The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo (Books 1-3)

Tournament Chapter 6- Emil & Kika

~Chapter 6- Emil & Kika~

Aero did his final stretches and prepared for his match against a Phantine named Orson. The Phantine stood nearly a full meter taller than him but wasn't as large as Cmar. Aero was all grins as he walked out onto the stage.

Orson took a wide stance, keeping his arms out to his sides and his curled trunk and tusks out in front of him. He was taking full advantage of his Phantine anatomy.

Throughout the preliminaries, Aero didn't fight any Phantine warriors, mostly Ralosians like him. Fighting this opponent would be interesting.

The drum was struck and the match began. Orson swung his tusks at Aero, forcing him to jump back to evade. Orson reached out his trunk, gripped Aero's leg, and lifted him into the air before slamming him back down with a thud. The black-haired boy gritted his teeth as he struck the ground.

"Point to Orson! 1-0. Return to your starting positions."

"That boy should be careful."

Aero stood and dusted himself off. If he had been quicker, he wouldn't have been caught. He stared at Orson - the front of his body had several forms of offense and defense... so he would attack from behind instead.

The drum signaled the fighters to fight again, and Aero bounded around the stage, jumping to and fro to disorient his opponent. He came forward and grabbed onto Orson's tusks, using them to propel himself over the Phantine, landing just behind him. Before Orson could turn around, Aero landed a side kick squarely on his back, forcing him to stumble.

"Point to Aero! 1-1! Return to your starting positions!"

"He's fast!"

When the two began again, Aero circled the Phantine warrior, trying to get behind him. Orson was not swift enough to chase after the boy, he could only defend. After enticing him to attack, Aero sidestepped behind Orson. The Phantine tried his best to stop him, but Aero landed another blow to his side.

"Point to Aero! 2-1! Return to your starting positions!"

"The Phantine warrior can't keep up!"

Aero was smiling through the entire fight; it was all a game to him. The drum signaled their fight to resume, and the black-haired boy bounded around the stage once more. The Phantine warrior watched closely as Aero jumped around, taking care not to allow him to get behind him.

Orson reached out his trunk and wrapped it around Aero's leg mid-jump. He immediately went to slam Aero down, but the boy decided it was time to pull out a technique he had been saving.

Aero punched the air between him and Orson, and a faint red light burst from his fist. A Focus Burst. When the light met Orson, he winced in pain as if Aero had actually punched him, and released the boy from his grip. Aero didn't hesitate; he jumped into the air and landed a kick across his opponent's face.

"Point to Aero! 3-1! Match goes to Aero!"

"What was that light?"

"Was that Focus?"

"How did someone so young learn to do that?"

Wilvur was a good sport about it, praising Aero's performance as they walked back to the finalist's lobby; he was surprised that such a young Ralosian could be that strong.

Aero took a seat beside Jirro in the finalist's lobby. In the corner of the room, Emil had stood alone until now. The young man approached the boys, and they tensed up.