The crowd kept squirming in their seats, yelling unintelligible things but from what little Mana could make out – it was all just out of surprise of this Fajal making an appearance. The magician slowly walked back to Bult's resting place and knelt up to the man. It was hard to see the fear in the man's swollen and beaten face but Mana could see it, see his eyes shake in fear, hear air uncontrollably pass in and out of his lungs and see his swollen eyelids twitch.
The magician took in a couple of controlled breaths just to let her body recover from the stress of surviving multiple fights with master martial artists who would've beaten any normal human. She had taken her weak human body farther than most humans were able to but she was about to face a test unlike any other.
"Bult-san... I need to know about this Fajal, as much as I can if I am to survive this," she tried to get the veteran of the arena speaking but he finally managed to regain control of his body only to show what seemed like the signs of giving up, complete surrender to the fate that it was all over for the two of them.
"There's nothing to know, he's trained with every prominent martial arts master in the known world, he's won tournaments in every arena worth a shit. He's the only known person to give Damij a fight for all of the seven minutes instead of just being toyed with. He's trained for his entire life, he's the closest thing to what that old man rambled of, you've won a lot of amazing fights today, beg the Sheikh to call Fajal off, please!" Bult yelled out loud, Mana was shocked to see the warrior's pride she saw so much of being broken by a mere mention of a man's name. The dreadful sound of a platform covering all the way to the living quarters tower interrupted Mana's attempts to get information.
The young kunoichi stood back up and faced the tower to see this Fajal that all of the audience was now cheering for despite having been mostly on Mana's side throughout this entire thing. The door opened with a loud rumbling sound, the old stone structure shook and sent clouds of dust as it was moved open at a turtle's pace leaving a gap wide enough for a man to walk out.
Fajal's boots were the first to touch the platform and appear from the darkness, they weren't the usual sandals that most ninja wore or plate boots that mercenaries wore. They were made of leather, covered with belts to shape it around the man's foot. Fajal wore a black bodysuit, similar to the one that ninja wore, however, he also had a reddish armored vest, it looked custom made, possibly looted from some high ranked mercenary during his wandering days or even in this very arena.
Fajal's full facial hair was even longer than the dark hedge of his actual hair, covering his both sides of the face and extending richly and thickly but not long enough to make it into an advantage for his opponents. The man's actual hair was short, rudely cut as Mana assumed leaving them in a rather militaristic looking bland style. His face bore no scars, something that alarmed Mana having the man's background in mind, wasn't he hit at least once before? A good hit would've left him without teeth, left something on his face, marks not unlike the chains of scratches and gruesome mosaics of war that Bult had all over his face.
Fajal's face was completely clean, not even his nose appeared to have been broken once. He stood in a strict militaristic stance, his back was as tense and straight as a string of a violin, his tense and rather bulky arms were placed behind the man's back and he had a cocky yet strict stare to his brown eyes. Mana could feel them judging her almost immediately when their eyes met.
"Desert or wasteland?" the man slowly and rather quietly uttered when he finally stepped off the platform onto the arena staring at Mana.
"Huh?" She uttered confused.
"Your skin is slightly paler than mine but it is dark enough to suggest that one of your parents was from the Land of Lightning or Land of Wind, that is why I asked, the wasteland of Lightning or desert of Wind?" Fajal explained his question in few words. His tone implied some degree of condescension that the girl was not able to pick up on his question but he was looking down on the girl ever since he first laid eyes on her so that was not really much of a problem. The man spoke rather quietly but had a very cool and frightening demeanor to him making the crowd die out when he opened his mouth and making his every word clear and audible.
"Neither. My mother was a traveling woman but I am from Konohagakure." Mana replied.
"A ninja perhaps? Taijutsu I assume, if you were one of those fire breathers the Sheikh would've executed you already and you would need ninja tricks to beat Almash." Fajal wondered when the announcer lifted his arm into the air and declared the beginning of the fight. Both Mana and Fajal did not hurry to attack one another. Mana wasn't even sure about how to approach this, technically her redirection and dodging fighting style would've been able to beat any human, no matter their degree of dabbling in martial arts but she had a bad feeling about this Fajal and she was also quite winded after the last couple of fights.
"I was. I am no more," Mana replied in Fajal's manner of speech, the man cracked a grin.
"A woman of few words? Isn't this a surprise..." He took a fighting stance breaking out of his militaristic and strict stance, slightly leaning to the side and lifting his striking left hand into the air, placing his right in front of himself and ready to block, one of his feet was slightly elevated and only his toes touched the ground with that foot, he must've been ready to attack.
Finally, Fajal leaped forward, Mana followed, for a man called the "God of Martial Arts" his speed appeared to be rather human, peak human perhaps but Mana's eyes were certainly fast enough to follow him, her body was fast enough to kick to keep him at bay. That was her strategy, use her legs to keep the man at a range where his fists couldn't reach her, she was a short girl with rather short legs, her growth was not yet completed so the man's fists would've probably reached her anyways but it'd give her maximum time possible to redirect or avoid the blows. Fajal did not attack after the first couple of elbow strikes and punches, he just blocked Mana's responsive kicks before retreating for a moment with a graceful leap back. He wasted no movements, it was like the speed that would've been a peak of human ability to most came of no effort to him. It was at that moment that Mana realized that Fajal was holding back, checking her out, measuring her skill.
"You did not beat Almash, I came here to fight the person who has," Fajal said casually closing his eyes and once again taking his lax militaristic stance, moving his arms behind his back.
"Mana, what are you doing? Do not exchange blows with him, do what you've been doing this whole time!" Bult yelled at her encouraging Mana to stop trying and take her opponent on and instead to try repeating her strategy of avoiding strikes and redirecting them, creating an opening for her to finish her enemy off like she was trained to do by her friends. The magician continued to stare at Fajal carefully, she couldn't do that, not yet. She was too tired, too hurt in her sides. She'd taken a couple of blows and unlike the time when she was still a ninja, every strike left its dent now. She needed more time to breathe freely, correct breathing was integral to her style.
Fajal once again rushed at Mana, his hands still held behind his back, his eyes still closed and his face emotionless and arrogant. The magician tried to kick him right in the face, seeing how he pointed it forward and rushed at her almost taunting her to do so but in an instant, her opponent disappeared, her kick only hit thin air.
"So fast!" Mana thought as she felt a crushing blow at her dominant leg that kept her balance during her kicks – within just a single exchange of blows Fajal had found a weakness in her offensive style and exploited it perfectly.
A powerful jumping kick made Mana scream in pain as it slammed her tripping body to the rocky ground, the girl could hear the stone beneath her shifting and heard her own body gurgle and crack as it was brought down without any effort from this man's side, when her perception returned to the world of man the sight of her opponent with his eyes still closed and his arms still behind his back greet her. Fajal was walking away from her.
"What are you doing, Fajal?" the Sheikh yelled out, "Throw the girl over the edge and kill her!" he ordered the fighter but Fajal turned back and faced the Sheikh.
"I came out here to fight the person that beat Almash, I woke from my nap when I heard that Almash was beaten, I could not believe it at first. I did not learn a hundred and fifty styles of martial arts to kill a little girl, she is not worth this match, she is not worth this death, she cannot in a lifetime reach the level needed to deserve to have the spikes of this arena penetrate her, have her serve the fighters water after the fights, wash their wounds or something." Fajal said, still keeping his back turned at Mana, the magician coughed out some blood, grasping at her burning abdomen and chest. Her ribs must've taken quite the blow, she must've been bleeding internally. Slowly the girl got her body off the ground and looked at Fajal's back as if encouraging the man to continue.
"I beat Almash-san," Mana declared, "Then I continued to beat Sadar-san and Myrwa-san, I will beat you and whoever else enters this circle through that door until Sheikh-san decides he's had enough," Mana said wiping the blood from her lips, she still felt the taste of it in her mouth. She couldn't take that much more of blows like this, she needed to be more careful. Gone were the days when she could get stabbed with a sword and fight the very next day.
Fajal turned around, his eyes were still closed and he didn't move his arm one bit from being locked behind his back. The martial artist rushed forward the same manner as he did when he attacked the girl before, this time the magician knew how he would attack – he'd exploit her single dominant leg being on the ground while the other one was aiming at him, he'd try to duck down and sweep it again opening her for free blows. She'd be smarter this time! Mana didn't leave a single leg on the ground, instead, she leaped up spinning her body horizontally as she threw a double spinning kick aiming at Fajal's arrogant and smug face.
A crushing blow to her chest sent Mana flying back and over the edge of the arena. All air left her lungs, her chest exploded with pain that reminded most of being burnt alive from inside and just trying to take as much as a single breath to return at least some of the air that she needed to stay alive was making Mana's mind scream in pain but her body couldn't because she had no air to do so. Just her feeble bruised arm grabbed the edge ever so barely, as her nails dug into the rough and ancient stone they broke off and burst with blood. Her puny human body was slowly breaking down.
He predicted her prediction, he gave her enough of a benefit of the doubt to assume that she had seen what he had done before and he knew that Mana would come up with a response but he was one step forward – he knew what kind of response she'd make up and he created a simple one strike counter to that. His movements were so fast and so odd, he moved, unlike any ninja, unlike any other martial artist Mana had seen as his body was sometimes firm as a rock and sometimes flexible as water – must've been a testament of the countless styles of martial arts that the man knew.
Mana finally got able to breathe, her thirsty and burning lungs drew air in but she could only cough in pain and grunt, her weak and injured arm couldn't pull her body back up, the magician lifted her hand back up and grabbed the arena with it giving her ruined and bleeding hand a little rest. She felt a firm grip pulling her up, Mana saw Bult's beaten in face but the figure was looking a little blurry – she must've taken some damage too.
"Thanks..." she uttered.
"Stop this," he replied but Mana softly tapped his shoulder telling him to move to her side. Bult looked at her and lowered his head, the girl passed around him and walked out in front of Fajal.
"I've met women that loved to be abused. They screamed in pain when their husbands beat them but they always came back to them in the end for more, they cried when I killed the bastards that hurt them. Am I to assume you love suffering as well, is that why you stand up for more punishment?" Fajal asked her still not giving her as much as a look.
"I made a mistake trying to buy myself some time to recover from the previous fights by just trying to match you in skill. You're clearly superior to me in every way: physically stronger, faster and much smarter, a combat genius through and through with a lifetime of experience..." Mana said
"Hmph, so you're one of those women? The kind that tries to please you and begs in front of the entire arena? Spare it." Fajal finally opened his eyes, not because he thought Mana a worthy opponent to do so, more because her words annoyed him as they were burning with anger.
"However... Now I will stop fighting you with skill, I won't look for openings in your moves I shall create them. I will beat you so I suggest you keep your pride intact and retreat. Sheikh-san has seen a lot of fighting today, I'm sure he's satisfied enough to leave it be." Mana gave her opponent a chance to retreat, as was her usual behavior.
"If you insist to be killed by my hand I shall do just that." Fajal angrily grunted leaping at her, still adamant about not using his hands. Mana slipped behind him, moving just like Kouta had taught her, just like the medical ninja avoided being hit by even a single kunai or fireball in a battlefield. The most amazing medical ninja were able to avoid any injury when fighting for entire days inside a battlefield surrounded by ninja wishing to kill them, Mana had the training of a young man who was trained by these men and women. Fajal's humanly movements were no match for kunai and fireballs, they were certainly no bolts of lightning.
Mana ducked and flipped over the man's kicks, she even hesitated to dodge some of them just to annoy Fajal more. On some deep level she was personally annoyed by the man's cockiness and wished to rub it into his face – she was as slippery as an eel underwater, as fluid as a storming river and as precise as the finest clockwork. Even Fajal, the God of Martial Arts of over a hundred and fifty styles could not as much as lay a finger on her, toe to be exact.
The man switched to using his arms as well instantly, trying to surprise Mana but the magician continued to avoid his attacks, it was definitely harder but she could've dodged even another man like Fajal trying to kill her. The blows she could not avoid the girl redirected, opening Fajal up for cheap blows which she didn't even exploit. She wanted him to know and Mana knew that Fajal saw it, he knew that she could've pummeled him like a horse crushed fallen apples on the ground when rushing through a garden but she didn't.
Fajal roared into the air with absolute rage, it was the sound of a man's pride being broken into a million pieces. The rage of a warrior who despised women for their weakness but was being simply outmatched by one, not even a real one, a child. It wasn't that Mana was more skilled or faster, her movements were just like a formula of mathematical precision, the man could've come at her with a million and two martial arts styles and it wouldn't have made a difference.
The only martial art that was truly worth contending with the best was the taijutsu that ninja used, it was a style that unified all martial arts and combined them with the mastery of chakra, that was to say, the perfect understanding and control of one's body. Only a chakra manipulator could have overcome those of chakra manipulation, just like the principle of chakra over matter stated. While Mana was not able to control hers, she learned the formulaic movements of a person who was, she took time to carefully study any and all ways she could be attacked and learned to avoid them. She trained with actual ninja that moved faster than her human eyes or her brain could perceive – she dodged their blows through prediction alone.
Mana's firm palm strike hit Fajal's nose making it burst with blood, the man's eyes teared up. It was a common response of hers after she had made herself an opening by redirecting someone's blow, with a swift kick she sent Fajal tumbling backward only to kick off the ground and backflip back on his feet. The man cracked his neck and his knuckles around and took his fighting stance.
"I have underestimated you. You definitely would've crushed Almash with those moves. Indeed this cheap style of yours could best any human and seems entertaining enough to the public to make you a favorite. Damij would invite you to join his crew, he would love to have someone like you by his side. Too bad I won't give him a chance to." Fajal spoke up wiping the blood from his nose only for it to continue to drip.
"I do not care, my goal is to beat him and change this place back to how it was during its glory days – I initially wanted to free everyone, destroy this place and bury it beneath the desert sands but now I understand that it isn't the right way. You martial artists live by exchanging fists, I would not dare to take that away from you however by beating Damij and the Ascension Gauntlet I shall change this place to how it was before. Sheikh-san wishes desperately to see that battle again, the one that changed everything and I shall show him that but not with you, you cannot give him this battle. I believe that after seeing that battle again this place could come back to being the haven of martial arts it once was." Mana smiled taking a brief moment to look at the people who sat there in extreme silence listening to her and looking back at the Sheikh who was on the edge of his seat absorbing this fight.
"It is rare that I meet a person more arrogant than I am, I also seemed to have been wrong, you're no woman of few words. You talk rubbish and talk it in spades. Well then, shall we then begin? Showing you your place and knocking you off that high horse, ruining the world of childish dreams?" Fajal smiled wiping the blood from his nose again. At that moment Mana knew that the man had some sort of an ace he had not shown just yet.