"Excellent! I bring forth a challenge of two! My candidates will be Vinto, the Earthen Fist, and Kon, the Flame Wrought! We challenge Igneel, and Yielya!"
Akiol squinted, "Oh they get fancy names?"
"The Titles are the ones given by the residents of The Gated Arena. If you perform well you may be rewarded one.", answered Horrow.
Turning his attention back to The Arena he responded, "I accept!"
"Then let the candidates enter the Arena!"
Igneel raised a fist, "I'm off! Wish me luck!"
Before anyone could say anything he was teleported into The Arena along with Yielya. Aaron nervously adjusted his glasses, "I-I hope this goes well."
"Have more confidence, we simply must show that we can put up a fight.", lectured Horrow.
Akiol watched Igneel with interest, "Wrock, that Igneel guy. Anything interesting?"
"He looks completely ordinary. Meaning he's either on the level we are, or a complete amateur."
Aaron heard their conversation and added, "The fact he's here means they are in no way ordinary. However he can fool anyone with that act."
Mira asked, "An act? But it doesn't seem so?"
Akiol nodded, "Yeah, in fact it seems like something else."
~ ~ ~
Igneel performed some basic stretches, "Ok, Yielya right?"
"Yeah."
"Let's give it our best!"
"Give it to me straight, how confident are you?"
"I'm always confident! But these guys seem really good. . ."
"Hm. . . okay keep an eye out for something very specific."
"Like?"
"I can swap the locations of people. So if I'm ever in danger I will swap our positions."
"Oh. . . that sounds really cool!"
"Just a fair warning. I will have to count on you to defeat them."
"Protect the Priest! I know that much!"
"Good."
The voice of the West Head spread throughout the Arena, "Then without further ado, let the first challenge begin!"
Vinto and Kon dashed across the Arena at a blinding speed. Igneel positioned himself between them and Yielya with his arms raised in a guard. Vinto clenched his hand into a fist and a brown solid rock covered it. Punching forward he slammed through Igneel's guard and caused Igneel to tumble back.
"That's it? Really?", questioned Vinto.
"We were told to do this quickly Vinto!", chastised Kon.
Pulling out a large dagger she closed the distance to Yielya, the blade reflected off the light with a ominous feeling. Yielya retreated back, but her speed wasn't a match.
Tring~
Kon was mildly surprised at Yielya being replaced by Igneel, but she only faltered for a fraction of a second. Igneel raised his hands and attempted a block. Kon's arm slithered right past and stabbed his shoulder. Gritting his teeth he fought through the pain and threw a punch forward. Kon dodged it easily and delivered a swift yet powerful kick to Igneel's jaw. With a quick spin she thrust her palm onto Igneel's chest, an impact of flames spreading across.
The air was knocked out of Igneel's lungs as he once again tumbled across the ground!
"Ack!"
Igneel struggled to slow his momentum. The hard ground had no grips for him to latch onto. He naturally slowed to a stop and scrambled back to his feet. Just as he regained his posture he heard the faint sound of a bell ringing.
Raising his hands subconsciously he felt stone slam into his arms. The force seemed to pierce through his flesh and strike his very bones, at least it felt that way. Vinto clicked his tongue and punched again, this time breaking past Igneel's guard. With a swift kick he knocked Igneel to the ground and returned his attention to Yielya.
Kon shouted, "She keeps switching! Stick to the pugilist, the real danger is the Priest. Prepare for the switch!"
"I'll just finish him off!", Vinto responded, raising his fist.
Igneel stood back to his feet and raised his hands. Vinto complained in a disappointed tone, "This is it?"
Vinto's stone covered fists hurt a lot more than Ingeel had hoped. Moreover Vinto was really strong, which added to the force he had to deal with.
His arms were knocked away, shattering his guard. Vinto then released a flurry of blows, "The South Head made such a bold claim, but that's all it was!"
Igneel raised an arm and blocked a blow, but that was all. Time and time again he was struck with powerful blows. Blood rained freely from his body, his body becoming broken and bruised. Just as one of his knees weakened he felt a warm glow encompass his body. Vinto continued his attacks but shouted, "Kon! What's taking you so long?!"
"Oh shut up! This Priest is slippery!"
"Guess I'll just work harder then!"
Vinto opened his palm and three stone cubes hovered above. Throwing this above him he then delivered a punch forward. Igneel raised his arms, but found his guard was useless! The attack was actually a feint, and a punch landed on his jaw. He heard a sickening crunch as he was raised into the air. Vinto then began a barrage of punches. As Igneel was being bombarded he felt additional impacts hit his back. The stone cubes Vinto threw in the air followed along with his punches, every hit he delivered the stones would hit the opposite side of Igneel's body. It was almost as if he was against a wall.
The warm feeling crossed his body occasionally, but it only prolonged his suffering. Every attempt at raising his guard ended miserably. Shortly even the warm glow stopped appearing. Vinto grinned, "It seems you're pointless, even your Priest gave up on you!"
Vinto delivered a powerful punch to knock Igneel higher. As his ascent slowed Vinto recalled the three stone cubes and made them circle around his fist. Slowly he pulled the fist to his waist, the stones still circling around. As Igneel fell to the ground he punched forward, his fist and the three cubes slamming into Igneel's chest, a shockwave was released forth and Igneel was sent flying into the Arena wall!
[Earth Shattered Fist]!
Vinto turned and dashed towards the Priest, "Time to finish this!"
Yielya sighed silently in her heart. It was taking everything out of her to avoid Kon's attacks. If Vinto joined in the fray as well she wouldn't last a second! As the two approached her time seemed to slow for the spectators. The crowd was mostly silent, pitying the South Providence. Slowly they began to understand why the South was going to disband. If this was the best they could put up. . . perhaps it was necessary.
The two prepared to strike simultaneously. Gritting her teeth Yielya apologized silently, "You've suffered quite a bit already!"
Tring~
Igneel appeared in Yielya's position. The two swapped places yet again! Kon cursed, "I thought you dealt with him!"
"I did! He should be dead!"
"No matter, just kill him! He's useless anyway!"
Their attacks moved towards the unconscious Igneel, each aiming to take his life! Igneel suddenly took a sharp breath and leaned back, dodging their attacks. His eyes snapped open, "Useless? Which one of you said that?"
His body moved far quicker and more fluidly than he ever showed before! Swiftly kicking the side of Kon's knee he made her stumble for a moment. Using the opening he grabbed Vinto's hand and twisted it back, making him lean forward. Raising a knee he slammed into Vinto's jaw. He then used the same leg to kick behind him, sending Kon tumbling across the ground! Returning his leg to a bent position he spun and kneed Vinto's stomach, causing him to slide back! All this happened in quick succession, leaving the audience stunned!
Using the dripping blood he slicked his hair back, "I get the gist of things now. I'll be taking care of this."
Turning his head he looked towards Yielya, "You, Priest. Friend or foe?"
"Teammate."
"Good, heal me. I'll handle this quickly, but I'm far too injured."
"Wonder where this energy was earlier."
"Don't worry about that, just do as I say."
"I don't take orders from you.", Yielya claimed, but still gave a quick set of heals.
Cracking his neck he turned his attention to the opponents, "So are you just gonna stand there and look at me like you're stupid, or you going to do something?"
Kon spat a bit of blood to the side, "Was it an act?"
"An act? No not quite, but I'm afraid people of your caliber won't understand. So enough chitchat, I'll let you make a move. Not that it will be of any help."
"You get a few hits in and you get cocky! You must've forgotten the one-sided beatdown I gave you earlier!", shouted Vinto as he charged forward.
Three stone cubes circled around Vinto's fist as he closed the distance. Throwing it forward he shouted, "[Earth Shattered Fist]!"
Pam-!
Vinto's eyes widened as he witnessed his [Earth Shattered Fist] get caught with a single palm. He almost immediately deduced what had happened, 'He managed to rid of all the momentum so easily?!'
"Earth Shattered Fist? So that's what you named this technique. How surface level, allow me to show you a glimpse of something greater. Let's name it. . . ah I know."
Balling his free hand into a fist he punched Vinto's stomach. Space seemed to recoil from the impact! Rippling back like rubber being pulled, and much like rubber it snapped back into position releasing a thundering boom!
Vinto flew across the arena and slammed into the wall in less than a second. Smoke lingered from Igneel's fist. He then placed his hands behind his back in a casual stance, "I shall name that one {Rending Heaven Fist}, to really show you the distance between the heavens and earth."
Looking towards Kon he raised a finger, "Better yet, I shall use that one and only move against you two!"
With such a drastic change, the turnaround of the fight left even the Provinces stunned!