Hanzo and Tohgi arrived at the battle arena.
Hanzo: You actually came, you should have forfeited with your two wins, it is more than anyone expected
Tohgi: what fun would that be?
Hanzo: I am not here to play games, I can't guarantee you wouldn't die.
Tohgi: scary.. You are really confident in yourself
Hanzo: do I have a reason not to be?
Tohgi drew his blade.
Tohgi: You called this a toy, remember?
Hanzo: and?
Tohgi: Good, I just wanted to make sure you did.
Referee: Begin!
They clashed blades multiple times and Hanzo was on the front foot with Tohgi being completely on the defensive. The match was going as most had expected until Tohgi withdrew which led to an abrupt pause.
Hanzo: Your defence is good, I would give you that
Tohgi: Hmm... thank you, I have a pretty accurate measure of how strong you are now
Hanzo: However, you can't defend forever.
Tohgi: let's make this interesting with some rules of our own.
Hanzo: What?
Tohgi: just go with it, it would be worthwhile, I promise. Rule number one. If I knock you out, I'll forfeit the match, I can only win if you give up or the referee declares it too dangerous or pointless for you to continue. Rule number two. If at any point you draw a drop of blood from me, I'll forfeit the match. As you already know, I hate bleeding. That should be enough handicap for you right?
Hanzo was angered by the impudence Tohgi showed towards him.
Hanzo: Are you actually underestimating me or is this supposed to be some southern joke?
Tohgi: Not like I expect you to care considering how pampered you are, but my father sacrificed a lot to buy me this toy...
Tohgi suddenly showed his rage and anger towards Hanzo.
Tohgi: If I don't put you in your place, I would be too ashamed to face him.
Hanzo: ashamed to face him? That doesn't matter any more, the next time he sees you would be at your funeral, if he can afford one.
Tohgi: Great, let's continue then
Hanzo sprung towards Tohgi slashing his blade at him, he evaded the attacked by jumping back to create ditance between them
Hanzo: Wind magic: Air slash
An air slash followed Tohgi which he blocked with his blade. Hanzo followed through with a horizontal swing aimed at his abdomen, Tohgi parried the attack and used the force of Hanzo's blade to flip over it opening Hanzo to a counter strike. He attempted a vertical cut from above, but Hanzo was quick to evade, putting some distance between them.
Hanzo: Wind magic: multi slash
He released four successive air slashes aimed at Tohgi, who was able to block and evade each of them
Tohgi: (Maintaining distance between us would give him an advantage, is four his limit? Let's find out).
Hanzo released another set of four air slashes, Tohgi dodged the first three slashes, while concentrating reiki at the sole of his feet, and on the last slash, he released the reiki at the sole of his feet and propelled himself towards Hanzo, dodging the final air slash on his way. Tohgi began clashing blades with him
Tohgi: You seem a bit uncomfortable, are you alright?
Tohgi's taunting only angered Hanzo more, his attacks became more forceful in a bid to overpower Tohgi. During their altercation, Tohgi parried an attack from Hanzo in a way that created an opening which he used to close in on him. He kneed him in the gut, lifting him off the ground and followed through by kicking his torso and sending him flying across the arena floor.
Crowd: What?
Crowd: He's an Arachni, how is a southerner matching him?
The murmurs and chatter among the spectators grew louder as the match went on.
Edana: (Is Hanzo… losing?)
Hanzo: tch
Hanzo became more aggravated by the series of events and immediately thrusted at Tohgi, who dodged to the side, but Hanzo followed with a vertical slash from under which knocked Tohgi's blade into the air, disarming him. Tohgi flipped backwards after being disarmed, Hanzo followed him with a diagonal slash, but Tohgi immediately stepped into Hanzo's range. He stopped the attack by grabbing his wrist and used his shoulder and body weight to push Hanzo back to disrupt his balance. He used the advantage he had created against Hanzo to kick him across the arena again. tohgi calmly walked to his blade and picked it up.
Tohgi: You're not done yet are you? Weren't you supposed to show me the difference between your blade and my toy?
Referee: (This kid… "There is a limit to how far you can reach relying on your wits alone, if you lack actual strength" Did I read him completely wrong?)
Hanzo got up enraged and rushed in for an attack, Tohgi parried the attack away and immediately sliced through Hanzo's arm.
Tohgi: hmmmm... I thought my blade couldn't draw blood. This is good news for me
Referee: (The match is decided, in actuality, it was decided from the moment he gave into his emotions)
Hanzo: Wipe that smug look off your face
Hanzo switched his blade to his left hand.
Tohgi: this isn't a battle any more, just give up
Hanzo: Who the hell do you think is going to give up?
Referee: (Maybe a little while longer, there might be another surprise in store)
Tohgi sheathed his blade.
Tohgi: If you think this is determination, it is not, you are just being foolish and prideful, I no longer need a blade.
Hanzo: Shut the hell up!
Hanzo gave one more valiant attempt at cutting Tohgi, but the attacks were too simple and weak. They were easily dodged by Tohgi.
Tohgi: You are too obviously right handed
Tohgi grabbed his wrist midway through an attack, twisted his hand, pulled his shoulder towards him and dislocated it with his other hand. Unable to use both hands, Hanzo tried to put the hilt of the blade in his mouth to continue the fight.
Referee: (This fight is unbecoming) Match!
Hanzo: I'M NOT DONE YET.
Tohgi: It's over (he didn't show any signs of pain, I don't know what to make of that)
Edana: Hanzo...
Flashback
Edana: Why do you want to be a swordsman so much, we are both branches of the Arachni family, clans are beneath us.
Hanzo: My mother got thrown out of our clan, I am going to prove them wrong and lead one of the eight warrior clans
Edana: Oh, I see, my path is already set out for me, I want to join the knights for fun, when I turn 23, I would marry an influential man that would boost my families status and birth a strong heir hopefully
Hanzo: Is that all you really want?
Edana: It is a life of luxury, what more could you want, your mother understood that.
Hanzo: My mother followed her heart, isn't that what women want?
Edana: her heart, hmm, duty takes priority, or we wouldn't be where we are now, I am happy if I get to keep living like this.
Hanzo: I see, my duty is to my blade, I'm not going to stop until I'm at the top
Edana: You're too serious, aren't we supposed to meet the heir of the Arachni today?
Hanzo: Ken
Edana: He's probably a stuck up brat, let's go
Flashback ends
Crowd: He lost
Crowd: Quite embarrassingly as well, the Arachni are all talk after all.
Crowd: Three representatives and two lose to a southerner.
Crowd: Losers!
The snickers and mockery from the crowd got louder
Edana: He's not a loser... He isn't...
The officials directed Hanzo to the recovery room and Toghi was declared the winner of the match. The results of the final test were announced to those who were available at the arena, in the order of number of victories.
Official: The results are as follow, Tohgi: 3 wins and 0 losses, Tashiro: 3 wins and 0 losses, Hanzo: 2 wins and 1 loss, Dante: 2 wins and 1 loss, Edana: 2 wins and 1 loss, Tobi: 2 wins and 1 loss, Bracken: 1 win and 2 losses, Ron: 1 win and 2 losses, Zell: 1 win and 2 losses, Lyman: 1 win and 2 losses, Yamna: 0 wins and 3 losses, Gimva: 0 wins and 3 losses. The board shows the results of each individual fight, the victor in bold. If there is any complaints of the recorded results, you are free to challenge it.
December, 21st.
Tashiro vs Ron, Hanzo vs Gimva, Tohgi vs Dante
Zell vs Tobi, Edana vs Lyman, Bracken vs Yamna
December, 24th.
Tohgi vs Edana, Zell vs Lyman, Hanzo vs Yamna
Bracken vs Ron, Dante vs Gimva, Tobi vs Tashiro
December, 27th.
Dante vs Yamna, Bracken vs Tobi, Edana vs Gimva
Tashiro vs Lyman, Tohgi vs Hanzo, Ron vs Zell
The competition finally came to a close and the inauguration was set to take place at the end of the new year festival which occurs between the 25th of December and the 7th of January. It was set for the 6th and the results to be announced on the 7th to the public marking the end of the festival and the beginning of a new year.
END!