Chapter 66 Tournament Bracket B (5) August Kaiser vs Mashima Toga

The moment Ganesha gave the signal to begin, the two fighters unleashed their mana, simultaneously a dome of pure mana formed from the two expanding in size to cover the whole stage.

"Tsk." August clicked his tongue, he got to admit, the old samurai got him beat in the technique. He was in a mixture of frustration and awe as he watched Toga's mana dome dwarfing his own.

Seemingly out of nowhere a slash came towards August, the old samurai was the one who made the first move.

This caught August off guard, he was able to raise his spear to block, his eyes widened as inches before the katana and his spear made contact, the blade curved at an impossible angle. It's as if the blade dodged his spear.

His reflexes kicked in, and with an impossible maneuver of his own, he bent his body to dodge the incoming blade. He was in an awkward stance, which made his counter more surprising for Toga.

August countered by stabbing straight at Toga's chest, the old man leaned to the side letting the spear pass by him, he then unleashed a cleaving slash from below.

August again moved his spear to block. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue in annoyance as the katana shifted and curved to a different angle. Again it dodged his spear and went straight to his ribs.

Seeing this, August kicked the shaft of his spear making it spin and position it to block the blade. It hit the spine of the katana which offset its course, missing his body by an inch.

August swirled, using the momentum, he swept his spear down Toga's feet. The old samurai jumped to dodge, August continued the motion of his spin and delivered a spinning side kick to Toga who was in mid air.

Toga smiled, he finds August impressive, being able to attack him at that angle is a feat not everyone can do, but he won't let some youngster one up him.

Raising his feet up, Toga looked like he kicked the air to gain more lift, and with a fluid motion he steeped on top of August's feet that was kicking.

Toga then loaded mana into his blade and slashed downward, but August was a tad bit faster on his follow-up.

Using his spear for balance, August stabbed the floor below and jumped into a kick using his other leg, twisting his body, and spinning like a top, performing an enziguri that aimed at Toga's head.

Toga abandoned his slash, he leaned left letting gravity take hold of his body as he fell sideways, dodging the kick in the process, he then slashed, this time upwards towards August's chest.

August pushed on his spear making his body shoot right, dodging the blade with very little space for comfort. He then pulled the spear out of the ground and using one hand he slashed vertically, the spear heading towards the old samurai at terrifying speed and accuracy.

'He's adaptable as well.' Toga thought as he let the momentum of his swing carry him into spinning, also dodging the spear head at a hairs width, and using his free arm he balanced himself via flip to get back on his feet.

August also landed on his feet, and as soon as he touched solid ground, he loaded mana into the soles of his feet and charged towards the old samurai, the ground cracking from his force.

Toga stood his ground, opting to wait for the young adventurer, he took a modified version of the basic far easter stance with the katana placed in front of him and his lead leg tilting slightly to the left. 'He's defense is good, how about his offense.' he thought as he planted his feet firmly into the ground.

August raised a brow at the old samurai's defensive approach but paid it no mind. He smirked. 'He's testing me.' he thought as he continued his charge. 'Very well... I'll show you something that'll blow your mind old man.'

With a forceful step, August raised his spear up to the skies, it glowed a violent red as he loaded it with mana, it crackles sending sparks everywhere.

'Hmmm... How disappointing.' Toga frown at this. August had shown him an impressive display of fluidity, flexibility, and adaptability when he was defending the old samurai's attack earlier, he was able to mix in counter as well, August was thwarting his own attack with ingenuity and unpredictability.

But this, this was predictable, August's attack was so telegraph that even a novice fighter could tell where it will be coming from.

With a practice motion, Toga moved his blade to block the attack, loading mana into his sword as well, it glowed an emerald like green, mixed with an orange hue. His mana looked like the color of fall. It was controlled and smooth, unlike August's wild and violent red.

August smirked as he saw Toga move in for the block, he slammed his spear down, the crowd gasped, he looked like he was aiming to brute force through Toga's guard.

As his spear was inches away from meeting the sword, Toga felt a chill run up his spine. August's spear swerved, the attack that was coming from above now came at an awkward angle from the left.

Both of Toga's brows rose in shock. It's a bit sloppy, but it was his very own technique. The reason for how he got his alias. Suzume, the sparrow. "This kid!" he muttered in shock.

Even so, it was still Toga's technique, which meant that he was the master of it. His Katana swerved as well, he was able to bring his blade down to meet August's spear.

Their weapons clashed as sparks flew, August pulled back his spear, he didn't want to lock their blades together, he moved extremely fast and rained a barrage of stab, mixing a curving strike every now and then.

Toga's brows furrowed, it was a sloppy imitation of his technique but it was still effective. Pushing his senses to the max he blocked everything August threw at him. But he was getting pushed back.

'Damn... He's tempo is faster than I imagined.' His mind races on how to get out of this pinch. 'At this rate, he'll break through my defense.'

Toga blocked the spear that was aiming for his head, his left hand then let go of his blade and grabbed the body of August's spear.

The old samurai then pulled hard, as well as sliding himself inside August's space. Bumping his shoulder hard on August's chest.

The hit pushed August back, breaking his tempo, Toga then slashed vertically on which He blocked with his spear.

The force of the two weapons colliding sent both fighters skidding back on the ground. August had made sure to load mana into his spear when he blocked Toga's slash, it resulted in the two of them being pushed back.

The crowd was left speechless, with their jaws hanging wide open, all of that happened in a flash. An exchange of extremely fast offense and defense. It left the crowd in the dust.

The two of them smirked at one another and took their stance, as if on cue the crowd let out a wild cheer.

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Denki was in awe of the two fighters. Once again a pang of jealousy rose deep inside his chest at seeing August.

The curving blade, or the sparrow as his master called the technique is something Denki have been practicing and honing since the first moment that he saw it.

And it took 15 long years for his master to perfect it and use it in actual combat -if his master is to be believed- and August... His captain, saw it once and actually performed the move and added it into his arsenal.

Their clash on stage looked like an intricate dance, it's as if the two had rehearsed their moves, each attack leads to defence and vice versa. Flowing and natural, their every movement holds purpose, unwasteful.

He can understand how he's master was able to do such a feat. He was experienced, a master of his craft. Mashima Toga has done everything there is when it comes to the sword, created a new technique, innovated the art, and has traveled far and wide all throughout the continent... A true master.

But August? A boy who is younger than him. -August is 16 while Denki is 17 who'll be turning 18 this year- Who had started his journey in battle much later than him -August started training at 6, while Denki started at 3 per far eastern tradition- August had surpassed him in every sense, both in combat prowess, and talent.

He is both amaze and envious because of it. He thought that he had moved on, that he accepted that the boy was just better... But seeing him fight his master on equal ground, just made him feel shitty inside.

Froke who was besides Denki saw the bitter look on the young samurai's face. She was pissed just watching it. If Denki felt that way, imagine how she was feeling. She's a level 1 at the age of 22. She was stuck at level 1 for more than a decade now... Even her god gave up on her and she was relegated to becoming a freelance supporter for beginners, scamming them off their money just so she can get by.

She was shit, bottom of the barrel. She thought she found a silver lining when August hired her as their party's supporter. She had beaten a monster rex along with them and she knew that with it she could finally break the level 1 barrier.

But her god ignored her, when she asked for an update in status, her god told her to piss off. She wanted to quit but her god wouldn't let her go because of the money she was generating in her support work.

She was not a member of a familia... She was a slave.

If Denki was envious of August's talent. Froke was envious of Denki's freedom, she hated how the young samurai looked at August. He wanted to bash his face in. To tell him how lucky he was to have such a great familia. That he has no reason to be feeling that way for all the blessings that he has. In her mind, Denki was lucky, and she hates the way he looks like he was dealt with an unfair card.

But she can't... She was afraid, what if they leave her after knowing her circumstances, after all what can two mortals do against a god. And even if they didn't, and somehow involve their god, what can a small familia do against the Apollo familia.

"Tsk." She could only click her tongue and be quiet, she turned her attention back to the match. Choosing to ignore Denki and his stupid face.

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Arthur wanted to hide under a rock. "WHERE DID ALL THIS MONSTERS COME FROM!!!" He shouted earning the gaze of the audience near him.

But they have to admit, he was right. The inhabitants of Orario wondered as well. Why didn't they know of the existence of these so-called monsters?

Or maybe it's just because they had taken it for granted. After the events of yesterday and today, they now realize that a level 5 adventurer is just living weapons at this point. And Orario has an abundance of these so-called living weapons.

But the shock was bigger for Arthur... The adventurers here are much, much stronger than he could ever imagine. It makes it seem like their anime counterparts are just children recreating the actions of the real thing.

'The pressure the two of them are emitting is so dense.' Arthur thought to himself as he could feel cold sweat starting to form on his forehead. 'I should really come up with a plan on tackling these monsters... Holy fuck the canon hasn't even started yet.'

Realizing that fact, he was thankful for one thing, he was thankful that he came to Orario before the whole mess that is Bell, thankfully the protagonist hasn't come into the picture yet. He cringed just imagining if he arrived later where Bell and Hestia already found each other. He'll be so under prepared that it wasn't even funny.

Especially now where he finally accepted that this isn't the danmachi universe that he knew. The existence of these monsters supported that fact. At first his plan was to go with the flow of danmachi, just watch from the sideline. He knows what to do and what to avoid. But with everything fucked -at least for him- he basically have no knowledge of what may happen.

Still the question ran in his mind... How did the timeline became so fucked-up?

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The two fighters stared at one another, they were watching each other as they adjusted their stance to counter each other.

"So... Are you done gauging my strength?" Suddenly, out of the blue, August asked a question which caught the old samurai by surprise.

Toga relaxed his stance and placed his katana on his shoulder. "Oh... So you noticed?" he said in a tone that as if he was caught doing something inappropriate.

August does the same, stabbing the spear on the ground, he started stretching his back, arms, and knees, seemingly warming up and jumping in place. "Well, it's pretty hard not to." August answered as he closed his eyes and rotated his head clockwise and then counter clockwise. "You could have continued to apply pressure yet you chose to hang back and fight defensively." 'Not that it matters, I still would have gained the tempo.' He did not say the last part.

"Call it a genuine curiosity of an old man... I could say the same thing about you." there is a sarcastic tone in Toga's voice as he continues. "I must say I'm impressed. Using my own technique against me just to see how I would react... Yet I doubt that that's the limit of your strength."

August raised his two hands in surrender. "Well you got me there." August then smiled viciously. "I just can't fight you seriously if you're holding back, after all... It is difficult to step on an ant without crushing it" as he said that his aura began to rise, all around him the ground started to crack from the pressure that he was releasing.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Toga shook his head. And for the first time in the whole fight he opened his eyes to look at August. "Is this confidence? Or blind hubris? Either way, you really have to respect your elders... Remember young August, even an ant..." Suddenly Toga vanished in front of August's view.

He suddenly felt a sharp object pressing against his neck, August then heard Toga right behind him. "Can bite someone much bigger than itself.

There is a look of shock in August's face, even if he couldn't see him, his mana dome should have picked up on his movement. Yet Toga was right behind him, his sword pressed lightly on his neck, there was a serene smile plastered on the old man's face. "Now then young August... Why don't you show this old ant what you're really capable of." he then jumps back and smiled at August.

The shock on August face slowly formed into a predatory grin. He touched his neck and felt a hot liquid on his fingertips. There's a mixture of anger and excitement in the young adventurer's system. "Just so you know old man... You asked for it." he said as his mana raged out of him shaking the whole stadium with its potency.

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Chapter 66 is done now, how do you guys like the story so far?

Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

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good day, love y'all.