"Wrestling?" Hikari was amused at the suggestion. No doubt Sheela's physical prowess was impressive in its own right, but it was considerably dwarfed by Hikari.
"Yup! You heard right." Sheela replied confidently, standing straight with her hands on her hips.
"I don't know about this, it doesn't seem very fair or safe even."
"Huh!? Are you doubting your master?"
"No, not at all."
"Hrmp, worry not my good student. I have just the thing."
Sheela began channeling. The ground around her rumbled. Masses of sand lifted themselves off the ground in a spiral, coalescing around her.The mass of earth grew and grew, gradually taking form, until it turned into golem matching Hikari's size.
"There… what.. do… you… think.." Sheela talked through the golem's rumbling low pitched voice.
Hikari covered her mouth, trying her hardest not to laugh. It was a ridiculous get up. On one hand, a stunning display of skill and mastery of her form. On the other hand, an incredibly impractical way to fight. Not to mention the booming voice that makes it appear like the monster from a children's bedtime story.
"He. It's not bad"
"This should make up for our difference in strength, given that you don't cheat and use your mana to boost it."
Sheela pops her head out of her sand golem suit so she could speak normally.
"I won't"
"Good, now I'll explain the rules."
The sand benders that had been standing around them approached the center of the arena. With synchronized movement, they created a shallow wall of stone, no taller than Hikari's ankles.
"It's simple. The moment you touch the outside of the circle, you lose. Or if you can maintain a choke hold for five seconds, you win. The referee over there will make the call."
"Sounds simple enough."
"He."
Sheela slips back into the sand golem.
The mana in the golem built up. Glowing runes started appearing all over its body. The air around its body stirred. Hikari could feel Sheela's heart pumping beneath the thick layer of sand.
She was far more excited about the match than she expected.
The referee blows the whistle. Sheela widened her legs, bent both knees and took a low stance.
Unable to comprehend the posture, Hikari just did her usual upright, relaxed stance with one foot in front of the other.
Gong! The referee rang the bell with a muffled hammer.
Sheela sensing that her center of gravity was too high, immediately lunged towards Hikari.
Hikari twirled to one side, avoiding the brunt of her momentum. Sheela managed to grab onto one of Hikari's legs, dragging her along.
The bore of Hikari's foot skidded in the sand as it absorbed the force of Sheela's lunge. She briefly felt it crash through the shallow rock barrier that marked out the bounds of the arena.
Gong! The referee smashed the bell. "Half point to Hikari!"
A confused look appeared on Hikari's face as she regained her balance.
"Sheesh, you dodge really fast. You get half cuz I hurled myself out of the arena too. I thought I had you there."
"You startled me."
"He. you sure are slippery."
Sheela returned to her stance as the sand benders rebuilt the arena.
"Looks like I'd have to get more serious with you."
"Sure."
Gong! The bell rang.
Sheela lunged at Hikari again, but her trajectory was slightly to one side. Once again, Hikari dodged. But since her opponent did not commit fully to the thrust, she was able to alter the course of her attack, grabbing Hikari's left leg.
With her quick reflexes, Hikari was able to bend her knees, anchor on her right foot and push Sheela back. The sand golem wobbled on the edge of the arena, struggling to regain its balance. But it was Hikari who recovered her stance first and launched a counter attack, pushing Sheela out of the arena.
Gong! "One point to Hikari!"
"Man, you're good. "
"I got lucky"
Sheela took her stance again. It's subtle, but Hikari notices that it was considerably lower than before, her head being level with her shin.
Gong!
Sheela hopped forward. Hikari bent down, arms extended in an attempt to stop her. But she ducked her head lower, avoiding Hikari's palms and going straight for her leg. Hikari tucked her leg back just in the nick of time, causing Sheela to crash into the sand.
As she was about to get up, Hikari twirled around and crashed into her back with her bottoms.
"Five! Four! Three!" The referee counted. Sheela shrugged, trying to turn her body to shake Hikari off but she was too heavy.
"Gong! One point to Hikari." The round ended and Hikari got up.
Sheela's sand golem collapses into a ball before reshaping itself into a standing position.
"Sheesh, you really are good. I can't believe how nimble you are with that huge body."
"You too. You're the most agile sand golem I have ever fought."
"Hrmp, look at you, not even bothered to take a proper stance."
"Eh? Am I doing something I shouldn't be?"
"Ha! Fine. Fine. Seeing how you are so clueless. You should keep your stance low so that your opponent can't easily knock you off balance. You noticed didn't you? The moment I lunged you tried to bend your knees anyway. I guess you're so good that you didn't need it huh?"
"Oh. Thanks for the advice "
"Hrmp, again."
Sheela took her stance.Hikari walked back into the arena. The sand benders once again restored the ring before returning to their corners.
Gong! Hikari braced for impact, but none came. Instead, Sheela kept her stance, forward leaning, low center of gravity, well balanced, no obvious weaknesses.
A tense stare down ensued as Hikari tried to figure out what her plan was.
Then, Sheela moved her left leg forward. A small, deliberate step, minimizing the temporary loss of balance. Then she shuffled her right leg. Returning to a level stance and gaining just a little bit of territory in the confined space.
Hikari mirrored. It seemed like a great strategy to her. The two got closer and closer to each other, in a tense stare down. Neither the aggressive one facing a new but physically superior foe nor the latter who is doing this for the first time feels they could easily take the initiative.
They shuffled until they were within an elbow's reach of each other.
Then, they clashed. The force of their collision released a shockwave, covering the nearby guards in sand.
When the dust clears, Hikari and Sheela are locked in the middle of the arena, pushing onto each other with their superhuman strength. It was an exhilarating feeling for either of them, since for most of their life, they had to be very careful to avoid any unfortunate incidents.
To the on-lookers, they appear to be completely stationary. But at the point of contact, a crushing force that would bend the armour of a steam tank was being created as they gradually ramped up their power to match each other.
The referee signaled to the sand benders, who scrambled to create mounds of sand behind each contestant.
They were just in time as a massive body crashed into one of the mounds, covering everyone, even the tents in the area.
Hikari laid down flat in the sand in the middle of the arena. She had exhausted much of her energy to hold off Sheela's last push.
It was one hell of a push, it was like she had poured all of her mana into it. And it took her by surprise. Pouring everything into one attack like that is suicide in her opinion. In a battle against a superior foe, Hikari would have tried to dodge around and drag out the fight.
Perhaps Sheela has a different perspective or maybe she had just been sheltered for so long that she had forgotten to fight properly.
Hikari was starting to feel as though she had been cooped up in the RazenHeir estate for too long.
"Ahh… that was a good match."
Hikari opened her eyes and saw Sheela standing over her gulping down a tank of water.
"It was. You almost had me there at the end."
"Uh, right. I got a little carried away. That would have been dangerous. I don't know what came over me."
"That's fine. It's good to release it all once in a while."
"It sure is. I hope this little request of mine wasn't too much."
"It's not. In fact, we should do this more."
Sheela's eyes lit up. She held her breath for a moment before releasing like a springboard.
"Really! Well.. if you insist! I think my dear student hasn't had enough of my teachings. She still has loads to learn from me. I think some more wrestling sessions would do nicely!"
"Umm.. sure."
Then Sheela leaned her face towards Hikari and stared her in the eye.
"You promise?"
"Yes."
Hikari nods.
"Good! I'll see you around then!"
"Hold on."
Sheela was just about to return to her tent. She gave Hikari a curious look she got on her feet.
"You lost all your rounds against me didn't you"
Sheela's turned so red that the underlying tanned skin was no longer visible.
"I heard from Rey that there's a very special punishment."
"Eh!? Hey, are ya really gonna rub it in? That stupide brother of mine, I'll make sure to give him a piece of mind when I get back. Fine! I lost every round this time! It won't always be like that. Soon it will be your turn, you rotten tomato, overdue grain, burnt marshmallow!"
Even Hikari was taken aback by the barrage of positive energy from Sheela.
" I didn't really mean it."
Sheela took a moment to suppress her exasperation, pouting all the while, before reluctantly replying.
"Fine, I'll do it."
The sand on the ground started shifting. Sheela slowly buried herself into the ground. Her knee caps disappeared into the ground, then her legs followed by her hips. Her head soon passed Hikari's knee caps, and then down to her shin.
Finally, only Sheela's head was popping out of the ground. Her eyes were level with Hikari's bare feet, coated with a layer of sand stuck to the skin by her sweat. A foul stench filled her nostrils as the toes wriggled excitedly before her nose.
"Uggh! Your feet stink!"
"I bet they do. hehe."
"Argh. Fine, let's get this over with."
"Ok!~"
Hikari began doing a little dance with her knees and feet, alternatingly lifting each ankle.
"Sheela lost to Hikari~" She began singing
"Sheela.. Lost to… Hikari … " Sheela echoed.
"Hikari beat Sheela~"
"Sheela.. Lost to… Hikari … "
"Hikari won three to nothing"
"Hikari… won.. Three.. To… nothing.. "
"Hehe. I think that's all. You really are a good sport."
Hikari turned and walked towards Ria and Rey who were waiting for her outside the arena. Her training was over.