"If you can't carry all of that, I have a magic bag you can put all of those books in." I suggested.
Akari looked over at me with a relieved look and nodded her head. In response to her answer, I took off my bag and opened it up so she could drop all of her books in it.
"Thank you." She nodded her head.
"Don't mention it. I probably should've asked sooner though." I laughed while rubbing the back of my head.
As I was putting back on my bag, the townsfolk all began pointing towards something in front of us. I couldn't see what that thing was though because people were blocking my view.
"Is that really him?" A bystander asked the person standing next to her.
"It totally is! Do you think he's still accepting challengers?" The man responded with a question of his own.
After putting my bag back on, I looked over at Akari to see if she knew what the people were talking about but instead was met with her staring into the crowd with wide eyes.
"It can't be." Akari said, leaving me completely in the dark as she walked towards the crowd.
"Hey wait up!" I shouted, quickly catching up to Akari as she pushed through the crowd.
After walking through the crowd, we were met with an open space where a man dressed in clothing you'd expect to see a martial artist wear stood in the center. Instead of stopping at where the crowd had, Akari continued to walk towards the man. Although for a brief moment, I could see a fire in her eyes.
"Woah… is she really going to challenge him?" The person next to me asked.
"I don't know. Who is that guy?" I asked.
The man gave me a shocked expression, "do you live under a rock? That's Xiu, the greatest martial artist alive! I heard stories about how he walks around the tree seeking challengers but to think he'd be here now!"
"I take it you're challenging me?" The man asked, his eyes suddenly becoming sharp as he stared at Akari.
Akari changed into a fighting stance, "yeah."
The two stood still and waited for the other to make the first move. The entire area grew quiet, bracing for the first strike which could happen at any moment.
The sudden twitch of Akari's arm caught my attention and before I knew it, she was already in front of Xiu. She clenched her hand into a fist and thrusted it towards Xiu. Making it seem easy, Xiu used the back of his open hand to redirect Akari's fist leaving her wide open.
With Akari already being turned around, she used her momentum to do a reverse spin kick which forced Xiu to raise his guard and block the attack. Akari continued her assault by bringing that same leg back to strike again and then finished it with one final kick with her other leg to push Xiu back.
"She's not half bad." The man next to me said, scratching his chin as he watched the two fight closely.
"The way you incorporate your moves… you wouldn't happen to be one of Sora's students would you?" Xiu asked, his facial expression softening.
"I am." Akari responded.
Xiu's face lit up, "So he's finally managed to set up his own dojo, huh? I'll have to check it out sometime."
Xiu's facial expression returned to being sharp. Before I even had time to turn my head, Xiu had appeared in front of Akari and thrusted both his palms into Akari's stomach, sending her backwards.
"W-what just happened?" I asked, looking at the man next to me.
"You really do live under a rock, don't you? That's one of Xiu's special attacks that'll send anything flying when it connects!"
I returned my attention to Akari and realized she was way more exhausted than I thought she was. Almost as if that one hit took everything out of her.
"Guess it's about time I wrap this up." Xiu said, preparing to strike Akari one last time.
Right before Xiu's fist could connect, I could've sworn I saw a grin on Akari's face as she redirected Xiu's attack. The entire area went silent from her action. She had just replicated what Xiu had done to her earlier.
"You're quite the prodigy. Unfortunately for you, it seems that the effects of my attack from earlier are finally starting to kick in." Xiu said, watching Akari closely.
"What are you talking abou–"
Akari suddenly fell to the ground, holding her hands against her stomach as her head fell to the floor. With how she grinned from earlier, I thought she was able to take that hit so what happened?"
"Sora has trained you well. What you lack now is not skill but experience." Xiu said before walking away.