A deafening roar bellowed from above as the near-hundred-foot-tall behemoth raised one of his black gauntlets. He swung it downwards to attack Craig, and in response, the false swordsman tucked himself in and tumble-rolled ahead, avoiding the hand from above. Craig then pivoted and opened up his jaws. With a harsh snarl, he crouched and sprung upwards. He latched onto the muscular arm and crawled on all fours up the long gauntlet, reaching the bare skin at the elbow, which was purple.
Essence snarling, in Craig's opinion, was considered a good sign.
He pulled out his dark red sword and brought it back. "Hrah!" With a harsh shout, he stabbed into Essence's bare elbow, making the huge monster roar at the sharp stinging sensation running through his joint.
Craig then saw an incoming second hand with claws on that gauntlet as well. He hurried and plucked the dark red sword out and took a big leap away as the swipe missed its mark. Craig landed on the ground and slid back several feet. When he regained himself, he took to a lunge again and swiftly charged after Essence, heading right for the legs.
Essence lowered his head and his demonic mouth opened up. A dark seal was spotted and converged into a purple ball. The ball in his mouth then erupted, firing a compressed beam of dark energy at Craig. Craig saw the incoming attack but was able to maneuver well around the trailing force. The beam made a ground-shaking explosion that looked like a small dome behind Craig.
"Have this!" Drawing another sword, Craig crossed them and made them look like a giant pair of scissors. "Scissor Runner!"
He passed the large monster's ankles, snipping with his swords like a pair of scissors. The skillful slicing left small scratches on the ankles armor, but no actual damage was implied.
Craig looked back behind his shoulder to see the damage was hardly dealt with. "I knew you were stronger from before. This is far from simple."
Essence turned around to glower at Craig with his massive demonic face. At the same time, he looked annoyed and angry, but those sharp teeth and yellow eyes showed a smirk. The beast was aware of Craig himself and had remembered how he had been defeated before. Essence snarled back down at him, challenging his will to fight on.
Craig grunted and retreated his two swords. "Looks like I gotta go bare-handed…something you can't seem to stand if I recall."
Swallowing a lump for the umpteenth time, Craig was towered by the mighty Essence. He could feel a maleficent dark power resonating from the massive giant from outside the ruins of what was Amaren's huge castle. He had dilating eyes swelling with anxiety with a beating heart.
Essence's yellow eyes cascaded down towards him. He looked at Craig, but the oddest feature was that it looked as though he was looking at some insect, or some sort of small creature that had some form of ignorance.
The massive beast can feel the beating life down at his feet, but his sensory had no trace of what seemed to be ethernano, his food source. Something seemed off for him, and if it had some form of life, then he had to rid of it.
Essence raised a foot and readied to step down onto Craig. As the beast brought down his foot, Craig went wide-eyed and dodged the foot. The earth shook and cracked up from the foot hitting the ground harshly.
Craig landed and he looked swiftly up at Essence. "I gotta get up there." He took notice of the abdominal area, where there was some sort of glowing red spherical object with dark intricate symbols all around. That's the one thing that stand out with Essence aside from the yellow eyes. "If that ain't a power source, I don't know what is."
He drew all of his blades simultaneously, making his signature style seen. "It's worth a shot." Craig lunged ahead after the tall monster and let out a violent roar as he went to attack Essence with the ankles his first target.
Essence swiped his arm, sending a crescent of darkness at Craig. Craig jumped and spiraled in midair. "Spiral Dragon Slice!" He funneled and sliced around the crescent, cutting right through it and landed on the ground briefly before he reached the ankles again. "HRAH!" He stabbed the mouth blade on the side, making Essence growl at the stinging wrath. Craig wasted no time and charged up Essence's knee with the swords as anchors all along the way. He was crawling upwards like a spider to a wall and closed in on the red center. "Now let's see what I can do!" He, again, leapt up and crossed his swords. He slashed, but in the midst of doing so was drawn away with Essence grabbing him by the waist.
"Hey-whoooaa!" Craig was drawn in the air, where he was met with Essence's face head on. The demonic creature growled down at Craig, narrowing his eyes upon inspection of him. Craig showed little struggle as he still had all swords in hand.
The two had a long stare-down, and Craig looked straight into Essence's eyes with defiance. Though his heart was still filled with anxiety, it was by means of the overwhelming energy that Essence was giving off. This forbidden power was staggering to say the very least.
Essence, having no interest in Craig due to no ethernano or Magic Power, dropped him. As Craig fell down, he tried to hastily look for anything of use to latched onto. He found a target in the ankle armor. Sheathing all of his swords while falling down, he tumbled through the air and straightened out soon when reaching the ankles.
Craig grabbed the armor and latched on. As he slid down, Essence's eyes widened and he let out a mighty roar of agony. His head turned in all directions and he felt his shin guards burn from the touch.
Craig looked up with mild surprise. "What?" He looked down towards his hands. He adjusted his grip to another area on the armor and Essence let out another roar of pain. "Is he…in pain…?"
"That's when I figured out your biggest flaw. You're just as open as anyone else. Back then, the more lives and ethernano energy you took from all around you, the stronger you become…but the trick was that since no one could ever touch you since you'd suck their life away, that left me to realize that you're super sensitive to living energy touching you. It's like burning acid to you…" Craig's glance turned towards the arm he crawled up upon, seeing no visible damage except for the wound he put in the joint. But unfortunately for him it was healing up already. "But it looks like you're not falling for the same thing twice. Damnit." Craig then looked at Essence's abdomen; the red core from before was gone, and it was instead heavy plated armor, denser around the chest than anywhere. He kept a serious look as he inserted his mouth blade once more into his mouth. "I know where it is now." He lunged ahead after Essence again. "You can't hide it from me!"
Essence gave off a heavy gravity field, weighing down every rock all around him. A dark sphere conjured at his mouth again, this one being of the same caliber. Instead of firing a beam like before, Essence exerted the sphere itself.
Craig took a huge crouch and arched backwards, making an upside down bridge. The two-meter diameter sphere passed over his unexposed stomach, leaving Craig free as a bird while the bomb continued shooting outwards at high speeds.
Everyone aboard the Christina was at a loss for words. They were seeing the monitors as clear as day, but they couldn't be right. Right? Every living thing has ethernano drawn into their bodies. Their bodies naturally draw in ethernano from the atmosphere, replenishing their magic reserves. But comparing all of theirs to Craig's, he was like the undead!
"Craig Crius has no ethernano or magic dwelling?!" Jura exclaimed in shock.
"Having no magic is one thing, but what is this tomfoolery? No ethernano?" Lyon spatted out. "I've never seen anything like this before."
Exasperation and shock swelled with little room for anyone to recover. Whatever was happening, it was known today that the rogue, or perhaps craziest, person of the bunch has been revealed to be far different, as he was not a mage.
"You mean that guy's been in our guild?" Gray questioned.
"Now it all makes sense." Erza thought back to those times when she watched Craig come face to face with enemies. She remembered from awhile back that against Grander, not once did he use a spell. Then came the recent events against Hybria and Threshol. When she pieced it all together, adding the fact she couldn't sense any magic resonating from him, it did make sense. "Now we see it. Craig isn't a mage at all. He's just…a normal guy." She couldn't piece it herself, but 'normal' was really the best appropriate term. If you don't have ethernano, then what are you? Alien? Dead? The most suitable word was normal, and that was unsettling to the Dragon Slayer right beside her.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Natsu shouted. "Are you saying that Craig can't use magic at all?!"
Hibiki adjusted the large monitor, showing a large dark object against a smaller object inside the black dome. "That's exactly what it means. It looks like he has enough skill alone without magic."
"Then why is he in a guild? A guild is for mages, right?" Gray asked.
Gajeel snickered. "Well this got a whole lot more interesting. Looks like the meat shredder was our ace after all."
Cana nervously smiled through the small contemplative panic she had. "Well…this is awkward. That guy actually is an ace. Someone who doesn't use magic is our only hope of defeating this madness. If we weren't useless then, we are now." She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out an exasperated sigh. "Cranky, Cranky, Cranky…you really know how to leave us in a pitiful position, don't you?" She looked over the edge of the flying ship, howling into the winds. "You have the dumbest luck! Every time I want you choked, you just go and make a fool out of my wishes! I hope you're happy facing that guy alone!" While many did question how she could be so anti-supportive of him, they were all in the same boat. Craig gave a poor impression to them, and he's as worse as they come, with a pair of jaws to match the ferocity of his attitude. But in all…Cana was honest with herself when she actually saw this coming. Ever since meeting that monster not too long ago, there hasn't been a single moment where he failed to be a last-minute savior or ace. When he saved her from a Dark Guild, when they were in Solidaster, when she was on that job, when they couldn't get through the second shield and Natsu was about to be killed, and now being the only one out of the entire Earth Land living population to be their salvation against Essence.
The brunette narrowed her eyes as she glared down at the third shield. "Seriously…his dumb luck is just…nuts."
"I can't imagine being without magic. How does he do it?" Lucy wondered, recalling how he fought Hybria and all the others, and that was all pure skill.
"Well now…seems thou has underestimated Craig Crius yet again." Threshol's voice was heard again, and all turned towards him.
Makarov's eyes widened with a gasp. "You mean Craig has fought you and Essence before?"
Threshol chuckled. "Believe it or not, yes. Thou has rendered so many scars that day. It took us a very long time to reconstruct the great and mighty lord that is Essence. It was because of Craig's uncanny emptiness that he exploited the weaknesses of Essence alone."
Cana looked back with shock. "You mean Craig defeated this monster before-?!"
She was cut off when strong winds blew out from underneath. Her hair went wild and she covered up. Everyone felt a strong wave of energy shoot up from the third shield. They all covered up, but enough was seen so that they could witness a dark sphere shooting out from the side of the pitch black shield. The dark sphere shot far away deep into the mountain range. They all had wondrous expressions of what the dark sphere was, and their eyes watched as it went on into the depths of the mountains far away. There was a silence, a very hollow one, and then Cana's eyes widened.
"Everybody get down!"
A dark shockwave echoed outwards before an eruption of dark light shot up into the sky like a pillar. The entire mountain range was submerged and reduced to smoldering bits of flying rock and dust that disintegrated into ash from the darkness. Everyone on the deck had fallen over and strong winds muted their screams.
When the shockwaves and explosion settled down, a massive hysteria of fresh cindered rock and desolate flat land was evident. The entire stack of mountains was obliterated in one go.
Gray was shocked to say the least. "What the hell was that?!"
"That bomb crumbled those mountains like tissue paper?!" Gajeel exclaimed.
Erza's eyes weer wide with heavy disbelief. "I've never seen so much power compressed into a single attack. Is this really what Craig is up against?"
Cana's eyes darted back towards the third shield, looking down into the pitch black darkness. "Cranky, I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing…because, as much as I hate to say it…" Her face gave way to grieving despondence. "…you're our last hope…" She drooped her head. "Oh god, I hope he didn't hear that."
Craig drew a vicious punch forward. "Smash!" Since he was already in midair, he dealt a bone-crushing punch across Essence's face. The massive blow made the giant monster roar as he took a small step backwards. Craig hit Essence's chest plate area and bounced right off with a backflip, evading another swipe from the hideous beast.
He acrobatically landed onto the ground and made no hesitations when looking off to the side. He glanced at Essence's right foot and drew a sword. With a stern lung, he swiped. Faster than the blink of an eye.
Essence roared at the injury he sustained, and his armor had a burning sensation. The massive monster hollered down angrily towards Craig, seeing him as a huge annoyance. Despite having no need to devour power, since Craig possessed none, the monster scowled and gave off a dark aura.
"Looks like I can still do damage after all." Craig said. His eyes narrowed then and there as the dark aura around Essence was getting to be noticeable. The foot of the monster, and the side of his face, were sizzling. "What…?"
Craig looked at the outlines of the chest plate area. It was glowing red. Everywhere Craig made contact with earlier, especially with his fists and hands, the locations were sizzling and the steam was drawn in towards the chest. Craig watched on in silence as Essence growled with regenerated areas. He gave another savage roar down towards Craig, the impact of the soundwaves picking him up and sending him flying.
"GAH!" Craig flew with the rock and rubble, eventually thudding on his back and slamming onto his stomach. He winced and groaned at the harsh display of power and made it to his knees.
"Did his power suddenly increase…?" Craig was muttering to himself, and he looked more than a little peeved as Essence's wings spread out. "Oh, god." Essence took flight into the skies, flapping up hundreds of feet far into the dark shield's ceiling.
Essence brought his arm around and swiped harshly, sending a crescent at Craig. The speed of the crescent was faster than the speed of sound. Craig's eyes widened as he barely had time to leap away and use his one sword drawn as a face shield.
A massive explosion erupted, dark fields of energy scourged the landscape and sent rock flying in all directions. Craig was beyond lucky as that back leap he took kept him from taking a direct hit. He yelled out as he went flying backwards again, landing on his side and tumbling sideways until he smashed into the side of a large debris piece. The impact was powerful enough to make him yell out and fall on his face.
His sword was twirling in the air, stabbing the ground right beside him. His groan was muffled with his face in the ground, but it was soon heard as he stood back up, using his sword as a cane as he got to his feet.
"Damn bastard. You got stronger alright." He grumbled. "I liked you better when you were dead!"
Essence howled down at Craig again, and he clenched a gauntlet and went driving down after Craig at speeds that could match a fighter jet. Craig held his ground and sheathed his sword, and he reached out ahead and used his hands to block.
'This is gonna hurt my wrists…and my entity.'
The massive punch was driven forward, and Craig took the entire blunt with arms stretched out to take the massive assault. He let out harsh grunts as he was driven back easily by the weight of Essence's punch. The beast planted his feet on the ground and leaned forward, driving Nic into the large rock behind him. Craig got his feet behind him and caught himself being a wedge between the rock and the gauntlet. His strain kept on piling as Essence was driving more weight to crush him.
"You're…really…pissing me off! I'm mad, ya devil!" His blood pulsated through his body, and his legs got an extra surge flowing as he used the adrenaline to his advantage. He sprung off the rock and then flipped his entire body so that he rolled through the air and landed on Essence's wrist. The monster looked questioned as Craig somehow maneuvered around that with brute strength, and he saw Craig run up his arm fast.
"Soaring Pain!"
Craig dealt a fierce uppercut to Essence's chin, making the beast's neck crank upwards. However, in midair, Craig's eyes were to the bruise he left on the chin. It was healing already. 'He's regenerating that fast. Whatever changed, he's taking my hands-on attacks.' His eyes sharpened further. 'This sucks, big time.'
Craig then was swatted by Essence, and he fell to the earth below with little gain on his hold. Landing on his feet onto a rock mound was his saving grace and broke his fall, and Essence growled down at him.
Threshol felt the earth rage beneath from nonstop quaking. He knew that there was a battle ensuing between Essence and Craig, and for him this was somehow amusing. Compared to how shocked he was when he found out Craig passed through, he had heavy confidence with what was in store for later on. It's as if he knew how this battle would turn out.
He let out a maniacal chuckle, which got on everyone's nerves.
"What's he laughing about?" Gajeel asked. "Did he break down or did that crazy guy knock a few of his screws loose with that uppercut?"
"I think it's a bad omen." Lucy foreshadowed. "Look at his wicked smirk. That's one that tells of arrogance, not hysteria."
Cana approached the ice prison and stared several feet away from the icy cold bars. "What is it you're hiding?" She demanded.
Threshol kept a confident smirk as his chuckling continued on. "Nothing, for I just find this amusing is all."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"If thou has not realized it by now, then he should've learned that his fate was sealed along with yours." His eyes behind his devastated golden mask dilated with hints of confidence behind his engrossed mayhem. "Craig Crius, that tarnation indeed was the very weakness of Essence. He exploited his vulnerability to living matter. It was like acid to thy skin; blood circulating through that disgrace of humanity's veins was the ironic flaw in thy holy creation. Craig destroyed his core, ending Essence then and there. The horrid thought still haunts thou to this day."
Natsu looked blankly at him. "So, that guy does have a history with you guys after all."
"True as that made be, he shall be history." Threshol's eyes narrowed. "Once he learns of the 'modifications' we've made."
"Modifications?" Cana questioned.
Craig let out a harsh shout as he drove his forearm in a swing against Essence's leg, making a loud thud rage through the air. Essence snarled down with anger at Craig from that blow, but Craig grunted when he saw that his attack only agitated the huge beast.
"There it is again…" He reeled back and watched as the spot he hit with his fists and forearm on the leg had begun healing and steaming. The steam was then drawn in towards the chest plate area, where the outlines were glowing a vibrant red. The energy was sucked inside, and that's when Essence clenched both fists that brimmed with power.
Craig sidestepped and dodged the punch that was aimed for him. The ground rampaged as Craig slid off to the side, covering up. Thankfully his hood and jacket on took almost all the dirt and rock, leaving his face alright. When the blow subsided, he darted his eyes back up at Essence.
"I was right, there was something different after all."
…
Cana's eyes widened in horrid shock. "What did you just say?"
Erza looked with equal shock. "Does this mean…?"
Threshol had high confidence as he smirked at them some more. "Thou heard me right. I shall only repeat thyself but once more. After thy fall of Essence, us three have been making blueprints, and the formula for the perfect specimen in Amaren's name. For that, be made modifications to the great Essence. We have altered his core so that it's safely protected, and then we've modified the biggest flaw there was. Now instead of being harmed by Craig's physical skin…he can now absorb every impact, increasing his power further." His smirk grew all the more diabolical, striking everyone's nerves. "So now, the only way for Essence to fall is by having the same dark power used against him. Fight fire with fire. Thy time on his land is over! All shall perish yet! You have zero chance at winning this! With Craig's end, you too shall end!"
Gajeel reeled back. "I've heard some crazy stuff before, but that's just plain psycho!"
"So in a sense, Craig down there is completely helpless." Jura said.
Natsu clenched his fist tight out of frustration. "Damnit! C'mon! That isn't even remotely fair!"
"Nothing is fair in this world we live in!" Threshol barked out. "You pathetic insects should've realized that by now. The only way to prove your worth is through survival and by wits. This world shall take advantage of your feeble minds. You all are worthless cockroaches!"
Cana gritted her teeth and looked back at the third shield down below. "If there was a time you used your dumb luck, it's now."
Craig had all of his blades set and crossed them. He went lunging at another crescent fired at him by Essence. "Gotta get to that core!" He tilted his head so his mouth blade was perpendicular to the ground. "Devil's Cross!" He slashed both swords out, and swiped the mouth blade up, making a cross-shape slashing move that cut through the incoming crescent.
The assault, however, didn't leave Craig unscathed.
The broken crescent behind erupted into unstable explosions, shooting Craig ahead and had him tumbled along the ground harshly. Every impact to his shoulder and ribs was bone-breaking, and he landed on his back, his head facing straight up as his swords were sprawled all around.
He was all dazed. His vision was blurry and his ears were ringing from that blast behind him that roared like thunder. Everything was spinning to him; a spinning blur that was almost completely black.
"I can't touch him…it can't use my blades…" Craig was low on options as he was muttering in his dazed state. He was so distraught that Essence was towering over him, growling down at Craig's sprawled body. The mighty beast took full advantage and made a fist covered in darkness and drove it down.
The ground erupted, and Craig was seen again flying off with his swords. He yelled again as he closed his eyes, unable to think clearly as his body was losing strength.
'He can absorb my living touches, and my body is too weak to throw my swor-GAH!' Craig slammed into another rock mound, gagging as he fell on his face as debris fell atop of him, leaving his vision completely black.
All he heard was silence, and Essence's growling from outside.
'I gotta get to that core, but he's keeping me away. He's learned…' Craig couldn't even feel his fists clench from inside the rubble he was in. 'I won't quit…not ever…'
It was then that Craig had gotten a funny feeling. As the darker the light around him had gotten, the more distant Essence's growling was, and he couldn't feel the ground shake. He got a sudden flash of another picture entirely.
Craig Crius, and he looked roughly nine. It was hard to discern, but it was him in a comfortable green hakama pants and top. He had no swords and sat cross-legged atop of a serene mountain with smooth layers of grass. All around at the top of the huge mountain, you could see the mist and clouds down below, and there was clear viewing of the other mountain tops from all around poking out from below.
Craig rubbed the back of his head, yawning. He was suddenly brought back to Earth Land when there was a massive thud from in front. His eyes widened when there was an old man, looking close to around ninety or a hundred, riding on the back of a wyvern that had just landed on the domain.
"Craig, don't tell me you were falling asleep again." The old man huffed.
"Uh…no?" Craig was a terrible liar, but his facial expression when he did was too priceless. The old man couldn't help but chuckle at Craig's amusement.
"Such an odd child you are, quite the amusing one as well." The old man sighed with a grin. "With that kind of hilarity, you find yourself landing a lucky girl one day."
Craig stuck his tongue out in defiance. "Meh! As if!"
The old man chuckled. "Ha, that'll change yet once you get older, my young lad." The wyvern lowered his head and neck, allowing for the old man to slide off and land on his feet. He turned and patted the huge beast.
"Now, Craig." The old man said. "Listen carefully. Do you know of a concept called chi?"
Craig blinked. "Chi?"
"Chi, the essence in all things. Believe it or not, Craig, we all have chi. It's the matter of how one channels it. Batto-Ba here has chi, I have chi, and you as well. Even the grass and flowers have chi. It's what defines our will, and, our center."
Craig looked down at his hakama-covered abdomen and blinked. "So, that's…good?"
The old man smiled. "In a sense. How about I show you?"
The old man took a sac hanging around nearby and placed it in front of Craig. Both sat cross-legged and Craig watched in awe as the old man brought out a bowl, a pen, and what seemed to be a piece of paper. "You see Craig…" He stuck the pen into the ground and balanced the piece of paper. "Chi is perhaps one of the most powerful forms of utility ever devised. There's technology these days, and there's magic, and then there's this." He held up the glass bowl. "This bowl is made of a special ceramic liquid that keeps it immune to being penetrated by magic. The trick, is this." He put the bowl upside down on the pen and piece of paper."
Craig looked up at him. "So…"
"Watch…"
Craig cascaded his eyes down below, watching as the old man closed the eyes. He seemed to be focusing on the particles if possible, He had both hands the same distance away from the glass bowl and he breathed in and out. The paper was then seen moving very slowly counterclockwise, much to Craig's disbelief.
"Whooaa." He marveled. "Chi can do that?"
The old man slowly stood up and walked towards a nearby rock. "Oh yes. That was chi, and not magic. Odd, right?" He chuckled at the wide eyes Craig had. "Now, watch…"
The old man held up two fingers put together and closed his eyes. He took a minute, and Craig had heavy anticipation. The old man struck straight down on the rock with the two fingers only, and the whole slab of flat rock completely split into two. The rock was so thick, and he did it with just two fingers.
"Wow!" Craig was in awe. "How did you do that?! You didn't have to punch it!"
The old man slowly straightened back up and cracked his back. "Oh! I'm gonna feel that in the morning…anyways…" He turned towards Craig with a smile. "Young boy, the usage of chi; it takes the skill of the mind, body, and all of the energy that you have around you. People say it's paranormal, but I have been using this technique since I was your age. Using chi is the kinetic flow, matter of which you can lift, or even turn into your salvation. In all, it's the most difficult thing to explain. Perhaps the greatest mystery next to the One Magic."
"Can it make me lift a grizzly bear? Or blow up an island? Or even spontaneously combust?"
"It's chi Craig, not an omnipotent dynamite force."
"Okay."
"I'll demonstrate to you, young Craig, what it means…to use a special chi technique that I learned. It is a very powerful form of chi." The old man slowly walked a ways away from Craig, towards his Wyvern, standing nearly twenty feet away.
"Craig, this chi form…you must feel the energy in your arms…" He closed his eyes. "Relax everything in your muscles…think nothing, but picture the energy flowing, the flow in your fingertips. Find the rhythm, and…make it become one."
Batto-Ba opened up his mouth, surging energy for a beam. Craig's eyes watched in shocked as the wyvern was gonna strike him. "Look out!"
Batto-Ba fired a small beam at the old man, but the old man himself did not block or dodge. Instead, his body pivoted, and he swerved around the energy beam. The arms and hands, however, swiped the sides of the beam as it past him. When the beam faded, and when the old man finished following through his side swipe, his hands were coated in the same energy as the blast was. The energy shaped into his image, which were long blades.
He moved them around with intricate fashion, and Craig was wide-eyed. "Cool…"
The old man then galloped towards a nearby rock, and he swiped with the energy blades he made. The whole entire rock split apart, and when the old man stopped moving and stretched apart his fingertips, the energy faded away.
"Cool!" Craig exclaimed. "Weird, but cool!"
The old man chuckled. "I knew you'd like that. But Craig…" He turned towards Craig, his gaze ever so serious, and Craig saw that with his own eyes. "Listen. You're special. You have this special gift. I myself and fathomed by it, and you may not know it's there…but it's there. It lies dormant, and only you can unlock it. Your chi mixed with this energy you have dormant inside…you may very well be able to bend any energy to your will. You just have to picture, and find that flow. You may even be able to turn one's magic against him or her."
Essence growled down at the rock pile as it was not moving. It looked like he was done, and as the beast was turning away, the pile of rocks had begun to move, rattle a little. Essence looked piqued and annoyed as he still felt life energy lingering beneath. He snarled as a rock was moved, and Craig was seen hauling it with one arm and pushed it away.
There was a shadow over Craig's eyes, making it hard to tell what kinds of emotions he was feeling at the moment. "…chi energy, huh?" Essence roared down at him again, making his gaze cascade up towards the monster.
"Well I hope that memory is helpful, because I'm betting my life on it." He jumped out of the rock pile and broke into a run. He darted ahead at Essence and kept on going, despite the injuries he's sustained. "Bring it on!"
Essence swiped his arm, sending a crescent at Craig. That dark crescent was the solemn key Craig needed, and he closed in and gained greater speed.
'C'mon, remember what that old timer said back in that memory.' He told himself.
"Craig, this chi form…you must feel the energy in your arms…" He closed his eyes. "Relax everything in your muscles…think nothing, but picture the energy flowing, the flow in your fingertips. Find the rhythm, and…make it become one."
As Craig ran ahead, he tried and processed. As he gained speed, he was as loose as could get, his muscles relaxing, tension decreasing in the shoulders as he loosened up the arms. He relaxed, and then saw the crescent coming for him. He only saw a crescent, but was that all he could see? If he had to get a better picture, he had to see the energy, but all he saw were dark sparkles behind-
And that's when Craig's eyes widened. 'Hang on! The energy flow…' Craig thought hard yet brief; the flow of the crescent was like water. The kinetic energy left behind the edging of the crescent was like streams. He could see the energy as a picture, and that was imprinted. He then looked at his hands, seeing what were small fingerprints on the tips.
'Look deeper…' Craig looked deeper into his fingertips, and he had to ask himself what did he really see. He asked and answered. He saw what were small swirls, like oval spirals. That was his energy flow image to say the least. He looked at the incoming crescent and reached a hand up, but kept the fingertips stretched. "Hope this chi thing works…"
He relaxed, and thus had his minds calm. He pictured the flow of the 'tide' coming in, and then he ducked underneath the current of the crescent. As shocking as it was, he swerved his fingertips and brushed the dark energy. When it fully past him, Craig's eyes widened as he actually saw dark energy flow like streams from his fingertips.
"Whoa…" He marveled at the dark streams made by the combination of chi and he was lost in the revelation. The crescent exploded behind, breaking Craig's concentration and he was shot forward. As he shot ahead, the chi streams of the dark energy dissipated.
"Damnit!" He yelled before ending up tumbling off and slamming onto his side. He found his hands underneath and slowly got up, panting. "I had it…then I lost it." He breathed in and out as he tried getting up, albeit with a small wiggle here and there as it was hard for him to maneuver.
"How did that guy make those blades?" He questioned himself. "What did he say again?"
Essence roared down at Craig, this time opening his mouth wide and dark energy swelled and compressed, turning into a sphere. Craig paid careful attention as he watched the individual dark energy converge.
"I see the chi flow…"
Essence let out a loud roar as he then fired the beam, instead of shooting the ball itself like before. The purple beam traveled through the atmosphere after Craig, and Craig had a small wobble again. He narrowed his eyes, and time seemed to have slowed down some. As the attack came barging at him, Craig could somehow see the chi flow, streaming again with high volume.
"…think nothing, but picture the energy flowing, the flow in your fingertips. Find the rhythm, and…make it become one."
Craig's eyes opened back up, and all around him he could feel some form of calm, an essence that has been veiling him. He followed the intricate arms swirls with bent knees like that lost memory had done, and he could actually and physically see the energy flow.
'What the…?' Still keeping a calm mind full of emptiness, he saw waves of energy all around, and the energy around was brimming with opportunity. 'Is this what he means when there's a difference with magic and chi?'
The beam exploded, and a shockwave erupted then and there. The violent eruption of dark force made Essence smirk with teeth bared.
A small figure was seen in the smoke and dust, and the large ethernano eater looked on and saw Craig rushing through, but there was something wrong.
Craig rushed ahead with a blank expression, but his stride was deep and his arms and fingers were in blades of the manipulated dark energy. They were energy blades he managed to use.
"It worked." He mumbled, surprisingly. "Now…" He crossed them in front. From what he could remember, the blades vanished when the old man in the vision stopped moving, so all Craig had to do was keep moving, and he was actually moving fast. "Let's go!"
Essence reeled back a gauntlet and drove a fist after Craig. The fist was shooting fast at him, and Craig pivoted around clockwise. He slashed with his intricate chi energy blades, and they left bright gashes in Essence's fingers. The mighty let out violent roars of pain as he brought his hands back.
The roars could be heard outside the dome, and they all went wide-eyed that the roar was of pain. Threshol himself was in a state of confusion over what was going on.
Essence was caught off guard as Craig slid beneath and was at the right foot. Making sure to keep a clear head with wary vision, he pivoted again and slashed. Gashes were in the ankles, making Essence roar out again. Craig darted off as Essence's sloppy footing made him falter, and he jumped onto the gashed knee and jumped again. He let out a cry as he slashed at the shin guard, almost shattering it completely. The mighty blow was met with a roar again by Essence, and Craig backflipped and remained clear in the state of mind, as he felt nothing but the breeze that past his ears. He slid backwards, and pivoted again, keeping the energy flowing through him able.
"Let's end this! Now!" He lunged ahead after Essence, ready to finish him once and for all. He ran ahead as Essence opened his mouth and made another blast aimed at Craig. Craig, in spite of how dumb it was, went straight in. He crossed his blades of flowing dark energy and pictured the incoming beam. Straight ahead, he was comets upon comets of small energy streams. How he was able to discern so heavily, as if looking into a cosmos, and all with his mind, was beyond him. However that was not his concern. His concern was finding the flow, and channeling the chi used already, Craig's mind was in high mobility, and see pictured and envisioned with the flow he generated cutting through.
In actuality, the blades he made followed with what his mind saw. His crossed blades cut straight through the massive beam, much to Essence's great shock.
The beam diminished, and Craig was seen at an altitude above Essence. The great beast looked up as Craig's dark energy blades were crossed again, and the man dove down onto Essence.
"You've taken away too many lives! Now you pay the price! Your own dark power shall be your downfall, Essence!" Craig shouted. "Time to improvise with this new move!"
Essence opened his mouth to make another compressed sphere, but it was already too late.
"Energy Arts - Furious Slice Crash!"
He past Essence and sailed downwards still. A massive dark X shape was made, and Essence's chest was the prime target. The dark beast's mouth was wide open as the dark sphere in his mouth was just frozen, and the frame of the beast was completely frozen. Time slowed down drastically as the beast was unable to move, and the dark X across his entire chest glinted several times. With Craig, the energy blades he managed to manipulate fell apart the second the attack ended. There were shadows over his eyes, and he looked like he was gonna fall to his demise from a height so grand. Craig's body was limp and he got a foot on a slanted rock slope. He slid along towards the bottom, where he took a massive skip and stopped on his feet, thankfully breaking his crushing fall. As he had both arms out in the same crossed pattern from when he did so with that new and improvised move, he could not move.
His hood slipped off, showing his face; at the same exact time the glints faded on Essence and his chest and red core inside sliced apart, erupting straight out of his body. Essence was a hollow wreck as his mouth hung open and a small growl of pain faded away as the chest plates and red core shattered into irreparable fragments, becoming nothing but dust that scattered into the norm.
Outside, everybody heard a loud slash sound echo, and then everyone went low in volume. They all had absolutely no idea who or what dealt that blow, but whoever did ended it. There was a heavy tension in the air, and no one could've foreseen what came next. The shield began to crack apart, and the huge structure cracking made everyone's mouth gape. The shield cracked louder and more area was fracturing like crazy. The energy that was lurking around from inside was no longer present, and the dome down below had cracks all around.
"The third shield…" Gray trailed off.
"Are you getting' this?" Gajeel asked. "That thing's cracking apart."
"And if it's cracking apart, then does that mean…?" Lucy didn't finish out of disbelief.
Threshol's eyes were wide with shock. "What? No…it can't be…"
Cana was the most perplexed. She just witnessed what was the third shield cracking apart, and she had no words to describe or say to defend her shock. "Cranky, the hell…?" She could only watch with wide eyes and with a heavy heart as the third shield finally broke apart. The pieces that were cracked shattered like glass. The entire dome came falling down, breaking altogether. The shattered bits became black sparkles that sprinkled down onto what was the great Essence.
Everyone saw the beast for themselves without a chest. The whole beast cracked apart, ending up shattering like the third shield. They all saw Craig right behind it with a shadow over his eyes, seeing his jacket on surprisingly. The great beast crumbled and fell apart like rock that had been reduced to black dust upon losing altitude. Craig did not bother looking back as the remains of Essence crumbled away and became black dust, of which was reduced to oblivion like the red core.
"That was Essence…that beast?" Jet exclaimed.
"It crumbled away!" Droy yelled.
Threshol's eyes were heavily wide. He couldn't even fathom how tormented he was at the moment. "Impossible…how could he…this just can't be…" He watched as all of Essence was nothing but thin air, and the red core ad Essence's body had been wiped away while Craig remained standing, his head high as he cracked his head. Threshol sweated profusely with nervous tears running down his face. "A monster…he's a monster!"
"It can hardly believe my eyes." Erza said.
"He…took down that colossal guy alone?" Natsu was a baffling mess just like the rest of them.
Cana smirked with confidence. "…I can't believe that I was worried for a while there. That crazy nutcase really gave us a scare there." Her smile stayed on as she looked at Craig as his ferocious look never left his face. As usual, it pissed Cana off some, but she did give credit to him where it's due.
Craig gave a relieving sigh. 'Guess I owe this victory to you, old timer.' Craig mentally thanked.
Some time had passed since the fall of the dome, and the Christina had finally hit the ground with smooth sailing. Once they hit the ground, everyone had waited on board until the authorities could arrive. They found Hybria's body earlier and took him in, and then they swiftly proceeded with taking in a distraught Threshol. Threshol was a mess as he was barking depressed stuff. He lost his purpose, along those lines. The fall of Essence broke him and all three kings in custody. Safe to say that it was the end for them, leaving Craig with nothing to worry about the lot ever again.
After the authorities got what they wanted, and assured interrogation for the three later on, they departed, leaving everyone to depart the Christina, and they all gathered around Craig as he looked like he was gonna have another nap with the exhausted look in his eyes.
"That was totally awesome!"
"How can you possibly do that?!"
"I didn't know you could kill a giant!"
A mass volume of praise was going around, and it was bugging Craig. As they weer all happy and proud, Craig let out a violent snarl, startling them and giving him space. They took more than a few steps back when he drew his blood red sword.
"Back you savages!" He barked, pointing the tip at them all and waving it left and right.
Cana raised a brow. "Savages? Kind of ironic, don't you think?"
"Shut up." Craig barked. "At least I don't go prancing and throwing confetti in someone's face. Have you leeches ever heard of space?"
"Who you calling a leech?!" Natsu barged right up to Craig with strong stomps of defiance. He had a tick mark and he seemed mad. Craig had a dastard look and he seemed more irritated with Natsu all up in his face.
"Who do you think you are, joining a guild?! A guild is a place where you call family! First you insult us, then you attack us, and now we find out that you weren't a mage to begin with?! How in the world is that fair?!"
Gray stepped up next to Natsu. "Why'd you bother joining Fairy Tail if you're just gonna live without magic? Everyone's going nuts over what the hell just happened and how you beat that hundred-foot-tall behemoth without magic! How can you even do that?!"
Both were viciously caught in the neck by two tight grips. Craig had his fangs bared and a hostile, predatory gaze as he was choking Natsu and Gray with one hand each. His beyond-iron grip was staggering as both had their oxygen supplies cut off. This wasn't a comical choke like they do in guild brawls. This was a threatening choke.
"Get lost." Craig warned. He swung his arms and Natsu and Gray slammed into a few mages altogether, knocking them down like bowling pins. They both had thick bruises on their necks, signifying the grip damage Craig had dealt.
"I made it clear that I gave no damn to whatever you bunch thought of me. If you wanna get in my face and be all happy, do as you please, but I am not like that in the slightest." He assured. "So I have no magic. Who the hell cares? I crushed and broke faces before, and I did that and took down threatening lives." He looked towards Cana with a hostile expression. "And Brownie over there, is why I am stuck in this fiasco of scrambled nutcases."
"You wanna say that to my face, Cranky?!" Cana sneered.
Craig leered at her. "You have eyes! I just did! And I said it aloud, and I sure as hell don't regret it!" He turned away from her, snarling low like a wild beast. Anyone could've seen how viciously territorial he is. They'd be wise to stay away as he wanted. He even snapped his jaws at some random people startling them with his demeanor.
"Craig Crius." An old voice announced.
Craig turned around, looking down at the stout Fairy Tail Master that called his name. He didn't look too pleased and vice versa.
"The heck now?"
"I do question how you have no magic, but that answer has been cleared up. Because you've saved us all from Essence by yourself, on behalf of Fairy Tail and the alliance established, we like to thank you with all that you've done. You may not be a mage, and we are uneven with the other, but because you have no powers doesn't mean you can't be of help. You've saved Fiore from Grander, a feature Cana, Erza, Natsu, and Happy witnessed, and that was all with your skill and experience. Thank you, for saving our lives."
His speech gave off some mere half-grins from mages, with the Wizard Saint Jura nodding of approval. They all looked satisfied to know that they were saved, but it was a little disturbing knowing that it was Craig of all people who saved all of their lives against a gargantuan beast alone. Cana had arms crossed and murmuring in frustration over the thought.
Craig used his blood red sword as a cane and crouched down towards Makarov. "Look here…I didn't do this for you lot. This was all a personal matter that I just had to fix. Granted, I had no desire to see lives to that behemoth, but your business was not needed. You can say that you thank me, but I don't care…got it?"
Jenny huffed. "How rude!"
"Cranky is always rude." Cana rolled her eyes. "To everyone."
Makarov nodded in understanding. "Yes, we understand. It'll take some time, but I'm sure we'll understand each other soon enough…however…" His eyes turned bright, and everyone all around could feel his Magic Power emanating. He looked intimidating to all, even Gajeel with his threatening look, however, Craig was unamused. "You choked my top mages deliberately. If you dare try and harm my children again, there'll be grim consequences, personally from me."
Craig stepped forward, challenging Makarov. His vibe was more than drastic in its own right. Even Erza was shocked to see Craig, once again, challenging the Master.
"Then come at me." Craig challenged. "…I'm right here."
He turned away from everyone and started walking off. They all cleared a path to be sure not to get their faces broken or cut off. Cana stared with distaste over Craig's violence, but that was something that she had to figure out, one way or another. Meanwhile, a few were tending to Gray and Natsu and the bruises on their necks, Erza tending Natsu especially. While Craig was as relentless and daring to make enemies out of them, they were still entitled to their gratitude towards him. Recalling how see single-handedly defeated Hybria and Essence, they all, Cana especially, were weary of his caliber.
"As sharp as his attitude maybe, his experience surpasses the wisest…" Jura noted.
"Wise wouldn't my first word for that barbarian." Cana groaned.
"I heard that!" Craig shouted from afar.
"You were supposed too!"
"Well then thank you for flattering me!"
"Yeah, big deal!" Cana sarcastically yelled out. "I got a million 'flattering' things to say to you!"
Everyone could only groan at their spatting.
While the issue with Craig cooled down some, things were looking pretty spiffy for the alliance. After the recent events, they decided to head back to the Blue Pegasus guild hall for a celebration. There was a lot of drinking, especially from Cana, and the wounded also had some fun and some company to talk to in the infirmary. The party had a lot of mages talking, and the fighting from the battles really brought them all closer. The guild masters certainly looked satisfied with brimming smiles. They never felt so victorious before…of course it was really more of a certain someone else's victory than theirs. Who's to say they can't party it off?
"Man, all that fighting really worked me up an appetite!" Natsu, despite having bandages all over his body, was up and eating well with a big appetite.
"Natsu…" Erza tapped his shoulder, getting his attention. "You should try and slow down on your eating, besides…I think it's best that you get some rest, at least after the party is over."
While Natsu didn't mind she was worried, he swallowed his chicken leg and smiled. "Nah, I'm fine! See?" He flexed. "I feel better alre-uuuggh…" He lost so much energy in flexing and he almost slumped to the floor if not for Erza catching him. The side of his mouth drooled and he looked like he was gonna pass out.
"You see, I'm fi~…ugh." With that, he hung his head down, knocked out like a light.
Erza sighed, but she smiled. "Just rest, you've earned it."
Gray was seen close by and smiled. "This isn't too bad of a celebration."
Lucy turned towards him. "Yeah, it's actually pretty cool." She then nervously smiled. "Of course there's the issue of me wanting a hot bath so bad."
"Oh stop being such a baby." Gray remarked.
Cana hiccupped and held up a bottle. "Alright ya sac of hot airs!" She drunkenly announced. "A toast, to a victory stolen from us by that bamboozle of a guy, Cranky! We won the war, yeah, but that sharp-fanged weirdo with anger issues won it all by imsel~f. Yaa~y!"
As odd as her toast was, they all held their glasses up high, acknowledging Cana's toast to their pseudo-victory.
Speaking of, the said individual was on the balcony of the guild hall. He was all alone, and he hauled his own meal up to a single chair match with a small round table. Before him was a large pile of bones – meat was completely stripped off – cracked bones, and a few meshes and desserts, and he seemed content. He lazily stared off into the night sky, spacing out again.
He's been lost in his thoughts all day since he had that lost memory revealed. He looked up at the twinkling stars, watching a shooting star pass overhead. When he normally looks up at the sky, he could only see sparkling stars that could recount his adventures…and the lives he's bonded with gone. But this time was different as his thought kept him from recalling any painful goodbyes.
'That memory, it was different from the others. Cana was in them all, and I think that was her mother as well, but I wonder, what made this dream so different? Was it because I was in the heat of a life or death battle? Was it because Cana wasn't close in range? There's still so much that I don't get.' He looked down at his hand. While it was laying on his thigh, it was turned over so that he could see the palm. He clenched it. 'That memory, there was an old man. He knew so much about this 'chi'. He says it's as powerful as magic. I can't believe that I actually wielded that today. My mind envisioned and focused…but that can't be normal, right?' He released his grip and looked back up at the sky. 'However it happened, it's clear that it'll have a profound impact in my battles. If I can break rock with two fingers, or let alone whatever the hell I just did to make those energy blades…it just may lead to more clues.'
He got up from his feet and made way inside. He kept his profile low as he was on the second floor and looked at Cana drinking up the place dry again, much to everyone's shock. The boys who were attempting to flirt with her were just baffled and didn't know what to do. Craig stared at her more intense than before. "Cana…I'm still shocked we've met so long ago…"
That's the end of the Essence Arc! How was it? Comments and reviews are appreciated!
This is for all who are a fan of my story The Fairy Contender; I have good news. I have finished sequel plans, and I am set to begin. I just need to find a good title name for the sequel and then it'll be up in a couple weeks. For now, getting more updates for this story is a priority, so continue supporting OCxCana!
Until next time, guys!