Tournament: Soujiro vs Viviene

What a wonderful day for a fight! Soujiro enters the Shibuya arena with simple, almost humble airs to him. A smile that could captivate a princess. A blade that could cut down a boulder with a single strike. A mallard that would follow him anywhere, to the very bowels of Hades itself. He does have to stop and ask that said duck wait in the stands before the fight starts. "It would not be fair to gang up on a duelist and I want a pure, exciting fight," he tells the duck in a 'do it for me, ok?' to which it quacks and waddles away.

The blue haired samurai strides out onto the pitch. He is a fan favorite mostly with the ladies and avians. A real chick magnet. "I am excited to be here today," he lets the crowd know, "to share with you the annual epitome of our hard work as fighters, protectors, and athletes. I'm counting on you to cheer us on today!"

In a stark contrast, the small spriggan that enters the arena enters it without much of a fanfare, if anything, the crowd kind of parted away around Viviene as she makes her way into the arena, she didn't seem to acknowledge them, and any who were slow got simple stare down from her. She carries a stern, almost businesslike and professional air to her, both in her never slouching, firm posture and and clean cut, snug fitting fatigues and jacket, a myriad of weaponry on her person. "Soujiro." Viviene noted. "It's been a while.. Well, if my opponent is going to be you, I suppose I don't need to play around, huh?" She detaches the heavy blade from her back and tosses it aside, instead opting to take out a single Wakizashi, holding it in a reverse grip, a tight, precise and controlled stance, and she adopts one of her rare - if not dangerous seeming grins. "Lets give them a show, why don't we?"

"Viviene," Soujiro says as he walks as casually to the center as he does while on patrol at Alne or Carmina, "I couldn't have said it better myself! I promise to honor our fight with the pure potential of my talent." His tone is respectful. From one warrior to another the worst thing would be to toy with someone or half-ass it.

"In truth, I am excited to share this moment with you. With all of these people. We may be only fighters doing what we do best most days. I love combat and seeing how high we can soar in this beautiful world," Soujiro says with his token, warm smile. Practically sparkling. "But today we do more. May our display today give them peace of mind that we fight with the strength to protect them from harm. To avenge them from wrongs," he puts a hand on his katana. He could not agree more that today they give them a show. "We fight today not for ourselves, but to grant peace to the hearts of the scared and heal the wounds of war." Those sparkly blue eyes settle to a serious set. Almost as if there is a countdown.

3

2

1

Don't blink, you'll miss it.

Soujiro practically disappears in a token samurai-strike iai blurr. At some point he extended his blade, Zantetsuken style, as his stands shows the end of the slash. The wind follows after, kicking off the fight in a way that would make Sans from Undertale proud.

One of the earliest duels to take place in the Crownless Cup is taking place, and Curtana was honestly surprised as he spotted the name on this roster. After all, this tournament is clearly packed with top tier talent Adventurers, so there had to be some names that were household names. One of them isn't, though, and honestly it takes the Pooka knight by surprise.

So, Curtana finds himself a spot in the stands where his bulky plate armor won't block the view of an unlucky viewer. Fingers crossed together, he watches as Soujiro faces off against someone he hasn't seen in a while. And clearly they haven't been sitting idle since the Pooka has last seen her. "Good luck, Viviene."

    With the best seats she could possibly get, Asuna has made sure to show up in force for her 'big brother' samurai today. She's not alone. Yui is there, clutching a cloth doll made in the unmistakable form of Soujiro Seta. The little Lander has abandoned her seat, favoring Asuna's lap for a bit higher view. The child doesn't even react when a mallard suddenly claims her empty seat. Until she realizes she can help and draws the mallard into her own lap. It's not a big deal. They're family.

    "Go onii-san!!" Yui's forgotten to be shy in the excitement.

    Asuna's eyes are watching more closely. She's no casual fan. This is, obviously, training. She has a duel of her own to get to shortly and she wants to be mentally prepared for it. If her eyes drift over to Curtana for a moment, it's only coincidence. She wouldn't at all be sizing up yet another duelist that just so happens to share her bracket.

It seems that Viviene is fammilar with Iai strikes, as she is tensing and at the ready. Viviene is moving even as Soujiro winds up, but there is something strange about her movement, her movement blurs a little bit, then there is not just one, but two, then three Viviene, all at the same time moving as she opts to flash step through the attack, grazing her lightly as she carries herself forward in her own signature move.

"STINGER!"

Raw force of magic, and force of arms pushes her in a straight motion, opting to zip past Soujiro and strike at him as she's passing by with a ripping, tearing strike.

Clang! There is the sound of metal meeting metal as Soujiro's reflexes are a thing of awe to watch. The initial rounds are when the most excitement exists. People move around. Expend energy. Souji has an almost zen-like calm that expends only a thoughtful step towards his battle partner before his blade tilts down and sparks fly along the side of his body where he does a deflection. One would be quick to notice the buff on his character plate: Vengeance. It must have been toggled on at the start of the Sword Arte.

Soujiro's foot is planted deeply onto the ground. Several inches of tear show the force of the exchange. As effortless as he makes it, these two warriors are using force that can fell trees, boulders, and giants. His hand rests on the sheathed katana of Kogarasumaru, his holy blade. With an intense launch, he turns and chases her. It is almost as if he can see the future as his second blade draws with divine retribution.

Viviene is someone he hasn't seen in a while, but it seems like her attitude hasn't changed drastically since he last met her. Focused and, ironically, -curt- and to the point. She's always going to give it her all, and has a tendency of putting up a wall around her that pushes other to the side.

Soujiro was almost the complete opposite of Viviene in many regards. Quite friendly and seemingly having an one track mind for improving himself, there's likely many Adventurers who let down their guard around the blue-haired samurai. Then, as soon as a real battle is in play, it's like a switch is flipped. Curtana has trained with Soujiro a few times, and honestly finds himself on the backfoot every time he sees this change, for the samurai is giving it his all.

There's a reason why he's known as the Sword Saint.

Wincing slightly as he sees the Vengeance status pop up, he takes his chance to try shouting out some advice. "Try keeping him off balance, Viviene!"

Yep, it's clear where his loyalty lies in this fight.

With the powerful strike incoming, Viviene opts to close in her stance, a surge of energy heightens her speed, as she opts to reduce the impact of the incoming strike, not by avoiding it, but by speedily sheathing her Wakizashi, and catching the blade between two hands, the speed of which is augemented by accelerating herself to high speeds - it create something of a shock wave in the air as she catches the blade, her stancing is similar to that of martial arts some might recongize with origins from the old world. The blade scrapes her shoulder even then.. and she turns, opting to shift. Her breathing is steady, controlled, letting a flow of energy exhused through her, and through towards Soujiro as well.

.Ripple. She does not execute any attacks, beyond throwing Soujiro away - she has commited to a defense this round, but she seems to have almost stopped Soujiro's Vengeance in its tracks, despite already seeming to be on the losing corner..

.She grins.

Soujiro's katana, Kogarasumaru, is a Relic. Found on a selfsame quest done with Viviene in the past. Proudly reforged through the efforts they did together. A symbol of their bond in battle. As is Koga, who is an ethereal spirit with blades for arms, a miko robe, and a kitsune mask across her face. The samurai faces off against Viviene as the spirit appears behind Souji and those serious, combat eyes of his.

A break in the storm. A moment for a breath or two as they exchange gazes in the heat of battle.

"Face me," Soujiro says as the taunting technique of a Samurai's Challenge is issued. The words have enough imperial gravity to send waves of dominant force felt as far back as the stands. Intense. The intensity is made manifest as his off-hand katana becomes ablaze in white fire. "And," he assails with the power of fire and spirit, "attend!"

    Asuna recognizes the moment, sees the pressure building. She's seen Soujiro fight many times. There's a slight change in her eyes. A draining of emotion as she murmurs, "The string is taut."

    Yui has no idea what that means. She's too busy watching Soujiro. "You are doing great, big brother!" she cries out. In her lap, the mallard cheers in its own way. Clearly the duck is sharing the excitement!

    The sound of her little girl's voice rouses Asuna from her combat focus. "Keep your eyes on him, Yui. If you really want to be a samurai someday, you must be able to notice everything around you. And when the time is right, ignore it all."

A powerful flaming wheel overtakes Viviene, even at high speeds, its flame strikes and burns, leaving Viviene burnt and wounded, but no less dissuaded - she answers that challenge, using her speed to close the distance and strike with a sheer force strike distorts the air around it. Its aimed to strike Soujiro square in the center, and impact harshly. There was a nasty trick however, as in between her fingers, is revealed to be a small punch dagger, which she uses to sink deep into Soujiro's body, to cause a nasty, bleeding wound. "Don't need to ask me to beat you up, Soujiro." she said. Its kind of ominious, despite being on fire, despite it clearly hot and discomforting, Viviene keeps a steady, controlled posture, watching Soujiro's every move.

He got attendance! No tardies on this battle. The incoming blow is met with little reaction until the last moment. A keen parry with both of his katanas that those familiar with parry mechanics would be able to appreciate. If the timing was off even a -little- bit, he would be eatting that. Souji trains hard and often, having learned that move from Goldenblade and knows its timing intimately.

"You have to get a hit in to beat someone up, Vivi." It is not his blades but his body that crashes forward to make space after the clash with Vivi as if to say 'to hit me I have to tackle you!'. The crash makes it more clear that the exchange left him cut and suffering a bleeding DoT from the punch dagger. Not so invincible after all. Well played. Soujiro makes use of the gap to quickly follow up with Kogarasumaru, the blade blazing a white like a lightsaber in an upward arch.

Once again, those strange illusory doubles crop up around her, this time they all seem to make efforts of deflecting blades aside at angles to reduce the impact of the incoming blows. The Sanctified Strike clashes, and slices through the clones, with the rush after striking Viviene squarely! She takes a breath. Her Hp has hit about little under the halfway point, but she doesn't seem at all dissuaded, if anything she seems more determined, holding her ground in preparation for more strikes. She launches a simple, testing set of wind cutting blades from her Wakizashi, so far, her defense has seemed to be far better than her offense.

The glint of steel clashing against steel is easily visible to anyone watching the ongoing duel. What may not be as easy to see is how the struggle between the two fighters are already turning. Viviene's attacks are more focused and not as flashy, and she's being put on the defense. Soujiro Seta, however, is taking full advantage of this world's potential for powerful attacks that would not be at all pratical in the old world.

That, and Curtana has a good idea that Viviene may be holding herself back, in her own way.

"Come on, Viviene! Give it your all!" It's likely her full attention is on the battle, so he can't try to give out any advice, but he's hoping that she can turn the tables soon. Soujiro looks nearly perfect right now, and Viviene's arms had some red marks from the several nasty cuts she's taken so far.

    "Duels are a give and take, ebb and flow. You have to be patient. Sometimes Lady Luck presents herself right away, so you need to be ready. A samurai can end a fight in the draw of their blade."

    Asuna admittedly does not want her little girl to do something dangerous. But if that's what her girl wants, you can bet The Flash will do everything to prepare her. Besides, knowing how to handle a blade is good for everyone in this world.

    Yui nods thoughtfully, her eyes locked on the fight. She's not a warrior, of course, she's just a little girl. But she can see her idol is fighting well. With the most recent exchange, she perks up, her heart in her throat. Then relief. Soujiro is doing well. The Soujiro doll is getting hugged so tight in her left arm that it may need some of Klein's expert attention after, though.

A white light washes over Soujiro. The sword saint purges his affliction with an aura the mends the red damage line on his body. It slowly knits up. He wouldn't be a good tank without a couple debuff purges to throw out now and again. The clash of steel against the smaller katanas give rise to its other property: Fire Shield, Light edition. Specifically Kau's Infernal Shield, Holy edition. The counters still spark out like embers, drawing more to the flame of the last strike of the blazing katana. Soujiro may not have the full firesword effect Klein has going on, but the sword saint trains. A lot. The blazing blade lashes out after the last cutting gale from the smaller blade.

Seeing the wheel of fire, this time, Viviene catches it on the flat side of her Wazizashi, countering its flaming slashing force by placing the angle of her blade just right - while it engulfs her in flames, she sends it skittering off into the air, and by chance it happens to be deflected off over Curtana's head, though no where near anywhere to hit any of the bystanders, Viviene having at least angled it away from any non-combatants. Her eyes had flared with a purple light as she had been analyzing Soujiro's movements, and in a critical moment of his maneuver, she retaliates with closing in with a full force kick, aimed to send Soujiro flying back from her, and perhaps skittering across the grounds of the arena. "Not done quite yet!"

Soujiro lowers his stance as his blade returns to its saya. Hand on the grip. This is it. A full force contest head on. Two trains crashing into each other with their swords out. "I know you said I dont have to ask for you to beat me up," he says as Viviene is charging in, "but. Go all out!" There it is. He can see it.

The opening thread.

Fwoosh! Like so many ninja and samurai movies, the two explosively pass by each other with the raw might of their attacks. It is enough to kick up dirt and debris. Embers and gale winds.

    With that declaration from Souji, Yui tenses in Asuna's lap. The little Lander imagines she can feel that power. And yes, part of her is daydreaming as if /she/ was dueling out there right now. She's understandably very, very excited to see her hero standing strong.

    "GO ALL OUT!" she cries out, excitedly copying him.

    Asuna grins, giving Yui a comforting squeeze. "I think he's entering the final phase of the duel now. We'll see what onii-san has in mind." The Flash is so curious, herself, what Soujiro will do next. He has played a balanced fight, showing incredible patience thus far. Will he change things up?

The battle has been incredibly onesided at this point, Viviene taking blow after blow and being pushed onto the defensive, much as Curtana had observed and noted, Vivienes manuvers are a lot more collected and self contained, more in manner similar to how she carries herself. There is the occasional flashy flare, but that is usually out of the effects of some magic used. Her physical maneuvers are rarely over the top, other than an extreme show of force of agility. Another exchange happens - Soujiro's Vengance and Flash rend strike home through her best effort to mitigate and deflect away from the damage, She slips past Soujiro - only to wobble some, and fall to a knee. But there is something off.. Her form seems to waver.

Then it vanishes! Where had she gone? Can Soujiro figure it out?

The deflected flame wheel comes lancing into the stands, and Curtana charges into the spell, shield first. He doesn't deflect it again, that would just cause more people to get injured. Instead, he destroys it outright, then takes his seat like nothing happened. Have to be ready, just in case that happens again.

A knight's duty is never over.

Things are picking up now! Wincing, Curt rests his chin on a metal fist after the dramatic faceoff between the two. A parting swordslash from the two, not out of place if it was in a Japanese samurai movie, draws a gasp from the crowd. Now, though, Viviene is trying to do everything she can to go all out, even using a Shadow Clone to pull a fast one on Soujiro.

It's not over until the fat lady sings, but Curtana has a feeling she's warming up now.

The debris that goes towards the stand seems to halt as if a gentle force pushed it away. The white bladed katana pulses in a soft, soothing light. It is time. The blade is held to Soujiro's face, flat so that the Hymmnos upon it can be seen. It glows.

Was granme ra rana

A divine wind blows around the young fighter. His blue ponytail whips around as if the two were fighting in the eye of a hurricane. A ghastly howl comes from Koga as the spirit dances around the western wind. "Upon this blade," he begins "is an oath to protect those that cannot protect themselves. To avenge those that have been wronged." The blade pulses. He has no target to speak of. Viviene could be anywhere, ready to strike.

"Sword of Vows, Kogarasumaru," Soujiro says as he turns around to strike Viviene's assassination attempt from his own shadow. The remaining strikes fire off between them. Light and Dark. A binary display of relentless vitality and prowess between them at close enough proximity that they could headbutt each other.

Its on the wire.

A last ditch defense from Viviene in the midsts of an exchange of blows between light and dark erupt in a myriad of colours, distorting the area, the sound of blades clashing and deflecting is loud, in this exchange - it seemed that the light had won, as Viviene is knocked out of the Clash. Her HP bar drops - and stops just an inch above where the tournement match would be called. If anything, its a solid showing of just how determined Viviene is, as even completely out matched in this moment, she remains strong, and theres something a fondness in her expression.

Competition. Between rivals, friends, for the purpose of testing themselves. Knowing each other better. It was the kind of fighting Viviene preffered. Both of them would come out of this stronger.

The clashing begins to slow down as Soujiro deflects away the remaining strips of Viviene's endurance. Put your all out there, the best version of yourself. Climb for greatness. Find those that help you climb that mountain, together. Clang. Today Souji has helped find that limit for Viviene. It is a thing to be celebrated as the end draws closer. Clang.

The deflections leave a path open for a single strike of the katana. No, it would need to be a weapon that is bladed on both sides. Katanas have edges on but one. That is, except for blades like Kogarasumaru. The upwards deflection is met with a moment where time stands still and Soujiro looks to Viviene. Like the last moves of a chess game and the final plays are in sight. Good game.

The holy blade comes crashing down upon her as time resumes its normal flow once more.

Viviene's health hits red. The final blow is made, and the match is called by those proctoring the tournament, despite herself, covered in all of those red lines from the various counter attacks, she takes in a deep breath, gathering herself from the rush of energy brings an individual, and turns to look at Soujiro. The final strike had said it all and she knew it, infact.. she just smiles. "Had a feeling it would turn out this way. You're good with that sword, Soujiro, and your mastery of this world far exceeds mine." she admits, perhaps revealing she is aware of her major shortcomming in this world. "Well fought, just know - it won't be so easy next time." she said with a grin.

Viviene accepts the loss for what it is. "Bout time I upped the ante on my sword arts.." she said thoughtfully.

With the matched called and the final cross of the finish line, Soujiro stops as if a clock that hit pause. He puts both of his katanas away as he offers a hand over to Viviene to help her up if needed. A bow after or otherwise.

"I'll train with you any time, Viviene," the young samurai says with a sparkly smile. "Also," the near-childish excitement from Soujiro comes out, "you will have to show me how you did that close quarter combat technique. That was great!" Its clear that Souji is less about winning or losing and more about the act of combat and making people feel safe and happy. Having the two of them with such good vibes after is just all around good feels for Shibuya and the audience.

A chuckle escapes Viviene as she tilts her head. "Of course, always room for learning, Soujiro, I will warn you though, my close quarter techniques are grounded in arts from the old world. It may require learning techniques that might seem a bit impractical for fighting in this world, but I've adjusted them to account for that." Viviene has no qualms explaining technique in fighting, even as the arena crowd watches them. "But that should be a conversation for later. You're about to get trampled by those girls, I bet." she noted to Soujiro, she is not unfammilar with how many fans he seems to attract for whatever reason.

    With victory achieved, Yui is, of course, elated. It seems the mallard is, as well. Or perhaps its just reacting to a very excitable child's wild cheering with some of its own.

    "Well, I suppose I better get ready for my own match here, too," declares Asuna. "But maybe we can sneak in some time before then to get you some of those treats at Pela's Cafe." Which only makes Yui more excited, still. Seeing duels and getting to eat the best cake in the world is a pretty wonderful combination.