Chapter Ninety Four - And the top martial artist is...

By the time the group had entered the arena, the sky had turned a steely grey and rain had begun to splatter down upon a barrier dome above them. The other seniors in the top twelve had begun to prepare for the battles and the first bout was ready to begin.

Luna stood with her sling tucked in the belt of her robes and holding a thin rapier like sword. Pike mentioned that the slender woman favoured this when forced to fight up front. She would not be the only martial artist to toss aside their favoured long range weapon for a melee one.

She was facing a youth named Logan, who clearly had hearts in his eyes. He was also slightly injured from a battle that happened to occur two days ago. It was just a bruise and it had not affected him the previous day, yet for some reason, he clearly used this as an excuse to not perform as well as he should, ultimately losing the match to the girl.

Both Bowyer and Pike shook their heads at this. Logan was currently ranked eighth and although he would still be ranked eighth if he had beaten Luna (neither considered he nor Luna having the ability to beat Ari), it was not as if he had done Luna any favours either. Luna was placed tenth, but Lopard, who was ninth had (prior to this win) more than thirty points more than she.

Logan's choice was further shown to be the wrong one when Lopard not only beat Delphi in the second match, but later managed a brilliant win over Certi, the fourth seed in their group. These twenty points meant that he stole eighth position away from Logan before he lost to Ari in the semi finals of their group.

Bowyer and Pike met in the third battle, grinning wickedly at each other as they wasted no time in attacking each other. Pike had set aside his two smaller hammers for a large war hammer, this lost Bowyer the advantage the reach his sword held over the smaller weapons. Still, he had speed, seeing as his blade, while not light, was certainly not the bulk and unyielding mass that Pike's hammer was. The stage was cracked in several places as Pike swung his weapon downwards, only to miss Bowyer's flighty form. It was due to one of these cracks that Bowyer's steps fell ill, providing Pike with an advantage that he previously lacked and he was quick enough to take it.

Bowyer was forced to concede defeat or break a leg in this match. As it happened, his arm was already severely bruised and swollen, having been caught by a seemingly wild swing just a minute before. Pike was no less injured, he sported a slice of several inches across his stomach. The two men welcomed the pills that Leon offered, a blood pill for Bowyer and a one heart pill for Pike's external injury. They were most pleased with the effect of the pills, but were too caught up in adrenaline to notice just how good the effects were.

After the fourth match where Piter fought Culven and won (the latter was in eleventh place, so this was unsurprising), Ari's first fight occurred. He fought Luna and soundly had her admitting defeat. He did not heed her pleas to go easy on her and she fled the stage in the end in tears, causing Ari to be the villain in many students hearts. Pike and Bowyer just rolled their eyes over the girl's dramatics.

The fights continued with only Lopard surprising all to win against Certi in the seeded match. Otherwise, all other seeds, Crux (who beat Pike) and Orphius (who beat Piter in a very close and tense match) all fought in the semi finals. Eventually, it came down to Ari and Crux, the first and second placed students of last year would fight for first and second place of this year. With just seven points between them, their final battle would settle scores or keep things unchanged.

Ari was as cold and silent as usual as he stood before Crux, a rather angry looking man, with clearly a grudge to bear. If he lost this battle, he could challenge Ari for another bout, but he did not want the gap between them widening any further. He had already decided that he had to win this time or not at all.

Ari favoured two long knives, while Crux held tonfa's, both men favoured speed over strength. Their battle was not a cautious one, their weapons met soundly each time, while they attacked, dodged, parried and counter-attacked. Their bodies were so quick and their movement so effortless and swift that Leon had difficulties keeping up with their movements. Sun too was bouncing up and down in his seat, he had never quite encountered such a thrilling match. His own skills relied on swiftness and speed, so the battle was both amazing and enlightening for him.

Eventually, Crux's movement began to wane. Although both men's martial arts were similar, there were still differences, for instance; Crux preferred using techniques that required bursts of speed, while Ari sought those that he could use with his usual rhythm and pace. Neither particularly outweighed the other in terms of performance, both could be considered crucial in certain fights, however Ari happened to have a little more endurance than Crux and the latter's influx of special moves had drained his away to this point, while Ari's consistent movement meant he was still in good form.

Crux couldn't quite dodge the blade that made it's way towards his leg and the slice along it burned, slowing him further and earning him a cut with the other knife in his shoulder. He held on for a minute longer before he conceded defeat, unable to cope with the numerous scratches and cuts that were added in that time. Ari did not come away uninjured having received a few bruises and grazes as well as a broken finger. However Ari was announced the winner and reclaimed his position as the top student in both the inner and outer schools. No one came forth to challenge him.