A Rivals Reunion

"Better get this preparation done quickly." Ishihaya says while wiping his tears.

A few weeks later, Akihira crosses the waterfall Ishihaya talks about and walks around aimlessly in search of the two old stone pillars that Ishihaya had mentioned. 

"Oh man, where in the world am I?!" Akihira says in frustration.

Then after walking around for a few more hours, Akihira sees the two stone pillars.

"Finally, I was starting to wonder if I got lost." Akihira says.

He then opens the map and sees the direction he needs to go in.

"In the map, it shows that there should be a cliff of this mountain if I walk straight and from there I should be able to see the statue." Akihira says to himself.

Akihira walks in a straight line for 45 minutes, he is now at the cliff. He then spots the statue and heads towards it by climbing down the mountain.

"Ah, this would have been tough if Ishihaya didn't make me climb mountains during my training." Akihira says.

He then walks toward the root of the statue and waits there for ichitsu.

Some time had passed and Akihira suddenly senses something.

He goes on the defensive and makes a barrier. A sword fused with magic flies towards Akihira at an incredible speed. Akihira's barrier is strong enough to deflect the sword and stop it. 

Akihira thinks that it's Ichitsu who is attacking him, but just as he is about to lower his barrier he feels a rush of intense bloodlust all around him which makes him freeze for a split second which makes him realize that it isn't Ichitsu who threw the sword, it was someone else. Akihira tries to pinpoint the exact location of the person. Then the person runs out of the bushes picks up their sword and jumps back about two steps.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? and why did you attack me?" Akihira asks.

"We're not playing a quiz game here kid." The stranger says.

He then proceeds to fuse more of his magic into his sword and charge Akihira. Akihira shrouds his fist in fire and throws a punch in an attempt to counterattack. The stranger uses the flat side of his sword and skillfully deflects Akihira'a punch and jumps over Akihira. 

"You can never defeat me, I've killed some of the most talented warriors around the entire world and you're just a kid. What exactly do you think you can do?" The stranger says.

"Doesn't matter what I think I can do or not. I just have to do it, I can't lose. I'll be the one who is going to defeat the Shadow King." Akihira says. 

As the stranger hears that he bursts out laughing.

"You are going to defeat the Shadow King?!" The Stranger says.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Akihira asks while smiling

.

"Hahaha! You're just like Ishihaya, I like you, kid. No wonder he chose to train you." The stranger says. 

"Hey! Don't compare me to him, me and him are not similar-" Akihira suddenly stops talking.

"Wow, you just don't change do you." A voice speaks from the trees. 

As Akihira hears Ichitsu's voice he relaxes and looks around to see where he is, but he can't see Ichitsu.

Ichitsu then jumps off a tree and lands on the ground while putting his arms together.

"I see you've already met each other, Akihira." Ichitsu says with a smile.

"There you are Ichitsu!" Akihira replies with a smile on his face. 

They look at each other and then laugh.

"So hey, you wanna decide who is the strongest through fighting each other?" Akihira asks.

"Oh I'm all for it, let's go!" Ichitsu replies.

"Yeah!" Akihira says with excitment.

"Wait, we should probably find an open area, probably not wise to fight here." Ichitsu says.

"Oh yeah, you're probably right. First one there wins!" Akihira says quickly.

Akihira and Ichitsu then race to find an open field and they reach a massive open plain.

"I was first!" Akihira says.

"Nope, it was definitely me." Ichitsu says.

"Let's just get on with this!" Akihira says.

Akihira then clenches his fist and Ichitsu grabs the handle of his sword. 

"Don't hold back now!" Akihira says.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Ichitsu replies.

They both jump toward each other and just as Akihira envelops his fist in an orange aura Ichitsu draws out his sword with a purple aura. Rikiyuki suddenly appears in front of them and grabs Akihira's fist and Ichitsu's sword and tosses them to the trees.

"You guys leaving me out? How hurtful." Rikiyuki says in a sarcastic tone while smiling.

Both Akihira and Ichitsu flip are shocked by his speed and land on the side of the tree.

"I see. If It's a fight you want...." Akihira says as an orange aura envelops him.

"..Then a fight you shall get." Ichitsu continues as a purple aura envelops him.

Akihira and Ichitsu both jump toward Rikiyuki from opposite directions.

"Heh." Rikiyuki smiles as a brown aura envelops him.

"Flame Magic: Inferno Fist!" Akihira shouts.

"Shadow Configuration: Shadow Scythe!" Ichitsu shouts.

"Sword Magic: Exalted Blade Storm!" Rikiyuki shouts.

Just then 1000s of swords of magic appear and circle around at insane speeds and all of them combine into one giant dome surrounding Rikiyuki. 

Akihira and Ichitsu clash with the dome.

"What incredible power." Ichitsu says.

"This is getting me so hyped!" Akihira says.

"But.."

"...I AM NOT GOING TO FALTER." Both Akihira and Ichitsu scream.

Akihira draws out more power. His entire body ignites with an incredible amount of magic power starting with his first.

Ichitsu pours even more magic into his sword. His entire body gets engulfed in an immense amount of magic.

Just then Rikiyuki's Dome begins to crack from where Akihira and Ichitsu attacked. 

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Both Akihira and Ichitsu scream.

As the dome begins to crack more a massive explosion occurs. Vaporizing the area around them in an instant with a tremendous amount of dust.

As the dust clears, Akihira and Ichitsu stand opposite each other with Ryushiki standing in the middle.

"Well damn, you guys really have gotten strong and I was using a significant amount of power too." Rikiyuki says covered in a few injuries around his body

.

Both Akihira and Ichitsu are injured and huffing.

"YEAH!!" Akihira jumps with joy.

"Hmph, we're getting closer." Ichitu says while smiling and putting his sword away.

"So, wheres Ishihaya?" Ichitsu asks.

"Oh, he had some work to get done so he went to take care of that. He'd told us to wait at the statue until he comes back but.." Akihira says.

"...Right, we left the spot we were supposed to meet at." Ichitsu says.

"Hey, I know. Rikiyuki, can you go to the statue and wait for Ishihaya, and when he arrives can you let us know?" Ichitsu asks. 

"Oh yeah Ichitsu, I meant to ask. Who is this guy and why is he with you and why the heck is he so strong?" Akihira asks.

"Oh right, I forgot to introduce." Ichitsu replies.

"Akihira, meet Rikiyuki Ineko. He's a close friend of Ishihaya and since Ishihaya doesn't know much about swordsmanship he asked Rikiyuki to teach me. As you have just witnessed, Rikiyuki is greatly proficient with sword magic and skilled with swords. He can also bind his magic with his sword to create numerous powerful attacks." Ichitsu says.

"Man, you are so cool! So he's the one who taught you how to use your powers. Sorry for the late introduction, I'm Akihira Ryushiki. Nice to meet you" Akihira says.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too. Okay, you both can go wander around the island, I will let you know when Ishihaya comes." Rikiyuki says.

"Thanks." Ichitsu replies.

Then Ichitsu and Akihira both wander around the whole island. They explore many parts of the island. 

Around dusk, Akihira and Ichitsu are exploring. They see Rikiyuki running towards them. They both stopped and waited for Rikiyuki to arrive.

"So Ishihaya here yet?" Akihira asks.

"Yeah, he just arrived and now he is waiting for both of you at the statue." Rikiyuki says.

The three of them then run toward the statue. They reach the statue after a few minutes. As they reach there, they see Ishihaya who gives a very angry look to Akihira.

"Didn't I tell you to tell them to wait here near the statue? But nope, Instead both of you ran off to wander around the island. Why is that, Akihira?" 

"Oh uhhh, sorry but Rikiyuki allowed us to roam the Island." Akihira answers

"Oh is that right Rikiyuki?" Ishihaya asks with the same tone.

"Haha! Come on Ishihaya, let the kids be. After all, they met each other after a long time." Rikiyuki says.

"Fine, I'll let it pass. Anyways, let's get both of you out of those hand-stitched clothes since you ARE going to fight. You're gonna need better clothes, I got an old friend of mine to stitch up some clothes new clothes for you guys. Here, try 'em." Ishihaya says as he passes clothes to them.

A few minutes later, Ichitsu and Akihira wear their clothes. 

Akihira gets an outfit consisting of a full-sleeve, large, tattered, very dark blue-cloaked coat, closed and tucked which is a light blue trimmed. Another dark blue cloth around his waist that reaches his knees, also trimmed blue. Held by a leather black belt with an oval-shaped silver buckle and white trousers with a thick silver wristband on his left wrist, black boots, and he adds the scarf he received from his mother as a sign of his father, which has a distinct flame pattern on it.

While Ichitsu gets a black V-necked shirt that is worn underneath a black long coat with purple trim going down the sleeves and the middle of the coat and black boots, he has a purple emblem worn on the left side of his coat with black pants with a black belt that had a large purple buckle. He wore his sword on his left side which stuck out from underneath the long coat.

"You both look great!" Ishihaya compliments them.

"So, now we're ready to head out and finally defeat the Shadow King." Akihira says as he slams his right fist into his left hand while releasing flames.

"Not yet, before we head out. We will have a banquet" Ishihaya says.

"A banquet? What?" Both Akihira and Ichitsu ask in confusion.

"Well, there's a city nearby that celebrates today." Ishihaya says.

"Celebrate what?" Ichitsu asks.

"Today is the supposed day this statue appeared here thousands of years ago, it is said that before the city was under attack and ruled by a cruel self-proclaimed king. The attacks were relentless and thousands upon thousands had perished, but when this statue appeared it didn't allow any person with an evil heart or evil intentions to step into this place. For respect to them, we will join their celebration." Ishihaya explains.

"Yeah, alright. Makes sense, seems to be a pretty important day for those people." Ichitsu replies. 

"Man, I just want some tasty food! Let's go man I'm starving!" Akihira says in excitment.

They then head to the city where the festival had started right at the edge of town near the forest. There were lots of bonfires and many people around. Akihira and everyone else joined and cooked and ate food. Everyone was enjoying their time till suddenly Ichitsu grabbed Akihira to the side.

"Akihira, hurry, Follow me." Ichitsu whispers. 

He then immediately jumps into the trees and gives chase toward something. Akihira follows quickly. 

At the banquet, when Ishihaya and Rikiyuki see Ichitsu run and Akihira follow behind him, Ishihaya stands up to run after them but Rikiyuki stops him.

"Let them be. They must have gone to have fun." Rikiyuki says. 

"Don't give me that, I know you sensed something too." Ishihaya says.

"Don't worry, it's probably some animal local to this area. I mean, we've seen some stuff here ourselves, Haven't we? And besides they know to handle themselves. I'm sure they will be fine, sit down and enjoy." Rikiyuki reassures Ishihaya.

Ichitsu is determined to catch the creature, so he's sprinting as fast as he can at incredible speed, Akihira is close behind chasing Ichitsu.

"It's this way, come on!" Ichitsu says while sprinting.

"What is?!" Akihira asks in confusion.

"I saw that creature again, I knew something was up when I first saw it. This sense of familiarity but also so ominous." Ichitsu explains.

"What do you mean?! You say you saw it before too?" Akihira asks.

"Yeah, when I first started my training in the 'Forest Of Serenity' and then again while on my way to the statue. I think it's been following me this entire time. I am going to catch this thing this time and figure out what it is!" Ichitsu replies with determination. 

Ichitsu ran after the creature with even more speed and Akihira kept following him. After minutes of chasing, Ichitsu closes the gap between the creature and him.

"I'm not letting you get away!" Ichitsu shouts as he jumps and reaches his hand out.

Finally, Ichitsu catches the creature as they jump out into a clearing in the forest where the moon is shining brightly. The creature was nothing like what he'd seen before, it was short and its entire body was black. It was like he was staring into space. Akihira reaches the spot where Ichitsu caught and held the creature.

"What the hell is that?!" Akihira asks with a shocked expression.

The creature then starts squirming around and just when Akihira comes near it.

"The moon and stars have come together successfully, beginning teleportation." said The creature.

A giant black hole opens in the ground below Akihira, Ichitsu, and the creature. It looks as if it is bottomless and has a slight purple hue to it. 

"What the..." Akihira says with sweat running down his face.

"RUN-" Ichitsu tries to say as he's cut off.

In an instant, a massive beam of darkness shoots out consuming Akihira and Ichitsu. 

From the banquet, Ishihaya and Rikiyuki sense the power and look in its direction. They see a massive beam of darkness.

"Wait isn't that.." Rikiyuki says.

"..It's coming from the direction Akihira and Ichitsu went it!" Ishihaya continues.

Just as Ishihaya and Rikiyuki are about to head toward the beam, it changes.

"Wait look what's happening to it?" Rikiyuki asks.

"It's..changed directions?" Ishihaya says in confusion.

The beam that was shooting upwards suddenly started coming down at insane speeds.

"I think it's about to close!" Ishihaya shouts.

Using his light magic, Ishihaya, and Rikiyuki reach the spot in nearly an instant but even with that speed, the bottomless pit closes in an instant with Akihira, Ichitsu, and the creature disappearing.

"What in the hell happened even?!" Rikiyuki says in shock.

"Akihira! Ichitsu!!" Ishihaya desperately calls out to them.

Meanwhile, Akihira and Ichitsu awake and when they open their eyes they see that they are in a world that seems pitch black in all directions.

"Where in the absolute heck are we? How did we get here?!" Akihira shouts.

"What did we just get ourselves into?" Ichitsu thinks with sweat running down his face.