Hooooo

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After getting to the inn and making sure Silabus and Gaspard were in the 'out of the know' room with Piros the Third, Haseo found himself sitting on the bed of one of the two rooms they were using as a base of operation. Apparently they'd at least been able to decide what to do about Haseo giving Silabus the go ahead to fight in the Arena with them…

"Since you seem so sure bringing Silabus along is a good idea, we've decided we'll enter two teams into the fight." Pi fixed her glasses, looking Atoli and Haseo over. "Haseo, Atoli, and Silabus will be one team, and you'll focus on trying to awaken to your potential. Hopefully us watching in the stands will help the same as if we were fighting next to you both…"

"What'll the other team be for?" Haseo frowned, head tilted to the side.

"A hired blade, Kuhn, and I will be going through the tournament with the intent of reaching Endrance." Pi spoke plainly. "You two won't be able to do anything without your own monsters, so this will be the safest bet."

"Wha…! But I can't just let you focus on that! I have to win to prove that bastard wrong and-"

"And make sure that Bo boy gets the autograph he wants for his sister, right?" Pi sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry to say, but one little boy's wishes aren't enough for us to change our course of action. This wouldn't be an issue if someone hadn't invited someone else to fight alongside him in the tournament."

Haseo grimaced. "You can't turn that around on me! You can't tell me to not aim to beat Endrance, either-"

"You can shoot for it, but you'll learn quickly that you can't do anything against those who control monsters." Pi glared down at him. "That'll become clear if you make it far enough to face off against us."

"You…!"

"Now, now. That's enough!" Kuhn looked at Haseo. "We don't wanna hurt you guys, so think about throwing the match when we get there, okay? For now, you two should get some sleep. We have to sign up first thing tomorrow morning if we wanna do this, and going in tired would be a bad idea."

"Kuhn is right! Now isn't the time to argue…" Atoli turned to look at Haseo with a smile. "It's going to be alright, I'm sure Bo will understand that you tried your best-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" Haseo stood up and started for the door. "I'm not giving up that easily!"

"It'll be your problem when you realize you can't stand up to us…" Pi sighed, shaking her head. "Go to sleep."

Haseo didn't have to be told twice, huffing off to his room with Kuhn following after him. He curled up on his bed, ignoring Kuhn's attempts at conversation. He was not a happy camper and he was going to make that as clear as he could. Kuhn seemed to get that loud and clear quickly enough, too. Good.

Now he could just drift off to sleep, hopefully. He needed to be able to kick some ass the next day…

Haseo looked around, darkness surrounding him. Where was he…?

"Haseo." He froze, eyes widening, at the sound of Shino's voice. "Haseo…"

He turned, seeing her back, seeing her walking away from him. Farther and farther away. He couldn't let her get away, couldn't let her out of his sight. If he did that, she might end up like that again.

"Shino…!" He started running after her, arm outstretched. "Shino don't leave…!"

No matter how fast he ran or how much, though, he never got closer to her. She seemed to get farther and farther, until she was gone. Gone, probably afflicted, unable to be saved as Haseo was right now.

"No, no… Shino…!" He fell to his knees, another figure appearing, approaching. "Tri-Edge…!"

He tried to pull himself to his feet, anger bubbling in his chest. He would never forgive him for what he had done, for what he had taken. He would never rest until he had killed the monster, had saved Shino…!

"Don't want to… again…" The strange words he'd spoken in their last run in echoed through his head again as a clawed finger rested under his chin. Words he knew starting to blend with ones imagined. "Not strong enough to beat me…"

He wasn't strong enough, no matter how much Haseo wanted to be. He was too weak, so easily defeated and still aching from it. His body ripped up badly enough that he wasn't sure how long it would be before he could remove the bandages for good…

The clawed finger under his chin vanished as reality began to crash down on Haseo. He had to get even stronger, the way he was now would be useless in his goals. Stronger, stronger. He had to defeat Endrance, had to awaken to his potential and find this monster… He-

"Haseo!" He was shaken awake by Kuhn. "It's time to go sign up for the tournament, come on."

He sat up with a groan, allowing the other guy to pull him to his feet. He felt like he hadn't slept at all… Such a short nightmare had taken so much out of him, and he couldn't remember anything else from the night…

"Shit… Okay." He dragged himself into the restroom and pulled his armor back on. It hurt so bad, and he didn't even have time to change his bandages. Hopefully the first round wasn't today.

He followed after Kuhn and Pi, mind numb. He didn't even listen to most of what they were saying, or what was said when he agreed to signing up for the tournament. Not until an issue became clear.

"Team Haseo will be fighting first today! Please make your way to the waiting room!" The woman behind the counter's tone was chipper, as if Haseo wasn't looking like death right now.

"Go there… Right now?" Shit.

"Indeed!" She nodded. "Your battle will start soon."

He had no choice in the matter, it seemed. He couldn't drop out just because he was exhausted, after all… He followed the woman's instruction, Atoli and Silabus following right behind him.

"Haseo, are you alright…?" Silabus's voice was full of worry. "You look like you're about to collapse."

"Maybe we should forfeit, I'm sure Pi and Kuhn will understand if you're too tired to do this…" Atoli spoke up as well, standing next to him. "Please-"

"I'm fine." He made his way to the displays on the wall, reading over the information about their enemy. Bordeaux and her goons, huh? "There's no way I could forfeit, she'll think I'm afraid of her if I do…"

"Haseo… I don't think pride should be keeping you in the game." Silabus looked over the list as well. "I know she's bullied us, but-"

"I'm not forfeiting. If I lose, it's gonna be in battle." And he didn't plan on losing.

That finally got Atoli and Silabus to be quiet. Good, he didn't want them nagging him as he finally walked to the teleporter. It was time to start battle… They could make it through this, he was sure.

Soon enough, they were in the Arena, people cheering and making Haseo's head hurt. God, he was exhausted and hurting… They needed to take care of Bordeaux and her goons as fast as possible.

"Ooooh, look who it is!" Bordeaux grinned at him. "Finally facing us head-on, huh? Oh, but you have a cute girl with you instead of the little round one! Was he too scared?"

He voice was full of mockery, making Haseo's brow twitch downward in annoyance. "We're not here to talk. We're here to fight!"

"Good, let's see what you can do here, Mister Terror of Death!"

With that, it was time to start fighting. Haseo wasted no time going right for Bordeaux, slicing at her with his dual blades. A lot of the attacks were connecting, but not doing nearly enough damage. He couldn't swing them like he had before being constricted by all these bandages… Shit.

She laughed, kicking him square in the chest and sending him reeling back, clutching in pain. It hurt …

"Repth!" Atoli healed him as Silabus fought off the guys trying to get to her, though it didn't do much. The pain Tri-Edge left him with couldn't be healed with a simple spell, it seemed.

He dragged himself to his feet, anyway. He couldn't go down that easily. He couldn't lose… He ran at Bordeaux again, their blades clashing. Negimaru approached from behind, stabbing him in the side and sending him off balance with a yell.

Atoli once again healed him, but he was staggering, watching Bordeaux's delighted expression with anger.

"That's all you've got?! Man, you've gotten weaker, haven't you?" She let out a bark of a laugh. "After this, we'll have to find that round one and show him who's boss!"

His eyes closed for a moment. No, this couldn't be it, this couldn't be the end…! They'd just started…

When he opened his eyes, he was in the black area from his dream. He clutched his chest, something felt different… Like a power he didn't know he had was flowing through him. Had he awoken to his potential…?

Bright reds lights made him look up and he felt pain shoot through his hands. It felt like the bones were breaking, reshaping into something sharper, more dangerous. The bright red lights, almost like eyes, continued to stare at him.

"I HAVE FOUND YOU." A voice travelled through his head and the lights moved, a giant form approaching and wrapping its hands around him.

When he opened his eyes again, it wasn't just him or his team or Bordeaux on the field. A demon was floating above him and he could feel it in his heart that this was the monster Yata had implied would be his partner. Skeith …

"Strike them down, Skeith!" He felt a grin coming to his face as the demon approached Bordeaux and her goons, all of them hapless, as if they couldn't see this.

"No, don't!" Atoli ran forward, grabbing Haseo by the arm. "Haseo, stop it!"

It was too late, though. Bordeaux was on the ground, Skeith gone from even his own line of sight, and the crowd going wild. Words of him being like the Demon Emperor coursing through the Arena… None of that mattered to him, though.

He shrugged Atoli off, a grin on his face. This was it, this was the power he needed!

He ignored Atoli's worried words and Silabus's confused ones, walking out into Lumina Cloth again. This was amazing… Now he could save Shino!

"Hey!" Kuhn's voice, however, did finally break him out of his thoughts. He'd never heard him that angry. "You can't just go using your creature like that! Not when you've just awoken to the contract!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He made a face, arms crossed. "It let me win, didn't it? And it means I can go after Endrance… I don't see why it's a big deal!"

"You don't get it, do you?!" Kuhn shook his head. "You should only use that thing against the creatures we're hunting! Anyone else and you run the risk of hurting them, badly! Especially with Skeith!"

"What the hell are you talking about? The people got up just fine, didn't they?" He shrugged. "It's no big deal!"

Kuhn shook his head. "You can't be serious! Don't you remember what happened seven years back? When Skeith terrorized everyone, the harvester of souls? The Terror of Death?"

"Can't say I do, I don't remember anything from that year, sorry." He really just didn't care. It wasn't like Skeith had harvested any of their souls! It would be fine. "Besides, why wouldn't I use this power when I can? Saving it for specific monsters would be a waste!"

"You…!" Kuhn approached him. "You can't be using that power all willy-nilly like that!"

"I'll use it how I want to, thanks." He stepped around Kuhn. "In fact, I'll go use it right now to get a bit stronger. No point in letting the power go to waste."

"Hey…!"

"Just let him go, Kuhn, you're just wasting your breath right now."

Haseo walked off with a snort. Why did they think he wouldn't use it for more? It wasn't like his Skeith had actually sucked any souls or anything, as it stood! Just because it shared a name didn't mean it was the same as that past calamity or something.

Now he just needed to find a good place to test his skills.

"Hey kid…" A man wearing a mask approached him. "I heard you talking about going out and training, to get stronger."

"Yeah…" He nodded. "What about it?"

"If you really wanna get stronger, I suggest you go here." He handed him a piece of paper. "An Adept Rogue like you could make use of the job extension it awards."

"A job extension, huh…?" He did miss his broadsword and scythe… Maybe getting one back would be good. He looked down at the paper with a frown. "What's with the directions?"

"Use 'em when you get to the dungeon, it'll help." The man turned on his heel and started walking away. "Make sure you come and see me when you're done, alright? I wanna see how my pupil starts shaping up."

"Pupil?!" Haseo nearly chased after him to demand why he thought he could call him that, but stopped himself. He could just avoid the weird old man when this was done…

After all, it wasn't every day you could job extend. He needed to take the opportunity while he could, show Kuhn he knew exactly what he was doing with Skeith and get stronger.

"Might as well go, I guess…"