CHAPTER 28: ELEMENTS VS STARS

Doa taps Liz's shoulder.

Doa: Uh, hey… How strong is Guardian Mausho?

Liz: I'd say pretty strong.

Maya: … That makes me wonder who the strongest Guardian is.

Liz: There isn't actually a strongest guardian, we can all beat each other.

Maya: … So then how are you going to determine Minaro's strength?

Liz: Simple, If he beats enough of us then he's he's good enough to go on missions with us. The same goes for you two as well.

…

Mausho stretches one last time, Minaro does the same to a smaller degree.

"Should I try to beat this guy? I mean, why would I want to go on missions? I don't want to do that shit… But If I go, I can get stronger… I need to get stronger… I almost died in my last fight. Ehh… Erm ...Guess I'll try."

Mausho: Alright, here I go!

Kofron yells into the megaphone.

"And the battle has started!"

Mausho and Minaro run towards each other.

Electricity wraps around Mausho's leg as he tries to kick Minaro. Minaro quickly blocks but is then shocked, Mausho throws a punch at Minaro's face, and fire bursts out of it engulfing Minaro as the punch lands.

Mausho then kicks Minaro in the stomach, shocking him again.

"Minaro gets a good taste of Mausho's Skills!"

Minaro summons a wave of ice to hit Mausho. Mausho creates an average stone wall to protect himself.

Once the ice crashes into the wall, Mausho dashes and tries to punch Minaro, Minaro is about to block Mausho's punch when suddenly Mausho kicks Minaro's leg with electricity and shocks him.

Mausho's punch hits Minaro in the face, fire shoots out of it. Mausho then starts to overwhelm Minaro by shocking him and setting him on fire simultaneously with multiple punches and kicks for about 7 seconds.

"Holy shit! Minaro is stuck in a long Mausho combo!"

Minaro uses a lot of energy to push through the electricity and tries to punch Mausho. The attack misses.

Minaro summons his rifts.

"Oh, I think long-haired dude is getting serious now!"

Mausho: … Yo, do you prefer smaller attacks or bigger attacks?

Minaro looks confused and doesn't respond.

Minaro dashes and tries to punch Mausho, he dodges and tries to punch Minaro with fire. Minaro dodges the flames and out of his rift, a ray shoots out.

Mausho: .. You don't like talking or something?

Mausho ducks under the ray and punches Minaro's leg, electricity sparks from the punch, and Minaro is shocked.

He stops moving and stares at Mausho, Mausho stares back.

Minaro: … Why are you asking?

Mausho: … It seems like you're gonna be around me for some time, so I thought it would be better if we got to know each other.

Minaro stares silently.

Mausho: This fight isn't that serious anyways, this is a great time to talk.

Minaro: … To answer your question from before. If I really had to pick between smaller or bigger attacks, then probably bigger.

Mausho: Me too, I really like it when I can just release enormous attacks constantly without any restrictions, it makes fighting way funner and cooler.

Minaro: … When I think of bigger attacks, I assume something stronger, so I choose bigger because I would want stronger attacks.

Mausho: Oh yeah, that too. For me though, when I release bigger attacks, they don't get stronger, it just covers more range.

Minaro: … It's the same for me. My attacks don't get stronger either.

Mausho laughs.

Mausho: Then I guess it doesn't matter what we pick, huh? Unless we actually care about the coolness of our attacks.

Mausho ponders for a few seconds.

Mausho: Oh! Do you prefer fighting and attacking by any means possible, or fighting normally?

Minaro: What do you mean?

Again, Mausho ponders.

Mausho: … Did you know that half of anime's villains would probably be defeated if the main character had punched them in the balls?

Minaro: You think so?

Mausho: Not really, but I also do. I consider punching someone in the balls and doing other taboo things in a fight, fighting by any means possible.

Minaro: … I haven't punched anyone in the balls because I never get the chance, or I simply forget.

Mausho: I don't do it because it's a lame way to win, and I'm not touching someone else's nuts.

Minaro chuckles a little.

Minaro: I think If I could fight by any means possible I would.

Mausho: Good to know... We should get back to fighting, right?

Minaro nods his head.

Mausho: Okay.

Mausho dashes and tries to uppercut Minaro, string quickly shoots out of Minaro's finger and wraps around Mausho's arm.

Minaro pulls, and Mausho's uppercut is diverted. Minaro quickly tries to slam his hand into Mausho's back as the string is pulling him.

Mausho burns the string and Minaro's hand, then he quickly turns and kicks Minaro in the stomach, shocking him. Then he sucker punches him and burns his face.

Minaro is pushed back, and Mausho tries to punch him again.

Minaro dodges the punch, and then several clones appear beside him.

Mausho looks surprised then smiles.

Mausho: Check this out.

Mausho shoots a massive amount of fire at the clones, instantly incinerating them and hitting Minaro.

"The reinforcements have died! A second after they were born too!"

Mausho starts to throw several electric punches at Minaro, Minaro dodges them all and then tries to kick Mausho.

Mausho dodges and shoots fire at Minaro, Minaro creates an Ice wall to protect himself.

"Something I've realized over time is that my Ice doesn't seem to melt until way later. It works as good protection but right now I need something to get rid of this guy's fire."

"Mausho is a very confident fighter and he seems to really like getting all up close and personal, it must be easy to overwhelm your opponents with those skills. How do I counter that?"

Mausho dashes past the ice and tries to punch Minaro, Minaro dodges but is then kicked in the stomach and burned. He is then punched in the face with electricity.

"His electricity is also a thing I need to figure out how to stop, it's fucking with my perception and I can't react to his moves correctly… I think I know what I need to do."

Mausho shoots fire but this time, Minaro rifts quickly drop a huge amount of water onto the fire and it disappears.

"Minaro has figured out a way to completely get rid of Mausho's flames!"

Mausho is swept back a little, the water flows away from the battle.

Mausho dashes and throws an electric punch, Minaro freezes his arm and blocks which stops the electricity from spreading around his body and shocking him.

"I've figured out how to counter this guy."

Mausho: … Woah, you have ways to stop my Skills… It ain't stopping me though.

Mausho starts throwing several electric punches at Minaro, Minaro creates an ice wall that protects him.

As Mausho tries to kick Minaro's wall with fire, several rays shoot out of Minaro's rift forcing Mausho to move away. Mausho then notices a giant solar flare heading towards him.

Mausho moves out of its way, Minaro appears from beside the flare ready to punch him with a quasar.

Mausho ducks and uppercuts Minaro with fire, Mausho tries to punch Minaro in the stomach with electricity but Minaro quickly freezes his own stomach.

Mausho then kicks Minaro in the face with fire.

Minaro quickly turns towards Mausho and launches an enormous wave of Ice towards him, Mausho jumps onto it and stands on it until it stops moving. Minaro looks surprised as Mausho runs down the ice towards him.

Mausho shoots a giant wave of fire at him, Minaro runs towards the fire as his rifts appear above it pouring water.

The fire is put out by the water, and as the water flows by Minaro, Mausho touches it with electricity.

A large amount of electricity sparks over the water, shocking Minaro.

Mausho then dashes towards Minaro and punches him in the stomach with fire knocking him off the ice.

Minaro tries to stand up, Mausho attempts to kick him as he's getting up, Minaro freezes his hand and blocks, but this time instead of electricity hitting him, fire does, which goes past his ice.

Minaro quickly stands up, disregarding the fire. Mausho tries to punch him, they throw punches and kicks at each other, and Minaro is shocked several times. Minaro summons clones that appear around Mausho.

Mausho quickly summons fire to destroy the clones, but water shoots out of their own rifts before anything can happen, Mausho then tries to electrify them but they summon multiple giant waves of ice which stops the electricity.

Mausho jumps over the waves, the clones dash after him and attack him, he dodges their punches and then quickly strikes them out of existence.

Mausho then notices the real Minaro coming towards him.

Mausho quickly dodges a punch and then grabs Minaro by the bottom of his face and electrifies him.

Mausho then punches him in the stomach and fire envelops him. Minaro is pushed back and Mausho runs towards him.

"Can't keep letting my opponents overwhelm me, I have to do that to them!"

Minaro dashes towards Mausho and starts throwing rapid punches, this surprises Mausho.

He quickly starts blocking, suddenly a stone wall appears right under Minaro and hits his hands up, and forces him to move back.

Mausho appears behind Minaro, Minaro quickly turns around and summons ice, Mausho jumps back.

Minaro dashes past the ice and tries to punch Mausho, he dodges and kicks Minaro in the face with electricity and then in the stomach with fire.

Minaro is pushed back, Mausho then punches him in the face with fire and kicks him in the stomach with electricity.

Minaro resists the shock this time and quickly kicks Mausho in the stomach then throws multiple punches at him, Mausho dodges the punches and then hits Minaro in the stomach with fire.

"Long-haired dude gets his first hit in on Mausho, but Mausho quickly gives it back."

Minaro summons 5 clones, and they assemble around Mausho.

The clones and Minaro all attack Mausho at the same time, they throw punches and kicks which Mausho precisely dodges as he quickly punches 3 clones. The two remaining clones quickly shoot ice.

Mausho burns everything, the real Minaro appears behind him ready to strike.

Mausho kicks Minaro on the side of his stomach then he dashes and punches Minaro in the face, kicks him in the stomach, and lastly punches him in the face again.

Mausho tries to kick him again, Minaro blocks and then freezes his arm and Mausho's leg together.

Mausho shoots fire as Minaro tries to move, the ice melts and Mausho punches Minaro in the face.

"He melted my ice… I thought it couldn't be melted by attacks. But It can?

Mausho kicks Minaro in the stomach and launches him back.

"... Holy shit. What if the more energy I use over time the more meltable my ice becomes?"

Minaro quickly stops himself and dashes towards Mausho.

Minaro starts throwing rapid punches, Mausho dodges, and blocks. Suddenly a clone appears beside Mausho. Mausho quickly shoots fire at the clone.

A ray shoots from a hidden rift behind the clone, Mausho is hit and the ray passes.

Minaro tries to punch Mausho, Mausho catches his fist and electrifies him as hard as he can, Minaro falls onto the floor.

"Oh, is this the end of the battle?"

Minaro can't seem to stand up anymore.

Kofron: Well then, the winner is Mausho!

Minaro: … Your electricity is really fucking strong.

Mausho: Yeah, I know.

Mausho helps Minaro stand up.

"The Winner of the first match of the official Guardian test battles is Mausho."

...

Liz looks at Maya and Doa.

Liz: … Who's fighting next?

Maya: Doa, you're better than me, so go.

Doa: … I guess It's me.

Liz looks at the guardians.

Liz: Who's next?

Iza raises her hand a little while smiling.

Iza: I'm up.

Doa: … Wait, hold on, could you give me a minute?

Iza: … Sure?

Doa walks up to Minaro who is now sitting down beside Mausho. Minaro sips out of a water bottle, as Mausho is checking himself for any injuries.

Doa: Hey, Minaro?

Minaro looks up at her.

Doa: Can you do me a favor?.. I need you to summon a thing for me.

...

Iza walks up to the battlefield, Doa walks over to it a few seconds later while holding a shotgun and checking it out.

Iza: You use guns?

Dos looks away from the shotgun and up to Iza.

Doa: Yeah, I like them.

Iza: … I don't think it'll really be useful against me, but I should never underestimate my opponents.

TO BE CONTINUED...