[x] Once again, full ki enhancement. You're going to kick that succubus allure, no matter what it takes! Oh, and this will use up 2.5% of your ki, bringing you down to about 43% of your maximum, give or take.
Twice now, you have looked upon a young succubus in the rosy bloom of her mind-warping power, and twice now, your will has not been sufficient to resist the impact of her allure. Some would take this as a sign that they ought to change their approach, but you? You see it as a challenge. You will not suffer a weakness of this magnitude to exist in yourself, nor will you shy away from that which triggers its manifestation. You will confront them both head-on, with the full force of your mind and spirit bent to the task of resistance. You will ignore the succubus's aura, and observe the final match of this division. You will overcome this hazardous vulnerability, and seal a dangerous breach in your mental defenses. You willmetaphorically bash your head against this barrier until something gives, and-
Cute girl.
Rose-tinted haze.
Confusion.
World fading into murmurs and blurs.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the Twenty-First World Martial Arts Tournament's Under Fourteens Division Finals, Hikaru!"
-once again miss the entire bout, because you charged straight into the succubus's allure and got lost somwhere in your own mind. It's very much not a case of the third time being the charm, but rather, the third strike resulting in an out. There is a slight silver lining, in that this time, you were actually kind of vaguely aware of something going on in front of you, which might even have been the fight in question. And repeated exposure to the succubus's enthralling aura is giving you a better sense of what goes into it, and how you might go about replicating it, should you want to. That's progress, right? Right?
Gained Allure (?) F
Gained Mental Defense F+
Gained Totem of the Raging Boar F+++
"You could have asked me to put up a mental ward or something, you know," Briar chides you as the awards ceremony gets underway.
"Yeah, yeah," you sigh.
Well, so much for the Under Fourteens Division. What now?
[ ] Talk with Altria, Briar, and Cordelia about the bouts you missed. Briar mentioned something about the wooden sword user going crazy when the succubus tried to charm him, and ninja-boy Hikaru apparently overcame the allure - and you'd really like to know how he did it!
[ ] Track down the Shuzens now that you've got a minute, assuming they're still here.
[ ] Go looking for the ninja that you know (as opposed to the ninja you don't know).
[ ] Does Lu-sensei have any preliminary matches to fight this afternoon? Watching those and some of the other Adult Division Prelims might be instructional.
[ ] Actually, you'd kind of like to get back to the hotel. You could use a shower, a chance to meditate on the day's events, and maybe an afternoon nap.
- [ ] Skip ahead to dinner. Maybe there's somebody you'd like to invite? (Write-in who.)
- [ ] Skip ahead to tomorrow morning.
- [ ] Skip ahead to the end of the tournament.
[ ] Or perhaps there's something else you want to do? (Write-in.)
