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~Chapter 7~
Emil abruptly left the finalist's lobby, kicking the door and leaving a dent in it as he stormed out. When Jirro looked at him, it almost looked like there were tears in his eyes. During that his fight with Kika he seemed desperate. He was strong too, Jirro was surprised that Kika had handled him that well.
Aero said, "I feel bad for him. I think he needed the money really bad. "
"Serves him right." Jirro replied.
Cho called all of the combatants back to the Finalist's lobby, and asked all of those who lost within the first round to leave. The remaining eight fighters were given a reprieve as the tournament went into intermission before the second round.
The second round would begin with Jirro facing the Densius Cuartz, the one that eliminated Nout during the preliminaries. Emer would fight the Densius known as Jewel next. Cmar would battle Tyro after that. The second round would end with Aero facing off against Kika, the woman who handily defeated Emil.
Emer and Cmar sat with the boys. Emer asked them, "How're you boys feeling?"
Aero gave a big smile, "Great! This is fun!"
Jirro rolled his eyes at his cousins over exuberance, but nodded in agreement. He hoped his father was impressed by his performance so far. While they waited, Jirro eyed Cuartz.
Time passed, and Jirro and Cuartz were called up to the stage together. The four armed Densius walked with a haughty step, it made it this far through sheer aggression. With that many limbs it made engaging Cuartz at close range difficult.
But Jirro had already figured out a strategy for dealing with the Densius. He noticed that while Cuarts was so busy with his arms, he didn't pay any attention to his legs. As long he kept his distance, he could beat the four armed Densius.
"You can do it Jirro!" Nout shouted from the bleachers. He was sitting beside Corri, Ruben, Razan and Lucar. Jirro looked up to his friend and gave him the subtlest of nods.
The drum signaled the beginning of the match, and like always Cuartz charged forward, swinging all of his arms. Jirro waited for him to approach, ducked down and kicked his legs, knocking him face first onto the ground. The drum was drummed.
"Point to Jirro! 1-0! Return to your starting positions."
So far, Cuartz had won every single match through pure offense. Instead of this habitual aggression, the Densius cautiously approached this time. That didn't work to Jirro's advantage though.
Jirro threw a very light jab at the air and the faintest of blue lights floated towards Cuartz and struck him. A Focus Burst. Cuartz was in confusion as to why it felt like the kid hit him. Jirro delivered a few more light Focus Bursts and watched the four-armed Densius get frustrated.
Cuartz charged forward, playing directly into the blonde haired boy's plan. Jirro effortlessly landed a kick to the Densius's side once he was in range.
"Point to Jirro! 2-0! Return to your starting positions!"
They returned to their starting positions. Cuartz appeared to be in deep thought, it had to do something different if it wanted to win.
The drum signaled them to begin and Cuartz tore one of its rocky arms off of its body. With a weighty lunge he threw it at Jirro.
Jirro barely batted the rocky arm flying at him away when Cuarts came upon him. The boy sidestepped his attack and unleashed a strong Focus Burst, one that sent Cuartz torpedoing back. Jirro followed up with a kick to its torso.
"Point to Jirro! 3-0! Return to your starting positions!"
Cuartz went through a flash of emotions, anger transitioning admiration, "I want to be mad kid, but honestly I'm just impressed."
They shook hands at the center of the ring.
"Thanks! That trick with your arm at the end almost got me!" Jirro replied.
"Almost," Cuartz smiled. Before leaving the stage he picked up his arm and bonded it back to it's body.
Emer and Jewel are called to the stage fortly after them. Jewel was a Densius from a northern mountain range. The rocks making up their body were colorful and bright, very unlike the grey stones from Platt Mountain that made up Emer's body.
Jewel was a fine opponent, but Emer was swifter, stronger, and more skilled then them. Emer lived for 212 years, it made sense that it would bat away everything that Jewel could throw at it.
Emer defeated Jewel 3-0. Jirro was a little bit nervous at the sight. He would have to fight him in the semi-finals, and he didn't see any weaknesses in Emer yet.
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