The first day ended without incident with all participants fighting one battle. There were now roughly fifty participants on each stage left.

The second day will take place with a person fighting once more and then using a special method to determine the ten finalists of each stage.

The fighting today will be twice as faster as the first day so the competitors will get a lot of rest for the next rounds.

Yoko and Akane were quickly selected and coincidentally at the same time. Akane was the fifth to step on the stage and Yoko was the fourth, the fight on Yoko's side ended quicker than Akane's.

Akane was fighting a twelve year old boy. Each and every person from Akane and Yoko's batch were eliminated save for them.

Only people above twelve years old were left, this boy that Akane was fighting was the youngest after Akane and Yoko. It could be said to be a huge coincidence but the elder decides the fights and so it was probably on the elder's whim.

Akane wore her gloves and then aimed a battle stance at the enemy.

"Aren't you going to use your weapons?"

The enemy took a battle stance but didn't reveal any of his weapons.

The enemy shook his head before provoking Akane with his hand that signaled that he wanted to start to battle.

"Alright, suit yourself."

Akane leaped towards the boy but he didn't even try to make a move.

Akane made a palm strike towards the boy's chest but before it could land, Akane felt like she could see an afterimage and her attack missed.

She made a few backflips before making a defensive stance.

"What was that?"

Akane furrowed her brows and looked at the boy. The boy didn't react at all and aimed his palm towards Akane.

His palm shot out and Akane felt that a palm strike had hit her chest.

"Gah!"

Akane was flung backwards but recovered her footing by using her hand to take hold of the floor.

"Wha-?!"

Before she could analyze the situation, another palm strike made its way over to her.

She instinctively dodged to the side and the palm strike managed to narrowly miss.

"Very good."

The boy let out two words in response to Akane's dodge.

"You managed to avoid my palm strike."

Akane furrowed her brows and stood up, she made another defensive stance.

"You were the one who talked with words before, what happened to them?"

The boy asked Akane, it wasn't provocation, it was a question.

"I can't really focus on solving how you managed to use that attack if I talk all the time."

"I see, you're trying to analyze it."

The boy spoke no further words and then aimed another palm strike.

"Fly for me."

Akane's pupils contracted and her hands moved to block two spots, her chest and her abdomen.

Once Akane felt impact on her palms, she separated her hands as she felt two palms strike her.

"So it has physical form."

The boy furrowed his brows once he saw Akane successfully block his attack.

"How did you..."

"I see, no wonder I was so confused. That isn't the power of darkness."

The boy's eyes widened but soon a smile crept unto his face.

"Great analysis, I'm a dual attribute user. I was born with darkness and wind but it wasn't that of an advantage."

Akane was surprised but then leaped forward.

She made a palm strike towards his chest and her other palm was kept close to her body.

The same event as earlier happened, an afterimage was attacked in place of the real body.

Akane used her outstretched hand to use the floor as leverage. The boy didn't forget to take advantage of this opportunity and unleashed a palm strike at Akane.

"I found it."

Akane had a huge grin after she blocked the palm strike and altered her trajectory.

"Found what?"

The boy made continuous palm strikes to stop Akane from getting close again.

"Your weakness."

Akane had a huge grin on her face and once more charged forward, she somersaulted multiple times to dodge the palm strikes.

"So agile..."

The boy cursed and then made a fist instead of a palm.

"[Wind Tiger's Roar]."

As he punched, the silhouette of a tiger appeared around his fist and into the air. It felt as if a real tiger had just roared and headed straight for Akane.

"[Fast Movement], [Smokescreen]."

Akane sped up as dark smoke began rising from her previous position.

"That won't be enough!"

The boy roared and the tiger changed directions towards Akane. Once Akane got close, the tiger switched positions again and was heading straight for Akane.

Just before the tiger could hit Akane, the dark smoke covered the entire area except for the tiger. After the tiger passed through Akane's position, the dark smoke in the air vanished as a strong gust of wind blew apart the dark smoke.

Neither Akane’s body nor silhouette can be seen which made the boy furrow his brows.

Where is she...

The boy turned left right over and over but to no avail. He tried checking upwards and below but nothing.

All of a sudden, he felt a punch on his arm.

"Tch!"

He clicked his tongue and swung his fist left which met nothing but air.

Another moment later, a punch landed on the side of his abdomen.

"Gah!"

The boy made a fist and punched but nothing.

"Where are you?!"

The boy punched the floor with a huge gust of wind accompanied by dark smoke.

He looked at the floor where the dark smoke was scattered and could see parts of it being blown away at a rapid speed.

"It couldn't be..."

The boy half closed his eyes and tried to look at the surroundings more closely until he saw a faint shadow before it disappeared.

After that, he saw that the dark smoke that was around him suddenly formed a path directly towards him.

"It can't be!"

This punch was a lot stronger than the rest, it was a straight punch for the center of his abdomen.

Instead of doing a hit and run, the fist and the person could finally be seen.

"Gah... It can't be... You moved so fast that the human eye can't see you from this close?!"

"That would normally be impossible for me but, you're correct."

"...How...?"

The boy was gasping for breath over and over.

"I multiplied the amount of times I sped up using my special technique."

That's right, she had used [Double Cast] on [Fast Movement]. It could be said to be utterly suicidal using it with her current body but she had no other choice as this boy controlled the power of darkness and wind. But he had one fatal weakness, he was half a cripple.

"Your legs must be barely functioning, am I correct?"

"...That's right..."

Akane retreated a few steps but the boy's expression darkened.

"Unfortunately, I don't want to lose here."

Akane immediately sensed danger and retreated.

The boy's expression changed from his aloof face to sinister.

"I didn't really want to use this but you leave me no choice."

The boy made a cross with his arms in front of him and one of the pupils in his eyes turned pitch black and the other turned green.

"[The Fallen Tengu's Will]."

(A/N: Tengu (??, "heavenly dog") are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yokai (supernatural beings). )

An illusory image of a human body with a long nose, red face, and a beak appeared behind the boy.

"Remember my name, Kuroshi Higashi; the man who defeated you."

The boy, Kuroshi Higashi let out a huge roar and the illusory tengu mimicked his movements and crossed its arms as well.

"What the heck is that?!"

"Isn't that a 'tengu'?!"

"He has a move to make an illusory tengu?! As if having dual attributes wasn't strong enough!"

By the other stage, Yoko's face had worry written all over it and she clenched her fist.

"Akane..."

Most of the battles had a slight pause and everyone was looking at the second stage as all the wind in the area began to gather there.

"I see."

With the wind gathering in the area and her eyes being covered by her hair, the expression on her face couldn't be seen. But the tone in her voice signified that she wasn't going to give up.

She took a running position just as the move fell.

"Take the wrath of the fallen tengu!"

A huge tornado appeared overhead as multiple small tornadoes appeared on the side, it cornered each and every one of Akane's exits.

"You lose!"

Higashi's voice sounded just as the move arrived.

The tornado landed and a huge gust of wind blew on everyone. It was as if compressed air blew up beside them. The audience wasn't spared either.

"Hooh."

Hyosuke placed his chin on the back of his hand and made a voice of surprise.

"That boy, I'm certain that he's got somebody very important teaching him. I'm quite certain that it's that person."

Hyosuke, rather than praising the Higashi; tried to find his background. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

Erina kept silent but had a worried look on her face as she looked at Akane.

Back at the stage, Higashi yelled for his victory but before he could gloat for long, a familiar voice came from beside his ear.

"Aren't you celebrating too early?"

"Wha-!?"

A punch landed on his cheek which sent him flying but he managed to regain his footing.

"She's still here?!"

Before he could launch a counterattack, another punch sent him flying.

"She's even faster?!"

"I have to end this quick."

Akane spat out some blood and quickly moved faster. She punched Higashi over and over in multiple places.

Higashi was already kneeling on the floor after a few seconds.

"[Wind Tiger's Roa-!"

"I won't let you."

Akane's voice cut in and a knee landed on his chin which sent him toppling in the air.

By that point, Higashi's consciousness was nearly gone. Akane jumped with her tremendous speed as a leverage and twisted three times in the air before she kicked on his abdomen.

A huge sound of rock being broken resounded as Higashi's body landed through the floor until his entire body couldn't be seen from the side.

The impact from the kick made a crater on the floor with a larger hole in the center.

The elder on the side had his mouth wide open when Akane's figure stood beside the crater.

"...C-competitor Akane wins!"

A few seconds before

Moments before, during the attack of Higashi, Akane made a running position. And accompanying that, she casted a spell.

"[Fast Movement], [Double cast], [Double Cast], [Double Cast]."

Akane's voice was low and nobody else could hear it with the massive wind that was devestating the area.

"I have to time it right or I'll get caught up in the shockwave."

The tornadoes neared and just before all exits were sealed, Akane leaped. She double casted [Fast Movement] which is supposed to enhance her movement by twice as much as before. A total of sixteen times her normal speed, she was already quite fast but with sixteen times, she was certainly faster than the wind.

Of course, the toll on her body wasn't low. Her legs felt like they would give out at anytime and her mana was running empty, but she couldn't afford to lose, not after what she promised to Yoko and to herself.

Akane lost track of her movements, just one of her step comprises of sixteen, if she ran there would be no doubt that she'd land outside the ring.

"I have to risk it; his body is tough, I can't even damage him with regular attacks."

At that time, Higashi yelled for his victory and Akane once more appeared. She withstood the damage that her body experienced.

Present Time

A large cheer resounded from the other competitors and the audience; that was the best fight they've seen yet. It was only the second day so they were expecting more in the future.

Akane walked slowly outside the stage and went to Yoko's side.

"Good job."

Yoko smiled and patted Akane on her shoulder.

"My whole body hurts right now so please don't do that."

Akane smiled wryly at Yoko's actions.

"My body hurts as well but not as much as yours."

Yoko merely smiled and hugged her.

"Just collapse already, I know your body is at its limit."

"...Then, please take care of me."

Akane's head dropped down on Yoko's shoulder as her consciousness faded.