"A ball of some sorts?!"
The Ahiru stopped as the ball crashed against his back, rotating as a purple mana surrounded it, one that wasn't Matsumi's but of the enigmatic backpack he wore.
He turned and spun around slamming both his fists into the two warriors once more. He started to rotate more and more, almost resembling some kind of tornado as the blue energy melted on to the warehouses foundation.
The fist slammed into Matsumi's chest, sending him back once again. He coughed from the weight of it, it made his chest feel even more numb than before. The energy from the tornado would blow Matsumi's hair so much that it would come undone, having his shoulder length hair fully come down. He wiped his nose as he regained his balance.
"Purple...?"
A lighbulb came on inside his head.
"Backpack...! Give me a bunch more of those..! I have an idea..."
The Ahiru stomped towards Matsumi squinting at him.
"The magic you possess…how interesting…You use sports items to attempt to harm me? I've only seen one other human ever do something like that."
Small volleyballs started to appear next to matsumi as they rolled towards him, the backpack clearly hearing his commands as Kurai tried to peel herself off of the wall, her garments completely destroyed from their battle so far. The Ahiru watched as the volleyballs rolled around Matsumi.
"Very well then..if that's your choice of weapon..then I simply choose my fists and the way of the Ahiru. Show me what you've got boy!"
"But I bet you've never seen this before!"
He grabbed one of the volleyballs in his hand, holding it close to himself.
"Full on, Matsumi Style!"
He slammed the ball into the ground, bouncing it high in the air before using his Flash Boost to end up right next to it. Raising his hand up high to spike it down right at the Ahiru.
But, that wasn't everything he had planned.
Matsumi used the boost again to push himself down to the ground almost instantly, the shock making the volleyballs jump one foot of the ground. With a smile on his face he kicked one of them right at the previous volleyball coming for Ahiru, altering it's trajectory. They would glow purple as they touched each other, pushing themselves out of the way as they started to bounce uncontrollably around the warehouse.
Matsumi would do the same with the other ones around him, kicking them into the fray, crashing into other volleyballs as well as the walls. It was completely unpredictable as they bounced around the Ahiru.
Although, for some reason Mastumi had no issue in knowing where they would be. He'd attack them, kicking, punching, palming, as he moved around with the flash step to direct them at the Ahiru. Some would end up hitting its back, others the torso, the legs, the head, it was mayhem.
"You pose a worthy challenge! So Matsumi is your name?! Your name will be remembered in this tower for eternity!"
The Ahiru tried blocking one of the balls, however it ripped through his skin, caving into his arm. He scoffed and started his Tornado once more, spinning around at high speeds as the Volleyball's started to ricochet off of the sphere of mana that bursted from his feathers, they bounced and flew everywhere, Eraba and Kurai having to shield themselves from the attacks, which was nearly impossible since the space was large but it was finite and small. The Ahiru directed Matsumi's projectiles back at him, slamming its palm and back fist into them as they scathed his skin, the speed of the attacks so quick that they started to heat up in temperature, denting the walls and roof inward leaving burn marks. Chaos erupted on the tenth floor as Matsumi's attack was a smart one, and great for his level of expertise.
The attack grazed Matsumi's cheek, cutting it open, they would be more than capable of taking his head off at their speed now if he wasn't ready for them. But this was it, his new favorite, the adrenaline of danger. He didn't have the durability to take the attacks like the Ahiru did, but he had enough dexterity to make up for it as his own ability would start to flare up again unbeknownst to him. Jumping around, ducking and running, always an inch ahead of danger.
"Matsumi Ryokō! And everyone is gonna know it!"
In this environment, Matsumi's talent really does bubble up. Despite never being taught this, Matsumi had unconsciously infused his skates with some of his own mana, allowing him to hit them back without his legs being shattered. He got on his hands, kicking the volleyballs while moving almost like a break-dancer. It was a battle of accuracy now.
The feminine silhouette moved in the shadows. The Ahiru watched Matsumi's barrage, blocking every attack with its brolic white feathered stature, deflecting the volleyballs and even ripping them apart. The force of the volleyball's started to accelerate, the wind so hard that the roof of the warehouse began to rip off. Eraba appeared not to far away from Matsumi in the sky, moving almost immediately as those red eyes glowed, the ones that were the same as Matsumi and Kurai. Matsumi could see Eraba's mana materializing through the force of his attacks as they both combined, their energy fusing together as Eraba aimed her bat back.
"Ha! I like your spirit Matsumi! Watch this though!"
"Eraba? Hahaha!"
By now, there were only few people their age who could keep up with the speed of the attacks. Less volleyballs remained now, but they were still dangerous.
"This duck can't keep up!"
"Ha! Let's put an end to this!"
The mana materializations around Matsumi started to take physical property, thousands of small notes flew toward the beast as it ripped apart its skin and muscle, defending against the attacks. Eraba's Tokubetsu allowed her to completely control wind flow and air pressure, and she used papers to attack. Papers that she sewed hundreds of razor blades in, using her mana to connect each blade, and with her mastery of energy at such a young age, allowed her to mask them making the notes completely invisible and unnoticeable to the regular eye, resembling papers that students took tests on every week.
That, and her access to the Blood Moon allowed her to keep an insurmountable amount of them, that could be summoned at her will, and even though the Ahiru was powerful taking thousands of cuts at every second was not something anyone with a normal durability could take, especially not with Matsumi's volleyballs slamming into him from all angles.
"Just watch!"
Matsumi would skate around the Ahiru, gaining speed as he did so while also avoiding the destruction they were creating. His eyes darted around, following every movement around him. He'd now start to go out of his way to kick the volleyballs away from the Ahiru, he was directing them somewhere.
It was fast, but suddenly the Ahiru wasn't getting battered by the volleyballs, this only lasted for a second though. Matsumi now was above the Ahiru, his eyes wide open and if you looked hard enough it might've looked like they glowed, but for even less than a second.
He pulled his leg back in the air before landing a perfectly placed kick at one volleyball that was approaching him. It started to shine with purple energy before Matsumi shot it straight at the Ahiru, that wasn't the only one though.
This whole time Matsumi had been purposely making the volleyballs build up a strange energy as he directed them all to one point, the Ahiru. The rest of the volleyballs flew from behind Matsumi straight down. A coordinated attack using the ricochet of his own making.
The attack from Matsumi slammed into the Ahiru's skull, his brain slamming against the side of his head as he fell towards the ground, a large pile of dust shooting up and polluting the air as his eyes bare stayed open. He watched as the other volleyballs slammed into his chest and torso, leaving large bruise marks on its stomach and abdomen, the papers stopped and so did the power of the volleyballs as they rolled off of his fur, slowly rolling onto the ground. It lied silently as it barely kept its sight. It slowly moved its arm up, the bright light from the moon rained down on his face laughing only a breath.
"Matsumi Ryōko huh….A human who uses sports items to fight?….."
He laughed some more, his eyes shutting completely.
"Perhaps humanity still has its delicacies .."
The Ahiru fell limp before it almost digitally vanished from the concrete, a door to the left appearing for the next floor. Kurai sat by Kibō, making sure she was safe and sound from the chaos they just witnessed.
"Ha! I haven't had a fight like that in ages!"
Eraba landed on the ground, using her hand to keep her balance before she quickly stood up.
"Nice Job Matsumi! I have to admit that was impressive!"
"Now, that's an ace, you stupid duck! Kibō!"
Quickly moving over to Kibō.
"Is she okay, Kurai?!"
"She's alright…she's unconscious but she's breathing…and with her magic her wounds are healing..though she may be out of it for awhile…"
Kurai picked Kibõ up, who was never particularly big anyways and slinged her onto her back.
"I'll carry her until she wakes up…So it looks like we're going to need Eraba and you on the frontlines."
"Just leave it to me! Now all we need is Barghest! Then this tower is as good as beaten!"
"That's if we make it to the hundredth floor…I haven't eaten and I haven't slept in days it feels like…The time of the tower is definitely not what it is in the real world."
"Yes. Technically speaking you've probably been here for days. The tower is four times faster than the real world."
"We had to have arrived here maybe two days ago by now in the real world…That must mean we've been in the tower for eight days…Yet I don't feel absolutely terrible yet…We need to find somewhere to rest Matsumi."
"Eight days?! Has it really been that long..? I guess it's been a while since we first saw all the others...But where could we even take a break?"
"There are such things that exist in the tower. They're called Anzen Chitai. There are passive zones that exist within the domains of Heldor's Tower, ones that resemble the world that you come from."
"Passive zones? Like a hotel?! No way!"
"Nah. More like a town with hotels, shops, bars…everything in it. It is true that some inherit the tower as its home."
"Where's that then? Do we go to the next floor or…?"
"There's one part on the next floor yeah…It's a multiple part city but…
Eraba hummed to herself for a bit.
"Think of it like a video game. You have to climb more of the tower to unlock new areas."
"There is? Great! You can go first this time, Eraba. I'll stay in the middle as we go up."
"Alright…"
Eraba walked through the door, leading the team to the next floor.