The day for stage three came sooner than I expected. The previous night, Kaijin treated me to all the food I could eat, yet the next day came crashing in faster than I could digest them. Before I knew it, I stood on the arena facing my next foe. I still have no idea about the whereabouts of Honey Bean Cake, but I was not worried because I have a hunch she's in good hands.
There was one thing that caught my attention though. Up in the judges' seat, the warlord emitted dangerous oura the whole time that it affected the always cheerful crowd. His face was molded into a dark scowl. Sensing the sinister presence from him, the crowd reluctantly cheered in their already sorry state.
However, once I set my foot upon the stage, his glare immediately intensified towards me.
Is it just me or is he glaring at me. Now what did I do to offend him this time? I thought to myself. Not wanting to offend the warlord any further, I shot him an attempt of a dazzling smile showing him my gratitude.
He gave me a chance to participate. I must do my best to make it up to stage five. But for some reason, his sinister wave only grew profoundly over the area. The evil miasma grew so thick that it felt like a great pressure befell upon us all. Then, one of the judge reluctantly put a calming hand on Lon Daiyu's shoulder in hopes of calming him down. The warlord's glare turned to him, but he understood and sighed very deeply like an old man. No matter what, the tournament must continue with my match in the third stage.
With each passing stage, the participants became fewer and fewer. However, it also means that they were way stronger than previous opponents. Was it sheer coincidence or was it fate, for this time my opponent was none other than Tashida Makoto. I haven't seen him since that incident in the room, and it is my pleasure to forget about him. But here he was standing before me with the same arrogance. I noticed he still looked dubious, but nowhere near shock. He and his mother must've found out I hadn't been disposed of long ago.
Upon closer inspection, I sensed a great power of inner strength emanating from him. His sudden increase in power was what surprised me. The last time we met, I defeated him without using any inner strength, and now his power multiplied many times over. If I remember correctly, the rules did mention the use of power up tools/armor/weapons for enhancements. I soon noticed an unusual bead necklace around his neck and sensed the immense energy from it.
Tashida Makoto smirked after noticing my gaze on his unusual necklace.
"Do you see something you like?" He asked in a mocking tone. Ewwww! Our eyes met for just a second but it was enough to send poor Pot Belly (stomach) churning.
"This is a very rare and powerful Meteor Crystal forged into small beads by an ancient master. It's over two-thousand years old. While you may have tricked me last time, I will make sure you will die after our fight. With this Meteor Crystal, even you won't stand a chance! Muahahaha-muahahahahaha!" While he was too busy showing off, my attention was too focused on my poor stomach to even give him a second glance.
"Hey! Are you even listening ugly shorty?!"
Shorty...shorty...shorty...shorty...That very word echoed across my mind like rippling waves. In case you forgot, my biggest pet peeve is someone calling me short. My gaze swiftly switched to him, making him flinch backwards.
"Enough! Let's start so I can end your days of tormenting." I initiated an attack for the first time and swiftly ran straight towards him. Tashida did not defend and met my attack with his giant spear. I start throwing small needles infused with my inner strength. Just like the darts before, they were to pursue the enemy until immobilized. But his powerful spear created a gush of strong wind to counter attack. He jumped and twisted his body in midair to gain momentum and swing the spear at me. The strong wind blew my needles away and stopped me in my tracks. His wind power was enough to blow me away, but my evasion skill kept me attached to the ground. While I was blocked by his wind, he pressed foreward swinging his spear continuously at me. I had no choice but to block with my inner strength. I was trully relieved my inner strength was just enough to block his spear from piercing my skin.
"Hahahaha! Now do you see how strong I've become. I managed to over power you with this magical treasure! It's a matter of time before you run out of inner strength!" His piercing, maniacle voice was not music to my ears. We continued in that deadlock stance with him swinging his spear at me, while I stood my ground blocking his attacks. From the audiences' view, it looks like I was the one losing. Anyone would back down after seeing those powerful swings from his giant spear. They could see that with each strike of the spear, my clothes slowly ripped and tattered. My head lay low in the shadows of my defending arms, seemingly unmoving and lifeless. But what the audience didn't know was that with each powerful strike, Tashida Makoto's frustrations only grew. He waited for my inner strength to falter, but contrary to his believe, he sensed my power flow kept steady and powerful. This got him panicking and desperate.
With one great puff, Tashida Makoto readied himself for a finishing blow to finish me off. He jumped in the air, taking his giant spear with him. The air around him trembled when his spear began to glow gold and yellow. The momentum carried his spear straight towards me, its blade piercing against my arms. This all happened in one quick movement, and the air around the audience grew heavy and tense.
Once his spear hit my wall of inner strength, it created a blast of smoke wide enough to cover the huge arena. I still maintained my defensive stance behind the cloud of smoke, smirking and waiting. Unknown to him, I was very much alive and still in. I was not planning to lose at all, especially to him. After all, I did make a promise.
When the smoke finally lifted, our two figures were revealed to the audience who burst into cheers and shouts. Tashida Makoto stood stunned seeing that I had survived his powerful attack. His body shook in horror at the realization of how strong one must be to withstand such an attack.
"Y-y-you! H-how are y-you alive!" He stuttered quitely. I finally lifted my face into the light and revealed the smirk hidden in the shadows before. My clothes ripped and tattered. My hair loose from its ponytail was messy and wild. But to the audience, I looked like a majestic creature. My whole body was engulfed in inner strength so concentrated that the eyes of non-cultivators could see it. I was literally glowing.
"I cannot believe my eyes folk! Hakku just broke through his cultivation during those series of attacks from his opponent! How did he do it?!" Having the announcer explained the situation, the already bursting crowd couldn't get much louder. The always calm judges sat agaped with wide eyes. Of course, the warlord only managed a slight eyebrow raised. Breaking through a single cultivation gate require many years of training and medidation. Yet to them, it took me a few minutes to do it. The truth is that I've been cultivating the whole time since I broke through my seventh cultivation gate.
"Don't get surprised just yet. I have much more to show you." I didn't know when it happened, but somewhere during our fight, I got all excited and nearly lost sight of my self. If not for the promise between him and I, who knows what would've happened.
Out of nowhere, Honey Bean Cake (sword) flew in like a flashing meteor from the sky. She landed on my right hand and the instant we touched, she transformed. My sword is peculiar. It is one of two swords, meaning it has a twin. However, I cannot summon her twin if Honey Bean Cake (sword) is not physically linked to me because her twin is the very manisfestation of my inner strength as a sword. My father gave them to me and he called them The Twin Swords of Suzaku, but I differ otherwise.
They are swords of legend that change its form depending on who its wielder is, and the power of their inner strength. But their ability is the always the same, fire and disintegration. Of course, its power also depend on the power of its wielder.
"Rise from within and manisfest in my hand. Lay waste upon my enemy with the threat of your name. Unleash! Grim Dumpling of Doom!" Inner strength started to swirl around my left arm and into my palm. Just like the majestic fire bird itself, Grim Dumpling rose from the ashes and into a mighty sword of flames. Both sword resonate brightly in raging red.
Everyone turned turmoil as they witnessed the unbelievable sight before them. After seeing the twin sword side by side, some started to realize what they were.
"N-no way! Those are the swords of legend! The Twin Sword of Suzaku!" It took one for the others to say,
"Eeeeeeeehhhh!"
Now that my two hands are occupied. It's time to start my counterattack.
Swords
Thank you. Like. Enjoy!