Salty Combatant

After school on Tuesday, Moro and Calvin were walking out of the facility. They were laughing and joking together. But then, suddenly, someone approached the two of them. It was a boy with short, fluffy silver-blue hair that covered one eye and a small gold earring in his left ear. He has pale skin and visible blue eyes, with a faint blush on his cheeks. He wears a white short-sleeved dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a black tie with yellow polka dots, and a yellow undershirt visible at the collar and sleeves.

"Uh, who are you." Calvin asked.

But he ignored Calvin. Instead, he pointed to Moro. "Moro Walker, I challenge you to a kudo duel."

"What, wh-... wait, I know you. Your Kaido Gavins"

Kaido was quite classmate of Moro's last year. They fought 3 separate times last year in Sybil's class. And every single time, Moro would beat him. And now, it seems like he was back for round 4.

"It will be a 2 on 2."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, or I'll just attack you until you defend yourself."

He sighed. "Ok, fine."

Then, Kaido pointed to Calvin. "You, be our ref."

Calvin smirked. "Oh, this should be interesting."

The 3 walked over to one of the school's open arenas. There were some people who stopped by to see the fight out of curiosity.

Both Moro and Kaido went to opposite sides of the arena. And Calvin went to the middle of the arena. "Please select your first kudo."

Moro summoned Yuzu. "Yuzu, combat mode." Suddenly, Yuzu grew 5 times the size. Her legs, tails, snout became longer and her teeth and claws grew sharper. She had a halo of blue fire above her head and blue flames covering her paws and the ends of her tails.

She growled at Kaido, barely able to make her bloodlust in this form. Kaido scoffed at Yuzu. "Where's the anubis?"

"What do you mean... oh, I see now. You're not here for just me, are you?"

Kaido eyes grew angrier. Kaido reached his hand out and summoned his kudo; A large quadrupedal beast. Its head was goat-like with a long black horn, sharp ears, and one glowing red eye, while the other eye glowed icy blue. Its legs were armored in jagged black plating with glowing red patterns, and its hooves were large with clawed tips.

"Ooh" Moro said while holding his chin. "A forblest. Not a bad catch. Where'd you get one of those from?"

"Wouldn't you like to figure out? Engage."

The forblest charged at Yuzu. Moro pointed directly at the charging goat. "Yuzu, Final Burst."

Yuzu's five tails stood up. Then, she released dozens and dozens of fireballs from her tail like battling gun rounds. But the forblest jumped over it easily. It was incredibly fast for its size.

"Yuzu, can you still track it?"

She nodded.

"Good, Spirit Shotgun. Stop it in its tracks."

Yuzu watched it closely with her eyes. After locking onto its movements, she launched it right in front of its body, making it trip. It managed to land on its feet, but it stopped moving.

"Yuzu, pin it down."

Yuzu charged into it and knocked it down. Before the forblest could get back up, she got on top of it. "Spirit Saber."

Yuzu's claws were covered in fox fire, and she pierced through the forblest's chest. It roared out in pain.

"Forblest, get up, you idiot! Use frozen tundra." A giant storm of ice erupted from the ground and knocked Yuzu off him. The two beasts growled at each other, awaiting their master's next command.

Moro chuckled. "You know, kudos always interested me. They come out of the womb equipped with 3 moves and 1 ultimate move. These never change, but when under the guidance of a smart master, these 4 moves can be made into much more, even if it's just simple combinations."

"What are you yapping about?"

"I don't know, I just think it's interesting."

"Quiet. Forblest, use frozen tundra again!"

"Yuzu, Virtual Shrine."

Forblest charged at Yuzu headfirst with a gust of frozen wind riding behind him. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet disappeared, and he started falling. Or... so he thought.

"Yuzu, finish him off."

Yuzu used Spirit Saber to attack the forblest while he was falling. He got launched into the air and crashed on the ground, getting knocked out. But in truth, all but the end was an illusion created by the ultimate technique of the Nerosune; Virtual Shrine. With this move, Yuzu can generate any illusion she wants when the target's eyes land on her. From this point, she had the ability to trick all 5 senses into believing anything she wanted.

Yuzu ran back over to her master. He patted her head and scratched her behind the ear. Despite her new transformation, her fur remained just as soft. Yuzu panted gleefully while licking his face as her tail wagged.

"No fair!" yelled Kaido.

"All is fair in war. You might as well surrender now. You can't beat me."

"What?!"

"You're weak, pathetic even. I knew this as soon as our fight started. You know how I know this? Your kudo lacks a name."

"What..." said a growingly annoyed Kaido.

"Giving your kudo a name is the start of claiming them as your own. A kudos name means something. That's why even when given to new masters, Kudos will the ability to speak will often beg their masters to keep their names. It might not seem like much, but that name solidified the bond between kudo and master. Even if you did beat me, you'd still lose."

"..."

"You lost to me last year for the same reasons. You only see kudos as tools, not as other beings. You seek strength, not companionship. That companionship is the reason why, despite being a yellow rank, Yuzu can take down your orange-ranked Forblest. You don't use kudos, you weaponize them, and frankly, you're a terrible leader. Until you can figure out these basic things, you'll remain a weakling."

"Why you..." Suddenly, Kaido pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Moro. "Die you!"

Before he could pull the trigger, his body was wrapped up in something. It was a sleek snake-like aquatic creature with a long, finned body and glowing cyan markings across its dark, scaled skin. It had glowing blue spots along its limbs and tail, with translucent fins extending from its fins, back and lower body.

Calvin clapped. "Woah, woah, woah. Did you really forget that you had a student council member reffing your match? Violence after combat and unclear weapon carrying, like guns, are both strictly prohibited in school. Just keep him tied up, Syroa." Kaido looked like he was about to cry. "Moro, you don't mind letting me take care of him, do you?"

"Sure. He broke school rules. He's yours from here on." And with that, Moro walked away while still patting Yuzu.