"Any chance you wanna end it here, and consider it a draw?" Suinin asked while examining the blood on his body.
"Not a chance," Kishi said while clenching his fist.
Suinin raised his katana to the sky as his blade lit up causing the observers to be blinded. Zack watched carefully as Suinin drew energy from the sun into his katana. Everyone in the stands was instantly hit with chapped lips and sweat pouring down their forehead. As the blade's brilliance subsided it was golden.
While examining the katana a shiver went down Kishi's spine and it put a large grin on his face. The glyphs on his gauntlets were fully ignited, and it was causing his hands to shake. Suinin took a deep breath as he dashed forward.
Suinin in a burst of speed closed in slashing Kishi's chest as an uppercut was aimed for the katana. The strike landed on Kishi, and Suinin desperately tried to dodge. There was a sense of relief to see the gauntlet missing him, but it was swept away when a bright light flared from the gauntlets as a powerful blast of mana was released.
It went into the air in front of them, but this was meant as a long-range attack. This closes the shockwave from it knocked them both back as blood trailed down their ears. Suinin briefly lost consciousness but recovered to see Kishi preparing to stand. Suinin was coughing blood, and struggling to stay awake, but he stood by using his katana for support.
Suinin twisted the katana as the wounds on Kishi's chest were cauterized as his body began sweating profusely, and writhing in pain. It felt as if he would burst into flames any minute, and even someone as resilient as Kishi couldn't tolerate it for long as he collapsed face-first into the dirt. Suinin's blade quit shimmering as the effects ended, and it returned to its former color. As Suinin attempted to remove the katana from the ground he stumbled back into the tall grass.
"Winner Suinin!" Zack announced as he appeared in the arena.
The crowd was stuck in a daze over a young man they have never seen before defeating someone Zack battled. Zack was healing their wounds as the other samurai debated which squad for Suinin to join. Tamiko looked at the barrier with a smile knowing Hizashi would be proud of his resilience.
When the two regained consciousness they heard cheering, and as they opened their eyes Zack was before them. Zack offered Suinin a hand in getting up as the other conjured platforms for both of them. Kishi sat up trying to comprehend his loss.
'Seems like it's worth staying here after all.'Kishi smiled.
"That was a great fight, and I look forward to the rematch," Kishi said as he stood up.
"I'm gonna need some time before that happens," Suinin replied.
They stepped onto the platforms and were returned to the stands. Suinin saw Tamiko standing in wait for him, and he tried to look presentable.
"I want to serve on the defense force, and protect our village like the others." Suinin requested with a polite bow.
"That was an impressive display but a reckless one. We can't have the last of the Yamada line fall to foolishness." Tamiko stated.
"Having fought this one myself I'm confident in his ability to stay alive, and that was before the benefits of this place. If you let him stay here for a while it could help your village in the long run." Zack said as he approached.
"We are already low on guards at home, but for the sake of our alliance, he can stay. In return, you will have to come to visit, and oversee some improvements to security." Tamiko told Zack.
"It might be a few days," Zack replied.
"That's fine I need time to make preparations anyway," Tamiko said as she wandered back to her seat.
"I wasn't able to avenge my father, but thanks to you his killers saw justice. I won't let you down." Suinin declared as he was preparing to leave the booth.
"Wait we still need to drink, and discuss the condition," Kishi told Suinin.
"We still have some space around here." Ren offered.
"I'm not really a drinker, but I'll accept the offer to join you," Suinin replied.
"You gotta have a little. It might put some hair on your chest." Kishi laughed smacking Suinin on the shoulder.
"Does anyone else want to participate today?" Zack announced.
Harald stood up, and the crowd was curious who he would challenge. He walked towards the other warriors present, and after a brief discussion, Harald approached Zack.
"Are you sure about letting some of our clansmen settle your lands?" Harald asked.
"We were just waiting to review the maps. We have plenty of open land along the coast, and it's all fertile," Zack replied.
"If that's the case we would like to decide who will lead it tonight," Harald said while motioning at the others.
"What did you have in mind?" Zack asked.
"We will use the arena to see which tribe is left standing, and then they will vote on the leader. This way the strongest clan leads to ensure the new communities survival." Harald replied.
Seeing the serious look on their faces Zack agreed, and all those who arrived with the intentions of settling a new land stepped forward. The two clans planned to work together to build a thriving community someday, but today was a matter of honor, and there would be no holding back.
"They would like to use their own armor and weapons." Sven requested.
"He knows my rules, but the rest are up to you," Zack said while activating several arrays.
As the participants began moving towards the arrays Harald, and Sven debated who's tribe had the better warriors. While Zack was preparing to sit down he felt a surge of power within the city. He looked over at Lilith with a serious expression.
"Go get Olivia, and meet me at Naomi's," Zack told Lillith as he flew up from the booth.
"What's going on?" Harald asked.
"I have to go assist with something, but carry on with the arena. Can you set up the backup?" Zack asked Rolen.
"I'll handle it just get going," Rolen said as he retrieved an artifact from his ring.
The artifact Rolen was holding was preloaded with grace from Zack to allow the arena to function in his absence. It wasn't as efficient as Zack monitoring them personally, but it would still heal the participants when they collapsed. Zack took off towards Naomi's house while Lilith rushed to the estate.