Chapter 10: Clash of Senses

'For someone who was born in this world of nonsense, once you go there where everything made sense, can you say for certain that nonsense does not exist there?'

As Satsuki's heart wrenching sobs echoed through a dark corner on the rooftop, Seijurou kept hearing Shirohige's question in his thoughts. For some reason, his mother's protégé's cries reverberated something within him. It did not make sense, but he felt it. And it was painful. 

Fighting in a duel as a school activity did not make sense to Seijurou at all. For him, there were many other ways to live a more peaceful life as reflected on how he just simply took the Underforge job. And while Satsuki kept bawling like a helpless child in front of him, he still knew in his mind that it was futile to plea for him to do something nonsensical.

Seijurou thought that he was a sensible person in this manner. However, he wanted to make Satsuki stop from crying. He badly wanted to comfort her. And he did not understand why.

'What you see, taste, feel, hear, and smell.. only you can tell. It's like a fingerprint, it's unique to you. When you have the answer to my question, let's talk more.'

Again, Shirohige's words resounded in Seijurou's thoughts as the sight of Satsuki crying made him feel like he was being pulverized inside. Even though her scent smelled of sweet candy, somehow hearing her cry so much left a bitter taste. He knew very well what he perceived in that instance was unique to him and him alone. 

However, it still left him with one question in his head. 'What do you call this feeling?' 

"Let's get ready then..", Seijurou said before he could even stop himself. He was as surprised as Satsuki was with the words that came out of his mouth. "Let's hurry. We don't have much time to prepare."

For a few moments, Satsuki's tearful wide eyes stared at Seijurou with shock. She kept asking herself a few times if she really did hear it right. The grief she had been feeling for a few minutes back still lingered and needed more time to transform into a sort of glee. But Seijurou's next words brought her back to reality and reminded her of a vow they had taken from way back.

"You can stop being weird now, alright? Real tears don't seem to fit you right..", Seijurou consoled Satsuki in his own pathetic way while he pulled her towards the doorway leading to the staircase. "I have your back. I'll protect you."

And slowly like the dawn breaking from a tumultuous stormy night, Satsuki's bright and cheerful smile returned to her face. 

But suddenly, the door to the stairs broke open violently and directly hit Seijurou. What came out was a very angry beast in the guise of their friend, Chizuru. 

"Where the hell have you been!? We've been searching the whole school for you!..", roared Chizuru. After that, she saw Satsuki with her very swollen eyes, which got her even more hyped in a very furious way. "How dare you make Satsu-chan cry, baka-jurou?!"

Seijurou then took a beating from Chizuru. "Oi, stop it you idiot! I still need to fight. Don't injure me!"

Chizuru continued to pound on Seijurou while he argued, and Satsuki playfully giggled at the sight. Just like that, things were back to normal. However while Seijurou was slowly growing lumps from Chizuru's beating, they realized that they were running out of time. In the end, they all hurriedly rolled and ran through the staircase to make it in time for the duel. 

As the three made their way through the crowd leading towards the Octagon, Seijurou's realizations began to cloud his thoughts. To him, remembering his last sworn oath to his mother made him realize the sense of his actions. It was his strong sense to protect his friends from hurt that made him move forward even if it was just little.

"I know this does not make sense to me..", said Seijurou in his thoughts as they weave through the corridors going to the Underforge. "But I do know for certain that I do not want to see Kinjou Satsuki.. or any of my friends.. to cry like that again."

Seijurou glanced once each at both Chizuru and Satsuki while they hurriedly ran. He then grinned and added something in his mind. "And that made sense."

When they were already closing in to the Underforge, Chizuru went to her separate way towards the stands. She waved them with the best of luck before the two went in to prepare. 

As Seijurou and Satsuki stormed into the Underforge, they immediately donned their respective gears. Satsuki was wearing her usual scarlet armor while Seijurou wore what Satsuki brought her, a full heavy Orcish armor.

Seijurou frowned. "Really, Kinjou? Orcish?"

"You don't like getting hurt, right?..", Satsuki answered and laughed. "Orc NPCs make really thick armor, you know."

"I'm not even going to ask how or where you looted this..", replied Seijurou with a blank face. "I can barely move, and this is way too big. We're screwed."

Seijurou started fidgeting with his fingers as soon as the first problem arose. Mobility was key to his defensive strategy, but the armor limited it. Even if he decided to ditch the armor, he would be open to attacks that he did not know of yet in the first place. His gear problems led him to be once again, nerve wracked.

Satsuki gave an unusual blank stare towards the shivering and panicking Seijurou. Without warning, she unsheathed her katana to a slash towards him. But instinctively, he blocked it with his armguards. A slight deviation in angle might have been a lost limb for him.

"Feeling better now, Erida Seijurou?..", a smug looking Kinjou Satsuki asked, which caused Seijurou to just nod. "Don't think too much, 'kay? Just do what you think you can.. and take it from there."

With Satsuki's reassuring smirk, the sound of the hammer pounding on iron in the background became Seijurou's power switch. He started moving on his own as he removed his gear one by one. While placing the recently used armguard on the anvil, he picked up a hammer. And naturally, he simply started modifying his equipment. 

It was the first time Satsuki saw Seijurou work on the forge. It was so close to perfection that it actually made her blush just by watching him. Curiously enough, she used her "console command" to peer through his "Smithing" skill level. To her surprise, it was "maxed out" for his current "Player Character Level". Eventually, it only took him a while to remodel the Orcish armor to his fitting.

But that was not all.

Seijurou suddenly turned from a panicking fool into a busybody. After working the forge, he went straight to the apothecary table to mix some potions. Right after that, he went to the "Enchanter's Box" to put enhancements on his gear. He eventually went back and forth the three workstations in different intervals.

Jaws dropped, Satsuki was stunned with Seijurou's work rate. It actually looked like he was one of the many alchemists currently working inside the Underforge, only that he was more efficient. 

"What in the world is he doing?..", Satsuki mumbled and flushed in astonishment. "Chizu-chan was right. He's really good at making things."

Even the other alchemists were beginning to notice Seijurou's craftsmanship that their opponents from the other side of the wall, which divided the two halves of the Underforge, started eavesdropping. Curiosity got the better of everyone that time seemed to stop, save for Seijurou.

"Whoa, look at him go..", Takenori Eimi, one of Seijurou and Satsuki's opponents and classmates said in awe.

"I know he's an otaku, but this is beyond human..", Bakudou Saiki, Eimi's teammate added.

"It's scary.. but guys, focus on our advantage..", Terumi Shoutou, the third member of Eimi's Trinity, reminded. "It's still three against two.. and only one of them can attack."

The three nodded in agreement. However unconsciously, they were all sharing a similar feeling. They were uneasy. Sure, it was already intimidating dueling against the Swordmaiden's Heiress, but they still had an overwhelming advantage especially that Erida Seijurou did have underwhelming attack skills. Although everything looked to be in their favor, they couldn't ignore the fact their opponents' partnership seemed to have something inexplicably powerful.

Satsuki stretched dynamically to warm herself up and smiled. "Are you ready, Erida-kun?"

"Before that, wear this..", Seijurou referred to some short black trousers he was giving to Satsuki. He was flustered and almost had a nosebleed. "Just staying on the safe side when you do certain movements.."

Question marks began to appear out of Satsuki as Seijurou insisted for her to wear the short pants under her yukata. 

"And to avoid distractions during the duel, as well..", Seijurou added as a droplet of blood peeked from his nostril.

The moment Satsuki realized what it was, she immediately turned as red as her gear and pulled down her yukata as if someone was peeking under her skirt. "Hey! Just don't look when it shows!"

"Then.. just wear it, for crying out loud! I'm trying to protect you here, you know!"

"Fine!"

And then, the Underforge's door guard finally signaled the cue to go up towards the Octagon for the introductions.

"That's us, Erida-kun..", stated Satsuki with a reassuring smile.

Seijurou took one last deep breath before stepping out. "Let's go."

The long walk towards the bright light at the end of a dark hallway leading to the stage itself was something surreal that no academic book could decipher it. It was as if life was slipping past Seijurou and at the same time, flowing back. Something so trivial yet also astounding for him, it was his irony of making sense out of nonsense.

Going to unchartered territory, it was Seijurou's first ever battle. But the possibility of tugging back and forth with life hinted something so familiar in it. The smell of ash coming from burnt material from previous duels scorched his nose. Thick and viscous air surrounded him as if it purposely tried to squeeze him. And the sound of the ever loudening roar of the crowd seemingly anticipated for him to make it even louder.

This recognizable atmosphere was Seijurou's late mother's world that he grew up watching from behind the scenes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

A resounding whack was heard inside the dojo after Masako hit her nine year old son with a kendo stick on the head. Beaten and bruised all over, a sobbing Seijurou stood up bravely again to assume a basic defensive stance.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! Do not watch any of my duels and anyone's as well!..", growled a very furious Masako while she continued to swing her kendo stick relentlessly. "You want to fight that badly, huh? You can't even block simple strikes!"

"Masako. That's enough..", Kajiya insisted as he silently entered the dojo. "He's not one of your students for him to take a beating like that."

"That's precisely the point, Kajiya-kun..", Masako's voice started to shake. As perfectly timed as she dropped her practice weapon and walked out, her tears fell like a waterfall. "He is my son."

However even as his mother left the dojo already, Seijurou stood his ground and looked like he was still about to call for her. But he was crying so much that no words came out of his mouth. 

Slowly, Kajiya took the wooden sword out of his son and hugged him. "Your Mama's just worried about you, Seijurou. Please understand that she doesn't really want you to get hurt."

"But she hurt me so bad, oyaji..", surprisingly, Seijurou's tears turned into a drop of sweat rolling down his head as he sarcastically and blankly remarked. 

"Well.. that..", Kajiya scratched his head as he found himself lost for words. "Let's just say it's her way of training you to get used to pain.. so you won't get hurt in the future.. right, Seijurou?"

The deafening roar of the crowd in the stadium as Eimi threw a "kunai" towards Satsuki brought Seijurou back to the present. The noise coming from around the Octagon was so loud that he practically missed hearing the introductions and the starting signal. The good thing was Satsuki was able to block with her sword.

"Hey! Do I have to show you my 'pantsu' to bring your focus back?..", teased Satsuki in the midst of battle.

The reminder actually got Seijurou both focused and flustered with the thought. However, all this was still new to him, and he did not know what to do. 

"Download Daichi No Jumon (Solid Earth Spell) Thirteen..", on the other hand, Saiki was onto Seijurou. "Tsuchi No Namiutsu (Soil Surge)!"

As soon as Saiki squatted and hit the ground with both of his palms, a wave of solid ground quickly threatened to push Seijurou out of bounds. 

In team duels, the rules stay the same. If any of the members got knocked out cold, damaged with less than ten percent health or pushed out of bounds, the fight would end. It could be said that the only disadvantage of numbers is the probability of defeat becomes exponential. And Saiki's Trinity did a pretty good job separating the mighty Heiress from the assumed weaker Seijurou. 

However even if Seijurou was considered weak compared to Satsuki, he still had the brains to counter the earth spell. Due to him being well informed about the theoretical aspect of magic spells, he knew exactly which spell was susceptible to the other. "That's right. The book of elemental interactions says that earth is weaker than fire."

"Download Ho No Jumon (Fire Spell) fifteen..", but the moment Seijurou set the amplitude, the flames went out of control. The collision of the earth and fire spells respectively, caused an explosion that created a gigantic mushroom cloud. 

Smoke filled the Octagon, and it caused a momentary halt in the duel. Visibility was almost close to zero, so it was impossible to make a move. However, Satsuki immediately ran towards where the explosion was to her panic. A deadly blast like that might have destroyed any trace of one's existence.

But as soon as the dust cleared, Seijurou was there standing and covered with black ash near the edge of the fighting stage. He seemed to look like he was trying to undo the fire spell with his palms facing each other, though the flames were already long gone.

"Well, I guess that worked..", uttered Seijurou to everyone's surprise. Moments later, everyone in the stadium just simply laughed. 

Satsuki giggled while she helped Seijurou shake the ash off his armor. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Look out!..", Seijurou suddenly yelled as a "ninjako" sword appeared out of nowhere to slash Satsuki from behind. With Seijurou using his body as a shield, he was the one who took the hit. "Good thing Orcish armor is thick.. though I could've avoided losing a few HPs if I could move more quickly."

"Are you okay, Erida-kun?..", worried once again for Seijurou, Satsuki helped him stand up. "Now it's my turn. Leave the attacking to me."

Seijurou nodded, but the situation was going from bad to worse. Satsuki could not see the perpetrator. As the attacker attempted to strike again, he pushed his partner away and took the hit with his armguards. It was a good block, but it still chipped off some health from him. The invisible fighter backed off as soon as his position was identified.

"This Trinity specializes in 'ninjutsu'. They're using hit and run stealth tactics..", stated Satsuki while she stood up quickly to a defensive stance. "Chichiue fights like this as a shinobi from the Shogun's 'Oniwabanshu'."

"And the lingering ash cloud isn't helping at all..", remarked Seijurou as he searched for their opponents. "I think they purposely used that spell thinking that I would counter with fire." 

The thick ash cloud had already moved towards the northeastern corner of the Octagon. At the place where visibility was least, the three "Ninja builds" hid themselves and planned their next course of action.

"There's something weird about that Erida..", whispered Shoutou to his teammates. "He can see right through my 'invisibility spell'.. and I'm pretty sure I did 'quiet casting'."

"Really? It doesn't seem like it..", answered Eimi while she drew her Shuriken. "They seem to be searching for you still."

"It's because of the ash cloud, Takenori-chan..", said Saiki while he crouched and thought of the next move. "Notice that when Terumi gets close to hit Kinjou-san, Erida blocks it."

Eimi sighed as if she did not want to do what she was thinking. "Alright.. change of plans."

Meanwhile at the stands, Chizuru and Jax looked on while the duel continued. Although almost the entire Octagon was covered in a dust cloud, the audience's point of view could still see the silhouettes of the combatants. Being someone who specializes in projectiles, Chizuru started to worry for her friends about the current situation.

"They're splitting apart..", commented Chizuru as Shoutou, Eimi and Saiki stealthily went to different positions. "It's going to be an attack from different directions at once.. or they'll try to separate Satsu-chan and Seijurou first."

While he shook his head thinking of the inevitable outcome, Jax grinned. "As strong as Satsuki-chan is.. this is still a bad match to her."

Chizuru nodded, which did not match her worried expression. "Even if she could win this duel with a single strike.. it's no use if she can't see them."

"Not to mention having a useless partner."

"Hey! Seijurou would think of something!..", Chizuru sneered, but her worrisome expression never dissipated. "I hope.."

Jax laughed out loud as Chizuru snapped and pouted. "It's no use having that cute expression of yours. It's game over, Taneda-chan."

And right on cue, a Shuriken suddenly went for Seijurou, but he effectively blocked it with his armguards. However, it caused him to be distracted as a wall of stone erupted in between him and Satsuki. With the wall still growing taller, the same earth spell that hit him early in the match also appeared out of nowhere, further separating the two.

"Multiple earth spells, huh? And quietly casted too. Annoying ninjas..", muttered Satsuki while she avoided the very angry looking ground. "Erida-kun! They're trying to keep us apart. They're coming after you!"

But Seijurou made a grim realization while he blocked and dodged the earth spells. From a distance, he could see through the thin smoke that Satsuki was getting dangerously close to the edge. If that was the only problem, he thought that it would have been a breeze for her. However for some reason, Satsuki could not see the shadow coming after her.

Seijurou thought as he began to panic. "No, you fool. They're after you."

Translation notes:

Orcish or Orc – a massive humanoid goblin type Non Player Character known for being valiant warriors and brilliant armor smiths.

Maxed out – the highest attainable skill level within the Player Character's overall level.

Player Character Level – the overall level attained through garnering experience points (EXPs) from improving different skill levels.

Apothecary table – a small laboratory for mixing ingredients to make potions and poisons.

Enchanter's Box – a magic tool that can imbue magical enhancements into gear depending on one's skill level.

Alchemist – contrary to everyone's perception, this build is someone adept in breaking, combining, and creating something else with the given materials, and not just potions or poisons.

The expression of "a drop of sweat" – it's a nod to mangaka who use this expression as a means to relay a form of nonverbally saying the word, "lame".

Kunai – a triangular blade used as a weapon by ninja either through projectiles or melee combat.

Pantsu – literally meaning "panties" in the ancient language (Japanese).

Ninjako – a single edged sword used by the ninja

Ninjutsu – art of the ninja

Oniwaban or Oniwabanshu – a group of secret agents that operate in the shadows, which directly answer to the Shogun.

Quiet casting – the stealth form of doing Download or Upload incantations.

Shuriken – a star shaped multi edged blade considered as the ninja's main projectile type weapon.

Honorifics Guide: 

Chichiue – the formal word for saying "father".