On the coliseum seats was a senior with a chest size comparable to Mount. Gigraceldi, an attractive feature for a lady. However, she reeked of foreign herbs and decay so the other students weren't too fond of sitting next to her. She impatiently awaited two familiar figures to enter the ring while fiddling with her fingers.
B: (I can't believe Katachi is actually going to fight Deku.)
The light in her eyes reflected a great worry and she held her hands in prayer.
B: (... This, I have to see.)
Deku was facing off against Katachi for the divisional best of four seating. To others, they were mere students in the academy, but Bael had a special connection to both of them. Having attained the pride of being the last man standing for the past three years Deku was held in high regards by many – His wish to become a teacher greatly bolstered his resolve to improve himself, making him one of the rare few students in the academy's history to match a teacher toe-to-toe.
As his childhood friend Bael was rooting for him to succeed. He was smart, bright and thoughtful, often using the tournament prizes to reform the neighboring towns, helping with the construction and reparation of the older buildings.
Katachi managed to take down the semi-finalist Nea and the finalist Cillian, which meant that he would be competing with Deku for the next round. He was just a quiet kid nobody really knew, but Bael was the first student he got along with. He gave off a mysterious and eccentric feeling akin to a cat that she wished to unravel for herself.
The thrill of seeing two contrasting sides matched against each other was enough to make anyone interested. People chattered and discussed what little they knew, and there were even students who started illegal bets to rake in the stakes.
C: "Hey Bael, what are you doing sitting all alone here?"
Interrupting Bael was a young maiden in love.
B: "Good afternoon, Cestia. I was just... Well, I'm waiting for the next match."
C: "Isn't that obvious? You're sitting on the bench. How do you even tolerate this heat?"
B: "I... I just do. Ahaha, hahaha."
Bael looked down in embarrassment when she realized that her clothes were accumulating a good amount of sweat. She was baking herself in the smoldering heat without realizing how fatigued or thirsty she was. Cestia sat down next to the depressed beauty and unwrapped a piece of cloth she placed on her lap. Beneath the wraps hid a small fish, roasted finely and its heat preserved with an unusual rune she didn't recognize.
C: "I was about to ask why you were sitting all alone, but I guess the smell on you has been driving people away huh..."
Cestia easily noticed the odor on Bael's body and hair. It was obvious to the point where the flies that normally favored the rancid smells of decay steered clear from her.
B: "Yeah, I guess they're afraid of getting their noses burnt out."
C: "So, do you want some of this Moontwine mudskipper? It's from Anik, you know."
Bael looked over at Cestia's morsel in disgust upon hearing the name mudskipper.
B: "Mudskipper? Is that edible?"
C: "Don't worry about it."
Cestia pinched a small piece between her fingers and raised it towards Bael's face, tempting her to taste the exotic food.
C: "The fishmonger called it a mudskipper but it didn't have any mud when I bought it. It's really tasty! Try it, I guarantee its taste. I made Loar roast this for me."
Bael stared hard at the small piece of roasted fish between her fingers. Reluctantly, she reached her lips out and enveloped the meat with her mouth with a slow chew. The lasting flavor and briefly slimy texture of mudskipper filled her mouth with a tinge of mild nutmeg, honey and ginger chicken.
B: "... Mmmm. Delicious."
C: "I wouldn't lie to you about stuff like that, Bael. Of course it's tasty. Apparently, you keep the mudskipper alive for more than a week in clean water to wash out the muddy taste. It's nice to try fresh game once in a while, isn't it?"
Cestia spoke with mudskipper chunks escaping her mouth in a manner most uncouth. How the teenager known as Loar fell in love with the zany girl was, however, not for anybody to judge.
B: "Interesting. It's pretty good."
C: "So, I heard this next match is a highlight, isn't it?"
B: "Yeah. Deku and Katachi are going to fight it out."
Cestia licked and sucked her fingers in an unwomanly fashion.
C: "Katachi, huh. Do you think the new guy would win?"
B: "..."
Bael didn't want to choose between them. Katachi showed some strange promise but against someone thoroughly experienced like Deku it would probably require a miracle. Unless... Katachi was concealing something even greater, a trick to turn the odds just like what Vikarr prepared.
B: (Katachi's always behaved in this shady, obscure manner. It's almost as though he is capable of something much more, like how a proper magus conceals his strength to fool and lull his opponents into a false sense of security. It's the opposite of the Champion-like approach that Deku opts for to relish in immediate brute strength.)
As she was absorbed in her own thoughts, Bael was left unaware of the screams and shouts the students around her chanted as the competitors gathered for the next match.
*** ***
Andarmasi Dekuruvischelon was unusually quiet.
Normally, he would have screamed and confidently entertained the audience but he was silent this time in an unusual turn of events. It wasn't really that unusual, though – Deku used his voice so much in the past two rounds that his throat hurt a good bit. Though the healing syrup recovered many wounds, a sore throat was not amongst what it was brewed to heal.
K: "Nice to meet you, Mister... Uhm... What- What was your name?"
The sounds within Cosmatral Tlod were projected at the coliseum seats with a slight distortion, and interaction with the audience was possible to some degree. That was clearly evidenced by Deku's bets made in Cosmatral Tlod which were audible to the other students. Yet by the same process, upon hearing Katachi's voice even Minister Lein himself had a hard time stifling the astonishment.
It was shocking to be unaware of the poster boy's presence. Deku was renowned as the model student for three years straight. His face was prominently displayed in fine print across the towns, on the posters, the news articles and the like. To round things off, Minister Lein specifically introduced him at the official start of the event so if the child was present he would certainly remember Deku.
That very Deku had his entirety existence forgotten as though he were unimportant. He felt like a doll in the provisions shop that parents would dissuade their children to buy due to its impracticality. It was laughable, unthinkable, unbelievable that a student enrolled into the academy without even seeing Deku's face at least once.
D: (No way... Hasn't this guy seen my face before? He didn't recognize me at all, not even during the first two rounds!? There's no way a magus would be overconfident to the level that he won't observe the matches unless he doesn't know how to go to the spectators' area!)
Deku reached a startling conclusion.
D: (Then, he's a... A- A bona fide country bumpkin who's completely unfamiliar with the school?!)
K: "Wait, you're... Mister Andar- uh, Andarmasi Dekuru-something?"
Katachi tried to stay level-headed and composed by opting for brief comedy. The crowd chuckled a little at the awkwardness of the situation as they caught on to his joke. Deku sighed in response to the redundant wave of panic from before.
D: "I was about to say, if you didn't recognize me I would have been truly shocked. I'd have screamed till I was hoarse for nothing! Hahah!"
The crowd laughed with Deku and whatever tension that draped about diminished.
K: "It's quite the hurdle to fight you this early, Mister Andarmasi, but... Are you ready?"
D: "Wha- Are you serious? I'm always ready for a fight!"
K: (From that response he seems really confident about his abilities. I wouldn't be surprised, he could make golems and he can hurl mounds of sand at me. That means he's best at mid-range combat whereas I'm better at close-range combat. He has a wooden sword while I have a wooden dagger so his reach is farther in close combat. I'd have to work around the range of his sword and consider a Melias strap to bind-)
Just as Katachi began to formulate a plan in his head a dull sound was heard. The wooden sword in his hand fell, its muffled sound against the sand heard clearly. Katachi's eyes widened. Normal enemies would not let go of a weapon and put themselves at a disadvantage on purpose. This was a handicap that only those who were certain of their ability would do.
D: "I feel so energized right now, I think I won't need a weapon to deal with the likes of you. Consider that a handicap of sorts, yes?"
The crowd went wild hearing a cool and stylish response like that. It would be one thing if it were against Cillian de Vorsche, but Katachi's reliance on his dagger for the previous matches painted the importance of having some form of close-range defense. To display such bravado despite Katachi's general approach towards the fights thus far was nothing short of firm confidence.
D: "In fact, I don't think using my golem is necessary either. I'll beat you with Conduit Imbue alone. How about it, kid? Wanna try fighting the champion with that handicap?"
K: "Take it back."
D: "... Huh?"
Deku was bewildered at the response which surprised the audience. Logically speaking, for Katachi to survive the match with the handicap, let alone win it at Deku's full power was enough of an ordeal to make others cringe in fear. Deku brought up a great offer, one that could potentially threaten his winning streak; and the strange child rejected it flatly. Why would he want Deku to revoke the handicap?
K: "Take it back. I wouldn't want my opponent to get hurt without fighting seriously."
The concern and kindness behind those words were clear and it was admirable how a pipsqueak would show such chivalry, if that were the true objective behind his words.
D: "Very well. I'll start it off easy and go all out when you've proven yourself worthy. I'll play by the same rules as the previous matches, this time with increased stakes – If you win, I'll drink the brown syrup for a whole month. If you lose there will be no penalties. Would that make you happy?"
That was not unlike the methodology of Dardicel, one of the most revered gods in Auser.
K: "... Pray you don't regret your choice." (设定. Set Eye of Jedivh position – Southwest of my relative north, fifty centimeters away from my back.)
Deku kicked the wooden sword next to his feet across the sand and lowered his stance, fully prepared to slam the ground with his fist.
K: (He discarded it anyway...)
D: "Don't worry, kid. I'm a professional."
They both gave a brief nod to signify that they were ready.
*** ***
Deku's right fist glowed a strange, entrancing yellow. With great force, he slammed it into the earth and the mound of land beneath his feet was absorbed, causing him to sink into the crater smoothly. With a jab, he released the yellow fluid from his arm which solidified and reformed into the chunk of land beneath his feet just seconds ago.
K: (设定! Set land's durability – A million fold! Set land's weight – A millionth fold!)
Two tiny 定s surfaced on the top of the land which Katachi caught in his extended right hand with ease. Because the words were tiny and the object was moving very fast it was hard to see the golden words on the sand. Also, the Eye of Jedivh obelisk receiver displaying the projection to the spectators was behind him and nearing his knee level so it didn't have an overhead view of the mound of land that risked exposing the sigils.
D: "!! What-!"
Deku had never seen anyone properly catch a mound of land like that. The sand was maintained in its original shape and he managed to cushion that landmass perfectly in his palm. With a simple push, the sand expelled outward. It was sent flying back towards Deku which he punched with his glowing left fist in response.
The sand mound glowed yellow immediately, broke apart and liquefied into the substance that was absorbed back into his body once again. It didn't make sense at all. When Katachi caught the sand, it didn't change in shape and remained the way he threw it. But when Deku tried to reabsorb the sand it behaved naturally and broke apart like a mound of sand ought to. What was the determinant?
D: (This guy... I've heard the students praise him as a Soltak follower, so he probably uses sunlight instead of the usual array of magic objects or symbols. Is he using the light prism technique to keep the mound of sand intact? That's pretty impressive since this place isn't even that sunny.)
The surprise was pleasing for his opponent who had a habit of ending his matches in less than twenty seconds prior.
D: "Hahahahahaha! How interesting. It seems I cannot beat you with Conduit Imbue alone."
Katachi's stance lowered and he drew the wooden dagger, gripping it tightly with his right hand.
D: (Soltak's Reincarnate Art relies upon sunlight, so if there's none for him to use this match will be one-sided.) "Did you tell me to take my words back knowing that you could use Soltak's Light Prism even in Cosmatral Tlod?"
K: (Light Prism?)
Deku began forming sand armor with the mound he reabsorbed. Katachi remained silent and maintained an alert, defensive posture ready to intercept any attacks Deku might dish out.
D: (If I design it in a mushroom shape, then the amount of light will be filtered down tremendously. This will end soon.) "Very well. But how will you fare against the Gatherer's Golem?"
With a punch, Deku drew up even more sand and created a gargantuan made completely of sand and wind. The golem now manifested in a form even more menacing than it was when he fought Vikarr – Winds twirling around its right elbow joint and flowing down to the hand, raging violently around its center and head, and the harsh gales comprising most of its lower torso that repelled Katachi's approach.
It was smaller than the one Vikarr faced, but the behemoth was at least fifteen times Katachi's size with a broad torso like an umbrella cage. He looked up at the monstrosity and acted immediately.
D: (!! He's... He's unaffected?!)
*** ***
The Gatherer's Golem was a name given to a combination of two techniques – Dardicel's Reincarnate Art Golem and the Conduit Imbue technique. Normally, to perform the Reincarnate Art alone was a very tough ordeal. Dardicel was the god of Trials who was bestowed a title known as Lord of the Earth for being the first to collect a piece of every terrain and by extension, the first to travel the world.
His Reincarnate Art required his followers to unite themselves with the Earth itself as a trial to attune oneself to the world and unite as one, so they may call upon a mighty sentient being at will wherever they may be. However, not many people understood what he meant so their attempts at recreating his Art of Trials often ended up shoddy and weak.
Conduit Imbue was a technique used by miners in Rugnud – It was a magic where the miners melded the excessive soil and rocks into their own bodies so they may release them when they reached the surface. It worked effectively as a transportation system because of the relative ease of the technique.
The only drawback was that when objects were absorbed into the body the objects themselves added to the weight of the person – That meant users of the technique needed to be physically resilient if they wished to move about with items stored within the Conduit Imbue. It was only useful in limited situations which led to its gradual decline outside of Rugnud.
Conduit Imbue's peculiarity was its favorable side effect – It softened up the element absorbed into the body and imbued a circuit into the object that allowed the body to absorb the material without rejecting it. In a sense, it was 'uniting' with the material because one imbued circuits into them before they were assimilated for ease of absorption.
Should the two techniques be used in tandem, an equally potent form of Dardicel's Reincarnate Art could be produced at a much lower difficulty. The elements comprising the golem were already accepted into the body so it was much easier to create and control the golem since the material was already magically charged. That was the birth of the technique known as Gatherer's Golem.
*** ***
K: (固定! Fixate position – Magic Circuits!)
The golem raised its foot and came close to stomping Katachi when it stopped moving altogether. As Deku tried to move the golem's legs to force Katachi out from beneath him, the champion realized the trick one step too late.
D: (! What- I can't move!! Is his Soltak's light prism so powerful that it can lock my whole golem in place!? Even though the mushroom cap design is blocking the sunlight!?)
There was a 定 behind the golem's foot and hidden from sight, a strategy Katachi also exercised on the Eye of Jedivh. The observer was still following his relative north which allowed him to limit the feedback to an over-the-hip viewpoint which made spotting the sigil nigh impossible.
K: (恒定! Constant velocity – Self!)
With a leap, Katachi set his velocity to 'Constant' and traveled through the air in a straight beeline right towards Deku.
D: (How did he manage to immobilize the golem?! There's not that much sunlight in here, is there!? No, wait! What if he used light to lock and pinch at the joints alone?)
Katachi held his wooden dagger by Deku's neck and offered him sound advice as Shelly requested.
D: (Its fundamental design is no different from the suits of armor the Rugnudi use! If he tackled me at the joints, then using a golem was a mistake after all- !!)
K: (The flashier their techniques, the less attention my Words draw. All according to plan.) "Don't throw your sword away next time."
With a motion imitating a beheading Katachi won the divisional best of four against the odds.
*** ***
Deku patted Katachi on his shoulder with a smile on his face.
D: "Good work! You caught me off-guard. I guess I'll have to uphold my bet and drink that syrup for a month."
K: "You don't need to. I didn't want to bet anyway."
D: "Really? That'd doing me a huge favor! But I have the students, the audience to answer. If I fail to uphold my promises now I will not be able to promise anything when I work."
K: (That's honorable.) "I recommend against it, but I can't stop you."
Deku breathed deeply and eyed Katachi with newfound respect.
D: "Come to think of it, I don't think I've caught on to your name."
K: "Kotsuba Katachi."
D: "Kotsuba, huh... Sounds like you're from Ohde. That would explain your black hair."
K: "Many people say that, but I'm from Mielfeud though."
It was surprising, to say the least. Only people from Ohde would have their hair black; everywhere else, hairs were usually blond or brown or dyed in funky colors to connect the magus to the legends of the past.
D: "Are you, now... Hmm. Well, whoever you are, you've changed my view on Soltak completely. I thought if I made a golem with a larger upper torso that blocks sunlight your Reincarnate Art would be less effective, but it didn't work at all. I guess I underestimated the limitations of your Light Prism."
K: "? Uhm, yeah, I... I guess. I was a bit surprised as well."
But the discrepancy was too large to ignore.
D: (He's uncertain of his own power? That's odd. Most Reincarnate Art users speak plainly without holding back because of their faith in the god they worship. To doubt his own ability is to doubt the god's ability. He can't possibly be a Reincarnate Art user.)
It took one to know one.
D: "You're not really a Soltak believer, are you?"
K: "No. It's just a rumor that someone else started."
D: (... He can't be serious.)
The answer was so swift and plain it was shocking. Deku didn't expect the idea that what Katachi used earlier wasn't a Reincarnate Art. Or rather, he didn't want to believe that normal magic could compete with the Reincarnate Arts on an equal level. Yet Katachi was a living proof of that, standing right before him. If someone was truly capable of magic that rivaled even the Reincarnate Arts...
D: "... Exactly what magic did you use, Katachi?"
Katachi didn't stop to answer and left the waiting area as fast as he could holding a wooden cup filled with brown syrup.
D: (He's definitely hiding something.)