"What have you done?" Bult mumbled out through his swollen and beaten mouth, it took Mana a good couple of seconds before she could even understand what the man had told her.
"It's the only way to change this place." She quickly replied. Right now the last thing she wanted was to quarrel with the veteran who has helped her so far.
"There is no changing this place, there's no changing these people or the Sheikh, you're throwing your life away. He's just playing you because he wants to see a body on those spikes by the end of the day..." The man continued to plead Mana to reconsider and declare that she had changed her mind.
"You're wrong, if what you told me before is true, this place has been a sanctuary of martial arts once before it lost its way. That means that this madness is not yet too deep to be pulled out with its roots. The reason why this place hadn't changed back before is because people are doing it the wrong way." Mana replied observing the announcer disappearing into the tower where all the fighters were held. Clearly, there was supposed to be a short while before the fighters were prepared and the Gauntlet was set up.
"And how do you think it should be done? By dethroning the senile Sheikh? By tearing the Sheikhate down to the ground? By talking to these people? Many better than you have tried and you have spoken to them yourself, trust me, you've only pissed them off more" Bult was starting to switch into a sarcastic tone which greatly pleased Mana, that meant that he was still alive and kicking enough to crack jokes.
"No. I need to show them that fights where no one dies can be just as entertaining. I am an entertainer, remember? All I need to do is entertain these men until they realize that the reason why this place became this way is because of the illusion that entertainment must include murder. People and regimes don't change with violence or talking. Talking isn't efficient enough and violence only leads worse evils to take the empty seat. Things change by addressing the problems." Mana smiled to Bult "Entertainment will save this place, whether by beating the snot out of everyone or dying I shall entertain this crowd by the end of this day".
"You can't, you've got amazing moves but you can't think on your feet, you can't recognize patterns and you are barely able to predict moves, you lack experience on the field," Bult said trying to stand up and try to help Mana with the Gauntlet but his head got dizzy and the man just fell on his butt, his eyes teared up more and more the more he realized how pathetic he was in his current state and how old he had gotten.
"Then help me, guide me through it, give me as much information as you can before each battle. Let me gain experience by supercharging it and rushing it, let me become experienced over one night. You've got experience, I can move. We can do it, don't you want to see Damij's ass kicked?" Mana appealed to Bult's warrior's pride. The man closed his eyes and laughed out wiping his tears off with a closed knuckle.
"I'll help you but... You'll get yourself killed" he warned Mana, "If anyone from Damij's crew comes they'll be using chakra augmentation like Almash".
"It's not chakra augmentation." Mana shook her head kneeling up to Bult and examining his wounds with worried eyes. The man could've used some patching up, he didn't look like he was in any danger to die but he was banged up pretty badly and not in any shape to actually fight.
"To call it chakra augmentation would be the same as calling a rock a statue. Their abilities are so primitive that they barely even use actual chakra. It's a very basic form of taijutsu that isn't taijutsu combined with ninjutsu that isn't ninjutsu... Budojutsu, if you will." Mana explained, she wasn't able to sense Almash's chakra but she recognized some patterns in his increase in speed, strength, and damage he could deal up close. Chakra augmentation was something only stronger genin and above could've used, it was beyond the reach of people who have not trained their entire lives to master the complicated combination of bodily functions and chakra control.
"This... Budojutsu, do you think you can fight that?" Bult asked looking right Mana into eyes with a hopeful expression, the magician closed her eyes and shrugged.
"It's no chakra augmentation, if it was, I'd have been crushed instantly, at no moment fighting Almash did I feel completely overwhelmed but it was tougher than I thought. Let's just say I'm happy to have this moment to breathe." Mana replied as truthfully as she could, her answer didn't seem to calm Bult, however, the girl's honesty was appreciated, that much she could see in his busted face.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, without further delay we shall start the spontaneously planned event of the day – the Descent Gauntlet of this young girl who has invaded a match and requested a match with our champion Damij!" The announcer declared as the bridge structure once again connected the arena to the living quarters on the other side with the announcer being ported right up to the arena since he stood on top of it once it got moving.
"For those who are unfortunate enough not to know the rules, there are few: the challenger fights until the Sheikh thinks they've had enough or are liberated by death! We've already met our challenger, she surprisingly lost a match against Gaffu today however she finished off Almash, the Bare-Chested Berserker! Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce the first contestant, the man who shakes the world beneath his feet and crumbles the ground – Sadar!" For the second time that day Mana had the honor to see the announcer engaging in his craft, for the girl the man appeared far overly excited by his introduction but at least he was devoted to his thing.
"Darn, he's not in Damij's crew but it ain't good... Whenever Sadar fights he ruins the arena, one time he knocked a person down and bashed their face to the ground until the whole arena crumbled down. He's a big and strong guy, don't try to overpower him, don't engage in standoffs with him, he's also deceitfully fast so don't get caught out." Bult started coaching Mana who carefully observed her opponent making his way down to the arena.
"I've faced large men before, I'll hit him low and make his legs give in, hit him in the joints and behind the knees, that usually worked. Fast or not no human can get his hands on me unless I want to, I've trained myself that way. I shall not allow him to ruin the arena, that'd mean us falling to the spikes below and I won't let that happen." Mana firmly declared quietly revealing her strategy to her friend.
"That should do it, be careful though, don't take chances, you've still got other guys to worry about," Bult suggested. Mana nodded and slowly started walking forward.
"Begin!" The announcer yelled out declaring the beginning of the fight. That very same instant Sadar went onto the offensive, his stance was strangely open, implying dominating presence and with countless openings, Mana quickly pranced forward avoiding the first chop, ducked under the first elbow counter and backflipped over the man's tripping sweep. The girl kicked the man right in the face a couple of times but he didn't appear to get overly fazed by it – a troubling sign.
Suddenly, the air around Sadar started to vibrate and glow barely intelligible golden glow, the man's blows intensified, they became faster and much more ferocious, with each blow they caused almost a small explosion wherever they hit making entire chunks of the arena fall down below. The ground shook and Mana almost fell down due to loss of balance from the man's relentless offensive effort. He didn't appear to tire which also felt really intimidating for the magician.
He wasn't yet too bad to avoid. Mana's training with Meiko with attack redirection and the ability to make her own openings allowed her to get countless cheap shots in and her training with Kouta with perfect evasion techniques allowed her to quickly identify the telltale signs of upcoming attacks and quickly make up perfect evasion tactics on the fly. She was going to pull it through. If that was all that her opponent had.
Sadar was an incredibly tall man, a good thirty centimeters taller than even Bult which made him actually appear almost towering. He wore a sleeveless mercenary vest which was made to protect one from knives and various bladed weapons, it also offered limited protection from blunt force trauma and elemental ninjutsu of a small rank. The man also wore a black skintight shirt below the vest so that the rough armored fabric didn't tear off his skin and leave pressure spots and various wounds of other nature. Sadar appeared not to shave his facial hair however he was completely bald suggesting that he may have been a monk from one of the Ninja Temples before joining the arena.
That fact alerted Mana, ninja monks were trained extensively in nintaijutsu, they were able to use chakra augmentation to much higher extent than even average ranked shinobi. Each of the Ninja Temples had their own secret techniques which were taught by the strongest and most determined and spiritually excellent monks. For that reason, the young woman tried to avoid cheaply exploiting his lower body like she expected to do before – if he was at all confident in his technique he'd have countered his natural shortcomings. Before Mana hits him low to incapacitate she needed to wear him out a little bit more.
"He's also using Budojutsu, why? Why not use nintaijutsu like all ninja monks?" Mana thought to herself, feeling like she knew the answer deep inside. Finally, the true reason revealed itself – the man was keeping it as a hidden ace card. The man slapped his hands together and his entire hulking frame started glowing like a miniature star with natural sunlight firing off from behind the man. A powerful shockwave sent Mana sliding backward and she could only barely recover in time to avoid the man's technique.
It was some strange technique that formed countless golden arms around the man, they weren't too standing out or look too fancy suggesting that perhaps they were an early version of a much more advanced technique but these golden palms formed almost in thin air in overwhelming numbers. Mana was beginning to run out of breath while she was avoiding these blows, so far she managed to perceive each and every palm before she was hit and avoid them by leaning out of the way or slapping at the side and redirecting them to the other side. Shockingly, the magician soon realized that she was running out of space to dodge as the relentless barrage of endless palms was pressing her to the edge of the arena with only the spikes of certain and painful doom lurking below.
"Spear Kick – Spear Kick – Spear Kick!" someone in the public started chanting, many more picked up on the chant requesting the magician girl to perform her makeshift signature technique. Mana was not nearly without control like she was before when she first performed the technique, that being said she was about to run out of time. The idea and the imaginary feeling of being pushed down the hole and being skewered by spikes made Mana's skin crawl, her body tensed and she moved in an instant, leaning under a couple of palms by lowering her body almost to the ground like a cat about to pounce, as her legs kicked her body off Mana's elbow was driven right into the man's groin.
For a moment the entire crowd died, clenching as if they have witnessed the most gruesome murder they've ever seen. Mana's nimble frame jumped up into the air flipping gracefully a couple of times before driving both of her feet into the man's back as he leaned with a comically destroyed facial expression, his hands grasped for his crushed groin area desperately but Mana's feet stomped strong and swiftly slamming the man's giant body into the rocky floor before Mana landed on her feet and flipped backwards to twist the man's leg from behind.
Sadar screamed out in pain before slamming his own head against the arena floor and passing out in pain. Mana once again had to explode all out on her opponent because she was afraid of Sadar's response if he wasn't fazed by at least one of these attacks – striking at the man's genital area was a desperate strategy but it opened him all up for follow up attacks and he won't go anywhere with injured pride and a twisted leg.
"Kill him!" The announcer excitedly declared as the public started chanting for Mana to finish the man off but the girl walked further away from the man and stretched out, taking the time to catch a good breather.
"You know I shall not. Call in the next opponent or stop this foolishness." Mana exclaimed visibly feeling worn out by her endless barrage of dodging and leaping around. The magician wasn't really sure about just how much she could keep it going but she knew that she'd go as far as her body would allow her.
"Ladies and gentlemen! This young one continues to defy our traditions! Let us welcome the next challenger that has agreed to fight this young girl at a moment's notice – Myrwa!" The announcer declared pointing at the extending bridge and the entering challenger. Mana slowly walked back at Bult and looked at him questioningly.
"Look, you may want to do something a bit more securing, right now Sadar is just laying sprawled in the middle of the arena, he might wake up at some point in the middle of your challenge and attack you from behind..." Bult advised, Mana nodded and then pointed at her opponent who was slowly closing in. The man was of very lacking height and looked of rather ridiculous proportions. It was a pathetic and pale looking man, about Mana's height with puny and shaking arms and legs but weirdly creepy looking shot out and plump stomach that was covered up only by a ragged shirt.
"Be careful, this man is not as formidable and deadly as Sadar but he is deceitful, that plump spot at his abdomen is his twin brother, Myrwa was born with his undeveloped brother attached to his stomach, it's just a distraction tactic, I don't know why he wanted this fight so much – he's only won a couple of non-lethal matches. Something seems fishy, be careful." Bult explained
Mana blinked a couple of times in rapid succession, "Wait, that's his brother!? How does that work?" She asked looking surprised, her eyes glowed not in sickness or intimidation by the grotesque and rather pathetic sight but the desire to see that combination in action.
"Don't get your panties in a twist, that thing is dead and doesn't move, he just uses it as a surprise factor to get cheap shots in, maybe he'll slap it around and try body-shielding himself with it. As I've said, the brother is always asleep and is just hanging there like a parasite, he's a weird guy, not formidable but don't let your guard down..." The veteran explained, he looked a little entertained himself seeing Mana display some scientific interest in how exactly that man worked. Maybe he just saw for a moment the kind of child that was forced to fight in the arena, Mana was no warrior who fought for pride. She wasn't afraid to fight, not anymore, but she fought because of necessity, not desire or pride. Her interest in her opponents was purely scientific and sporting one.
"Now, are the contestants ready?" the announcer asked before Mana took an evasive stance preparing to carefully observe her flabby and puny looking opponent to identify his movements and properly defend herself. Both nodded firmly before the announcer declared the beginning of the battle.
Screaming like a madman and flailing wildly Myrwa started running at Mana, the girl took a couple of leaps backward before leaping with a whirling kick right at the puny man's head. With a pathetic whine, Myrwa was sent to the ground. It almost felt bad bullying this guy around... Mana still decided to keep her guard up and she playfully jumped around a little just to catch her rhythm again before her opponent stood back up.
All of a sudden, Mana twitched in shock realizing that Myrwa's shirt got torn up and a creepy large eye was staring at her from the shorty's chest. Mana wanted to turn and ask Bult if that was normal but Myrwa attacked her faster and more ferociously, the magician continued to evade the man's blows but then a ripping sound made her jump up in fear as she saw the single-handedly the most disgusting thing ever – a malformed even more pathetic version of Myrwa tore its way out from under the man's shirt and hit Mana in the head with its soft and sticky elbow.
Mana shouted in pain and skipped a couple of more blows before rolling aside. Her leg was caught by Myrwa's brother's flabby arm and she was dragged closer to the man who started stomping and punching Mana. The girl covered up her head and took a couple of nasty blows before she shoved her arms towards the ground throwing her legs right into Myrwa's face. Screaming in pain the creep staggered back and let Mana recover – he wasted his opportunity.
"So your brother is actually alive?" Mana asked looking at the little-malformed creature sticking out from Myrwa's gut and pathetically hanging down and using its arms to keep its body from just rubbing against the ground pathetically. It was a small and malformed creature, its legs appeared to be non-existent as it was only sticking out from his abdomen being connected to that of his brother's, almost like he was inside his brother's guts but then burst through his belly like some sick monster from a horror play.
"Everyone started learning those weird techniques in the gym, my win rate isn't too stellar so I asked some of the fighters to help me learn a crazy technique of my own!" Myrwa shrieked out with a strangely high-pitched voice that also reminded eerily of gurgling.
"So it's a Budojutsu technique, somehow he is sharing his chakra with his brother making it appear alive... I need to figure out how it works, I can't predict such a peculiar fighting style unless I know what and how it can do." Mana thought to herself as she just couldn't move her eyes away from that odd creature sticking out from Myrwa's stomach.
Myrwa once again started flailing forward and rushing at Mana, the young magician just took a defensive stance and avoided contact with the strange looking fighter for a couple of minutes, dodging each and every blow, jumping far away from him so that the grotesque thing he carried around sticking out from his gut couldn't punch Mana, not because of a lack of trying though...
Mana then swiftly leaned under Myrwa's blow and grabbed the "brother's" neck pulling it fast and strong behind Myrwa's back until she could hear a loud snap. The freaky brother screamed out in pain and started freaking out.
"You killed my brother, you bitch! How dare you!? Ouch, brother! Brother!" He screamed but Mana only closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Myrwa but you were tricked. Even skilled chakra manipulators cannot bring dead things to life, not without a very gruesome cost and what you use isn't even ninjutsu, it's budojutsu – a primitive form of chakra manipulation that can barely be described as dabbling in ninjutsu. Your technique did not bring your brother back to life because he was always dead, it merely made you capable of controlling him like a separate body part. Your brother was never alive, he was just an arm of yours I had to break, there is no more use for us to fight, please leave..." Mana explained, her face was sad and twisted by pain as she had to explain to a saddened brother why he felt his "brother's" pain so literally.
Of course, it hurt for Myrwa when she snapped his brother's puny spine, it was because the entire abomination of nature felt like a body part, it was similar to how having one's arm broken would've felt.
As Myrwa collapsed on the ground caressing his broken brother, Mana looked at the announcer, "Have you not had enough yet!?" She yelled at him but the man's smile betrayed that it wasn't even close.
"She asks if we've seen enough fighting but she has not yet met Fajal, the Majestic God of Martial Arts!" The announcer proudly declared pointing at the direction of the building where another bridge was extending.
"This can't be good..." Mana huffed out, she was now wearing a couple of injuries she had earned and she was getting tired to dodge all those blows. The girl looked back at her makeshift coach and realized that her fears were justified. This Fajal must've been something to make even Bult sit silently in fear.
"Mana, he's the third most powerful member of Damij's crew..." The man exclaimed with a weakened and pain-ridden voice. Mana looked at the sandstone gate as it slowly cracked and rumbled as they opened, staring long and deep into the darkness that concealed the next fighter with some fear and respect to that fighter before she even saw him. Anyone to scare Bult that much must've been worth Mana's fear as well...