[Third Person POV]
It had been over a month since the trio started participating in the Sekigahara.
They all fought at least once daily, with Hajime fighting more often than Akeno or Tsubaki.
Tsubaki had checked in on her new student, who had shocked her by completing the exercises she gave him.
Requesting another spar with his 'sensei', something Akeno and Hajime once again laughed at, she accepted before defeating him just like last time.
Despite his quick defeat, Teruya Soya quickly got back up and tried again. Unlike the first two times, Tsubaki didn't go on the offensive but rather let him attack her before giving some pointers about what to do, before eventually sending him off to train by himself some more.
Hajime was also busy with his gacha, getting several good things from it.
While most of what he got wasn't useful, there were a few good things he'd gotten, like cards.
He got one Power Upgrade Card, two Weakness Removal Cards, and two of a new type of card, the Background Card.
As the name implies, it allows him to create a background for those he summons.
While not important in the supernatural world, the human world is another story.
Though not closely connected, the human world frequently has supernatural beings visit for vacation.
Supernatural beings could use mind magic to manipulate humans' memories; however, they needed identification if they wanted to live in the human world, like Rias and Sona.
Hajime also got three new characters: Gang Orca from My Hero Academia, Blake Belladonna from RWBY, and Heather from Total Drama.
Of them, he was the most curious about the differences between Blake and Nekomata. Functionally, they would likely look the same, but realistically, only one could use magic. Maybe Blake could use magic since human magic is derived from devil magic, but humans also naturally have mana, something he couldn't confirm about Blake.
That raised another question: What would happen if mana was introduced to her when her planet had the gods remove the ability for mortals to learn it?
Could he make her a familiar and have her gain magic that way? Would she even be able to be a familiar? She wasn't human biologically, but practically, there was little difference.
The last things of value he got were both Nintendo items.
The Fire Flower from Mario and the Herba Mystica Sandwich from Pokemon.
While Hajime was certainly interested in a sandwich that two legendary Pokemon loved, he was more interested in the fire flower.
Sure, it was a special flower, but it was still a flower. Would it be possible to grow more?
There are also questions about what happens after you consume it. Will it change your biology or alter what you can do? Can you only use regular fireballs from it? Will it alter your looks after you consume it? What about when you get hit? Does its power disappear, or does it eject itself from your body? Will it stop you from getting one shot?
There were too many questions, and those were just the ones about the flower itself. There were countless other questions about potential uses, including use in potions and rituals.
It might even be like spirit fruits if he can make enough of them.
After all, who wouldn't want a quick power-up from a flower?
Aside from the gacha, the trio's progress in the Sekigahara was quick, the three of them becoming rising stars.
They hadn't left low-class yet, but Hajime made quite a lot of progress, with Tsubaki and Akeno close behind.
Hajime was currently at 249 points, Tsubaki at 216, and Akeno at 208. Unfortunately for them, getting to mid-class would require 1000 points.
As with any race, things were adjusted according to lifespan. For long-lived races like devils, that meant later could be anywhere from a month to a decade, all because they had the time.
The point system was designed so that you had to win over 100 matches to get to the next level of the arena. It wasn't a big deal for supernatural races since they could take as long as needed. Most regulars would only ever sign up a few times a month at most, and only battle junkies might participate every day.
So, seeing three kids participating every day was something everyone was interested in, especially the organizers.
That's why the organizers talked with the three today about joining in one of their 'raid boss' matches. The premise was simple: they and two others would fight against someone in mid-class.
Raid bosses would change in rank depending on the strength and number of opponents, so their current opponent was a beginner mid-class.
The raiding team, despite the strength advantage of their opponent, could still only use peak low-class strength at most.
Although he was only two stages higher, he would be a tough challenge. For reference, the difference between peak low-class strength and beginner mid-class strength was like a regular human versus Mike Tyson. Though it wouldn't be easy with the five of them, they could win if they were careful.
These raid bosses were meant specifically for the audience's entertainment, so it would never be made impossible. The bosses even had rules against immediately eliminating anybody.
Though a mid-class attack would instantly knock anyone on their team out, the boss would limit themselves in strength to either peak low-class or initiate-midclass. They'd still injure their targets but wouldn't outright eliminate them.
Watching someone fighting while holding back sounds boring, but this was the low-class arena. Most of the audience wasn't knowledgable about fighting, so most could not tell if the fight was impractical.
Hajime, Tsubaki, Akeno, and their two temporary teammates were all waiting for their match to start.
They were given half an hour to prepare a plan.
Each fighter explained their magic. The first of them, Fiery Hammer, used a war hammer enchanted to light on fire.
The second one, Icy Leopard, fought using their familiar, specifically a spell to fuse the two of them and increase his magic.
Their plan was simple.
Tsubaki and Fiery Hammer would engage in close combat, and Hajime and Akeno were to use their lightning magic at a distance. Icy Leopard would focus on using magic, but would be closer so he could assist their physical fighters.
When the match was about to start, they all exited the waiting area, greeted by a crowd far larger than he'd seen with any previous matches.
This was because, unlike other matches, Sekigahara highly promoted these raid boss events.
The raids usually lasted several times longer than regular matches but were far more interesting. Teammates could switch how they fight mid-match, take breathers by alternating fighters, and prepare finishing moves.
That said, raid bosses were heavily favored to win.
Of the previous thousand raids, only about 200 didn't lose, with half of them tying.
Most of those that did win usually had larger teams than his.
Despite all these downsides, Hajime wasn't worried.
-----
They saw a young adult standing across from their group as they entered the field, who went by the title Lone Tree.
The match quickly started when Lone Tree created a magic circle on each hand.
He slammed his hands on the ground, and two plants burst out of the dirt. The first was a Venus flytrap with a mouth large enough to swallow a car. The second was a purple wisteria tree, covered in vines that moved like snakes.
Fiery Hammer set his hammer ablaze before rushing at the flytrap. Tsubaki followed shortly behind him while the others focused on the wisteria tree.
Icy Leopard quickly summoned his familiar before performing his possession ritual. When it finished, he was wearing a bluish-white set of clothes, looking like he came out of the ice age, with a 'dead' leopard head as a helmet like he was Heracles.
Forming two magic circles on his hands, he clapped them together like a mouth, causing a set of ice fangs to appear in the air and bite down on the tree.
The tree quickly grew frost, with the vines slowing down.
Lone Tree quickly directed the vines to target Icy Leopard. The vines dashed through the air before wrapping around Icy Leopard, trapping his arms to his side.
This was when Akeno and Hajime unleashed a joint lightning attack, striking the tree.
Though dealing with minor electric shocks from the attack, Icy Leopard cut through the vines trapping him and rushed at the tree.
As he approached the tree, the branches came alive like the vines, swatting at the creature attacking it. One branch slammed into Icy Leopard, but he blocked it using enhancement magic on his forearms.
The tree swung another branch as he blocked, hitting and flinging him to the side.
Hajime took the opportunity to launch a ball of lightning at the tree, which destroyed one of the branches.
Moving toward the tree, Hajime enhanced his body with magic before creating a sword made of lightning in both his hands.
Lone Tree immediately had the tree attack with all the branches and vines it could.
Hajime cut down each vine that approached while parrying the branches.
Akeno launched lightning at each branch that Hajime parried, causing the tree to pull its branches back.
As the two lightning users distracted the tree, Icy Leopard snuck behind it, launching several icicles that embedded into the trunk.
The tree, which was also strained from fighting two opponents, grew its roots longer, tangling themselves around Icy Leopard, throwing him at his two teammates, giving the tree some reprieve.
The tree used its energy to heal the most aggressive injuries. The tree then used its roots again, grabbing the three opponents and draining their energy through them, allowing it to recover.
When he realized what had happened, Icy Leopard used his ice magic on the roots and shattered them.
He leapt at the tree, sneaking into the canopy, leading the charge once more. He froze whatever he could, using his ice magic while avoiding all the branches trying to catch him.
Dodging over one branch and ducking past two more, he moved through the tree with his catlike agility, overwhelming the branches.
The tree then used the vines to form a net, which was pulled taut, trapping Icy Leopard inside the branches.
Unfortunately, the damage was done. Most branches were tangled, and the vines were busy holding him in place. This gave Akeno and Hajime an opening.
Hajime ran and cut a hole in the trunk using a lightning blade. Akeno fired her magic into the hole, burning the tree from the inside out.
While this happened, Hajime jumped into the canopy and cut his teammate free before grabbing him and getting them out of the tree.
Using the last of his energy, Icy Leopard slammed a magic circle-covered fist over the hole Hajime had created, freezing the tree, which had now run out of energy.
Lone Tree, seeing this, withdrew the wisteria, not wanting it damaged further.
-----
With Fiery Hammer and Tsubaki, their charge was stopped almost instantly by two poisonous globs launching from the flytrap's mouth.
Despite the looks, however, it wasn't just a flytrap.
On both sides of the flytrap's mouth were small sacs with a purplish coloration.
The flytrap released its poisons and flung them at the challengers.
Dodging the poison, they kept rushing, causing the flytrap to release more poison, covering several spots of the arena in a toxic goop.
Eventually, Fiery Hammer hit one of the globs, causing it to burst open, though thankfully, the poison flew in the direction he hit.
Tsubaki, who had moved in close to the flytrap, swung her naginata, which was blocked by a giant leaf on the plant's stem.
The leaf swung at her in retaliation, knocking her away from the stem.
Fiery Hammer took the chance to swing with all his might. Hitting the leaf felt like hitting a metal plate, which surprised him.
He was about to strike again but retreated, seeing poison drip from the mouth.
Lone Tree directed the flytrap lunge at Tsubaki, who barely managed to avoid being eaten. Fiery Hammer took the chance to strike, finally landing a blow on it, but only knocked its head back.
Unleashing a spray of poison, the air around the flytrap quickly turned toxic, hiding the flytrap in a poisonous mist.
Seeing nothing else to do, Tsubaki shot a burst of flames from her blade, which shot into the poison. Though they didn't hear anything, the slight eruption of light from the center told them the attack had hit.
Fiery Hammer followed this attack by creating balls of fire. He hit each of them toward where Tsubaki's attack landed, producing more light wherever they hit.
The flytrap escaped the poison, knowing its opponents could hit it without retaliation.
When it was out of the poison, it was greeted with a flaming hammer, slamming into the bottom of its stem.
In retaliation, it bit at Fiery Hammer, only for Tsubaki to jam her blade into its mouth, propping it open with the naginata.
Her blade, stabbed into the roof of the mouth, ended up breaking one of the poison sacs, breaking them and causing poison to leak, hitting Tsubaki in the arm.
She screamed in pain before quickly letting go of her weapon, leaving the mouth open and dripping its toxins.
Fiery Hammer moved out of the way, leaving the area around the flytrap extremely dangerous.
Not one to back down, Tsubaki created temporary metal gloves with her magic, telling Fiery Hammer she had an idea involving her naginata.
He nodded, planning to help her get an opening.
Rushing at the flytrap, he ignited his hammer's head in flames.
Swinging with all his might, he slammed into the tough leaves on the stem, breaking through one of them and injuring the flytrap.
He swung again, and though it didn't do any more damage, it gave Tsubaki the opening she needed.
Jumping toward its mouth, she reached her hand in and grabbed the naginata before igniting the blade and burning through the mouth of the flytrap.
The poison stopped flowing, being burned before it could leave the sac. Wrenching the blade out of its mouth, Tsubaki leapt away with Fiery Hammer as the flytrap fell over.
-----
Seeing both of his plant beasts defeated, Lone Tree stopped supplying them with his magic.
Instead, using what remained, he created a powerful armor made of wood to cover him, planning on fighting his tired foes.
Charging at them, Akeno was the one who reacted the quickest, having used the least energy so far. She fired as strong a bolt as she could, which pierced the armor and knocked Lone Tree unconscious.
As the team left the field, they were quickly checked over by the medics, several of whom passed by to aid their opponent.
After ensuring everyone was safe, the healers treated their injuries and let them leave afterward.
As Hajime, Akeno, and Tsubaki arrived in the lobby, they were greeted by a familiar face glaring at Hajime.
Inferno Witch, Hajime's first opponent in Sekigahara, stood before them, looking down at him.
"That was impressive," she said. "You're very skilled for your age."
Hajime was confused when she said that, wondering why she was glaring at him if she was going to compliment him.
"Thanks. It wasn't easy, but Lone Tree was an interesting opponent."
"Uhuh."
He was confused where she was going with this before she spoke up. "So Frosty, I assume you don't have ice magic? I've seen most of your matches, and you've only ever used lightning magic."
"Maybe, maybe not. Why do you ask?"
"Damn it! Ugh. My boss and I were betting on it after they heard about our match. He was curious about why a child would be coming here. He asked me to set up a meeting after seeing your skills."
"Who is your boss?"
"The manager of this place. He uses it to find talented individuals with good fighting skills."
"You work here?"
"Sort of. I usually work in the city, but he'll call me back here whenever he has an opponent for me."
"So you joined the low-class arena to fight me?"
"Yup."
Looking toward his teammates, who nodded at him, Hajime accepted Inferno Witch's offer to see the manager of Sekigahara.
__________
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!