Art of War

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The announcer EU climbed onstage, there wasn't actually a stage but rather the middle of the stadium where everyone could see him.

The stadium was in an oval shape, similar to a gladiator's stadium with people sitting along the oval. The crowd cheered when they saw the announcer come out, it meant that they were about to start soon.

"Good morning dearest audience, today we have a special occasion planned, a school tournament! Now I know you're excited but let's go over the rundown-" EU's voice was heard by the whole stadium, around the stadium was also holographic screens that allowed the audience to view the event in more detail.

The wings on both sides of EU's head fluttered as he flipped over the paper in his hands. "For the first round we're going to have a one on one match, every 5 team members will go one on one with team members from other teams. The handful of teams with the highest accumulated points will move on to the next round."

He paused for a moment to gather his words, "The second round is called Hunter and Prey, and the final third round will be Capture the flag. We won't go too much in detail for now, in any case, headmaster UN will be up there in the VIP section of the stadium watching over the match meanwhile ASEAN will be down here, prepared to adjust the terrain and maybe step in."

EU pointed at a section of the stadium while he spoke where a singular man watched over from above. UN smiled and waved because he knew the screen had cut to him. There were numerous stitches around his body as well as scars, he wore a suit, well all three of them wore suits.

UN also had something about him, everyone got a vibe from him, don't pick a fight with him unless you have a death wish. At the same time he seemed quite composed and reliable which was a relief.

Then the screen cut to ASEAN, she stood there and snapped her fingers, the terrain of the main stage immediately changed into a large battle arena.

The crowd gasped in awe, the process of ASEAN's ability was indeed fascinating to watch. ASEAN noticed the screen had cut to her so she lifted a hand to hover near her forehead, an attempt to cover her face from being seen.

Inside the waiting room, there was also an enormous holographic screen. The group stared at the screen, awaiting for EU to call them onstage.

"Our first round will be between group 1 and group 9, please choose a member, and one important rule is, no killing." EU stared right into the screen with his intimidating gaze.

Group 9 was their group.

"Starting off with us huh, I volunteer Japan for this round!" America chimed in with a bright smile. Japan rolled his eyes, "yeah sure I'll do it," he stood up and walked towards the door to the main stadium. The Japanese man felt something being thrown at him from behind, he swiftly and gracefully caught it with ease.

It was a sword. When Japan whipped his head around he saw it was America who had thrown it at him with a thumbs up as a good luck sign.

He accepted the sword and left, his wooden sandals clicked as he walked, casting a hint of intimidation in the opponent's heart.

Japan pulled the sword out of its sheathe and discarded it by throwing the sheathe off stage. ASEAN sighed in frustration because it was her who would have to take care of these things.

She snapped her fingers, the ground underneath the discarded sword sheathe jerked up causing the item to flip in the air, it landed in ASEAN's hands with great precision.

Japan bowed in respect towards the opponent as he took his stance. EU rang the starting bell, the second he did, the Japanese samurai leaped forward with glowing eyes.

Petals accumulated around the sole of his feet, boosting him higher, he charged down with his sword. The enemy tried their best to dodge all of Japan's slashes but with no avail for he was too fast.

Now that Japan had a sword, he didn't have to rely on his ability too much, his ability drained a lot of his energy.

The opponent realised dodging wasn't going to do anything so they held out their palms, light beams shot out of them. Japan reacted a second too late and his kimono was ripped.

They shot out another beam which Japan couldn't dodge, he lifted his sword in front of him to deflect the beam. It deflected onto the stadium walls which creates a large gaping crater.

Japan held out, the beam was strong, he was starting to get pushed backwards little by little and he was starting to get really close to the edge of the stage. If he exited the stage limits, he would be disqualified.

Fortunately for him, the strong beam was too hard to keep up for too long. The opponent abruptly ran out of energy, Japan took this chance to charge forward with his sword, slashing endlessly with great precision, slowly chipping their defences away.

The opponent sent another beam at Japan, it was much weaker than the previous one but when the samurai used his sword to deflect it again, the sword snapped in half.

Japan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He swerved to the side to avoid the rest of the beam.

He activated his ability, petals formed around him with a rosy pink glow. His enemy paid a lot of attention to these petals so that they didn't get pierced. They dodged each of the petals but what they didn't expect was that Japan was already in front of them.

The samurai used an open palm strike to send his opponent flying backward, they slammed onto the wall and coughed out blood. Before they even had the chance to regain their composure, Japan nailed them to the wall with his sharp petals.

After a few second of them trying to struggle, EU and UN deemed them unable to continue to battle.

"The winner for this round is group 9! Congratulations, please make your way back to the waiting room." EU gestured towards the waiting room with a tilt of his head.

Japan went up to ASEAN to reclaim the sword sheathe, he placed the broken in half sword inside it. Before he walked away from ASEAN, he felt his throat sting like it was on fire, Japan coughed a few times into his sleeves. Blood tricked down his chin as well as a few flower petals.

"Do you need to see the nurse?" ASEAN pointed at the nurse who carried Japan's opponent out of the stadium.

The Japanese man shook his head, "I'm fine, thanks for the concern."

If the student didn't want to then ASEAN wouldn't continue to bother them.

Japan made his back to the waiting room where his team was waiting for him, they were watching from the holographic screen. "Good job," North said to him with a nod.

The samurai thanked him, he dropped the broken sword next to America and sat back down with his hands crossed, eyes closed in concentration.

"Looks like we're gonna need to get you a new sword for the next round," America threw the broken sword aside.

They had a few minutes of break, watching a few fights before it was time for them to go back onstage.

"Group 9 and group 5 please come onstage," EU's voice rang in their ears. South suddenly stood up, "I'll do it, the faster we get it done the better."

After south left to the main stadium, America skipped over to Russia's side. "Watch him and analyse his weakness," America said with a smirk, the Russian was already thinking about doing that but now that America told him to, he suddenly didn't want to do it anymore.

On the screen they saw South tying the blindfold around his eyes. Then the starting bell rang.

The South Korean man immediately activated his ability, thrusting a palm out, an energy wave came shooting right towards the enemy, narrowly missing them.

South's enemy fought in close combat with him, his enemy didn't expect much from South considering he was blindfolded but his movements were actually very accurate. He dodged each blow without much trouble.

South Korea let out an burst of vibrations around his body, this caused the enemy to leap backwards to avoid it. South preferred ranged combat compared the close combat.

They continued back and forth, sending waves of attacks at each other. The noises around South were starting to get distant.

Both of them were almost drained by now, South ripped off his blindfold, sweat slid down his face. He sent another wave at the enemy, this wave was strong, the audience could see the ground vibrating, the enemy couldn't dodge in time and was sent flying backwards.

EU rang the bell to signal the end of the match, "congratulations to group 9 again for winning, make your way back to the waiting room please."

South stared at the enemy and didn't move, he saw the enemy get up to make their way back to the waiting room but South leaped at them, sending a few punches their way.

"Hey hey! Calm down! The match is over!" The enemy dodged each of them with great difficulty, they were both drained.

A dirt wall shot out from the ground, separating South and his enemy. It was ASEAN. South stared at ASEAN in confusion, he seemed to genuinely not understand why ASEAN was stopping him. "The match is over," she said articulately so that South heard every word.

But to south, no noise came out.

EU came up to South and activated his ability, letters in the form of constellations appeared around him. It read out, 'the match is over, go back, you won.'

South blinked a few times, "sorry." He apologised to the three of them then left to go back to the waiting room with a flushed face of embarrassment.

The group was waiting to congratulate him, "good job," Japan said after peeling his eyes away from the screen. South didn't respond.

"It's useless, don't bother talking to him," America shrugged and sat back down. The prince gave South a thumbs up instead which made south smile a little in triumph.

Russia also came to the exact same conclusion as America. "He can't hear anything if he uses his ability too much, that's his weakness," Russia spoke first. It was to to spite America because he knew the prince was about to tell him.

"How smart of you. You want a reward with that?" The prince grinned teasingly like a sly Fox.

Russia shuddered in annoyance and shook his head.

Same as scheduled, after a few more fights it was their turn again. North volunteered himself this time.

His fight was the most uninteresting because the enemy surrendered after like 5 blows. North was super frustrated he couldn't do anything else.

The next fight wasn't their fight but everyone's ears pricked to listen in. It was between China and another person from a different group.

The Chinese man's aura oozed even through the screen, Japan clenched his sleeves tighter. South was starting to get his hearing back, he figured he might as well watched along.

China used martial arts, it seemed to originate from his family line, throughout the entire fight Russia couldn't help but feel china was messing around with the opponent, purposefully making the match last longer.

When he finally got bored, China used his tail and wrapped it around the enemy's legs, he sent them crashing into the ground back and forth until EU deemed the match to be a one sided victory to China's team.

The exact next round was their turn, this time America spoke up, "I'll do it this time, we should save best for last," the prince purposefully stared at Russia as he said that.

No one argued with this because they were all still curious about America's ability. Maybe this time he'll actually use it seriously.

"Looks like we have a special contender this time, the rising star student and the military's human weapon, let's see who'll win."

The audience cheered in anticipation, this round will be fun.

When EU rung the starting bell, America stood there watching his opponent as they activated their ability. "I remember you, you have a copycat ability don't you?" America spoke up.

"That's right, well it doesn't matter how you know that, I've heard you're an amazing fighter with an amazing ability I can't wait to get my hands on it."

America grinned, his team all knew what that meant, he had something planned. "Too bad it only lasts awhile and it's too bad that you can't even utilise my ability."

Just as America said that his opponent's face darkened noticeably. "W-what the fuck is this ability?? How am I supposed to-"

The prince laughed and watched in amusement as his enemy struggled in shock. "You see my ability is very mediocre, unless you have my brains of course. Now..."

America had disappeared, he swiftly made his way behind his opponent, shoving them to the ground face first. The prince sat on his back and grabbed his arm, "let's see how long you'll last." He broke their fingers one by one, wails of pain resonated through the stadium. Even his teammates who were watching through a screen flinched with every crack.

"I surrender! Please stop!"

"How boring it just took a few seconds." America stopped breaking their fingers but still sat on their back. Cold sweat dripped down their face in fear, they hoped America would hurry up and leave already.

"Congratulations group 9 for another victory, quite one sided if I do say so myself, please make your way back to the waiting room."

America finally got off their back and met up with his teammates. They debated whether or not to say good job.

"Your match was the fastest that was quite impressive your highness..." South shivered, the sounds of breaking bones was still clear in his head.

America smiled, "well you did say the faster it is, the better."

Russia was quite disappointed, he wanted the prince to actually use his ability but all he got was the enemy complaining about his ability's usage.

"Why are you so disappointed, don't worry I'll use my ability eventually." America noticed the disappointed dragon next to him.

A few more fights went by, the very last fight of this round was coincidentally Russia's turn. "Good luck out there, I'll praise you again if you give us a stellar victory, go beat them to a bloody pulp." America fixed the dragon's uniform collar to which Russia grumbled.

But then again... he did also want to be praised by the prince again...

On stage he towered over his opponent, they craned their head upwards to face him. Russia had already extended all his features for the fight.

EU rang the starting bell, Russia started off with lunging towards them in an attempt to snap their neck. They couldn't dodge due to the sudden attack but then Russia remembered he couldn't kill them so he paused.

Russia found this annoying, all his moves are too used to being utilised to kill that he's having a hard time doing this without killing them.

A fireball formed on his palm, It emanated a azure blue glow, glistening in the sunlight, enlightening Russia's facial features.

The crowd was stunned silent, as well as his opponent who was about to lunge at him with a powered up punch.

That blue flame.

"A blue dragon?! That's like a one in a million year phenomenon, and besides the only blue dragon in this time period is that one that burnt down everything into ashes years ago." An audience member gossiped to another audience member.

"Does that mean that... this is the same criminal blue dragon?"

The opponent finally snapped out of it, they powered up their fist and punched Russia. The Russian blocked it with his wing like a shield but since it was powered up by an ability it did still hurt, just not as much as it was supposed to.

He used his tail to sweep the other person off their feet, but they noticed this and jumped back to avoid it. Mid jump they were greeted by a fireball to the face, of course Russia didn't forget to tone down on the flame heat so that he didn't burn his opponent's head off.

They managed to jerk their head to the side but the flame still got them, scorching the side of their cheek. Russia then thought of the method China used, he grabbed them by their ankles while they were disoriented and smashed them into the ground back and forth.

To his surprise the enemy managed to escape after a few smashes, they had blood dripping down every crevice of their body, it wasn't a pretty sight.

Russia accumulated his flames in his palm again and used it to send the enemy flying out of the arena. But even when a blue dragon restrains the heat of their flames, it's still fatal.

The enemy was deemed unable to fight and had major third degree burns.

"Congratulations to group 9 for the perfect victory of all 5 group members! Please make your way back to the waiting room."

Russia retracted his wings and made his way back to the waiting room, along the way he heard the murmurs of the crowd which put him in an unpleasant mood.

"Is he actually the one that burnt entire villages to the ground?"

"Don't get too close to him, everything he touches turns to ash."

He heard these sentences many times in his lifetime he was already sick of it.

Back in the waiting room the Russian stood next to America and stared at him expectantly. "Hm? Why are you staring at me like that? Are you expecting something?" America tilted his head slightly.

Russia narrowed his eyes even more, seemingly in a worse mood now. "I'm joking don't ignore me like that, you did amazing out there I'm glad my life is in good hands, thanks." The prince finished off with a soft genuine smile.

The dragon blinked a few times then blushed in embarrassment. He pulled on the flaps of his ushanka to hide his flustered face with no avail. America giggled in amusement, Russia's entire bad mood disappeared into thin air with just a few words which he found quite shocking himself.

"That was quite the interesting first round! Now us three will be calculating the points to see which team gets into the second round, we'll be back after a short break." EU finished off, he made his way to the VIP section where UN was, ASEAN shortly followed after finishing a few more repairs.

America's attention averted to his other teammates and the holographic screen. He didn't see the Russian's tail wagging from side to side in delight at the prince's previous words.

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The almighty trio in charge of the school

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