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Chapter 17: Vytal Festival (Part 4) Junior Hunters

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It was still around 3 in the afternoon, so the group went to eat together. The kids and adults when to an outdoor cafe and ate their lunch. In the middle of devouring his sandwich, Robin spoke up.

“So are any of you guys going to join the tournament?”

Blake exchanged looks with Conner and Ophelia while Adam held his chin as he contemplated.

“Well, none of us really know hand-to-hand combat. Only you do here Robin. I've only trained with Single and Dual Sword Combat.” Blake said.

Ophelia gave a wry smile. “Yeah, I'm more of a mid-range fighter. I don't think I would do very well with just my fists.”

“Haha, I'm only good with daggers. I only know how to run, so I would probably lose really easily.” Conner laughed nervously.

“JES? What about you?” Ophelia asked.

“I'm a katana user, not a brawler. Doing something like that would just make me look stupid, so no thanks. And don't call me JES!”

“Well there you have it.” Ophelia ignored Adam and faced Robin. “We'll cheer you on if you go, but it's your choice.”

The decision was made before he even asked them.

“I'm joining the tournament. Is that ok dad?” Robin looked to his father.

“Of course, son. Lets go and sign up after lunch, but where is it?”

At this they had no answer. The girl named Yang had not told them where it was located. After lunch they traveled to and fro, asking around about the tournament. Apparently, signing up was done outside at the front desk of the coliseum. After they signed up, the man named Thomas explained to Robin the rules.

“The maximum level of participation is 20 and the oldest you can be is ten. Outside help is strictly forbidden. Tomorrow, show up at the arena of Myriad School of Combat at four p.m. There you will compete in a preliminary round to shorten the numbers. Then you'll do simple knockout rounds on a stage.

We'll provide all the potions necessary to replenish you after each round. Weapons are not allowed, but you may use your semblance if you want. However, all attacks are strictly physical. Kicks are allowed, but we'll give you shoes so you don't hurt each other too much. Here's your number.”

He handed Joseph Robin's card.

“Good luck.”

After that they went around and enjoyed the festival yet again. This time, no Cardin appeared, so it was fun and peaceful, with the occasional rejection from anti-faunus people. Every time it happened was depressing, but overall they enjoyed their day. The festivities definitely had something to do with how many people treated them differently. Robin couldn't imagine how it must be when it wasn't the Vytal Festival.

The next day, they went to the coliseum and watched the fights. They were intense matches but were mainly competitions with points rather than actual fighting. Apparently, the fights would be for the top four tomorrow. At four, they made their way onto the campus of the combat school.

Arriving in the arena, the parents and Robin's friends sat in the bleachers while Robin stepped up to the stage and presented his number. It was like a smaller version of the coliseum, but the excitement was just as high. In the entire group of kids, a blonde girl stuck out her hand and waved to him.

“Heeeey Robin. Over here!”

“Hello Yang.” Robin greeted.

“You forgot to tell us where to sign up yesterday.”

She waved her hand and dismissed it.

“Oh whatever, you still got here on time right? So no problem. Anyway good luck. I want us to fight in the finale. That'll be awesome.”

= Hoho. So she's that confident huh. =

Identify

Yang Xiao Long (Lvl 10)HP:340/340Aura:350/350

= Hm. She looks like she has decent stats. She even has more health than me. I don't know what her semblance is so that something to worry about, but I seem to have the upper hand. =

“Wow, you have a lot of aura,” Yang said. Apparently, she was also checking him out.

“The finale looks like it'll be interesting.”

As the two competitors grinned at each other, a man stepped forward. It was Thomas. Yang said good luck and moved towards a different spot. They wanted to fight at the end. No reason to knock each other out now. As he moved his eyes among the kids, he found Cardin glaring at him.

= Oh, so the fodder is here as well. Free exp is always appreciated. =

“Alrights kids, I'll once again go over the rules. No potions, outside help, or weapons are allowed. You may use your semblance as long as the hitting is done physically by your own body. This is strictly physical and we will be watching for any cheaters. First is the preliminary round where we'll reduce the number of fighters to 8. Then, we'll do seven more 1v1's to decide the champion. Defeat is ruled as when your aura or health falls too low or when you've been knocked unconscious or off the stage. Ready? Begin!”

Enhance

All at once, the stage began glowing with a multitude of different colored auras. Robin used 40 aura to boost him entire body.

= Alright, judging from what I've seen so far, not many kids have more than 300 aura. For every minute that passes, we have to spend more aura to keep up Enhance. Danger level is approximately 50 aura, so I can last about 11 minutes if I don't use my semblance. Alright lets do this. =

Bloodlust was a trump card for Robin, so he was saving that for the later rounds. At this point, he just went around knocking out as many of the level 7 and 8 fighters as much as possible. With quick jabs to the gut, hand chops to the neck, and shoulder rams, more fighters left the ring.

There was no need to worry about the really weak ones. Since in the long run, the average level ones would be harder to defeat and outlast as the round dragged on.

As he fought, he noted the strongest fighters. Yang was brutal and didn't hold back on her punches at all. She used a form of kick boxing, generally just overpowering all of her opponents. She fought using instinct more than actual techniques.

In another corner of the stage, a boy was elegantly throwing and pushing anyone who came at him off the stage. Finally, in the last corner was a young girl with black flowing hair tied into a ponytail. Her red eyes darted back and forth as she efficiently took out anyone she laid eyes on. Other than those three, there was nobody worth mentioning, and all three of them looked to be the same age as Robin!

Then something unexpected happened. Thirty kids surrounded Robin. He was confused as to why they suddenly started to turn their attention towards him. Then, he noticed that one of them was Cardin.

“He's one of the strongest ones here. We'll gang up on him and take them down one by one. Get him!”

As he pointed forward, the kids charged. Robin cursed under his breath.

= Damn it! This little cunt actually rallied people to get to me! This is bad. It's been 7 minutes and if I don't put more aura into Enhance I'll be knocked down. But if I do, I won't last long after that. I'm totally gonna beat him to a pulp! =

Enhance

Robin pumped more aura and rushed towards the kids. He tried to knock out as many as he could in one blow to conserve his aura. He guarded as best as he could, but there were just too many kids, and they pumped too much aura into their fists like idiots.

-10

-10

-23

-30

-23

-19

His health dwindled more with each hit. As he was about to take yet another punch, the kid who was attacking got kicked in the face and flew out of the ring. Landing in his spot was the black-haired girl from the other corner.

“1v20 is a bit unfair. How's 2v20?” She looked at Robin.

At the offer of help, Robin nodded and resumed combat. They easily wiped the floor with the idiots. Having two strong people was actually a lot easier than fighting by himself. Robin stopped getting hit and Cardin turned to target someone else after seeing his plan had failed.

= Oh no you don't! =

Grabbing a kid on the floor, Robin threw him at Cardin. He was knocked over and Robin rushed towards him. As Cardin stood up, he received a victory stamp by Robin's feet. He was sent flying off the stage and buried in the grass.

-5

-30

*Whistle* “Stop! The preliminary round is over. Lets introduce the winners! Over in this corner we have Yang Xiao Long!”

Yang smiled and waved her hands. However, her purple eyes was now red, and her yellow hair glowed as if it was on fire.

“In this corner, we have Bill, Bob, Steve, and Joe!” ***cuz background characters don't deserve my brainpower.

“And over here we have Lai Ren!”

The boy waved with a serene expression on his face. Calm and collected.

Robin, at this point, turned to face the young girl who helped him. He was surprised to find that she looked surprisingly similar to Yang.

“And last not but not least we have Robin Wolfheart and Raven Branwen!”

Thomas smiled and spoke into the microphone.

“Looks like this tournament is gonna get interesting.”

She's here!! She's here!! Cuz you know, I'm the guy who can't even stick to his own schedule. And why make you wait for the fight am I right? Depending on how easily I come up with material for the fight, you'll get the next chapter soon. Time to go watch some kung fu movies. As always, comment, rate, and let me know what you guys think. Thanks for reading!