Authors note: It is good to see you guys again, thanks for the feedback in the comments. This next chapter came out pretty fast, I'm a very quick writer after all, the weekend helped tremendously also.
The sun peeked over the horizon, letting all those who lived under its grace know that another day has started. It was a relatively refreshing morning.
The birds left their nest, on their way to get the first meal of the day. The rivers and streams shined brightly against the yellow light it was bathed in. The forest tree tops were covered in the sun's radiance as well, and there stood somewhere in the many forest of Kararagi, there stood a cabin.
"How ya feelin' Su-San?" The wolf man let out a huff as he used a spoon to stir in the pan. He took out two eggs before plopping them into it, a sizzle escaped as smoke filled the room.
Subaru was just walking out his room, giving out a yawn as he stretched his arms. "I'm doing fine Sensei, you?" The nasty eyed boy wiped his eyes, he was still groggy from the amount of training he did yesterday. He had tired himself out immensely.
"I'm doing just great Su-San" Halibel gave the boy another one of his smiles, using a spoon to toy with the eggs in the pan. He let out another huff of his pipe, letting it play in his fingertips.
The wolf man proceeded to give the boy another glance, he looked a mess. More than when he would come back sweating and drooling from overworking himself. "I told ya not to train so much Su-San, if you overwork yourself you would end up hurting your body" Halibel said in a jokey tone, although it had a hint of worry for his student.
The Shinobi had recommended Subaru get at least 10 hours of rest. So that meant Subaru had to go to sleep early everyday so he could wake up earlier.
Subaru didn't quite follow these rules.
In fact, Subaru actually stayed up training more than he had to. He had to lightly exercise his arms and legs, still sore from the vigorous training he endured yesterday.
"Y-yeah, maybe I just did" Subaru slowly moved his arms, they cracked which made him wince in pain. Yup, I really overworked myself didn't I? I can barely stand properly right here.
The idea of working hard was foreign to the Japanese teen, as a ex-NEET, working hard didn't even cross his mind. Not when he suddenly stopped showing up to school.
To be working hard now? His body had to get used to it. "Hehe, well get yourself a seat Su-San, the eggs are almost done" Halibel stirred with the pan once more as he gestured the boy towards the table.
Subaru rubbed his sore arms again as he made his way into a seat.
"Spirits, how are we doing?" It was morning, Subaru always would check on how his spirits were doing each day, it was one of his sole duties as a spirit arts user, Spirits were his family, he had to check on them.
"I'm doing great Master"
"I feel a lot stronger today!"
"I'm doing quite fine Contractor"
"Im very well~"
"I'm perfectly healthy!"
"Thanks for asking"
Subaru spoke telepathically with them, so Halibel wouldn't hear the conversation they were having. From the looks of it, they were doing just fine, he let out a content sigh as he took a seat, ready to start another day.
It had been 2 weeks since he had arrived in this world, he had managed to become a spirits art user, which was known to be very rare. And now he had been training for hours on end each day to hone his skills.
And to his surprise, his spirits were capable of evolving, and just one week ago, they had become Quasi spirits. At first Subaru was confused, but when he figured out his spirit affinity had a lot to do with their evolution, he wondered how fast they would reach their limit in the near future.
Subaru had promised himself he would become stronger, his spirits promised themselves as well. So he was actually very eager on seeing how far they'd go.
He fiddled with his fingers on the table, he smelled the sweet aroma of eggs cooking as he looked out the window. The only thing in view was the expanse of the lush green forest.
After a while, Halibel got Subaru a bowl and poured the scrambled eggs inside, motioning towards the boy as he put it in front of him. "Thanks sensei" He courteously said as he grabbed the spoon laying in the bowl, playing with the food before scooping it.
The wolf man took a seat across from him, also readying himself to eat. He took one last huff of his pipe before placing it into some hidden pocket. Subaru always wondered why Halibel smoked so much.
"You know smoking is bad for you y'know?" Subaru took a bite out of his scrambled eggs as he shot a concerned look towards the demi human.
Halibel actually looked pretty offended at this notion as he was quick to scold Subaru on the matter. "Smoking is not *cough* bad for your lungs" Halibel wheezed a bit as he took another bite, Subaru only rolled his eyes. If they weren't bad you wouldn't be coughing and wheezing now.
"Hehe, yeah right" He sarcastically commented as he rolled his eyes.
Subaru could only give a faint smile as he thought of It. "So..." He had actually stopped eating his food as he fiddled with the spoon, darting his nasty eyes across the room as his comment was meant to initiate another conversation, although he was too conflicted to do it himself.
"Oh!" Halibel snapped his fingers as he understood Subaru's gesture. "You've been training a lot Su-San, it's actually scarin' me!" The teacher looked genuinely surprised at how hard his student was working.
"Yeah, now my limbs are sore, I may just take a day off, converse with the spirits in this forest to pass the time" Subaru grabbed his elbow and started bending it, it was still a bit painful to move.
Halibel nodded before continuing. "I told ye to not overwork yourself, now I won't even get to spar with ya myself" Subaru's eyes widened as he took in Halibel's words.
Ever since Subaru became his student, he was severely confused on why Halibel never took the chance to train him himself. Every time he asked, Halibel would just tell him to train alone with his spirits.
He thought that maybe he had to work more and more on synchronization with his spirits, after he had become decently good at it, he was surprised when the Demi human still denied his request. So to see Halibel dangling those keys in front of him so nonchalantly...
"Sensei...I'm not taking a blow to your teaching or anything, but it would be nice if you taught me a thing or two" Subaru's eyes narrowed as his lips curved downwards, if there was a better time to ask him it was now.
The wolf man only scratched his mane as his ears twitched. "Say, ya can't train with me if your bones are aching and ye also don't have a good sword!"
Subaru motioned his head towards the dull, rusty sword leaning against the wall of the cabin. There's no way I'm using that, last time I did it got stuck in a mabeast which ended up with me getting bitten.
Halibel remembered the light and determination leave the nasty eyes of the boy when he grabbed the rusty sword from under his bed.
Subaru didn't seem all to enthusiastic with using that thing, which didn't go unnoticed by Halibel. "Ah, I have an idea, we can get ya yer first sword!" He clapped his hands together as he grinned, which actually got Subaru out of his somber mood.
"R-really, my own Sword?" Subaru was surprised he would actually get to pick his own weapon. He was done using that rusty sword, Subaru was ready to upgrade his equipment. "Yup! It's time we take a visit to the city of Banan!"
Banan? This is the first time I've got the chance to see anyone in this world other than Halibel, I can maybe get a good look of more of this fantasy world I'm in. Subaru was enthusiastic to accept this. "I'll get ready now!" The raven haired boy quickly began chowing down on his eggs, which earned a chuckle from the wolf man.
"Hey master! Stop eating your food so fast or you'll choke" Aqua butted in with a worried and annoyed tone.
"Silly master, he needs us or he'll die!" Hestia entered into the teasing, which caused Subaru to roll his eyes. "Don't worry! I'll use my fire to burn all our enemies" she chuckled.
"I don't remember us speaking of enemies...but ok" Aqua said bluntly, confused on why Hestia even mentioned that.
"You guys really are a handful aren't you" The boy took another bite out of his eggs.
"Ahem! But you still love us don't you?" Aqua proudly declared. "Well I could admit that, but you guys are still a pain in the butt sometimes" Subaru said in mock-anger.
So the morning continued smoothly, Subaru would get ready, conversing more with his spirits, putting on his signature tracksuit and doing radio calisthenics in the clearing out front, his bones hurt, but the exercising helped loosen them a bit.
After he was done, he met Halibel back inside where he was getting prepared to set out as well. Subaru was eager to go, but he still wondered how they would get there.
"Hey uh, sensei...how exactly are we getting there anyways? Halibel turned around, shooting a devilish grin towards Subaru, which terrified him greatly.
What the hell?
"AHHHHH my legs hurt!" Subaru yelled in pain as he paced through the forest, his arms were weakly flailing at his sides as he was barely able to keep up with the Demi human.
"Come on Su-San, if ya want to get stronger ya train ya legs till they burn!" Halibel was jumping from tree to tree in front of him, Subaru would occasionally have his spirits boost his stamina and speed with magic, which was the only thing that helped him keep up.
"Aqua! Water!" The spirit user yelled as beads of sweat rolled down his head. "Alright master!" Aqua said as a spout of water seemingly appeared out of no where, splashing Subaru in the face.
Subaru took some water in his mouth as well, which helped him satisfy his thirst. Damn, Halibel is really overworking me, didn't he say I should get some rest?
Subaru was truly mad at the hypocrisy the wolf man had shown him. The cracking of leaves sang through the air as his feet stomped on the ground.
Sometimes a mabeast would show up, which would prompt his spirits to fight them off, it was a good thing his spirits were now stronger than last time, so Subaru didn't even need to pay them much heed. Ugh, I need rest! I've been running for the past 20 minutes!
Subaru was barely able to keep up, yet Halibel was jumping from tree to tree so effortlessly, with nary a word of complaint. How the hell can he do this? even with my spirits I still can't keep up and I still get tired.
Subaru deduced it to being the fact that Halibel was a Demi human, due to his form he was probably a lot more faster and had more stamina then that of a mere human.
"Cmon! We are almost there, just a little while longer!" The Shinobi took another hit of his pipe mid air, landing gracefully on another tree branch.
Finally!
Subaru pumped his hands in the air with relief. I-I endured it. Subaru's running was slowly coming into a halt as he made his way to the end of the forest.
After a while the trees around Subaru started lessening in number, and before him he was now at the entrance of a large meadow that seemed to stretch for miles. The only thing blocking his view was a big walled off town in the distance, which caused Subaru to gasp in awe.
Halibel plopped to the ground at his side. "Ya did great Su-San, nothin' less from my student" He gave a laugh as he patted Subaru's back. The boy was too tired to hold himself up as he almost stumbled to the ground.
"So, should we head inside?" Halibel pointed towards the town, it would only take a few minutes before they would reach the front gates. "Just...haaah...give me a second...haaah" Subaru said as he had Aqua give him more water.
After a while, Subaru managed to regain his energy as the both of them walked into the city, the moment they entered Subaru was truly in awe at the Japanese elements. Wait what? How did Japanese architecture reach this world?
Subaru thought this world was largely gonna be based on Medieval Europe like most anime would. But he was surprised when he saw glimpses of inspiration of his home land. I guess I can't complain, I'm probably not the only person who had been summoned here. Subaru let out a huff as he walked to the side of Halibel. At least it feels a lot less lonely now.
"Alrighty Su-San, we are almost there" The wolf man twisted the pipe in his mouth as he said those words, it pumped Subaru up that he would be choosing his own weapon. Rusty sword is no more!
"Master is getting his own Sword! I'm so excited!" Flint said as he jittered around in the air, if they wanted to become stronger, a nice weapon would serve of use.
"Yeah! I'm so ready to burn enemies at his side" Hestia was just excited as she always was, if there was anything she enjoyed it was fighting, and with her increased mana pool that would only serve that fact more.
The spirits happily danced on top of Subaru's head, which didn't go noticed by him. After a while, Subaru noticed that he was getting weird stares from the people around him. He didn't know why but he just thought it was due to his otherworldly clothes. He could admit the fact he was out of place.
He would probably buy clothes that weren't his tracksuit some time down the line.
They managed to reach a Weapon shop. They walked in, it was fairly empty, the only other person in the room being the shop keeper.
The overall room was filled with many assortments of weapons and items used in combat, it was quite dusty as there were many boxes spread across the corners of the establishment.
"Hello it's a pleasure for you guys to visit my- Ah! Halibel the admirer!" the shopkeeper was wiping the front counter but quickly stopped when he took a look at the Demi human.
"You really are something of a celebrity huh?" Subaru asked, rolling his eyes. "I guess ya can say that" Halibel blew purple smoke out his maw before he conversed with the shopkeeper once more.
Subaru took this as a distraction to start looking at the many variety of weapons on the displays. Yup, these blades are Japanese are they? His eyes wondered from sword to sword, before it stopped on a certain one.
Subaru ran his fingers through the top of the blade, it was smooth and sharp as Subaru expected. He picked it up, the sword looked similar to that of a Naginata, the hilt was long with a black color, there were diamond shapes running along the side of it. For how long this sword is, it feels surprisingly light weight in my hand.
Subaru got in a readied stance as he tried swinging it, this didn't go unnoticed by the shopkeeper. "Aye kid, let's not break anything" he said in an annoyed tone, which shocked Subaru. "A-Ah sorry, it's just that the sword feels good" Subaru rubbed his head in shame.
"Well are ya gonna buy it or what?" The shop keeper put a palm to his chin as he leaned on the counter, giving the raven haired boy a questioning look. He didn't know how to respond, only shifting his gaze towards the wolf man.
"It seems like ya really love that sword Su-San!" Halibel looked pleased that his student found his weapon so fast. "Y-yeah it's good, you don't have to buy it if it's expensive but-" Subaru stammered, he didn't want to get a expensive sword if the person paying wasn't him, he tried putting the sword back on his display but was stopped.
"No worries Su-San, it's my treat!" Halibel pulled out 8 silver coins from his pocket before putting it on the counter. "Sold!" The man said as he scooped up the coins. Subaru looked genuinely surprised.
The shopkeeper went over to Subaru, giving him a sheath to put the sword in. "Take care of my baby now would you?" He had a cheeky grin as he eyed his sword for the last time, Subaru could only give a mildly disgusted look.
"Alrighty! Let's get outta here!" Halibel went for the door, expecting Subaru to follow. All the nasty eyed boy could do was stand there with the sword in his hands, a look of bewilderment.
"You didn't have to do that" Subaru said in a somber tone, although his mouth was still curved upwards as he examined his sword, giving it a good look before putting it back in his sheath.
The sword lay nicely grappled to his back, he had a nice leather strap that wrapped around his torso, he gave it a tug. It was a nice feeling.
"Aye, no need to thank me! I said I would get you a sword right?" The wolf man let out another cloud of smoke, leaning on the chair as he gave a glance at the bewildered boy. Subaru almost shed a tear.
"I-it's not that I'm ungrateful but, it's just your the first person in this world that was charitable to me" Subaru's eyes were filled with sadness and joy, to which earned a pat on the back from Halibel.
"Ah..." He leaned in closer as he consoled his student. "Let's stop with t' water works and let's go grab a bite! Then we'll head back and train till your lungs give out!" Subaru nodded. He was happy that Halibel was the one to recommend that he train with him.
After a few minutes they set out for a nearby place where they could get something to eat. It was a nice time to just chat about regular things, like life and hobbies. When Subaru went to read the menu he was shocked when he figured out he couldn't understand the language.
"Uh, this is not what I expected" Subaru's scary eyes focused as he desperately tried to understand what he was reading, but to no avail.
"What is it Su-San? Ya seem spooked" Halibel shot a concerned glance towards the boy, to which Subaru replied. "Would it be crazy to say that I can't read?" The raven haired teen sheepishly scratched the back of his head as his eyes darted towards his feet, ashamed to meet the wolf man's eyes.
Halibel chuckled. "No need t' worry Su-San, reading isn't that common around ere anyways, ya probably should've learned how to from ya parents, but that doesn't seem to be the case now Eh?"
Ever since Subaru arrived in this world, he gave the impression that he lived under a rock all his life, so Halibel assumed he lost his parents at a young age.
Halibel twiddled with the pipe in his hands, he wasn't allowed to smoke in the establishment.
Subaru could only giggle at the sight of Halibel's shocked face when the waitress told him so. "It's not that I can't read, I can read and write pretty well...just not...this language, I'm not familiar with it" Subaru's pride wasn't eager to appear illiterate, so he tried to salvage that at least.
"Don't worry Master, I-I can translate the menu for you" Lela entered the conversation as she floated above the menu. Subaru just decided to listen to her, letting her read the whole thing until he found something he wanted.
"Thanks Lela, I can always count on you" Subaru shot her a smile to which she glowed in response. "T-thank you contractor"
They ate their food, they had now been in the city of Banan for a few hours now. They would go sight seeing, and Halibel would give Subaru a bit of trivia about Banan and Kararagi itself. After that, Subaru took some time to go chat with the spirits.
"Ya sure you don't want t' go home and train Su-San?" Halibel stirred the pipe in his mouth as he looked confused at his reluctance of leaving. "It's not that, I just want to take the time to talk with the spirits nearby, it's become a favorite pass time of mine" Subaru said.
"Alright, I'll be waitin' here, when your done come meet back up with me" the wolf man slouched on a nearby bench as he began smoking once more. Subaru only nodded before turning.
Alright, a nice alleyway that's not in public should be good. Subaru knew how rare spirit art users were, he didn't want to draw attention to himself by letting people know he was one.
He walked into a nearby alley, making sure he wasn't being followed by anyone before he began concentrating.
A few seconds of silence ensued, after that Subaru opened his eyes to multiple orbs of light floating around him. A smile swept across his face.
The reason Subaru loved conversing with the spirits was because the jokes he would tell them, and also the things he wouldn't tell others. Subaru was shocked at how child-like they acted, just for one of the spirits to tell him some of them were up to decades old.
So from what I've heard, spirits really are immortal Huh? Subaru put a finger to his chin as he took in that knowledge. "That is correct Master" Lucius filled in with confirmation, having heard his thoughts. "Spirits are made out of mana itself, so as long as we have mana, we will live" Lucius informed him with more facts that intrigued the teen more and more.
"Yeah! So we can get stronger and stronger!" Flint cut in, Hestia agreed as well as she shined brightly. "Hmmm, how long have you guys been alive anyways?" Subaru turned towards his contracted spirits, to which they answered.
"I turned 7 last year!" Hestia said.
"I'm currently 20" Flint brightened as he said those words.
"I'm currently 7 as well" Aqua proceeded to say as well.
"I will be 30 this year~" Aella said, this got a momentary shock from Subaru.
"I was just born this year" Lela acknowledged shyly.
"I'm 17 years old" Lucius informed his master.
"Wow! That's so crazy how old you guys are yet how young you sound!" Subaru was truly taken back by spirits. You guys seem to have more surprises everyday.
Subaru spent the next 20 minutes chatting. The sun was starting to set more and more, it was evening. "Ah, we should head back, Halibel is probably wondering why it's taking me so long" Subaru looked at his surroundings, before turning and exiting the alley.
"SOMEBODY HELP US!!!" A chilling scream interrupted Subaru's actions as he turned around, his eyes darted to whoever was in distress.
The sound of an adolescent, probably 10, was screaming from the other side of the alleyway. "Spirits?" Subaru said, they all readied themselves to serve their master.
Someone needs help, I have to go there now, let's put that training into use. A strange readiness covered Subaru's body. For some reason he seemed very eager to put his training to work. He had been training for the past two weeks, yet he didn't get to use his new skills outside of killing mabeast, who were becoming increasingly easy to kill now that his spirits were becoming more experienced and powerful.
Subaru ran down the alley, using his yang spirit to increase his speed. In seconds, He had reached the alley way to where he was confronted with-
"Don't scream! Or it'll only hurt more" a raspy, burly voice over took his ears. He looked down the empty alley to see two Demi human children, they seemed to have been cuffed in chains as their captors were tall men in light armor, swords in their sheath as their hands grabbed the arms of the Demi humans, preventing their escape.
They were trying to load them into a carriage, but they had struggled to do so as the Demi humans thrashed against their chains, they had no choice but to turn to drastic measures.
One of the men proceeded to send a blow towards one of the Demi human's jaw, sending them unconscious immediately. "Now you'll shut up" He said as a wicked smile dawned his face.
"Load up the other one, if he tries to leave I'll knock out his ass too" his words dripped pure malice as he threw one of the knocked out Demi-humans into the back of the carriage. The other followed as he said, throwing the struggling Demi-human inside as well.
From what Subaru could see, they looked to be slavers of some kind, he wouldn't doubt the fact a medieval-esque world still practiced such deeds.
"Alright, we'll leave and go back to-" before he could finish his words they were interrupted by a raven haired boy.
"Hey! Big mean and ugly!" A confident voice, almost taunting alerted them as they peered down the alleyway, they were met by a boy in peculiar clothing, almost otherworldly.
"What do you want kid? Scram!" One of the men unsheathed their sword, threatening the boy. Damnit, they have weapons, I'll have to pretend to be cocky, I'll use my spirits.
Subaru made up his mind, completely putting on his facade. The men seemed to be surprised that the boy wasn't following their orders, and proceeded to stand there unfazed with a smile on his face.
"I want to ask why you are kidnapping those children" Subaru was yet again surprised that human trafficking was in this fantasy world, similar to earth. Our worlds are so different, yet so similar. Subaru thought.
"Because we found em fair and square! They were weak and had nowhere to go so we are ever so gracefully giving them a purpose" they sneered as they bared their teeth. Right, these guys have absolutely no morals.
Subaru was disgusted about how nonchalant these men were when it came to their actions, he had to stop them. "I'm gonna give you a chance to un-cuff those children and send them to me, if you do I may let you walk out here alive" I'm lying, I've never killed a person before, I'm so nervous!
The men looked at each other, and then began bursting into hysterics. "Hahahahahha!!!" They cackled as tears formed at their eyes, obviously not taking the bluff. This was an actual hit to Subaru's pride, causing him to smack his gums and turn his head away in slight embarrassment.
Obviously they aren't gonna believe me, spirits? At those words 6 beads of light started forming above Subaru's head. An ethereal glow bathed the alleyway. The once laughing bandits were now looking at Subaru with a dumbfounded expression.
"W-what? Your a spirit arts user?!!" The laughing man was now looking at him with drops of sweat running down his face. "I hoped I wouldn't have had to use them, but you left me no choice" Subaru said, which caused the men to step back, pulling out their swords.
One of the bandits wasn't taking it, stepping at the front. "Ya really think a bit of magic is gonna scare me, I'll still kill ya!" his pride clouded his judgement, he didn't know what he was getting in to.
"All righty then!" Subaru smiled as within a second, not wasting anymore time seemed to dash across the alleyway towards them at speeds that shocked all of them. "Aella!" He yelled.
"Yes master~" Subaru's fist was now surrounded by winds as his punch accelerated further, hitting the man in front and sending him flying back, right between the rest of the bandits.
THUD
That kinda hurt...ouch. Subaru's limbs were still recovering from straining practice times, so the impact of his punch hurt him a bit. Aqua quickly healed his swole hand though.
"W-what the hell!!" The other men seemed to look back at the now unconscious man, laying flat on the ground with a big bruise on his face, purple from how bad the impact hurt him.
"Ok...I'll say it again...release those children and I'll let you go home free" Subaru wasn't begging, he was merely entertaining himself, he knew they wouldn't back down at all. If they were caught they would risk punishment, slavery was illegal in Banan he had heard, so they couldn't comply to Subaru's orders.
They only stared there, their mouth's slack jawed. At some point, one of the children in the carriage peeked, watching the whole ordeal.
Subaru's eyes widened when he saw them stand their ground, not moving an inch.
"Fine then, have it your way" Subaru gestured as he shrugged his shoulders, once again he had ran towards them at blinding speeds, kicking another bandit and sending him towards a wall.
THUD.
Another one down, two more to go. He had a steeled expression as he looked at the other bandit he knocked out.
"Y-YOU!!!!" A bandit screamed as he charged at Subaru with a sword. But he was ready, he quickly dodged the incoming attack of the sword. He then twisted his body, kicking the bandit back a few feet. "Grk!" The bandit flew back, hitting the ground, not enough to knock him out though.
The other man looked at the both of them in surprise. He then started pleading as he got on both knees. "Hey man please! Just let me go, you can arrest the others but please let me go! I'll unchain the kids!" What a pathetic display before him, Subaru thought.
"C-coward!" The other man on the ground said, his face holding many emotions, the most being that of a betrayed look.
"I already gave you a chance to surrender, twice to be exact, yet you guys didn't comply, so I'll just beat you too" Subaru wagged his finger as he signaled to Flint to use his earth magic.
A spike of earth rose from the ground from just in front of the bandit, it was stumped at the end so Subaru didn't straight up impale the guy, it hit him in the head, knocking him out.
The other bandit on the ground managed to recoup himself as he stood up slowly, rubbing his torso from the injury he had received. "Oh no you don't!" Subaru said as he quickly moved towards the man, using the combined power of wind magic and yang magic to accelerate his kick, kicking the man straight in his face, knocking him unconscious.
"T-that seems to be all of them, did we really do it?" Subaru looked at the unresponsive bodies of the slavers.
"Congratulations, you were strong enough to defeat them!" All his spirits said in unison, which got a smile from Subaru.
"No need to thank me, if it weren't for you guys I would've been toast" Subaru deflected the comment, rubbing the back of his head.
"Master really needs to learn how to accept compliments" Aqua said with an annoyed tone.
"We are your contracted spirits after all~ we are an extension of yourself, our power is yours and your power is ours~" Aella once again came in to try to inform Subaru about their contract.
"Yeah you did amazin' master" Flint went in for the praising.
"Y-you were really cool I guess, hmph" Lela seemed to hesitantly say this, thought it had a hint of care behind it.
"Using our magic to add power behind your attacks was a smart move, I commend you" Lucius said.
"Aw, if only I could've used my flames to burn em!" Hestia was sad she didn't get a part in using her magic.
"Sorry Hestia, I don't really plan on killing anyone...unless it's absolutely necessary, but even then..." Subaru cut himself off as he gazed at the carriage. Movement could be heard as two children moved to the front, in awe at the slavers unconscious state.
They then turned to Subaru.
"M-mister...did you do this?" the voice was soft, but scared, their dog ears lay low as they gazed with a sacred expression at Subaru.
"No need to be scared, I'm here to help you" Subaru put on a smile to put the children at ease. He went up to the carriage, he used jiwald to break the chains and help them out the cart.
"Y-your a spirit arts user? I never saw one up close before...only in the stories" the boy was in awe at the spirits floating on top of Subaru's head.
"Yup, Natsuki Subaru at your service" Subaru winked as he helped what he assumed to be her sister out the carriage as well. Subaru saw a bruise on her chin, one she got from the bandits.
"Aqua, heal the girl" with that the blue light circled around the girl, in seconds a soft sensation dawned on her, putting her at ease as the purplish bruise slowly faded away.
And that's when the dawn broke. "T-thank you for saving us mister...I was s-so scared!" The boy said as he began crying. "Hey hey hey, no need to cry, your safe right?" Subaru got on his knees as he patted the head of the boy. He seemed to stop his tears as he nodded at the teen's statement.
"While your sister is getting healed, I got a few questions for you to answer, can you do that for me?" The boy seemed to nod in agreement, so Subaru continued.
"Where are your parents, and why are the both of you out here by yourselves?" Subaru had a concerned expression, why were these two children out in public alone, shouldn't their parents be looking out for them?
"A day ago, our parents w-were going to the store, w-we stayed at home to wait but...they never r-returned" The boy began sobbing again, to which caused Subaru to get angry, angry at the unjust world he lived in.
"S-so we went here to l-look for them, and then those g-guys" the boy pointed to the unconscious men. "Ah..." Subaru let out a sigh as he began to stand up.
"Until we can find your parents, you guys will be coming with me, I can't allow you guys to roam around when you could get caught again. let's be fast, I doubt these men are staying sleep for long"
With that, Subaru proceeded to have the two children follow him to where he was greeted with a surprised wolf man.
"Ah Su-San, it's you and-" Halibel twisted his pipe in his mouth as he gazed at the two Demi humans next to him.
"I can explain, I was in the alleyway and then I saw them being kidnapped by some weird men, I helped them, so that's why they are with me. They seemed to have lost their parents" Subaru rubbed the back of his head as he explained, the two children looked up at him, their cheeks still marked with dry tears.
"Ah..." Halibel let out a puff of smoke as he stood up. "Su-San, it's best we head home, we need t' talk about this" this earned a nod from Subaru as he gestured the children to follow him.
Subaru looked back at the setting sun in the horizon as the both of them headed back to the forest.
2 months later:
Crusch Karsten sat at her desk as she gazed at her documents once more, she occasionally sipped a bit of the tea on her desk. But her mind stayed glued on her paperwork.
"Can this...really be true?" Crusch was investigating the Slave revolt rise in Kararagi. She was truly stumped from what she had learned.
From reports, they said a powerful Spirit Arts user was behind the many slave revolts, leading to up to 60% of the human trafficking rings in Kararagi to shut down. Halibel the Admirer was also said to have been involved.
"Whoever did this must've been truly powerful, spirit arts users are very rare after all" Crusch folded her hands as she leaned her chin on them, she looked out the window to see it was night time.
She then looked back at the reports. "One of the ring's exports ended in flames that shined in the night sky, an attack so powerful..." Crusch leaned in, whoever this person was, she hoped she could get in contact with them, surely they would be of big use to her plans.
She flipped a page as she continued sipping her tea, in the dead of night.
Subaru rocked back and forth in his chair as many thoughts were on his mind. He thought back to that encounter with those bandits in that alleyway, he was pretty impressed to find that he easily took care of them.
Subaru was becoming proud of himself, he was starting to become less weak, his spirits were becoming far stronger too. He could hold out in a fight for a good 30 minutes and his spirits would still have enough mana to do something of worth.
So today was a new day, a day where he would be training with Halibel. Subaru couldn't hold back the fact he was pretty excited, it seems like the last two weeks of training alone fared better than he expected. Since he was stronger than when he first arrived in this world, his first impression during his fight with Halibel would be less overwhelming.
His shoes tapped on the floor and his fingers glided on the wooden table. Halibel was at the stove, cooking breakfast. Subaru looked at the couch where the two Demi human children slept, they were obviously waking up since their movement was increasing during their slumber.
"Ay Su-San, mind waken the kids, Breakfast is almost ready" Halibel turned around, a puff of smoke escaping his mouth. Subaru didn't know why, but Halibel seemed to be a lot more serious, he would ask him about it later.
He got up from his seat, motioning himself towards the two children sleeping. He got on one knee, poking the both of them in the forehead with his finger.
"Hey hey, wake up, it's a new day, and breakfast is almost done" Subaru said in a calm, welcoming voice, this seemed to put the two Demi humans at ease as they began waking up, rubbing their tired eyelids as they adjusted themselves to their surroundings.
"Thank you mister...for allowing us to stay with you..." they seemed happy that they were no longer alone, Subaru could only smile at their kindness. Truly innocent, too bad this world is corrupt and unforgiving.
"No need to thank me, if it wasn't for Halibel here I wouldn't know where to bring you" Subaru once again deflected a compliment as he guided the two of them to the table.
Halibel brought them two plates filled with food. The both of them were surprised to see the kids immediately consume the food, not even taking a second to let themselves breath. "You guys really were hungry Eh?" The shinobi said while scratching his mane, a bead of sweat rolled down his face in bewilderment.
The wolf man then turned to Subaru. "You hungry Su-San? there's plenty for all of us" He wanted to make sure his student was well fed for the day, but Subaru quickly declined. "I'll eat later, you said we had to talk correct?" Halibel froze for a second, but then nodded.
He gestured for Subaru to follow as he walked outside the cabin, Subaru following closely behind. The boy took a look at a bit of Halibel's expression, one that was a mix of emotions he couldn't decipher. Even his spirits seemed to be unnerved by the wolf man's sudden tone change.
He walked out into the clearing, putting his pipe into his mouth and preceding to let out a huge cloud of smoke, his face looking towards the horizon. Subaru stood a few feet away, waiting for him to initiate the first few words.
A few minutes passed by, then Halibel turned his head towards Subaru. "You know how I said I had quite t' reputation Eh?" Subaru thought about it, then nodded. He continued his talking-
"I'm very well known round' these parts, I guess you could say I'm more of a revolutionary, a freedom fighter of sorts" he chuckled lightly as he took another huff, playing with the pipe in his finger tips.
"I guess you could say I have a lot of experience when it comes t' fighting slavers and the nought." Subaru widened his eyes at the words Halibel were saying.
"Anyways, it seems some of the slavers are back in town and bigger than ever, of course you had a run in with them" Subaru cocked his head, then thought of the children he had saved from those bandits.
"Of course, I told ya slavery is illegal in Banan, but that never seemed to stop them, so I want t' get rid of them for good" Subaru thought about it, before speaking up. "And how exactly would we do that? We have no idea where they could be hiding" Subaru's first instinct was to figure out a way to help, that's just how he was as a person.
If there was any chance those kids could reunite with their parents he would do anything he could.
"Those kids in there are our chance to figure out where they could be hidin" The student put a finger to his chin. "I guess your right, but how exactly would we go about it?"
Halibel let out a puff of smoke. "I'll explain that t' ya later, but for now I need to assess your sword skills, as for now t' kids will be stayin' with us" he flashed a grin, to which Subaru gave a faint smile towards, although his face started to leak that of confusion.
"Wait a minute, your finally gonna teach me now?" Subaru wasn't all to convinced, putting a palm to his hip as he eyed his teacher up and down. "I'm serious, I saw how rigorously you trained with yer spirits n' all that, so it's about time I teach ya a thing or two" Halibel let out a chuckle, laughing at the pouting boy in front of him.
"A-alright" Subaru finally accepted his words, bringing his shoulders down in relief as he let out air from his mouth.
"First training session in an hour, now let's go eat I'm starvin!" And with that, they both headed back inside to eat breakfast and get ready for training.
"AL FULA!" Aella released a very powerful wind into the air, it was so strong Subaru had to hoist himself on the ground with his sword so he wouldn't get swept up. It was similar to that of a tornado.
"Congrats Aella! You've gotten really good at wind magic lately" Subaru put a thumbs up as he complimented the wind spirit, which made it brighten.
Subaru quickly pulled his sword from the ground, shaking the dirt off as he sheathed it once more.
"A compliment from Master makes me sooo happy~" she replied with hints of affection.
"AL DONA!" Flint yelled as 10 earth spikes formed in the air, hitting nearby trees. Subaru looked on in surprise at how much damage it caused, even the ground beneath him shook a bit.
"JIWALD!" Lucius shot a big beam of light from his form, aiming it at the sky, it lasted for a good 10 seconds before shimmering down. "Make sure to keep spamming that Lucius, I want to make sure your mana pools grow bigger and bigger!" Subaru yelled, Lucius continued doing so.
"AL GOA" this was by far the biggest magic attack so far, Hestia shot a fire ball the size of a meteorite, sending it crashing into a nearby hill, Subaru had to close his ears from how strong and loud it was. It seems as though Hestia still remains the strongest in the group. Subaru let out a faint smile as he observed her attacks grow more powerful.
Subaru then turned to his water spirit, "you ready Aqua?" "Ahem" she responded as she glowed brighter.
"HUMA!" Subaru yelled, and in seconds a shield of water formed on the back of his wrist. "Wow, you did great Aqua, you got it right on your 5th attempt!" Subaru praised Aqua greatly, she was getting the hang of spells that weren't healing.
"Thank you contractor" Aqua said in an meekly tone, she seemed to enjoy the compliment greatly.
It had been 50 minutes since Halibel said they would be training soon, Subaru took this time to train with his spirits outside.
He would focus on expanding their already big mana pools, while also having them learn new high tier spells. It was going greatly, Subaru was of course preparing for his training with his teacher, so he wanted his spirits in tip top shape.
Though there was one spirit who seemed to be having problems. Lela, the Yin spirit was deeply saddened by the fact she was limited in so much spells. She could only cast shamak, yet she had already reached her full potential regarding the spell.
"Are you alright Lela? You seem bothered" Subaru held a look of concern for his yin spirit, she was silent for a moment, before she spoke.
"I'm sorry that I can't get strong enough master, it's very hard to learn much Yin magic since it's so rare" her voice was one that held deep feelings of remorse and guilt, like it was her fault for not knowing more.
Subaru gave a faint smile to cheer her up. "I'm sure you'll get a lot stronger one day, and remember, I'm not contracted with you just for a power up, it's because I see you as family, even if you couldn't cast a spell I'd keep you around" This caused the spirit to brighten a bit, though it shimmered back down.
"T-thank you but, is it really possible for me to learn new spells?" Her voice was pleading for a possibility to grow stronger. "Say, I have an idea, what if we create our own spell, that should be possible right?" Subaru had a thoughtful look as he gazed at the spirit. A shocked "Ah" caused him to refocus his attention.
"I think...that should be possible, but what would it be anyways?"
"Maybe we can try forming a crystal of some kind, what if you put all your mana together to form something like that?" Lela seemed to be deep in thought before continuing. "I guess we could give it a try, let's do it master!" She was taken over by a new sense of vigor and determination, she wanted to get stronger, so she needed to learn new spells.
"You think you could try forming a crystal out of yin? You could do that right?" Lela bounced around in response. "I could try...it'll take me a few times to get it right though" She said with an almost meek voice, she then tried forming a crystal of some kind. Subaru watched as it was being made and depleted into mana over and over until then-
"Wait master! I did it!" Lela had a voice of pure happiness as Subaru saw what appeared to be a purple crystal floating in the air. "Wow you did it! And in such a low amount of time! I'm sooo proud of you!" Subaru wished he could give his spirit a huge, but they were intangible, so it was impossible.
"W-what should we call it though?" She asked in confusion, to which Subaru quickly replied.
"L.E.T" Subaru said with absolute confidence, one of his eyes winked as he pointed at his spirit, but Subaru could only imagine her cocking her head as she voiced a "Huh?"
"LELA IS EXTRA TERRIFIC!" Subaru posed as he yelled those words, to which Lela voiced in happiness and shock.
"T-thats a good name, let me use the spell again" this time Lela manage to summon a crystal fairly easily, sending it flying into a tree. The tree was starting to crystallize before some of its bark shattered. The crystal depleting back into mana.
"Wow, that seems like a very cool spell" Subaru said, his mouth agape at the sight of the crystallized tree.
"Alright Lela, you keep practicing L.E.T, alright?" Subaru gave a thumbs up as he began checking back on the others, Lela went back to work, trying her best to form 2 crystals of yin this time.
Subaru almost yelped in surprise when he turned around to an almost fiery landscape, Aqua was seen letting out some water while Hestia only sat there, glimmering, she seemed to be guilty as she watched Aqua do her magic. He then turned to a forest with most of its tree's knocked down, earth spikes were coming out the ground as Flint was still practicing.
Only Aella and Lucius seemed to be the ones that didn't caused any damage. But what shocked him the most was the fact they were all glowing brighter. "Master! Master!" Hestia was the first to initiate the conversation. "We all got stronger! We are full spirits now!" Subaru shook his head, as if he was in a daze.
"F-full spirits? You guys evolved again? That fast?" the nasty eyed boy was once again shocked that his spirits leveled up. "Ahem" Aqua gleamed brightly as she confirmed the claim.
"It seems we have~ it wouldnt be a surprise if we turned to great spirits soon" Aella said with a content tone, happy about how stronger she had gotten.
The rest of the spirits got together, once again to congratulate their master for his high spirit affinity.
They all proceeded to finish their training, taking some time to rest and have their gates recover as they assessed their new forms. Subaru was proud on how quickly his family was growing.
He wondered how strong he would get in just a few months, the future was exciting, but also scary. He would have to face it with a smile, with the help of his spirits of course.
"Ya ready Su-San?" Halibel stood a few feet away from Subaru on the clearing, his dagger in one hand, his pipe In the other. The wolf man glanced at his student with an expectant look. The only other sounds being the rustling trees that surrounded them.
"Y-yeah, I think" Subaru nodded his head as he wielded his blade, his feet stiffening as they began to grind against the dirt ground. The boy looked at the shinobi, drops of sweat rolled down his forehead as he straightened his sword in front of him.
Jeez, I'm finally here, after all this time Halibel is finally gonna train me! Yet why do I feel so nervous? Hints of doubt started hacking at Subaru's mind. After 2 weeks of rigorous practice his wishes were finally heard, he would get to train with his teacher.
He surely knew he wasn't once the weak boy that could barely fend himself against mabeast, he was sure he had gotten stronger, more intelligent, more...like his father.
Yet now that he was here, facing off against a strong Demi human, the nasty eyed boy questioned his strength. He relied a bit too much on his spirits yes, but he could also fend off a few beast alone, he even wiped out those bandits a day ago with relative ease, and only a little bit of magic.
I'm just doubting myself, I'm not in the right mindset. Subaru used his left hand, the one not wielding the sword to smack his cheeks, knocking out his pessimistic thoughts. He grit his molars as he now gripped his sword's hilt, determination started to make way in his face, his eyes narrowed as he stared down his opponent.
"Just remember, always face yer opponent, keep your sword straight, it'll help you cut through things easier" Subaru only nodded at the statement, giving him a "Ahem".
"Also..." a grin made its way on the wolf man's face as he spoke. "Ye can't use yer spirits" his face was almost taunting, his fingers wagged as he stated that rule in a matter-of-fact tone. Subaru could only roll his scary eyes as he was once again reminded of that dreadful fact, luckily his spirits managed to cheer him up.
"I believe in you master"
"You'll do great!"
"You can do it!"
"Show him what ya got!"
"Do your best~"
"You have a chance!"
Subaru smiled, if only weakly, he was glad he got his families support. If there was anything that could get him out of his emotional rut at the moment it was them. "Alright, I got this, thanks guys" Subaru smirked as he relayed this message telepathically.
Alright Subaru Natsuki, show your teacher what you got. His stance was better as he bent his back leg, the one he would use to charge. "Now, for our first lesson, yer gonna try t' land a hit on me, I'll judge you and see what you can work on" Halibel let out a huff of purple smoke as he put his pipe in one of his pockets, his body now in a readied stance as well.
In the distance, near the cabin the two Demi human children were sitting on the steps as they glared at the two with intrigued looks.
Alright I'm ready. Subaru pounced from his formal spot on the clearing as he charged Halibel, "AAAAH!" He let out a small war cry as he lifted his sword in the air, preparing to slice down in an attack. To his dismay Halibel didn't seem to move from his spot, only holding out his dagger as he was preparing for Subaru's attack.
"HAH!" Subaru yelled as he sliced downward, but he was quickly met by Halibel's blade. Huh? "Yer too predictable" The wolf man said in a nonchalant, critical tone as he parried his sword. "Ah-GRK!" The raven haired boy immediately felt a pain in the side of his torso as he was thrown back, hitting the ground with a large-
THUD
"Ah, what the hell" Subaru shook his head, his right hand rubbing the side of his torso, he had a perplexed expression as he glared at the wolf man, who hadn't moved an inch. "Again!" He said as he readied his blade, Subaru could only look in bafflement as he sat there idle, before hesitantly getting up.
Damn it, he predicted my attack, maybe I should motion my blade at the last second. Subaru thought as he rubbed the dirt off his tracksuit, readying his stance once more as he began to attack Halibel once more.
"ARRRG!" The nasty eyed boy yelled as he charged Halibel, this time he didn't motion his sword, which was still in front of him. You won't be able to predict this, huh? Subaru thought as a faint smile appeared on his face. Halibel stood there, not moving a muscle.
Subaru aimed from above once more, but this time it changed as he moved his sword to his side, sweeping diagonally. "I knew you'd do that" Halibel smirked as he parried once more, sending a kick flying at Subaru's torso. But the boy predicted this, he twisted the hilt in his hand as he took the kick with the blunt of his sword, sending him gliding across the clearing.
"Heh" Subaru huffed out as he looked at the wolf man, his form was leaning on his sword as he gasped for air. "Nice, yer learning a lot faster than I thought ya would!" The wolf man gladly complimented Subaru, though the boy didn't seem to take it.
"I can't tell if your making a compliment or just insulting me, especially with those last few words" The nasty eyed boy narrowed his eyes as he said those words in a unamused tone.
"Awww, that makes me so sad Su-San, can ya put a bit more trust in me?" Halibel only twitched his ears as he twisted his body to ready himself once more. "Heh, just get ready, one day I'll beat you, you smart ass" Subaru smirked as he charged the shinobi once more.
But he once more found himself flipping in midair, his face kissing the ground with a large thump. "Ouch!" Subaru let out a yelp as his face contorted into one of pain, his sword clanged to the side of him as he rubbed his head, tears forming at the side of his eyes.
"Ya see, the problem Su-San is yer predictable, ya are also terribly bad at holding a sword" He didn't hold back his punches as he critiqued the nasty eyed boy, who was on the ground wincing in pain.
I'm terrible, I'm never getting stronger anytime soon. Subaru bit his molars as he stared his teacher down, tears still glazing his eyes. "Damn it" a small fit of rage overcame him as he sent a fist on the ground, causing Halibel to widen his eyes slightly.
"I'm weak, I'm never becoming better" Subaru's mean eyes looked as mean as ever as self doubt creeped over him. "So what are ye gonna do about it?" Halibel kneeled next to the teen as he addressed him.
"Huh?" Subaru's eyes widened with a look of confusion, his mind seemingly unable to grasp what the wolf man said. "I said what are ye gonna do about it? Yer weak, so what are you gonna do about it?" His words pierced through Subaru, he quivered his lips as he thought.
"I-I'll get better?" Subaru didn't know if he chose the right words, but he seemed to relax as his statement was deemed true. "Exactly, when you see a weakness, you train hard and hard until it's gone, so tell me Subaru, if yer weak, what are you gonna do about it?" his words pierced Subaru once more, but a determined look overcame his face as he glared at his teacher.
"I'll get better! I'll become stronger!" Subaru yelled out those words in near outrage, his pride not wanting to prove him right. "That's the Su-San I know, now get up and let's try again" Halibel smiled as he walked back to the other side of the clearing, Subaru sat there for a few seconds before getting back up as well.
He now stood where he was once was, his face now more determined, more focused. I'll become better, I'll become stronger. He gripped the hilt of his sword with a much more vigor, his eyes staring down his opponent.
"AGAIN" Halibel yelled as the training resume once more.
The next few days went relatively smoothly, Halibel and Subaru kept training, the two Demi humans would stay with them as they desperately tried finding a source of their parents kidnapping, and Subaru conversed and worked vigorously with his spirits. Things were going swell when-
"Halibel walked through the cabin door, his face barely hid a look of excitement as he approached Subaru, the black haired teen was talking with the children, entertaining them with his spirits as he showed them different assortments of magic and spells.
"Ah, it seems like your back sensei" Subaru had a small smile as he waved, the small fire hovering over his hand dissipated as he glanced at the invigorated wolf man.
"Aw maaan!" One of the demi human children said as they slumped down, their face a mixture of sadness and despair. Subaru was quick to reassure them. "I'll show you some more magic later, I'll be back" Subaru patted the dog eared Demi human on the head as he got up, moving towards Halibel.
"It's nice to see ya Su-San, can we have a quick chat?" Halibel pointed to the table as his pipe switched around in his jaws, Subaru could only nod as his curiosity got the best of him, wondering what his teacher was intending to discuss.
They both sat at the table, the sun shining through the window illuminated the mahogany wood perfectly. "So Su-San, I've been searchin' and...it seems like we got a lead on the slavers, kidnappings in the city have risen the past day." he let out a puff of smoke as he awaited his students reaction, Subaru only widened his mean eyes in response.
"T-thats good! What do you propose we do now?" A creep of excitement dawned his face, he turned to the two Demi human children conversing behind him before meeting Halibel's eyes once more. "I propose we go there now, and by night we hatch the plan I haven't told ya about" Subaru nodded.
"B-but what about my training? Don't you think I'm not ready?" Subaru rubbed the back of his head as he said those words, he was still doubting his sword skills. "Ehh, not like you've grown that much in the past few days, but ya almost got the basics, just rely on yer spirits is all" Halibel wiggled his finger, a breath of relief escaped the raven haired boy's mouth.
The rest of the morning proceeded as usual, Subaru would train a bit with his spirits, and make sure the Demi human children were alright. By mid-day they were all ready for their second trip to Banan.
Subaru was once more mesmerized by the towering city that was Banan, the two Demi children followed closely behind, eager to reunite with their parents. Halibel led from the front, making their way towards a rental where they would work on their plan from there.
The raven haired boy didn't know what to expect, but he knew he would be engaging in his first battle soon enough, he was nervous, but also excited about the future. Ever since he was summoned to this world he had been working tirelessly. And to see those efforts lead to this made him all the more giddy.
The moon casted an ethereal glow across the now quiet city, the windows reflected the white light perfectly, nary a sound could be heard, the only ones awake at this time were the student and his teacher, along with two Demi human children.
There they lay, perched on a rooftop spectating the ordeal from below. "Ya ready Su-San?" Halibel asked with a questioning glare, to which Subaru only tugged on his leather strap holding his sword with a conflicted look. "I'm not gonna lie and say I'm ready, but this is my first time doing something...well you know...like this" The boy gestured with his hands towards the quiet streets of the city, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
The wolf man only let out a small snort. "I can understand why ye maybe scared, but it's good you put on a face of bravery, these kids hopes of going home and reuniting with their parents is a burden we have to carry, ye can't let em down" He twisted his pipe as he let out a purple smoke cloud before casting a gaze towards the Demi human children below them.
They were perched on a small building, looking down an alleyway where the two children stood, they had scared but trusting expressions as they went along with the plan.
"Of course I would help them y'know, that's why I saved them, and I truly hope we can find their parents" Subaru almost had an affronted look, but still accepted the words. Helping people was just what Natsuki Subaru was as a person, he would jump into hell if he could save a few people he never met.
"That's good to hear, I expected nothin' less from ma' student" the shinobi leaned in closer as his eyes caught a lone carriage in the distance. "They are here.." this immediately alerted Subaru as he followed the wolf man's eyes.
The two swordsmen set there sights on a peculiar carriage, it's wooden wheels continued to grind against the stone cobbled ground, completely contradicting the quiet city of Banan, Subaru tensed as he turned to his spirits.
"Are you guys ready? we could get in a fight soon" his spirits promptly answered as they formed a small halo around their contractor.
"I'm ready to burn your enemies"
"I'm at your command"
"Just lead me to em and I'll give em a good thrashin"
"Ready as I'll ever be"
"Just don't be reckless..."
"Ready~"
Subaru gave a reassuring nod as he looked toward the Demi human children down below. They were positioned so they were at the edge of the alleyway, anyone who came across could easily see them. This plan was going along nicely.
They saw as the carriage turned a corner on their street, the ground dragon guided the carriage as the men inside seemed to be slavers, the same light armor and wicked grins from last time. Subaru could swear he remembered what each one of them looked like.
The Demi human children whimpered as they were more unsure of the plan. "It's gonna be alright guys, I won't let them lay a finger on you" Subaru whispered from above, it got their attention as they turned around and gave a nod. Alright here we go.
"Ah, look what we have here" a taunting voice of a man said as he stopped the carriage, looking near an alleyway with two Demi human children.
"Seems like we hit the Diamond in the ruff, two little children here all alone!" He laughed as he got off, walking up to the pair. The children shivered as they stepped backwards, not wanting to come closer to the men.
"Aw are you guys scared? Don't worry, we won't hurt ya, just come with us and we'll insure your safety" another slaver said, though he immediately contradicted this claim by bringing out a pair of chain cuffs, motioning towards them.
"I told ya the poor parts of the city had more vulnerable ones, ya should've stayed down here instead" a man Subaru didn't seem to recognize was now at the fore front, criticizing the rest of the slavers.
"Cmon man I didn't know, if I knew a spirit arts user was gonna be in that alleyway I would've bailed!" He scratched the back of his head, discontent with his ally's words. "I don't care, let's just chain em up and bring them back.
The four men proceeded their kidnapping, pushing the two Demi human children down the alleyway as they approached them.
"Cmon, we won't bite, just come with us and-"
HAH-GRK!
A groan escaped one of the slaver's mouth, the man turned around as he was greeted with his ally falling to the floor with a big-
THUMP
"Now what the hell?" He voiced his confusion by unsheathing his sword, looking around for the possible perpetrator. It also didn't help that a dagger was seen piercing the man's throat, a spurt of blood flowing from the gash.
"Who's there? Reveal yourself you Bitch!" The other men took out their swords as well, the two Demi human children stood there with looks of relief. The next move of the mysterious strangers shocked them more.
With a massive leap one of the slavers received a kick to the face, sending them flying towards a wall, knocking them out. "You!" One of the men yelled as he charged him, but Subaru dodged with inhuman speeds, punching them straight in the jaw, knocking them out instantly.
The last slaver could only stare there slack jawed as his legs refused to move, his sword sliding from his palm as it hit the ground with a large clang. Subaru stood there, his mean eyes piercing the ones of the man, the raven haired boy could swear the man's pants got a bit darker on a certain spot, but he turned his eyes towards the ledge above.
"Huh?" The man voiced his confusion as he looked up as well, he didn't even get enough time to react as his face met the ground. "AH-GRK!" He groaned as he bit his molars, his face bruised from the impact.
"Now..." Halibel leaned his head down as his purple smoke caused the man to wince as it filled his lungs, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as his eyes dilated. "Yer gonna tell us where you slavers came from, ya hear" his words were serious and threatening, a dagger was hovering over the back of his skull, ready to act at a moments notice.
"Y-yes I'll do it! Please just don't kill me!" He easily held out his hands as his pupils reached the corner of his eyes, his face still meeting the ground. "That remains to be seen, now whatcha' gonna do for us is take us to yer little hideout" Halibel grabbed the man by his back collar as he pulled him up.
The man could only shiver as he nodded, not wishing to meet the face of the wolf man. Subaru sighed in relief as he approached the two children. "Told ya I wouldn't let them touch you" he gave the both of them head pats as their dog ears raised in content, a smile dawning their faces.
"Alright Su-San, we're heading out towards the location, this lucky guy here was ever so graciously giving us directions" A devilish grin caused his lips to curve upward as the shinobi's pipe twisted in his mouth. Subaru could sense the sarcasm in his speech.
"Alright, but what about these guys?" Subaru pointed towards the other downed men, to which Halibel quickly proceeded to finish.
He leaned towards each of their necks, his dagger slitting them, the men didn't even respond as they were already unconscious, only their eyes opening in fear as they realized they already reached their doom. Once he was done he turned his head towards a Subaru who was filled with horror and fear.
"H-Halibel, did you really have to kill them?" His mean eyes dilated as he stared at the corpses of the men. Halibel sighed, "I understand ya don't want to kill, but if these here men survive they could further cause harm, it's ugly, but it's just how the world works" He flicked the blood off his dagger as he proceeded to guide the one slaver towards the carriage.
"R-right" The Japanese teen could only stand there as he focused back at the two Demi human children. "Let's go..." he grabbed both of their hands as he guided them towards their ride.
Subaru was overall conflicted on killing, he could kill mabeast, yes. But humans, people just like him, it irked him. He realized he would one day have to take the life of someone, the thought made him shiver. All he could do was wish he would never have to.
So the four proceeded to enter the carriage, they began to embark on a few hour journey towards their destination, Subaru could only steel himself as he knew a big battle would partake.
Authors note: Thank you once more, next chapter will have Subaru meet a very familiar spirit.
Also, next chapter will probably take a bit longer to make so hang in there.