the hot spring.
I couldn't even fathom how a hot spring was in this arena, but I guess it isn't as far-fetched as gods so, in that context, it made sense.
The hot spring was located below the stands so we made our way there and found a door that lead right in to a naked Buddha sipping on a smoothie of sorts.
Buddha: Oh, what's up? If your looking for your sister, she just left. She seems to be in a pretty crappy mood now tho. So good luck with that.
Buddha stood up, making Goll blush in embarrassment.
I walked towards him as Goll hid behind me since Buddha stood up all nude.
Buddha: So you're Ayanokouji Kiyotaka?!
Me: It seems my father has told you about me.
Buddha: Of course! Why wouldn't he tell me bout his own kid.
Me: So what did Brunhilde want with you?
Buddha: Oh, nothing special. It must be because I can bring her enlightenment!
Goll: W-Well, if she isn't here, that we can leave, Ayanokouji!
Me: Yes, we don't have much time as well.
We were making our exit, saying goodbye to Buddha but then he stopped us.
Buddha: I might not be able to see, but I can at least give you one bit of advice, Ayanokouji Jr.
I didn't like the nickname, but that didn't matter.
Me: What is it?
Buddha: Be prepared for the unexpected. Although my eyes need healing, I can still sense the future. Just know that your fight won't be as straightforward is it will seem.
Me: Sure.
Buddha: Well that's all, get going now.
He got back inside the water as he continued to relax by having a towel over his eyes.
Goll left alongside myself as Buddha relaxed to his own content.
Me: So Goll, where can we put an appeal for a stadium to be made?
Goll: It's to the highest power, Zeus-sama.
Me: I see. Well, we should go back to where we came from. If Brunhilde's not there, then we should make our way to Zeus to give my proposal of the stadium.
Goll: Um, do you think that's smart to do? He'll know your the fighter for humanity? It won't be a surprise anymore.
Me: There's no point to the surprise. By now, the gods must know not to underestimate humans. Otherwise, they're bigger fools than I take them for.
...
Brunhilde POV
That bastard. For someone who can look into the future, despite his injury, he should have at least known the god we'll be facing. After I got back to my room, Ayanokouji and Goll were not here. But I wasn't worried. He must have finished his little movie marathon and decided to find me. But it's fine. They'll be back when they don't find me. There's nothing we can do about it. Well there is one thing: our fighter! He may be a masterpiece as his father calls him, but he's still just a kid with nowhere near the recognition of any of the fighters we have.
15 minutes later...
He wasn't back yet! What the hell! Could they have gotten lost?
However, I was taken out of my daydreaming from Ayanokouji himself who had arrived back with Goll.
Ayanokouji: I apologize for coming a bit later than usual, however, since you weren't there, I went to Zeus and provided my appeal for the stadium outline.
I was shocked. What!!!!!!!!!
Me: Ayanokouji, did you really do that?!!!!! What did you choose?
Ayanokouji: It wasn't anything special. It was my school. It provided a large area to battle, as well as familiarity to my surroundings. And since I heard it was built to the most specific of detail, it was a perfect place to do battle in.
I face palmed. It seems I can't control what this kid does at all. But whatever, if he wants to fight there then so be it.
Me: The fight's going to happen in 30 minutes. Now is the correct time to go over the capabilities of your vollund alongside Goll.
Ayanokouji: Sure.
Me: And as for your attire, I think you should wear light armor and a helmet.
Ayanokouji: No thank you.
Me: What?!!! Without armor, you'll be killed instantly.
He then looked at me with his normal, expressionless face he had when I told him he was our fighter for humanity. He dilated his eyes as he appeared to look through my entire soul with those eyes.
Ayanokouji: I will manage just fine. Armor gets in the way after all.
I relented and agreed with him. Since we only had a mere 30 minutes to work with, we needed to get ready quickly.
...