Kojo stopped his fall by creating a cloud. He stood, looking down over the beast glades.
"How the hell did I get all the way out here?" he wondered.
(You have been subject to a Spatial warp.)
"But who...?" He suddenly remembered Yukio gripping his hand seconds before he began to fall. He suddenly felt a tingling sensation and jumped backward off the cloud. Something shot through where he was standing a few seconds ago and struck the ground with a loud boom.
Kojo created a whirlwind to catch himself, landing on the ground.
"Hey!" he yelled. "What's the big idea? I know you're a saint and all, but you can't just drop people from the sky." He felt the tingling again. He raised his arms in front of him, and he blocked an attack from Yukio, who shot out of the dust cloud like a bullet from a gun. A shockwave sounded as Yukio's blow hit.
"Your reaction speed is impressive," she said, kicking him into the forest. Kojo slowly got to his feet. Yukio walked towards him, holding her sword.
(SAGE: The Archsaint possesses a Sacred Blade.)
"Sacred blade?"
(SAGE: The Sacred Blades; Durandal, Caliburn, and Ascalon. These three swords give the wielder power over their respective concepts of Space, Reality, and Time. It is one of the three swords belonging to the first Hero, Estelle Leicester. Ascalon, having dominion over Time, allows it to cut through Time, giving the wielder the ability to reset it such that her target gets erased from existence.)
"Hey lady, are you trying to kill me?" Kojo yelled.
"Nope, just checking to see your abilities," Yukio said, pulling the sword, which was still in its scabbard, at him. Kojo let out a sigh of relief. He noticed a blue glow coming from the scabbard.
(She's infusing it with her arcana.)
"Not good," Kojo yelled, barely blocking a swing that sent him flying into the air. Yukio appeared above him, sword above her head, and struck him down into the ground.
"Aren't you going to fight?" she asked, shooting toward him. Kojo shot his threads at the trees that had fallen around and swung them at her. She sliced through them and made a downward swing at Kojo, who jumped back just in time. She then began an assault of high-speed swings and jabs, with Kojo moving around her attacks, barely able to evade. She raised her hand as if to blast him with magic. Kojo braced himself, but Yukio took advantage of the feint and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying back with a swing to the face.
"You know, I sensed a lot of Arcana pouring off you. I don't know why you're holding back," she said as she walked towards him. "If what they said is true and you really did kill that demon, then you have a chance at the tournament. If not, then you better give up right now."
"Hey lady," Kojo yelled, holding his side. "You're talking like I asked to join. I never wanted to be part of some stupid contest, but I'm in it now, so suck it up." He straightened.
"It's my Danger sense plus my Hyper Thought that have both warned me when she's about to attack and enable me to perceive her movements," Kojo thought.
(You possess a large amount of Arcana. However, you can't use it to its maximum due to this body being in Growth. It is still functioning to complete the process.)
"What's the status?"
(47% Complete. Even incomplete, you can wield more magic power than most 10-star mages.)
"So even though I ain't fully incorporated into this world, I can give this chick a run for her money?"
(Yeah, if you put it like that...)
"Good," Kojo smiled. "That's all I wanted to hear."
Fireballs appeared around Yukio, and unleashed a volley of fire blasts at her. She swung her sword around, deflecting them, jumping around to avoid the rest.
She then swung her sword, diffusing the flames, and shot toward Kojo. The ground under her glowed. A magic circle appeared under her feet. She jumped back just as it exploded. Many more of these appeared around her and began to explode.
"Is this the best you can do?" Kojo appeared from behind, claws extended. Yukio realized that he was using the blasts to create a smoke screen saturated with arcana.
"So he knows about my Arcane Detection," Yukio thought, blocking his slash with her sword and creating a shockwave. Kojo grabbed the sword and threw her into the air. He appeared beside her and hit her with an energy-infused fist. Kojo then created a cloud and used it to hurtle towards her. Yukio caught herself in midair and blasted to meet him. The two collided, the force from their collision parting the clouds around them. They separated and shot toward each other, exchanging blows as they streaked through the sky.
Chain Reaction.
Kojo released orbs of lightning around Yukio; they spun around her before converging on her. She shook it off.
She spread her arms, and golden blades appeared around her.
Light Spirit magic: Rain of Swords.
She directed the swords at Kojo, who flew around in order to evade them. He bent backward, catching two of the light swords, then joining them together to form a javelin and threw it at Yukio, who swatted it aside.
Kojo then began to unleash a series of wind slashes at Yukio. She blocked then, charging her sword with energy, swung at Kojo, causing a crescent energy blade to knock him to the ground.
Earth Spirit Magic: Shrodnier's Prison.
Arms shot out of the ground and held Kojo, while crystal spikes grew on him, extending in all directions to form a cage.
"What the hell?"
(SAGE: The saint is a spirit magic user.)
"You're telling me this now?!"
(Spirit magic is one of the rare magic types where the user makes a contract with a spirit, allowing it to reside in his body while being able to use the spirit's abilities.)
Kojo tried to break free, but the cage produced more hands to restrain him.
"You know, now's not the time for a lecture," Kojo said, struggling to break free.
(She's probably contracted a lot of spirits, judging from her arcana output.)
"Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious."
Kojo sensed energy converging and looked up.
Fire Spirit Magic: Tears of the fire god.
Thousands of fireballs appeared, their blazes intensifying.
"I think this girl really is trying to kill me."
(Don't overreact, she said she just wanted to see how strong you are.)
Light Spirit Magic: Rain of swords.
Golden swords appeared. The two spells merged into a single one, producing thousands of golden fire blades all trained on Kojo.
(Yeah, she's trying to kill you.)
Merged Magic: Judgement Of The Divine Executioner.
She raised her hand, and the swords shot towards Kojo.
"Well, if she thinks I'm going down easy, she's got another thing coming." Kojo released his aura in a flash of bright purple, which canceled out Yukio's spell and knocked her to the ground.
"My turn," Kojo said as his arcana swirled around him.
"That power," Yukio said softly, surprised by the amount of Arcana Kojo was releasing.
Kojo's arcana converged between his hands, materializing as water. He shaped it into a cone, which began to swirl, bursting into blue flames.
"Eat this." He aimed at Yukio then clapped.
The water bullet shot towards Yukio, who instinctively sidestepped. The bullet's force was so great that it destroyed all landmarks in its path, going all the way to hit one of the mountain peaks in the distance before causing an explosion that shook the ground and leaving a massive gorge in its wake.
Yukio looked back to see the devastation that the attack had caused. Kojo breathed heavily.
"There's more where that came from," he said.
"No, I think that's enough for today," she said, sheathing her sword to her belt.
"Let's head back," she said, stretching out her hand. Kojo looked at her before stepping forward and taking her hand.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Hm?"
"Call me Yukio," she said with a smile.