Slam and Jam 1

“Wakey wakey sleepy head! It’s time to go” Alet shaking Io’s body waking him up.

“Huh… Already? Just five more minutes…” Io still trying to open his eyes.

“Okay then I’ll head there by myself.”

“…? WAIT! I’m awake, I’m awake, just let me shower first okay.” He jumps off the bed and grabs his towel.

After two days of hard training, they actually feel exhausted. Just like before their train fighting against Slam and Jam team at their university dueling field. Even Alet herself still wants to take a rest for a little longer but today is their match on the Lion Cage tournament. This time, they wear the protective cloth that they bought yesterday. There is no specific rule inside the tournament. All they want to see is a good match between the two teams.

They hop on Io’s motorcycle and head to the place where the tournament was held. The place is located on the border between Capla’s City and Manusha’s City. With that being said, there are three different places on each city's borders. The location is determined from the nearest place of registration. Once they reach their destination, they head to the changing room and wear their gears.

“What weapon are you planning to use now?” Asked Alet as she wore her robe.

“Based on our training yesterday, I’m going to use the upgradeable scythes. Well not forgetting my fist of course… I think I will stick to my fist in the future. Just let's see what we got.” Says Io since he is more comfortable to fight using his only fist with the knight gloves on.

“Okay then. I agree with you though. I can see you move freely without any weapon on. Just give it a try in our next match.”

“…And on the opposite side, the one who surprised us all. Theee… Angkara!” Says the announcer.

Walking toward the lift and the person inside it gives them the magical shield. They step out from the lift and they greet with cheering from everyone from the stadium. Their opponent was already standing there, Slam and Jam. Their team consists of a Capla-Manusha couple with their body full of armors. From the armor design which is very simple and complex, these armors are created by the Manushas. The woman from the opponent has a nickname ‘Slam’ since her weapon is a giant hammer and the man is called ‘Jam’. That name is given from his weapon which is very unique in that it has the shape of a ball and it can bounce just like playing a basketball. From the training data that Io and Alet gained from yesterday, the man can summon a basketball ring to launch and act as a support for his ball. In simple terms, he is playing basketball and fighting at the same time.

“…Andd… Begin!” The announcer gives them a mark to start the fight.

Soon after the mark was given, Slam and Jam charged forward. Io charges forward as well and Alet starts to cast enchantment magic toward Io and she is also ready to cast any elemental spell if needed. Jam throws his basketball toward Io and he blocks it but his body almost sends backward because of how powerful that throw is. After the ball calls back to Jam’s hand, Slam already swings her hammer down toward Io. He dodge it and Alet throws a fireball towards her. Before Io can step upward after dodging Slam’s attack, a ball already hits his face and sends him back toward where Alet stands.

“Ughh… They always take turns to attack, this is making it hard to find any change to strikes back. Dang it!” Io already lost his temper.

“Io! Stay calm. And remember to be careful. Don’t take any action that you weren't sure about yet.” Shout Alet giving him courage.

“Yeah you are right. Alet, try to redirect Jam’s ball. If you can hit, I might fight Slam alone.” He stands back up and charges forward toward Slam.

“Hey! Fight me Slam!” Shouted Io as he charges.

Jam already sent his basketball toward Io but this time Alet created a dirt wall to rebounce it. Just like what Io though, they only start the attack after one of them launches an attack. He jumps and throws his scythes. Both of his scythes are already connected with a strong cable from his waist allowing him to move with extra speed. His scythe pierce Slam’s shoulder armor. As he starts to retract the cable, his body flies toward her and he throws a kick with both of his legs. Since Slam didn’t prepare an attack, his head gear meets Io’s legs and she knocks backward. Io tumble backward and recall his scythes to his hand.

“What an interesting weapon you got there.” Says Jam.

“Take this!” Jam throws his ball toward a ring that is already positioned above Io.

The ball hits it and bounces toward Io from above.

“Io watch out!” Shout Alet.

But while Io and Alet thought that the ball would hit Io, it moved its path toward Alet.

“Alet!” Io threw his scythe from his right hand but he was too late.

Alet got hit by the ball and flew outside the arena. Before she falls, Io already throws his second scythe that saves Alet from getting out of the arena. While Io tries to pull back Alet, Jam already throws the ball toward Slam and Slam hits it. The ball projectile is very fast and every eye can nearly follow up with it. The ball hits the ground where Io is standing and sends him flying to the sky. He is also almost out of the arena but lucky for him, that he can move freely with his scythe since it was his second favorite weapon. He stuck the first scythe to the arena and pulled Alet up to the sky. After Io flies back to the arena, he catches Alet using his second scythe to pull her.

“That was close… I think their combo is also a problem.” Say Io as he catches his breath.

“Yeah it is, I guess we have to deal with Jam first.” Alet stand back up.

Alet starts to cast wind dagger toward Jam, but Slam is standing in front of him and a hologram shield appears from her left hand. As Jam jumps again, Io already throws his scythe toward him. Jam is surprised and he throws his ball to break Io’s scythe path.

“Heh… you think you are the only one who can manipulate a projectile path? I can do it too!” Say Io as he sends the second scythe from the side.

The second scythe hits his first scythe, this makes Jam’s ball hit the cable. As a result, Io’s second scythe flies back towards Jam. The cable wraps Jam’s feet and Io pulls the cable. Jam hits the ground very hard. Some of his armor started to break.

“Grrr… I hate him. Hey Slam, Let's focus our attack towards the girl!” Says Jam.

Agreeing with Jam’s plan, Slam charges toward Alet. Alet is confused about how she is going to react to that charging attack. She cast a wind dagger toward her but Slam can dodge it easily. Slam head gear equipped with elemental spell detector, this allows her to see where the wind dagger is located. As Slam already stood close to Alet, she swung her hammer to the side. She got hit by the hammer since her sword is not strong enough to block that attack. Alet then thrown to the side. Io realized that their position is at a disadvantage. Both of them are located in the opposite direction making Slam and Jam in the center. Alet lost his consciousness and fell to the ground. She is still not considered as lost since she is still inside the arena and not losing her life. This situation makes Io have to fight both of them for a while.

“Well now, this should be easy.” Says Jam as he spins the ball on the tip of his finger.

“How dare you! I will not forgive both of you!” Shouted Io.

Io struggling to keep his mind focused. Sometimes he receives a strike and sometimes he gets to hit one of them. With Alet laying down on the opposite side, Io tries to reach her. After a while, Io started to get exhausted. Without any change to fight back, suddenly his asthma relapsed.

“Not like this… I have to use my inhaler here…” He reached for his pocket in his pants to take out his inhaler. After he used it, his lungs started to work normally.

“I can’t stand it any longer. Alet has to stand back up any moment now.”.