~Chapter 11- A new generation~

"A lot of young folks among these competitors."

"Oshu will win it again! Age doesn't matter. He won the last Comet Tournament. He'll win this one!"

"Warden Celcius runs a prison filled with the worst criminals around. He can handle a few children and an old man."

"What about that Efilon boy? He defeated that massive Densius without being scored upon once."

"Size isn't everything."

"Efilon has proved that!"

The Densius Seraphi looked at what remained of its right arm and frowned, Efilon had destroyed most of it. Ruben was tending to it.

"Is Seraphi going to be okay?" Aero asked.

"As soon as we get back to Platt Mountain we'll be able to rebuild an arm for it. One that's even stronger than the old one. We'll just have to sit tight until then," Ruben explained, it was fortunate that Densius could simply reform limbs and body parts out of new rocks.

Cho entered the Finalist's lobby, "Good matches everyone! This is going well so far!" He lauded them, "Unfortunately, I'm going to ask that all fighters that were eliminated in the first round to leave this lobby."

Hathi, Watt, and Granul all left the finalist's lobby together. Ruben, Corri, and Seraphi wished their friends luck before heading out. Tyro did the same for Hita.

Modi gave Emil a bit of advice before leaving, "Try to force Oshu to use Focus, his old body won't be able to handle it for long. That's when you'll strike."

With them gone, only eight fighters remained.

Aero, Jirro, Nout, Hita, and Emil grouped up to talk before the quarter finals began.

"We've got to be careful around that Efilon guy," Aero said in all seriousness."

Jirro dismissed this, "Sure he's strong, but we can beat him. I think Oshu is the one we need to be worried about. He beat Modi."

"I'm not worried about Efilon either. Besides, I need to get through him if I want a chance to fight Jirro again," Hita posited.

"Just be careful when you fight him, Hita," Aero cautioned.

"What's wrong with you lately Aero?" Jirro asked, "Whenever that masked kid comes up you get all serious. It's not like you to get worked up about... anything."

"It's nothing... Don't worry about it."

The elderly Oshu approached the group of young ones with a smile, "Hello children! How're you doing?"

"Fine," Emil said flatly.

"I'm impressed that so many young ones have made it this far in the tournament. You've made it hard for us old timers to keep up."

Aero turned to Oshu, "Thanks! How did you do that Focus Orb thing? I've never been able to make that work."

Oshu's mouth curled upward, and he ruffled the tuft of white hair he had, "Ah, after the tournament I'll be happy to show you. But I want to give myself a chance. You'll have to figure that out for yourselves for now."

Cho popped inside the Finalist's Lobby again, "How is everyone feeling? Do you think you're all ready for the quarter finals?"

All the finalist's nodded, all except for the Masked Boy, still sitting in the corner, leaning back with his eyes closed, "Contestant Efilon, are you ready?"

"I've been ready." He didn't even bother to open his eyes.

Cho smiled, left the lobby, and began to announce the quarter final matches to the crowd.

"To start the quarter finals, Emil will face Oshu. Next will be Celcius Vs. Aero. After that Nout will battle Jirro. And to finish off the quarterfinals Hita and Efilon will face off! Let's not waste time and begin with Emil Vs. Oshu."

Emil exhaled and stood, clearly nervous about the match. Oshu and Emil walked out of the lobby to an anxious crowd. The two took their positions across from each other, and Oshu bowed low to his opponent. Out of courtesy Emil did the same.

They readied themselves and a drumbeat signaled them to begin.

Oshu bounded across the stage and led with a kick, which Emil narrowly dodged. Oshu skid across the stage and charged at Emil. The suddenness of the assault caught Emil off guard and the old man landed a punch on his nose. Emil reeled back and his nosebleed was visible to everyone.

"Point to Oshu! 1-0! Return to your starting positions."

"The old timer has still got it!"

Oshu was fast for an old man, Aero thought. He noticed Emil slowed his breathing down as they prepared to go again. When the drum was beat, Oshu took the offensive, but not so strongly as he did before. Clearly the old man knew not to try the same strategy twice.

Emil deflected Oshu's blows carefully before trying to counter with his own. There was an ebb and flow between the two, both narrowly missing the other again and again. Emil jumped into the air and delivered a swift kick to Oshu's face, knocking the old man back.

"Point to Emil! 1-1! Return to your starting positions."

Oshu had a bloody nose to match Emil's, and the two returned to their starting positions. When the drum was beat, Oshu raised his hand into the air and formed a Focus Orb. He directed the orb and had it maintain its position in the air around him.

Then Oshu raised his hand and formed another Focus orb. Then another. And another. Soon there were five Focus Orbs circling Oshu as he twirled his fingers in pace with them. Aero wondered how Emil would deal with that.

"I heard Oshu won the previous tournament with this technique."

One by one Oshu tossed the orbs at Emil. He dodged them, but the orbs arched back at him like boomerangs and came again. Emil was surrounded by a flurry of Focus Orbs all trying to strike him, and he jumped, ducked, and weaved to avoid them as best he could. One clipped his shoulder and nearly knocked him over, but he quickly regained his balance and kept evading them.

Oshu calmly maneuvered the orbs from afar with subtle hand gestures. It might've taken energy to form the Focus orbs, but it wasn't draining him to continue maneuvering them. Emil wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.

Two orbs flew at Emil simultaneously. He extended both of his hands, and caught them before volleying them back at Oshu. The old man didn't have time to react, and both orbs crashed into him, knocking him off stage. The other three orbs froze in the air. Aero was giddy at the sight; he wouldn't have thought to grab the orbs himself.

"Point to Emil! 2-1! Return to your starting positions."

Emil grabbed at his hurt shoulder while Oshu struggled to stand after being struck so hard. He beckoned to the other orbs and they drifted through the air until they circled around him. Both fighters took their places, and their match resumed.

Oshu directed the orbs to fly directly at Emil, who dodged with a well-timed dive. Oshu stood still, making minimal movements to maneuver the orbs, and they continued to pursue Emil intensely.

"Do you see it?" Jirro asked his cousin.

"Yeah. The old guy is tired. He's relying on those orbs to win him the match," Aero replied.

Emil must've noticed it as well, and he charged at Oshu with the orbs trailing behind him. He pointed his finger and a thin beam of light shot from his finger and struck Oshu in the forehead, dazing him. Emil, jumped over the old man, but the Focus Orbs kept coming and struck Oshu one after another. The old man fell over.

Emil sauntered over to Osho to deliver the final blow, but he raised his hand to the young man, "I've had enough. You've beat me." Oshu turned to Cho at the interim of the fighting stage, "I can't keep up with these kids anymore."

Cho took a moment to process what was said before speaking into the horn for all to hear, "Oshu surrenders! Match goes to Emil!"

Oshu struggled to stand, but Emil helped him to his feet, and the crowd applauded the end of the match. As they walked back to the finalist's lobby, Aero could hear the two talking to one another.

"I'll have you know; in my prime I would've beaten you," Oshu remarked.

"I'm sure you would. I barely beat you today," Emil responded.

"I'll admit it though, you and your generation have the potential to rise to greater heights then I ever did," Oshu said as he took a seat.

Emil took a moment to smile, he wasn't used to that sort of praise, "Thank you, sir. That means a lot."