Yoko was facing a thirteen year old holding a wooden staff while the middle part of the staff and both edges were also coated in metal, it was perfectly fit for combat against blades and other blunt weapons.

He made the staff light but made up for its weakness with a metal coat.

Yoko inwardly praised his weapon and then began to take a curved dagger out of her pocket.

"Hooh, looks like I hold the advantage in weaponry."

Yoko merely kept her silence and took on a battle stance, she held the dagger backwards which provided faster slashing speed.

"Competitors, start!"

The man with a staff charged out first and slammed down using an overhead strike. Yoko chose to evade rather than to defend and then aimed her kick towards his hand.

Once her kick landed, a clang resounded and she had to retreat using a few backflips.

"Metal gloves."

Yoko stared at the staff wielder's hands.

"Your boots have metal attached to them."

The staff wielder looked at Yoko's boots and said so.

Yoko once more charged forward and brandished her dagger. The staff wielder responded by rotating his staff over and over.

Yoko jumped and kicked the staff to stop the rotation and rotated her body while her legs latched on to the staff to take it.

But unfortunately for Yoko, the staff didn't budge as the staff wielder pulled it towards him.

He aimed out his metal glove which had a dark aura emanating from it.

"Take this!"

He made a palm strike towards Yoko's chest but Yoko merely deflected it using an elemental attack of her own with the dagger. She let go of the staff and retreated backwards once more.

"I can't get through his defense."

Yoko was scanning the area and finally found a route behind him.

She once more leaped forward and evaded the staff wielder's attacks.

"Dammit!"

The staff wielder let out a curse as Yoko appeared behind him.

"Just kidding."

The staff wielder stuck out his tongue and the staff appeared behind him to block Yoko's dagger.

"I followed your eyes, it was quite easy to find where you would go."

Yoko was knocked back and the staff wielder used another overhead strike to hit Yoko with his staff.

Yoko merely smirked and then held onto her dagger with both hands. She then separated the dagger in two and blocked the staff, then used her feet to kick his head and body then pulled the staff with her arms while using the man's body as leverage.

The staff wielder got flung backwards from the kick and fell on the floor, he quickly made a roll to get back on his feet and when he looked back to his previous position, Yoko was gone.

It was at that moment, the staff wielder saw a shadow on the floor.

"Above!"

He looked up and crossed his arms but was met with the sight of the sun.

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"Below."

Once he heard those words, he spat out some blood. Yoko's body was half under the shadow and her knives pierced into the staff wielder's abdomen while avoiding his vitals.

"I win."

She took her knives out of his abdomen and said so. The man conceded once that event happened and walked off the stage with his staff to receive medical care.

Because they were inside the clan, they received extra training with darkness. [Shadow Assimilation] was an advanced technique only taught to the talented ones in the clan. The one who held a halberd and shield had made a copy of this technique and made it into his own. Even though it was inferior, it provided a whole new set of killing moves.

Yoko had managed to only partly master [Shadow Assimilation] and can only go under a shadow if it touches her body, she also can't leap from shadow to shadow like Kai.

Akane had not managed to grasp the essence of [Shadow Assimilation] but has improved with her martial arts. During the year that Kai left, the two of them visited his house very often; they were there everyday. But they always made sure to train in the early morning and late night.

The man that Yoko had fought was a lower class mage but was a higher class fighter. There are many of those types in the Kuroshi Clan because the Kuroshi Clan trained in both ways. Some clans only train mages and some clans who have no magical talent train fighters.

Because of the previous achievements of the Kuroshi Clan, the resources of the past were enough to train the youth in many ways.

But that didn't help the fact that they were only shadows of their past. The past Kuroshi Clan had many A-class and B-class elders, their power was so terrifying that even the kingdom didn't dare make an enemy of them. 

Now, the strongest of the Kuroshi Clan is the patriarch which was said to have reached E-class, first step. The amount of E-class in the clan would not be above twenty and no D-class at all. Anyone who knew of the past then compared it to the present would just shake their heads in pity.

But in the recent years, the Kuroshi Clan have done everything to get stronger; the results were quite obvious already. The amount of E-class from the past doubled and many were expected to reach D-class in their lifetime.

Akane and Yoko chatted until Akane was called.

"I guess it's my turn."

"Good luck."

Yoko merely smiled and nodded at her. Akane stood atop the stage and faced a girl who had a bow on her back and a dagger in her hand. She looked to be fourteen or fifteen.

"A bow?"

Akane tilted her head but took her battle stance nonetheless. She took out gloves with metal knuckles much like the staff wielder's gloves.

"I'm ready."

"I'm ready as well."

Akane and the girl gave their consent.

"Competitors, start!"

Akane instantly leaped and made an elemental palm strike.

The girl with the bow made a backflip and then wielded the bow in her hands.

She took an arrow from her back and closed one of her eyes then fired, it was so fast that you wouldn't even think she was aiming in the first place.

Akane felt danger when the arrow launched from the bow and decided to dodge sideways instead of blocking it with her gloves.

Akane furrowed her brows but before she could relax, the bow once more shot out arrows, three at the same time.

"What are those arrows?!"

Akane dodged the two arrows but had to block the final one, once her metal gloves were hit; he hand felt numb.

"They're regular arrows."

The girl with the bow calmly said but then took three more arrows from her quiver.

Akane dodged but was forced to block the final arrow once more. Her hand felt even more numb when the final arrow hit.

The crowd was whispering with each other.

"As expected of the Shadow Archer."

"Nn. Though that other girl is quite good despite being so young. Most opponents lose on her first wave of three arrows."

The event continued until Akane couldn't even feel her left hand anymore.

Akane made a smirk as she looked at the bow.

"I see now. You're partially engulfing the arrows like that guy with a shield and halberd. The arrows are faster because they have more shadow to move in. You use the first two arrows as cover and the third arrow hides under their shadow. Quite the feat, though you may have it easier if the sun was facing your direction."

"Very good analyzation. Unfortunately, that won't change a thing."

"Are you sure about that?"

The girl with the bow furrowed her brows and began shooting the three arrows once more.

Akane dodged two arrows but when the final arrow was about to hit her face, she closed her eyes.

"I win."

The girl with the bow said calmly.

"No, I win."

Akane's eyes snapped open and dodged the arrow by a hair's breadth.

"Wha-?!"

Akane leaped forward with twice as much speed as before.

"[Fast Movement], no matter how many times I see it; it's still quite fearsome."

Yoko who was on the sidelines monologued.

Akane instantly reached within striking distance of the girl with the bow.

"You know, there's a reason why I'm trying to get stronger."

Time seemed to move in slow motion as she talked to the girl with the bow.

"There's someone I want to catch up to, he already left but I'm sure he'll be back. And when he does..."

Akane made a backwards palm strike on her chest which sent the girl flying with force.

"...I don't intend to show him the same weak me."

Yoko smiled on the sidelines, though she couldn't hear what Akane was saying; she knew what she wanted to say.

"That's right, we both need to catch up. And I intend to show it by winning this tournament."

Akane turned around and faced Yoko with sparks between their gazes.

"Competitor Akane wins!"