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Post by othus on Nov 5, 2021 5:21:30 GMT
Kishin Island
The Musashi and Onoha had put their differences aside and joined forces to destroy the vessel of Izanami. It wasn't just them, the Kishin tribe and a number of allies from elsewhere had joined the brawl. In the middle of the celebration of victory, Ai noticed a few familiar faces.
The first one was the Musashi Slayer, who also happened to be a ranker at the HWBC: Musashi Mai. Smaller in person, although still very much on par with other female onis. Comparably speaking, Ai was very much petite, a half Oni can never hope to be the full size of a regular Oni, but that didn't stop her from getting much deserved respect on her Island.
Skullcrusher, that was her warrior title. Any other Oni who judged Ai based on her size would soon come to learn that to the young half oni, size barely meant a thing. Ai kept observing the group Mai hung out with. Laura, another fighter from the HWBC. Ranked lower than her by a couple spots, so it wasn't weird for them to fight...the last person was...who? his face seemed familiar. Bright color pink and a stupid grin. That's when it dawned on her.
As Mai and the rest seemed to be leaving, Ai decided to approach that guy to talk. She poked him on his shoulder to grab his attention as she set her other hand on her waist as she spoke to him.
"Hey, I think I know ya. You are that dude who is lining up for fights all the time aren't ya? Dan...right? what are ya doing here?"
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 7, 2021 4:06:09 GMT
“You definitely didn’t get 200.” Laura said to Mai. Dan snorted and shook his head. It looked like they would be at it for a while. Everybody else was already engaged in conversation around him, leaving him an isolated island. He was ready for a rather dull night until somebody touched his shoulder. He expected to see Arthur or Haruko when he turned, but instead he saw an oni woman. No, too short. Half-oni? Whatever the case, she was cute. In fact, she was familiar. Skullcrusher something, a mid-ranker in the Knights of Valor. He kept track of everybody in the organization out of a desire to learn every angle of battle there was, but it wasn’t enough to remember every name, unfortunately. She knew his though? He liked that, he thought. “No point in joining the HWBC if you’re not looking for a fight, right? Anyway, I just came cause some friends needed me. I didn’t expect a god to appear… but it’s not the first time I’ve fought one.” He smiled, trying to play it off as casually as he could.
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Post by othus on Nov 9, 2021 6:45:48 GMT
*Oh no, he's one of those guys who can casually spout bullshit*-Ai thought to herself.
"Riiiight, I'm sure you do that allll the time"-She replied awkwardly smiling at him, she examined Dan for a second and her eyes narrowed as if she was thinking of something.
"I-in Any case, You did help us out here...say, we are actually having a feast and holding a few games tonight, wouldn't ya like to join us? I'm inviting you cause you totally helped us out. No ulterior reasons, definitely not suspcious at all"- Ai said as she whistled and drew circles with her feet on the ground. She was often told she was a terrible liar, but counted on Dan being dumber than a rock for her plan to suceed.
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 10, 2021 6:42:12 GMT
“Uh, heh. I wouldn’t say all the time…” Ah shit. He played it too cool. She didn’t believe him at all. Should he try to explain himself? No, no, that would make it worse. Then she invited him to come to their party. In the weirdest way possible. She said she had no ulterior motives, which definitely meant that she did. What those were, however, he couldn’t begin to garner. He suppressed the nicest thoughts and thought of the worst she could mean for him. Well, Mai and Laura would no doubt find their way in, so he was in danger of humiliation at worst. “Well of course. Anything I need to bring? Never been to an oni party.”
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Post by othus on Nov 10, 2021 7:26:47 GMT
Lucky for Ai, Dan did not question her intentions much, which either it meant he was very dumb or way too carefree. Either way, she was glad that was the case. The half Oni girl clapped her hands once in approval. When he asked if he needed to bring anything, Ai scratched her head as she thought about it for a minute.
"Actually, I'm gonna go hunting for some small game, we only bring stuff we hunt to this kind of celebration after all, so it would be better if you catch something as well"-Ai told Dan as she went to a nearby tree where she had set her weapon.
"So, you comming?"-She said as she set her massive metal club over her shoulder.
The jungle area of the Kishin Island was a hostile land, with an average threat level of Tengu 5, all the creatures in there were adapted for combat. As the two of them walked through the vegetation, Ai kept looking back at Dan.
"Anyway...what's your rank again? I see you fighting all the time so it's probably pretty high, no? any reason you do it so often? are you broke maybe?"
The only fight Ai had seen from Dan was against Mai, but nobody could blame him for losing against her. After all, Mai was pretty infamous in the Yokai circle of Japan, where monsters considered Mai a monster, to the point Ai had heard some Yokai tell their kids scary bedtime stories of her.
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 10, 2021 22:19:03 GMT
“Right now? Uh, sure!” Dan waved to his known friends, did a quick stretch, and followed Ai into the woods. Despite being out of the sun, the jungle was barely cooler, and Dan was already melting. He had no idea how people lived in a sauna like this. “I fight cause I enjoy it. I’m still only ranked 37, but I’m thinking of challenging somebody higher soon. I didn’t want to make the leap before I was ready, but now I think I could beat anybody through Haruto Goro.” He paused and thought for a second before smiling. “He’s #25 right now. Aren’t you about that?” He did his best to follow everybody in the top 50 of each league. He wasn’t as sharp on those outside his own, but he caught every match.
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Post by othus on Nov 11, 2021 4:50:21 GMT
Ai frowned slightly when she heard Dan was at 37, but relaxed her posture a bit at end.
"Actually yes, I happen to be at 25, so basically, you are saying you at least as good as me, if not slightly better huh?"- Ai turned around with her club, smiling at him as she got right on his face, looking up to meet his eyes.
"That's a ballsy claim. I guess we'll see if that's true, when you actually get to my rank. For now, I'll try to take your word for it, If you are indeed strong enough to reach rank 25, then you might just do better than Ok at the games"
Ai turned away and after walking for a bit knelt on the ground to examine the terrain, there were marks on the ground, same size as an elephant, but clearly from another creature.
"We are hunting Red Boar, originally, we were gonna eat that Ice Dragon your friends took down, but it was crushed under the mountain. Red boars are pretty damn good all things considered. Aaand they are full of meat, this one seems to be around 3 tons, judging by the size and depth of this mark, so stay sharp and look for an oversized pig"
Ai would follow the tracks and eventually reach a water source. Peeking through the vegetation, Ai could finally see her prey.
"So, feeling bold? how about you back up all that crap you said back there? Red boars are pretty fucking strong. If this one fought Laura, well let's just say I wouldn't bet on her. So, If you can beat this thing by yourself, I'll admit those muscles of yours are definitely more than just for show"
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 11, 2021 6:44:30 GMT
“Hey, if you want to test it, we can spar anytime.” Dan smiled right back into her face. Okay, that was flirting, wasn’t it? He was almost sure. Now he was puffed up on confidence and a need to impress. Nothing about the description daunted him in the slightest. “Just three? I think Mai’s more than that in full armor.” The bit about Laura was probably an exaggeration. She was kitted out perfectly to kill boars. It was like a whole Greek demigod thing, killing giant boars. If it turned out tougher, well… he’d figure it out. A fight would make him focus on something other than how excellent Ai looked with that club over her shoulder. And how her horns were cute. And other things. He stepped through the brush, preparing himself.
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Post by othus on Nov 15, 2021 4:46:52 GMT
"Hmmm, I don't know if you will like that. I use weapons after all"-Ai said as she wiggled her mace before she let Dan hop into action.
As soon as Dan jumped out of the bush, the boar turned around. Red fur with black stripes, the creature was the size of an elephant, thick brows that hid most of the eyes of the creature, showing just two marbles of darkness at the front. The creature opened up its mouth and a line of sharp teeth was at display. Each one of them like short blades pointed at Dan as the creature drooled. A roar that would make common creatures cry in fear came out of the creature and it charged, the speed surprising for a creature that size, Ai watched from the top
"Don't get caught by its bite! Not even Blue Oni go unscathed from that!"
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 16, 2021 4:52:51 GMT
“Huh. Wasn’t expecting it to try and eat me.” Dan remarked when the creature’s jaws opened. An angry charge would be easily countered. This… would take some doing. His legs bent, putting his backside mere inches over the ground. He developed this for pummeling flying opponents, but this was just as good. With a push, he was launched overhead, avoiding the gnashing jaws. He twisted in the air, pushing heavily on branches to correct his trajectory, and fell. Pink light flashed and he became a falling star, plummeting towards the beast’s spine with a blazing elbow drop. “Starfall Hammer!” He called, inventing a name for the move on the spot. He was quite proud of it.
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Post by othus on Nov 17, 2021 6:06:52 GMT
Dan landed his attack against the creature and a cloud of dust formed from the impact, Ai leaned forward and whistled.
"phew, that wasn't half bad! I recon you can probably knock it out eventually, alas, we don't have time"
The boar squealed in pain and thrashed, in the meantime, Ai climbed down from her tree. She held an oversized knife that was coated in a shiny green substance.
"I'll help you out, if you keep hitting it like that it's spine is gonna break, we want this guy in one piece! nobody likes having crushed bone chunks on their meal!"
Ai set herself right behind Dan and spoke to him
"I want you to leave its belly wide open, i'm gonna paralyze it with my knife"
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 17, 2021 7:10:04 GMT
Dan received good feedback on his first strike. He didn’t feel anything yield and it was moving normally, but its reaction told him the blow did have an effect. He jumped when Ai landed right behind him. She could move surprisingly gracefully with that big club! “So, knock it over? I can do that!” Dan slid to the side, falling from the boar’s back to land heavily on the jungle floor. He didn’t recover immediately, but hopefully quickly enough to do what he needed. His sprawling landing helped, letting him sink low swiftly, just like before. But this time, he wasn’t jumping. His body weight was thrown not into a leap, but a shove. His shoulder bore the full force of his body, aimed to strike the underside of the body just below the front legs. Boars were front-heavy; if this toppled, the rest would follow.
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Post by othus on Nov 22, 2021 0:43:38 GMT
Dan connected his attack with full force against the creature, as soon as the boar went up, Ai stabbed the creature on its mid section twice, swift flawless strikes that barely drew blood.
The Boar squirmed and trembled but the poison had quickly made effect, the creature toppled with heavy breathing until it stopped.
"Hey, we did it nice and easy! now we just need to carry it back to the village!"-She said as she grabbed on of the legs and pointed Dan at the other.
"I think we can drag this thing between the two of us, but try to save your strength for the games...you are prolly gonna need it"
As Dan and Ai finally arrived at the village, a bunch of Oni were present, some waved at Ai enthusiastically, while others minded their business. The sight of Dan raised some brows to some, but ultimately they managed to set the boar near the tribute pile.
"Alright, looks like we are done here! I am...gonna have to go for a while, in the meantime, why don't you take seat by the pyre? this...whole thing is gonna start soon"-Ai sighed and she left towards one of the tents.
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 23, 2021 8:38:35 GMT
Dan was of course curious about the games, but Ai remained evasive every time he pried for information on the way to the village. He gave up quickly and just focused on dragging the boar. When they reached the village, he found himself surprisingly uninteresting to most of the onis there. They must have had human visitors more often than, well, never. That was surprising. “Alright, okay…” Dan found himself a seat by the offerings and leaned back. She was still being so shifty, but she was so cute. He wished she could just be honest.
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Post by othus on Nov 26, 2021 3:32:30 GMT
If Dan paid attention, he would notice he was the only human present at the party. The party itself wasn't celebrated by the entire village either, only about a dozen oni were present, most of them male, but also a handful of females. The women who were there began to present food to everyone, large portions of the red boar, but also some dried fruits and fermented drinks. Soon after, the females moved out of sight and a large red Oni walked to the center as he raised his hands
"Alright alright settle down! I am grateful for all those who have shown their interest to be here, that being said, there can only be one winner! Onis and...human, I present to you: My daughter, Ai! The skullcrusher!"
Ai was apparently shoved out of the tent, this time she was wearing a small skirt and top made entirely out of flowers, the half oni was clearly not entertained, but the larger man grabbed her by the wrist and raised her hand. The onis present began to whistle and cheer as they downed drinks.
"3 games, gentlemen. 3 games and the winner...takes my daughter's hand in marriage! May the best Oni win!"
Just as the crew got up and went to get their gear, Ai ran towards Dan
"So uhhh, heh, I kinda forgot to mention that little detail...yeah...you'll help me, won't you? I don't wanna end up with any of these idiots"
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 26, 2021 6:39:31 GMT
Dan had already noticed that he was the only human, and wasn’t particularly surprised by that fact. What it took him a little longer to realize was the gender balance. Was this normal for onis? Did they have a natural difference in birth rates? Or was this party only for hunters and warriors, which skewed male? He didn’t have long to think about it. Ai was back soon, and with her the biggest oni present. When the announcement was made, Dan tilted back in his seat. He kept tilting until he fell clean off his log, landing hard on his back. When Ai came over, he scrambled to get himself up. “Hold on, hold on, we can’t- you’re lovely but- I haven’t even gone on a date with you!” Such was his surprise that it took a minute for him to piece together what she was actually saying. “Oh, hold on. I’m being stupid. I see how it is. Of course I’ll help. I wouldn’t let anybody go through that nonsense.” Dan smiled and gave her a thumbs up. “Not that I’m worried about losing at all… but what do you happen to know about the games? Any tips?”
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Post by othus on Nov 29, 2021 6:38:25 GMT
"Glad you get it! then I'll be counting on ya! As for the games...well I have no idea! It seems like everyone just makes stuff up on the fly"-Ai said with a smile. Now that Dan was gonna risk his life on the games, she had a chance to get out of this.
"Most of the time it's all about shows of strength, you aint half bad so i'm su-"-
"Sorry, have I arrived late? Didn't want to miss the meal"-A deep voice came from the woods. A blue Oni around 3 meters tall pushed a palm tree out of the way and looked at Ai
"Ughh, are you serious?! Hell no. Genocider Doi? what are YOU doing here?! you have three wives!"-Ai said as she looked up at the towering man.
"Any male can enter the contest, and I'm looking forward to add petite to my harem"-The blue Oni laughed as he followed the rest of the contestants.
"Fuck that, if he wins I'm fleeing the island. I would die if I spent the night with him...anyway, now you must ABSOLUTELY win, you understand?!"
The group stopped at a cliff nearby a waterfall. two sections of the island were connected by a large tree in the middle that served as a natural bridge. Ai's father walked in front of the group and spoke
"So, for our first game, I will randomly pick people for 1 on 1 encounters. whoever throws his opponent off the brigde, gets to move on to the next game. Weapons are allowed as long as they are blunt. we don't want any obvious murders here"-He said as he laughed.
"So, for our first encounter, Genocider Doi! you will be fighting...Coward Udo!"-the red oni said as he pointed at a scrawny Oni almost as short as Ai
"come on, man..."
Doi laughed so hard it could be heard on the entire island. he patted himself and scratched his head
"Ah, I forgot my weapon..."-He said as he walked up to a palm tree and uprooted it with one pull
"This will do"
Naturally, the bout was over in an instant, as Coward Udo was sent packing to the river below.
"Up next, The human! you shall go against...groin kicker Juro!"
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Post by HungryHunter on Nov 30, 2021 8:03:38 GMT
“Well do you at least know about my competitors? I want to know who-” Dan was interrupted by the appearance of Doi. “Never mind, I think I found the contest’s favorite. Let’s keep you on your island. You know, if you want to stay here. It’s a nice island.” Dan went into mumbling, too distracted by Doi to finish his thoughts. He watched the blue oni the entire way to the cliff, learning how he moved, where he placed his weight. Whenever he had a match coming up, he spent hours watching his opponent’s fights beforehand. This was even better. He could see his foe in person.
Dan chuckled at the challenge. Now that was fun. He was mostly a striker, but he could grapple if necessary. The problem was his enemies. He fought as a street punk for most of his life. When he grabbed somebody, he grabbed them by the shirt. Half-naked onis were trickier. Well, he’d figure it out as he went. Maybe just knock the guy out and push him over. He was excited to see Doi in action, but it was over before he could gain any useful information. Oh well. He would worry about that later. It was time for his own match. He hopped onto the log, practicing his footing and throwing a few quick punches to warm up. Wet. Slick. Best not to make any big jumps here, lest he slip. He turned his attention to his opponent, sizing him up. “Wow, weak title. You know anybody can do that, right? It’s not special.” He got low, focusing on stability. Onis were taller than him. More reach. Let them get in on him, then they would feel it.
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Post by othus on Dec 6, 2021 2:46:08 GMT
"Hm? Yeah I guess anyone can, just not like I do"-The oni replied as he strapped shin guards that were basically huge slabs of steel.
At this point Ai had her fingers crossed, hoping Dan wasn't taking his opponent lightly. As far as she remembered, he had a rather mixed record of wins and losses, and she was starting to wonder how much of that was due to him not taking things seriously.
Ai's father gave the signal and Juro went straight towards Dan, attempting to soccer kick him to the next island. A gust of wind powerful enough to knock a regular person down followed the destruction Juro's kick created. The oni was well aware there was no room to dodge the kick sideways or under, and with his extended reach, a retreat was a rather difficult maneuver. If Dan blocked, he would come to understand why the Musashi were so adamant about keeping them on the island.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 6, 2021 3:54:37 GMT
Dan had learned a painful lesson not long ago. His coach had told him he would be throwing a wild, all out haymaker, no defense, all predictability. He challenged Dan to stop him, knowing exactly what he would do. Dan found himself completely incapable. Every smash had gone right through his guard, and he could never get in on his coach’s incredible reach. What he had learned was that knowing what your opponent was going to do wasn’t the same as being able to stop them from doing it. That was the problem he faced here. Dan wasn’t a superior dodger or flipper. He was good at blocking things, absorbing hits with his body in ways that nullified most of the impact’s damage.
That didn’t work so well on a platform where even a blocked hit could throw him off into the pool below. Fine. He would do something he wasn’t particularly great at. He wasn’t a skilled enough jumper to make a safe leap over… so he wouldn’t. The leg whipped out, but Dan’s balls weren’t where they were supposed to be. They were safely pressed against the log, because Dan and thrown himself to the ground. The kick went right overhead, and Dan was immediately rising, twisting to throw a perfectly vertical rising uppercut into Juro’s own crotch. That was setup as much as anything else. With that strike he let his feet get set on the log. One lashed out to trip Juro up while an elbow jabbed at the other side of his ribs to give him a tip in the right direction.
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