Chapter 110: Chapter 105
The remainder had essentially drawn their straws, the new brackets formed up on the screens above. Me, being the first to form a match up was the first to fight.
I was sitting to the side, idly wasting time until my match started. They first wanted to the usual song and dance, hype up everything, give the sponsors some screen time, and have some expert commentary. I didn't really care to listen as they were mostly talking about how excited they were for the more popular competitors.
Taking my scroll out, I decided to find some forums that talked about me.
Reading down some titles of threads, I couldn't help but have my lips curl up. It seems a few people caught my little comment about the '3%'. Some are calling out the organizers for rigging the tournament, or something like that.
Of course, the fact that I had a bye all the way to the finals was telling in of itself. There was still a huge amount of outcry about me being a 'cheater' and that I should be disqualified.
Can't prove nothin though.
Though, most thought I would be knocked out here.
I actually found quite a bit info on my opponent, one Cobalt Steel.
Names are still weird, but I digress.
Cobalt Steel, age 17, should be turning 18 by the end of the year. He has a good record dating back three years. He's always made it into the top 8 and at one time made it to the top 4.
His weapon is simple by mechashift standards. A long sword that can turn into a rifle.
Long range combined with short range. Pretty useful, I can see why he went with such a thing. Hell, If I were born here, I would probably be using something similar.
Apparently, he favors his sword usage over his gun.
He has quite a few fans....most of which are calling for him to kick my ass.
Well, what can you do? I chose to take this role, I'll deal with all the negativity projected my way.
The memes are great though. It seems that certain things are constants across all dimensions. If there is an internet or equivalent, humanity gonna meme.
"Hey there, Red." I looked to see Pyrrha walking over.
"Wilhelm." She greeted. "Are you prepared?"
"For my fight? Yeah, should be fine." I waived her off.
"You're not nervous? Cobalt is an excellent fighter, I've fought him in the past and it wasn't an easy match."
"Nah, I'm feeling confidant."
"Do you plan to do the same thing as your last fight?" She said, slightly unsure. I doubt she approved of my flippant attitude during that whole thing.
"Cobalt seems like a decent bloke, so I won't cheese it." I made sure to assuage her concerns. "But, how much you want to bet they'll make a new ruling banning what I did anyways?"
Pyrrha just blinked, looking skeptical. "I don't think the organizers would do someth—"
"ATTENTION." A voice boomed over the speakers. "DUE TO SOME CONCERNS REGARDING SAFETY, WE WILL HENCE FORTH BE FORBIDDING ANY EXPLOSIVES USED IN THE COMPETITION."
The corners of my lips curled up as I stared at a silent Pyrrha. "You were saying?"
She looked a little embarrased. "I guess I was mistaken."
"Don't worry about it." I leaned back against the wall as the promotions and such were still going on. "So, whatcha doing here, Red?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were prepared for your match." She said quietly.
What a cinnamon roll, she was worried about me and we barely even knew each other. "Well, may as well tell me about yourself."
She nervously rubbed her arms, like she was unsure of what to say. "I don't have much to say. I grew up in Argus, and trained to be a huntress."
"That's it?" I raised an eyebrow. "What about hobbies? Thing you do for fun. What's you're favorite show, your favorite restaurant." I wasn't really one to throw stones from my glass house regarding friends, but I still did stuff outside of training and magic.
"W-well, I just enjoy training."
"I guess I can agree with that." I nodded along. "There is always a certain satisfaction after my arms give out when I've swung my sword too many times."
Pyrrha seemed to perk up at that. "Yes!" She happily agreed. "I've always enjoyed pushing myself to my limits, even when I can't get up anymore."
"Fighting too. To push yourself in combat against your opponent, each move and counter taking you one step closer to defeat or victory, it's intoxicating."
"Exactly! To be forced to the edge and manage to achieve victory by the skin of your teeth, the hours of training paying off."
"It's also nice to have down time, though. To just be able to sit back and relax." I replied. "Personally, I'm a bit of a reader, though I admit I mostly read things related to combat." Well, magics and stuff usually end up being used for battle on my part.
"Ah, I like to read as well." Pyrrha stated, smiling brightly. "I'm half way through the second volume of Ninja of Lo—" She paused, her face flushing.
My lips curled up. "Well, it seems like I found how to get you to open up. I guess there is a normal girl under there." Found something she enjoys, and then she easily kept going. Well, I guess it was a start.
She crossed her arms face still showing signs of embarrassment. "What about you?"
I guess she was asking me about myself. "Not much to tell as well. Mom died when I was young, was a bastard so father wasn't in the picture."
"Oh....i'm sorry." She quietly apologized.
"Eh, don't worry about it." I waived her off. "I've had time to mourn for my mom, and people in the world had it worse than I did. I at least was taken care of, shelter, food, education." I recounted. "So I left my home when I was 18 and set out. Met one of my best friends quickly after." I couldn't help but smile at the thought of Thorum, that big goofy smile of his. "Then found myself a woman."
Meridia.....I really want to see her right now. Shouldn't be much longer. "What about you, Red. Any boys in your life?"
"B-boys?" She flushed again.
"Or girls." I shrugged. "Nothing wrong with liking girls like that." I couldn't help but smirk at her, earning another bright red face.
"I don't have a boyfriend." She made sure to iterate the gender, much to my amusement.
"Well, if you ever come to Vale, I can be your wingman." I said with a chuckle. I already offered that to Miltia, I wouldn't mind helping Pyrrha find herself a partner if she were interested. I think I'm a good judge of character, and it seemed like this girl would thrive on some sort of companionship.
"ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT MATCH." The announcer's shout quickly drew my attention, as well as Pyrrha's, the crowds' cheers shaking the entire arena.
"Well, looks like I'm about to head up." I finally stood up, putting my scroll away and grabbed my sword that was leaning against the wall.
"Good luck." She quickly said.
I smiled giving her a thumbs up as I left the little area we secluded ourselves in. Approaching the Arena, I already saw Cobalt waiting. He gave me a single look, but didn't say anything, stepping over towards the arena himself.
***
We both took our positions on either side, the Announcer still playing up to the crowd. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN." He shouted. "WE'RE BACK AND READY FOR THE NEXT MATCH." He threw his hand over towards Cobalt. "ON ONE END WE HAVE COBALT STEELE, WHO DOESN'T NEED MUCH OF AN INTRODUCTION FOR THOSE WHO SAW THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. AND ON THE OTHER, WE HAVE A BIT OF A BLACKHORSE, WILHELM SCHWEINORG."
Is it weird that I still enjoy hearing my name spoken?
Funnily enough, there were a lot less boos thing time around.
The hurriedly dashed to the edge of the arena. "BEGIN!" He shouted and the same gong rang out across the entire stadium.
His pulled his sword from behind his back, taking a steady stance. I could immediately tell the amount of practice he's had. There were close to no opening as he looked me over.
I raised an eyebrow as he gathered his aura under his feet and exploded towards me. A simple, yet very practical use of aura apparently. Though, I saw the tiniest sliver of it missing when I glanced at the screens around the place.
Interesting.
I was aware that there were 'techniques' that utilized Aura, but they seemed to be out of favor opposed to utilizing one's semblance to their upmost and regulating their Aura to being purely defensive.
He swiped at my neck, I took a half step back, allowing his blade to miss me by a small margin and I followed up with my sheathed blade swinging back at him in the same spot.
To my surprise, he dodged it cleanly.
He planted his feet and unleashed a series of slashes. They were precise and crisp, each one without hesitation and every attack going for a vital area. Utilizing his lower center of gravity, he came from underneath me to disrupt my vision.
He had been trained well.
His sword swinging up from below, going for my lower chest, I slammed the hilt of my sword down, knocking it away. He spun his entire body to regain some kind of momentum to launch another attack on my other side, only for the tip of my sheath to collide with the guard of his sword. He was deceptively agile, he looked more like an endurance fighter at first glance.
Stepping forward, he didn't stop, blade continuing to rain down slashing with an admirable speed and precision. His Aura continued to dwindle ever so slightly, not because of my blows, but because he was burning it to enhance his own attacks.
I could admire his determination, and his skill at such techniques. To accelerate his swings he had already committed to in an attempt to throw off my perception. If it were anyone else, I could see how they would have trouble, just how Pyrrha said he was a difficult opponent.
My own sword flashed out, parrying and deflecting each attach. With the final clash, I put a tad more strength into it and knocked his sword away, reeling my hand back and foot planted, I was about to stab him but I noticed right as I did, he took a step back, anticipating my blow.
Interesting.
I still followed through, hitting a chunk of his Aura off, but he jumped back right as I connected, mitigating most of the damage and gaining distance as his sword switched to the rife and fired off a few rounds of magical bullets at me. Small red missiles curved through the air as they came at me from both sides.
With a flick of my sword, still sheathed, the bullets were destroyed before they could reach me. "Curious." I said, earning his attention. "Some kind of precognition?"
He paused looking at me confusion before some sort of realization dawned on him. "You discovered it already...." He replied, a grin forming on his face. "You really are strong. My semblance.....it gives me a danger sense."
"Oh, that is interesting." I couldn't help but comment. Not traditional precognition, but a sense that predicts dangers. How I would love to run some experiments on such a thing.
"I can see the danger anything poses to me." He admitted. "The other fighters, my dad, even trained huntsman I've met at Haven, it gives me a sense of how dangerous they are." His hands shook slightly. "So why.....do none of them even come close to the feeling I'm getting from you?"
Well...that certainly is interesting. Was he able to some-what scry me due to his 'semblance', was that how it worked?
He took a deep breath his hands steadied. "But, I can't help but be excited too. I didn't think I'd meet someone who gave me this feeling." The fingers around his weapon tightened. "Will you stop holding back?"
I couldn't help but grin, he was able to see through that much. "You're an interesting kid. I've asked two others now and it's making me curious, why did you join the tournament?"
"I want to be the strongest."
The genuine way he said it. It was different than Rufus who was more 'pure'. This kid seemed to have that 'drive' the one to climb to the peak and not settle there, to see the other mountains and be excited that he still had a ways to go.
"Don't blink." I stated, my foot sliding back, one hand holding my sheath the other resting on Mirage's hilt.
"Don't hesitate." I let some pressure seep out, to pour down on him, my intent to truly kill him. I saw his knees almost buckle under the sudden feeling of death, but he held firm.
This world just keeps giving me surprises.
"I'll show you briefly, what sky exists above yours."
As I moved, the world bent around me.
His body didn't physically react until he was already falling to the ground, and I was sheathing my sword behind him.
Blood began to puddle around his prone form, his Aura utterly shattered at the blow. Only a moment persisted until shouts and gasps erupted all around us. Most were unable to comprehend what just occurred.
I wanted to throw my head back and laugh, he actually managed to slightly anticipate my attack, mitigating a fraction of my blow. Was it because of his Semblance?
Cobalt groaned as he used the little bit of strength, he had left to flip himself over, to look at me. I couldn't help but smile because looking down at him was a big smirk on his own face, in fact, he started to laugh. "Is that the peak?"
"Does it matter? For now, it's something for you to work towards." I wonder how far you'll go if you have something beyond your reach to constantly strive for. Let's see if he can break through these limits and actually approach me in the future.
He just laughed harder as I began to walk out of the arena.
A gob smacked announcer and audience left in my wake.
***
Alright, I saw the comments, I'll try to fit the omake into canon somewhere. Mc is taking a liking to this world and the people. Pyrrha opens up a little bit with her awkwardness, and Mc revealed a bit of power to the world.
Fifth Interlude is up on Pat reon, it's from Ozpin's perspective. If you want to read 5 chapter ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone.
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