"Hah...hah..."
Panting and bruised all over, was none other than Subaru Natsuki. Hunched over as he was simply catching his breath. The wolf demihuman simply stood there, smirking in satisfaction at what he was seeing.
Subaru's wakizashi was in being held in his right hand as Yoru was currently being held in his left. This guy was simply. . .too strong. He was fast, very fast. His cursed arts or whatever the hell it was called was already a chore avoiding. But this individual was able to find weak spots. After all, the only move he actually used was Kuro(Black) to try and keep him at a distance.
But not even that worked.
'I feel my vision already going blurry. This guy is something else entirely, and there's nothing I can do against him. I've been using Kuro(Black) the entire time and I'm running out of spirit energy...I need to think of something, and fast...'
Subaru thought to himself as he continued to pant on his knees.
"Come on now kid, I know ya' aren't throwing in the towel yet...are ya?"
Subaru continued to pant as he kept thinking of a strategy.
'Of all the moves I haven't used. . .there is one that I consider more or less a secret weapon. Well two actually. One being Shiro(White), where I summon a white tiger. And the other one being Orenji(Orange), where I summon an orange tiger. I sure wish I had a red tiger though. . .kinda like how Chihiro has a red fish for one of his attacks-! Ok getting off topic.'
The point Subaru was getting at was simply this, just like how Nishiki for Chihiro is basically cloaking. Orenji is somewhat the same, he summons an orange tiger which causes bright orange flame-like streaks to follow his sword, almost as if the tiger is following his every move. The technique greatly amplifies his movement speed and allow him to perform slashes that get stronger the more they hit the opponent. It imbues every slash, every punch, every kick, or every attack in general; with high-density spirit energy.
'I never thought I'd ever have to use that move but here we are. . .I need to win this, otherwise. . .'
He slowly got up and pointed his enchanted blade at the wolf demihuman.
'Then I would have failed Yuki!'
Subaru thought to himself.
"Heh. There ya' go kid. I knew you wouldn't go down that easily."
". . .This next move should finish things. . .prepare yourself. I'm not going to die here."
Subaru stated as he took a few deep breathes before uttering one word.
". . .Orenji(Orange)."
"?!"
Upon that one word being uttered, an orange tiger accompanied with orange flamed streaks on his sword appeared around Subaru as it growled.
Subaru's left arm was soon covered in an orange aura as he got into his stance.
'This kid. . .I can feel his aura almost from here. It's like his mana skyrocketed!'
The wolf demihuman thought as he readied himself.
And he wasn't kidding, the orange tiger looked like it was almost covering Subaru in its fur or rather it's energy. As if it would protect him from any oncoming attacks. Which would make this a bit harder for him.
This boy managed to entertain him enough so he decided.
"Hey kid."
". . .What is it?"
"My name, it's Halibel."
The demihuman now known as Halibel would introduce himself.
". . .Subaru Natsuki."
The boy replied.
"Huh. . .nice name, Su-san. Now let's end this shall we?"
"Yeah, let's get this over with. . .!"
Subaru exclaimed as he charged forward, kicking up a bunch of dust as he done so, catching Halibel off guard.
'That technique amplified his strength-?!'
The wolf-man quickly turned around to see Subaru behind him with his sword going for a horizontal swing that was clearly intended to cut him in half.
And Halibel surely would have been cut in two, if it weren't for his quick reflexes.
"Urk. . .!"
He grunted as he was literally flung away, failing to counter the attack as he crashed into a nearby tree, resulting in a dust cloud forming.
'That move greatly increased his movement speed. I can barely react in time-!'
His thoughts were cut short as Subaru's wakizashi charged its towards him through the dust cloud as Halibel quickly used his kunai to deflect it.
Quickly thinking, he got rid of the dust surrounding him...
Only to see no one was there.
'Where did he-?!'
Halibel felt Subaru's presence, he was coming from. . .
'Above?!'
Halibel looked up only to see Subaru preparing for a downward attack. His enchanted blade being covered in the orange flames streaks that would follow every movement of his blade.
Subaru was charging down fast.
Halibel wouldn't be able to react in time.
'Huh. . .not bad. The moment he used that move with the orange tiger, it was over. He still needs time to grow but. . .he's not bad.'
The sound of flesh being cut and blood being spilled came almost immediately. Subaru cut Halibel across the chest, giving him a fatal wound and ending the battle.
"Urgh...!"
The wolf-man coughed blood as he fell to a knee.
"N-Not bad. . .Su-san. . ."
He coughed more.
"It seems to me. . .t-that. . .ya' won. . ."
Halibel said as he began to lay on his back, his breathing becoming ragged.
". . .Yeah. I cut you down as I said I would."
Subaru replied as he looked back towards the dying wolf-man.
"If things were different. . .I'm sure you and I would be great friends. . ."
"Heh. . .I would have loved that. . .I enjoyed this small fight of ours."
Halibel replied with a smile as he took his last breath.
Halibel died.
He was cut down by the hand of Subaru Natsuki.
Subaru walked forward and picked up his wakizashi as he placed it back in its sheath as well as his enchanted blade.
". . .So did I Halibel. So did I."
With that, he walked off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOURS LATER. . .
Subaru made it back to the bar where the bartender and Yuki were waiting. The moment he walked through the door, the bartender looked surprised.
"Mister Natsuki. . .! You made it back!"
"Yeah. . .Urgh-!"
Subaru fell on a knee as he coughed blood. His vision also blurring out.
Before he passed out, he heard a familiar voice.
"It seems my clone also gave him some trouble. But if he made it all the way back here with those wounds, then he's pretty strong. Not bad."
'H. . .Halibel. . .?'
That was Subaru's last thought before succumbing to unconsciousness as he fell over.
"Mister Natsuki?! Mister Natsuki!!"
"Hey man, help me get him back to the little lady. I'm sure she's worried about her caretaker, wouldn't ya say?"
Halibel stated as he slung Subaru over his shoulder and began to take him to the backroom.
"W-What do you want me to do?"
The bartender asked.
"Just get him some water when he wakes up."
That's all Halibel said as he took Subaru to the backroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TWO DAYS LATER. . .
". . .Hm?"
He felt his body wrapped in bandages as certain parts of his body were sore. His throat felt raspy, his head hurt like hell, and he felt something laying on top of him.
As he looked down, he saw who it was.
". . .Yuki. . ."
The white tiger demihuman girl was soundly sleeping on top of Subaru as it looked like she was watching over him. He also noticed that his wakizashi and enchanted blade were resting on his bedside.
"How. . .long was I out?"
Subaru wondered out loud.
"For about two days."
". . .?"
He turned his head only to see the familiar wolf man he fought not too long ago laying on the wall.
"What? It looks like ya' just seen a ghost."
Halibel stated.
"I. . .I don't understand. How are you-?"
"Alive? Well Su-san, you fought my clone."
"C-Clone?"
The wolf-man then began to explain about his cloning ability and how it worked. He was able to use his fur to clone himself into four, using both physical and hollow clones to confuse his opponent. The biggest upside being that each and every clone is identical to the original specimen, including their strength, meaning that rather than splitting his fighting strength into four "pieces", he quadruples it. The clones are also able to act independently.
"I see. That's a pretty neat ability."
"Thanks. Though you have a bunch of tricks in your arsenal as well. You have talent kid."
Halibel stated.
"Now I'm thinking ya' still have some questions left to ask me, correct?"
"Yeah. . .were you really hired by those slave traders like you said?"
Subaru asked in a serious tone as Halibel was silent.
The entire room was silent until he laughed a bit before answering.
"Haha. . .nope. I only said that cause I was pulling your leg Su-san. Don't be mad."
". . ."
"Su-san?"
". . ."
The swordsmen said nothing as he slowly grabbed his blades resting on his bedside before slowly unsheathing them.
"Maybe I should cut you down after all for faking your death and playing me like a fiddle. . .you damn wolf!"
"Hey! Hey! Calm down, Su-san!"
Subaru would have tried getting out the bed but he remembered that he needed to rest for a bit. So he left it alone. . .for now.
He simply sheathed his blades and placed them back where they were before as he glared at the wolf.
"You're lucky I have this child laying on me, as well as the fact that my body is sore."
All the wolf did was nod and rub his head as he sweated a bit. A span of 3 days would pass as Subaru was fully healed. When Yuki first found out he was awake, she'd hug the living shit out of him. Almost as if she was trying to squeeze his soul out.
She also met Halibel and referred to him as "Uncle Hal" for short whenever they'd spent time together. And Halibel and Subaru actually hit it off pretty well, the wolf-man was a pretty good sparring partner.
Not to mention, Halibel helped Subaru expand his arsenal. Only problem was that Subaru needed to train more on how to handle his spirit energy.
(Authors Note: He doesn't know about mana and how to use it yet. So he doesn't know about his affinity for yin. Which will also play a role in his arsenal as a certain "witch" plays a role in this as well. I'm not spoiling though.)
So that's what he's do. And let's just say. . .he'd make sure to thank Halibel properly the next time they fought.
They also trained Yuki as well. Well Halibel helped with more of her training. She was more or less, a brawler. So she'd learn how to adapt to situations and her opponents fighting style quickly as well learning how to be stealth so her opponents wouldn't notice her from both Subaru and Halibel.
For a child her age, she became pretty skilled.
This was further shown when she fought slave traders with Subaru. And at one point, managed to fight a whole group of them...by herself.
And now to current times, Subaru and Halibel were walking in the streets of Banan. And Yuki wasn't with them currently because she was sleeping at a little house Halibel rented for her and Subaru to stay at for the time being. They we're currently trying to get a bite to eat after they had just got done sparring. They weren't really looking for an expensive meal but something cheap.
So that's what they did.
Once they were done with their respective meals, they both paid and left the restaurant they dined in. Walking out the restaurant, they simply enjoyed the view of different kinds of people walking around, some couples here and there cuddling on nearby benches, some children playing, etc.
They both simply just enjoyed the nice cool breeze as they took in the peaceful sight.
That was until the winds began to slowly pick up, they started to become more. . .violent. And at one point, it even started cutting into nearby objects.
Subaru quickly noticed that the people around him started to panic and looked anxious. He turned to Halibel for answers.
"Hey. . .Halibel. What's going on-?"
The wolf-man's fur was standing up as if sensing a very hostile entity.
The wind around the area grew even more violent as a lone woman slowly walked into frame. . .
It was a very beautiful woman with white skin. She had white hair and a small piece of lime hair but for the most part short milky-white hair with the uneven tips of a shaggy cut along with white eyelashes, and sharp almond-shaped eyes with a bright yellow color.
She wore an immaculate pure white kimono with green and black decorations and with the right side over the left, giving the impression of burial clothes, but with the skirt shortened to the mid-thigh and freely exposing her long slender legs.
Subaru blushed a bit.
But seeing everyone else panic even more told him that something was wrong. . .and when he sensed a huge amount of bloodlust aimed directly at him. . .it made him sweat a bit.
"Halibel. . .who is that woman?"
"That. . ."
The wolf-man paused for a bit before he continued.
"That is Slasher. . .or better known as The Most Beautiful Reaper. . ."
". . .What's her name?"
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
There was an extremely long pause before Halibel answered.
". . .Her name. . .is Zarestia."
. . .TO BE CONTINUED.