Elemental Zodiack

Chapter 24: The Tournament, part 3

"~Get ready! Because the fifth battle of this tournament is going to start now! Standing in the arena right now, we have the Zodiack with the sign of the Pisces: Masato Kazuya and another contestant that ought to reach the seat of Zodiack: Kirino Dirk!"

"Without further ado... Let the fifth fight... Start!"

--- Kirino carefully looked at all of Masato's moves, while slowly moving towards him, with his catalyst in the form of a battle axe.

"A battle axe... Usually used by the ones with Heavy affinities, such as earth or steel. It is a heavy weapon itself making the user not be able to exert outstanding speed. If we are talking about speed, I win, but water doesn't have enough power, and he is using an axe, so in that department, he wins... It's tough..." thinks Masato, while slowly dragging his catalyst out. 

 At first glance, his catalyst looked like a steel baton, around thirty centimetres long, but not long after taking it out, it extended in a long staff, which he then used to hit the ground once.

"Water Style: Water trap!"

 At this call, from the place where Masato hit the ground, water started flowing continuously towards Kirino, taking the form of water snakes, that would usually ensnare opponents.

"Hah!" with a swing of his axe, Kirino destroyed the water snakes, that soon after started to regenerate.

"Of course, I can't cut water..."

"Water Style: Water s***h!" Masato started assaulting Kirino with continuous waves of ranged attacks, not leaving him any room for movement.

"Crap, I can't defend myself from all of them," as he said this, small cuts visibly appeared on Kirino's arms, with the water blades ripping through his clothes and wounding him all over.

"Wind Style: Weapon control!" Kirino quickly took his battle-axe in both hands, and then took the blade out of the handle, and threw it towards Masato.

"Crap, a wind user?! He has a battle axe!"

 The wind skill Kirino just used is a skill that allows him to control the blade of the axe that he just threw in the air, using the wind currents to guide it. This kind of skill needs a really high level of Life force control, and a lot of training to use.

 Kirino then closed the gap between himself and Masato and started attacking with the handle of the battle-axe, which became a staff used for fast, close combat.

 At this point, Masato could only dodge the flying blade that would circle all over him and try to hit, and also keep his ground against Kirino in this staff battle.

 Leaping backwards once, Masato took his staff and placed it into the ground, closing his eyes.

"Did you give up?" asks Kirino while preparing to attack Masato from two different directions. However...

"Water Style Original Skill: World of Poseidon..." 

 Calling this high-class skill, Masato made water come out of the ground from every corner of the arena, stopping both the flying axe that was approaching and restricting Kirino's movement, ensnaring him. While using this skill that is somewhat of a Water affinity version of Yoso's "Blast Burn", Masato keeps his eyes closed, being able to feel the entire battlefield, making him able to call water out of the ground at any location he wants.

 Like this, Masato's water slowly covered Kirino, catching him in a huge water bubble, making him unable to breathe. After a short time, the outcome was decided, with Kirino's wind technique not being of much help in that situation...

"~ After an incredible show of tactics and wonderful staff fighting, the outcome is decided. And so, the winner of the fifth battle is Masato Kazuya! We'll take, once again, a short break with a message from our sponsor!"

"Mister Masato is as good as he was back then, sincerely, I couldn't see him lose against many of the contestants..." says Yoso

"Masato Kazuya... He trained alone most of his life, then came and joined the Zodiacks at the age of 25, six years ago... He has many accomplishments, and is well-respected by the army," says Laure

"I see... Well, I can see why."

"That Kirino guy is also pretty talented, he put out a good fight, so maybe he still has chances..." says Saki

"True... If not, I already have something in my mind," says Yoso, with Saki and Laure looking, asking themselves what he is thinking about.

 Not soon after this, Shizuo and Shouko appear at the table of the judges, looking towards the arena.

"Did Kein's fight...? We've missed it..."

"I am sorry, mister Shizuo... Mister Kein was amazing though!" says Yoso

"Can't be helped... We'll see the next one."

"It was our turn to patrol around the arena, after all, so we couldn't watch any fight until now. We just changed with the other group," says Shouko

"Ah, I see... I could've made some arrangements if you told me earlier."

"Nah, it's fine... We can't be neglecting our job."

"~ And we are back, and ready for the last fight from the first round of this tournament, the sixth one! Stepping forward we have, D.A, being the last new challenger for the seat of Zodiack, and the Zodiack with the sign of Cancer, Osamu Jin of the Sound!"

 Not many cheers could be heard for any of the competitors. Osamu Jin isn't a very popular Zodiack and D.A...

"What kind of name is D.A?" asks Yoso while eating from a bag of chips.

"I feel like this isn't his real name, but to be honest, I don't even think he is from the army. We don't have many hooded people in the army, moreover, this guy takes it to another level, wearing a mask as well," says Laure

 As he said, this unknown competitor was wearing a hood with a long coat covering his body, similar to that of Sarus, and also a white mask with the only distinguishable aspect being a black line in the middle of it.

"Let's have a good battle!" says Jin with a cheerful tone.

"Yes..." answers D.A with a quiet voice.

"Hmm... Are you perhaps?-" the announcer intervened, not letting Jin finish his question.

"May the sixth, and final battle of the first round, between Osamu Jin and D.A... Start!"

 D.A didn't take his time and rushed towards Jin with his palm opened in the air. White particles gathered around his hand, creating a flamberge, that served the goal of a catalyst.

"Wait... Did he create his own catalyst on the spot? Wouldn't this imply using his powers without one in the first place?" asks Yoso

"I've heard there are people that can do that, and choose to either withstand the downside of doing so, or use a small amount of Life force to do so, so there isn't any penalty at all..." explains Saki

"I see..."

 Osamu Jin places his headphones on his ears, and soon after, he opens the palm of his hand in the air.

"Sound Style: Sound wave!" A wave of sound was directed directly towards D.A, making everyone in the arena cover his ears. However, D.A didn't budge and instead, took the attack head one, cutting through it with his sword.

"Crap... He's closing the gap!" thinks Jin

 D.A's flamberge starts glowing in a beautiful white as he approached Jin...

"...Crescent..." no one could hear the entire phrase, but the word 'Crescent' could be heard well-enough by Jin, that took this attack directly. After giving a small cut to Jin on his abdomen, D.A made his sword disappear and started walking slowly in the way opposite to his opponent.

"What are you doing!? The fight isn't over yet!" shouts Jin, frustrated that the small wound he got made the opponent think it was over.

"It is over, already... Please don't move anymore..." says D.A in a quiet tone.

"Shut up!" shouts Jin, as he launches another wave of sound, directly towards D.A

 The impact didn't hurt D.A at all, being given the difference in their abilities, but it managed to get his... No... Her mask off.

 Surprised by this attack, and probably embarrassed by the fact that everyone saw her true face, D.A quickly leaned down and took her mask from the ground, with a flustered expression on her face.

"You are... A girl?" says Jin, just before fainting on the spot.

"I told you not to move..." says D.A while backing off from that place, leaving Jin fainted on the spot. In the place where the small cut was, a white symbol appeared on Jin's skin, resembling a crescent moon. After diagnosing him, they realized that Jin was out of Life force, and that his Life force was continuously leaking through that small cut...

"~And so, another new participant took a win against one of the Zodiacks in the sixth battle of this tournament! The winner of this battle is... D.A!"