Chapter 3- Ashen Wolf

September 27, 2056

When Marth returned to his apartment that evening, he was exhausted. Even though he only went a few rounds with Fuko back in Dun Scaith, Scathach's castle in Eternus, those matches were pretty lengthy, with each lasting about thirty minutes. Despite not having as much training as him and the others, Fuko was still more than capable of holding her own in a fight, despite her "handicap". It was as though she had some level of fighting experience before she met Marth, but where she got it from was unknown to him.

He shrugged dismissively at that. It wasn't as though he told her and the others the full truth about him either. He couldn't tell them. It would terrify them, and they didn't deserve that, especially since they were even willing to hang out with him and Kisara. As his mother has said, he must never use that power no matter what happens. It just wasn't worth it. It was simply too dangerous.

"Marth, is that you?" asked a mature voice, coming from the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's me, Mom," he answered back in a polite tone as he removed his shoes and placed them next to the door. "Sorry I'm a little late. Fuko wanted to spar with me and we lost track of time."

He made his way into the dining room and saw a woman with long blazing red hair and wearing a long-sleeved button-down white shirt and khaki pants, as well as white socks. She looked to be in her early thirties, but she held a strange presence that she was much older than she appeared. She was none other than Rias Morningstar, the Demon Lord of Lust and the adopted mother of Marth and Kisara.

Naturally, as the Lust Lord, Rias did like having her way with mortals, however that didn't necessarily mean she was a pervert. She had a lot of self-control and was very responsible with her magic, especially that of mental manipulation, and even had a respectful job at a decent-sized company. The reason she even got that job was to help blend in and to support her two children, but naturally she did have to go on occasional business trips because of it. Thankfully Scathach and Kirito were only a few doors down the hall, while Shino and Asuna were on different floors in the same building, so the Umbris siblings were in good hands if she was gone.

Of course, someone like Rias wouldn't have lived for thousands of years without developing some cautionary skills. Not all demons were honorable like her and her children. The Darkfallen demons, demons who had sided with Zarc and Zeta during the War of Light and Shadow, were still around, lurking behind the scenes. Given that Marth is the reincarnation of Zane Umbris, the swordsman who put an end to the God of Destruction's war thousands of years ago, and had defeated Zarc (the Demon Lord of Greed) a handful of times, it would be no surprise if the Darkfallen wanted revenge against the young demon.

However, the Darkfallen weren't the only demons Rias and her adopted family had to be wary of. The demons that were still loyal to their progenitor, the Goddess of Darkness Sinestra, held a grudge towards Zane as well, but for different reasons. Because Zarc had usurped the Eternian throne from King Teranis (Zane's grandfather) and later killed Altena Umbris (the rightful heir to the throne as well as Zane's mother and the Demon Lord of Pride), many of the surviving demons hoped that Zane would take the throne in his mother's place.

Sadly, that never happened, as Zane went missing after the War of Light and Shadow ended. Multiple search parties spent months looking for him, but not even a trace of him could be found. Zane's comrades from the war also joined the search, but most of them never returned as well, leaving the possibility that they had tragically died.

And to make things worse for the kingdom, only a member of the Umbris family could rule Eternus, as they were the demons that were directly created from Sinestra's own blood (the other demon families were created using the Umbris family as a template). Zane was the only surviving Umbris at the time, with his sister Lucia tragically killed during the final battle against Zeta.

Naturally it was safe to assume that his sister's death drove Zane into isolation, but most of the citizenry didn't see it that way. The prince that had helped save the world and a war hero just seemed to abandon them right when they needed him the most. Rias tried to calm them as best she could, but she eventually had leave the public eye as the people started to hate on her due to her close ties to the runaway prince. Given that Marth even existed, it was quite clear that Zane had lost his life, but the circumstances behind his death were a mystery.

She had spent the last few thousand years trying to uncover what really happened to Zane and his friends. During her life of wandering, she had tried to track down Delsgade, the castle that Zane constructed to use during the War of Light and Shadow, hoping that it would provide some clues but it had gone missing as well. Even to this day, she still couldn't locate it. Powerful magecraft was keeping it from her view, the user unknown.

Eventually she would find herself on the Shapeless Isle (which had gotten dragged into Eternus when the planet split into three realms), the home of the goddess known as Medusa. She was probably one of the few gods that were still in the mortal realm, the rest either dead or returned to the divine realm at the behest of the God of Creation Aesir's decree. Medusa, given her past, chose to ignore Aesir's order and chose to stay behind, causing her to be banished from the divine realm forever.

Medusa was an old ally of Zane from the war and was on good terms with Sinestra (who had also went missing but it unclear where she went), so she was more than willing to let the demon lord stay with her. The two of them lived in relative peace for centuries until that fateful day thirty years ago. Merlin, a twili (a being with both fairy and demon heritage) sorcerer and known as the Mage of Flowers, suddenly appeared before them after having not been seen for several millennia.

Being the womanizer he is, he casually started to flirt with the two woman but after Medusa threatened to turn him to stone with her Mystic Eyes, he quickly got to the point about his sudden return. Much to their shock, but also relief, Zane and his friends have been reincarnated on Earth with new names. He told them tragic account of the Demon War that nearly destroyed Tokyo, a war started by the now missing False King Zarc (all of this he knew thanks to his clairvoyance). Speaking of which, the Demon Lord of Greed better be dead this time because otherwise, Rias would be coming for him to avenge her oldest friend, Altena, and for all the suffering he inflicted on Zane and Lucia.

He told them that the reborn Marth and his friends had suddenly disappeared but were fated to re-emerge on Earth some twenty years later in Tokyo. Out of her vow to protect the Umbris siblings in her best friend's stead, the Crimson Sorceress decided to leave the safety of the Shapeless Isle and go to the human realm. Medusa stayed behind in Eternus, but promised that if her help was ever required, all Rias had to do was ask. As for Merlin, he simply vanished like a dream after that, leaving his intentions unknown.

True to the Mage of Flowers' word, Rias was able to find Zane and Lucia as ten-year-old (nine-year-old for the latter) children in a park in Tokyo in 2048. She could never forget the joy and relief she felt on that fateful night when she found the two children, with her renewing her vow to protect them to her last breath then and there. Their memories, including the ones from their previous lives, were missing, but given their fragile mental state at the time, Rias chose not to use her magic to restore them. She still hasn't done so, mainly because the mental block on their memories was unnaturally strong, too strong for even her to break. It was quite possible that only the children could break it, the means unknown.

As much as she wanted to give the Umbris siblings a chance at a normal life, she knew that would not be possible. Eventually, the Darkfallen and Eternus would learn of their return and likely begin planning their retaliation against the siblings. Because of this, once Marth and Kisara (the new names they had chosen for themselves once Rias had adopted them) had lived with her for two years, she reached out to Scathach (another old friend of hers, and who had somehow found Kazuto slumbering at the door of her castle) and asked the immortal warrior to help train her two children. Naturally, the Witch of Dun Scaith accepted the request and even moved to Tokyo to be closer to Rias (who felt that the children would be safer on Earth than Eternus, despite how isolated Dun Scaith was from the realm of shadows). But Scathach did make sure to leave a waypoint back to her fortress in her new apartment so that they had easy access to a good place for training.

Medusa would even visit on occasion, acting almost like a big sister for the Umbris siblings. As kids, Marth and Kisara were always ecstatic whenever the goddess visited. She was also more than willing to act as their guardian whenever Rias's job forced her away, a much-needed relief for the demoness.

"So how did it go?" Rias questioned as she continued making dinner. She was making one of Marth's favorite dishes, beef and broccoli with a side of white rice.

"Our wins were tied," the male demon answered honestly. "She really takes Scathach's lessons to heart. With how well she keeps up with me, I'm beginning to wonder if she's even human."

"Who knows? She could be a reincarnated fairy or demon, or she could simply be an ordinary human like Kazuto and Shino. Only time will tell. With how close you and Fuko are, I would even say that its inevitable before your friendship goes even further."

To absolutely no surprise, she heard her son slap his forehead (pretty hard too) and shout out, "Mom! Not you too!"

Rias couldn't help but giggle in amusement. Oh, how fun it is to tease her mostly serious son with the idea of romance. It is unhealthy for him to be so distrustful of other people outside his friend group. He needed someone to help him open up, but given the treatment of his classmates that would seem to be nothing but a pipe-dream.

Kisara was somewhat the same way, but she had recently befriended a boy from a different school. They were pretty close, but she has yet to take the risky step of revealing the truth about herself. Personally, Rias hopes that it will work out alright for her daughter.

"Anyway," the demon lord spoke up. "Dinner's just about ready. Go wash up and fetch your sister."

"Yes, ma'am."

Marth took a quick shower to remove the sweat he had accumulated from his training with Fuko and after changing into more comfortable clothes, he went to Kisara's bedroom to tell her dinner was ready. The two siblings set the table together while Rias brought the food over. Dinner went by rather pleasantly, but Kisara mentioned that she had heard about what happened in the student lounge. Naturally she was worried if her elder brother had gotten hurt, but Marth assured her that he was fine and barely even got a cut on his lower lip (which had already healed and he had made sure to hide any traces of his blood from the students and faculty). He also mentioned that Araya and his lackeys were now expelled, meaning the siblings wouldn't have to deal with them anymore, a much-needed relief.

Of course, Kisara also knew about the direct he had with Kuroyukihime and wanted the story about that. Rather than tell them about Brain Burst, he told them about the strange presence about the student vice-president and was playing along to see what her intentions were. Both Kisara and Rias were concerned over the dual-wielder, especially given his prior history of girls reaching out to him only to reveal to be real bitches that couldn't care less about him, but reluctantly chose to trust in him.


Marth was used to bad dreams. He's been having them ever since he turned fourteen. The contents of each dream varied, they took place in a multi-level floating steel castle, a place with an endless sky with a massive tree in the center that pierced the heavens, to a desolate land of metal with exchanges of bullets decorating the battlefield. There were even dreams of him traveling across a floating island with a large group, with him only able to recognize a handful of the members, and strange flashes of terrible wars with one seeming to occur in modern-day Tokyo.

The dream he had this night, however, easily won the award for the worst dream ever.

He was a small child in a burning city, one that he couldn't recognize by the architecture. Buildings were smashed and civilians dressed in rustic attire were fleeing in terror. In the distance, beyond the smokey haze and the darkened sky, Marth could endless waves of bloodthirsty monsters pouring through the outer walls of the city, slaughtering the soldiers who tried so desperately to push them back.

He didn't know what was going on, but he felt himself becoming overwhelmed by terror. Never in his life had he felt so afraid. Just what was going on here?

Suddenly Marth felt someone grab him by his right shoulder, causing him to jump out of fear. He quickly turned around and saw a beautiful woman with long, luscious black hair and bloodred eyes. She wore a black-and-white short-sleeved battle dress that exposed the sides of her legs, with red shoulderpads and gauntlets, and white boots that went up to her knees. In her right hand was a large two-handed longsword that was completely black save for the purple gems embedded in its hilt. Both she and her weapon practically radiated in power, one that sent the message that she was not to be crossed. For some reason, he felt like he knew her, the name at the tip of his tongue but just barely out of reach.

"We need to go, Zane," the woman said firmly. "Arcadia and its capital have fallen. You, me, Lucia, and Kaito need to escape while your father and his knights hold off Zeta's forces." Her jaws clenched tightly, as did her grip on her sword. "As loathe as I am to admit it, the God of Destruction has won this battle, but this war is far from over. We'll make sure of that."

Marth looked behind the woman to see a young boy and girl, both of whom looked just as afraid as him. The boy had raven-black hair and black eyes, garbed in a fancy black tunic and pants while covered in a brown hooded cloak. The girl, on the other hand, had pale-white hair and bloodred eyes. She wore a regal green and white dress under an identical cloak. Why did they seem so familiar to him?

He soon found himself following the woman into the chaotic city, his own cloak tossing away from the movement. He watched in awe as the woman made a duplicate of her sword and slaughtered any monsters that dared cross her path with her dual blades. She was like a hurricane. Nothing would deter her.

Soon the quartet managed to reach one of the city gates, one that was thankfully monster-free. They, along with countless other civilians crossed it to a bridge over a rapid river. Things seemed to be going well until a stray blast the sky struck one of the support pillars for the bridge, shattering it instantly. The ground shook fiercely as wide cracks began to form through the stone construct causing the civilians to rush across the bridge, inadvertinally causing Marth and Kaito to get separated from the group. As if to make things worse as well, the largest cracks were gathering right beneath Marth and the other boy's feet, the integrity becoming increasingly unstable.

"Zane! Kaito!" the woman shouted in concern. She and the girl had been dragged to the other side of the river, watching in horror as the bridge began to collapse on itself. With unnatural speed, she pushed through the crowd and tried to make her way to the boys. However, luck was not on her side as the ground beneath the boys gave way just as she was nearly within reach, causing the duo to fall into the raging river.

"Nooo!" she shouted in agony, sending a pain into Marth's heart as he and his companion were swallowed by the water.

"Mother!" Marth found himself shouting, his arm stretched out as far as he could, before his vision faded to black.

Suddenly the dream changed. Now he was now an adult kneeling on a hill that was littered with the corpses of various monsters, with him using a black and gold sword that strangely resembled Lunara and Solaris as support. He was wearing a twin-tailed gray overcoat with a popped collar, gray fingerless gloves, black pants and brown leather boots. His whole outfit was tattered and his body decorated in grievous wounds, each of which poured out black blood like a fountain, wetting the darkened grass beneath him.

His shoulder-length hair clung to his forehead, making it difficult to see. He had no strength anywhere in his body. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak. He couldn't do anything. Everything hurt, his arms, his chest, his legs, even his teeth ached. The only thing he could do was stare out at a bloody battlefield, a field of death.

Tattered corpses and limbs as far as the eye could see. The very ground seemed like it was scarred and torn apart, with strange craters scattered about. What was once a grassy plain now reeked of death and decay. The sky was covered with dark gray storm clouds, matching the dreary environment perfectly. A gentle rain descended from above, as if the very sky was weeping in sorrow.

Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult and his vision was growing hazy. Marth knew he didn't have much time left.

"Looks like this is the end for me," he thought to himself solemnly. "I'm sorry, Mother. I'm sorry…Lucia. I'll see you both soon." A single tear leaked out of his eye and rolled down his cheek before falling to the ground below. "My battle…ends here."

Are you sure about that?

Slowly, Marth found himself able to lift his head ever so slightly. Much to his surprise, he was no longer alone as a wolf with ash-gray fur was now sitting proud before him, looking at him in expectation.

You must remember who you are. There are others who need you. You cannot give up now. Tell me your wish.

"My wish?" Marth had no clue if he was talking in his head or aloud, his mind was getting too cloudy to tell the difference. "I…want to grow stronger…faster. Strong enough to protect those I love. From the edges of the world to the skies above."

By your will, it shall be done. The wolf lifted his head and let out a piercing howl, seemingly shaking the very earth with its intensity.


September 28, 2056

Marth woke with a start. He was back in his bedroom, safe and sound. His clock read six thirty, meaning he had been asleep for roughly eleven hours. His whole body was drenched in sweat, likely caused from the nightmare he had. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to recall what had happened, with everything coming back in perfect detail. Were those his memories he had seen play out before him? And that woman, was she the one Rias had told him about? His original birthmother, Altena Umbris?

Kuroyukihime's last words to him the day before suddenly echoed in his mind. Was this why she instructed him not to remove his Neurolinker? She better have a good explanation for this when they meet up again.

He showered and changed into his school uniform before joining his sister and mother for breakfast. Since Asuna needed to go grocery shopping to get more ingredients for lunches, it was decided that everyone would just buy their lunches at school, so Marth asked Rias if she could transfer some money for him. She gladly did so, once Marth reconnected his Neurolinker to the global net do it could go through, but he had a strange feeling he was forgetting something.

Soon he and Kisara were out the door and exiting the apartment building, ready to head for school. However, just mere seconds after he stepped out of the automatic doors, an intense shriek suddenly rang within his brain, causing the world around him to go dark.

"What the hell?! Acceleration?! But I didn't even say the words."

His confusion only increased as the familiar flaming text emerged before him with: "Here comes a new challenger!"

The flaming text then faded as things started to pop in at the top of his vision. First, in the center, the number 1800. Then, to the left and right, blue bars stretched out abruptly, with a somewhat thin green bar growing below them. Then finally the flaming word of "Fight!"

The number then changed to 1799, meaning that it was a timer, one that counted to thirty minutes. Didn't Kuroyukihime mention something about that yesterday?

The city before him had changed drastically as well. Rather than the normal day version Shinjuku with school-bound students moving about, everything was in total ruin. The streets were cracked and caving in everywhere, guardrails and signs twisted up, buildings and windows smashed in. It all painfully reminded him of his nightmares, headaches included.

He was clearly in Brain Burst, meaning this entire place was constructed from the data seen by the social cameras, but Hime sure didn't mention this before. He looked over into a nearby clear window, expecting to find his school avatar in his reflection, only to be amazed to see something else instead. His whole body was completely covered in ash-gray metallic armor. He wore something akin to his combat gray overcoat, twin tails and white fur-lined collar included, not to mention the dark gray leather-like hood that was pulled up over his head. He had a strange gray face mask with blood lenses for eyes (which for some reason reminded him of a wolf), something resembling a nose but no mouth. Strapped to his back were the familiar black and gold swords, Lunara and Solaris, looking the same as ever, like their wing-shaped crossguards opening towards the handle and having a purple and green gemstone in each respective hilt.

"What the hell is going on?" Marth asked aloud in frustration.

He soon noticed that he was not alone as three figures were standing on the roof of ruined convenience store, their appearances clouded in the shadows. With his enhanced hearing, he could faintly hear:

"…too, but he looks like the angry type."

"I don't have his name memorized. Is he a newbie?"

"He's metallic, so that has to mean something, right?"

It was obvious they weren't NPCs, they were people that had the Brain Burst program as well. That meant that they probably knew what was going on. Should he go ask them as to why he's here?

Before he could even take a single step, he soon sensed that more people were watching him, waiting for something. The timer had reached 1620 and there was no change to the two bars on either side of it, although Marth did notice a name underneath each written in English. The one on the left read "Ashen Wolf" while right was "Ash Roller".

This all felt way too familiar to him. As if to confuse him even further, a motorcycle suddenly came into view from the street. It had the guts of an internal combustion engine, which were proudly roaring and rumbling. The front fork was ridiculously long while the tire wedged between it was so thick it was almost comical. Its rider sat back in a leather seat, gripping exaggeratedly bent handlebars. Their body was covered in studded black leather, including boots. His head was tucked into some kind of skull-like helmet.

"The Century End stage! It's been forever," the rider cheered in excitement. "And I'm going against a newb. I'm super luckyyy!"

The skeleton biker roared his engine before driving straight for Marth at high-speed.

Gritting his teeth as he reached for his swords, Marth realized what was happening. Brain Burst…was a VRMMO, and a fighting game at that. He may not fully understand what's going on, but if this was a battle, then he won't go down so easily. What's the worst that can happen?


Marth was practically sending death glares at Kuroyukihime as they were sitting at the same table in the student lounge, their Neurolinkers connected by a cable to communicate in private. The demon did not look amused at all as he leaned his head into his right hand.

"That's a flattering face you've got right there," she said in amusement, a faint smirk plastered on her face. "Whatever could be wrong?"

"I am really angry with you right now," Marth replied, sounding very much frustrated. "You knew Brain Burst was some kind of fighting game, but you deliberately kept that from me. Because of you, I got my ass kicked by some other player because I didn't know what was going on. Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome," Kuroyukihime said, giggling at the sarcasm from the last sentence. "That's what you get for breaking your promise to me."

"Glad you find that so amusing," the demon said coldly, his glare intensifying. "Now can you give me a straight answer for once?"

"Very well. As you have just found out, Brain Burst is a fighting game, one that we Burst Linkers accelerate to play. Conversely, we fight so that we can continue to accelerate. That is the unpleasant part of this program?"

"What are you talking about?"

"This is will probably be easier to explain in the field. Go ahead and accelerate."

Marth simply nodded and said the acceleration command, immediately finding himself in the familiar monochrome blue world as everything else came to a screeching halt. Both he and Kuroyukihime's avatars now stood opposite of the table.

"So now what?" the demon swordsman questioned, his arms folded across his chest.

"You have a new icon in the left of your field of vision, correct?"

Doing as he was told, he noticed that there was a burning B icon marked among the app start-up icons lined up in that area. Curious, he raised his left hand and selected it.

"That's the menu for the fighting game software, Brain Burst. You can see your own status, battle results, and look for Burst Linkers around you to challenge. Try pressing the 'Duel' button."

Marth obeyed and clicked on the bottom-most button in the menu. Instantly a new window opened up, and after a brief search display, a list of names appeared. Although there were three names on it. The first was "Ashen Wolf", Marth's fighting avatar. The next was "Graphite Edge" and below that was "Black Lotus".

"Black Lotus is my avatar," Kuroyukihime spoke up without being asked. "I don't know who this Graphite Edge is, but I do have some suspicions. As for why the list is so small, it's because we're cut off from the global net and only connected to the school's local net. At least, that's how it should be."

"Why am I not surprised that your character is called 'Black Lotus'?"

The female Burst Linker simply chuckled at that. "Because you're smart. Now challenge me to a battle by selecting my name. We won't actually be fighting. We'll just let the timer run out and end in a draw."

That made sense. It would allow him to get a more hands-on experience to get a better understanding how this program works. With that in mind, he selected "Black Lotus" from the list and challenged her to a duel.

In that moment, the world around them changed yet again. All of the students disappeared as color began to return to the pillars and tables, all of which became decayed and weathered, and a thick layer of dust appeared on the windows. The sky turned a deep orange and a dry wind blew from somewhere, stirring up the grass that sprouted up from the floor.

"A Twilight stage? Talk about a lucky pull," Kuroyukihime commented, her smile not fading. "The properties of this stage are burns well, collapses soon, and unexpectedly dark."

"Uh-huh," Marth said simply before noticing that he changed back into that ashen avatar from before. Weirdly enough, Kuroyukihime's appearance didn't change at all.

"So that's your duel avatar," the veteran Burst Linker mused. "Ashen Wolf, a good name. A decent color and a good form too." She stretched out her hand and rested it on Marth's ash gray facemask, only for the demon to back away the moment she made contact. He still didn't trust her after all.

"I gotta be honest," he spoke up as he pulled his hood down, revealing his shoulder-length black hair that looked identical to his hair. "I'm surprised by how similar this design looks to me. Interesting name too. So this is called a duel avatar?"

"Correct, and as the name implies, it's an avatar for fighting. You're probably curious as to who designed it. Well it was the Brain Burst program and yourself. Last night, did you happen to have a very long, very scary dream?"

Marth let out a grunt as he looked away before bringing his left hand to cover half of his face. "Yeah. That nightmare felt way too real, almost like they were memories. I remember everything that happened perfectly. It haunts me even now."

For the first time, Kuroyukihime looked truly shocked, her amber eyes wide as dinner plates. "Wait, what? I've never heard of that happening before. That nightmare usually is a way for Brain Burst to scan your subconscious to create your duel avatar. It shouldn't be possible for you to remember the details of it. How strange."

Well that was certainly interesting. If Marth's suspicions are correct, then the events of that nightmare were memories from his previous life as Zane. He currently only had fragments of his memories from before Rias found him in that park. If Brain Burst had managed to bring out this avatar, Ashen Wolf, from just that one dream, then was it possible for it to restore his missing memories? Although, that did raise the question if he should get his memories back. Memories don't just go missing, something causes them to go away. By recovering his missing memories, he might remember something that he wished that stayed forgotten.

But he couldn't let that stop him. He wanted his memories back. He wanted to know what his life like was before he met Rias, and maybe remember what he did as Zane. Hearing stories about his past deeds from his mother were one thing, actually remembering them was another.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned his attention to Kuroyukihime's unchanged avatar. "So did Brain Burst make that for you. Not gonna lie, it doesn't look too suited for combat."

"No." Suddenly the student vice-president's eyes darkened, her facing lowering. "This is one I put together myself with an editor. I…For my own reasons, I've sealed off my actual duel avatar. I'll tell you the reason one of these days, when the time comes."

"Huh?"

"Unfortunately, my duel avatar is ugly. The epitome of hideous. Although that's not the only reason I've sealed it away…Anyway, enough about me." She then shrugged and regained her usual mysterious expression. "This morning you were challenged to a duel by another Burst Linker through the global net. You fought with this new avatar and was thoroughly defeated, correct?"

As painful as it was to admit it, Marth nodded his head in confirmation. "Yeah. He caught me by surprise and totally had the upper hand. I was lucky to get even a single blow in. After I lost, it showed my name and level one, and then some weird number. I think they were called burst points. Anyway, that number went from ninety-nine to eighty-nine."

"Good, you remembered. Burst points! Those are the very things that send us into this merciless battlefield." Nearly shouting, Kuroyukihime took a few steps toward the window before twirling around. She then thrusted her parasol she held with both hands into the floor, sending a tiny shard of cracked pavement flying away. "Burst points are, simply put, the number of times we can accelerate. Accelerate one time, lose one point. The initial value upon installation is one hundred, but because you accelerated once in the lounge yesterday, you used up a point. And then you used another point earlier."

"Okay," Marth said in understanding. "So how do you get more of them? Do you have to pay real money or something?"

"No," she countered. "There's only one way to increase your burst points, by winning Duels. If you win, your points go up ten for a same-level battle. However, your points drop ten if you lose, like what happened to you this morning."

Kuroyukihime turned her face towards the twilight sky on the other side of the window. "Acceleration is extremely powerful," she continued, almost in a murmur. "It goes without saying that winning fights means earning a perfect score on a test or winning big at certain types of gambling or sports. For example, the freshman player who broke the record for home runs at the big Koshien tournament last summer was a high-level Burst Linker."

"Are you serious?"

"I am." She then tossed him a somewhat sad look, surprising him a little. "Once we've tasted this forbidden power, we have no choice but to keep accelerating forever. And to earn the burst points needed to do so, we have no choice but to keep fighting forever."

"Okay, I think I'm starting to understand. Say if a Burst Linker sucks at fighting and can't win any Duels. What happens they run out of burst points? If winning Duels is the only way to get more points and you can't do that, eventually you'll run out if you keep accelerating."

"So you caught on to that. It's rather simple really. They lose Brain Burst forever. The program is automatically uninstalled and can never be reinstalled. Changing Neurolinkers won't do anything either as the program will recognize your unique brain waves. People who lose all their points will never accelerate again. Don't get the wrong idea though, not all new players will end up like that, so I don't think you need to worry about that happening to you."

That wasn't really what Marth was worried about. Contrary to what Kuroyukihime thought, he was quite accustomed to fighting. He spent six years training under the Witch of Dun Scaith after all. If anything, his real-world combat experience should give him an advantage over the other players.

Although, admittedly, he wouldn't be too depressed if he somehow lost Brain Burst. He had no connection to the game other than Kuroyukihime, and he still wasn't sure if he could trust her or not. If he wanted to fight something, he had other options to choose from. It didn't have to be through Brain Burst.

"Now then," Kuroyukihime spoke up. "What will you do, Marth Umbris?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"At this point, you can still go back. To the regular world, without acceleration or fighting. Those bullies aren't coming back. I guarantee it as a student council member."

"Yeah, I kinda can't avoid fighting in the real world either," Marth thought to himself while trying his hardest not to look away from ravenette. "It's only a matter of time before the Darkfallen find me. I've been lucky to avoid them for this long, but luck doesn't last forever. Of course, I can't tell her that."

Spending the next few moments over his words, the demon closed his eyes and said, "I highly doubt that you went out of your way to help me as much as you did without hoping for something in return." His eyes reopened, firmly locked with the vice president's. "You hear what the other students say about me. I'm a freak and don't talk to people about myself. I mostly keep to myself, never revealing more about me than I have to. And whenever I do talk to people outside my friend group, I rarely treat them kindly. I've been scorned by people more times than you can count."

Surprisingly, Kuroyukihime's eyes filled with sorrow. "I'm sorry you've had such a hard life. I truly am," she said sincerely. "It's not fair for the other students to treat you so poorly when you didn't provoke them." She let out a heavy sigh. "I won't lie. I was hoping you can help me with something, but I did genuinely want to help you as well. I hope you can believe me."

As much as he wanted to, Marth couldn't bring himself to do it. Too many times has he trusted in humans only for them to reveal their true nasty colors. They never saw him as an equal. Kazuto, Shino, Asuna, Fuko and Andrew were the only normal humans that actually treated him like a person. Only they earned his trust.

Kuroyukihime reached her right hand out to him, her face having more emotion than ever. "Every time I try to reach out, you only pull further away," she said in sorrow. "You keep doubting me, trying to find a hidden motive that hurts you in the end. Will you ever bring yourself to trust me?"

Marth couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye as he rested his right hand on his waist. As much as it hurt to refuse someone showing kindness to him, betrayal from someone he trusted hurts way more. Kuroyukihime could very well be telling the truth, but he couldn't bring himself to believe her. It's honestly a miracle he had any warmth left in his icy heart, most likely because of Kisara and his friends.

"Sorry, but you're gonna have to jump through hoops if you want to earn my trust," he said firmly. "I've heard this whole routine several times before. A person acts all friendly to me and seems to want to get close, but then I find out that they just want to use me for something. It's only natural I become skeptical of every hand that reaches for me."

"I see," she replied, not hiding her disappointment. "So what are you going to do?"

The Ashen Wolf was silent for a few moments as he pondered over his answer. As much as he wanted to refuse her, a part of him couldn't bring itself to do it. But why? He's done it before with no issue. Why would now be any different?

Maybe it was because he was curious about her. After all, she did have an unusual aura around her. Maybe if he stuck around her for a bit, he might find out what she really is. Plus she seems to be an expert on Brain Burst, the best lead he got for recovering his memories.

"Hmph," he grunted as he brushed his hair to the side. "Luckily for you, I have my own reasons for trying out this Brain Burst program and I feel that my best path with that is by allying with you. For now, our interests align, but don't think I trust you. One way or another, I will find out the truth about you."

"I guess that's better than nothing, but I'm glad that you're at least giving me a chance to prove myself," Kuroyuikihime answered, her tone lightening up a little. "As I mentioned earlier, I have a troublesome problem that I would like your assistance in. But for you to assist me, you need to learn how Duels work. Click on your name displayed before your health gauge, then open 'Help' to check all the normal and special attack commands for your duel avatar."

Marth followed her instructions as she explained every duel avatar had a fixed potential based on their attributes. Some were good at attacking, others having a solid defense. However, the overarching principle is that the general principle of duel avatars of the same level were equal. The only reason he lost to Ash Roller was because he didn't fully understand how to fight.

When the semitransparent window opened, Marth couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was all there. The motions for all his sword techniques he learned from Scathach, the One-Handed Sword Skills he knew so well, his lightning and wind magic. He even had all the Dual Blades Sword Skills that he created from scratch (a feat he was very proud of, as it took him two years to develop them all). The only thing that was really missing was his wings, which was a little disappointing. Oh well, you can't pick and choose it seems. Scathach always said to never rely on the same tool constantly, so this will be good practice.

"Well," Kuroyukihime spoke up with interest. "What's your avatar like?"

The dual wielder let out a simple chuckle. "Oh, you have gotten lucky with me, Kuroyukihime. I think I might be able to get some payback on Ash Roller for ambushing me the way he did and then some."

Marth couldn't wait until school let up. It's time the Accelerated World got to see what he's really made of.

To be continued


And so Marth prepares to show off his real skills. I'm really looking forward to showing off his unique Dual Blades skills so he has more separation from Kirito. Also if you're offput by Marth's attitude towards Kuroyukihime, you gotta understand that his ability to trust is severely damaged because of the treatment he endured from the other students. Only time and patience can really mend that. Anyway, I'll see you guys next time!

P.S. I'm going to try updating this story more frequently to make up for Black Wolf's cancellation. I'll try to update my other stories when I get the chance but this one is my highest priority right now.