"That was quick. I still can't figure out what magic Sasha used," Kojo said, walking toward the door into the arena, rubbing his chin.
"(I don't have enough data to come to a conclusion.)"
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
"(You're going to have to fight her.)"
"Yeah, but I have to deal with that jackass first." He remembered Axle and gagged.
"(Remember you're going to have to fight her to win the tournament.)"
"Yeah, but this match comes first. I'ma wipe the floor with Axle." He cracked his knuckles.
"Kojo," someone called from behind. He turned and saw Sharone and the girls coming toward him.
"Oh, hey guys, sup?" he asked casually.
"You know you're taking this way too lightly," Koniko said, folding her arms.
"Yeah, Axle's ruthless and will do anything necessary to win," Adriana said in a worried voice. Kojo just patted her head.
"Don't worry, princess. I'm gonna be fine," he said with a smile. He heard Zang call his name in the arena and turned to walk away.
"Well, that's my cue," he said, waving at them.
"Wait," Sharone said, rushing forward.
"Yeah, what is it, Shar-" He was cut short when Sharone wrapped her hands around him and kissed him. He blinked in surprise. The others opened their mouths in shock.
"Hey, no fair!" Lin yelled, pointing at them.
Koniko just growled, and Adriana's face turned red with embarrassment.
She pulled back and touched his chest.
"Promise me you won't do anything reckless." Kojo hugged her.
"I promise you, all of you, I'm going to win the tournament and come out unscathed."
He released her and walked out, meeting cheers from the crowd.
Sharone watched him go.
"Wow, that was so romantic," Reynolds said, startling her.
"Big brother!" Adriana said.
"How long have you been standing there?" Lin asked.
"Oh, don't worry. I saw everything. That was so touching," he said, closing his eyes, hugging himself, and squirming. "Oh Kojo, Kojo," he kept repeating.
He felt an invisible force pressing down on him and opened one eye just in time to see multiple slaps flying toward him.
Giovanni walked into a dark room, walking toward a table with a veil of glowing red liquid.
"I've waited long enough."
Kojo walked on, oblivious to Reynolds' cries of agony as the girls beat him.
"(They're right, you know.)"
"Yeah," he said, touching his temple.
"(Okay, so since we don't know what to expect, I suggest you concentrate on evasive maneuvers while I come up with countermeasures.)"
"Okay," Kojo said. Sysia sighed.
"(What would you do without me?)"
"No need to rub it in."
He came to a stop a few feet away from Axle.
"Alright. Both combatants are present. Now to introduce them, we have-"
"Let's just get this over with," Axle yelled at Zang, not taking his eyes off Kojo.
"This is as far as you go, Kojo," Axle said, drawing his rapier and making his battle stance, pointing it at him.
Caliburn appeared in Kojo's right hand, and he also took his stance.
"Alright, fight!" Zang yelled from the air.
A whirlwind blew around Axle's blade, the wind so strong it blew everything away in all directions, even threatening to pull the audience from their seats. Kojo, however, stood firm, unshaken by Axle's display of power.
"Goodbye, Kojo!" he yelled, dashing forward. Kojo braced himself. The arena suddenly became calm as if nothing had happened. Axle stood there frozen, blood flowing from his nose and mouth. His arms dropped to the sides of his body, and the rapier fell from his hand. A large blade pierced through his chest and lifted him up. The crowd gasped.
He coughed more blood.
Sasha swung her blade, tossing his body aside and stabbing it into the ground.
"I don't have time to wait for you to play with that fool when you could dance with me," she said with a crazed look on her face. "I've been watching you, Kojo. Not only has a contender from the weakest province won all your matches, but you have in your possession the holy sword Caliburn."
The runes in Kojo's sword flashed. The ones on Sasha's sword flashed too.
"No way," Kojo said in surprise, jumping back.
"(Sasha is in possession of the holy sword Durandel, the sword famed to have dominion over space.)"
"Shit."
"I can't wait any longer," she said, disappearing and appearing in front of Kojo and punching him into the wall. Kojo managed to block, but the force caused him to cough blood.
He got to his feet but felt an invisible force barely miss his face. He heard a ringing in his ears, and a cut appeared on his cheek.
He jumped out of the way but was suddenly pulled into the ground, the force pushing him down. He fired a thread and pulled himself away. He did a flip and fired lightning at Sasha. An orb appeared in front of her, sucking in the attack then disappearing.
"What the?"
The orb appeared above him and released the lightning, blasting him into the ground. He got to his feet.
Hyper Thought.
He jumped out of the way just as the ground where he was originally standing exploded. A large gash appeared there as it was struck by a blade.
Kojo wondered what was going on, then bent backward. With his enhanced perception, he saw what appeared to be a transparent crescent. The arena shook as a large gash appeared on the wall.
Kojo turned.
"Is evading really the best you can do? I'm beginning to get disappointed," Sasha said, standing at the exact spot where she was.
It then occurred to Kojo that she hadn't moved an inch. The thought pissed him off.
"Alright, let's see you handle this."
Hyper Thought, Fractured Psyche: Chain magic.
Multiple magic circles appeared behind Kojo and began to fire a barrage of magic attacks, each circle releasing a type of magic from each of the known elements, ranging from ice spikes to boulders to lightning to even shadow and light bullets.
"Wow, I dare say Kojo is one of the most powerful mages ever to emerge in the empire. Aside from the Saints, no one has been able to cast more than two magics at the same time, let alone all of them simultaneously. Just who is he?" Zang wondered out loud. "But Sasha's equally impressive; she hasn't moved an inch."
Four orbs sucked in all of Kojo's attacks.
"I see. He's divided his brain into sections, each of them in charge of a specific magic." Kojo appeared behind her and swung his sword; she dodged and grabbed the blade and tried to punch him, but he let go of the sword and tried to encase her in ice that shot from the ground. The space in front of her split, causing the ice to freeze on either side of her until they hit the arena wall. "Good strategy-" she said. Kojo rushed forward and grabbed one of her breasts. Sasha was momentarily frozen, her face turned red. She punched him back and covered her chest. There was an uproar from all the men in the crowd.
"What!" the girls said together.
"Hmm, a pervert to the very end," Leo said.
Kojo jumped back, then looked down at his hand.
"Your boobs are really soft."
"(That's not the point.)"
"Now I understand what your ability is. I should have realized it the moment I saw Durandel. You're a spatial mage. Those orbs you used to absorb my attacks are miniature black holes. And those slashes as well as my attacks being thrown off course are as a result of you folding space."
Sasha threw him his sword.
She then grabbed the hilt of her sword and pulled it out.
"Wow, that was a really bold thing for you to do," she said.
"Wait, is she, like, turned on right now?" Kojo wondered, watching as she rubbed her legs together.
"Show me more!" she yelled at him.
Kojo looked at her then smiled. Guess there's no more holding back.
"(Hyper Thought and the Calculation function have been merged to create the ability Accelerant. This ability enables you to calculate an opponent's strategies, taking into account all possibilities, both likely and unlikely, effectively coming out with countermoves against up to three foreseen moves of the enemy.)"
"English," Sysia groaned.
"(In kindergarten terms, I created a skill that enables you to see up to 5 seconds into the future.)"
"Oh, thanks, Sysia." Sysia mumbled. Kojo was sure she was dissing him, but he ignored it and rushed to attack Sasha.