Here I am sitting on the toilet, refusing to leave because I know that the next upcoming fight is mine. I can only hope that the stadium repairs take the rest of the day. I haven’t even come up with a plan to defeat Sirius yet.

“Will the stadium repairs are nearly complete. They are going to start your next match even if the barrier hasn’t been fully repaired. You need to come out soon or else Armstrong is gonna come looking for you!” Remi yells from outside the restroom doors.

“I can’t right now Remi, I’m taking care of very serious business right now!” I yell back.

“You’ve been in there for the past 30 minutes, you can’t honestly believe me to expect you’re still doing your business at this time.”

“Remi, I'm strategizing right now. The toilet is where I have my best ideas.”

I say that as an excuse, but it really does tend to be where I have my best ideas.

“And what exactly have you come up with?”

“...”

“Nothing?!”

“It’s not like that, it's just that all the ideas I do have end up with me getting disqualified or are no longer an option.”

“Like how?” she inquired.

“Ok plan 1 was to cast a tornado spell strong enough to suck him into the air and have the fight entirely in the sky. But that ends up with...”

“The audience getting sucked in,” Remi finished.

“Exactly. Plan number 2 was borrowing a ton of explosives from Ryder to use in my fight, but he’s...”

“Passed out in the infirmary.”

“Yep.” I acknowledge.

All of my cheap scumbag plans have all gone out the window.

“Look, why are you resorting to these kinds of methods, don’t you believe in your own ability and skill to win you the fight?” Remi posed.

“...”

“Will, you need to have more confidence in yourself, take me as an example.”

“Like the blind confidence that keeps getting you into bad situations,” I roast.

“N-No not like that. What was all that training for? Also I need you to win so that we can get the tournament winnings at the end.”

“Ugh, I’ll bet you 500 gold I'll lose this next fight, but I’ll fight legitimately,” I proposed.

“You’re on, 500 gold that you win,” Remi says confidently.

I exit the restroom trying to hide the stress as we walk out to the stands. The stadium could be described as “barely operational” as it looks like they just tossed as much dirt they could trying to fill the hole that Ryder’s fight had left. The barrier has a very visible crack in it, but it is at least operational again. Armstrong and everyone else is already seated waiting for the Emperor to announce the next fight. The only difference is that Akane, Warren and their child are actually here this time.

“Ah there you are my boy, was beginning to get ready to fetch you myself. You were in there so long I thought the other guilds may have tried a preemptive attack,” Armstrong chuckled.

“Ah but you see I was already attacked. The toilet was a fearsome foe, I barely managed to get out alive,” I say sarcastically.

“He’s fine, but he probably won’t be in a few minutes,” Quincy jokes.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence there Quincy,” I sighed.

“You're welcome.”

“You’ll be fine Will, just remember our training. If you got through that, then there’s no way you lose this fight,” Lilith tells me.

Yes I remember, my body won’t allow me to forget the amount of physical training we did. If anything I’m confident in my ability to take a hit now.

“When it gets to the point where you get really beat up, just say that you are fighting for your friends and you shall get an enormous power boost,” I hear Akane tell me.

“Thanks for the advice, but I don’t think it works that way.”

“Nonsense, it worked for me. Warren, tell him how the power friendship allowed us to defeat a villain a few weeks ago.”

“What she said,” Warren says reluctantly.

“If you can’t do that, then try this. You must scream loudly when using your trump card or unleashing your true power. It makes it ten times more effective,” Akane revealed.

I am not an anime protagonist, so I have my doubts about this really working.

“Do you even have a plan to defeat your next opponent? If it's from the kraken guild, there’s a high likelihood that you will be fighting a monk,” Azura stated.

“There is no plan,” I let out.

“Because you're confident that you can beat anyone they send out right? That’s the way,” Armstrong says, jumping to conclusions.

I hear the familiar blare of trumpets as the Emperor and Luther walk out and sit in their throne/lawn chair while conversing in something fascinating judging by the looks on their face. Well Emperor Marcus’ face since I can’t see past Luther’s helmet.

“Has everybody had the chance to enjoy their short break? If so then let’s get this tournament up and running again!” Marcus shouts.

The crowd comes back to life as I hear cheers galore.

Oh boy here we go. I feel my guts tighten in anticipation.

“The next match will be between Dragon’s Descent and Kraken’s Deep. Guild leaders please send out your representatives for the next match.”

Armstrong stands up before bellowing out the order.

“Representing Dragon’s Descent we send out the first hero!”

I stand up and summon forth my sword from my pocket dimension. I also adjust the straps on my leather armor as I jump down into the arena. I hear the crowd, not just the ones from Dreden, start to cheer for me. I can feel an assortment of eyes staring down at me like they’re expecting this next match to be remarkable. I wonder how it’ll feel when I let them all down.

The small woman from the Kraken guild stands to announce their representative.

“Representing Kraken’s Deep shall be one of our best martial artists, Sirius,” she announced.

The stoic man with blue tipped hair jumps down into the arena before adjusting his gi. There is a similar amount of cheer for Sirius almost as if he were the underdog in this fight. How ironic that the reality is the opposite.

“First hero, are you ready to show me the result of your training? It’s time we settle things once and for all!” Sirius declared.

I take a deep breath before answering,

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

There is only one strategy that will get me through this match. I close my eyes to begin gathering it.

The emperor stands as the familiar looking gong is brought out once again.

“Now that we have our two combatants, it is time to begin our match.”

The sound of the sledgehammer hitting the gong reverberates through my ears.

Half a minute passes and I still haven’t heard Sirius move. He must be waiting for me to make the first move. Fine then, if you’re willing to wait.

“Ahem I believe the match has started, did those two not hear?” the Emperor asks Luther.

“Marcus my friend, I implore you to look a bit closer,” Luther instructs.

“Closer you say. Ah I see!”

I hear similar comments surrounding me as I continue my strategy.

“Um what’s going on, how come those two haven’t started fighting yet?” Remi wondered.

“HAH! This Sirius fellow is a monk through and through allowing his opponent to do that!” Armstrong laughed.

“Truly, you monk types are always like this,” Jack agrees.

“Can someone explain what’s going on?” Lilith ordered.

Their questioning is interrupted by what sounds like the voice of the Kraken guild’s leader.

“Sirius! Stop allowing the first hero to gather so much magical energy and attack already. We’re trying to win here!” the small woman shouted.

Too late. Sirius already gave me all the time I needed. I’ve already hit the capacity of how much energy I can hold. For the past few weeks my training focused on gathering, containing and refining power. It's not perfect, nor completely compatible, but I should be able to absorb the magical energy in the area and integrate it into myself, like an extension of my aura. Now it's time to refine that power. Time to move to step two.

I take out a healing potion from my pocket dimension and consume its contents.

“What is this folks, the first hero has taken a healing potion despite not even taking damage yet!” Emperor Marcus observes.

“Ohoh, I wonder exactly what strategy this shall turn out to be,” Luther remarked.

I grip the hilt of my sword as I unleash its ability.

“Sirius, I must thank you for waiting. Out of respect for you, I’m going all out from the beginning,” I say.

The stoic man says nothing as he gets into his stance and stares at me.

I unleash the stored power within me as I let my aura flare out. I draw out every last bit of my full power as I channel it through my sword. The surrounding rocks and dirt start levitating in response to all the power I’m putting out.

“Wow folks, what we are looking at is the entirety of one’s aura here. That’s certainly deserving of a champion rank for sure!” Marcus complimented.

“Is he really going all out from the beginning?! What happened to slowly ramping it up over time like a good fight?” Armstrong complained.

“Ha, that’s certainly one of your bad habits. However if Will does this, he most likely won’t be able to fight in the next round tomorrow. Someone is going to have to pick up the slack,” Jack noted.

“I know, the main character never does this in the comics. Will is clearly not following convention here,” Akane says agreeing with Armstrong.

I can feel my power surging through my body however…

“I’m not... done yet.”

The ability of my sword enhances my strength, multiplying it by a factor of two. My body begins to feel the repercussions as it is pushed past its normal restraints. My aura flares even further as it begins to emit a rumbling sound as it causes tremors within the stadium.

“That sudden surge in strength, it’s that power. That enhancement magic multiplies one’s power, but if their body can’t handle it then...” Azura started.

“So that’s what the healing potion was for,” Remi finished.

I look on at Sirius as a bead of sweat begins to gather on his forehead.

“Marvelous, the first hero had this kind of strength within him just hidden away. I wish I were in that arena right now!” Marcus envied.

I haven’t reached my limit yet. I can take it one step further before it begins to destroy my body. I decide to take Akane’s advice as I yell out while unleashing my trump card. The multiplier is released.

“ONE MORE TIME! TIMES THREE! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” I yelled.

I thought this would feel a bit awkward, but with the pain surging through my body, all this yelling is starting to feel cathartic. I feel a flood of endorphins rush through my brain as I feel all the power accumulate within me.

“He’s doing it. He’s doing it child! Aren’t you glad I took us all to see this?” Akane asks the child who can’t hear anything with her earmuffs on.

The sheer pressure from my enhanced strength causes the barrier surrounding Sirius and I to crack.

“I see… If this is your full power, then I shall respond in kind. I will hereby demonstrate a technique taught only to the high level members of the Kraken guild. HRAHHHHH!” Sirius grunted.

The stoic man’s aura surged as well as a comparable growth in his musculature. He brought out a strength I never knew he had within him, this power definitely is not the same as when I fought him the first time.

“First hero, this technique draws out all the body's latent strength and pushes it to its limit. This is my Deep Emergence!”

All the pressure that both of us are exerting causes the barrier to crack even more.

“This fight…. Armstrong, how much do you want to bet that this fight will last less than 5 minutes?” Jack puts on the table.

Armstrong strokes his beard for a moment before answering.

“It certainly could turn out that way, but I’m putting money on the fact that it could turn into a drawn out slugfest after these two burn out,” he says.

“Amazing! A technique pulls out all of the body's hidden energy and a technique that can greatly magnify one’s strength. Are we sure these two belong in the champion rank, this is most certainly on the edge of Savior tier power?” Marcus questions.

“These two are showing quite a bit of valor and guts. Even edging their way close to the savior rank if only briefly,” Luther progressed.

At some point the increase in our powers ceases and we stare the other down.

“Sirius, here I come!” I yelled.

I crouch down and cross the distance between us in an instant. One horizontal slice of my sword connects with Sirius and causes a massive burst of wind to erupt from the slash. Sirius is sent flying to the edge of the wall, his aura protecting him from the brunt of the damage. The walls behind him are destroyed along with a significant part of the barrier. Sirius immediately dashes forward and sends out a strong push kick which I block with my sword. The impact goes straight through me and the pressure of that blow collapses the part of the arena behind me. Both of our hits are capable of a massive amount of destruction. Both Sirius and I vanish as we move fast enough that normal people would no longer be able to see us with their bare eyes.

“Look at the speed of these two fighters everyone. This is what the tournament is about, fierce, furious devastation,” Marcus comments.

I know how Sirius fights, longer fights are bad for me as his kicks become more powerful with momentum. I need to be aggressive, faster, stronger. Don’t give him a chance to think. In our past fight, he’d ramp up his strength, gauging his opponent and using the right form as he’d see fit, but with the speed of this battle that is no longer an option for him. With both of us using our full power right off the bat, I can tell he’s gone straight into what he calls his storm form. Attacks are fast, short and quick. Single hits are potent, but I’ve grown to withstand it. He’s using a thin, but sturdy barrier of water to cushion my sword blows. I’m choosing to counter by wrapping my sword in a shroud of razor sharp wind. We trade quick swift blows that chip away at one another’s defense. Sirius has the advantage in attack power despite me having longer range due to my sword. I can barely control the flow of battle at this rate.

With a swift kick in my direction, Sirius sends a tidal wave of water at me as I blow it away with the immense air pressure of a clean sword strike. As the two forces collide, mist fills the air, obstructing my vision as I feel Sirius approach. I instinctively dodge as I sense a kick coming for my head. A sword slash in response is halted by a barrier of water, barely nicking his leg. He stomps his foot into the ground causing water to erupt from the ground, which then quickly changes into spikes of ice. I immediately employ a flurry of blows to slash away the spikes, however I’m not fast enough as a few spikes leave scratches along my forearm. I can barely feel the pain due to the adrenaline rushing through my brain and all my concentration has been centered on keeping up my full power. I spin in a circle while using my wind to blow away all the mist before feeling the ground beneath me take me up as Sirius raises a large pillar of ice beneath me. Dizzied by the sudden change in altitude I barely see Sirius come down from the sky while performing an axe kick. I know I can’t dodge this attack, so I gather nearly all of my remaining aura into my fist as I guard against his kick. In that split second as I feel his foot connect with my shoulder, my one precise attack to his chest should change the course of this battle.

The ice pillar collapses as both Sirius and I are sent flying in opposite directions, crashing into the walls of the arena.

“Wind vs Water, these two forces clashing is the definition of a storm. On that note, who do you predict will win Imperial Knight Luther?” Emperor Marcus asks.

“Hmm, on one note it seems that the martial artist Sirius has shown to have quite a bit more battle experience than our first hero here. His reaction time and martial skill are superb. However the sheer amount of power the first hero has shown here, may be more than enough to make up for that gap. Since Sirius allowed the first hero to gather that much energy, Will doesn’t seem to be running out of energy any time soon, so he may win the battle of attrition,” Luther analyzed.

“True, those are certainly important factors to be considered, but another point of contention is the flow of battle. So far Sirius has carried the tide, but due to that last exchange we may see the tide turn,” Marcus responds.

I pry myself from the imprint I’ve made on the wall. My body aches and bruises. Sirius’s attacks have definitely dealt a good bit of damage to my body. I’m pretty sure my left shoulder has been dislocated from the force of his kick. I take my right hand and forcefully shove the displaced joint back into place, making an audible click. I wince from the pain, but it's not the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. My leather armor is definitely destroyed, so I unlatch the shattered apparel and rip away my tattered clothing leaving me shirtless. Several spots on my chest, abdomen, arms and legs are either blue, black or purple.

I look over to Sirius who has climbed out of his crater in the wall, but I notice his movements are much slower than before. His body is covered in lacerations from my attacks, blood continuously streams down his arms and legs as they have taken the brunt of my slashes. His Gi is tattered as well, several long cuts divide the fabric as only one small piece holds it from falling apart.

He starts to raise his hands to go back into his storm form, but struggles to gather his aura.

“Tch, I didn’t expect the attack I taught you to come back to me like this,” Sirius laughed.

“Heh, what can I say, I guess I just have good intuition to use moves like that at the right time,” I responded.

I take a moment to spit out all the blood pooling in my mouth as I get my bearings.

“What's going on? Has Sirius run out of energy or he has taken too much damage?” Remi asks.

“I remember that attack it was...” Quincy began.

“Yes my boi, that was one of the signature techniques of the Kraken guild, the Aura Wave Explosion,” Armstrong finished.

“Seems like it actually worked this time.”

“Will better take advantage of this moment, he won’t remain stunned for long,” Armstrong claims.

“Sirius, do you yield? I can’t win this fight unless I fight with the intent to kill,” I warn him.

The stoic man steeled himself before answering.

“Never. Come at me with all your might, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” the monk told me.

In that case I can’t let this opportunity go to waste as I open a portal right in front of him and thrust my blade into his abdomen.

The man before winces in pain, but squeezes his abs, locking my sword in place. I attempt to pull out the blade as his aura returns and centers itself around the wound. Sirius grabs me with his arms and strikes me with a painful headbutt. My head spins as I feel the blood drip down from my skull. My vision is impeded as my eye swells up making it difficult to see. Even with my sword directly in his abdomen, he still won’t go down.

“This fight isn’t over yet, first hero, with proper usage of my aura I can restrict the blood flow heading to the wound and minimize further damage,” Sirius boldly claims.

Seeing Sirius’s determination has given the crowd a second wind as they cheer for Sirius to keep fighting.

“My my, even with a blade through his guts this monk keeps on fighting,” Luther exclaimed.

“True, Sirius is a fighter who refuses to go down. That kind of tenaciousness is what all good fighters need,” Marcus complimented.

Damn, my body can’t take the pain of going all out anymore and I'm even starting to run dry on energy. I stumble and fall as I make my way haphazardly to my opponent. However I can’t stop until one of us is down on the ground.

Both of us are on our last legs, Sirius trying his best to stay conscious and keep fighting, while I struggle to move my battered arms and legs. The fight regresses into one final slug fest. A sharp punch to the kidney which is met with a strong kick to the shins. My fist connects with his jaw as his foot connects with my stomach. It looks like both of us are just throwing strikes out with no regard for defense. The fight drags on for what feels like forever, both us not ready to give up, but we look like we could drop at any moment.

“Tch, been 5 minutes, it did turn into a slugfest after all. Seems you were right Armstrong,” Jack conceded as he pulled out a bag of gold.

“What’d I tell you, I knew these two were resilient from the moment I saw ‘em” Armstrong said proudly.

I stare down my opponent as his eyes meet mine. We both know we can’t continue like this. An unspoken, yet certain agreement between two fighters is made to finish off this fight.

I gather what little energy I have left into my fist as he does the same with his foot. We both ran towards each other ready to end the fight.

Sirius is faster as his foot makes contact with my head, yet slips on the blood coming down from my head, lessening the impact. Dazed, but still conscious, I throw my punch with everything I have left straight at the hilt of the blade in his stomach driving it deeper. A few moments of silence pass before Sirius spews blood and begins to fall over, but before he does he utters one last sentence.

“Good Fight.”

Thump.

The sound of a body hitting the floor and a pool of blood fills my vision as I hear the gong go off once more. I quickly see healers rush into the arena and begin applying emergency first aid to Sirius.

“With that folks, the match between Dragon’s Descent and Kraken’s Deep is over. The winner is… Will!” Emperor Marcus declared.

I can barely hear the crowds’ reactions as I fall over onto my back, beginning to lose consciousness. In those last few moments I revel in my victory and euphoria of surpassing my limits.