Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

The next few rounds of Swiss weren’t anything to write home about. Like round one, a lot of people were flippant with their records, taking tactical losses to avoid using too much rhythm or getting their Resonators damaged unnecessarily. Some spells were tossed around, but most of the time it was simply to gauge the strength of their adversary and determine if a protracted battle was necessary.

These battles were won and lost purely by Resonator choice. The crowds were surprisingly okay with the quick matches. Rebecca overheard one spectator talk about the mind games and strategy that went into Resonator selection in these early rounds.

However, things took a turn heading into round eight when Shouri got a text from Elijah nearing the start of the round:

Klein: “Eliminations are starting. Stay vigilant.” 11:25 AM

“What the fuck does that mean?” Shouri furrowed a brow at the strange message.

“Some people must have played fast and loose with their records and they have to win out now. I think,” Rebecca posited, looking over her Maestro’s shoulder.

That was a bit shocking. “Eliminations this soon? That’s crazy.” Shouri shook his head in disbelief. It was just before lunch on the first day and people’s entire tournament runs were coming to an end?

“It is.” Rebecca watched the two Maestros for this round step into their respective spots on the chalk-outlined battlefield, their Resonators standing firm behind them.

Both sides were tense – that much was apparent. The rounds prior the Maestros and their Resonators had worn smiles and were relaxed; joking, playing, and just generally enjoying the competition. However, the mood between this round’s Maestros and their teams was anything but. It was grim and heavy.

“Uh-oh,” Shouri breathed out.

“What is it?” Rebecca asked quietly.

“We got an elimination match, both of these guys are 0-7.”

“Oh shit.” Rebecca turned her attention to the field.

Upon closer inspection one of the left team’s Resonators was worse for wear, appearing to have taken a significant beating last round. Shouri was able to confirm this – as soon as a tuner was within the field of battle, he was able to see all of the Resonators’ vitals in a special tournament staff program he had been given.

Maestro: Solmaz Imani [0-7-0]

SWISS ROUND 8

[0-7-0] Maestro: Jo Machteld

Roster

Roster

Rolo - 79%

VERSUS

Kyros - 81%

Simon - 81%

Gad - 65%

Kalyan - 31%

Farhana - 67%

The Resonator currently resting on the bench must have been Kalyan. At a glance, they appeared to be a Nature-Element Cat - an unusual pick given the fire-heavy field being played. They must have paid for that as even at a distance Shouri and Rebecca could see their clothes were a little bit charred. Thankfully Maestros could get any status abnormalities, such as singeing dealt with at one of the medical tents between rounds, but for overall rhythm regeneration, there simply wasn’t an elegant solution.

Maestros with sponsors may be able to stock up on apple juice, but even so, those were mostly saved for last-resort-type situations.

Shouri took in a breath – he had a match to announce for, his personal feelings on the matter would not stop this battle from happening. The least he was able to do was ensure it was at least a clean battle.

“Maestros!” Shouri called out. Unlike round one where he had to read from his tuner, by this point in the morning the green-horn referee had memorized the script. “This is a one-on-one battle with no substitutions! Goal is zero percent rhythm remaining.” He took a pause, his eyes darting over to Kalyan for a moment. “Please make your selections, you have thirty seconds!”

As had been done in the last seven rounds of play, the two Maestros glared one another down, deciding which tuner to pull.

Finally, their choices were made and Solmaz had made a selection that made Shouri’s heart ache with worry.

Kalyan had moved onto the field to face the earth element, Gad. The poor cat-boy glared down his much larger earth-element counterpart. Thirty-one percent rhythm remaining was enough to keep him stable, he was fighting fit, but with so little rhythm left to protect him, there was the very real possibility of injury.

Shouri could only hope that having the elemental advantage would see Kalyan through this battle in one piece.

Drawing in a breath, Shouri declared, “You have fifteen minutes – Let the battle begin!”

In between rounds the foot traffic picked up in the medical tents. A lot of it was status cleansing. Just curing Resonators of their singeing, frostbites, numbness. Taika became acutely aware of what her medicines did and how to apply them.

Jess was a big help in guiding Taika on how to use each of the medicines. For example, the numbing medication was applied to the spine, as that’s what that condition targeted. Meanwhile, frostbite just needed topical applications to the affected areas.

Thankfully Taika’s supply of medicines they bought the other day would go untouched. As it turned out the stuff one could buy from the store was much slower acting than what the Klein Foundation provided to their tournament staff. During the rounds when they had a break, Taika took to reading one of the labels and discovered the fast-acting ointments they were using contained some amount of apple juice. The extra boost of rhythm appeared to be the secret sauce as it were to help intensify the healing effects of the other ingredients contained within.

“Look alive people – we got a hot one!” Jess’ voice suddenly snapped Taika out of her thoughts.

“What’s going on Dr. Miya?” Pacifica got to her feet as the red-haired doctor rushed to the tent opening, wearing her medical bag.

“Serious injury at Court thirty-one, get your asses moving!” The doctor rushed out.

“Let’s go Taika!” Pacifica chased after Jess.

“R-right!” The lunar fox scrambled to follow behind.

Taika’s heart raced as they made their way over to the site of the incident in question. This was Dr. Miya’s battlefield, as the woman outpaced both Pacifica and Taika with ease. She knew the lay of the land far better too, not a waver in her stride as they rapidly approached court thirty-one.

That was when Taika spotted a familiar face. “Sh-sho…” She recognized her Maestro anywhere, even amongst the crowd of people surrounding the court. The spectators were outside the fence watching in hushed horror at what had transpired.

Jess tore open the door of the court and rushed in. “Outta the way!” she shouted, causing Shouri, Rebecca, Jo Machteld, and his team of Resonators to back off. Solmaz Imani and his other two Resonators remained by the third member of their team – Kalyan who laid on the ground unmoving. Immediately the woman tore away what remained of the Resonator’s shirt to clear the injury site.

In an instant the seasoned doctor already knew what needed to be done – it was a waste of time for her to have brought medical supplies. They needed to rely on magic here to stabilize the patient, the Nature-element Cat before her was clearly in shock and didn’t have too much longer. “Taika, Vita en Lento, Pacifica, we need water – STAT!” the doctor shouted while placing a couple of fingers on the downed Resonator’s neck.

Thankfully Shouri was standing right there, less time wasted. Pacifica threw her tuner to her own Maestro.

“La Bella Vita, Rubato! Mani Nell'acqua, Rubato!”

“Hoh?” Jess smirked. “Taika, focus the healing here, Pacifica keep a constant stream of water on the wound,” the doctor instructed.

The two Resonators wavered when they finally laid eyes on what they were dealing with. Even with Jess tearing away the shirt, there wasn’t much left of it; most of it already having been burned away. What made the bile rise in protest was the injury site: right over his heart was melted skin, still red hot. The smell was disgusting, the sight revolting, and even the fear in the air assaulted her rhythmic sense - it was taking everything in Pacifica’s power not to vomit on the spot.

But Taika moved, holding out both hands, they glowed an almost blinding white – they had a job to do.

Pacifica stared in reverence of the light - this was Lento rank healing. Being so physically close to Taika confirmed the strength of the magic, waves of soothing warmth hitting Pacifica in the crossfire. But even with the monstrous level of healing, the wound wasn’t closing up as it should have. It was almost as if the remnant heat clung to the victim’s body, refusing to allow the wound to be mended.

“Get your head in the game! WATER!” Jess barked. Pacifica squealed and began pouring water over the wound, which began to sizzle and intensified the nauseating stench of burning flesh. Despite the horrible sight, as soon as the water came in contact with the wound, it began to close.

“Hmmm, you’ve done something similar before,” Jess noted Taika’s precise control of her healing. “Good job. Back off.” She pulled the lunar’s hands away from the patient. “We’re gonna need to get him into a Viva unit – he’s in shock.”

Right at that moment another medical team burst onto the scene. “Pacifica, stop.” Jess pushed the otter’s hands away. The doctor and her two assistants backed off allowing the trauma team in to move the still unmoving Nature element onto a stretcher and wheel him away – his Maestro and fellow Resonators following.

With their patient now in the care of the trauma team, Dr. Miya’s gaze shifted to Shouri who was fixated on the departing Maestro and Resonators. “What happened?” she asked.

Shouri didn’t speak, Rebecca however found her courage, despite mirroring her Maestro’s shock. “Nature versus Earth element.” She motioned to the big earth Resonator still quietly waiting on the field. “Was running circles around big guy there, but he got greedy and went in for the knock-out. Earth guy cast Roccia Fusa and caught him point blank in the chest.”

The fire Resonator gulped. “I watched his rhythm break and had Shouri stop the match and call for help.”

“Ah, the Earth-Fire Ossia.” Dr. Miya nodded. “It’s slow, but taking a ball of lava straight to the chest with low rhythm would do that kind of damage.” She hummed thoughtfully. “Yo!” She waved over Jo and his Resonators.

Hesitantly the quartet approached.

“I didn’t mean to-!” Gad, the earth Resonator in question, immediately tried to defend himself, which was met with Jess’ motion for silence.

“Ref?” Jess looked to Shouri. “Ruling?”

Shouri jumped. He had been told he’d have to make rulings, but he didn’t know exactly what that meant until now.

“Severe injuries, if inflicted intentionally are grounds for game loss and potentially a suspension of one’s duelist license,” Dr. Miya clarified. “It’s up to the officiating judge of the match to make the final call on the intention of the attack in question.”

All eyes moved to Shouri. Even the gathered crowd waited on bated breath for the ruling. His gaze met Rebecca’s. Neither made a move, but at that moment, they reached a mutual understanding.

Taking in a breath, he made the call: “During the casting of Roccia Fusa, Kalyan moved to dodge the spell and was struck critically, instead. There was no intention of foul play in that casting. The winner of this match is Jo Machteld! No penalty will be given!”