Quick AN here at the start to address the review from Roseta12. To answer you, first off, Hit had Ki sensing back then, which he does not have now. Second off, him coming across Road's shapeshifting ability of sorts is pure headcanon, so it's just as likely that he hadn't actually come across it. Now that he has though, and is aware of it, the same mistake won't be made again. Also, you asked why he didn't just search for her for days and say that his will isn't that weak. Let me just say this, Hit didn't have unlimited time there to find her like he would've one of his targets back in Universe 6. I could've sworn I made that clear at some point that there was only so long they could play that during the day before it had to be over.
In any case, once again, something like this won't be happening again. Now that Hit knows she can do that, and once he can use the Noah's unique sensing ability, he'll be too alert for a trick like this to be effective against him. Consider it a one and done deal that Hit learns from as he did in any experience where he was challenged.
Speaking of which, on with the chapter!
Noah's Hitman:
Chapter 8: Making gains.
The next day… Back in the rocky terrain…
"Alright Hit, time to begin the second part of our little training~." The Earl said jovially as usual, with his ever-present, toothy grin. His umbrella held in hand and propped casually on his shoulder.
Hit stood before him and nodded silently. His attire no longer that suit Road had stuffed him into, thankfully. Instead, it was more a simple black, sleeveless shirt with a pair of fitting, dark pants and boots to go along with it, courtesy of the Earl. All thoughts of what Road had told him the other day pushed to the back of his mind for now, as he focused on what his 'brother' had in store.
Said girl though was once again watching from a distance with interest, lazily swinging one of her legs back and forth as she sat atop one of the rock formations for a good view of the action.
"You did phenomenally well the other day. Better than anyone I've ever seen in how quickly you took control of your Dark Matter, and your effectiveness with your Noah ability seems to be coming along superbly well from what I saw. Truly first-class, I must say." The patriarch of their little family complimented him in earnest, his grin seeming to become just a bit more pronounced with pride, as he tipped his top-hat to him. "Now though, we'll begin on your blade, as well as some other things."
Hit nodded again in acknowledgement. "Alright. So where is it, then?"
"Heh, where is it, you say?" The Millennium Earl chuckled. "That's an easy one. It's within you Hit. Like with your Dark Matter, just call it forth and it'll appear~."
Just call it forth like his Dark Matter, huh? Fair enough.
Focusing inward, Hit called out to this blade the Earl spoke of just like he did his Dark Matter. His hands pre-emptively and subconsciously coming forward with fingers curling like they were going round a grip. No sooner had he do this did he feel a tug deep within and a surge of Dark Matter coming from near his hands. His attention came to it completely as a handlebar was now suddenly in the grip of his hands, which curved at its ends downward and left sharp edges as they connected to a wide, dark blade. The weapon in its entirety being almost three times wider than his waist.
Hit blinked upon seeing it, and despite the nostalgia that clearly came from his Noah side, he couldn't help but be taken aback at how… bizarre it was. He'd seen plenty of blades in his time, both from fellow assassins and otherwise, but he'd never seen a strangely made one like this before.
"You seem surprised, Hit. Penny for your thoughts?" Hit heard the Earl ask, and he had a feeling that the goblin-like patriarch knew what his thought process was just from his expression.
"Is this really it? Forgive me, Earl, but this doesn't look all that practical for a fight." Hit couldn't help but say, his experience as a warrior coming through, even if he was mainly just a melee fighter at heart.
Sure, it was long, and quite clearly sharp when it came to the blade itself, but no matter how good it felt in his hands, his warrior side couldn't deny that the weapon, just from a glance was incredibly awkward from a combat perspective. It appeared more like one of those unique knives that a cook used to chop up food, only it was just freakishly longer. How in the world was he even supposed to use this?
"I can see why you'd think that, Hit. Believe me, you're certainly not the first incarnation to have brought that up~." The Earl remarked with a knowing look, his glasses glinting as his beady amber eyes stared down at the 2nd apostle of his family. "Believe me when I say, it's not as awkward as it appears. Give it a few practice swings, and you'll see what I mean~."
"Okay…" Hit decided to just take his word for it for the moment, but still had his doubts on that. His legs bending slightly and spacing out a bit as he started to get into a stance. His mind running through some possibilities of what might be the best way to swing it. His arms initially coming around over his shoulder as he thought about a downwards slash. One hand slinking down near where the handlebar curved, while the other was closer to the middle, and in one swift motion that even with his new physiology, shouldn't have been possible for a child's body, cleanly thrust it downward. His other hand closer to the centre instinctually gliding down the handlebar as the blade swung down. The millennium-old hitman turned Noah child unsure if it was purely down to his battle instincts having crossed over, or a mix of that with his new Noah part that had his hand doing that. Regardless though, the blade came down all the way in front of the Earl as he hopped away laughing, missing him by a few inches as the edge of the blade on the opposite side of where he was holding bit into the ground first.
The instant it did, a shockwave burst forth from the force put behind it, as an arc of Dark Matter rushed out from it. The arc of energy cutting through the ground well passed where the blade had stopped and forming a trench stretching on for several hundred metres before the arc of energy collided with a rock formation. It then easily sliced right through it like a hot knife through butter and continued on further ahead cutting through multiple other rock formations until it seemed to either disappear into the distance or just dissipate after a while. An incredibly long chasm being left in its wake from where its path of destruction had gone off to. The rock formations that had been cut crumbling to the ground after being bisected, no longer able to hold themselves up. They became little more than rubble on the ground from the attack.
"Heh, that was a great swing, my boy. Especially considering that was your first try~." The Earl complimented. His pumpkin-headed umbrella opened wide as he whimsically floated back down to the ground a few feet away from where he'd initially been. "As I said, not as awkward as it looks now, is it? Feel free to give it a few more swings, if you still don't believe me~."
"No. That won't be necessary…" Hit replied calmly, feeling the instinctive reactions of his muscles. That first swing alone, with his battle-hardened, millennium-old mind, giving him all the convincing and information he needed with how his Noah body had reacted to it. Even though this was his first time using this kind of weapon, his vast experience in combat combined with whatever had passed over for the previous Noah incarnations to him was already giving him the exact ways in which his weapon was to be used. Both instinctively and mentally in his head as he thought this. Better efficiency would come with more practise, of course, but as of now, he could already feel he had the answer to his earlier question with just that one swing alone. Much like how he ended all of his assassination targets back in his old universe with just one blow. It was all that he needed for the moment.
There was a glint of something in the Earl's eye behind his spectacles when he heard that, and as if despite Hit's expression giving nothing away, the jolly, goblin-looking being had a look of pleased understanding. One that made it seem like he could tell the reason why and see right through him, which in this case, Hit wouldn't be surprised if he could. "Very well, then. Seeing as that's how you feel, I guess we'll move on to the real importance behind her sword. Because believe me, merely sending out destructive waves of Dark Matter would be underselling what this wonderful weapon is truly capable of~."
Hit didn't say anything as he easily lifted the blade up and placed the bottom side of it more comfortably at his side as he stood upright. Patiently waiting with curiosity for the Earl to launch into what he meant.
"The true purpose of your blade is to act as a conduit with which to more easily utilise your Noah ability." He immediately explained, tapping the top of the blade with the tip of his umbrella. "By harnessing it correctly, you can project your power out through it in a, shall we say, more intangible wave of Dark Matter at just about anything that you physically desire. Whether that be as solid as the ground we walk on, on the air we breathe, and with enough experience and control, even space and time themselves aren't out of the realm of possibility! Go ahead and try it there on that rock formation!" He exclaimed joyously while pointing towards the closest, yet un-touched, rock-formation roughly ten metres high. "I promise you you'll have your ability able to sway it a good deal faster and more efficiently than without~."
"Is that right…" Hit said lowly, catching on in particular to the part about him being able to affect space and time. Something that brought up the current absence of his most infamous ability back in his old days, with which multiple other time and space-based techniques derived from and was his personal favourite go-to in most situations. His time-skip. "Excuse me, Earl, but would you mind if I tried that function out with something other than rocks this time?"
"Sure, my boy. That's no problem at all. Provided, of course, that whatever you're thinking of trying it on, is something feasible for your current level~." The creator of Akuma nodded approvingly, before stepping – or rather, gliding – backwards to create some distance between them again, in case it was needed. His expression showing that he was more than curious to see what his fellow Noah would try to use the ability to Judge on.
A small, near unnoticeable smile came over Hit's features, as he let his Noah instincts take him along to a certain degree, pulling his new blade up and turning it sideways, so that his other hand could grip the handlebar as the sword was stuck in front of him at chest level. He had a feeling he wouldn't need the Earl to tell him exactly how to use his blade as a conduit, because like multiple other times, a part of him felt like he already knew the answer. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, and in a similar vein to how one would pump their Ki into a weapon, he did the same here with Dark Matter. The difference was, he called upon his Noah ability at the same time while doing this, feeling like that was the proper route to go, and was proven right when he felt the sword respond, in a near-sentient way to his will.
He'd imagine what he was about to try would've been out of the realm of possibility at the moment if he were just some regular child that'd become a Noah. However, even if done with a different energy source in his old life, he had many years of experience calling upon time-skip, as well as a solid understanding of how time and space functioned. There was a chance he might fail at first, given Dark Matter was different from Ki, but with this sword's help, provided what the Earl said was true, he doubted it would take him long to figure it out and bring back his old technique in some capacity. Perhaps not perfect, and certainly not at the level he'd gotten it to come the Tournament of Power, but simply just having it back and knowing he could do it here, even if using somewhat different mechanics, would be more than enough for now.
And so, putting all his focus into it, Hit centred his mind on the singular, all-encompassing target of time itself as his body torqued sideways, pulling the blade further back as he did so until it angled more by his side as it gave out a faint, dark-purple glow.
And then, he swung.
PERING! Hit's eyes lit up with a rare sense of joy when he heard that vague, but so familiar sound in his ears, along with the changing space that followed with it, as the area around him shifted into a more shattered glass-like appearance with the tint of purple. The trade-mark signification that his time-skip had, for the first time since he'd been reborn in this world, been activated!
The Millennium Earl's eyes widened meanwhile, as he too heard the faint noise of something that was hard for him to describe, and with it, he saw what Hit saw, as the entire area around him took on an entirely different visage. His bespectacled golden eyes swivelling around as he swerved his head about, for a brief moment genuinely in awe of the weird kind of beauty that the purple-tinted, shattered glass space that could be seen around him. He wasn't sure what was going on at first, until his eyes spotted a lone rock that'd been falling off one of the formations a good few metres away from him, totally suspended in the air. Not even the slightest hint of movement from it.
I-I can hardly believe it… The patriarch of the Noah family thought to himself in shock as the shattered-glass like area faded away not too long after, leaving the normal space around them once more, where the rock that'd been locked in stasis was now free to drop to the ground with an audible THUNK. The effect having scarcely lasted, in reality, all of about a tenth of a second, but it'd happened nonetheless! Hit actually managed to manipulate time!...
The Earl's stunned eyes couldn't have snapped unto their family's newest member faster, and saw the odd, almost nostalgic smile that'd crept over his normally more stoic features. No. He didn't just manipulate it, he managed to outright stop time on his first try, when most of his predecessors took months, sometimes even a whole year of training to merely slow it down!
Time and space, after all, were meant to be the hardest aspects of the physical world to manipulate in any real capacity. Particularly for the Judge, given how the 2nd apostle's power was supposed to work. And Hit, even if just for a short period, had accomplished one of the harder things the Judge of the Noah clan was capable of with their ability. Forcing time to halt.
"Hey! Lord Millennium! What just happened?" The leader of the Noah turned his attention over to Road in the distance, who'd cupped her hands around her mouth while shouting out to him. Even from the distance they were at though, the Earl was able to make out the look of genuine surprise and awe on the 9th apostle's face as she called out to him in particular. "I know you saw that too, right? What Hit did? Everything looked like shattered glass and was all purply just now. It looked really pretty!"
"Pretty?" Hit almost seemed to scoff upon hearing Road's exclamation, and at that point, the Earl blinked owlishly before beginning to chuckle. An action that garnered him a look from the young Noah that only made the Earl's chuckles turn into full-blown, almost hysterical laughter that managed to catch both his fellow Noah off-guard.
"Ahahahahahaha! You ask what he did, Road?" The Earl said in between his bouts of laughter, as he began to calm down. His face-splitting smile, were it even possible, would've been twice as large at this point giving how enthusiastic he'd now become. His pudgy body literally shaking like some kid in a candy store with excitement at what he'd just witnessed. "Our young brother here just used his Judge ability to stop time! And on his first try no less~!"
"Woah, wait, are you serious!?" Road sounded back in disbelief, her gaze swivelling firmly to her 'little brother' in astonishment and at this point, instead of remaining on the rock, she all but launched herself off. Despite how early going the training was, she quickly made her way down to where the two were, landing just a few feet behind Hit. "That's what that was?" She said, as Hit turned around to look at her, looking taken aback by just how floored she actually looked at the moment, as if unable to believe her ears. "Hit, did you really just do what Lord Millennium said? Did you actually just stop time?"
Perhaps I was a bit too hasty in wanting to see if I could reclaim my time-skip so soon. They both seem to be taking my ability to use that technique quite strongly. Hit almost wanted to call it overblown, but he was smart enough to read the room and decipher that what he'd just pulled off, using Dark Matter to initiate his time-skip, which was technically stopping time, was apparently something that should've been too advanced for him.
Or, it was supposed to be advanced for his new Judge ability, anyway, to the point where realistically, given their reactions, he no doubt shouldn't have been able to pull it off so early. He was a little curious as to why they were unaffected, especially given he'd gone for the time-halting effect rather than skipping forward in time. Though perhaps due to his new Noah instincts, he subconsciously saw them as allies, and thus didn't affect them. He could see that being the case.
"Oh, believe me Road, he did~." The Earl answered for him, his jovial voice full of more excitement than usual. His hand then extended out and patted down Hit's head, petting him like a father would a son in a proud, affectionate manner that earned an annoyed glare from the reborn ex-hitman od Universe 6. "You probably couldn't see it due to being as far out as you were, but there were rocks falling down from those formations over there," He motioned with his head to where he meant, allowing Road's gaze to follow. "which I saw clear as day suspended in time while Hit had that fancy little area affect up. Our newest brother has accomplished what took even his strongest predecessors' months to achieve in but a fraction of the time~!"
"Earl, can you quit it with the-" Hit started, trying to be polite, only to be unceremoniously wrenched away from the patriarch's incessant and irksome petting into something even more annoying. A near bone-crushing hug from his 'elder sister'.
"Oh, Hit, that's amazing!" She squealed, squeezing his head into her chest, and despite her diminutive body, he was certain if he were a regular child, the amount of pressure being applied would've splintered his skull. "Teehee! You really love to keep surprising us, don't you?"
What I'd 'love', is if you stopped hugging me like this… Hit thought grouchily, scowling partially as his vision was mostly obscured by the white of her dress as she, rather unnecessarily in his opinion, kept his face smothered into her chest.
"Must be his connection to his Noah memory." The Earl theorized while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It's possible he, despite his age, has a stronger bond with it than any of his past incarnations. And because of that, it's allowed him to achieve such a feat with his Noah ability much earlier than even I would've ever anticipated. Which means that…" The goblin-looking patriarch paused then, his jovial tone suddenly vanishing almost completely. "Which means that what he did to us back then may not have made things as rough as I'd first thought they'd be for the following generation…"
Road seemed to sense the immediate mood shift from the Earl even faster than he did, as her grip on him loosened before extricating herself from him. Her face maintaining a smile as she stood up straight, though it was clearly thinner and a lot less joyful than it'd been just a moment prior. "Well, that's a good thing, isn't it, Lord Millennium? If you ask me, I'd say this only proves that despite what happened, our family will grow back to be stronger than ever." She then glanced back down at him and giggled, as the Earl's mood seemed to shift away from where it'd gone with her words. "That is, if my little brother's awakening and swift progress with his powers is anything to go by~."
"Heh… You certainly have a point there, Road~." The Earl replied jovially, back to his usual demeanour in a flash. "Our latest family member's return and progress thus far could very well be an indicator for what lies in the future with his generation." Tipping his hat, the Earl turned his full attention back to the purple-haired Noah boy with a very eager look in his eyes. "And even if it isn't, just him alone showing such talent and progress is a good enough treat on its own. For if you're doing this well now Hit, I can only imagine how impressive you'll be when you've fully matured~."
Hit simply allowed them to believe the conclusions that they'd come to, as things were easier and simpler that way than having to bother with explaining his actual backstory. If he wasn't going to be pressed for it, then there was no need for him to ever bring it up. The same couldn't quite be said about the Earl's mood shifts however, which from the short time he'd been with them, looked like they could be a common occurrence. Or at least, given how swift Road was in handling it, common enough to where she'd gotten used to it.
"Hey, I just had an idea!" Road piped up again, raising a finger as though struck by a moment of genius. "Why don't you two have a spar!"
"A spar?" Earl parroted bemusedly, whilst Hit glanced in her direction with a raised, but intrigued brow.
Road nodded with enthusiasm. "Yeah. I know this isn't something you'd normally do, Lord Millennium. Especially not this early in one of our family's training. However, I'd say it'd be a good idea to make an exception here. After all, if Hit can show this much potential just from some instruction, imagine how rapid he might be if you got more hands-on in your approach?"
"Hmm…" The Earl began rubbing the underside of his elongated jaw in thought. "You have a point there. I guess I could. All depends on if our younger brother is willing to do it, though~?"
Road was quick to pass a look in his direction. One that urged him to agree, and it wasn't hard for Hit to see that she'd brought that up for more than just potentially pushing his training along more efficiently. It was practically written all over her face for the briefest of moments that she knew the Earl wasn't looking directly at her.
Roll with me here. Need to make sure the Earl's head is off any thoughts of the Fourteenth, she all but communicated, almost pleadingly to him, without the slightest bit of verbal relaying. A near total one-eighty from how she'd just acted a moment ago to the Earl.
Hit simply nodded in agreement. The 'young' Noah actually somewhat impressed internally that someone who seemed so childish most of the time could be that good at hiding her true emotions instead of wearing them on her sleeve like she tended to do, more often than not.
Regardless of the reasoning, this suited him just fine. The warrior side of him was actually rather excited at such an opportunity, given it was a great excuse to properly test his new powers and such out a proper, truly powerful foe.
Well, powerful for this world, anyway. "That'd be more than okay with me, Earl."
"Heh! Splendid." The patriarch nodded with a light laugh, seeming even more chipper. "Been quite a while since I've done that, so I might be a little rusty with things. I hope you don't mind if I end up being a little rough around the edges while we do this~."
"Not at all." Hit answered shortly with a small shrug. One of his hands instinctively slipping down into his pants pocket while the other clung to the handle of his new blade.
"Well, I'll just leave you two to it, then." Road waved, catching Hit's eye again with a discreet, thankful smile as she started walking away. One of her doors appearing just in front of her to be opened and then shut a second later with her inside. It disappearing in the blink of an eye as Hit turned his attention more towards the Earl, knowing that Road had likely just appeared back where she'd been before to watch them from a safe distance.
"So, how do you want to start?" The Earl asked him pointedly, as he began skilfully spinning his umbrella like a well-trained member of a circus. "Would you prefer I came at you first? Or do you want to be the one who starts~?"
Rather than say anything, Hit raised his blade up and got into a remarkably good fighting stance with his legs parted and centred correctly for a proper charge, while also giving more than enough leeway for a solid defence if needed with the position of his blade. Effectively leaving zero openings in his guard, which given how young he looked, most wouldn't have expected him to be capable of doing.
The Earl's grin simply brightened at this, somehow. The rotund being passing this off once again as his Noah battle instincts coming to the fore.
Then Hit pushed forward, only holding on to the blade with one hand still, as he swung the blade out for the Earl's neck fast enough to make both his arm and weapon blur.
The umbrella stopped spinning, the tip pointing in the direction the blade was swinging in from and clashing against the cold, hard steel and actually stopping it dead in its tracks with a small shockwave that blew dust and dirt away all around them. The force of the collision cracking the ground beneath the Earl's feet, and causing nearby rock formations to crumble from but a fraction of the force behind the actual clash.
"Heh. Going for the jugular right from the start, huh?" The Earl chuckled, not the least bit put off by such a vicious attack that was clearly meant to end the battle in a single strike. "Quite the hasty one, aren't you, Hit? Trying for a devastating one-blow finish like that, against your own kin. How brutal~."
Putting some bit of strength into his arm holding the umbrella, the Earl pushed back against Hit's blade, shoving it far off to the side and leaving the young boy open… Or so he thought.
Hit's other hand, which had previously been inside his pocket, flashed out in the blink of an eye, fist already clenched and to the Earl's eyes, with one knuckle protruding out further than the rest as he punched straight in an angle aimed for the Noah patriarch's chest.
Normally, given the size difference, such an attack would've hit nothing but the air in front of the stout, grinning, goblin-looking entity. To the Earl's surprise however, what looked to be a purple, hyper-focused shockwave of Dark Matter launched right out from his fist, barrelling directly for his exposed chest.
It would've landed too, had the Earl not been able to bring his other gloved hand up at the last possible second, glowing lightly with Dark Matter of his own, and blocking the focused attack. The shockwave dispersing shortly after making contact, but hitting hard enough to where, admittedly while holding back a great deal, pushed the leader of the clan back a good couple of feet. Shallow trenches being dug into the ground the distance he'd been forced back.
"Well, I didn't see that coming~." The Earl said, ever-present grin maintained, but an impressed look in his eyes once more as he stared down at Hit, who already looked to be readying for his next attack.
So, it's still possible to use that technique as well. Meanwhile, though his face was a stony mask, inwardly, Hit was both pleased and disappointed with his follow-up attack, as he launched forward again. Pleased because he knew his old fighting technique, like time-skip, could still be done, and disappointed because it was subpar compared to what it'd been before with ki. That could be corrected though. Would have to be. It being visible to his opponent defeated most of the purpose of it in the first place, after all.
CLING! "Ohoh!" The Earl let out a hearty exclamation, as he twirled to the side, stepped back quite gracefully, given his size, and used the tip of his umbrella to block another swing from Hit's blade as he swung it in an arc launching himself closer again. "That's good, Hit! Very good, indeed. You're a natural~!"
Hit was quick to notice the Earl made to finally retaliate, as he knocked his latest swing away, and immediately narrowed his eyes, calling upon his power of the Judge on the ground beneath the older being's feet. The Earl's eyes then narrowed too, and aborted whatever retaliatory attack he may've gone for, in place of jumping back high to avoid the sudden shifting of the earth, and the sharp, rocky spike that shunted up from the soil, jutting up a good seven feet in height.
Hit, with his old mind for battle, had anticipated this, and attempted his earlier shockwave punch again. This time focusing on it more and pulling it to his will more, as it fired out like a pressurized bullet, phasing through the upper section of the earth spike he'd made, and hurtling directly toward the air-born Earl at high velocity.
Once again though, it was visible, and the Earl showed little issue bringing his gloved hand up in front of him, radiating with Dark Matter to block. This time with a small bit more effort so as to stop himself being launched back as it struck and dispersed around his palm.
Of course, Hit had anticipated this too, and with the time allotted to him now, he swung the sword he had out and sent an intangible wave of Dark Matter out over the area, knowing precisely what he wanted to try and enforce his will on.
For a brief instant, the Earl expected Hit to try and freeze time on him for an advantage, given he'd shown the amazing capacity to pull that off already with his blade's help. Instead, however, the Earl found himself getting completely suspended and locked in place several metres off the ground, with even the smallest of movements being tightly restricted, while time very clearly kept going normally.
"My, my. Enforcing your will on the air to keep me in place, eh~?" The patriarch recognised almost immediately what was actually happening right now, as Hit prepared for a follow-up swing, now that he seemingly had no way to defend himself. Talk about adaptation to a foe on the fly! He was so young, but already capable of setting up a scenario to his advantage in combat, despite to his knowledge, having no prior experience with this lifetime at all.
There had been no settling in like with the previous ones. Toraido's latest incarnation was showing high level combative thinking with his abilities from the word go, and even more of a glimpse into his incredible potential that may well surpass any other before him by a great deal. Road had been correct. Just from this alone, it was becoming more clear to him that with the proper initiative here, Hit could end up being on a completely different level above that of his predecessors.
Heh, in that case, it is time to take this little spar a bit more seriously, for his sake~! The Earl thought giddily, as he witnessed Hit swing his blade out again, sending a wide, horizontal arc of Dark Matter energy zooming toward his suspended form.
Raising his power up higher, The Earl let out an exaggeratedly loud grunt of exertion, as he pushed his Dark Matter out, using brute force to dispel the controlled air keeping him locked in place. His right hand then lit up with a sphere of concentrated Dark Matter that filled up his entire palm, and flung it down toward the swiftly approaching arc of energy, meeting it somewhere close to the middle. The collision causing a hefty explosion as the energy-based attacks struck and cancelled each other out, creating a gust of air and light shockwave around the area as a dark smoke-screen was put up from it, keeping both hidden from the other's view.
Hit, not all that stunned by the Earl's escape, kept eyes swivelling on the lookout through the dark cloud in that small moment afterward for the Earl to come back down, knowing that a counter-attack was imminent. He did not immediately move to get rid of the air-born cloud of darkness created, as it only obstructed his view of the Earl's position in the air, and not of anywhere else around him, and doing such would only leave him more open to a quick counter-blow that he possibly could've otherwise avoided.
Just then, his instincts screamed at him to duck as he felt a slight shift in the air behind him, and was only that that allowed him to avoid getting his skull cracked by a heavy swing from the Earl's umbrella, which kicked up an enormous burst of air from the momentum behind it. The tool, which Hit wondered what it was made from, sailing dangerously over his head in a total blur that his eyes could barely keep track of, as it just missed its target.
"Ah, good dodge, my boy~!" The Earl praised, holding his umbrella like it was a baseball bat and he was the batter, as Hit turned and leapt away from him as fast as possible. "But I'm not done yet, so get ready~!"
Whatever distance Hit had managed to create between them was made null, as the creator of Akuma's massive form shot forth far faster than his size would bely, this time holding his umbrella like a lance, as he thrusted it forward, piercing the meagre distance between the sharper tip and Hit's face in no time at all!
Having no time to dodge, Hit settled for bringing the flat of his own blade up to block it. The umbrella strike coming in with such force, that it made him grunt with exertion as the bones in his arms rattled with the vibrations that passed over it. His heels digging light trenches in the dirt as his body was shoved back by the attack, going out a good ten metres from where he'd been before his momentum began to slow.
Hit wasn't given the luxury of being allowed to stop though, as the Earl pressed him immediately, launching himself forward with even greater speed than before, his body a literal blur to the brief glance the younger Noah got over his blade. The younger fighter's amber orbs snapping to the side to look behind him in alarm, as the Earl had once again taken his back, with his umbrella held above his head this time for a downward thrust.
Thinking quick, Hit used the remaining momentum from the Earl's previous attack on him to recline backward quicker, once again bringing up the flat of his blade for another blow, and bracing himself for the coming impact.
The Earl's eyes behind his spectacles glinted at this, as he brought his umbrella down with a ferocious swing. The mostly blunt weapon slamming down hard unto Hit's sword with such power, that a loud CLANG resonated out through the area, as the ground beneath the two of them cratered several feet deep and shook the earth surrounding them.
Hit grit his teeth as the blow and the Earl bared down on him with their weight, arms shaking once more, both in pain from defending against such a strike, and also from the vibrations sent out. His spine tingling as he managed to keep himself on his feet, despite his reclined and unsavoury position blocking the Earl's swing.
"Ohoh! You're holding up quite well against this amount of pressure, my boy! Very well done!" The Earl cheered with a joyful tone, even as he pushed down harder on him, trying to force him off balance. The downward force cracking the cratered ground beneath Hit's feet. "I thought for sure that that level of attack would've smacked you off your feet, but once again, you've exceeded my expectations~!"
Strangely, instead of pressing down further on him, the Earl removed his pressure on him by pulling away and leaping back. Though confused by this, Hit still took the reprieve for what it was, shifting himself into a straighter and a far less awkward position while leaping back to create further distance between them, as his gaze fixed unto the Earl.
"Alright. I think that was good enough leg-stretcher, don't you?" The Earl asked both jollily and rhetorically, as though all they had been doing up to this point, was limbering up. "Now that I've got a bit of a feel for this again," Bringing his umbrella out in front of him horizontally, the Earl's gloved hand latched on to the uppermost portion of it while still grasping the lower section right above where it hooked, as though grasping the shaft of a sword and a sheathe with which to pull it out. "I'd say it's about time that I took this spar of ours a little more seriously~."
Then, before Hit's watchful eyes, a dark miasma encircled around the space just above the Earl's lower hand, as he pulled back on the handle of the umbrella, which rapidly changed shape, the fabric and pumpkin ornament of the umbrella vanishing inside of the miasma. What came out the other end, with a straighter handle, was the broad body of an enormous, dark-silver sword with the shape of a cross almost engraved on to its steely frame, as the blade protruded outward by about five feet in height, and was about as wide as the average person.
A sudden sense of déjà vu overtook him briefly, as he recognised it, no doubt through his Noah side. Though this time, he stilled, as a ghostly, fleeting pain fell over his chest out of nowhere. One that brought with it a brief surge of anger as an image of someone that felt familiar but distant being stabbed through flashed through his mind as though it were a fresh memory.
"Here I come~!" The Earl almost sang aloud, as his stout form shot forward, raising his blade up and gripping the handle with both hands, as he closed the distance between them again in the blink of an eye.
Snapping back to reality immediately, the image phased away from his mind and the anger simmered, but did not fully leave his subconscious as Hit saw the Earl rush him. The latter's attack never going through, as Hit pushed away any questioning thought on what he'd just felt and managed to make use of his Judge ability on the ground below the Earl again, with the time he'd been granted. Only this time when he enforced his will on it, it was to get it to protrude out with multiple earthy tendrils that wasted little time wrapping around the Earl's arms, legs and waist, stopping him in place just a foot away from the smaller combatant.
Then, seemingly before the Earl had time to say or do anything in response, Hit clenched his fist and thrust it forward for the third time, the tips of his knuckles smacking into the Earl's bulky belly right as the Dark Matter-fuelled shockwave struck home.
"Oof!" The patriarch grunted more comically than painfully, as the focused attack burst through his back with a warped BRRAM and a thin beam of purple light, which fizzled away just as his bulky frame was sent flying back. The earthy bonds that'd been holding him in place before then crumbling to the ground as his body sailed away.
He wasn't flying back for long though, as with a remarkable sense of bodily control, the Earl backflipped in mid-air and hopped off the ground as soon as his feet touched the ground again. His signature laugh rising out of him as his feet touched against a close-by rock formation, and shattered it into pieces with a burst of air as he used it as a springboard. His form shooting toward Hit's again at twice the speed it had before!
Hit's eyes widened at this, but he maintained his composure rather than panic, and just about managed to raise his own blade up in time, with both hands gripping it to meet the swing of the Earl's heavy blade smashing down on it. The collision rending the ground beneath him yet again with a hefty shockwave and gust of wind, another crater forming several metres deep beneath the two as Hit's arms almost buckled completely. His feet only just managing to dig into the ground and stop himself from being flung far away by the brutish belabour.
"Ehehehehe!" Steel scraped over steel, sparks beginning to fly as the two weapons grated against the other for dominance, as both Hit and the now, yet again laughing Earl, held their ground. The former with notably more effort and exertion than the latter. "That was a good counter there, Hit, and an even more impressive block. However…"
Pain flared up suddenly in Hit's gut, the air being driven from his lungs, as the Earl managed to disengage from their sword clash, and in the blink of an eye, thrust his boot out and slammed it into the smaller Noah's midsection before he could react. The blow curling Hit's small frame over the large boot, before his body was sent rocketing back, a sonic boom sounding off behind him after the fact, as he crashed into and through numerous rock formations one after the other. His shooting body breaking and crumbling them to pieces until he bashed into the dozenth one on his way, crumbling it over on top of him as his momentum finally stopped.
"That's still not good enough, I'm afraid! It was a good try though~." Bringing his foot back to the ground, the Earl's ever grinning face tilted down, as his gaze fell over where he'd smacked Hit too, keeping his eyes zoned in for any movement, for he doubted that one kick alone would do the boy in.
Meanwhile, Road, from her vantage point, whistled at how hard the Earl had just smacked their new brother away. "Wow. Lord Millennium got you good there, Hit!" She then grinned wider as she propped her hands on her slim hips and looked out mainly towards where her 'younger brother' had just been buried under debris. "I wonder how you'll respond to that, little brother? Do you have what it takes to stand against our Lord Millennium at this level, or is this going to be a bit too much for you, right now?"
It didn't take long for the answer to that to get revealed, as the rubble where Hit had been buried under shifted. The larger rocks being shoved out of the way and hitting the ground with an audible THUD each, revealing the purple-haired Noah underneath, who steadily rose to his feet in a somewhat hunched over position. The 'boy' looking scuffled, but unharmed for the most part, outside of the gut being held by a hand, where he could feel a harsh bruise had formed. His other hand maintaining its grip on his blade all the while.
"Ready to continue, my boy?" The Earl called out to him with a tilt to his head. "Or would you prefer we stopped this little spar here, before you get anymore hurt~?"
"Hmph. Stop this after you got one good hit in?" Hit scoffed. Regardless of being in a child's body or not, such a line of thought was genuinely insulting to his warrior spirit. "You shouldn't underestimate me like that."
"Hehe! I can see the fire in your eyes from here, my boy~!" Holding his blade by his side with a casual, open guard, the Noah family leader all but dared his younger family member to attack him. The air he gave off coming across more like a clown waiting for the right moment to do his next trick, as opposed to the seasoned fighter that Hit's eyes could tell he was. "Well then, what are you waiting for? Feel free to come at me with all you've got~!"
If you insist. Was Hit's thought, as a thin aura of Dark Matter coalesced over his frame in a similar fashion to how his ki used to, as he raised his blade above his head, and swung it down with a mighty WHOOSH! A vertical arc of dark energy firing forth and carving through the ground to form a fissure, kicking up a dust cloud on its speedy pace toward the stationary Earl, who didn't look the least bit concerned.
"Better, but still not quite~!" The Earl didn't bother using his sword to retaliate. Settling for outstretching a hand and firing off a dark energy blast liker earlier, which met the arc in the middle and caused an explosion that decimated the nearby rock formations that'd been previously unharmed for the most part. Yet more dust getting kicked up into a cloud after the debris from the destroyed rocks had jettisoned out in various directions.
For a second, the Earl fully expected the Noah family's latest progeny to come charging out of the cloud straight at him. Instead, the cloud of dust and dirt began to shift and move toward him like a rolling haboob during a sandstorm in the desert. The cloud falling over him from all directions like a running tide with its thick, smoky hide, obscuring his vision completely to anything that wasn't a few feet in front of him.
Ah, kicking up a cloud of dust to cover his movements. Good thinking! The Earl thought with pride, especially given it was a tactic he'd employed earlier in a lesser form, as he saw the use of the environment pitted against him for an advantage. His mind clicking and realising Hit must've enforced his Judge ability on it to make it move like this, despite the conditions in here not allowing for a cloud of anything to move how it'd done. Against an exorcist or someone else, this'd work for quite the camouflage to hide whatever it is you're doing. However, against a member of the family…
There was an ever so slight shift within the dust cloud to the Earl's left, which under normal circumstances, would've tipped any watchful eyes off of an attack coming in from there. Instead, without even thinking about it, the Earl ignored it and instead turned to his right, where he swiftly swung his blade down just as Hit's swung up from the side. The two sharp weapons clashing yet again with enough force to crater the ground beneath them once more, and completely blow away the dust cloud that had been surrounding them.
"What…?" Hit grunted out gruffly in surprise, as sparks scraped off their blades grating against each other yet again, before the smaller Noah bounced back a few metres, disengaging from the sword bind with the bigger being.
"Behehehe! Probably wondering how I saw through your little trick, aren't you?" With a clownish chortle, the Noah patriarch heaved his massive blade up, casually – and some would say foolishly – propping it on his shoulder like he had his umbrella, leaving himself wide open once more for an attack. "Suppose now's as good a time as any to let you know this so you don't get too confused, but we of the Noah clan have the innate ability to sense where our fellow family members are, no matter how close, or far away they may be~."
We do, huh? Hit had to stop himself from showing visible annoyance at that nugget of information, as his body tensed. The feeling he'd known he could do that from his Noah side all along surfacing only just then. Shame it hadn't done so earlier, because if it had, he probably could've avoided that dreadful tea party with Road.
Even still, he could do with knowing that for future reference. Like in case Road somehow managed to drag him into another childish game of hide-and-seek with a wager on the line, or something. "Mind telling me how to use it then, Earl?"
"Not at all. Although, you won't need me to tell you much for it, Hit~!" Rather than attack him back right away, the Earl's free hand glowed as he shot a sphere of condensed Dark Matter into the ground, shattering its earthy surface in an explosion that forced Hit to jump back, lest the after-effect knock him off balance. Another dust cloud forming and blocking Hit's view of the Earl.
The patriarch then spoke up again, his cheery voice resonating out as Hit's eyes flickered about instinctively, looking for any disturbances in the cloud of dust that quickly enveloped him. "For members of our family, feeling the presence of one another is almost as natural as breathing is. Just focus inward, Hit. Your instinct as one of us will do the rest~!"
His Noah instinct would do the rest, huh? It was that simple?
"You have about until this little cloud of dust I kicked up is gone to find me with it. I'll refrain from attacking you until then, so don't worry about me throwing a cheap shot your way~."
Though a slight bit annoyed by the babying, Hit just accepted the small reprieve for what it was, as he closed his eyes. His focus drawing inward just as the Earl had instructed him, giving a vaguely nostalgic feeling of his early days in Universe 6 when he'd first been learning how to use ki.
Not even a moment later, his ashen brow creased as he felt an almost ghostly prick within, and he felt something spring to life within him, as though it'd been patiently awaiting his call this whole time. Like a sixth sense, if you will, which had previously been dormant up to now, it flipped on like a light switch as soon as he'd searched within for the ability.
Just as the Earl had said, it took no further effort on his part from there. No real stretching out of his senses like he'd have done with ki. It was as automatic as you could get as soon as he'd coaxed it, an almost ethereal tingle falling over him, as he felt the presences of both the Earl and Road around him much more distinctly than he ever had prior. The latter, without even looking, he just knew for certain was back on the spot she'd been at before, as he'd suspected. And as for the former…
Amber eyes snapping open again, Hit's gaze instantly shifted over about ten metres to the east of where the Earl had previously been, just as the huge dust cloud began to subside. His glare firmly fixed on the round form of the head of his new clan, who stared back and chortled once more, seeing that Hit had found him.
"See? What'd I tell ya, my boy? It's as simple as that~." He said jovially, able to tell from the way he was looked at alone that Hit got it on the first try. As expected, as this point. He'd have honestly been far more shocked if he'd failed that, given how quickly he'd picked up far harder things so far.
"Now then… where were we~?" With that slight tangent out of the way now, the Earl's elongated mouth somehow managed to stretch taut into an even larger grin that looked downright cartoonish, as he burst forward similar to a speeding bullet. The distance closed in no time again, as he savagely swung his huge blade down, forcing Hit, who'd seen the charge coming this time, to leap back, narrowly avoiding the cleaving blow. One that bit into and tore the earthy floor asunder in a full arc that saw the Earl's body twist in the air with it cutting a massive gash through the ground.
Tch. He's even more agile than he was before! Hit thought, sensing that the Earl was picking up the pace from before, as the broad-bodied clan leader twirled a near 360 degrees, before one of his feet touched off the ground again with his sword raised over his shoulder, and produced another sonic boom behind him. The sound trailing behind his stout form along with the shredded debris of the ground where he'd launched from as he charged him with enough intensity to make a bull blush.
The spar had effectively recommenced from there, and Hit only narrowly avoided the downward slash the Earl sent his way that cleaved another fissure in the ground, before attempting to retaliate with a slash of his own. One that got repelled by a well-placed Dark Matter wave propulsion from the larger Noah's gloved hand, as he quickly pulled it away from his own blade to intercept the counter, forcing Hit back and further unto the backfoot as the Earl got back to pressing him.
His attacks were ruthless, giving Hit no quarter and forcing him to make the best use of every muscle he could in his diminutive form to avoid, and on occasion, block his powerful sword swings. The kind that were so strong, that if Hit's body weren't enhanced, would've crumpled him up and killed him just from the vibrational after-effect of a collision between their blades, let alone the impact itself that had his bones shaking and muscles screaming at him.
Hit did his best to throw in his own attacks when possible. Usually, a combination of his new ability put into use on the ground or air again to aid in keeping the Earl pinned down, though they were always blocked in one way or another. He wasn't given the time to focus his power enough through the blade to utilize his time-skip during any of these altercations though, for the Earl was simply too swift on his reactions and counterattacks for Hit to pull out his trademark and favourite technique.
"Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Now this is entertainment!" He heard Road cheer loudly in the distance as this went on. "Go get him Lord Millennium! Show him what you've got, little brother!" The young-looking girl shouted out fervently, hooting and hollering every time he or the Earl threw a blow at one another and carved up the area. Her tone alone making it clear how much she was enjoying the action from her seat well away. Though he found it annoying, Hit simply tuned her out for the most part, as if his attention slipped for even a fraction of a second, he may just get belaboured into unconsciousness with how much force was being put into the Noah patriarch's attacks at this point.
And in that vein, he did what he could with what he could during the Earl's relentless assault, for however many minutes this dragged on. For the most part however, the spar essentially became a test of endurance and survivability from then on for the reborn assassin against the Earl's onslaught, where his reflexes and reactions were pushed to their utmost limits just to avoid taking a heavy blow. The area around them getting progressively more torn apart, until the whole area for as far as Hit could see looked like it'd been through a natural disaster or two, with all the ripped up and fissured chunks of earth, as well as the numerous craters that dotted the landscape.
Even with his new body now being superhuman, that didn't mean he didn't have a limited pool of stamina. Hit could feel the exhaustion creeping in quick as sweat poured off his ashen skin, dripping from his temple and stigmata. His grip on his blade having to be kept extra tight to ensure it didn't slip off from all the perspiration he was undergoing throughout each passing moment dodging and blocking the Earl's strikes and throwing back what few of his own he could manage.
Eventually though, what was becoming clearer to Hit, was that his advanced level of progression had indeed passed over with him to some extent. As even though the pace was insanely taxing on his new body right now, instead of folding outright, his body and senses were steadily adapting to it. His sore, aching muscles across his body pushing themselves further to meet the challenge being presented.
Then, after being pushed back from one of the Earl's sword thrusts, Hit's senses had adapted enough to the insane pace, even if he was getting tired, that he was able to zone in and focus more than ever. His mind realising that he had two choices then, as he saw the Earl, who looked as fresh as a daisy still, rapidly approach like a blurring freight train with what looked to be his strongest attack yet. Either dodge again, as attempting to physically block the incoming attack given his tiredness didn't seem like a good idea, or take a risk and try to gain an advantage with his Judge ability.
The former was the safer option, obviously, but he knew how much his body had wound down at this point, and doing that would only continue the repetitive cycle that had started a while ago, until he fully ran out of the little stamina he had remaining and was forced to bow out. The latter option against the significantly more serious Earl would be more challenging, and as a result, would feel more rewarding to him if he pulled it off. And if it didn't, what did it really matter if he took the risk on this occasion? Considering this wasn't a true battle to the death or anything like that, he wouldn't have to worry about a mistake costing him his life or anything like that, like his error in judgement during the Tournament of Power with Jiren had, until the Zen-Ohs had seen fit to grant him a mercy.
When put like that, the decision became clear for him.
Mind made up and making sure to enforce the belief that the Earl was a foe rather than an ally, Hit's body whirred into action and swiped his blade out in front of him, projecting out his Dark Matter in the fraction of a second that he had left before the Earl was on top of him. The intangible wave that burst forth expanding out into the area in an instant, passing over the Earl harmlessly as he came up within mere feet of him with his sword raised just over the ground for a one-handed, vertical slice.
PERING!
The area around them once again became overlayed with what looked like purplish, shattered glass. And just like that, the Earl's movement, along with everything else other than Hit, ground to a halt. Becoming frozen in time for the briefest moment.
Smirking slightly in pride at being able to accomplish a more successful time-skip that seemingly stopped the patriarch cold this time around, the ex-hitman of Universe 6 didn't waste the opportunity he'd now granted himself. His dark aura coating both his body and his blade as he reversed his grip on it, and swung it back the other way with as much power and speed as his muscles could push out, intending to send the Earl flying with a Dark Matter energy blast that would shoot out upon contact with his frozen foe.
At the last possible second before impact though, Hit's eyes caught sight of movement by the Earl's side as the wave of Dark Matter slammed into him through his swung sword. A loud BANG echoing out as his time-skip phased away, as if on cue, with the attack crashing into the bigger Noah, and sending his bulk frame careening back at speeds far greater than what the average human eye could perceive. The Dark Matter attack blasting him through the crumbled remains of rock formations before smashing him through ones further out that had been much less effected by the spar's collateral damage, eventually ending with a strong, visible explosion off in the distance.
Hit's eyes watched it as it went off like a miniature nuke, shaking the ground around him and sending out a shockwave that passed over and very nearly knocked his exhausted body over, were it not for him planting his weapon down into the ground in front of him to stabilise himself. The debris from fallen rock formations being blasted past him as well, as though they were shrapnel from an exploding grenade, smashing into the landscape various degrees of distance behind him like pellets of torrential, rocky rain.
A bit too flashy for his tastes, but his attack had been effective in smacking the Earl away, and that's all that really mattered to him.
"Woah! Talk about a climax!" Road's girly voice rung out excitedly, as Hit heard her feet lightly drop down again just a few metres away from, before his ears picked up the sound of her footsteps toward him. His amber pools snapping to her coming in from his side. A giddy smile stretching over her lips near ear-to-ear as she clapped her hand over his back, almost making his body stumble off balance again were it not for him using his planted blade as a crutch. "That was nicely done, Hit. Had me entertained the whole way~!"
"Ngh…" Hit merely groaned, controlling his heavy breathing as he fell to a knee and got what rest he could. "And who told you… the spar was over… Road?"
"Oh, nobody! I have eyes though, little brother. You're breathing heavy, drenched in sweat, and are so spent that you'd rather take a knee than keep standing, while using your weapon as a crutch, no less." Road immediately pointed out without missing a beat, raising a finger on one of her hands with each observation she made about him.
Hmm... Perceptive. Hit sighed, his breathing almost fully under wraps, as he chose not to argue with her. She was pretty much spot on, after all. He was pretty much running on fumes, at this stage, and if the Earl came charging back in again, he knew well he wouldn't be able to react well enough to dodge right now. Plus, there was only so much being able to employ his Judge ability on him in any way would amount to by now other than a slight hindrance for the plump patriarch, if he didn't have the energy to try and capitalize on it.
"Practise is over, Hit. You've already done more than enough to impress on us, believe me." The young-looking, punk-rock girl then turned her attention towards the cloud of smoke that'd formed in the distance, where the Earl had been sent to, and shouted out. "Isn't that right, Lord Millennium?"
"Behehehe!" The Earl's trademark laughter resounded out, as his bulky frame burst forth from atop the dispersing cloud of smoke. "Right, you are there, Road. Right, you are~! He replied jubilantly while air-born, one hand clenched and swung back while his legs shifted apart, one forward, the other back, like some cartoon character trying to walk weightlessly on air. His body soon landing with surprising lightness and elegance on the ground no less than a metre away from the two. His sword having at some point turned back into the umbrella, or perhaps magically re-sheathed inside would be the better terminology there, as he nonchalantly had it propped over his shoulder in one hand.
Outside of a few dirt and scuff marks on his suit from fallen debris, he was pretty much spotless and unharmed by Hit's final attack. With the only mark that showed he'd even been struck by the attack itself, being the small tear on the glove of the hand not holding the umbrella. A clear sign to Hit that he had in fact moved during his second time-skip still, and blocked the blow sent his way at the last possible second. Even still, it was a testament to how sturdy he really was, and just how much power he'd actually been holding back the entire time for the spar, that a small tear on fabric was all his attack managed, outside dirtying his suit.
The creator of Akumas' gaze then turned firmly to Hit. Eyes shining with unbidden pride. "That was a truly splendid performance, my boy! Especially given that was your first real taste of combat. Your bond with your Noah memory is certainly much greater than I anticipated, for combined with what must be innate talent, your technique out there, even in the face of overwhelming odds, was damn near flawless. Heck, I doubt the original Toraido himself could've done as good as you did there under the same conditions~!"
High praise for his efforts, plus the convenient excuse of Toraido, his Noah side, being mainly responsible for what he'd demonstrated, rather then the real truth, which was mostly his experience from his old life crossing over. Hit accepted it for what it was all the same.
"Hehe, that'll definitely be it for today though. Road put it best, my boy. You're too exhausted to go any further without hurting yourself unnecessarily, and I think you know that too. So, feel free to take the rest of the day off and rest, Hit. You'll certainly need it after the workout you just got~."
"Rest isn't the only thing he'll need." Road plugged her nose between her finger and thumb, and stuck out her tongue with a childishly exaggerated 'bleugh' sound. "You could do with a bath right now to wash off that stench, little brother. You reek!"
Hit only rolled his eyes at her words as the Earl let out another hearty laugh. She wasn't wrong though. After something that strenuous, a good wash would be a great way to ease the tension in his tired, aching muscles, and get rid of the grime and sweat he'd accumulated simultaneously.
"Heh. Well, that settles it then. I'll order one of my Akuma to get the bath ready for you, Hit, and a few others to begin preparing dinner for us. That little spar of ours has left me quite famished, after all~!"
"Will we get plenty of ice-cream for dessert too?" Road was quick to ask excitedly, mind already on one of her favourite sweet treats.
"Well, after the performance Hit just gave, I'd say a reward for his efforts is in order. So, yes Road, expect there to be plenty of it~."
"Awesome!" The Noah girl hooted joyously, pumping her fists in the air celebratorily, as though she'd just accomplished a great feat.
While her mind was on dessert though, Hit's moved back to something else. He hadn't realised it at first, but the Earl's sword's disappearance brought with it an unmistakable easing of tension within him, as well as the complete loss of the remaining anger he'd felt within. A realisation that had Hit wondering why that was, as his Noah side seemed to associate it with someone else other than the Earl who was its current wielder, and clearly not in any good way. Quite like whenever a certain Noah from years past got brought up.
"Hey Earl." The hitman reborn spoke up, garnering his quarry and Road's attention, as rather than simply ruminate on it, Hit decided to satiate that nagging curiosity he felt and just ask him about it. "Before that happens, there's something I need to ask."
"Oh?" Now the Earl looked curious too. "And what would that be, my boy?"
"That sword of yours…" Pushing himself back up to his feet, Hit questioned briefly if he should even bother doing this right now, but quickly settled on the stance that he should. That imagery, as well as that anger that had come over him so suddenly couldn't quite be ignored. "If you could, would you mind telling me where you got it from?"
"Where I… got it from…?" The Earl stilled. His happy demeanour collapsing faster than an uneven tower of cards at the question, and Road's wasn't far behind, snapping back to the patriarch with evident worry, as his eyes seemed to stare out past Hit. The younger Noah's question seemingly taking him out of reality, as he looked toward something that wasn't there. Looking like he'd become lost in his thoughts, as a familiar pain and melancholy settled over him.
Hit knew then and there he'd set off a powder keg, when the previously jolly 'man' began to shed tears down his cheeks, and suddenly look like he was only one step away from a mental breakdown there and then. The name of a man he'd been told of before, and asked by Road not to bring up around the Earl, passing unbidden and shakily through the elder Noah's elongated maw. Almost as though they were standing right in front of him, there and then. An ethereal ghost haunting him from beyond the grave.
"Neah…"
AND CUT!
That's the end of that one. I know what I said at the end of the previous chapter, however, due to some external things like college and other fics, etc, I've made a bit of a change due to time constraints. This will still be the last, full chapter where Hit's body is this young. The first section of the next chapter will have the final bit with him at this age, before we shift over with a timeskip, which yes, is still coming as promised in the next. Just not the exact way I initially intended, lol.
Hope you guys are okay with this. The plot shall begin moving along soon, and as for those of you who actually have read/watched D. Gray Man, you'll know what's to come with the Earl soon enough. What you won't though, is what I intend to do with Hit and where I intend to take the plot of this after a certain point, because believe me, this whole story isn't just gonna be the original DGM plot with a reborn Hit thrown in there. Oh no. I got some plans for this shit, alright!
In any case, hope you all got some enjoyment out of this one, and I'll see you all in the next chapter of this, which will be out somewhere in April, given how steep my workload for college may end up getting, and already kinda is, combined with the other fics I'm working on.
