Hiroshi's First Opponent - Great Encounter Battle Arc

The Great Encounter Battle Tournament has just begun, and Hiroshi is fighting first! There are only two rules in the ring. Firstly, win by any means necessary and secondly, all forms of magic is allowed.

Hiroshi stepped up to the ring with as much confidence as he could muster. He could hear people talking about him behind his back.

“Elephantine got a lucky break!”

“Poor guy, he should just surrender now.”

“He'll get beaten to a pulp!”

Despite that, he tried his best to drown out the noise and focus on the fight ahead. Hiroshi looked ahead to face his challenger. He narrowed his eyes and examined him. He was a very large man and wore nothing but a loincloth. He made his stance, looking like he was about to grab him and swallow him whole.

“You little brat! You’re in my way! What a waste of space in a great Tournament! You should have stayed at home! I’m going to win this thing and have bragging rights until the day I die!” Elephantine laughed at Hiroshi, his mouth was open so wide, he spat everywhere. Hiroshi’s eyes narrowed even further.

“You kind of people disgust me. You are competing for the wrong reason. So egotistical and selfish. I hate you,” Hiroshi hissed.

“Hiroshi, use your raw strength. Because of our bond, your physical strength should have increased dramatically. The stronger our bond, the stronger I become. Do not use the darkness yet, we need to give these competitors a show later. And besides, this guy isn’t worth it. Conserve your manna,” Kuro-Yami ordered in Hiroshi’s mind. His friend smirked at him.

“Got it.”

“Why you…get over here, jerk!” the sumo wrestler cried, rushing at him with speed. Hiroshi simply stepped forward, and punched Elephantine in the stomach as hard as he could. The sumo wrestler coughed up blood and flew backwards, right out of the ring, and slammed against the dark brick wall, forming huge cracks in it. The presenter, along with many others, had their jaws on the floor.

“Useless, didn’t even test me. What a shame,” Hiroshi said, fixing the cuffs of his sleeve. Alexander checked on Elephantine, who was bunched up at the wall. He was out cold. He decided to end the fight right there.

“T-The winner is Number One, Shinigami! I will call the next contender to step forward!” Alexander announced. He looked at Hiroshi, only to look away when he realized that he was staring back at him.

“What a monster. Didn’t even give his opponent time to react. I hope that anybody wins but him,” Alexander thought to himself. He shook his head and began calling up the next two contenders.

Hiroshi got out of the ring and stood in at the back wall of the arena. He smirked to himself. That almost felt too easy. He was determined to win the tournament and use his ability to take on the Gods right here. Even better again, he knew of a God that was here already! That mentor…the God of Light…

“That’s not one of them,” Kuro-Yami spoke up, reading Hiroshi’s thoughts. Hiroshi was puzzled at Kuro-Yami’s sudden intervention.

“What do you mean? The presenter told everyone he was the God of Light or whatever,” Hiroshi stated the obvious.

“I don’t remember him being mentioned at all.”

“Wait, what are you talking about? Do you know something about the Gods?” Hiroshi interrogated, trying to get answers. For the first time since meeting him, Hiroshi noticed Kuro-Yami getting slightly flustered.

“Um, well, no not at all, but what I do know is that the God of Light is a myth. A legend. A farce. Something that children came up with years ago. The God of Light is supposedly a God over everything with a pure soul and is the hidden ninth God. The God of Light could restore peace and make a perfect world. That God can’t exist. Besides, this Tsuyoshi Kage fellow is just a normal foot solider. If he were to take on even one of those true Gods, he would be disseminated,” Kuro-Yami explained to his best friend.

“I think you know more that you let on. How do you know how strong these Gods are?” Hiroshi questioned further. Kuro-Yami grew even more flustered.

“I just assume that they’re strong.”

“Hmm…,” Hiroshi folded his arms and laid back against the wall. He was unsure about what Kuro-Yami meant by those words. Maybe, if he won the tournament, and called out the Gods, maybe he could get some answers.

Slowly, but surely, every single game was finished, and the contenders were wilting down. Eventually, it got down to the last fight of round one, and there was a familiar masked face. The same person that Hiroshi spotted walking into the now very dusty arena. He coughed and spluttered as the dust rose into the back of his throat. All this fighting was causing dust to kick up from the concrete.

“Now, time for our final fight of Round One! It is One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Seven, Ashima Tapia, often said to be a very versatile fighter, going against Number-One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Eight, in a mask as dark as night, hiding their identity from the crowd, Blossoming Flower!”

Hiroshi took his focus off the fight and looked through the ropes in the ring to across the room.

There was another man there, arms folded, staring right at him. He had short, neat, brown hair, with hazelnut brown eyes to match. He was in some sort of soldier get up uniform. He had a very friendly face, which bothered Hiroshi a lot. 

Despite this, his fight was a piece of cake for him. His speed was incredible, and he brandished a thin, steel sword.

Whoever he was, he was the only other person that Hiroshi was nervous about fighting. He focused back on the fight at hand. 

The masked person, apparently called Blossoming Flower, got into low stance, ready to strike their challenger. Hiroshi’s eyebrows lifted.

“Impressive stance. Whoever they are, they have had an immense amount of training. For a poor looking villager too.” Hiroshi remarked.

All of a sudden, he was no longer nervous.

He was excited and intrigued.