[center]
[color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 9: 37/90[/color] 
Location: Seiran Tunnels
Word Count: 876
Points Gained: 2
New EXP Balance--- [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 9: 39/90 [/color][/center]

	
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	Sakura set her hands on her waist and took a moment. She was fine on the outside, suffering no more than minor cosmetic damage. But the invisible health bar that dictated her durability, the wellspring from which she withdrew her strength, had been reduced by the hits she had taken. And it’s not like they didn’t hurt like heck, either. But she would be ready to continue.

	[color=f49ac2]”All right, we did it! Hey, that’s cool.” [/color] She said, pointing at the spirit container. 

	When Sina exclaimed her jealousy, Sakura blushed and grinned. [color=f49ac2]”Well, hah, thanks.”[/color] 

	As for Dexio, Sakura’s grin turned a little less shy and a little more cocky. [color=f49ac2]”Hey, second place isn’t bad. Maybe you and me could spar some time!”[/color] Compared to other street fighters, Sakura was more about power and skill rather than raw strength. But, yeah, if she wanted, she could throw her muscles around a bit.

	When leader Luka stepped in, Sakura went back to sheepish and rubbed the back of her head. 

	When Peach tried to get in on the leadering action, she said something that left Sakura clearly, visibly puzzled. [color=f49ac2]”Life each other up..?” [/color] She muttered under her breath, trying to figure out what the pun was. English was her second language and she didn’t always understand every last idiom or turn of phrase. Closest she could think of it was like ‘lift’ each other up but with ‘life’ instead. What that had to do with showing each other up, Sakura didn’t know. 

	These thoughts pre-occupied her mind until her foot got stuck in some kind of web. She pulled herself free and thankfully didn’t stumble or fall. If she did, she wondered if that would trigger her annoying helplessness reflex. The idea of getting stuck in the webs did freak her out, but she felt like she would still be in control… Sakura was reluctant to dive in and find out.

	Thankfully, there were no giant spiders. Instead it was just a bunch of annoying illusory Others. This was a new type of threat to Sakura, and she found hitting nothing but thin air that looked exactly like an enemy to be uniquely frustrating.

	But that was nothing compared to the next threat. Sakura was used to facing swarms of weaker enemies so far, with no Other being stronger than her on its own. That would end when she saw a distant Other beast. It dwarfed her in size, had many arms, spikes, and even had opposable thumbs to wield weaponry with. There was a small comfort in the idea of the knowing that, yeah, if Sakura was on her own on even footing, she could take out any Other in a one-on-one battle. But this thing? Sakura wasn’t sure.

	Still. It was no Maw or Orphan of Kos. They could take it. They outnumbered it, ten to one, and the other team had done well this far. In fact, they would probably win out right if left alone. But they wouldn’t win without injury, and that was worth fighting to prevent.

	Sakura rushed in along side Luka squad to help. Her first mission was to rush to the aid of Shiden Ritter. He was being protected for now, but he couldn’t be in the fray for long. Someone could get hurt on his behalf. 

	Thus, Sakura rushed to him and grabbed him by the shoulder and arm to pull him to his feet, despite his bad wound. But she didn’t feel like she would be hurting him too badly, because she instinctively shared some of her power with him. 

	[color=f49ac2]”Tag Out!”[/color] She said, slapping him good-naturedly on the shoulder. He would receive a temporary bonus to his health and stamina, alleviating him of pain, or at least, pain’s crippling nature. He would be light of foot, any limping would be like running at full pace. And any freshly received minor wounds would actually be healed completely. All of this would be available as long as he accepted that he would have to sit the fight out for a little bit and take a moment to retreat to relative safety- something as simple as the other side of the room. If he turned around and fought, the effects would be lost.

	Sakura was fully planning on taking his place in the battle, and used her Tag-In attack on the Fisher. She surged forward and did a high spinning heel kick up into its ‘jaw’. While it would be no more damaging than a regular kick, it had high knock back and stagger, forcing even a massive beast like that to take Sakura’s crowd control seriously. All of this would be enough to give a wounded person enough time to, as harsh as it might sound, stop being a burden to the healthy fighters.

	Now in combat range, Sakura focused on using her specialized upward hadokens to blast the beast from beneath. This would help her stay out from underneath it while still dealing relatively high close ranged damage. [color=f49ac2][i]”Tengyo!”[/i] [/color] She yelled. But she was immobile while doing so. It was her first instinct, and she wondered if it wasn’t as good as she committed to a third fireball after shuffling lightly around on her feet.