Chapter 1
The forest seemed to be quiet for the wildlife there. It's lush green trees, to its animals, there didn't seem to be anything out of sight. It seemed to be the most tranquil place in the area. Just then, a massive explosion of dirt and dust erupted from a clearing in the forest.
Numerous streaks of red cleaved through numerous black creatures at unparalleled speed, their bodies cut down to nothing more than to mere pieces, with flames trailing each attack. Sparks that were left by the flames of the attack had combusted, leaving small explosions.
For the most part, the creatures resembled overgrown wolves, except their fur was an unnatural black, almost as if it was supposed to represent the void of nothing. What stood out were the numerous bone-like spikes protruding from numerous parts of their body, with white claws on their paws. A bone-like mask extended from the top of their face to over the snout. What stood out even more were the red markings decorating those masks, along with the red, evil eyes peering through them.
The bisected bodies of the wolf-like monstrosities fell to the ground, before black smoke began to emit from their bodies. This was the main reason as to why very little is known about Grimm Biology. Once a Grimm falls to the blade or the bullet of a warrior, their bodies go through some process of decay, a really, really fast process of decay. Because of that, information about Grimm Biology was incredibly scarce.
Their bodies then began to just...fade away, for a lack of better term. Their physical bodies slowly began to fade away, becoming nothing more than black ash and dust, until even the ash and dust began to fade away. The person who did it was just staring right at the dissipating corpses.
The man's hair was spiky, with some spikes going backwards with some spikes going forwards, framing his face slightly, with his being red in colour. The top half of his face was completely covered by a pure white bone-like mask, decorated with red markings that also had bull horns going across the 4 slit marks where the eyes would normally be, being eerily similar to the Grimm he just slaughtered.
His outfit wasn't anything traditional. He sported a completely black blazer, with the exception of red going across the shoulders and wrapping around his arm pits. The sleeves after that were black. On the red cloth on his left was a white crest, seemingly a thorn of some kind. The blazer had extended below his waist, and just above his knees, with a pattern of petals and thorns on the sides. His shirt was a simple red, with a red bandana, with black petals on it, that seemed to be more for decoration than any sort of use.
He wore simple black pants with a similar design to his bandana, only the colours were inverted. Red had replaced the black, and black replaced the red. His choice of footwear were simple, yet durable black shoes with red soles. He also wore a pair of black gloves with red on the palms.
His choice of weapon seemed to be a weapon that can't seem to be employed in a laijutsu fighting-style. It was a large, broad blade, seemingly too cumbersome to wield on his own, especially with his slim, almost swimmer-like physique. People would honestly stare at him ludicrously, thinking what the hell he was doing wielding such a behemoth.
The sword was set into a metal sheath, however it featured zero mechanisms that indicated the fact that it might be a weapon. There was no segmented plates of metal to indicate that it could transform. Instead, it consists of completely red steel. The sheath was hung at his back, and there were straps that were wrapped around his waist, and one going over his shoulder, so when he turned to his left, the sheath would turn with him and allow him to draw the sword.
The weapon looked like a combination of an oversized katana and a broad dao-blade, in terms of size, with the sheath indicating the graceful curve of the blade, inspite of its impressive dimensions.
The sword has been forged with every ounce of passion, and soul that its forgers could put into it. It was a blade that, despite possessing no transformational capability, or any Dust, except for burn-Dust, it was a weapon that far surpassed any weapon he had ever used in the past, or most weapons.
The most prominent feature of his was the pair of reddish-black horns that protruded from his forehead, curving slightly over his hair. At first, one might just think they were simply black streaks in his hair, but the way they didn't move when the wind brushed against his hair revealed something completely different.
He was a faunus.
That, in and of itself, isn't strange. Faunus were one of the two dominant species in the World of Remnant, the other being humans. At first glance, you wouldn't think much of them at first. You'd think that they were humans at first glance, however they have certain qualities that separate themselves from actual humans.
A vast majority of the faunus-population often show their characteristics in the form of animal ears, tails, or eyes. They're the most prominent features of faunus, and the vast majority belong to mammal-type faunus. Then we go to the more rarer categories of faunus, which would include avian-faunus, which have their features come in the shape of simple feathers, or flat out wings.
Then we get straight into insect-type and arthropod-type faunus, which show their features in extra limbs, bug eyes, insect-based wings. It can get pretty freaky when you start to think about it.
From his horns, anyone can tell that the young man was a bull-faunus, through and through, although he exerted an aura of calmness that seemed completely odd for his faunus-type, as bull-faunus are often quite stubborn and aggressive.
The man's hand closed around the handle of his blade, before he pulled it out, revealing a brilliant, vibrant crimson of the greatest shade, before he lifted the blade vertically over his head, before the blade began to glow red.
The temperature suddenly rose by a considerable degree, as thin, but noticeable waves of orange and white began to circle around the entire area, before they all shifted in direction. They all curved in many graceful waves that it was almost impossible to take your eyes off of the display. More and more began to appear around the air, condensing around the blade, almost as if it was acting like a second coating of steel for the blade, ready to poise into the flesh of its opponents.
The Grimm, although they possess no soul, certainly possessed a mind, and some of the older Grimm began to howl, almost as if it was giving an instruction. Almost immediately, all the surrounding Grimm began to charge towards him. Beowolves, Ursai, even the Alpha's and the Major's respectively began to rush towards him.
The temperature continued climbing until it began to get sweltering for any normal man to handle. However, he was no normal man, and so, he swung his sword down, horizontally, the blades of orange and white wind accompanying with it, with a trail of red.
"Neppu!"
The blade hit the ground, creating an explosion of red, orange, and white, which began to launch blades of hot wind, mixed in with previously-absorbed kinetic energy, out of every conceivable direction. The branches, the trees, the Grimm, nothing was safe. The blades of refined and pressurized wind sliced and pierced whatever was in its way, showing absolutely zero mercy.
The explosion died down, revealing burnt, scorched land, and the surroundings did not fair much better. When the blades pierced the trees, it didn't just cut the trees in different directions, but the part that was sliced off was completely disintergrated, leaving absolutely nothing, not even ashes. Overall, the entire forest looked like a desolate wasteland. The grass was burnt to the point that dried soil was visible, nearby greenery was all dried up, revealing nothing on the branches.
The man lifted his sword up, which had also lost its crimson colour, which turned into a brighter red, and put the sword back into his sheath so casually, it seemed as if he was chucking it in. The whole event was nothing but a bore to him, very hollow entertainment, and so, the mysterious figure just carried on walking to his destination...
Somewhere after the previous altercation, he came across something disturbing. Looking around, he saw a branch, roughly four feet of the ground, broken. Looking beneath it, he saw a pile of leaves, almost as if it was covering something. Deciding to investigate, he brushed out the detritus, revealing a shallow impression on the grass.
"...a footprint...?" He spoke, revealing a strong, yet youthful voice. "Looks like it belongs to an adult." He then looked around, seeing a couple more footprint impressions on the grass. There were also some more areas with piles of leaves, and so he sweeped them up, revealing even more footprints.
"A group more like it," He noted, his voice being a simple whisper, before taking more looks at the surroundings, noticing even more impressions. "They're walking off the beaten path. If it was any other group of normal people, it would be more efficient to walk on that path."
He knew it was by no means a team of Huntsmen or Huntresses. While it's not unheard of for Huntsmen and Huntresses to go solo every now and then, they would go out and about together in groups of four. The odd occasion would be that they would group together with another team, making eight people. So to see large amounts of footprints here in this location and assume they belonged to Huntsmen and Huntresses isn't wrong.
What was stranger though is that he counted more than 8 people. Far more than 8 measly people. This is less than a batch of people travelling, this is a vast group of people, roughly 20, to 30 people at most. It may be that the amount of footprints hindered his ability to accurately assess how many people there might be, but it doesn't change the fact that it is such an oddity to find such large numbers in a group unless...
"...So it could be that bandits went this way..." He noted, before going into his blazer's pockets to pick out a device. The device was mainly coloured black, with the exception of a red diamond in the middle, some red markings at the edges of the device, and the same 4 slits on the device his mask had, though coloured white, with the same red bull horns on them. With the push of that diamond, the interlocking systems deactivated, pulling it apart to reveal a translucent, blue screen with a wide variety of apps. However there was one app in particular that he cared about.
"Alright, let's see..." The holographic map then worked it's technology, zeroing in on his location. "I am currently here..." He then pointed towards the red dot on the map. "I headed this way by going north-west..." His finger then travelled to the opposite direction of south-east. "This is the location of the settlement, Aokumo," Then he took a direction towards the broken branch. "The scroll says that this direction is south-west..."
But there wasn't anything in their immediate path, so he began to use his scroll to see if there was any villages nearby in this direction. It wasn't long before his suspicions were confirmed. Kyota was nearby the route they were taking.
So that settles it then. If he rushes in at full speed, he might make it their on time, and if he was lucky, might get some time to rest before the attack on Kyota.
With that, he deactivated his scroll, before putting it away. Then, he sank right into a crouch, almost as if he was performing a one-hundred-meter sprint. Then he took off, his speed surpassing anything normal people, or even Veteran Huntsmen can even perform. To the naked eye, he seemed like a red and black blur, or maybe not even that. People might even mistake him for the wind.
His own vision had effectively blurred. Or it would have if he decided to keep his eyes open. In truth, he was relying on a technique that allowed him to meld his senses together and create a spherical view. With him refining it to such a greater extent, he was able to perceive objects, people, and even Aura that is within roughly seventy meters. It may seem a bit overkill, but it is effective enough to deal with numerous opponents at once.
Maneuvering through out the entire of this forest was child's play.
His full speed had managed to get him there in record time. The place of Kyota was in a unique position. For most settlements, they often build themselves in open fields and what-not.
The settlement seemed to have been built into a valley of sorts. The walls were the actual valley of the settlement, providing an excellent defense to most land-based Grimm. A piece of the valley, was dug out, creating a tunnel. The inside of the tunnel was lined with lights, made out of fire-Dust.
What stood out the most, at the end of the tunnel, was the steel gate, composed of grey steel of varying shades, mostly dark grey. Between the platings were yellow lines of glowing energy, most likely fueled by electric-Dust. Right in the middle of it was a large, light grey circle, with a horizontal line of glowing gravity-Dust going through it.
The man was able to recognize the technology being used. The interlocking systems were made to allow for compaction most of the time when applied for weapons, and scrolls. This enables them to keep their more-compact shape, even when not in use.
When used on large gateways, like this one, it's almost impossible that anyone could get through it without some form of explosive, or a destructive Semblance. While he certainly didn't have the former, her certainly had the latter. This is the sort of gateway anyone would want to use to protect something incredibly important.
So it was all the more imperative he didn't come of as threatening.
Because he used such speed, he had to make sure he came close to the settlement at a normal pace, making it seem like he was travelling, hoping to head in to the settlement itself. By doing that, he could enter the settlement with the least level of suspicion.
The previous settlement he'd been to had large fields of crops that Kyota seemed to lack. Instead, they seemed to have shafts dug into the side of the mountain, all bringing out carts filled with material. His awareness only allowed him to know that it was an iron mine, rather than an actual Dust mine.
'Still...' The man thought with caution, before taking out his scroll. "Kyota... Ferrum Mining Company..." He searched up the company name, before relief surged through him.
As the name implies, the SDC's main focus is the actual Dust they mine from the mineshafts, albeit cutting corners at every opportunity. However, in terms of acquiring the Dust, they would require tools, more specifically made out of iron or any sort of ferrous metals, and that's not even including the materials required for the tracks, the carts, the barracks and what have you.
Which may mean that the company itself may be an affiliate of the SDC. However, by looking at the logo, he didn't find any evidence which led them back to the actual SDC. They normally like to plaster the words 'SDC' or their standard snowflake sigil on the actual logo to signify their affiliation, to which he found none. If they were an affiliate, he might've gone into some trouble if he was found, but if it was a genuine Dust mine, it most likely would belong to the SDC, which would spell bad news for him.
Well, less for him, more for the people facing him.
Once he got close enough, he saw a screen above the gate, along with some sort of intercom. The faunus approached the intercom and pushed the button, and soon the screen lit up, showing an armoured individual.
"Greetings," the man spoke with an authoritative tone, one filled with discipline, and no hostility. "Are you requesting entry?"
The red-haired man nodded, a silent greeting.
"May you please state your business?" The man asked. The way he spoke seemed to assure him that he wasn't too late. The way you enter a settlement can tell you many things. The way he speaks means it is simply a formality, and not a genuine attempt for interrogation, despite his mask and sword. This means many things.
For starters, his formal, firm tone shows that he takes his job seriously, but it doesn't hold any sort of fearful tone, suggesting that they haven't experienced many attacks, if at all. This could also mean that they also understand that negative emotions can draw in the Grimm of any sizes to the settlement. Because of the natural defenses the location provides, the Grimm aren't much of an issue, but they recognise the threat, and must invest a great deal of time and effort into the wellbeing of its citizens.
This also means he got here before the bandits have gotten here, giving him plenty of time to prepare for the oncoming attack, if there is one. Truth be told, they possess quite a good defense, which makes it all the more stranger that bandits would ever invade such a place.
"I'm making my way through Mistral in hopes of reaching the capital. I thought about staying here for some time to relax." The man responded. What he said wasn't a total lie. His actions were leading him towards the capital. But he wasn't planning on staying here for simple relaxation.
"I see..." The man then stood upright, straightening his posture, as the interlocking systems began to deactivate, the middle circle began to rotate clockwise. "Make sure to read the laws and regulations of Kyota. If you have any questions, we have patrol officers on stand-by. Aside from that, please enjoy your stay."
The middle circle finished rotating clockwise and the door began to split apart, revealing the stone path which leads right into the settlement. A path that the man took with a small "Thank you." Once he got passed the gates, they closed up, the interlocking systems locking it up tighter than a drum. Then he began to take a good look through the entire settlement.
The entire thing was layers of buildings and doorways built right into the sides of the valley. The bottom layer sported rivers which would lead downhill. There were also mini-waterfalls spilling out from the sides of the valley itself. Bridges also went over the rivers and behind the waterfalls of the valley, which would be able to reach the homes that were dug right into the edges of the valley, which were guarded by golden-brown metal doors.
Walking towards a nearby map, he got the general gist of the layout of the settlement. The first layer consisted of hotels, markets, restaurants, virtually anything that is required for sustenance for an entire settlement. He took a good look around the lower level and it's inhabitants, noting just how well kept and upbeat the entire place was. It had this aura of relaxation where one could be infinitely safe here.
The middle-layer consists of the of the forges, and the engineers. It seems that this entire place was built into an inactive volcano, providing a natural source of heat. Looking at the middle-layer, he could see forges, and people hammering the metal onto the anvils. It seems that the forges are fueled by the magma that is within the volcano. It would save funds on the usage of burn-Dust, and it may actually be even more effective than simple Dust. They might've come to the conclusion that something about the heat of the volcano has made the metals hold... tighter, for a lack of better term.
The top-layer consists of the higher-class individuals, the individuals that hold the more prestige in the settlement. They can be the top owners of the different mines, such as the gold, silver, iron, Dust, and even titanium mines. A family may have been an entire bloodline of incredible blacksmiths, or some may be a family that fought in the Great War.
And all of this isn't even accounting for the other sections of each layer. This entire settlement may as well be its own miniature Kingdom with how it's prospering. After reading the maps alone, he could see why the bandits would love to feast on the prosperity of this settlement.
This place is filled to the brim of resources and weaponry. If the bandits ever arrived, which they will, they would be able to pillage this place for all that they could get. And not even that, this would be a great place for them to set up a permanent base for training, if they bothered for training, and they can easily lord the current settlement's populace as slaves for their own benefit, to not only harvest Dust and other precious minerals, but to be able to wield weapons of the highest caliber.
So he's established the why. Now he needs to establish the where, the how, the when, and the who. He needs to know where the bandits are going to attack specifically, where they're going to attack and at which period of time, then who had orchestrated the entire attack, so he can bring the fight to them.
That said, using the map, he figured out where a good hotel should be, so he should be able to get a good room to get some rest. Following the directions from the map, he managed to navigate to the Argint Hotel. Not the best, but not the worst either.
The doors had no handles, so he assumed it was a push door, which it was. Once he walked in, he was surprised just how... modern it looked.
The whole reception area was made out of a nice polished wood, the colour being that of the inside of a tree, a nice light-brown. On the center pathway, there were wooden beams that went from the sides of the wide path to the ceiling. The man got the feeling that they were there simply for an aesthetic feeling rather than for actual support.
The lanterns on the wall were fueled by burn-Dust, which gave off a nice, homey, orange-tinted light. There was a diner at the very back with a large amount of tables and chairs. The walls were decorated with a pattern of squares, of different shapes, overlapping one another. The different shades of brown added to the nice pattern.
Right in front of him, however, was the receptionist's desk, which had a typical holo-screen on it, and a receptionist. She was dressed in a typical formal manner, with a white blouse, and a black blazer. Her lower form was obscured by the desk, but he could get the impression that she was also wearing a black business skirt, a pair of grey stockings and black heels.
The second he walked up to the desk, the woman automatically noticed his presence, her chocolate-brown eyes locked onto him, and immediately, a polite smile was plastered across her face.
"Hello, there young man." The black-haired woman said. "Do you need anything?"
"Yes, actually. I was hoping to rent a room for a few nights." The faunus answered truthfully.
"Hoping to stay for the tournament?" She asked, typing away at the computer.
"In truth, I didn't even know that there was a tournament being hosted here. I just came here for a few nights rest before hitting the road again. What is the tournament about?" The man asked.
"Well, from the looks of things, you might be well suited for the tournament," she said. "It was created many millenia ago when a large group of bandits had invaded this settlement. At the time, it was, and still is, one of the most prospering settlements, and they wished to pillage all of what we had."
"What happened?" The man asked.
"Well... one of the warriors there would supposedly be the founder of Kenjutsu and would fight tooth and nail against these bandits. Somehow, he triumphed against them, and drove them back."
"Really? Sounds like they were impressive back in the day." A genuine smile graces the man's face.
"They were. In those times, they would often use First-Generation weapons, which some people think are inferior in this day and age. However, the tournament is to honour the warriors that fought for this settlement by using those types of blades, such as a kodachi, a katana, a wakizashi, etc. At the end, the winner will then be gifted with a random treasure that is held within an ancient vault within the mountain."
"Sounds interesting, maybe I will sign up."
"You should. It starts in 3 days." The receptionist agreed, before she began to type some more information on her computer. "Name please?"
"Adam Taurus." The man, named Adam Taurus, replied.
"Duration of stay?"
"Three days."
"Alright, now we just need some payment." Adam then took out his scroll, before he inserted it into the paying machine in front of him. For a second, the machine flashed green before fading back to an ordinary blue.
"Alright, now we transferred the key over to your scroll when you payed. You should be able to get in, Mr. Taurus, without any issue. At the end of the three days, the key will be automatically removed from your scroll."
Adam nodded, unfazed by the implications, and just walked in the direction where his room would be. Right now, he was going to get a few days rest, with some light training, in order to fight at his utmost best.
With that, he now had a good time limit as to when the tournament will begin. The settlement will most likely divert their attention to ensuring the success of the tournament as it clearly holds a great deal of sentimental value to them. Given that it is a fighting tournament, the bandits would most likely arrive after the tournament is all said and done. If it's an all-out tournament, then chances are that they'll exhaust themselves out before the bandits come around and attack.
So he should give himself roughly 1 day of exploring, 1 day of aura-training, then 1 day of training with katas before the festival, and before the attack, and even then, he would have plenty of free time to do as he pleases. The place was so large, it would be a very nice vacation spot
The bandits don't even know what's coming to them...
The next three days passed much like an actual blur, and in that time, he began to observe the intricacies of this entire settlement, which came with the natural defenses and potential weak spots of the settlement. In those three days, he figured out how the tournament is going to be organised.
The whole tournament would be composed of Huntsmen-level Kenjutsu users, wielding a wide variety of katana-based swords. All of these warriors have an unlocked Aura, which made it even more imperative that he has to be careful.
In any tournament setting, a ring-out would mean an instant disqualification. Adam would make sure he would fight to the point where he looked like he was struggling, and then go for a ring-out, to assure that his opponents had enough Aura-reserves. Of course, that only applied to his opponents. He can't necessarily do anything when other people are the ones battling. They aren't the ones who are actually aware of the situation they're about to be in, so that makes things more difficult than it needs to be.
He could, just as easily, inform the settlement about an incoming attack, but he does not possess concrete proof of the attack. And even if he does, he can't particularly afford a greater increase in negativity, which would draw in the Grimm, as little of a problem as it is, or might even accelerate the arrival of the bandits. So that's why he had to make sure he handled this situation with a delicate touch.
The first set of rounds he had managed to blitz through entirely, with minimal effort. Although it looked like he struggles, the whole tournament is relatively easy for him. Although as the rounds progressed, they got increasingly more difficult, while fighting at the level of his opponents, or just above it. He'll admit he underestimated the capability of the people he was facing, given his level of training and discovery of new Aura-techniques.
By the time Adam finished all of his matches, he realised where they were all going. The mountain itself was used as the entire battleground, when it came down to all-out battles. A part of the settlement led to a system of tunnels that joined together to navigate the way throughout the actual mountains. Most of the time, such a thing was reserved for the miners of the settlement to go after the deposits of the minerals and ores, but this specific system was used to navigate to a large section of the mountain, one that lead to a very large cliff.
The actual stadium was reminiscent of the Vytal Festival's tournament stage at Amity Colosseum. Layers of tough grey stone had been shaped to form a octagonal-shape. Darker grey lines extended from the shapes' vertices and in-between said vertices to join together at the very center. In-between those lines were more, extending from one line to the next, creating a somewhat assymetrical pattern, similar to that of a spiders web, with another octagonal-shape right in the center, used specifically for the opponents to stand on. However, because of the natural size of this mountain, the stage was much bigger. At least 3-4 times bigger.
The ridges that surround the arena were reminiscent of the actual stands normally seen at the tournament settings for the Vytal Tournament held in any of the Four Kingdoms, specifically designed for the spectators, although there was a lack of seats in general, simply being composed of grey stone.
Using his Aura, he expanded the spherical-view that was made up of his five senses, utilizing the technique Tomei. This technique utilizes all of his senses and melds them together to create a spherical-view which allows him to maintain complete and utter situational awareness of his surroundings. The barebones of this technique is taught to "experienced" Aura-users, but combine it with your other senses, it becomes far more effective than what you'd actually learn.
With Tomei, he was capable of seeing all the circuitry that lay hidden within the walls of the large stadium, and all the systems required to create a fully functioning biome, or any sort of setting at all. The lack of ceiling also helped, allowing for aerial-combat, which is a boon. It allows freedom for both fighters, the freedom to fight at their full potential. All of this really depended on the environment they were going to be fighting in.
His feet stepped onto the stage, his sword sitting on pins and needles in his sheath. He can just hear the cry for battle coming from his blade, begging to sing its fiery tune once it was released from its sheath. The cry only got louder once Adam had set his eyes on his opponent.
His opponent had wavy locks of onyx-black hair which reached down to his shoulders, which was further sharpened by his steel-grey eyes which seemed to unnaturally pierce through anything. His face was unnusually pale, the contours of his face was sharp and firm.
His outfit consisted of a black t-shirt that was decorated with grey crescents that overlapped one another, right down to the sleeves. His black cargo pants and black boots added to a more militaristic appearance. He also had black canisters that were attached to his hips.
Over his shirt, he wore a beige-coloured sleeveless duster. However, down at the hips and below, the colour shifted to a dark, ashen-grey, mixed with black, and the faint colours of orage trailing through them. The same applied to the arms at elbow length. On back of his duster, where his hips should be, were a pair of longer-than-average chōkutos.
"We have travelled a long way up the mountain for this moment!" the announcer said, his voice being carried throughout the setting they were in. He seemed to be getting on in years as his wrinkles defined his age, along his greying, balding head of hair, and long beard. However, he didn't have a hunched over posture. Instead he stood up-right, seeming even more powerful than the average warrio in his black kimono. "We have also bear witness to some very talented warriors here!
"As you most of you already know, 2722 years before the Great War, our village was attacked by vile bandits, people who would love nothing more than to tear away at our hard work just for themselves. It also didn't help that, in those days, we ere nothing more than a few mines, farms, and buildings, hoping to tame the land and mountains and make it our own.
"But even in carbon can you form diamonds! We were gifted with divine providence as our ancestors had given birth a wonderful child, one that would lay the groundwork for our civilization to prosper! He gave us the very thing that can never be taken away from us! That, my people, is hope...
"This man had driven back the bandits with the accumalated power of himself and his group of warriors! He showed us that anything is possible that, if we were to persevere, we can accomplish anything!To honour their memories and to cherish what they have gifted us, we have founded this very tournament to always be a reminder of what we have been taught.
"With us, we have the young man, Adam Taurus." The audience had directed their attention towards the man. "Despite his youth, it has been shown that he is a dilligent, and strong young man! His swordsmanship is exquisite. That blade he wields is certainly unique, and I'm not talking about the size. As unorthodox as it may be, it certainly fits his laijutsu-style."
Adam felt his sword humm with an astounding level of pride, sharing the announcers sentiment.
"We also have Flamouria Frasin! This young man has shown himself to be an adept user of Aura and an expert at the art of the sword, but shall he succeed in this years tournament?! Especially with such fierce competition?! We shall see such dazzling displays today!"
Just then, the systems of the tournament stadium had started up, segments of the entire battlefield then began to drop into the ground, leaving triangular holes right at the arena, before new parts of a new arena began to replace the previous parts.
The entire battlefield had been completely replaced by the desert, with old, rocky spires streaming up from the dunes themselves. Up in the air seemed to be miniaturized parts of a pyramid, all floating in the air gracefully, turning and twisting, with small streams of sand leaked out between the bricks.
Adam then sank into a crouch that was befitting of one that practiced laijutsu, his hand grasping the exceptionally-long handle of his blade, while Flamouria remained stationary, not even making the hint that he was going anywhere else on the battlefield.
An alarm rang, signalling the beginning of the match, and Adam's form became an ebony blur that sped across the battlefield, his form unable to be traced by the naked eye. As he travelled, he pulled his blade out of its metal sheath, the temperature surrounding the blade increasing.
As it so happened, the second he moved, Flamouria sank into a crouch of his own, his left hand moving to the large caniteron his hip, before he clicked a button it, and something grey and black had shot out. It had sped out of the canister.
For the briefest of seconds, Adam's Tomei had detected the substance in question was actually ash. The substance had no actual form, it was just pure granules of burnt substance, so for whatever reason he shot it out for, it would definitely be a good reason. So his next choice was incredibly simple.
His form seemed to teleport in another direction, leading him diagonally-upwards to one of the nearby platforms, his sword already resting in his sheath, before he took a look at the swirling pile of ash that was launched at him...
Or rather what was once a swirling pile of ash as the substance quickly managed to shape itself into some disgusting blob of black goo and grey ash befre the whole of its form began to shape further into something much more humanoid. Adam could see the flow of the black substance and the ash shift, flowing in different directions, all extending to form a new entity. The final product was something rather... unique.
The humanoid was rather deformed. The limbs and torso were completely in line with that of a human. However, what would normally be the skin was all twisted and contorted, completely benign to the human or faunus form. While the skin was mostly composed of grey ash, there were faint black lines that indicated that the black goo was holding it together. Its face was the main focus, with the eyes leaking the black goo, much like tears, while the mouth was, in appearence, much like the door of a furnace, with ash joining from the 'lips', although much more monstrous.
Looking at the entity, he simply tapped into his resovoirs of stored up kinetic energy, and drew his sword. He swung it horizontally, sending a blood-red crescent of energy hurdling towards the deformed ash entity, striking it head on, creating a cloud of dust and sand.
Adam had initially smirked at the scene, thinking to himself that the creature Flamouria had created, but the smirk was dashed away once he saw that the creature had taken little to no damage. Some ash spillages were noticeable on the sand, but the entity was completely unfazed, not that it had any emotions to begin with.
"My Semblance allows me to generate and manipulate ash," Flamouria said, his voice harsh and rough. "It's rather useful in certain scenarios, don't you think? I noticed that you absorb energy through your sword and can dish it back even stronger, but that's only if you can absorb damage in the first place, right? Against enemies that are designed to nullify the power of an attack, like my Ash-Spawns, its virtually useless."
Adam had grunted in annoyance at the sight of the entity that now stood in front of him. His Semblance, his ultimate ace, the Moonslice, had focused on the act of absorbing kinetic energy using his sword, store it up, and send it back in a variety of ways. The first and primary method was the usage of energy waves. He can mold the way he can release those energy waves by altering how he is swinging his sword, which would allow him for a variety of uses. He can swing at it right at the ground to channel that energy right at te ground, or create simple simple crescents. That was the first ability he discovered, and had been a valuable asset in regards to his fighting style.
But these 'Ash-Spawns', as he deemed them, had proven to be a meddling wall. They've been shown to withstand the power of his ultimate technique, even though the amount of power he put into that attack was, thankfully, not much out of the tank, it was still powerful enough to disintergrate some powerful targets such as armour made out of titanium, altered by advanced gravity fields so they can resit more of an attack, and be far lighter and, by extension, more maneuverable.
But pure ash would never be able to withstand such an attack. Adam had come across many durable things, but ash was, by no means, durable, even when it congregated in large quantities, which would only serve to cushion the impacts of an attack. This means that the Ash-Spawn was either composed of highly-condensed granules of ash, or there was something that was holding the entity together.
With that thought process, he began to understand the uses of Ash-Spawns. They posses a great level of impact-absorption. He now needs to figure out a plan as to how to take that thing down. So what was he to do against an unfazeable object?
He was unable to ponder the question as the Ash-Spawn had shifted its legs into a coil, much like a mini-tornado, before it sprung up towards Adam, and to his eyes, its right arm had shifted, the ash and that black goo began to twist and contort before it forged a large arm-blade.
Once it reached the apex of its leap, it brought its blade above its head, before swinging down. Adam, unfortunately, had, had made the mistake of bringing his own blade to clash with the enemy. Once both blades had scraped with one another, Adam realized the error he made.
His blade had, mostly, cut right through the blade of ash, but when he tried to tug it free, it was stuck. His blade had refused to budge from where it was stuck. Using his Tomei, Adam had quickly managed to identify the problem instantaneously.
tar-Dust.
tar-Dust was, in a sense, a unique type of Dust. It was a combintion of earth, fire, and water-type Dust. However, what makes it so much different was that, dependng on the ratios, you can have tar-Dust with varying consistencies. For high-fire, medium-water, and low-earth, you can have tar that is scorching hot, runny, and overall dangerous to be near. It was the sort of consistency that is used when paving roads in the main Kingdoms.
It seems this tar-Dust's consistency was that of medium-fire, low-earth, and low-water. This particular combination enabled the user to create an incredibly adhesive substance, the sort that is incredibly difficult to remove unless you had specific help, much like actual paint, except worse.
'So that's how the Ash-Spawns can maintain their form. It also explains how they can shape their form,' Adam thought, intrigued at the mans creativity. 'He maintains his control over the tar, which means he can determine the properties of the tar, and can use that in conjunction with his Semblance so that he can alter their shape, and their molecular density. It's no wonder why this entity was able to withstand my attack, and halt my blade at the same time.'
However, such a thing was trivial at the minute. Another ability of his Semblance was the ability to project the built-up kinetic energy that was stored within his sheath, or sword, by, first, shifting the energy from his storage units into his body, before releasing it outside of his body. Only then could he begin to shape it into solid clones, unlike the ones Blake can create. Hers were akin to shadow clones, ones that would vanish after a single attack dealt to them or by them. His were far more physical and tangible.
But that would end up draining a good chunk of his Aura before he even got to him, and given by the number of canisters he has, he would burn through all of his Aura before he even lands a finishing blow.
'Unless...' Using his Aura, he had it flow through his arms, like water, before it ended right at the edge of his blade, and at the middle. The sword's temperature began to heat up to an even greater degree, before the whole of the Ash-Spawn's blade began to emit large levels of steam. Flamouria had used his Semblance, his hands thrusted outwards, while also glowing grey, to shake his Ash-Spawn out of the grip of his blade, hoping to put a stop to whatever Adam was attempting to pull off.
However, Flamouria's efforts were in vain. He was well aware that, in order to effectively control his Ash-Spawns, their shape and integrity, he required to have constant control over the tar-Dusts' moisture, able to control its consistency. It was a trick that was incredibly difficult to employ in a genuine battle, and it took many months, just over a year of training and refinement to even get to this level.
In order for the ash to remain tethered to the tar, he had to make sure that every last granule was bonded to it. He didn't realize it until now but Adam's sword was either coated or infused with fire-Dust, neither of which was good. 'Judging by his actions, he figured out what I need to do to create my Ash-Spawns! This isn't good!'
That was putting it mildly. He saw that his Ash-Spawn's blade had been completely super-heated, becoming solid and completely rock-hard. Adam's sword had completely petrified the tar with its heat, then, activating his Semblance, he channeled his stored energy into his blade, and used his Aura to sharpen his sword to shatter the blade of ash.
The blade forged from ash had gained a red vein-like texture flowing throughout the entire blade, before the sound of stone cracking began to fill the entire area. The red veins began to cackle with some sort of electricity, as cracks began to appear through the stone, before it exploded. While the remaining soft, cushion-like ash-tar had been specificall designed to absorb the attack to a degree, the crystallized, fragile arm-turned blade did not.
Red energy exploded from the arm, which had divided the arm into sharp, jagged shards, sending them flying into different directions. These shards, however, have been imbued with Adam's kinetic energy, specifically designed to improve the strength and/or speed of an attack. Because of the unique shape of these daggers, increasing their strength would be effectively useless. Their rough, jagged shape made it completely impossible to create a clean cut. Instead, it was infinitely more likely to rip and tear. A clean cut was something that was incredibly deadly when executed correctly. A shard jagged like this didn't make any cuts it made any less deadly.
This was something that both fighters had instantly knew, as some shards went straight towards Flamouria, who had expelled ash directly from his hands and onto the floor beneath him, creating a spot of ash, before he thrusted his hands upwards, and three blocky walls of compressed ash shot up from the piles, guarding him from the shards.
Adam, when the explosion occured, had instead used the very same technique he used to approach Flamouria from the beginning in order to evade the shards. Through shifting his Aura right into the his feet, he had been given the option to project the accumulated amount of Aura into an explosive force. This technique relied on control and precision, which was his entire fighting-style, rather than using an over-the-top amount of Aura then burn the rest away in a heartbeat.
The technique involved using the strength of your foot by repeatedly pushing it against the ground in an incredibly short interval in order to pierce the maai of an opponent. It was a technique that was taught to students who wished to practice with their Aura even more, although few would take it even further. The only reason it isn't taught to most people is because the risks of training such a technique, even with the best possible safeguards, had the potential to cause permanent strain and damage to your muscles. It's a technique that isn't one that should be taught to individuals who had very little training when it came down to their physique.
However, Adam had little concern for such a thing. He's been trained by experts who would use this technique in incredible ways, ways of which he had been instructed. So propelling himself backwards was hardly an issue.
What was an issue was that the shards of ash were still hurdling towards him. His swords speed was absolutely legendary, without a doubt. Despite its absurd dimensions and density, its speed had transcended the speed of potentially every other blade in existence. So, with just a single swing, his form seemed to multiply. What was meant to be one single blade made it seem like it was seven blades. His speed alone was enough to create many afterimages that seemed to multiply his form, cutting down all of the shards before they could even reach him, small clouds of dust emerging from where they were cut down.
Then, when that was done, the dust clouds then began to compress onto themselves, tightening, almost as if there was a black hole in the center of the clouds, before they were transformed into red orbs of pure energy, before flying right into Adam's sword, which was sheathed in whitened-crimson light. The sword was only one-sixth filled of kinetic energy, but now absorbed enough to cover a fourth of its length, changing its colour from a brilliant red, a clear sign that fire-Dust had been imbued into it, to a crimson-red, the colour of blood, the sign of an incoming attack.
His feet had landed on another platform, his sword already sheathed, before he used the same propulsion-technique in order launch himself off of the platform, a red burst of energy being seen beneath his feet. His form became a mere ebony blur within the air, the very same blur he became when the very fight began, when he approached Flamouria.
His speed had allowed him to cross the battlefield with ease. His blurred form tavelled straight to the ground, and at the point of his landing, he made a sharp turn towards Flamouria again...
...only this time, he had accelerated even more. His propulsion-technique revolved around the number of steps he can put into a very short interval in order to gain even more speed, to cross a certain distance in such a short interval. The maximum amount of steps he could perform was seven steps. The maximum this technique could allow is ten.
He only used three.
A warrior knows how to use his techniques. A true warrior knows how much power is needed for success.
It was a quote he came up with himself, but it was one that has served him well over the years.
The distance between him and Flamouria could not be closed with just a single step. Two steps? It would close a good chunk of the distance between him and his opponent, but his form would snap back into crystal clarity before his attack met, allowing for another counter attack. Three steps was enough for him to bridge the gap between him and his opponent.
His opponent had tried his hardest to reach for his dual-chokutōs, his hands reaching for them behind his back. He had already sensed the oncoming attack from a mile away. He was no idiot to tackle an enemy without knowing who he was. He noticed that, during all of Adam's matches, any projectiles that were thrown at him happened to be converted into red light before being absorbed by his sword.
He never witnessed his Semblance at full power yet, and, honestly, isn't particularly wishing to. He's already seen a piece of the destructive nature of his Semblance, and he seems to get a good level of mileage out of simple energy waves, able fo twist and weave them in any way shape or form.
He knew that, once his sword was completely dyed crimson, he would go in for an ultimate attack, and once that happens, he would lose without a doubt.
The image of the largest crimson energy wave Adam could release had crossed his mind, making him shudder.
He managed to get his blades out and bring them to defend himself against Adam's attack right in front of him, crossing the swords in an x-formation. One of the swords, the one furthest from him, was aiming to defend against Adam's attack, while the one closest to him was to add additional support and defense to the blade, which was further enhanced by the Aura running through the two blades.
This, unfortunately, had meant nothing to Adam's blade. For such a large blade, he excpected it to be relatively heavy, yet he seemed to wield it as if it was lighter than a feather. However, just because he could wield it like it was a feather didn't mean it was as light as a feather. The weight of the sword should carry the impact befitting of an actual broad blade, and not a katana.
Key word is should.
So it came as a surprise to him when his blades was unable to defend himself against the attack, but he felt all the impact belonging to a katana rather than an actual broad blade. The strength behind it was befitting of a katana, but stronger.
He was also able to detect that the cutting-edge of his katana/broad blade was far sharper than what it actually appears. So it came as to an even greater shock that his blades didn't snap, or even get sliced to pieces, but rather it remained reinforced.
Aura was the mysterious force that had allowed humanity to endure the constant danger of the Creatures of Grimm. The very burning light within the darkness that had surrounded them, smothered in, and it was capable of many things that had allowed them to persevere for the betterment of mankind. By running your Aura through your own weapons, you can easily accomplish the ability to sharpen your weapon, or increase its durability. He had used his Aura to reinforce his blade.
Adam's blade was forged in an incredibly large interval, his rough estimation was atleast 4 months. The metals had been layered, folded so many times it was nearly impossible to see just what actually it was made of. However, it was clearly forged by a true smith and artist. The blade's cutting edge was sharper than anything else, so it was all the more confusing that it didn't pierce, or even slice, the blade.
The force of the attack had sent him skidding all the way back to the edge of the sand dunes, at the edge of the arena. He was mostly unable to stop himself from skidding all the way to the edge, the sand providing a much softer, and much less firmer foundation for his feet, which made it much more difficult for him to maintain his footing.
He had created ash right from his feet, before he used it to create some sort of makeshift trampoline to launch himself to a nearby platform, and would use this technique in order to launch himself between the platforms, gaining a great deal of distance between him and Adam...
...only to notice that he had already moved onto the platform in front of him. Unfortunately, there were no more platforms around him to take. He could backtrack, but that would leae him vulnerable. Thankfully, their respective platforms were rather close, so any attack he could use would reach. The question is how. True, he could use one of his Ash-Spawns, but to make the necessary ratios of tar-Dust was an incredible pain. If only he had one of his Ash-Spawns intact...
'Wait! That's it!' His Semblance instantly activated, his power reaching out to the his very creation. As he did that, the still form of the Ash-Spawn justled, pieces of ash falling from its body as its body began to feel affected by his Semblance.
If he could use that... in tandom with his swords... and his Semblance...
'There!' He grasped onto the ashes of his creation, stirring it to life, embers sparking within its form, before molding it to propel itself. Its only remaining arm becoming skeletal, while the tar and ash shifted to form another right, skeletal arm. the bulky physique it once held now became akin to a ribcage, and a stream of tar and ash resembling a spine was visible at the back. Its lower half was then transformed into a tornado, made from the shifted ash of its torso and the reshaping of its legs.
Adam had done a great job destroying the blade of his Ash-Spawn, but to do that, he had to concentrate all of the heat that came from his blade in order to obliterate the moisture that was within the tar itself. That would leave the rest of his Ash-Spawn practically untouched.
Still, what was left of it still had moisture that he could manipulate, and was still useful. His creation managed to reach him quick enough, and pulling his blades out, he spun at a rapid speed, his forearms unleashing whips of ash, almost as if they were extensions of his own body.
Adam had gladly responded in kind. Even with his limited land, he was capable of swinging his sword at high speeds without even moving. Red streaks had collided with whips of grey. Flamouria's form became more akin to something to a an uncontrollable drill. Something that was going all about inflicting damage everywhere he could. It wasn't even about effectiveness. As strong as Flamouria is with his Dust and ash, he had neglected to properly refine his bladed techniques. He had focused too much on the power of his Semblance and tar-Dust.
His Semblance is relatively strong in te way he uses it. To create entities with a strong form, but one with a great defense, specifically crafted to absorb the impact of an attack, and wear down the user before Flamouria gets the finishing blow. That's his whole strategy, to wear down his opponent with an entity that would refuse to budge or even take damage.
But he spent many training sessions neglecting his swordsmanship. His skills with a blade were rather impressive in the eyes of a casual observer, but when in the eyes of a true master will you know just how skilled one with a sword is.
His Aura speaks for itself. His Aura is dull, unsharpened by the whetstone of motivation. It has remained that way for who-knows-how long, meaning, for the most part, he hasn't really got much combat experience, aside from maybe the occasional Grimm he might've fought. But, right now? His skill with a sword is rather...dull, lacking in true experience, which acts as the sharp edge of any blade.
So it was pathetically easy to not only block the attacks with his sword, but his lack of experience left many openings for him to exploit. It may be his sword being swung at the incorrect angle, allowing him to nock a few chips off of his Aura with just a few swings of his blade. It certainly didn't help that he had to conciously focus on both his ash-whips, and his Ash-Spawn.
The main problem was the new form the Ash-Spawn had adopted. It was leaner, slimmer, and much more mobile, so simply trying to swing his blade around furiously wasn't going to do much good. Its new physique had allowed it do dodge more attacks with an easier time to evade his attacks. However, his Tomei had allowed him to maintain a constant awareness of the Ash-Spawn, and he was quick to notice that, everytime he struck Flamouria, his focus would waver, and when that happens, he loses a slight bit of control over his ash-creations.
With that, each time his focus wavered, he would create an afterimage, not one born out of speed, but one born out of his absorped pools of damage, of his sword, to whittle away at the skeletal form of his creation. It was a slow process, whittling down the levels of ash to make it sure that he couldn't control his creation anymore.
Another strike on Flamouria had caused his focus to waver on his Ash-Spawn, the burning light wthin its body had flickered and died out. But such a momentary thing was enough. A streak of black and red had managed to cleave through its ribcage, bisecting it from its shoulder all the way down to where its hip should be.
The two halves of his manifested creation had red energy flowing through them, much like before. This time, however, the red lines began to thicken, spreading across the entirety of its body, before it just began to fade, its entire body turning to a cluster of wilting rose petals, before even they had just faded into the wind.
The shock that his Ash-Spawn had been disintergrated right in front of his eyes had surged through his entire being. Funnily enough, the shock he had felt had only left him wide open for what will happen next.
Adam's form blurred once again, moving from the pedestal he stood on, speeding past Flamouria, past his whips of ash, through an opening that he left due to his lack of focus. Flamouria's entire body had shined a brilliant red, before his entire body just collapsed. The ash-whips he had created had just fell to the ground, losing their form.
Flamouria's legs were unable to support him, so he just fell backwards, right off the platform, with a trail of wilting rose petals leaving from his back, before a black blur had caught him, before landing on the ground, revealing it to be Adam who had managed to grab Flamouria by his duster.
The entire audience was in silence, before slowly, clapping and cheering began to build up, the entire stadium had roared into cheers and cries of joy.
"That was awesome!"
"I'm gonna start my training!"
"I'll be just as strong as you, Taurus!"
The entire stadium had begab to chant his name. Taurus began to be echoed through the stadium, filling the man with happiness. Adults were astounded, children were inspired, and this was a fulfilling moment for him.
Still...
A surge of malice had spiked, somewhere from within the audience itself, before he focused onto one particular black-haired individual. Despite the fact that he was cheering and smiling, it disguised his true emotions. It hid his cruelty, his malice, his eyes scoping everything around him for an assessment. Something, anything that he could use in order to succeed in his misdion.
Adam's eyes had dangerously narrowed. Using his Tomei, he was capable of seeing things that can't normally be seen by the human eye, no matter how trained they were. What other people would see was a simple spectator, someone who just wanted to enjoy the display, someone who visited to maybe fill time, or something else.
What Adam had seen was something far worse. He saw a man who only had value for one particular thing. Emotions, sentiment, anything associated with emotions were all clearly useless to him. There was only one thing that had mattered more than anything to him than anything else in the world, even more than his own family.
Strength.
There was no length this man won't go in order to prove his own strength, to prove that he is superior over others, for others to recognize him for his cruelty. His entire actions are guided by malice and cruelty, further fueled by his 'survival of the fittest' mentality. His eyes were constantly eying everything around him, searching for any sort of weakness, no matter how small, and prey on it like a pack of sharks. This man was also searching for any strong combatants, hopefully to turn them, or instead kill them in cold blood to avoid a challenge.
Too bad they picked the wrong guy for a challenge...
Helloooooo everyone and welcome to my story, Rekindled! Honestly, I've been trying to come up with this story for a while now, and a good feasible way to make it make sense. But, I've got a plan and I'm going to stick with it.
Side note, nothing major had happened in this actual chapter, but I was sort of laying the ground work on what will appear next, and what may actually happen later on. Also, when I was watching another story, you guys may have heard of it, it was called Red Thorn and I grew enamored with how the story had handled Adam. His descent into a wild beast before the big bad of the story had swooped in, practically kidnapped him, and trained him to become an even greater version of himself. Highly suggest you guys read that story, alongside this one, as it will provide you guys with some insight to this story.
The weapon my Adam Taurus is using was based off of a weapon from Samurai Deeper Kyo called Hakuya. A blade that, despite its appearance, has the potential to be the fastest blade in existence. It's basically Hakuya, just slightly different.
Also, the more I think about, the more I realize just how broken Adam's Semblance really is. It's very similar to Yang's, except more versatile, or that's how quite a few people view it. Given Yang's personality and drive to become a Huntress, living for excitement, I would not put it pass her to experience that addicting power, when you could just let loose by unleashing your full power, it's very much akin to a drug. Even the original Adam wasn't like that, choosing to preserve his stored-up energy to take down Blake, until he got more and more agitated towards the end, using it more and more recklessly aaaaaaaaaaaaaannd...
We all know how that cookie crumbles...
So, I feel like Yang's Semblance could by way more efficient, effective and just as versatile. Although, it won't be 'they're gonna evolve their Semblances till the point they're one and the same' sort of shit. Each Semblance I will create, I will try to make it as versatile and creative as I can.
Also, imagine the actual design of the characters belonging to Ice Queendom purely because I think it just looks cooler. If you don't like it, to each their own, I guess.