"Yo yo yooooo! Welcome to the final stage of the under-16 tournament! I hope you all have your snacks and drinks ready for the first round of the final stage. Today, we have 8 matches for you to enjoy, filled with excitement and competition," the announcer said, pausing to give everyone some time to shout in excitement.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, there will be a small change in the schedule of fights. Since one of the first fighters will be a bit late, we will schedule that fight for the end of today. If you ask me, it's the best idea. The Crazy Fox will be at the end. It's going to be a positive ending for today. Oops, I shouldn't have said that out loud. Please disregard that comment, everyone, and let's proceed with the first match!"
"He blabbers on as always," I hummed a bit, disappointed that I wouldn't be fighting first and getting it over with.
"Dammit, dammit, I am not ready," a small dwarf muttered next to me, sounding distressed about something.
"Are you fighting first now?" I asked, looking down at the dwarf, intrigued.
"Yes, dammit."
"Hmm, if I recall correctly, most of the first fights will be against angels, right?" I said thoughtfully.
"Yes, I am fighting against Sir Arthen," the dwarf said, looking up at me.
"Sir?"
"It's his first name," the dwarf said, sounding rather uncomfortable about it.
"Right." Dismissing the bad naming, I nodded, thinking about a good way a dwarf could fight against someone that can fly.
"You can use earth and wind magic, right?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"...Yes?"
"Construct a large defensive wall while remaining hidden underground until he either lands or attacks the wall." Use ranged attacks against them. They might be stronger than most, but they are really dumb," I explained while making some gestures.
"...Why?"
"I hate angels," I said, shrugging before walking away from him toward the stands.
'I wonder if Amari is in the stands,' I thought, taking out my scroll. Calling Amari.
"We're on the north side. Apricot is here," Amari said, immediately ending the call.
"Sigh, she is really becoming like Mom," I laughed, walking to where Amari and they were.
Not even five minutes later, I came up to them, looking at Apricot, perplexed.
'I mean, I know Amari and Apricot got quite close. But it seems with Zagan kind of out of the picture, Apricot is making her move, though I don't think any of them even realize what they are doing. And I will have to talk with her about cheating on the twins. I don't agree with anyone cheating.'
"Yo, Mom, come sit next to me," Apricot yelled, waving at me.
"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?" I said, ignoring the weird looks people were giving me.
"Nope, it's too fun," Apricot laughed.
"Come on, Kitsune, it's not that bad," Amari said, joining in.
"I don't really care too much about it," I said, shrugging.
"Yeah, tell yourself that more until we believe you, alright?" Amari said mockingly.
"Sigh, whatever. Did the first fight start yet?" I said, sitting down next to Apricot to her delight.
"Any minute now. Oh, there they are, walking onto the stage," Apricot said, pointing at the stage.
"Hmm, it really is the dwarf fighting now," I muttered.
"Hey, Amari, who do you think will win this?" Apricot asked, staring at Amari for an answer.
"Hmm, hard to say. It seems the dwarf is a mage. Not sure what element, but with the race, probably earth," Amari deduced thoughtfully.
"Well, he has two elements: wind and earth. The angel, I don't know, though, but being from that race, he should have some light magic or something," I said, mocking Amari a bit—playfully, of course.
"Hey, I am not racist," Amari muttered, making me laugh.
"Sounded like that, hahaha," Apricot also erupted into laughter.
"Hey now. So who do you guys think will win?" Apricot asked, looking at me first.
"The dwarf," I said. I believed the dwarf had a good chance of succeeding.
"Sadly, the angel," Amari said, shrugging, making me look at her.
"What? There is no way he will be able to win in long-range combat," Amari added.
"Who said he is a close-range fighter? You even said he is a mage just now."
"No, fighters can use magic as well. I didn't say he is a mage. But then again, he might be a mage, but look—he has a giant hammer on his back," Amari explained, pointing at the hammer on his back.
"...Amari, don't always assume things from appearances," I said, looking back to the arena, only to watch the dwarf run at the angel at the start of the match with a hammer in hand.
"This is ridiculous," I muttered, facepalming.
"Hahaha," Apricot laughed at my reaction, while Amari proudly puffed out her chest.
Ignoring them, I looked at the fight with some dread. The dwarf, in all his efforts, missed every swing and got counterattacked with a punch every time, with the angel just playing around with him—especially with the angel having a sword on his waist.
'Sigh, I actually thought he would listen to me,' I thought, disappointed in the dwarf.
"Haaagh!!" Shouting loudly, the dwarf slammed the hammer onto the floor, sending rocks upwards all around him, making the angel move back.
Seizing this opportunity, the dwarf used his wind magic to propel the rocks even further and faster, catching the angel off guard and striking him in the head with one of the rocks.
"Woah, he actually hit him," Apricot said, surprised.
"Augh!!" Shouting in anger, the angel launched himself toward the dwarf, but before he got close, the dwarf created a rock dome around him.
"Hmm, what is his plan now?"
As Amari asked, we saw the angel land on the dome, only to get his feet stabbed by small rock nails, making the angel jump off the dome and take flight once more.
"And now they are stuck in a stalemate," Apricot said, a bit annoyed.
"I am not so sure about that, Apricot," Amari said while pointing at the light lances created by the angel.
"Yes, but that won't be able to break through the rocks," I added.
"How sure are you about that?" Amari asked, looking at me confused.
"Because the dwarf is on the ground, not on the stage. That dome is 100% rock," I said with a grin.
'Hmm, does he know where the angel is, or is he waiting for the angel to make a move?' I was humming to whatever Amari and Apricot were talking about.
'I mean, I know I asked the guy to do this, but he doesn't know where the angel is, so he can't do any counterattacks against the guy.'
Just as I thought that, the thousands of spikes on the dome shot outwards all around him. They were even strong enough to embed themselves into the protective barrier around the arena. As for the angel, he protected himself solely with his body, neglecting to use his wings, which resulted in them resembling porcupine quills.
"Aaaugh!!" Shouting in pain, the angel plummeted toward the ground, and just as he touched the ground, multiple spikes of earth came out, skewering the guy through the head and body, killing him instantly.
"Woah, I didn't see that one coming," Amari said. "Actually, I am surprised by how brutal that ending was."
"Well, it worked, I guess," I muttered, shrugging.
"And the winner is the son of Raje, Cam. It was an incredible match, and we're just beginning!"
"Hmm, well, the next match will only be after they fix the arena. Want to go get some proper breakfast?" Amari asked, looking at Apricot and me.
"Sure," I said, standing up to leave.