Warring Blades

“P-please! Return it and let me live!”

It was, as usual, a busy day on Hakumai. The wind, which was no more than a peaceful breeze seemed to contrast the frantic atmosphere of its people. Due to its famed Habu Port; Hakumai was the homeland of all merchants and trading. Often, when foreigners arrived, merchants would lure them with their products. Mostly katanas. For some reason, visitors were in love with the weapon. Which made it even easier for shameless sellers to work their magic.

But not today, a careless merchant had lost his latest stock, “The Meito; Shodai Kitetsu” to a ruffian, and he requested the cloaked man to return it in an embarrassing fashion. Those nearby witnessed as the man kneeled down, hugging the ground and pleaded for mercy.

The man, in turn, laughed maniacally as he pointed the sword at the merchant. “Ghehehehe, and why would I do that?” He removed his cloak, revealing the figure underneath. It was a lithe man with no noticeable features outside of his faltering weight. “ Tha’ strongest blade in existence lies in my hands, old fart. Ghehehehe, I, Aigle can’t be stopped now!”

Despite what this scenario might indicate, Wano wasn’t usually like this. The Empire of Wano was a superpower nation, that had prospered under the reign of its matriarch, Daddy L. Legs. It was a place where dreams could be turned into reality, where no matter your standing, one could thrive.

And that is exactly what Kagami Azuma wanted to do; to thrive.

His blue eyes had been glued to the blade the second the thief stole it and when he swung his blade downward to strike the old man; Azuma had to intervene. He ran towards the man at full sprint and before he could react delivered a flying kick aimed at his chest. While the man tried to block the attack with his newly-stolen sword, the impact still caused him to fly back several meters. The blade spun in the air multiple times before Azuma somehow managed to grab its hilt.

“Are you alright?!” he asked, a preoccupied expression on his face.

“Y-yes, thank you fo-“ the merchant responded as he dusted himself off and stood up.

“Glad it’s intact!” Azuma wasn’t referring to the merchant but to the blade.

“W-well, no…”

“I’ll be taking this home with me.”

“No! Please give it back!” but it was too late, as Azuma began to walk, the blade shattered into pieces until he was left with nothing but its hilt.

“...” Nothing but silence, the worried merchant inadvertently took a few steps back.

Azuma’s fists tightened, and he slowly turned around to face the man. “I knew it was fake but I didn’t think it was that fake. If I can’t sell this, I’ll die of hunger. And I’ll take you with me old man!” He said loudly, grabbing the man by the hem of his shirt.

“T-there’s a tournament nearby! Kengoku, I think it's what it's called. Sponsored by the Black Widow Pirates themselves. If you win, you’ll gain enough money to stay afloat for a while a-and a sword as well! But it’s mostly for swordsmen!”

“A tournament you say,” His mouth opened, revealing a devilish grin, “I am a swordsman.” he remarked angrily, and with that, he released the man, “Tell me exactly where it is.”

Let the Games Begin
“So this is it, it’s...grand.” Azuma’s eyes were fixated on the castle that laid before him. Much like he had described, it was an enormous structure built of stone, with several levels, each smaller than the other, with several Yagura on its roofs. Having had previously registered, made evident by the badge number “98” that he was told to wear on his shirt, he made his way into the building.

The first thing he noticed as he walked inside, were the many torches inside the stone-built room. It was rather spacious; despite the quantity of participants inside it. From one glance, Azuma could tell there were at least 100 other warriors in the room, all with the same goal as him. He also noticed that there also several stairways in the corners of the room, but armed Samurai stood in front of them, signaling that there was no way out. He continued to look around, hoping that the tournament would start soon.

Much like she had done with every other warrior that had entered after her, G.C analyzed Azuma as he looked around. She stood off to one of the less populated corners of the room, remaining solitary and quiet despite the low roar of the warrior's chatter. G.C brushed one side of her hair off behind her shoulder, inadvertently revealing the emblazoned "52" that adorned her shirt.

"Blech."

The noise of a distinct and loud slap could be hear through out the room "come on baby it might not look it but all the stuff still works...damn". Suddenly through the doors walked a short, old man his face aged like a raisin in fine but dirty black robes. "Wano women are much tougher than I assumed" the old man was known as Alex A. Li "all right boys you best prepare to get your asses kicked by number...heh 69" Li exclaimed to the other participants pausing to look over his number tag. The other men looked at the man but quickly brushed him off for his old age and less then impressive appearance.

"Yeah yeah yeah don't expect the old fart to kick some ass fuck you guys"

Holding the Shimoasa with a single hand, Brandt Abigail sighed against the hilt of the blade, which rested against her face. She hadn't paid much attention to the other swordsmen by the area, her eyes threatened to close every few minutes, she just came out of a mission and instantly entered another. Why would Lady Judith let the Sparrows give her missions? Thankfully, not a lot of people sat by her sides, after all, a barely visible cloud of steam came off her body.

Abigail worn her usual clothes, the blue suit, yet, she glanced down at it, she would have to get something else to wear for these fights. Hell, she was in a completely new country, one under a Yonko even, Abigail just really felt like blending a bit more. Getting up with a quick beat of her feet, she looked around, eyes seemingly bored, "I wonder if they've some fashionist here..." She muttered.

Another woman had just now entered the stone room near the coliseum. It was an arena she had visited before, for this was her hometown, but she had never approached it as a contestant. It was a somewhat exhilarating feeling, but there was a sense of dread and overwhelming pressure. The woman in the black hair, adorned in a battle-centric kimono shuddered as she entered the room. The swordsmen in this room instantly recognized her and their eyes were focused upon her.

Within this area, she held the advantage, or so they thought. Why? For she was a member of the Black Widow Pirates' Inrekigumi: Gozen Shizuka. She was a native swordswoman of Wano Country, ergo, she was granted the advantage by the Black Widow Pirates. That was their reasoning. On its own, it was valid, however, they didn't realize exactly who the Black Widow Pirates were...

Honor-bound warriors, particularly those who hailed from Samurai and Shinobi lineages, made up the majority of the Black Widow Pirates' ranks. There is no honor in a victory that is given to you. For that reason alone, perhaps out of all the contestants, Shizuka had the most pressure thrown upon her.

Oddly enough, however, Shizuka's eyes were diverted from the contestants. Instead, there was a kimono in her hand, while her sword remained sheathed at her waist. She looked around, and, somewhat meekly asked those around her. "Is there a Brandt Abigail around these parts...?"

“Nah, but there is a Kurogeta Fuse around.” a yellow haired man stated, with various spikes pointing in random downwards spots. He wore a white robe, consisting of a long and loose front-slit white jacket with gold hemlines. His sword was sheathed by his side, the young man not wanting to unsheathe it as of yet. He was also unsure if he wanted to reveal his blade until the tournament had started. In all honesty, the 18-year-old boy had no idea what was going on. He had looked around for someone he thought seemed approachable, and slid into the conversation. “A pleasure to meet you. You are?”

“She’s not interested!” A voice would deeply roar from behind the young man. This man to those who would see him was clearly Muramasa Masamune, commander within the Black Widow Pirates. He stood agitated and angry by the young man now approaching his subordinate who he himself saw as a daughter though, it wasn’t clear if she felt the same. “Get the hell away from my radiant and strong daughte-um I mean...subordinate.” Masamune said angrily stumbling over a few of his words, a specific word to be precise.

Fuse looked towards the newcomer with intrigue. "What?" he asked. "I'm just asking for a name? I know no one else here, and she seemed approachable enough." he said. "Geez, what? A guy and a girl can't just talk without any ulterior motive?"

“You can’t fool me kid, I know yerr motives!” Masamune said staring down the yellow haired boy that stood before him. “Kick rocks kid, this radiant jewel here is not for you, y’here me!?” Masamune said now walking to stand in between Shizuka and Fuse.

"Buddy, buddy. I don't know what happened to you, but I'm not interested in hitting on women at a sword tournament. Because theres a chance that she could kill me." Fuse replied. He was relatively calm, not bothered by the whole situation. "So, chill, bro."

“Did you just, did he just...Did you just call me BRO?!” Masamune said repeating himself multiple times in shock. “I am your superior a Yonko commander, I have lead armies, and you dare call me bro?” Masamune was fuming, though for a very dumb reason. This was simply how he always reacted to situations such as this with Shizuka.

Fuse stared blankly back at Masamune. The boy didn't really keep up with Pirates and all that. "Yeah, bro."

“...” Masamune stares blankly and angrily at Fuse. “That’s it, draw your sword, we’re fighting right here, fuck the tournament.” Masamune said in a calm yet still very angry tone his hand on his blade.

"Nah, bro." Fuse responded.

"Masamune-san, please step away before Isshin-sama drags you out of here." Shizuka asked his overprotective commander, sighing at his antics.

"And you, Fuse was it? Please try to avoid interrupting me. I simply have a kimono delivery for someone. I have no desire to be buddy-buddy with anyone here."

Shizuka stepped out of the range of the two fools and went further into the room of the castle base. "Is there a Brandt Abigail here?"

Walking steadily from where she once sat, Abigail eyed the woman upon her name being called a second time. Luckily, she hadn't responded the first time, there was no way the woman would simply think of her to be Abigail. This woman wore a kimono while she held one, Abigail beamed, she looked quite pretty in it.

"Hello miss!" Abigail waved with a smile, looking down due to their height difference, "I heard you are seeking a woman, you want to deliver this to her?"

"Indeed. Are you Abigail? A tailor had come to deliver this to you, but he was denied entry at the front. He thought giving it to me would make it easier to hand over to you." Shizuka smiled softly. Although the weight of expectation was heavy, she couldn't let that show in front of other people.

While the participants continued to chat with one another, look around the environment or stay in their lonesome, suddenly, a blue light appeared to materialize itself out of nowhere until it formed into a screen that covered the entirety of one of the stone walls.

“Masamune, please calm down and exit the stage. If you get too heated we’d be out of participants by now.” A voice resounded through the screen and as the many swordsmen and martial artists focused on it, they would notice the owner of the voice. A man with spiky and unruly hair, small, almond-like eyes as well as a face that one would probably recognize as that of a teen appeared in the screen, its bluish hue making the real colors of his appearance a mystery, not that any of the participants actually cared.

“Well with that out of the way…” he sighed before clearing his throat loudly. “Hello brave warriors! My name is Jobs Bilihelm, I will serve as the “voice” of this tournament if you will. I am a member of the great Black Widow Pirates, that I’m sure you all recognize as the sponsor of this tournament. I’m actually one of the strongest members heh heh..” Even through the projection, the man could feel the stares of the other Black Widow Members that were present in the stands. It made sweat drip down his temples. “A-anyways, we will begin with a preliminary round! You all have a badge number assigned to you, we will give you 30 minutes and to continue on to the next round you just simply have to keep your badge. Now keep in mind that the more people are left, the harder it’ll be down the road.” He rested his chin on his hand, looking at the 100 or so entrants with apathy. “Well, that’s it for now. Ciao~”

Azuma gulped so hard he swore everyone else in the room heard it. Sweat fell down his temples as he looked from side to side, feeling the stares that had fell upon him from the second he entered the room. “Fighting thugs and posers is one thing but…surviving thirty minutes in here? “ It wasn’t nervousness that took over the boy, no, it was a natural reaction to a scenario he had never been in. Part of him was actually excited for this, delving into the unknown, but he would have to be careful otherwise he would end up going home. “Showti-“

Azuma was interrupted by the same voice that had spoken before. The voice of Jobs Bilihelm, who had accidentally forgotten to turn off the screen, and was unknowingly sharing his privacy with thousands of people. “I hope they just kill each other and end this quickly! I don’t know why Benjamin ordered me to do this! It’s taking away my precious time with Bessonova-chan!” his demeanor had changed completely from before, his cheeks reddened and his eyes gleamed like stars as he pulled out a magazine.

“We can still see you prick!” A voice in the audience screamed, it was followed by chants of others.

“Oh fuck!” He looked straight at the crowd, before nervously tapping the screen, “Y-y-you can start fighting now! See you all in 30 minutes!” and with that, it dissipated into thin air.

30 minutes had passed since Bilihelm had announced the start of the preliminary round. This was made evident by the loud ringing sound of a bell that echoed throughout the arena, which was followed by the sudden appearance of the man himself. "Congratulations!" he said, as he nervously avoided eye contact with the participants, still recovering from the embarrassment he previously suffered. "Y-you've made it all the way here, so be proud of yourselves. Now..." he cleared his throat loudly as if to call everyone's attention. "We will proceed to the next round. A duel! Since there are seven of you, one of the duels will include three participants! While the other will have other...surprises heh heh." he laughed to himself awkwardly. "Now here are the match-ups!" The screen that previously revealed Bilihelm's face now showing off who would fight who.

G.C vs. Gozen Shizuka

Kagami Azuma vs Alex A. Li

Brandt Abigail vs Kurogeta Fuse vs Deidre Piero

"Each of you will go to your designated arena, up through the stairs our samurai were guarding. If you manage to make your opponent yield, severely injure them or quite simply; eliminate them, you win! Also, if you get them to step outside the arena, victory is also yours. Good luck!" he said, regaining his usual smile, as he made sure he shut off the screen properly this time, as it dissipated into thin air. The samurai moved from the staircases' entrance, allowing the participants to move into the rooms above. Once the participants were there they would notice the square shaped battlefield composed of stone labs, surrounded by sand. From one of the walls of the room, jail bars could be seen, and what lay behind them was a mystery to the swordsmen and martial artists remaining.

No Swords Match
Li entered the place of battle with a face of sheer boredom. He was not even slightly interested in the bars of mystery. He slowly walked stopping on one side of the ring his body slouched every muscle completely relaxed, and his eyes appearing just barely open. "Get the kid in already I ain't wasting my time I'm ready to fight and I'm ready now" the old mans anger flared as if he was but a small child throwing a fit. In one hand he held a sheathed weapon but this blade which he held appeared to be in an awful condition the handle and sheath appearing to be extremely dirty and dusty with chips and cracks covering its entire structure.

Li placed his weapon to his side as his body slowly swayed from side to side in a rhythmic hypnotic motion his arms not resisting the motion a bit moving from side to side as if not controlled at all "this kid better impress me".

Taking a deep breath, Azuma entered the arena with paced, confident steps. He looked at the man's katana as he stood over the hard, stone arena where the two would be fighting. From the glimpse he caught, it seemed unkept and messy; something only a drunkard would use. Drunkards...Azuma smiled as he assumed what the man was just from the way he moved and overall appearance. Although he wasn't making assumption, as he had learned to always be cautious, he couldn't help but relate the man to his own father, Kagama Nishi. He was one of the reasons Azuma was currently in this tournament, whether he'd like to admit that or not.

He noticed the cage-like opening in one of the walls, as well as the soft breeze that emanated from it. "I'll try my damned hardest, old man." A smile took over his usually neutral expression, as he moved forward, step by step, almost mimicking the man's rhythm as his hair blew in the wind.

"Try to keep up."

SWOOSH

Azuma seemingly disappeared from his previous location, leaving only dust and debris behind. It wasn't as impressive as those who used Soru, but it would still be enough to take Li by surprise. He appeared in front of the man, stopping himself by planting his foot at a distance convenient to a swordsman, about one meter away. As his foot made contact with the ground, it caused the stone slab that Li found himself on to rise into the air, which would hopefully cause the man to lose his footing. He took this chance to attack, he swung both of his arms vertically with precision and speed aiming to hit the man with two knife-hand strike, aimed at each of his sides.

"Try to keep up" Li spoke in a condescending tone "I was out kicking ass and taking names before you were in pull-ups so don't mouth off to me". His body still almost weightless raised with the stone slab as if his body was adapting to the sudden incline. The old man appeared as if not having bones as he slid his liquid body between the young mans blows, but despite his incredible skill he could not avoid the two strikes in such quick succession the second strike just barely cutting at his wait making a small wound and ripping his robes.

"Son of a..."Li exclaimed as he lightly landed on the mid air slab and quickly hopped back. His seemingly light jump still sent him halfway across the ring and shattered the slab which he used as leverage. He landed on the ground very slowly as if he were a feather slowly drooping to the ground holding his entire body wright up on the tips of his shoes. "Okay, kid you have warranted a small portion of my time. How much should I give you? Ten minutes" Li discarded his robes showing a muscular but aged body with odd and strange proportions.

"You know I simply brought that sword for show. It isn't even mine I beat the original owner almost 58 years ago you see water can cut just a deep as a blade and that is what I am...WATER!" he flared again with anger but his entire body stayed untensed as he quickly slid his finger tips against the ground sending out hundreds of little pebbles at his opponent his tips appeared even sharper than a blade. He then dashed towards the young man using the pebbles as a cover for his approach and began to assault the man with three fast and precise strikes to his stomach.

His finger tips already showed to be equally sharp as a blade he planned to skewer Azuma.

It was impressive really, Azuma watched with mesmerized eyes as the man’s body much like water, adapted to any situation it found itself upon, although his strike had hit Li, he had still made light work of Azuma’s attempt at damaging him severely. He almost entirely avoided both blows with a seamless, fluid motion. As he shattered the slab and distanced himself, causing debris to fly near Azuma, the boy himself got into a deep-rooted stance as the man distanced himself. It was a stance akin to that of a Kendo practitioner, with both of his hands in front of him with both of his palms opened in front of his waist. If one were to look closely, it would appear as if he held a sword in his hands, or perhaps that was the illusion he gave off?

Soon enough, he found himself several meters away from Li, and while he could’ve continued his offense, he was intrigued by the man’s martial art, and instead preferred to stay on the defensive, at least for now. After an almost indistinguishable swiping motion, a swarm of pebbles flew towards Azuma and his nearby environment. However, he was ready for this. Li had made one fatal mistake. His constant blabbering had allowed Azuma to devise his own move.

As he bragged about his blade or…water? Azuma couldn’t really tell as he had filtered out that which was unnecessary during a fight. Just before Li had begun his attack, Azuma extended both of his arms outwards before he began to rotate his body its speed increasing with every turn. With every 360 degrees that passed, the winds surrounding Azuma gradually got stronger. Of course, due to the speed and abruptness of Li’s initial attacks, multiple pebbles hit Azuma’s figure in the initial stages of his technique, but he ignored the pain as more and more of them approached him, and he spun around more rapidly, until a small vortex surrounded him, returning the rest of the debris and small rocks to the approaching Li, which would hopefully slow down his own assault.

Were Li’s open-palm thrusts to make contact with Azuma’s natural protective barrier, the sheer strength of his technique would send shockwaves, of rather small proportions into his opponent, causing sizable blunt damage. However, this would not be for naught as at least one of his hits would converge upon Azuma.

Li became aware of his opponents spinning motion soon after he dashed towards him, but despite knowing this he continued his motion swaying between as many projectiles but more often the not was pelted by the miniature bullets. His first two strikes appeared to be pushed away by the intense wind produced by Azuma, but the third blow appeared to move with the motion of the wind sliding through and striking Azuma. While appearing light the tips of his fingers not only hit with great force but the tips still acted as blade with incredible sharpness.

Before being able to deliver a new attack Li's body was mid air and unable to protect itself from the powerful winds sending him back a long distance. He flied through the air with no way of stooping himself if his backward motion didn't stop soon he would be knocked out of the ring and his battle ended so suddenly. "You snot nosed little brat think you can trip me up with some basic moves" Li appeared to slow his own backward motion by placing his left palm against the ground skiding it and using friction to stop himself.

Right before being knocked out of the ring Li just barely stopped himself the palm of his hand just barely within the inner ring. "Tell me would you really be satisfied with a ring out...I wanted to have a fight in here not babysit if I wanted to babysit I would at least do it for a hot, young Wano babe" with one hand Li balanced his entire body and with a quick flip he was returned to his normal position. Without hesitation Li walked forward still as relaxed as usual, but as he moved forward he seemed to sway in a different pattern then usual and this time the winds did not resist him this time he seemed to walk right through them as if they ignored him.

"You are still hundreds of years too young to beat someone like me. LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT OVER 80 YEARS OF WORK AMOUNTS TO YOU LITTLE SHIT" Li followed his scream quickly by raising his arms with incredible speed making a loud and impressive noise, soon he began to flail his arms as if his elbows and shoulders didn't exist it was almost as if his arms were replaced with two whips. The speed of his arms slowly increased along with his swaying until soon the only thing that was visible was the trails left by the incredible motion of his arms. In one moment Li launched his arms forward hoping to knock Azuma out from the shock of the incredible whip strikes.

Once again, Li’s prowess in martial arts had taken Azuma by surprise. As the man dashed towards him, and boldly attempted to strike Azuma even through the tornado that surrounded him, Azuma felt as one of Li’s hits managed to connect with the boy, slashing the area near his torso, it went through his shirt and slightly through his skin. Although his ability to adapt to the tornado was indeed impressive, made evident by how he managed to move with the wind, thankfully, even though his slash connected, it wasn’t a particularly deep wound nor severe, thanks to the strength of the natural phenomenon that Azuma had created.

It was an interesting trade of hits, but of course, the fight wouldn’t end with just one exchange of blows. As his opponent skidded along the ground, almost ending the match, as his body involuntarily reached the edge of the ring, Azuma continued to spin, the vortex now growing in size until it turned into a full-blown twister that reached several feet above both contestants. Finally, Azuma jumped in the air as he swung his arms vertically, releasing the sizable tornado of wind he had created. It traveled towards Li quickly, cracking the stone and consuming the debris that it travelled on. It was a veritable force of nature that would swallow everything in its path, including Li’s attack, and were he to be unable to stop it, the match would potentially be over, as he would be overwhelmed by the shards of debris and strong winds of the hurricane that would severely damage him, while also throwing him out of the arena.

Lying behind the hurricane, Azuma took a couple seconds to recompose himself from the constant spinning he forced himself into. He understood, Li’s body was able to adapt to any circumstance that Azuma could throw at him, but how would he fare against the destructive attack that threatened to consume him. As his hair billowed due to the strong winds, Azuma looked at his palms. Li had managed to slash through them with his bare hands, something that intrigued Azuma. However, his train of thought was stopped by a low, audible growl that came from a side in the room.

Li was angry really really angry as the hurricane came closer and closer. "You insufferable little jackass I came here for a fight this isn't fight any dumbass with one of those damn fruits could do shit like this" Li went limp as the wind lifted him up in the air but with a spin he directed himself and was flown over the man made disaster and landed lightly on the ground. His light landing still caused dust and debris to be cleared out in a circular manner as if his body was producing wind. "Grrr" Li let out a small growl as he touched his back an exaimend it his palm had a bit of blood on it the random direction of shards and debris made his landing not nearly as safe as he first believed "...cheap shot".

"You see I hate this I hate all those smug bastards who eat those damn fruits for just a little measly bit of power" Li exclaimed to the boy as he raised his leg and struck the ground launching up another stone tile and with one strike from his pinky destroyed it "I spent 80 or 90 or I don't remember maybe a hundred years learning this shit and those little bastards eat those fruits to gain this in a quarter of the time".

"I wanted a fight of martial arts a trading of blows now satisfy me don't try and use these bullshit tactics I WANT TO FIGHT I WANT TO EXPERIENCE YOUR ARTS" suddenly he dissapeared and appeared in front of the boy his left arm reeled back ready to strike half closed into a fist "now act like a man and hit me". His fist seemed like lightning as he threw it forward, following it up with a snake like stab to the chest with his right open palm, then he quickly raised his foot hoping to directly strike the boy in the chin a surly devastating blow.

In one moment he switched styles boxing, karate, and taekwaondo all used in one moment flowing together as if rehearsed a hundred times, but all these motions were made the second Li required them there was no plan he simply went with the flow.

Blade Princess and the Frog
G.C, as per usual, was completely silent as she walked into the massive arena, surrounded by stone walls on all sides. The only thing that truly stood out was the barred hole in one of the walls, which G.C assumed held either a massive beast or an amazingly strong opponent that the two competitors would have to face together.

As she walked across the sandy floor, her three signature swords clanged against eachother in the quiver-like sheath she held them in. Once she reached the middle of the arena and saw that her opponent had still not arrived, she clasped her hands together and sat on the sandy floor of the room. She seemed to stare rather ominously towards her opponent's entrance point, waiting silently.

Shizuka had walked onto the castle floor at the designated area. She had been in this very place before, once matched up against her own sister. On that day she had suffered a humiliating loss.

"Today I intend to win, Nee-sama." Shizuka proudly stated, standing straight in the arena and waiting for her opponent to do so in kind.

As Shizuka entered the room, G.C lifted herself off of the ground and stood straight facing Shizuka. She reached into her sheath and pulled out two of the three swords, holding one in either of one of her hands. She stood silently and unmoving, apparently attempting to signal to Shizuka that she was to make the first move.

Shizuka wasn't clueless about her opponent's movements. Although it was out of character for her to make the first move in any given match, she was not given much choice in this particular situation. Shizuka steeled herself. The Samurai drew her blade from its sheath, and raised it upwards. She grasped it with both of her hands and began to charge towards her opponent.

It felt like an amateurish move. Surely, to the normal observer, it was. As she continued to charge forth, her momentum almost instantly ceased at a certain place. Shizuka drew all of her weight from running into her body, and transformed that momentum into pure force. Shizuka brought her sword inwards in the form of an arc. As the hilt of the blade reached Shizuka's ears, the slash was suddenly launched forward at tremendous speeds, in the form of a flying slash attack that sought to reach G.C's neck.

However, that was not the end of Shizuka's maneuver. From the instant she noticed G.C carrying multiple swords, she knew that this was the only maneuver that would be available for her. The flying slash attack continued, but her sword continued to maintain that same position as Shizuka blitzed forward once more. "Koshin Koshin-ryu: Sonko Kakuryu!" Shizuka announced proudly, as she brought the sword closer to her waist, before slashing outwards towards G.C's waist as she reached her proximity, hoping to see the full depth of the strength in G.C's separate swords.

After all, the maneuvers were timed so closely together that it was almost physically impossible to disable her flying slash attack with both swords, before using those same swords to stop the slash towards her waist.

From G.C's perspective, time seemed to slow to a crawl from the moment that Shizuka began charging. In G.C's mind, she had almost an entire minute to devise her plan; and as it turns out, a minute was indeed enough.

Due to Shizuka's speed, both her and the slash she had previously delivered were destined to make contact with G.C at the same time, making it nearly impossible for G.C to counter both with an attack at the same time.

In a shockingly miraculous display, G.C waited until the absolute last second before the two attacks would've made contact with her body. She pushed her body off of the ground with a jump, and rapidly turned her body so it was parallel to the ground. As Shizuka's first attack was aimed at her throat, and the last aimed at her waist, G.C moved her body into the small space that remained "in between" the attacks.

As both of the attacks failed to hit G.C, she fell back towards the ground just as quickly as she had jumped. Although this time, she had positioned her arm with her sword extended directly towards Shizuka, threatening to slice her down the middle as G.C descended.

Shizuka was surprised at the movements conducted by her opponent. It had thrown off her timing by a small degree — a product of her own inexperience — and allowed G.C to almost graze her body. Before G.C's blade could land on her body, Shizuka performed a backwards somersault, narrowly evading the slicing maneuver.

The moment G.C's blade had touched the ground, Shizuka took another step backwards. She was still assessing G.C's capabilities, and needed to find out what sort of techniques would be most effective against her. "Koshin Koshin-ryu: Tenchi no Kamae." As Shizuka spoke, she adjusted her stance. Her sword was thrown into her left hand, as opposed to her dominant right. It faced downwards in a diagonal formation, while she kept her other hand near the edge of the blade. An impenetrable defensive stance that enabled Shizuka to occupy every direction in front of her by using both of her hands, and every inch of her blade.

Brightness
Having put herself into the kimono provided by Shizuka, which thankfully wasn't tight as that would restrict her, Abigail waited by the arena by standing up. The kimono she worn had random marks with a red color and a sash by her waist, wherein her katana rested. Briefly, she eyed the jail bars at one of the corners, but quickly focused back.

Abigail couldn't do more than wait, pondering if this was really all that worth it. This wasn't even for her, nor for the Round Table, this was for the Sparrows. Even so, Abigail was to face two other opponents at the same time, a three-way battle, what a way to open the tournament.

Fuse had unsheathed his blade. The Cursed Sword emenated an eerie energy, sensing it with Kenbunshoku would send shivers down ones spine. But at the very same time, it made it easier to sense the location of the blade. "Yo, you're that Abigail chick!" the young swordsman exclaimed. "That, uh. Shizuka or something was looking for you."

A tall man walked about behind the two young swordsmen, an eerie smile took place on his face. He stood over the two with his back hunched as he lowered his head down in front of their faces. "Hello!" The man said not breaking his smile for a second his eyes closed shut due to the happy expression on his face, though something about his aura was everything but kind and happy.

"Hey hey," Abigail responded to the each of them, looking at one and the other for a second, she drew out her sword slowly and held it with a single hand, the right one. With her free hand, she tied her hair into a messy bun, "Shall we all?" Conscious or subconsciously, whenever her gaze set over someone else, particularly opponents, Abigail felt as if she could sense their... flavor. Even without the use of extensive Haki.

Left foot positioned forward, parting her legs, Abigail held the hand with her katana forward, the blade stood diagonally. Her other one stood horizontally by the first's wrist without touching it, fingers stretched out. Eyes sharp and expression stern, Abigail uttered, "Zuppa Toscana." Though slightly, it seemed the air around her shifted and acquired less transparency, albeit not by much.

Breathing this air, Abigail rose both of her palms, and her katana by extension, a mere inches. Instead of holding it even tighter, her right hand firmed its grip on the blade's handle, Abigail stood just there, silent, while the air around her steadily went through the facility.

Piero watched as the young girl took stance for battle. "Looks like someone's ready for battle, aren't you?" Piero said almost condescendingly in a cheery voice, odd for a man of his age. He seemingly did nothing to prepare for the onslaught he could be on the receiving end of. Though, to the watchful eye, one would notice the smile on his face get eerily creepier and his eyes being to slowly inch open though still staying close for the most part, almost like he was wearing a clown mask.

Neither of her combatants hadn't moved much, Abigail didn't give it thoughts longer than a second, she let the air get out of her lungs. Torso steady, legs firm, the only parts of her body that moved were her arms and hands, Shimoasa became naught but a shimmer of light through the air before her, surrounded by small clouds of steam. A single vertical slash towards nowhere, it ended at about her waist's height, sending a thin stream of pressure through the atmosphere in front of her, though it lasted very briefly.

Attacks of such kind were sometimes easy to predict and avoid. Sometimes. It wasn't aimed for either Piero nor Fuse, going in-between them almost unnoticed. Abigail wanted to simply cut the air, whatever happened next were indirect consequences of her actions, and she would gladly take responsability for them.

By applying such a simple blow, Abigail made sure she acted fast enough, fast enough that the slash split the hot air she spread through the vicinity a while ago, it was split in half, either of which gained trajectory, one for Piero and another for Fuse. It was as if their severing made them fall away from one another. The air hissed, gaining even more steam throughout its entirety, most things in the path of the halves were to fall prey to their smashing form, pressed against the very walls of the level, walls that would shudder and screech.

They had moved. That was what Fuse needed. Despite the nature of his swordstyle, he preferred to be the one to counter and then go in for the kill. To his side came a force of blistering heat, he could feel his skin bubbling before it was truly even that close. But Fuse had endured far worse heats in his lifetime, training under Raikan. The spiky-haired boy raised Reiōka, a strange aura leaking from its crimson edges.

"Sanjūshūha," Fuse began. "Tsuyoi Bakuhatsu."

Leaping into the air, his blade moved chaotically. It tore into the air, with almost a strange screeching sound filling the air, although it sounded more like fuse being lit. Three waves of the torn air were sent catapulting away from Fuse, the first two going towards Abigail and Piero respectively. The third travelled at a much faster rate, slamming into Abigail's attack. The waves of air mixed, and as with most of Fuse's attacks, his exploded. That was the principle behind his swordstyle, to manipulate travelling explosions. And as for the other two waves of air, it was expected that they would do the same.