Chapter 37: Prelims Day 1 (Part 3)

The audience goes silent as Karen's body dissolves into a puddle on both sides of the swordsman that cut her in half. While it's not the first time someone has died at this tournament many in the audience were attending for their first time and because of it ending so fast people were still trying to catch up. Even the guild party that was tasked with stopping fatal strike's hadn't moved, which some of the veteran's of the tournament thought was odd but since it had happened before they gave it no attention. The samurai, satisfied that he'd easily won, was slightly bothered at how simple it had been given the monster's show of strength in the first round but accepted that she wasn't his true challenge and was about to sheath his weapon as a smattering of applause had started to spread through the watching crowd. Only to freeze then jump forward as many sharp spikes of slime pierced the ground where he'd been standing.

[Awesome! Was that some kind of Iai skill?!? I didn't even see you draw your blade it was so fast! Oh nice dodge by the way...] - Karen

[...!] - Samurai

Karen was excited, she wasn't really into Samurai stuff but frequent anime sessions with Austin had given her at least a basic knowledge of such things. On top of that this was the first time since she'd left the forest that she'd met a challenge from an opponent on her level. Her tutor, Lolianne Sensei, didn't count cause she was far too powerful for her to actually fight Karen successfully. And Rose's 3 roommates, Malaise, Veronica and Shade, were definitely strong in their own rights, especially Shade, but they never came at her seriously in fear of injuries.

On top of this Samurai being fast enough to cut a yeeting slime rocket he'd even dodged her strike afterwards!

[Still gonna keep quiet huh? Well let's try this again!] - Karen

[...!] - Samurai

At this point almost 2 minutes had passed since Karen was cut in half and the crowd was starting to realize that she was still kicking around which led to the roar of clapping that was slowly growing from the stands as more people joined in. Using this sound as the background music to her strike Karen lunged forward once more, keeping part of her vision on the sword that had once more been sheathed as the Samurai faced her. Finally reaching striking distance her eyes perceived a slight blur coming from the man's belt and she threw herself to the side as her left arm was cleanly sliced off. Using the fact that he'd missed anything important Karen threw a blow with her remaining arm, morphing it into a drill as she did so. Only for the man to dodge once more, his sword back in it's sheath once again.

[Oh!!! Seriously cool! How did you do that?!?] - Karen

[...] - Samurai

[I only saw a blur this time but you're definitely using Iai right!?!? Right?!?] - Karen

[...] - Samurai

[I wanna see more so keep it up! Here I come again!] - Karen

The man glared at Karen as her eyes literally transformed into stars, her separated arm rejoining her body mass nonchalantly. Karen wasn't worried about actual injuries at this point as sword attacks were nearly useless on her current body but the sheer awesomeness of his technique was making this fight anything other than boring. In a word, she was having fun.

The crowd was absolutely going wild at this point, seeing their favorite shrug off not just one strike but two at this point. The announcer, playing up the crowd was replaying footage of the last encounter in slow motion for the people in the audience that couldn't follow along. Karen noted this slightly before once more yeeting herself at the opponent in front of her, sending a small tendril along the ground to circle behind him as she did so.

Once more reaching striking range the Samurai once more went to slash the slime rocket only to fail at pulling out his sword. Silently panicking he quickly looked down only to see a translucent tendril of slime wrapped around the hilt of his sword, holding it fast inside the sheath. Swearing inwardly the man attempted to dodge the quickly approaching slime girl but only succeeded in dodging enough to receive a glancing blow to his stomach, the first actual damage of the round. Grimacing at the pain he jumped back to get some distance between him and the offending slime whilst using a small personal blade to remove the tentacle from his sword.

[Oh, you dodged? I thought for sure that would be the end. Oh well more fun I guess!] - Karen

[...you... are a worthy opponent... It is an honor to speak in the presence of one such as yourself. This one's name is Kurata.] - Kurata

[Oh he speaks? Well nice to meet you Kurata, name's Karen. Shame I gotta take you down, don't hate me for it.] - Karen

[...no hatred, only honor exists when facing a strong foe and only death awaits the loser. This one is... happy... to face one such as yourself after travelling so far from this one's homeland.] - Kurata

[Wow, you're kind of talkative when you finally speak huh? Well don't worry I don't want to kill you so you'll have plenty of future chances to meet strong foes after I bash your face into the dirt!] - Karen

[...] - Kurata

[Gone silent again? Well whatever. I think I'm getting the hang of your speed anyway.] - Karen

Once more launching herself at the man like some lunatic from an asylum that never learned her lesson Karen spread out her fluid body along the ground in a thin layer as she did so, reaching the man mere seconds later as he once more drew his sword in a Iai strike! Only for her slime to split in half before he could even hit her, forming tendrils around the man's body as she halted his movement.

[It's over. Surrender and you'll live to face even more of those "strong foes" you talked about.] - Karen

[You are correct, this one has lost this battle. However, you are wrong about my future. Honor dictates that you must kill me as you are the victor of this battle.] - Kurata

[Hah? I just said that I'll let you live if you surrender! Just give it up and we can both move on, it's not like you're out of this tournament after one loss! On top of that those Aegis people are supposed to stop that sort of thing.] - Karen

[If one is concerned about future repercussions this one can propose a solution. We can...] - Kurata

[No! I said I'm not taking your life and I mean it now surrender before I make you do so!] - Karen

[...Very well. This one's life belongs to you. This one surrender's and withdraws from the tournament.] - Kurata

Seemingly listening in on the two combatants the announcer immediately called out the results of the match the cheering of the crowd reaching heights far beyond anything that came before as the arena shook with the intensity of the sound.

[Interesting... Her name is... Karen? Strange for a monster to have a given name.] - Shadowy Figure

Off to the side of the arena, in an out of the way area stood a man that was fully covered despite the slightly warmer day. This man, avoided by all of the nearby audience, had been completely uninterested in the fighters so far. All of them were far too weak to be useful in any way, even Kurata wasn't on the level of being more than a passing thought. This new contestant though was far more eye-catching. Her first match, the one that had kicked off this tournament, had caught the man's eye but had been far too easy for him to get a real feeling for the slime's abilities. This most recent battle however had given him a good idea of her real strength, and he was very impressed.

[The question is how to use "it" effectively...? Oh? "That" would work...] - Shadowy Figure

If anyone nearby had been paying attention to the suspicious man they may have seen him vanishing into thin air but as it was every single one of the audience was ignoring the intimidating figure and cheering on the newest winner. As a result the man's insane smile was seen by not a single other person.

Judico sighed, frankly this year's batch of Prelim fights had been completely uninteresting besides a few exceptions. Unfortunately one of them had dropped out voluntarily after fighting one of the other interesting competitors. This left him, as the person in charge of keeping this event exciting, in a bad position. On the one hand each of the pairs of fighters was supposed to be completely random with the prelims continuing until enough of the competitors had 3 losses under their belt. On the other hand he, as the announcer, had a responsibility to keep ramping up until the main event and as such he could discretely change the lineup without being noticed. However, if he did it too much it'd become obvious and put a dampener on the rest of the event.

[Hah... I guess I'll let a few more random fights go by and hope that a few more promising fighter's show up.] - Judico

[So why exactly are you following me?] - Karen

[This one's life was over the moment that this one lost to you, if this one was allowed to do so this one would take mine own life to uphold mine honor but because of this one's surrender this one belongs to you and as such it is forbidden for this one to destroy mistress's property without permission. This one will continue to follow you until you allow this one to die mistress.] - Kurata

[Ha? That's ridiculous! I'm not your mistress and I'm not in the market for any slaves. I release you so go back home!] - Karen

[This one apologizes for the inconvenience mistress but this one must refuse your request, this ones belief's are clear. As far as mine people are concerned this one is no longer considered a person and if this one left you for any reason they would kill this one on sight and strike this one from the family records.] - Kurata

[Wh-What? That's insane!?! Why do you believe in such a horrible thing?!? Just go somewhere else if your people won't accept you!] - Karen

[This one must once again apologize mistress, if this one were to try to hide mine shame at the far reaches of Miscalis this one would only be hunted down as an animal by mine own people for abandoning this one's soul. If mistress truly believe that mine life has no merit then please take this one life, it is within your rights as this one's mistress. I beg of mistress to not leave this one behind.] - Kurata

[Are you kidding me? You're back on me killing you?] - Karen

Stunned and horrified by this Samurai's culture she felt anger bubbling up from within as the powerful swordsman once more asked me to kill him. The man, who had given her the most trouble out of all the contestants so far, only looked pitiful now. His once proud visage replaced with a broken shell of a person, only seeking death.

[Fine! If I'm now responsible for your life then I order you to value your own life! I won't accept anything less than that if I'm going to be forced to take care of you now. Oh and call me Karen, calling me mistress all the time makes me feel bad. Either accept these terms or forget all about this owning nonsense!] - Karen

[This one... understands mis... Miss Karen. This one will endeavor to value mine life in the future until such a time as one deems it necessary to dispose of this one.] - Kurata

[I guess that works for now... and I said to call me Karen! Well whatever! Nice working with you Kurata!] - Karen

Sticking her semi-solid hand towards the suicidal man who glanced down at it in confusion she grabbed his own and placed it within hers to shake on their agreement not realizing that her decision to accept the man would one day save her life. A life for a life as it were.

[And now the moment you've all been waiting for! A little under half of our fighter's have dropped out already and we only have another couple fights left for today's event! One of which brings back an audience favorite! Easily dropping her opponent in the first round and showing us a true accounting of her strength in her second one we bring you...! The one! The Only! Lightning Flash Karen!!!] - Judico

[Ugh... Why? Who the hell thought of such an embarrassing nickname?!?] - Karen

Lamenting the nickname that she was now stuck with Karen once more missed the introduction of her opponent, drowning in her misery as it were. Luckily Kurata was paying attention however as he addressed her while she made her way to the arena.

[Mistr... Miss Karen, this one believes that the upcoming battle may require different tactics than the one's displayed against this one. One's opponent this time is noted for his powerful use of Kinetic Magic, specifically Fire. This one fought against him in a previous round and won using his natural weaknesses to this one's advantage but if he is able to protect himself from one's initial strike one may find difficulty in overcoming his abilities.] - Kurata

[Ah! Well thank you Kurata, also call me Karen, but I think that mage has a little surprise in store for him if he thinks that fire will work on me. Just watch, I'll put on a good show afterall.] - Karen

[Understood mist... Miss Karen. This one will watch one's magnificent figure... "in action", this one thinks the saying is.] - Kurata

[Y-Yeah that's right... <Damn this is embarrassing as all hell...>] - Karen