The Campagna Adventures

Chapter 34-Maho Mura

Phil woke suddenly.  The teen sat up and looked around, trying to discover what had awoken him so abruptly.  A loud knock rang through the room, apparently what had awoken him.

"Phil, time for breakfast!"

At the sound of the word breakfast, the Aura Guardian's stomach rumbled.   He frowned at how hungry he was.

"I'm coming.  I hope it's good because I could eat a mountain right about now."

The teen quickly threw some clothes on, and met Denny outside of the house.  Phil followed him to a large, low building.  After stepping inside, Phil's face lit up.  He could smell bacon, eggs, toast, and basically anything you could think of for breakfast coming from a buffet table.  His mouth watering, the Aura Guardian quickly but three sunny-side-up eggs, four pieces of toast, some grits, and more bacon than he could count on his plate.  After grabbing a large glass of milk, Phil joined Denny at a table near the center of the room.

Joseph laughed as he approached, "Denny said there would never be a dull moment around you.  So far he has been right."

Phil chuckled, "If things get dull around me, then I am going to get my head checked, because obviously something is wrong.  Although, I am curious as to what he was saying about me."

"He was telling me how you jumped right after the kidnapper before." 

"Kidnappers, I guess I was never debriefed.  Rego Vastator and Rego Fallacia.  Vastator was a piece of cake this time, he should have known better than to use a war axe against me, but Fallacia was very quick, I could barely keep up.  If he had managed to use and Aura Sphere without letting go of a weapon, like some people can, I would have been screwed."

"Two decent Dark Users at once!  Jeez, slow down," Joseph exclaimed.

"They still got away, so I didn't succeed," Phil replied.

"Hey, most of us would be dead.  So do not beat yourself up over it. I hear you are not a big fan of some of the more traditional ways things go."

"Yeah, the girl traveling with us.  Her, betrothed I guess, tried to slap her for talking to me after I sent some hooligans messing with her packing."

"What was the man's name?"

"Anakin."

Joseph suddenly became very serious, "That is not something to joke about."

"I'm not joking."

"Well, Denny, please tell me you have a plan for going around the village," Joseph replied, sounding very worried.

"No, we are going to go there."

"What if Phil gets challenged to Pro Pugna?"

"We will cross that bridge when we get there," Denny replied, in a tone that clearly stated that the conversation was over.  Phil was thoroughly confused, but decided not to push Denny at the moment.

"So, Phil, are you going to compete in the Maximum Bellum Suscipere?" Joseph inquired.

"The what?"

"A tournament.  Weekly we hold a Bellum Suscipere, which is a battle between two equal opponents.  However, once every four months, we hold a Maximum Bellum Suscipere, which is a single elimination tournament.  We start with no more than sixteen contestants.  There is still one spot left, and the contest is tomorrow."

"Alright, what are the rules?"

"Two Aura Guardians battle, with their partner battling alongside them.  They are given a random of many different weapons.  The weapons are not padded so aiming above the shoulders is illegal and results in automatic forfeit.  This is not a worry though, because, as long as the head remains attached, our healers can use Aura to heal anything else.  However, serious injuries to organs are also rare as some random armor may be provided.  Weapons and armor are the same for both contestants."