The Unbending Blade [Spirit Hunt]
May 16, 2022 8:34:54 GMT
Post by Clayton Herron on May 16, 2022 8:34:54 GMT
Clayton stepped out to the eastern plains of the digital world, rubbing his side for a moment as he idled in front of the trailmon for a moment. Realizing he was being a jerk and standing in front of a buncha other digimon he quickly side stepped out of the way and away from the train holding his hands in his pockets taking a small breath in with his eyes closed. "Draw your sword and face me, tch how am I supposed to do that when you're four times stronger then me." Clayton muttered to himself as he started walking further towards the plains ready to face off against the spirit once again.
"Clayton, Compose yourself!" A voice echoed from behind him, the sword on his back made herself know causing him to stop, looking over his shoulder to the blade for a moment. "You keep rushing back towards that spirit you can't beat, I'm sorry to tell you but you simply are not ready to face them, if you keep this up you will cause actual damage to yourself sooner rather then later! I suggest you attempt to find a way to defeat them before you try and get yourself killed!"
Clayton let out a slightly annoyed huff as she told him that, he hated to admit it but she was right. At the rate he was going he wasn't any closer to winning against that spirit, if even beating them would mean he wins against them! "She's right me boy, it may be hard to hear but you may wish to try and focus on obtaining more power before ye go and get yourself 'n me killed." Well seems like the teen was out voted in this situation, with a sigh Clayton rubbed the side of his head slightly annoyed.
"Alright, guess I do need a break. Maybe I should figure out how to fight better? If I can manage to out skill him then maybe I can win even with a lower powered form?" It was a long shot but at this point it was the only shot that Clayton had, the only question though was how was he supposed to get more skill? He could go to the training grounds or the colosseum but neither felt like a good idea at the moment, though as he was spacing out he heard someone call out from nearby.
"Get away from me, I don't have anything on me!" Clayton heard the voice as clear as day, rushing off before his mind could catch up to him Clay ran up on a Renamon-X surrounded by two digimon Clayton knew well, a DemiDevimon and a Kotemon, if these were the same he dealt with before Clayton had no idea. "I told you this isn't anything you'd want, just leave me alone!" the Renamon-x shouted as she held something close to her chest, it was almost as long as she was and wrapped up in a white cloth.
"We'll be the judges of that, now hand it over!" The Demidevimon demanded as the Kotemon reached his hand out to take whatever it was. Which was at that point that Clayton ran inbetween them standing in front of the Renamon holding Zu out towards the two digimon. "Huh? Who the heck are you?" Clayton didn't answer and just looked back at the Renamon.
"Go, I got this!" The Renamon-X looked a little worried about the situation but quickly rushed off the way Clayton came. "Alright, now I'll take you guys down." Clayton held Zu up facing down the two of them for a moment.
"Take us down? Ha you're outnumbered kid and outclassed, what's a human like you gonna do to us huh? Hit us with your little blade?" They started to laugh at Clayton completely ignoring him for a few moments to look at one another.
Clayton smiled before holding the sword down and tossing it into the air. "Who said I'm outnumbered? Come on out Zu, show them what you've got?" As Clayton said that the sword he just threw would quickly transform into a Zubamon for a moment before instantly evolving into Zubaegermon, landing in front of Clayton and the two rookies staring them down for a moment. "So tell me, do YOU fancy your chances against us?" Clayton punched his fist into his open palm and pulled out his D-tector, showing them the spirit. Suffice to say the two of them realized they were screwed and booked it.
Clayton let out a small laugh as Zu quickly changed back into her rookie sword form and got picked up by Clayton who threw it on the makeshift holder he kept on his back. "Guess they figured they bit off more then they could chew huh?" As Clayton said that though the digimon he told to run seemed to rush back in a hurry.
"I Kowa, Daughter of Kowarenai will not leave a human to fight alone, I shall fight along with.. Where did they go?" He eyes were closed as she ran in but the moment she opened them she noticed Clayton standing there like nothing had happened. "I assume you chased them off, my thanks. I shouldn't of ran but my nerves seem to of gotten the better of me." the digimon now known as Kowa looked away rubbing the side of her head seemingly a bit embarassed.
"Don't worry, I'm just glad they didn't take anything from ya, me and Zu caused them to run with their tails between their legs huh?" Clayton asked patting the sword on his back for a moment.
"Indeed, truly they only had their words. Any proper fighter would've put them in their place I imagine." as Zu said that the Renamon-X rushed over to Clayton, specifically over to his shoulder to the sword on his back.
"Is that a Legend Arms? Huh I've never seen one before. Much less one being used by a human? Are you two partners by any chance." Clayton couldn't speak considering he was currently being choaked by a massive amount of fluff at the moment so Zu decided to talk for him.
"Somewhat, he is assisting me in finding my friend. I can say no more on the matter. Though he is quite the skilled swordsman even without his spirit. I am Zu and this is Clayton." It was then that Kowa noticed she was choaking Clayton and backed off quickly.
"Yup, Clayton Herron. Though everyone usually just calls me Clay. Nice to meet you Kowa." Clayton reached out his hand for a handshake which she took gladly.
"Well Clayton, if you fancy yourself a swordsmen then maybe you'll be interested in something, there's a small tournament being held nearby in honor of my father. He was an old digimon who sadly lost his life defending our village till the last man. We've been holding these bouts for years to try and find someone his blade accepts."
Kowa slowly opened the white cloth surrounding what she was holding revealing a rather impressive looking blade, it was about as tall as the two of them and looked like it weighted quite a lot. Though the top of the blade seemed to be broken the rest of it showed a lot of care went into keeping it looking presentable. "Orignially I had planned to take up the blade myself but I've decided to walk a different path in life, I believe it's what he would've wanted me to. Still best not let a blade go unclaimed after all." She seemed a bit melancholy about something, rubbing the top of the blade with her hand. Eyes lost in thought for a moment before quickly snapping back to Clayton just ahead of her.
"I'm flattered but as you said I'm a human, without my spirit I'd probably just get crushed by those digimon. Maybe with my spirit I could but that doesn't feel right relying on someone elses power." That and his water spirit wouldn't be too good at that sort of combat.
"You wouldn't have to worry, it's a test of skill not might. My father was of the mindset that it didn't matter how strong you were, just that you were unflinching in your resolve and skilled with your own blade. He was referred to as the Unbending Blade." She seemed to get happier while talking about him but quickly composed herself wrapping the sword up again. "Regardless it's up to you if you come or not, but I hope I see you two there." With that she ran off towards the distance, not after handing Clayton a paper with a location written on it.
Crossing his arms Clayton thought for a moment on what to do. "Are you going?" if he did or not didn't matter too much to her, but part of her was worried about the aspect of him fighting off digimon.
"Yeah, I'll go. After all it'll be a nice way to see if I've improved since coming here. Plus I'm sure she wouldn't offer unless it was safe." With that Clayton threw the location into his D-terminal and set off towards the area she listed.
Eventually the two of them found themselves around a makeshift camp, strewn about the area seemed to be quite the number of digimon, tall and small. Large and Skinny alike but all with one thing in common. They all held swords in their hands ready for the event as it was. Clayton walked through the crowd of digimon, looking around at the small campsites and food offered for what he assumed was an audience. Clayton got some shifty eyed looks, especially towards Zu but he shrugged them off. "Clay, you made it!" A familiar voice shouted rushing over to the teen, she didn't have her fathers sword anymore.
"Yeah, me and Zu decided it was worth checking out, so how's this event supposed to go anyway?" Clayton had his hands in his pockets looking around the area for a few moments.
"It's pretty simple, just fight to your best ability. My uncle over there will cast a field that'll make all attacks do basically the same low damage so it's completely safe." as she said that Kowa motioned over to a digimon sitting around an arena, it was a digimon Clayton had never seen before but just from standing around him he could tell they were quite strong. They almost looked like a living angel he'd see in stories, white robe and everything Holding a large sword in front of him aimed downward into the ground.
"A HolyAngemon huh? An Ultimate level around here. If he's able to hold that form so casually he must be quite strong." Zu mentioned seemingly sizing the digimon up for a few moments.
"Yup, Uncle is one of the strongest digimon I know. Fathers' sword is over there behind him." Looking behind him it was clear as day, stuck in the ground hilt towards the sky. "Dad's blade can only be held by people it finds worthy, so whoever wins gets the chance to pull it out of the ground. If they can't then we hold the event next year and try again." Letting out a small laugh she looked around to the crowd. "Honestly part of me thinks that some who visit forget about that part and just wanna see the tournament, started out as a small thing but apparently there's quite the market for watching skill vs skill."
Indeed, the crowd wasn't as large as you'd see around Terminus when someone was fighting but it was a decently sized crowd of digimon and even a few humans that'd wanted nearby to see what was going on. "I'll be honest fighting in front of a crowd like this is making me a bit nervous." Clayton let out a small laugh rubbing the back of his head.
"You'll be fine Clayton, win or lose it's simply the aspect of trying that will help you grow as a swordmen." Taking that advice to heart Clayton gave a small nod as he went over to register for the tournament. Which seemed to surprised the Dinohumon who was manning the register but he signed Clayton up all the same. Sadly though outside weapons were banned so Zu hopped off Clayton's back towards the stands while Clayton was given a Bokken to fight with, it was a bit heavier then he was used to but he felt he could swing it well enough all the same.
Walking out to the Battlefield Clayton found himself surrounded by quite a few digimon, many with swords, most seemed to ignore him most likely thinking he was just the tamer to one of the digimon participating but one digimon who seemed a bit keener than the others spotted his sword. You there, human. With the sword." he walked over to Clayton with his hands relaxed and nowhere near his blade, it was a rather large digimon a Buraimon if Clayton remembered correctly.. "Are you participating in the event? I must say I'm surprised, most humans I meet tend to hid behind their partners rather then battle themselves." Despite the words his tone didn't sound condescending, rather more matter of fact then anything else.
"Well I figured if we're on even grounds around here might as well give it a shot, name's Clayton Herron. Everyone just calls me Clay though." Figuring he'd be nice and introduce himself first. The stranger nodded for a moment before replying.
"Ren, a pleasure to meet a fellow swordsmen, regardless of species." With that Ren would sit down next to Clayton and the two started talking about techniques, while Clayton couldn't really grasp some of them since Ren could fly and he couldn't they still had a pretty nice conversation. However before they could talk more the bell rung signaling all of them to step out onto the field. "Ahh well, It was nice talking to you while it lasted Clay, I wish you luck in the tournament." Getting up he walked out before Clayton towards the field of battle.
Clayton grabbed his Bokken and started towards there as well. Reaching outside it had gotten dark, the night sky was evident overhead as fires around the camp lit up the area before him. Looking around he saw the other digimon sitting near the edge of the arena, seemed to be about 15 digimon and him the only human singled out. Deciding to sit down a bit away from everyone else Clayton watched as Kowa's uncle walked towards the outside of the ring, eyes towards the sky for a moment as he placed his sword into the ring of the arena.
"Digimon, Humans. All of you who have been welcomed to this place for today, We are here to honor my dear brother Kowarenai. Even years after his death the pain of knowing he will no longer be able to revive, to come to us, is a pain that is almost too much to bare. He gave his life to save others and so to honor his courage and valor in battle we hold this tournament meant not to show power or pure strength but honor and willpower to persist." With that he slammed his sword into the ground in front of him letting a massive amount of power envelop the field in front of him. "As is tradition I have cast a barrier around the field of combat, those within the field shall find their abilities sealed and their natural strength gone. An even playing field for all those involved. If you are hit outside of the field then the battle is over, if you cannot continue the battle is over. Should you disarm your opponent the battle will be over."
As he was about to finish though he noticed Clayton sitting here. "Ahh right, though some of you may have noticed we have a human participating within the tournament, while some of you may question or even dislike humans recall where he stands, amongst those who have abilities that could destroy him and his kind easily. Yet he remains. If that is not a show of honor and will then I do not know what is." Looking over he saw Zu sitting around the front of the crowd alongside Kowa, he heard the two of them calling his name cheering him on.
With that it was underway, separating into eight groups of two Clayton faced off against his first opponent, a Spadamon surprisingly. Holding its wooden sword into the air the digimon pointed it at Clayton with a smirk across his face. "Spur, the up and coming Knight. better get ready I ain't gonna hold back just because you're a human!" Spinning his sword in quite a flashy manner Spur eventually settled down and pointed it at Clayton with one hand on the hilt and the other on his side a confident smirk across his face.
"Here's to a good match." Clayton replied with a bow before drawing his own Bokken, holding it in front of himself with two hands on the hilt, blade just at eye level. Staring down Spur Clayton kept his breath steady as the Kotemon next to them counted down to start, three, two, one. GO.
Instantly Spur was on the offensive, leaping up and coming down with an overhead slash trying to get Clayton to block, however Clayton instead decided to push the offensive taking a step forward narrowly avoiding the sword while smashing his own into the Spadamon's chest, taking a step he continued his swing sending the digimon backwards towards his starting position. "Urgh, I ain't done yet!" Shouting he ran over to Clayton, spinning his blade in his hand trying to trip Clayton up with his movements.
However Clayton wasn't having any of that anime sword bs and took a step towards the side with the blade, taking a small hit to his leg twice but managing to smash his sword against the Spadamon's hand causing him to drop the sword on the ground. "W-wait no, let me try that again!"
"Disarmed, Clayton moves on to the next round." The Kotemon announced. Spur didn't seem to happy about that mumbling as he walked away from the field.
"Hey, Spur!" Clayton called out, at first they seemed to think Clay was going to laugh at him for losing to a human but Clayton simply bowed in respect. "Thank you for the match, I wish you well on your path to become a knight!"
The Spadamon rubbed the back of his head before walking off, heading to get some food instead of watch the next match.
Clayton watched the other matches unfold, it was quite different then his own and some were even done before Clayton finished. Ren seemed to finish the fastest as he seemed to already be on round two, though he was pretty close so if things kept going the way they were then he'd face him after this round.
Jumping up and down a bit Clayton got his blood flowing as his next opponent came up, it was a digimon he definitely knew, A Yakasamon. Holding one blade in his hands Clayton gave a bow which surprisingly the digimon returned but didn't say anything. Clayton held his sword up for a moment watching the digimon in front of him as the Kotemon counted down.
Right as they hit zero Clayton was sent on the defensive as the Yakasamon had started swinging wildly at Clayton, fast paced strikes followed up by quick slashes forcing the teenager on the defensive backing up and away to try and get some distance.
Trying to sidestep over resulted in his side taking a hit, forcing Clayton to block the attacks coming his way. Slowly the two of them edged closer to the arena's end, trying to force Clayton out of bounds. With one foot almost out of bounds Clayton knew he had to do something fast.
As the Yakasamon winded up for a powerful swing that would definitely send Clayton out of bounds the teen lunged forward with his own strike, crashing in the middle with the digimon pushing against them. But Clayton was shorter and couldn't find his footing against them. So instead of pushing against them Clayton threw his back forward under the champion level digimons legs, unlocking their blade and sliding under them causing the champion level digimon to trip forward out of bounds.
Clayton was panting, trying to get his breath back after going through that whole ordeal. Slowly getting up Clayton bowed to his opponent, who stood up and did the same before leaving without ever uttering a word. "Man, are all Yakasamon intense like that?" Sure he only knew two but it was weird it happened twice.
"Ring out, Clayton moves on to the Semi-final round." The announcer stated, though it left Clayton a bit confused, wasn't there another round after this one? Heading over to the notice it would seem that the amount of people who entered was uneven, leading Clayton to have skipped a round. While he was a bit disappointed that he wasn't going to get to fight as many times as others it was probably pretty lucky he wouldn't be as tired for the last round.
Heading to the back Clayton decided to watch the other set of matches he was skipping; it was an impressive display of combat that he was slightly sad he only saw the final moments of but eventually it led to only one left standing, it was the Buraimon Ren. Clayton took a small breath to compose himself, just two more rounds. Even if he lost at least he made it this far right? After all no one probably expected much outta him.
After a few minutes the time came for Clayton to step back onto the field, the arena was made much large then before giving plenty of room. Most likely to prevent any who might've just tried to do nothing but ring out the opponent. Walking out to the middle Clayton's eyes locked onto his opponent, staring right back the digimon smiled before taking out his own sword. "Clay, I know I wished you luck but I'm afraid I won't be holding back. You've more than proven that I cannot afford to." Switching his stance the digimon became more serious as he backed up slightly from the teen.
"Wouldn't have it any other way, c'mon lets do this. I ain't holding back." Clayton swung his sword around for a moment before grabbing it in his other hand, eyes narrowed focusing squarely on the opponent in front of him.
"Semi-Final round, Clayton Herron Vs Ren. Begin!" The Holyangemon shouted as he slammed his sword against the ground causing the energy field around them to enhance, now the moment one of them steps even a foot outside the arena they'll be launched out.
Clayton was instantly on the backleg as the Buraimon charged, slamming into Clay with his blade knocking the teen backwards a bit, even without the digimon's strength he still had some more leverage on him making it harder for Clay to block the attacks. Deciding to use his shorter stature to his advantage Clayton dodged the follow up hit and managed to land a glancing blow on the digimon's side knocking them away a bit.
Making some distance Clayton backed up slightly inching away from the bird digimon as they jumped into the air aiming a massive overhead strike on Clayton, He managed to deflect the hit but it knocked him off his stance making his blade hit the grass below him. Ren tried to follow up on this with another attack, however as he took a step forward a grunt of pain escaped his mouth as he fell on one knee.
This was the perfect time to strike, he was wide open and if Clayton wanted to win this thing, then this was his best bet, however instead of striking him Clayton paused before rushing over on one knee. "Hey! What's wrong. Did you get hurt in one of your matches?" Clayton asked checking Ren's leg, there was a large gash with bits of data leaking out. However, Clayton quickly heard something that stopped him cold.
"Clayton has been disarmed, Ren wins." Clayton stopped cold before looking back, while rushing over to check on Ren he had dropped his sword, Whoops. Ren slowly got up helped a bit by Clayton before going over to the judge.
"No, No I don't. He was just checking on me it was an accident, I should've told someone I got hurt before the match this was my fault." He tried to argue with the judge, but Clayton quickly butted in.
"Nah it's fine Ren, I shouldn't have let go of my sword. I was just a bit too worried you were hurt bad. I probably wouldn't have won anyway that opening move alone took a lot outta me. Go on, a win's a win." Clay was happy he managed to get this far by himself, but if he was honest, he was exhausted from the two fights before this, no way was he going to win.
Going through some internal struggling for a moment eventually Ren nodded and shook Clayton's hand, both bowing to each other before returning back to the back. Clayton did however go back over towards the stands after grabbing his stuff. Sitting right next to Zu and Kowa. "You did a great job Clayton, I'm sure no one expected you to make it that far."
The Renamon X patted Clay on the back as well with a smile. "If my dad was still around, I'm sure he would've been proud to see you in action! You did amazingly Clay." Clayton smiled but was noticeably a bit bummed on how he lost. Though he quickly shook that off.
"Aye, They be right me boy, I be proud to have you as my partner after that display. You did well." The pirate in his head added, he stayed quiet most of the matches so Clayton could focus but he did see everything through Clayton's eyes after all.
"I'm just glad Ren's ok, that wound looked pretty bad. I wouldn't want to win like that anyway. Would've left a bad taste in my mouth." Waving off the praise Clayton decided to sit back and watch the finals.
It was the Buraimon against a BushiAgumon, it was quite the intense match. Neither opponent gave the other an inch. Every time one found and opening the opponent found another leading to a back and forward dance of clashing metal. Clayton and the rest of his group cheered on Ren as he managed to start making some more impacts. Blow after blow eventually the Agumon varient couldn't keep up and ended up becoming overwhelmed by the opponent. Getting knocked out of the ring and landing on the ground nearby.
"Winner by ring out, Ren is the winner of this year's Tournament!" The crowd cheered as Ren looked tired, dropping his swords against the ground he bowed to his opponent and then to the crowd with a smile on his face. Soon after Kowa's Uncle came over, the HolyAngemon placed a hand on the bird digimon's shoulder with a warm smile on his face.
"Congratulations, as winner of this tournament you are given the honor of attempting to pull my brothers sword from its slumber. Step forward and receive this chance." Offering his hand to the Buraimon, Ren looked at it for a moment before looking over towards the crowd.
"No, I don't deserve the chance. There's someone I think is more worthy to attempted. Clayton Herron, please step forward." the crowd looked over at the teen who seemed pretty shocked, pointing to himself with a confused look on his face. Kowa and Zu pushed against him to shove the teen to his feet real quick. Walking over Ren smiled before continuing. "This tournament is about honor and will, this human only lost because of his concern for me. He fought despite his bodies limitations and showed courage where most might faulter. If it is alright with you, I ask that he take my place in drawing the sword."
Pausing for a moment the HolyAngemon thought about it for a moment before smiling and nodding. "Very well, if that is what you truly wish I will see it done. Please come over here Clayton." He motioned for the teen to come closer, which he did following after the Ultimate level digimon before standing in front of a sword, the top broken in half and the rest embedded into the ground below.
Clayton looked over at the Ultimate level digimon who simply nodded and motioned for Clayton to try. Reaching out the teen grabbed the handle with both hand before he started to pull, it didn't move at first, but Clayton tried once more. Slowly the blade seemed to start moving, only slightly at first but eventually it started moving more and more.
After a moment Clayton's spirit symbol appeared below him, covering up almost the whole area as he drew the blade out fully. In both hands staring up at the sword itself, it was quite amazing Clayton had to admit. Holding it more downward Clayton noticed that it felt like it weighed nothing in his hands.
"Haha! Finally. We have found one who is worthy to hold my brother's sword. And thus, we have found one who shall inherit the title of the unbending blade. I'm sure this human shall go on to do amazing things, for this is proof that despite the difference between them, they possess the same core, Organic or Digital it does not matter in the end, the only thing that matters is what you make of yourself in this life." With that there were more cheers coming, mostly from Zu and Kowa as Clayton raised the sword upward with a smile on his face.
Though looking up he noticed something on the blade, bits and pieces of data that appeared to shift around wildly. It seemed to be fractal code. Holding the sword straight Clayton grabbed his D-tector in his pocket before sliding it against the sword, reaching the top of the blade as all of the sudden the blade seemed to light up, turning into data and becoming absorbed into the device. The D-tector suddenly showed one more spirit had been obtained, though it wasn't completely due to the blade being broken it would seem that Clayton had one more spirit at his disposal.
With that all that was left was the celebration, though Clayton and Zu didn't stick around too long into the night. After a nice conversation with Kowa and gaining a blessing from the HolyAngemon to use the blade as he saw fit Clayton and Zu went onward, their search still wasn't done after all, they needed to find more spirits, more strength and even more artifacts.
Though Clayton did promise a rematch to Ren eventually, once he managed to beat his champion spirit in combat.
"Clayton, Compose yourself!" A voice echoed from behind him, the sword on his back made herself know causing him to stop, looking over his shoulder to the blade for a moment. "You keep rushing back towards that spirit you can't beat, I'm sorry to tell you but you simply are not ready to face them, if you keep this up you will cause actual damage to yourself sooner rather then later! I suggest you attempt to find a way to defeat them before you try and get yourself killed!"
Clayton let out a slightly annoyed huff as she told him that, he hated to admit it but she was right. At the rate he was going he wasn't any closer to winning against that spirit, if even beating them would mean he wins against them! "She's right me boy, it may be hard to hear but you may wish to try and focus on obtaining more power before ye go and get yourself 'n me killed." Well seems like the teen was out voted in this situation, with a sigh Clayton rubbed the side of his head slightly annoyed.
"Alright, guess I do need a break. Maybe I should figure out how to fight better? If I can manage to out skill him then maybe I can win even with a lower powered form?" It was a long shot but at this point it was the only shot that Clayton had, the only question though was how was he supposed to get more skill? He could go to the training grounds or the colosseum but neither felt like a good idea at the moment, though as he was spacing out he heard someone call out from nearby.
"Get away from me, I don't have anything on me!" Clayton heard the voice as clear as day, rushing off before his mind could catch up to him Clay ran up on a Renamon-X surrounded by two digimon Clayton knew well, a DemiDevimon and a Kotemon, if these were the same he dealt with before Clayton had no idea. "I told you this isn't anything you'd want, just leave me alone!" the Renamon-x shouted as she held something close to her chest, it was almost as long as she was and wrapped up in a white cloth.
"We'll be the judges of that, now hand it over!" The Demidevimon demanded as the Kotemon reached his hand out to take whatever it was. Which was at that point that Clayton ran inbetween them standing in front of the Renamon holding Zu out towards the two digimon. "Huh? Who the heck are you?" Clayton didn't answer and just looked back at the Renamon.
"Go, I got this!" The Renamon-X looked a little worried about the situation but quickly rushed off the way Clayton came. "Alright, now I'll take you guys down." Clayton held Zu up facing down the two of them for a moment.
"Take us down? Ha you're outnumbered kid and outclassed, what's a human like you gonna do to us huh? Hit us with your little blade?" They started to laugh at Clayton completely ignoring him for a few moments to look at one another.
Clayton smiled before holding the sword down and tossing it into the air. "Who said I'm outnumbered? Come on out Zu, show them what you've got?" As Clayton said that the sword he just threw would quickly transform into a Zubamon for a moment before instantly evolving into Zubaegermon, landing in front of Clayton and the two rookies staring them down for a moment. "So tell me, do YOU fancy your chances against us?" Clayton punched his fist into his open palm and pulled out his D-tector, showing them the spirit. Suffice to say the two of them realized they were screwed and booked it.
Clayton let out a small laugh as Zu quickly changed back into her rookie sword form and got picked up by Clayton who threw it on the makeshift holder he kept on his back. "Guess they figured they bit off more then they could chew huh?" As Clayton said that though the digimon he told to run seemed to rush back in a hurry.
"I Kowa, Daughter of Kowarenai will not leave a human to fight alone, I shall fight along with.. Where did they go?" He eyes were closed as she ran in but the moment she opened them she noticed Clayton standing there like nothing had happened. "I assume you chased them off, my thanks. I shouldn't of ran but my nerves seem to of gotten the better of me." the digimon now known as Kowa looked away rubbing the side of her head seemingly a bit embarassed.
"Don't worry, I'm just glad they didn't take anything from ya, me and Zu caused them to run with their tails between their legs huh?" Clayton asked patting the sword on his back for a moment.
"Indeed, truly they only had their words. Any proper fighter would've put them in their place I imagine." as Zu said that the Renamon-X rushed over to Clayton, specifically over to his shoulder to the sword on his back.
"Is that a Legend Arms? Huh I've never seen one before. Much less one being used by a human? Are you two partners by any chance." Clayton couldn't speak considering he was currently being choaked by a massive amount of fluff at the moment so Zu decided to talk for him.
"Somewhat, he is assisting me in finding my friend. I can say no more on the matter. Though he is quite the skilled swordsman even without his spirit. I am Zu and this is Clayton." It was then that Kowa noticed she was choaking Clayton and backed off quickly.
"Yup, Clayton Herron. Though everyone usually just calls me Clay. Nice to meet you Kowa." Clayton reached out his hand for a handshake which she took gladly.
"Well Clayton, if you fancy yourself a swordsmen then maybe you'll be interested in something, there's a small tournament being held nearby in honor of my father. He was an old digimon who sadly lost his life defending our village till the last man. We've been holding these bouts for years to try and find someone his blade accepts."
Kowa slowly opened the white cloth surrounding what she was holding revealing a rather impressive looking blade, it was about as tall as the two of them and looked like it weighted quite a lot. Though the top of the blade seemed to be broken the rest of it showed a lot of care went into keeping it looking presentable. "Orignially I had planned to take up the blade myself but I've decided to walk a different path in life, I believe it's what he would've wanted me to. Still best not let a blade go unclaimed after all." She seemed a bit melancholy about something, rubbing the top of the blade with her hand. Eyes lost in thought for a moment before quickly snapping back to Clayton just ahead of her.
"I'm flattered but as you said I'm a human, without my spirit I'd probably just get crushed by those digimon. Maybe with my spirit I could but that doesn't feel right relying on someone elses power." That and his water spirit wouldn't be too good at that sort of combat.
"You wouldn't have to worry, it's a test of skill not might. My father was of the mindset that it didn't matter how strong you were, just that you were unflinching in your resolve and skilled with your own blade. He was referred to as the Unbending Blade." She seemed to get happier while talking about him but quickly composed herself wrapping the sword up again. "Regardless it's up to you if you come or not, but I hope I see you two there." With that she ran off towards the distance, not after handing Clayton a paper with a location written on it.
Crossing his arms Clayton thought for a moment on what to do. "Are you going?" if he did or not didn't matter too much to her, but part of her was worried about the aspect of him fighting off digimon.
"Yeah, I'll go. After all it'll be a nice way to see if I've improved since coming here. Plus I'm sure she wouldn't offer unless it was safe." With that Clayton threw the location into his D-terminal and set off towards the area she listed.
Eventually the two of them found themselves around a makeshift camp, strewn about the area seemed to be quite the number of digimon, tall and small. Large and Skinny alike but all with one thing in common. They all held swords in their hands ready for the event as it was. Clayton walked through the crowd of digimon, looking around at the small campsites and food offered for what he assumed was an audience. Clayton got some shifty eyed looks, especially towards Zu but he shrugged them off. "Clay, you made it!" A familiar voice shouted rushing over to the teen, she didn't have her fathers sword anymore.
"Yeah, me and Zu decided it was worth checking out, so how's this event supposed to go anyway?" Clayton had his hands in his pockets looking around the area for a few moments.
"It's pretty simple, just fight to your best ability. My uncle over there will cast a field that'll make all attacks do basically the same low damage so it's completely safe." as she said that Kowa motioned over to a digimon sitting around an arena, it was a digimon Clayton had never seen before but just from standing around him he could tell they were quite strong. They almost looked like a living angel he'd see in stories, white robe and everything Holding a large sword in front of him aimed downward into the ground.
"A HolyAngemon huh? An Ultimate level around here. If he's able to hold that form so casually he must be quite strong." Zu mentioned seemingly sizing the digimon up for a few moments.
"Yup, Uncle is one of the strongest digimon I know. Fathers' sword is over there behind him." Looking behind him it was clear as day, stuck in the ground hilt towards the sky. "Dad's blade can only be held by people it finds worthy, so whoever wins gets the chance to pull it out of the ground. If they can't then we hold the event next year and try again." Letting out a small laugh she looked around to the crowd. "Honestly part of me thinks that some who visit forget about that part and just wanna see the tournament, started out as a small thing but apparently there's quite the market for watching skill vs skill."
Indeed, the crowd wasn't as large as you'd see around Terminus when someone was fighting but it was a decently sized crowd of digimon and even a few humans that'd wanted nearby to see what was going on. "I'll be honest fighting in front of a crowd like this is making me a bit nervous." Clayton let out a small laugh rubbing the back of his head.
"You'll be fine Clayton, win or lose it's simply the aspect of trying that will help you grow as a swordmen." Taking that advice to heart Clayton gave a small nod as he went over to register for the tournament. Which seemed to surprised the Dinohumon who was manning the register but he signed Clayton up all the same. Sadly though outside weapons were banned so Zu hopped off Clayton's back towards the stands while Clayton was given a Bokken to fight with, it was a bit heavier then he was used to but he felt he could swing it well enough all the same.
Walking out to the Battlefield Clayton found himself surrounded by quite a few digimon, many with swords, most seemed to ignore him most likely thinking he was just the tamer to one of the digimon participating but one digimon who seemed a bit keener than the others spotted his sword. You there, human. With the sword." he walked over to Clayton with his hands relaxed and nowhere near his blade, it was a rather large digimon a Buraimon if Clayton remembered correctly.. "Are you participating in the event? I must say I'm surprised, most humans I meet tend to hid behind their partners rather then battle themselves." Despite the words his tone didn't sound condescending, rather more matter of fact then anything else.
"Well I figured if we're on even grounds around here might as well give it a shot, name's Clayton Herron. Everyone just calls me Clay though." Figuring he'd be nice and introduce himself first. The stranger nodded for a moment before replying.
"Ren, a pleasure to meet a fellow swordsmen, regardless of species." With that Ren would sit down next to Clayton and the two started talking about techniques, while Clayton couldn't really grasp some of them since Ren could fly and he couldn't they still had a pretty nice conversation. However before they could talk more the bell rung signaling all of them to step out onto the field. "Ahh well, It was nice talking to you while it lasted Clay, I wish you luck in the tournament." Getting up he walked out before Clayton towards the field of battle.
Clayton grabbed his Bokken and started towards there as well. Reaching outside it had gotten dark, the night sky was evident overhead as fires around the camp lit up the area before him. Looking around he saw the other digimon sitting near the edge of the arena, seemed to be about 15 digimon and him the only human singled out. Deciding to sit down a bit away from everyone else Clayton watched as Kowa's uncle walked towards the outside of the ring, eyes towards the sky for a moment as he placed his sword into the ring of the arena.
"Digimon, Humans. All of you who have been welcomed to this place for today, We are here to honor my dear brother Kowarenai. Even years after his death the pain of knowing he will no longer be able to revive, to come to us, is a pain that is almost too much to bare. He gave his life to save others and so to honor his courage and valor in battle we hold this tournament meant not to show power or pure strength but honor and willpower to persist." With that he slammed his sword into the ground in front of him letting a massive amount of power envelop the field in front of him. "As is tradition I have cast a barrier around the field of combat, those within the field shall find their abilities sealed and their natural strength gone. An even playing field for all those involved. If you are hit outside of the field then the battle is over, if you cannot continue the battle is over. Should you disarm your opponent the battle will be over."
As he was about to finish though he noticed Clayton sitting here. "Ahh right, though some of you may have noticed we have a human participating within the tournament, while some of you may question or even dislike humans recall where he stands, amongst those who have abilities that could destroy him and his kind easily. Yet he remains. If that is not a show of honor and will then I do not know what is." Looking over he saw Zu sitting around the front of the crowd alongside Kowa, he heard the two of them calling his name cheering him on.
With that it was underway, separating into eight groups of two Clayton faced off against his first opponent, a Spadamon surprisingly. Holding its wooden sword into the air the digimon pointed it at Clayton with a smirk across his face. "Spur, the up and coming Knight. better get ready I ain't gonna hold back just because you're a human!" Spinning his sword in quite a flashy manner Spur eventually settled down and pointed it at Clayton with one hand on the hilt and the other on his side a confident smirk across his face.
"Here's to a good match." Clayton replied with a bow before drawing his own Bokken, holding it in front of himself with two hands on the hilt, blade just at eye level. Staring down Spur Clayton kept his breath steady as the Kotemon next to them counted down to start, three, two, one. GO.
Instantly Spur was on the offensive, leaping up and coming down with an overhead slash trying to get Clayton to block, however Clayton instead decided to push the offensive taking a step forward narrowly avoiding the sword while smashing his own into the Spadamon's chest, taking a step he continued his swing sending the digimon backwards towards his starting position. "Urgh, I ain't done yet!" Shouting he ran over to Clayton, spinning his blade in his hand trying to trip Clayton up with his movements.
However Clayton wasn't having any of that anime sword bs and took a step towards the side with the blade, taking a small hit to his leg twice but managing to smash his sword against the Spadamon's hand causing him to drop the sword on the ground. "W-wait no, let me try that again!"
"Disarmed, Clayton moves on to the next round." The Kotemon announced. Spur didn't seem to happy about that mumbling as he walked away from the field.
"Hey, Spur!" Clayton called out, at first they seemed to think Clay was going to laugh at him for losing to a human but Clayton simply bowed in respect. "Thank you for the match, I wish you well on your path to become a knight!"
The Spadamon rubbed the back of his head before walking off, heading to get some food instead of watch the next match.
Clayton watched the other matches unfold, it was quite different then his own and some were even done before Clayton finished. Ren seemed to finish the fastest as he seemed to already be on round two, though he was pretty close so if things kept going the way they were then he'd face him after this round.
Jumping up and down a bit Clayton got his blood flowing as his next opponent came up, it was a digimon he definitely knew, A Yakasamon. Holding one blade in his hands Clayton gave a bow which surprisingly the digimon returned but didn't say anything. Clayton held his sword up for a moment watching the digimon in front of him as the Kotemon counted down.
Right as they hit zero Clayton was sent on the defensive as the Yakasamon had started swinging wildly at Clayton, fast paced strikes followed up by quick slashes forcing the teenager on the defensive backing up and away to try and get some distance.
Trying to sidestep over resulted in his side taking a hit, forcing Clayton to block the attacks coming his way. Slowly the two of them edged closer to the arena's end, trying to force Clayton out of bounds. With one foot almost out of bounds Clayton knew he had to do something fast.
As the Yakasamon winded up for a powerful swing that would definitely send Clayton out of bounds the teen lunged forward with his own strike, crashing in the middle with the digimon pushing against them. But Clayton was shorter and couldn't find his footing against them. So instead of pushing against them Clayton threw his back forward under the champion level digimons legs, unlocking their blade and sliding under them causing the champion level digimon to trip forward out of bounds.
Clayton was panting, trying to get his breath back after going through that whole ordeal. Slowly getting up Clayton bowed to his opponent, who stood up and did the same before leaving without ever uttering a word. "Man, are all Yakasamon intense like that?" Sure he only knew two but it was weird it happened twice.
"Ring out, Clayton moves on to the Semi-final round." The announcer stated, though it left Clayton a bit confused, wasn't there another round after this one? Heading over to the notice it would seem that the amount of people who entered was uneven, leading Clayton to have skipped a round. While he was a bit disappointed that he wasn't going to get to fight as many times as others it was probably pretty lucky he wouldn't be as tired for the last round.
Heading to the back Clayton decided to watch the other set of matches he was skipping; it was an impressive display of combat that he was slightly sad he only saw the final moments of but eventually it led to only one left standing, it was the Buraimon Ren. Clayton took a small breath to compose himself, just two more rounds. Even if he lost at least he made it this far right? After all no one probably expected much outta him.
After a few minutes the time came for Clayton to step back onto the field, the arena was made much large then before giving plenty of room. Most likely to prevent any who might've just tried to do nothing but ring out the opponent. Walking out to the middle Clayton's eyes locked onto his opponent, staring right back the digimon smiled before taking out his own sword. "Clay, I know I wished you luck but I'm afraid I won't be holding back. You've more than proven that I cannot afford to." Switching his stance the digimon became more serious as he backed up slightly from the teen.
"Wouldn't have it any other way, c'mon lets do this. I ain't holding back." Clayton swung his sword around for a moment before grabbing it in his other hand, eyes narrowed focusing squarely on the opponent in front of him.
"Semi-Final round, Clayton Herron Vs Ren. Begin!" The Holyangemon shouted as he slammed his sword against the ground causing the energy field around them to enhance, now the moment one of them steps even a foot outside the arena they'll be launched out.
Clayton was instantly on the backleg as the Buraimon charged, slamming into Clay with his blade knocking the teen backwards a bit, even without the digimon's strength he still had some more leverage on him making it harder for Clay to block the attacks. Deciding to use his shorter stature to his advantage Clayton dodged the follow up hit and managed to land a glancing blow on the digimon's side knocking them away a bit.
Making some distance Clayton backed up slightly inching away from the bird digimon as they jumped into the air aiming a massive overhead strike on Clayton, He managed to deflect the hit but it knocked him off his stance making his blade hit the grass below him. Ren tried to follow up on this with another attack, however as he took a step forward a grunt of pain escaped his mouth as he fell on one knee.
This was the perfect time to strike, he was wide open and if Clayton wanted to win this thing, then this was his best bet, however instead of striking him Clayton paused before rushing over on one knee. "Hey! What's wrong. Did you get hurt in one of your matches?" Clayton asked checking Ren's leg, there was a large gash with bits of data leaking out. However, Clayton quickly heard something that stopped him cold.
"Clayton has been disarmed, Ren wins." Clayton stopped cold before looking back, while rushing over to check on Ren he had dropped his sword, Whoops. Ren slowly got up helped a bit by Clayton before going over to the judge.
"No, No I don't. He was just checking on me it was an accident, I should've told someone I got hurt before the match this was my fault." He tried to argue with the judge, but Clayton quickly butted in.
"Nah it's fine Ren, I shouldn't have let go of my sword. I was just a bit too worried you were hurt bad. I probably wouldn't have won anyway that opening move alone took a lot outta me. Go on, a win's a win." Clay was happy he managed to get this far by himself, but if he was honest, he was exhausted from the two fights before this, no way was he going to win.
Going through some internal struggling for a moment eventually Ren nodded and shook Clayton's hand, both bowing to each other before returning back to the back. Clayton did however go back over towards the stands after grabbing his stuff. Sitting right next to Zu and Kowa. "You did a great job Clayton, I'm sure no one expected you to make it that far."
The Renamon X patted Clay on the back as well with a smile. "If my dad was still around, I'm sure he would've been proud to see you in action! You did amazingly Clay." Clayton smiled but was noticeably a bit bummed on how he lost. Though he quickly shook that off.
"Aye, They be right me boy, I be proud to have you as my partner after that display. You did well." The pirate in his head added, he stayed quiet most of the matches so Clayton could focus but he did see everything through Clayton's eyes after all.
"I'm just glad Ren's ok, that wound looked pretty bad. I wouldn't want to win like that anyway. Would've left a bad taste in my mouth." Waving off the praise Clayton decided to sit back and watch the finals.
It was the Buraimon against a BushiAgumon, it was quite the intense match. Neither opponent gave the other an inch. Every time one found and opening the opponent found another leading to a back and forward dance of clashing metal. Clayton and the rest of his group cheered on Ren as he managed to start making some more impacts. Blow after blow eventually the Agumon varient couldn't keep up and ended up becoming overwhelmed by the opponent. Getting knocked out of the ring and landing on the ground nearby.
"Winner by ring out, Ren is the winner of this year's Tournament!" The crowd cheered as Ren looked tired, dropping his swords against the ground he bowed to his opponent and then to the crowd with a smile on his face. Soon after Kowa's Uncle came over, the HolyAngemon placed a hand on the bird digimon's shoulder with a warm smile on his face.
"Congratulations, as winner of this tournament you are given the honor of attempting to pull my brothers sword from its slumber. Step forward and receive this chance." Offering his hand to the Buraimon, Ren looked at it for a moment before looking over towards the crowd.
"No, I don't deserve the chance. There's someone I think is more worthy to attempted. Clayton Herron, please step forward." the crowd looked over at the teen who seemed pretty shocked, pointing to himself with a confused look on his face. Kowa and Zu pushed against him to shove the teen to his feet real quick. Walking over Ren smiled before continuing. "This tournament is about honor and will, this human only lost because of his concern for me. He fought despite his bodies limitations and showed courage where most might faulter. If it is alright with you, I ask that he take my place in drawing the sword."
Pausing for a moment the HolyAngemon thought about it for a moment before smiling and nodding. "Very well, if that is what you truly wish I will see it done. Please come over here Clayton." He motioned for the teen to come closer, which he did following after the Ultimate level digimon before standing in front of a sword, the top broken in half and the rest embedded into the ground below.
Clayton looked over at the Ultimate level digimon who simply nodded and motioned for Clayton to try. Reaching out the teen grabbed the handle with both hand before he started to pull, it didn't move at first, but Clayton tried once more. Slowly the blade seemed to start moving, only slightly at first but eventually it started moving more and more.
After a moment Clayton's spirit symbol appeared below him, covering up almost the whole area as he drew the blade out fully. In both hands staring up at the sword itself, it was quite amazing Clayton had to admit. Holding it more downward Clayton noticed that it felt like it weighed nothing in his hands.
"Haha! Finally. We have found one who is worthy to hold my brother's sword. And thus, we have found one who shall inherit the title of the unbending blade. I'm sure this human shall go on to do amazing things, for this is proof that despite the difference between them, they possess the same core, Organic or Digital it does not matter in the end, the only thing that matters is what you make of yourself in this life." With that there were more cheers coming, mostly from Zu and Kowa as Clayton raised the sword upward with a smile on his face.
Though looking up he noticed something on the blade, bits and pieces of data that appeared to shift around wildly. It seemed to be fractal code. Holding the sword straight Clayton grabbed his D-tector in his pocket before sliding it against the sword, reaching the top of the blade as all of the sudden the blade seemed to light up, turning into data and becoming absorbed into the device. The D-tector suddenly showed one more spirit had been obtained, though it wasn't completely due to the blade being broken it would seem that Clayton had one more spirit at his disposal.
With that all that was left was the celebration, though Clayton and Zu didn't stick around too long into the night. After a nice conversation with Kowa and gaining a blessing from the HolyAngemon to use the blade as he saw fit Clayton and Zu went onward, their search still wasn't done after all, they needed to find more spirits, more strength and even more artifacts.
Though Clayton did promise a rematch to Ren eventually, once he managed to beat his champion spirit in combat.
