Magi

Magi Chapter 8

"Three," declared the announcer, "Two! One! Start!"

Instantly some of the mana above Hayako turned to stone. Hayako dove out of the way as it fell. Storm threw a spike of mana. Hayako deflected it with a wall of mana.

Storm made two rough swords and took one in each hand, then he charged Hayako, swinging wildly. Hayako dodged every strike. She produced a wall of frozen mana and pushed it at Storm, who was sent flying across the arena, losing his grip on his swords. He went to retrieve them, but Hayako used flaming mana to heat them up and he burned his hands. He glared at Hayako. Hayako sent several balls of mana flying at Storm. Storm jumped high into the air to avoid them, but Hayako adjusted their courses so the every one hit. She then slammed him pack to Earth with an arm of mana. The crowd cheered.

Storm struggled to his feet, but Hayako didn't let up. She slammed him from one side of the arena to another, made a show of juggling him to disorient him, and slammed him to Earth again.

"Not bad, kid..." he said, "but let's see how you deal with this."

Suddenly, there was lava above Hayako, Hayako hurriedly through up a platform of mana to stop it from falling on her, but she could still feel the heat searing her skin. She then felt the same heat from all around her and looked to see that she'd been surrounded by a moat of lava.

Hayako made a dome of frozen mana around herself as Storm continued to create more and more lava, eventually obscuring her view entirely. She reached out with her mind, looking for a source of man and found it, and with it, Storm. She cast Winter Solstice, then rushed out in the direction of Storm. She slid, knocking his legs out from underneath him. She then kicked upward and sent him flying into the air. She jumped after him and again kicked him further into the air. He hit the top of the cube. Hayako jumped higher off a platform of mana, and started striking upward, keeping Storm pressed into the top of the cube. She stood on a platform of mana as she did so.

Storm hit her with a block of mana, but she created a platform to stop herself from falling. Storm let himself fall to Earth and started launching blades of mana up toward Hayako. Hayako deflected everyone, but couldn't find time to counterattack until she came up with an idea.

"Oh, source of all life descend, Rain!" she said.

Some mana was transmuted to water and fell. It hit Storm, stinging and disorienting him without seriously hurting him.

Hayako went on the offensive, launching balls of flaming mana at Storm, he dodged them all.

"And Hayako rains down judgement from above like a goddess! This match has provided some gorgeous imagery!" said the announcer.

Splitting her focus, Hayako began an incantation.

"Water rise," she said, "the source of all life, king of the Earth, creator and destroyer, rise, Great Sea!"

Suddenly, all the mana around Storm turned to water and he was ten feet under water. Hayako continued her assault of mana balls, which were significantly harder to dodge while swimming. Storm was pummeled by the assault, until Hayako grabbed him with a mana harm and slammed him into the top of the cube. He went limp and fell back to the ground. Hayako created a platform to keep him from drowning. The magi maintaining the cube opened part of it to let the water drain out, then Hayako let Storm fall back to Earth.

"And the winner is Hayako, the prodigy and goddess!" the announcer declared.

Hayako left the ring and went to talk with Suzuku and Shirou.

"Great job, kid!" said Shirou, "Business is booming thanks to you!"

"We're almost there, Hayako!" said Suzuku.

"Yeah," said Hayako.

They then turned their attention to the TV as Julia's quarter final match was beginning.

"And the pink psycho, Julia von Einzfeld goes up against the seductive sorceress, Jen Strong!"

Jen Strong was an attractive American woman who fought primarily with incantations. While it was hard to assess exactly what was happening without being there in person, it was easy to tell that Strong was outmatched. She couldn't get off a single incantation with Julia's relentlessness. Julia simply stood him place with her hand on her hip with that smug smile on her face and watched Strong struggle to dodge her attacks. Strong eventually decided to take the fight hand to hand. This was a huge mistake. Julia dominated the poor girl, then executed her I her preferred way.

"And Julia wins this match effortlessly, again. She also continues to break the rules against killing! I hope that parents listened to the content warning for this tournament!" the announcer declared.

Julia then walked out of the arena and bumped into Hayako, Suzuku, and Shirou.

"Oh, if it isn't Suzuhara and Asakawa, and you must be Shirou," she said, "Nice to meet you."

Julia curtsied.

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too," said Shirou, "little psycho."

"What did you call me?"

Julia released her huge aura of mana, only to have it turn into a thousand blades pointed at her.

"You don't scare me, kid," said Shirou.

"Sorry," said Julia through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, you better be."

"Nice to see you, Suzuhara, Asakawa," Julia said, then left.

Another voice then sounded from behind Hayako, Suzuku, and Shirou.

"Oh, it's you two," said Oshikawa, "I don't believe I ever got your names, though of course I know Suzuhara and Shirou now."

"I'm Asakawa Suzuku," said Suzuku, bowing.

"Nice to meet you."

"Do you like watching these kinds of tournaments?" asked Suzuku.

"No, actually. I find them barbaric. But like a car crash I can't help but watch. Besides, it is a great research opportunity."

"Oh... Well, how are those kids doing?"

"Wonderful, none of them appear to be seriously harmed and we're in the process of finding their families. We should have them all home and safe by the end of the month."

"Thank goodness," said Suzuku.

"I'm glad," said Hayako.

"Mr. Shirou, I'd like you to explain the mechanics of magi powers sometime to me. I'm from the Magi Research Center."

"I'd be happy to," said Shirou.

"Well see you later," said Oshikawa.

"Okay, see you later," said Suzuku.

"See you later," Hayako said.

The quarterfinals concluded that day, and Hayako and Suzuku went back to their hotel together and slept there for the night. Hayako went to bed early, wanting to rest for the semifinals, at Suzuku's insistence.