Piper smiled when Kaine won. The crowd was going wild and Piper once again wondered where her friends happened to be... Was Neku drinking? Scarlett she was ok right? And Kaine... If that idiot got hurt she was going to scold him! Turning back to her arm Piper huffed. It would not be working back to full potential... The metal had gotten scorched and the shock seemed to have melted a few of the much smaller and thinner pieces of metal. Piper smiled to herself despite her broken arm. This day was turning out to be oddly fun despite her growing worry and protectiveness over her friends increasing. She really hated having to watch them fight from the sidelines... That was not how she worked. At all! But she would watch for now...

Ring Side/Spectator Stands

Kaine looked down at the little girl as she began coughing upon being released by Scarlett, whom was now going on about his injury. "Hey, are you alri-- WHOA!!" he started to say, before being whisked off at insane speed by Scarlett, leaving Neku and the girl with a surprised yell. In one second, Kaine was asking the girl if she was okay, and in the next, he was suddenly back inside the medical tent, forced to plop down by Scarlett's earnest desire to get him proper medical treatment. He wasn't going to lie; his wound was indeed rather impairing, and if he had to fight right now, he wouldn't last very long without the aid of his class power, or one of his Master's special recovery pills. That being said, for the time being, he felt relatively fine.

The young man known as Evan went on talking with the same eager attitude, making light jokes about the girl's obvious ill temper. He finally seemed to shut up as soon as the other contestant arrived. Perhaps Evan knew the guy; they seemed around the same age, at least. Either way, the girl didn't care. There was only one thing -- one person on her mind right now... She wasn't even really watching the ring anymore. Her eyes were on the last victor; the man called 'Kaine'. And she was able to keep him in her line of sight, up until he practically disappeared this world entirely.

"What the hell just happened!" the girl suddenly shouted, jumping up from her seat. She began looking around the area Kaine was last spotted. The scene truly shocked her; she'd never seen anything like it. But that's when she was reminded of the girl who fought just two matches ago. 'She had enhanced speed...' she thought to herself, noticing the girl in question also happened to be missing as well. 'But how did she manage to use a physical class power on another individual...? Can she extend its effect range onto others? If so, that might prove annoying for me later on...' She began biting her thumb's nail out of nerve, wondering where the black-haired girl might have stolen him off to... The only logical location would be the medical tent, but it was so sudden, and Kaine didn't appear to have been too severely injured, so what was the rush...? No matter the case, she had a feeling that her new 'friend' here would follow after her if she decided to leave to go and check... 'So god damn annoying...'

Medical Tent

"Hey, I'm alright, Scarlett. And nothing's broken, trust me. I've been in my fair share of fights, really." Just as Kaine said this, Scarlett's father, who was currently masking his identity, handed him a pill as a substitute for now. It wasn't his Master's special type, but maybe it was similar. Kaine accepted it either way, not wanting to seem rude. Just as he popped the pill in his mouth, he realized just what a strange character this doctor was... "Um... Who are you...? I've never seen you before..." said Kaine, truly oblivious as to just who this man was, despite it being entirely obvious who it was... He gave quick look around the room. "Were you here earlier?"

Kaine wasn't sure he'd seen him before, but that was mainly because of the strange mask. Other than that, the doctor was wearing a common medical coat, which suggested he was in fact a doctor. Kaine wasn't particularly worried about an assassin or anything so sinister, as he didn't regularly think there was anyone out there who wanted him dead for any reason. He just honestly didn't recognize the guy, never having seen the mask before now. He was truly curious as to who the guy was, and why he was wearing a mask. It seemed rather silly to him...

"I'm John Edwards." The doctor replied, obviously lying. "I came here when this kid's fight started." He pointed at Yurishi. "Now, while I'm healing him, you children go and watch the next game. You don't want to miss anything, do you?"

Scarlett sighed in disappointment. "Alright..." She came back with Kaine to Neku and Mykeisha with the same speed as before. "These people need to take better care of their equipment!" Scarlett complained. "So, did we miss anything?" Her usual smile came back to her face. "Didn't you see Piper around? This girl got lost..."

"E-excuse me..." A trembling and quiet voice next to Kaine could be heard. "You are the winner from the last battle, right?" It seemed like Saphire has finally brought the guts to talk to someone. Kaine had to wait for a few moments until she continued talking to him. It wasn't easy to remember how she formed her question earlier, so she had to start forming it all over again. "It's just that... You are a martial artist, but maybe you know things about magic too, don't you? Also... do you know someone, who also has high knowledge about magic?

Medical Tent/Ring Side

"Oh..." said Kaine in response to the doctor's explanation. "Okay!" Kaine smiled once more, just as Scarlett sighed and suddenly sped off with him back to where they came from. Barely any time had passed, so the feeling was rather strange, to say the least. "Haha, that power of yours is really fun, but could you warn me before you bring me with you?" Kaine scratched his head as he asked her politely, still smiling.

Spectator Stands

Almost just as soon as Kaine and the black-haired girl had disappeared, they suddenly reappeared right back. The girl watching them was still biting her thumb's nail, but felt a little relieved to have that man back within her sights, and so she decided to sit back down. It was probably for the best that they came back, now that she thought about it. If he had stayed inside the medical tent, then the black-haired girl who brought him there likely would have stayed with him. Not to mention whatever doctor or doctors were in there as well, so she wouldn't be able to get any proper answers anyway.

"Just too many people here..." she muttered to herself. She hated crowds. And for good reason; if she ever needed to get out of a situation fast, the more people to block her path, the harder it would be for her, and easier it would be for whoever was chasing/trying to kill her. She'd experienced this dilemma more than once... Was there some way she could get the guy alone? It seemed difficult, to say the least, what with both sides -- hers and his -- were involving annoying people who don't know how to take a hint... Evan here seemed far too interested in the her for her own comfort, and the black-haired girl seemed to be the type who doesn't understand boundaries, which would mean that it'd be hard for either her or Kaine to get away without one or both of those two following them... Perhaps a bathroom excuse would work...?

Ring Side

Kaine had just managed to readjust to his surroundings, when another young girl happened to come to his side, asking him a rather strange question out of the blue. Her voice was shaky and she seemed a bit nervous, but Kaine didn't really notice, and merely turned to her and smiled. "Yeah, I'm Kaine. What's up?" he said, placing his hands on his hips in a relaxed manner. She took awhile to continue, but Kaine was patient. After she finally managed to get to the point and covered exactly what she was asking his help for, Kaine looked up at the ceiling of the tent, thinking. "Mmm... Well, sure I know some people who have high knowledge on magik..." he said, now looking back down at her. "But they aren't here at the tournament... My Master lives a good ways away from Gallus, so the only person I think would have such great knowledge around here would be the Master that's currently fighting right now." Kaine gave a point up to the ring where Zen and Zaku were facing one another.

"But what is it you're looking for exactly? My knowledge on magik isn't very deep, but I do know a few things. Otherwise, you might be better off asking Neku here." he said, giving the man beside him and Scarlett a small nod. "He's also a martial artist, but his magik skills were pretty awesome too!"

Mykeisha perked up at hearing the word "Magik'. Mentally, of course, as she did not express it all. She decided to listen to the conversation next to her.A girl seemed to be looking for somebody with high knowledge of magik. Perhaps she was looking for somebody to preform some task for her, or she came to learn a thing or two about magik. Mykeisha at that point thought about her book, written by someone who could possibly be the best magician she'd ever heard about. It also made her think about why it possibly was taking her guard so long to find said book. She could have used have used his advice at a time like this.

In a weak, dull voice, Mykeisha mumbled, "I happen to have mastery in the magikal arts..."

Scarlett noticed the girl who came over Kaine and started asking questions. "He already has fans!" She almost whispered to Neku, while smiling.
Saphire felt slightly relieved when numerous of people who knew things about magik were mentioned. One of them even said they had mastery in the magical area. She felt slight relaxation - something she have forgotten what it felt like. The warmth of the thankfulness calmed her down a bit, but she was still very nervous. "So I guess you guys know a thing or two about controlling your powers?" Saphire asked. "I-it's kinda urgent..."
"Urgent?" Scarlett thought, slightly surprised. "How bad is she at controlling her powers?"

Evan heard the girl mumble something about too many people. The voice whispered something about a chance in Evan's head, he noticed it more now than before, but this one came without a flood of emotion. He chose to ignore it at present. "Bothered by the crowd?" Evan asked, distracting himself from the match. "I know somewhere less crowded if you want, but comes at a price," he said with a light tone.

Neku was invested in the match so heavily that he barely responded to the stimuli around him. He noticed the new arrival and how she said her need was urgent, and as much as the match was interesting, he couldn't turn someone down. Neku saw that this kid was currently holding back, and that he was much stronger, probably even as strong as himself, if what his master said was right. He had been told by Zen before of his visit to Kimimaro Island, and the skill of the clan. "Well," he said before Zhu made a soft caw, "what's the need and why so urgent he said with a big grin."

Zaku rushed quick toward Zen and made several quick strikes, slicing inward at Zen with his scythes. Zen backed away and dodged most of the strikes, and swiped away the ones that got any closer than those. Zaku backed away after and rid himself of his palm scythes and crossed his arms with his hands pointing outward at the elbow. He grasped at nothing and formed two long scythes that where much darker and obviously empowered with darkness. He uncrossed his arms and wielded the double-edged scythes like long daggers. He rushed again at Zen and started by jumping and throwing a kick to the head. After Zen dodged, Zaku landed on his other leg and based himself before throwing a flurry of hard punches and kicks. Zen showed extreme mastery by blocking and dodging almost every attack, and sides stepping most of the cuts and lunges of the scythes made after most of the punches. Most of the crowd couldn't even follow the action because of the speed. Zaku finally backed away once more after his last attack, a direct lung of his scythe, missed. Immediately he threw his blade clutching fist up and summoned a large scythe blade from the ground beneath Zen. Zen jumped and flipped forward to dodge, and hit the ground just as Zaku let the blade disappear.

Saphire's face went paler than ever after Neku's question, which wasn't a pretty sight, since her skin was already pale. "P-personal reasons." She started blinking very fast in order to hide that her eyes started watering.
Her attention and Scarlett's attention was taken away by the intense beginning of the fight. Both of them seemed very skilled, fast, powerful. The younger contestant had blades and seemed very experienced for his age. The older one could dodge everything, his defense skills were amazing. He could handle everything, despite of not being armed like the other one. He had the experience of someone at his age, and the energy of a young person.
"Master Zen will win! For sure! I'm rooting for him!" Scarlett said.
"Who is he?" Saphire asked.
"The old man!" Scarlett replied. "The other one seems powerful too... Everything is impressive! Who knows? Maybe both of them will be able to tell you a thing or two about power controlling! So will be Neku! He's being taught by Zen! And Mykeisha too! And Kaine! So, so many teachers!" Scarlett happily wrapped her arm around Saphire's shoulder.
The red-haired girl didn't know how to feel about this. "You seem very cheerful and friendly for someone born in the Upper class." Saphire said.
"What?" Scarlett was confused. "I'm not from the Upper class!" She chuckled. She could ask herself why was she assumed to be from the Upper class, but decided to watch the match for now.

Cheery? And friendly? As if those from the Upper Class aren't? The term the troubled young woman was looking for must have been obnoxious, from what Mykeisha has experienced so far, however, she could see how one could mix them up. Though, it wasn't that people of the lower class were incapable of being 'cheery and friendly', it was that this girl made it sound like people of the upper class never have such traits. Perhaps each class's ideals of each other had some distance from the truth.

Still, exactly who was this woman, Mykeisha thought. She glanced at her. She didn't seem to impressive, and from her statement earlier, she was likely of lower class. Though, there was some sort of air around her, a magikally tense air, perhaps of conflict? Nonetheless, if this girl was looking for help, with 'control', then perhaps it was serious, but if this 'control' problem was fixed, then perhaps this girl had some serious potential in her.

Spectator Stands

The girl gave a light scoff at Evan's "offer", not taking her eyes off of Kaine down below. "If that's your idea of a pickup line, you must either be off your game, or even dumber than I originally thought..." she said, pausing for a moment before adding "I'll pass, thank you." She gave a few glances up at the ring every now and then, noticing how intense the younger fighter was coming at the older one. It was fairly clear in her eyes who was stronger, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't end so stereotypically.

She shifted her eyes back to Kaine, who was now turning from the match and speaking with young red-haired girl. Narrowing her eyes, the girl watching the whole scene wondered what he was up to. Surely he wouldn't be doing anything in such a crowded area...right? That being said, she still felt on-edge by reflex, choosing not to take her eyes off of him so long as he was conversing with the girl. Just in case...

Ring Side

Kaine was fascinated by the moves of both contestants, and he was excited to see such a great match, but once things settled down once more, he turned around upon hearing the new girl's words on 'controlling one's powers', and needless to say, he was a bit interested. "What exactly do you mean by that...? Are you having trouble controlling yours?" he said, smiling down at her. If the young girl here was like himself and Piper, maybe Kaine could help her out somehow. It was no secret that knowledge on how to master unstable energy control was rare in the world, but it was starting to seem like there were plenty of people within Gallus who needed the help of someone who has such knowledge. Kaine was one of those few, only having mastered his own about 5 years in the past.

"Here, give me your hands; let your energy do the talking for ya!" he said, now holding out his hands for her to take. If she did in fact have an unstable type, Kaine would be able to feel it once she emitted its energy through him. "All you have to do is send a bit of your magik energy through your hands to mine, and I'll understand. Don't worry; I should be able to handle whatever you throw at me!" Kaine gave an even greater grin, showing his confidence and as good nature.

"Here, give me your hands; let your energy do the talking for ya!" Kaine said. "W-what?" Saphire was surprised when Kaine told her to give him her hands. "All you have to do is send a bit of your magik energy through your hands to mine, and I'll understand. Don't worry; I should be able to handle whatever you throw at me!"
Saphire was hesitant to do it. She didn't show any signs that she would pass any energy for a few moments. Then she realized that if she didn't do what he said, she would some day be invaded by her powers once again. Trembling, she was slowly raising her arms to his. What if the powers invaded her right in that moment?
When her hands were halfway to reaching Kaine's, she suddenly grabbed them and squeezed her eyes in fear.
Breathing slowly, with her eyes still tightly closed, she started sending small amounts of her magic.

"FINALLY FOUND YOU!" The girl, who was pranked by Scarlett with a lizard came back. She threw herself onto the black-haired girl with such force, they both bumped into Saphire, who yelped, opened her eyes very wide and unintentionally sent a massive amount of magik trough Kaine's hands. It could be seen, it could be heard, it could be felt.
"Oh my Gods!" While holding the other girl away from her, Scarlett went to Kaine and Saphire. "Are you two alright?"

The young red-haired girl timidly clutched Kaine's hands with her own, and all was seeming well as he felt her magik begin to thread through to meet his own, until some woman shouting after Scarlett manage to slam right into the two of them, effectively startling and disrupting the easy flow that she was sending through Kaine's hands. What happened next was so intense and apparent that not even the two currently fighting wouldn't have seen it. A loud bang, like the sound of two large forces colliding straight into one another resounded throughout the area, with a magnificent aura that bloomed around the two who were tightly clasping hands. The effect only lasted for a second, but needless to say, Kaine was instantly taken aback. His earlier smile was immediately replaced with an a serious scowl of concentration, which only lasted a few seconds before his left eye twitch into a tight wince of pain as he sounded a strained groan to match it.

"Whoa...!!" Kaine felt the girl's energy, and it was indeed unstable, but that wasn't the only thing... She had a lot of it, and it was one of the most dangerous types... Scarlett then chose that moment to ask if they were alright, which Kaine merely gave her a tensed "Mm-hm...!" in reply, trying to concentrate. Still hanging onto her hands tightly so as not to let the after effects of the energy loose onto the area around them, Kaine's body strained against the force of the collision; the sudden action having set his own energy's balance off, which made his counter against it a little late. It was overpowering him at the moment... The unstable energy spread up his arms, and into the frame of his shoulders. The next moment, Kaine's left knee buckled slightly, forcing him to hunch awkwardly. "Arrgh...!! DAMN...! Haha...you're pretty awesome...!" Kaine couldn't help but give her a pained smile as his voice shook; he thought her energy was spectacular, despite it being so dangerous.

His injury was getting worse, and the grading effects of the type of magik that her power decided to choose for her began taking it to the next level as blood started staining the shoulder area of his white shirt, slowly blotching more and more until it was gently running down his ribcage, staining the rest of his left side as it went. In fact, the only way this could have happened from the type of wound that Kaine had, was if its nature was changed by Alchemy, however...this was magik... Now breathing heavily, it was obvious that the girl must be very frightened, as were the people around the two of them, friend or not. By the first sight of blood, people were backing away, not wanting to get involved in the incident. Now realizing he wasn't thinking too clearly, that it was a mistake to try something like this with an injury of that level, Kaine groaned once more.

Finally, just as things weren't looking too good for him, he felt his own energy match the girl's, and he thought to bring his class power into effect, in order to stop the pain from forcing him to relinquish his hold on her hands, but decided against it as he felt his magik balancing itself with the after effects of the girl's. "Alright..." he said with an exhausted exhale. "I'll slowly bring it down... J-Just hang on..." And with that, the pressure they could both feel between the two of them finally eased more and more, until Kaine let go of the girl's hands, by which, his body decided to give out, forcing him to his knee as he breathed heavily while propping himself up with one hand. It was incredible; the starting explosion of energy didn't even last for more than a second, but the aftershock from the whole thing was so lasting! Kaine hadn't ever felt anything like it... Was this how his own energy felt when he first had to train it? He was now wondering what Piper's felt like -- there were so many powerful energies around him; it was overwhelming him with excitement.

"No! No, no, no, no! NO! This shouldn't have happe... I didn't mean to..." Saphire wasn't prepared for the panic attack, so she was easily beaten by it. While trying to breathe properly, she started seeking for... "Help! Somebody! Help him! Can you move? Can you go to the hospital?" Her voice was cracking every second.

Scarlett suddenly came, carrying a big dark green leaf. She had gloves while holding it. It was as painful as a nettle, but at least it could be used for healing at least surface wounds and harmed blood vessels. She gave Kaine gloves first. It would be useless if his hands met the stinging pain of the plant. "Once you put on your gloves, place this on your wound!"
"W-where did you get this?" Saphire asked surprised.
"While you were screaming like a bunny giving birth to an elephant, I placed the girl, who attacked me outside the fair, so she doesn't get on my way while going to the medical tent for this herb." Scarlett calmly replied.
Scarlett started squeezing Saphire's hand - she was mentally preparing herself for witnessing the pain Kaine was about to go trough, in case he did what he was told to do. Earlier that day, Scarlett told Piper she hated the hell people in pain were going trough.

Kaine was still breathing very heavily as he slowly tried recovering from the massive amount of foreign energy that invaded his body just now. He was clearly in need of immediate care after his wound had changed in origin, but he held up his hand from his knelt position, refusing the leaf that Scarlett had offered him with a shake of his head. With a strained expression, he managed to stand up to his full height once more; beads of sweat having formed all over his body and face, showing just how exhausted his body was. Despite that, however, he held his ordinary gentle smile as he looked down at the red-haired girl.

"That was amazing. You have one of the more rare unstable energies around!" he said, still in a slightly strained voice, pausing as he took his shirt off and dropped it to the floor, revealing his wound to the public, by which a lot of people recoiled at the sight. It definitely didn't look pretty... What was once nothing more than a bad bruise and fracture, was now a deep gash; as though Yurishi had used the blade of his sword to strike him, rather than that of the thick sheath which carried it. "Haha, yup! I'd say you're definitely the Sporadic Type. Your energy actually managed to change the nature of my wound-- it's like you used Alchemy instead of regular magik!" Kaine looked back down at the girl whose energy had caused his change in damage after checking over the gash, although he didn't seem mad, scared or even upset in any way -- quite the contrary; he seemed pretty damn excited over the whole thing. Because of the girl's energy type being so aggressively rare, Kaine wasn't prepared to defend against it, believing that she would have something more common. That was a mistake, and it was one that his Master would surely berate him for if he ever found out... "And thanks, but no thanks, Scarlett. I have my own method for recovery at times like these..." he said, turning to Scarlett with a nod as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small leather pouch. Opening the bag, he took a tiny capsule-like item into his hand and popped it into his mouth.

What happened next was almost as magnificent as the clash of auras just previously, although it wasn't violent or frightening in any way. After swallowing the pill, a magikal green essence swirled around his wound, healing it in a matter of seconds. Healing Magik. That's all it was, only in the form of a capsule. Kaine wasn't very adept at that type of magik, especially since it's rare and very hard to use on severe physical wounds, so his Master had concocted a special remedy for him to take on the road, in case of wounds such as this. He hadn't planned on using any of them for anything less than fatal damage, but something so unprecedented happening in the middle of a tournament that he still had a place in was something that he couldn't chance, and so he chose to forsake one of his very limited pills.

"There!" he said, now moving his arm around in all sorts of directions to test it out. "Haha, all better now!" He did indeed appear to be fully recovered and back to his original state of health from before his match. In place of his wound was now a faint scar, which strangely didn't seem out of place, as he had several others strewn all throughout his upper body; each one seeming to have been the result of blades...as though a sword had done most of the work... Kaine then replaced the pouch back into the confines of his pants pocket.

He felt many people eying him strangely, and so he laughed as he placed a hand on the back of his neck, appearing slightly bashful. "It's just Healing Magik that was infused into a medicinal pill, honest!" he said, trying to reassure anyone who doubted him. That surprisingly seemed to do the trick though, as most of everyone slowly began returning to the match, no longer giving him or the girl their attention. At that, Kaine bent over slightly and snatched his bloody shirt off the ground. "Hmm... Now what am I gonna do...?" He cocked his head while looking at the shirt, as though it were unusable now. It only lasted for a second, however, as he then threw it over his shoulder like a towel. "Well, it'll dry eventually!" he said in a cheerful tone, looking back down at the girl once more. "So, my name is Kaine. What's yours?"

Scarlett wrinkled her eyebrows, while her mouth was wide open. Saphire gave a massive amount of effort not to throw up. Not only disgust, but also guilt could dissolve Saphire's soul.

At first Scarlett was mad when her help was refused. "No matter how strong you are, this needs to be treated!" She thought. In the next moment both of the girls, along with many other people witnessed the magic of a healing pill.
The green light quickly replaced the wound. Both of the girls were relieved.

It needed time for Saphire to assimilate her experience in the past minute, so Kaine had to wait for at least half a minute for her reply. "My name is Saphire Terran... N-nice to meet you..." She replied, still in slight shock. "Sporadic type...?"

"There's something weird about this guy..." Saphire thought. "In the present he seems like a normal well-intentioned person, who has high knowledge and skills in fighting. However, his past seems blank..." "What was your childhood like?" Saphire asked out of sudden. Later, she regretted asking this question. "Sorry, sorry for asking such a thing, you don't have to answer..."

"Neku, your master is amazing!" Scarlett said. "It's like right now I'm watching you fighting!"
Of course, Scarlett didn't meant the way they were fighting was completely similar, but rather the level of skills, and as Scarlett would say - the level of awesomeness were equal.

Evan blushed, "WHAT? no that's not what I meant, I mean not to say you're not, I mean..." Evan exhaled and tried to calm his nerves. "Look that's not what I meant, I really know a less crowded spot, and all I want is your name," He regained his friendly grin, "I mean I can't just go running off with someone who's name I don't know." He took another look at the match before speaking again. "So, what do you say?"

Neku took his eyes off of the match for a moment to witness Kaine feel the backfire from the red headed girls power. He laughed to himself, after he saw that Kaine was alright. "And I thought I was the only one who could heal," he chuckled, and then addressed Scarlett once more, "He's not even trying, he's more testing his opponent before making his move." Neku smiled and whispered to Scarlett, "That's what I did with Evan, and it's a really good technique, I can show you sometime if you want."

"You should be stronger than this at your age, in fact you should still be living on the island, why are you here boy?" Zen said questioningly. That struck a nerve in Zaku. He doubled his effort and went in for more strikes, but instead of using the daggers he threw scythes at Zen and went in for multiple punches, materializing scythes and cutting at or flinging them at Zen. Zen dodged all of it. Zaku didn't punch or kick or attack like a regular boxer or fighter, he fought gracefully but with force, a spin there or a duck to throw the opponent off guard, it was as if he was fighting with invisible spurs on the sides of his hands, feet, legs, and arms, and some of his punches seemed to try and make contact with the side of his hand moving from the side of the opponent rather than straight on with the front of the fist, like he was swinging a sword.

Zaku drew back for less than a second and launched a hard fist aimed for Zen's chest, and formed a scythe on the side that extended his attacks length by almost half a foot. Zen stepped back and dodged the cut, as Zaku carried with the punch and ended up with his back to Zen. Zaku kept carrying his weight in the same direction for a full revolution. He came around with his forearm and fist from the side, quickly throwing them toward Zens head. The crowd could barely keep up with the attacks let alone the speed with which Zen blocked. The next thing Zaku knew his forearm was pushing against Zen's hand. "Shut and fight old man," he said angrily, "If you know so much about me then go write a book, I've devoted my life to become stronger than anyone else, to avenge what I've lost, and I won't lose here, not today."

Scarlett's face lit up in excitement when Neku offered to show her the technique. "You can show me after the tournament!" She happily replied.

Later, she tried to find the common thing Neku and Zen used for the testing. "So, it's basically dodging and studying the opponents' attacks... manipulating them to give even more of themselves by insulting their skills... bringing them to a physical and emotional edge and finally taking them down?" Scarlett wasn't really sure if she got any of that right - she was brand new in fighting. "Whatever it is, I would love to learn it!"

This was one of the main reasons for Scarlett to go on her adventure - gaining experience from beyond the village she spent her childhood in. She could see the opportunities since the first day.

Spectator Stands

The girl watched the whole spectacle that happened between Kaine and the red-haired girl. This made her jump up once more as she narrowed her eyes to better make out the finer details. For awhile, it appeared as though the young girl was overpowering the tall man, and it didn't take long before he started losing a lot of blood from his old wound. This actually worried her as she watched, although it wasn't out of concern for the man's health. She bit her bottom lip while she watched him slowly recover, and remove his shirt, revealing just how bad the wound was. It was weird, though... He had a blunt force wound, but now there wasn't any sign of that kind of damage, and in its place, a nasty gash that you would get from a sword... Just what the hell happened just now...?

After seeing him magikally heal up with what seemed to be some form of medication -- they were too far away to make out what he was holding -- Kaine's spectator sat back down, biting her thumb's nail once again as she thought. More and more problems were arising to get in her way, whether it was an annoying blonde boy taking too much interest in her, super fast women, scarily powerful women, or magik healing medicine... She wouldn't seem capable of ever catching a break at this point; and that's when Evan decided to explain his true intentions. She had a feeling he wasn't trying to hit on her; if he was, he was terrible at that too. But she really didn't like people taking interest in her, even if it were only just the one... He didn't seem to be a bad guy, really, nor did he come off as someone that was hunting her... If she did go with him to a more secluded spot, she'd only have one person to worry about, rather than a large possibility of others getting in her way... She had to admit, it was a tempting offer.

"And where is this 'less crowded spot'...? Hmm?" she said, giving him a sideways glance, her hood still covering her eyes. "If you want my name, you'll tell me just where it is, and how much I can truly see from its location." She wasn't about to just take a random chance with this, afraid it might only give her view over the ring, which was useless to her right now. That, and Evan might be thinking of only a slightly less crowded area... And depending on the situation, she might not settle for anything less than total seclusion.

Ring Side

Kaine's eye was taken away from the girl while he waited for her response, just in time to see the fight continue. He took in every movement, every strike and block, with ease. His eyes were trained to follow quick movements, being a martial artist an all. He might not be able to see such fine details as muscle prediction, but he didn't really need such a technique to figure what someone was going to do before they did it. Just as things began to cool down, Saphire revealed her name to him, which made him turn his head back down to her, still smiling.

"Ah, what a nice name! It's GREAT to meet you!" he said, giving a grin and a light laugh. "And yeah! Sporadic Type. That's the nature of your unstable energy. There are quite a few, but yours is one of the more rare. I can explain more later, if you like; I've actually got another person I've agreed to train on the matter, so what's one more, huh?" He gave another laugh, just as she seemingly blew right past his offer and asked him a rather strange question out of the blue. "Mmm... My childhood?" he said, pausing as he thought for a second. "No, I guess I wouldn't know... I don't remember anything about my life before 10 years ago on November 7th. Why do you ask...?" He thought it was interesting for her to ask him something so random like that, but he didn't think anything of it other than being curious as to why she was so curious.

Evan stopped blushing and gleamed at this opportunity. "Well you've been looking at it for a while," Evan pointed to the ring side, "They wouldn't mind a fighter who's already out down there, the group is much thinner than this crowd, and most of the fighters don't have a reason to stay if they lose so there's less and less people as time goes on, and if you're worried about a view, then this is second only too the balcony, even the medical tent as a closer view than up hear in the crowd." Evan paused to let his points take hold. With confidence in hand he made a mock small bow and said, "and you are?"

Neku listened to Scarlett's observations. "Sort of, the plan isn't to insult the opponent, it's to learn more about who they are, the way they think, and if you can use that to help make them passionate, and keep them from hiding what they have then you've already done half the job," Neku grinned, "the better you are at knowing and talking to people, the easier that part will be." Neku was still goofy and drunken, but he had rid him self of the sake, obviously interested in teaching.

Zen kept grinning with the pleased look of a simple old man, but pushed Zaku by the forearm and forced him back about ten feet. Zaku raised his arm up and threw it down. He formed a trail behind his hand, and formed a scythe blade that was about as long as his torso. "I live for revenge, I won't stop fighting till I get vengeance or until die." He revealed the blade as part of a large ethereal scythe, made of dark magik, with a thick handle. "My weapon, the scythe is meant for harvesting and reaping, and this was my first rendition of my powers true form, a scythe meant for harvesting opponents."

Evan gave the girl quite the proposition, as this would give her a more up close and personal view of Kaine. She didn't want to let such a chance pass her by, and it looked as though she would need the aid of a contestant, whether they were no longer attending or not, and she just so happened to have one who was trying desperately to be her friend. While the medical tent would be nice and secluded, it was barely any closer than where she was now, so it was rather pointless to even mention it, save for the very sake of seclusion, and the balcony was an instant turnoff for her, as she didn't trust its current inhabitants for anything. After taking a bit of time to think it through, she came forward with her 'name'.

"... Allison" she said, pausing while eying his little bow. "And don't get cocky, 'Evan'... I'm only using your status, nothing more. Understand?" After another small pause, she gave him her answer more clearly. "I'll take you up on your offer. However..." She spoke with her usual calm and clear tone, and nodded a bit from where he pointed. Closer to her target was nice, but too close could prove to be a bad thing. At least for now, anyway... "I'd like that side, rather than the other..." her slender finger rose out from her cloak, point across from where Evan was sitting, indicating the side opposite Kaine and the others, over by a tall red-haired woman; she appeared to be a fighter as well, just based on her get-up.

'Allison' was likely taking a bit of a risk, moving that close -- especially since there were more of Them along the side of the ring, watching the match closely, but she didn't want to let such an opportunity slip her by. As long as she kept her head down and her wits about her, like usual, she would be fine. It also helped that being so close to the ring would save her the trouble of more men like the two who threatened her just previously from bothering her. They wouldn't dare chance a scene so publicly...would they?

Evan looked at where Allison pointed and smiled, "Sure, let's start making our way out of the stands." Evan wondered why she chose a certain side, maybe the large group discouraged her. 'Good job,' the voice said from before, but this time it was less broken, and formed together better. Evan was surprised, he kept on going but some part of him saw this and finally decided to react, but the other part kept on with reality. It was a facade of normality, 'What?! what is this?' Evan thought. 'This is a friend,' it said it's voice getting clearer with each word, starting to have a distinct tone, 'Yes I am the voice from before, the one you heard when you got so angry and I'm in your head.' Evan listened to all of this but couldn't understand, 'What? how and what are you?'

'Call me Vergil,' it now had a deep respectable man's voice. 'It's difficult to explain, just know that I'm a friend.' Evan replied, 'Am I crazy, is this even real, WHY are you in my head?' he was worrying, but wasn't fully sure why. 'Calm yourself,' Vergil said with a more soothing tone, 'I'm here to help, remember how I led you to this girl, encouraged you to help her, let's just say I can sense some thing and it involves you, so-urgghh.' Evan heard the painful sound and returned to reality but spoke still to the voice, it was somewhat like just thinking, but more filtered, like talking without moving his mouth. 'What was that he thought.'

'Ugh,' Virgil sighed, 'sorry, getting into your head wasn't easy, and I'm not sure but something is putting a lot of pressure on me, I'm holding back some other kind of power in here.' Virgil made a sort of struggling noise, 'It's like lifting a couple of tons with your hands tied behind your back, I'll be back, gotta regain my strength. Evan was about to say something but the voice disappeared. He decided not to mention this to the girl or anyone yet, else they think him crazy, but he wondered what 'Virgil' was exactly and what was this mysterious force he talked of.

'Allison' stood up and slowly made her way along the row of seats she was just watching the matches from, passing by peoples' legs without even bothering to pardon herself as she followed Evan's lead. They made their way down the long steps of the spectator stands, eventually reaching the ground floor. As they continued on, they passed by several people, among which was a short young girl fixing an interesting golden arm that was held in place by a rock-formed pillar. Close beside that girl was a taller, thinner woman who couldn't seem to stand still completely, every now and then a small zap of electricity would conduct between her fingertips, whether involuntary or by choice, Allison didn't know -- nor did she care. However, her eyes were currently glued on that magnificent metal arm, the likes of which she had never seen before, as they walked. This made her appear as though she were nothing more than a young child; attracted to whatever pretty thing caught her ignorant eye. Her head's position lingered in the girl's direction as her body kept walking after Evan, until she bumped right into his back, which startled her out of the daze she was in with her head snapping back to him.

"S-Sorry..." she said, taking a couple of steps back. It began to get a little crowded; more so than that of the spectator stands, which Allison looked back up at. They were looking more and more comfortable at every step she and Evan took towards the ring's side. Choosing to keep her eyes forward, so as not to have a repeat in clumsiness like before, she continued on, brushing by people as she went. 'SERIOUSLY getting far more crowded than I signed up for here...' she thought. Although, as luck would have it, they finally reached the railing that separated the crowd from the contestants' area of spectating, and it was like a whole world opened itself up to Allison. She stopped, looking left and right as she took in just how much space there truly was. It almost gave her an uneasy feeling; as though she were the elephant in the room, and everyone was watching her. Sure, she didn't like crowds, but they did do their job at concealing her presence from most idiots who thought not to look for her through more professional methods. Her current situation however, with certain people already knowing she was there, that tactic no longer made a difference, and so she brushed off the feeling she was having, choosing to be grateful for the opportunity that Evan had presented to her.

They finally walked along the railing's pathway until they were standing right in front of the ring. Allison could smell the mixture of sweat and blood, as well as Earth dust coming from the stage; likely do to the accumulation of previous fight results. This smell didn't really bother her any, as it wasn't something she hadn't smelled before... After taking a moment to get her barrings over their new location, she looked passed the two current contestants and instantly locked her eyes back onto Kaine. From her position, it appeared as though she were merely watching the match and nothing else. This was perfect -- far better than where she was before. Without taking her eyes off of her target, she leaned slightly to her right, where Evan was standing beside her, and thanked him rather simply, raising her voice slightly above normal so he could hear her over the crowd noise and what was going on within the ring.

"Just asking..." Saphire quickly replied to Kaine. "It's a nice part of the life... well, most of it." It was now clear why she couldn't see his past clearly. After being satisfied by the answer to her sudden question, She was following the fight - so far they've been giving their best. The younger one threw out a bigger blade. Saphire had no idea who would win. All she could see was a series of attacks and defenses, which were impressive, but that was expected from every fight in every tournament.

"You should become a master!" Scarlett told Neku, even though he hasn't taught her anything beyond the basis yet. "The other one... Zaku was, right? He seems kinda aggressive... What did he mean by 'harvesting'? What is he avenging for?"
Scarlett started braiding Mykeisha's bangs, since the rest was already braided.

Neku laughed, "That's what I'm doing here, back in my hometown," Neku watched the match but talked as if he was remembering his past, "my training is almost complete, all I have to do is complete my mission here, and then I'm a full fledged master." he smirked, "I could have an apprentice and everything, the way of a true sage."

Evan snapped back fully to reality and was being thanked for the spot by Allison. He said it was no problem. "So Allison, you sound a lot like someone else I know." Evan saw Zaku's scythe, and was surprised because this was the most emotion Zaku had shown in all the time he'd known him. "So why are you here Allison?"

Zaku reared back for a rushing attack, but Zen threw his hand up. "I cede." Zaku was caught off guard, he lost his scythe and spoke in anger to the old man, "WHAT?!, what's wrong with you, fight me!" Zen smiled but only said knowingly but only loud enough that only Zaku could hear, "I know what happened, a passing messenger told me of rumors, of the island burning down." Zaku lost his anger and was replaced with a look of astonishment, Alois announced him the winner, he didn't notice. "I was actually surprised to see that you survived, your father always told me what a strong little one you where, but let your lust for vengeance consume you, and you'll become worse than the one you seek to destroy." Zen walked from the ring, but Neku didn't see where he went, as usual. Zaku walked from the ring, and thought to himself 'Foolish old man, what does he know of my family and me,' he walked over to a side of the ring with as few people as possible. 'He couldn't possibly understand what I want."

"Oh, I see. Well, no harm in askin'!" said Kaine, giving Saphire a big grin. He quickly turned around to catch the final moments of the fight, which was spectacular in many ways. It was obvious who was stronger from the beginning, and Kaine had a feeling that Zen was merely testing the younger guy, but that didn't mean that he wasn't amazing. Zaku's skills were fantastic, which made Kaine's general excitement grow even more, hoping he would be able to fight him sometime as well. Zen reminded him of his own Master, as he would have done the same in an event like this. "Wow, this Zaku guy sure is somethin', huh Neku? He's got a lot of anger in him, but he's otherwise really talented!" Kaine gave his head a sideways nod at Neku, not wanting to take his eyes off of the ring, even if the match was now over. "I hope I get a chance to fight him in the tournament!" Kaine held his fists up close in front of him, looking to the skies like an eager child full of dreams.

Allison caught the match's end out of the corner of her eye; it seemed to end with a forfeit, which the other guy apparently didn't like too much. She probably would have been just as upset as he was, if she were fighting seriously. Finally choosing to answer Evan's previous question, she leaned to her right once more. "I was in town, and thought to check the Fair out. Nothing more." she said, now realizing that, without two people fighting in front of her, she wouldn't have a very good cover as to what her eyes were currently locked onto, so she chose to keep Kaine within her peripheral vision, appearing to look at nothing in particular as she waited for the next match to start.