Tales of Xalthia
Chapter 16: Unhinged Power
The town of Basilwell was under attack by strange entities that seem to spawn from the crystal shards. Many people were in a panic as they scrambled to find safety. Meanwhile, the town guards and the local mercenaries were doing everything they can to protect the down and escort people to safety. However, they were up against an enemy that no one knew anything about. Town guards and mercenaries have divded themselves up and spread out through the whole town so that they could cover more ground. The Grand Sandpearl was used as being as a place of refuge, Many small buildings have been engulfed in flames or burnt to the ground.
With Tsuki and the others spread out around town to help out, each of them had their own set of difficulties. Ruko defended the central plaza with a mixed group of guards and mercenaries while Lynette was doing her best to heal those who were in need as they scrambled to safety. Ramza was in charge of a mercenary unit as they combed through the entire Residential District, checking in on each home to make sure people were safe and secured. In the process of doing that, they've had a couple encounters with the entities but thanks to Ramza instructing the mercenaries on how to kill them, things went pretty smoothly. Meanwhile, Tsuki was off on his own as he made his way to the port. Of course, he stopped in the Business and Resort Districts to make sure everything was okay. The Business District is all but empty while the Resort District has heavily fortified and defended by a large number of guards with a few mercenaries mixed in their ranks. Along the way, he ran into a couple entities and although he had some difficulty with them, he was able to take them out relatively easily. He had to keep his guard up though since he couldn't count on anyone backing him up. Despite the difficulties each group faced, things seemed to be going by pretty smoothly.
In the central plaza after roughly an hour since they split up, Ruko and Lynette were finally able to catch a little bit of a break. The flow of people from different parts of town started to slow down. Some of the guards and mercenaries that Ruko was fighting with to fend off approaching entities ended up being injured from the fight while a few were less fortunate. Thanks to Lynette's healing, casualties were kept at a minimum. However, she wasn't able to save everyone. She knew that it was impossible to save everyone but she wished that she could have done more. Ruko, on the other hand, had completely exhausted himself. Not only did his wounds open up once again during the fighting, he also sustained more. He had so many bandages that anymore would truly make him look like a mummy. They were both sitting along the edge of the central fountain, trying to unwind after everything that's happened.
Lynette leaned back, tilting her head up towards the sky with a wet towel covering her face. She was feeling tired after all the healing and fighting that she had to do. Thankfully, she had more than enough supplies of Orange Gels to keep her Mana up and flowing. Little by little, she could feel her overall levels of Mana getting higher as well as better management over her Mana. "Ohh...I'm so tired..." she said, her voice muffled a bit by the wet towel covering her face.
Ruko was holding onto his left arm as he stretched it out to get the blood flowing. His body was definitely feeling the pain now after all the fighting and not giving himself a chance to rest and recover from his wounds. "Man, it's been a long time since my body has felt so much pain" he said. He could feel every bone in his body creaking from the strain. It was like a blast from the past for him and not a very good one. He looked over to where the paths split up to the east and west sides of the town where they were initially fighting. "At the very least, it seems that things are starting to settle down. Haven't seen anymore entities on approach" he said.
Lynette soon sat up straight, taking the towel off her face putting it down between them. "Based on what Alba said in his letter, there were roughly 30 of those entities somewhere in the town, right? How many do you think we took down?" she asked.
Ruko took the towel from her and dipped it down into the fountain and used it to wash his face. "If you don't count the ones we took killed initially, I counted about 7 of them" he said. They still had their work cut out for them. They needed to clear out the remaining entities and restore order to the town. After about another minute, he stood up, feeling his bones creak with every bit of movement. He then proceeded to do some stretches and minor exercises to get the blood flowing through the rest of his body.
Lynette looked over at time as he started to do exercises despite his condition. "I'm amazed that you're still able to move around like that. If a normal person had your injuries, they'd be out of commission indefinitely" she said.
Ruko scratched the back of his head a bit. He was able to push through the pain he was feeling since he's been through much worse. "Compared to what I had to go through while I was training under my master, this is nothing" he said.
Lynette tilted her head as he mentioned his training he did in the past. He's made a couple mentions of it and became curious at what he had to go through. "What, exactly, did you have to endure in your training sessions?" she asked.
Ruko laughed nervously as she asked about his past. The training he had to go through was brutal and borderline insane. He was trained under one of the world's strongest martial artists. As such, the training wasn't going to be easy. Many aspiring martial artists wish to train under one of the world's strongest one day and most don't make the cut. Those that do quickly bail out of it due to the sheer difficulty and intensity of the training. At times, people would be brought out to the middle of nowhere and given the task of returning to a predetermined spot with nothing but the clothes on their back and some food. They had to rely on their fists and have a constant awareness of their surroundings. Other times, they were pitted against a group of tough monsters that they had to take down on their own. Even basic training and exercises shared the same level of intensity. Long runs to build up body endurance and stamina, basic exercises like push-ups with numbers in the hundreds, activities where they had to endure physical pain, etc. Very few have been able to see the training to its full completion and even fewer have been able to reach the level of master. He could say so many things about what he experienced that he could write a book about it. "Let's just say, I was thrown into the deepest depths of Hell and had to literally claw my way out only to be kicked back down to repeat the process over and over again" he said. It took him 3 years to reach the level of master and despite the unpleasant experiences, it was worth it in the end.
Lynette didn't need to hear anything more. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he's been through many tough experiences. "I've heard that to become a martial artist, one must have a strong dedication a devotion" she said. She then turned her head to look down into the water inside of the fountain as she dipped her hand in it. "There are many combat styles...swordsmanship, martial arts, magical, archery, firearms. I wonder if anyone's mastered all of them" she said.
Ruko placed the towel around his neck and put his hands on his hips, leaning back a bit. "I'm pretty sure if someone has, the people would know about it. It can take several years to master just one combat style. You also have to take into account all of the unique sub-styles in each field of combat. For example, swordsmanship can be broken up to the use of swords both short and long, rapiers, sabers, claymores and katanas. Each sword type has their own unique feel to it with vastly different styles to them. Not to mention the fact that if someone was skilled enough, they could pull off dual-wielding" he said. The thought of someone having mastered every combat style was both admirable and downright scary. If there were people like that, they would either be a big threat on the battlefield or someone's greatest ally. "If you ask me, if there ever was such a person, I wouldn't want to mess with them due to how versatile they could potentially be in a serious fight" he said.
Lynette sighed and looked straight in front of her, gazing out into the distant horizon. Smoke continued to rise up into the air but by this point, most of the more intense fires have either been burned out already or have been dealt with by other guards and mercenaries scattered out around town. It didn't feel as suffocating as it used to be. "Do you think think it's over? The fighting, I mean..." she said.
Ruko shrugged his shoulders and turned around to face her. "I'm not sure. It's hard to tell where we're at" he said.
Lynette couldn't help but be concerned with how Ramza and Tsuki were handling things. She wasn't all that concerned about Ramza since he had his mercenary friends backing him up but Tsuki was on his own. Her concerns were even higher for him because of the chance of him engaging Caius in combat again. It's only been a few days since they were defeated by him back in Basilwell so they haven't really had a chance to get stronger. "I hope the others are doing alright. I hate just sitting around like this" she said.
Ruko shook his head. Ramza and Tsuki were more than capable of handling themselves so he was confident that they weren't having too much of a problem. "They'll be fine. I have only seen them fight a few times but I can tell that they know what they're doing. They're no amateurs, that's for sure" he said.
Lynette knew that they were capable but she couldn't help but be concerned for them. "I know..." she said, sighing afterwards.
Ruko gave her a thumbs up with a wide grin with his other hand on his hip. "Things seem to be settling down. I'm sure that they will be coming around the corner any-" he said.
Just then, a series of loud explosions accompanied by several shockwaves that shattered windows rocked the town. It made Ruko instinctively drop down to the ground and caused Lynette to fall back into the fountain. Dust and debris was kicked up by the accompanying shockwaves. Their brief moment of peace erupted into total panic as the guards and mercenaries were frozen where they stood, pointing in the direction where the explosions came from.
Ruko shook his head as the sudden explosion briefly knocked out his hearing. All he could hear was a high-pitched sound. Thankfully, it only lasted for a few moments. "Ugh...what the hell was that?" he asked. He slowly got back onto his feet, putting his hand on his head as he stumbled over to the fountain where Lynette fell in. He then stretched his hand out to her to help her up. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Lynette was completely soaked as she had fell into the fountain water. The fountain wasn't too deep but she was submerged enough to muffle the sounds of the explosion and shockwaves. She reached out and grabbed onto Ruko's hand so that she could stand up. She was quite shaken up about what just happened. "I-I'm fine. Thanks. What was-?" she asked. Her question came to a stop as she looked up in the direction of where the explosion came from. What she saw shocked her as she could do nothing but point towards it.
Ruko turned around and saw what everyone was looking at. A large, black cloud of smoke that didn't appear to come from a normal explosion or fire. "What's going on over there?" he asked.
It took a couple moments to realize just where exactly the smoke was coming from. Once they did, it sent Lynette into full panic mode. "Wait, that's coming from where the port is!" she shouted.
Ruko was greatly concerned about what was happening and the cause of that explosion because it sounded pretty bad. Seeing as how things around the plaza were settling down, they felt that it was safe enough to leave. "I don't know what's happening but we need to check things out" he said.
Lynette would normally tell him that he needed to rest at the risk of opening his wounds again but for once, she was in full agreement. Right now, her concerns were on Tsuki since he should have been at the port. "Right!" she said, nodding at him.
They both collected themselvess and took off running down in the direction of the port. Meanwhile, in the Residential District just a few minutes before the explosion rocked the town, Ramza and his team of mercenaries were in the process of securing the area and making sure that there were no more threats. When they first arrived in the Residential District, they found that a number of people had barricaded themselves in their homes while a lot of unfortunate people didn't make it to safety. There were a lot of bodies of townspeople scattered through the streets and alleyways. Compared to the central plaza, it would seem that the Residential District sustained the least damage but had a high number of casualties.
As they made their rounds through the streets, they encountered about ten entities mindlessly roaming the streets. Thankfully, they didn't try to break into buildings which prevented an even higher casualty count. They just walked around like zombies, attacking anyone and anything in sight. With Ramza leading the small team of 8, they had no issues taking down the entities. The team ended up spltting up into two teams of 4 to cover more ground around the district. After 30 minutes had passed since first arriving, they were able to meet back up near a small park. They were able to quickly make their sweep around the district and deal with the threats before anymore damage or deaths could be caused. When the two teams met back up at the park, it was only a few minutes before the explosion occurred that rocked the district even further.
Ramza was standing inside a small little pavilion with two other mercenaries, talking to some of the townspeople that were holed up in a small cafe nearby. Some had minor injuries so he was performing some basic first aid. Surprisingly, they had a bit of fight in them and did their best to defend themselves with what little they had on them. "There, you're all patched up. I don't believe there are anymore threats around but as a precaution, the two behind me will take you back to your homes. Barricade yourselves and wait for an announcement to be made before coming back out" he said.
An middle aged man that was trying to keep his composure as he nodded at him. "Of course. Thank you all for you help" he said.
Ramza then stepped back as the two mercenaries formed up and started to guide them out of the park and towards their houses. As they did that, another mercenary approached him. It was a man a little younger than him who wielded twin swords and wore light armor with chainmail. He had black hair with a retro style medium crop and tapered neckline and hazel eyes. "Ramza, the other team returned. According to them, they had some difficulty but were able to manage things. They counted 4 entities on their side of the district. Combined with the 6 we took down over here, that makes 10" the man said.
Ramza leaned up against one of the poles of the pavilian, folding his arms. "Which means, there should be about 15 of them left if their numbers haven't changed though I assume that number must be even lower by now with all of our divided efforts" he said. He then looked off towards some of the houses and fell into thought. "What do you make of all this, Max? Ever seen anything like these entities before?" he asked.
The mercenary that had approached Ramza was Max Albreiter. In the Mercenary Guild, mercenaries are divided up into certain ranks and based on their achievements and contributions, they have the potential to rise in those ranks. Mercenary ranks range from F to S. Rank F was the entry level of mercenaries while Rank S was for those who've gone far and beyond the line of duty. It was a rank that very few have been able to achieve. Most of the time, mercenaries stay at Rank A. In terms of ranks, Ramza was classified as a Rank B mercenary while Max was a Rank A. Max has been a mercenary for most of his life and has only been a Rank A mercenary for a few months. He's traveled all over and has even been to the edge of the Great Falls that divides their section of the world to the rest.
Max simply shook his head at his question. "In all my years, I have not. Though, I have heard some stories that relate to Sirionne that have a striking resemblance to what's happening now" he said.
Ramza raised an eyebrow as he brought up Sirionne. It was a topic that he was very familiar with. "What do you mean? They couldn't be involved in this as well, could they?" he asked.
Max shook his head once more. "No, that's not it. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what happened to Sirionne 10 years ago. The stories I heard about what took place there, albeit a little different, seem a little familiar. Humans that seemed to possess a raw and dark unnatural power that made them stronger and resilient" he said. While he was basically grasping at straws, he couldn't help but think there might be some sort of link.
Ramza fell into thought for a moment. Information on Sirionne has become pretty hard to obtain these days but he used to hear those stories as well when it first happened when the mercenaries that were there all fled. "I can see what you're thinking. While none of us have ever encountered these things before, they do seem to bear some resemblance. We know far too little about the circumstances to make a guess, however" he said.
Max nodded at him as he sat down on one of the benches under the pavilian. "Maybe it's just me overthinking things. It was just a random thought I had" he said.
As they talked, another female mercenary wearing a rob that mages wear with a staff on her on her back approached them. "Based on your nonchalant looks, you guys didn't have any issues either" she said.
Max looked behind him where the voice came from. "Natasha...still in one piece, I see" he said in a slight joking manner.
The female mercenary that approached them was Natasha Grey, another A-Rank mercenary. She had silver hair that was tied back into a pigtail with violet eyes. She wielded both a bow and a shortsword with a hunting dagger strapped to the back of her waist. She appeared to be around the same age as Max was. Her armor mainly consisted of leather and cloth which allowed her to have more freedom of movement than someone wearing light or heavy armor. She also had a small bag tied to her waist.
Natasha put her hands on her hips as she looked over at Max, sticking her tongue out a bit. "Sorry to disappoint you but I wasn't going to let myself roll over and die that easily" she said.
Max shrugged as he turned to face her while still sitting on the bench. "Good to hear. If you fall down and croak now, I won't have anyone else to give a hard time" he said.
Ramza scratched the back of his head as the two of them went back and forth with each other for the new two minutes. "I suppose it's a good thing to see you two in high spirits, given what's going on right now" he said.
Max glanced over at Ramza for a bit. "You got it easy. You operate on your own so you don't have to worry about any dead weight" he said. He obviously meant what he said as a joke.
Natasha puffed up her chest with her hands on her hips as she shot glares at Max. "Dead weight!? Who was it that fell into a dirt pit from an obvious trap and ruined the goods we were suppose to deliver to a client!?" she asked.
Max stretched his arm out towards her with his hand pointing up. "In my defense, the pit had some pretty convincing cover to hide it" he said.
Natasha shook her head, throwing her hands up in the air. "Convincing!? It was so out of place that a a child would have figured it out!" she said.
Ramza cleared his throat with a nervous sweat as the two went back and forth. "Glad to hear that the dynamic duo hasn't changed one bit" he said, staying neutral to the discussion. It was good for them to be able to vent. It meant that things were starting to calm down for them. With the Residential District now safe and secured, it was time for them to get back to the central plaza and regroup with the rest. "Alright, if we're all done here, let's round up everyone and head back to the plaza" he said. He soon walked out from the pavilian and across the grass.
Max stood up from the bench and followed not too far behind him, patting Natasha's shoulder as he walked past her. "I don't know about you but I think we earned ourselves a few drinks" he said.
Natasha sighed heavily, shrugging her shoulder as he made his comment. "For once, I have to agree with-" she said. All of a sudden, she felt an incredible disturbance in the surrounding Aer. A strong surge of mana quickly built up moments after she felt it. It wasn't until a few seconds later when she sensed something was coming. "Everyone, get down!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Right after she said that, an explosion erupted out of nowhere and rocked the entire district. Shockwaves from the explosions shattered windows and even caused small structures to fall apart. Ramza and some of the other mercenaries dove down to the ground as it happened while the rest were completely knocked off their feet from the shockwaves. Since the Residential District was closer to where the source of the explosion came from, it suffered more of the after-effects than the central plaza did. This short moment felt like it lasted for an hour by the time the mercenaries started to collect themselves.
Ramza slowly stood back up, his hearing a bit dulled by a loud ringing in his ears as he shook his head. "Ugh...my head. What the hell was that?" he asked. He stumbled back a bit and looked up into the sky and a large, black cloud mixed with smoke and mana. He felt strong feeling coming in the direction of the smoke.
Max scrambled up to his feet and looked around the area. "Is everyone okay!?" he shouted. He saw the other mercenaries slowly collect themselves while others were knocked out. His eyes soon locked in where the pavilian was. As it turns out, the rather simple-looking, wooden pavilian had collapsed from the shockwaves and underneath the wreckage, he could see Natasha practically buried. "Natasha!" he shouted. He then ran back over to where the pavilian once stood to check up on her condition. She was pretty seriously injured and unconscious. He was going to need help removing her from the debris so he looked back at the others who were aware and able to move. "Hey, I need help over here!" he shouted.
Three other mercenaries quickly rushed over to the wreckage and started to help Max with removing the debris so that they could get Natasha out. Meanwhile, Ramza came to the realization the general direction of where the smoke seemed to be rising from. "Crap, is that coming from the port?" he asked. He remembered that Tsuki was going to the port to handle things which made him grow concerned for his safety. Thankfully, from where he was at, it wouldn't take him too long to get to the port. He soon looked back at the other mercenaries as they were still in the process of removing debris. "You guys got this handled?" he asked. He didn't want to leave them but this was something he couldn't ignore either.
Max looked back at Ramza and saw the serious look on his face. "We can take care of this. Go on ahead!" he said. Someone needed to investigate the cause of such an explosion and they were relatively close to it based on how strong the shockwaves felt.
Ramza did a casual salute as he needed before he took off running in the direction where the explosion came from. At this point, Ramza, Lynette and Ruko all quickly made their way over towards the port where Tsuki was supposed to be. With an explosion strong enough to rock the town, tension and anxiety was high as they were concerned for Tsuki's safety.
Going back 40 minutes, Tsuki had made his way through the Business District and checked up on the Resort District to see how things were going. After clearing out the two districts, each having only two entities each prowling through the streets to total out to 4, he continued along towards the port. Before that though, he quickly stopped at the inn where the Silver Knight was staying at. Unfortunately, no one has seen the Silver Knight in over two hours. It was unfortunate because they could of really ussed her help. Not able to locate the Silver Knight, he continued on and eventually arrived at the port.
Upon arrival, he saw that there were clear signs of intense fighting. The ground was sliced up, several small merchant stalls were completely destroyed and some of the docks in the commercial docking area were destroyed. He followed the signs of battle over towards the non-commercial docking area. It was there that he saw Alba fighting against Caius. He could tell that he was putting up quite a fight as both of them were injured but he noticed that Alba was struggling a little bit.
Tsuki ran up to them with intentions on aiding Alba in his fight. "Alba!" he shouted.
Alba heard Tsuki's voice and looked over in the direction his voice came from. "About time you decided to show up, kid!" he said. His focus soon returned back on Caius so that his guard wouldn't drop. "Did you manage to find Ruko?" he asked.
Tsuki nodded at him. "We found him not too far from Velkhor, in the woods just off the main road. He was injured but we managed to patch him up" he said. His gaze shifted over to Caius who simply stood there with his axe over his shoulder. Not only that but he also noticed that he also had a katana strapped to his waist as well. He then drew his sword as the blade started to glow. "Looks like you've been able to hold your own against him fairly well" he said.
Alba chuckled a bit, wiping his hand across his chin to wipe off some of the blood coming from his mouth. "I'll tell you what, I haven't felt so alive in battle in ages. Why didn't you tell me he was this strong?" he asked. He had a crazy look in his eyes that showed he was having the time of his life. Alba was known as a bit of a battle junkie who lives for the high-pitched thrill of combat. He didn't even care if he ended up losing the fight. All he cared about was the thrill. He was beaten up but showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Tsuki wasn't exactly sure how to respond to what he had to say about Caius. "Um...you do realize he's our enemy, not a sparring partner...right?" he asked.
Caius looked over at Tsuki as he could feel him staring. "Well, if it isn't the boy from the mines. You're looking a bit stronger" he said. He then glanced down at the sword he was wielding and recognized it immediately. "Interesting. So, you managed to find what I was looking for back then. I'd say this is my lucky day. All I have to do is kill you and take it off your dead body" he said.
The Caliburn started to pulsate a bit as Allie's voice could be heard in Tsuki's mind. "Master, be careful. I sense a deep, powerful sensation coming from him" she said.
Caius continued to stare at the Caliburn as his looks could burn right through it. He soon started to chuckle to himself as his gaze drifted back up to both Tsuki and Alba. "I believe things are about to get very interesting" he said. He then held his arm out and gestured for them to come at him. "I'll take you both on. Show me just how much you've improved, boy" he said.
Alba's crazed look in his eyes grew fierce as energy spiked from his body. He spun his axe around, placing it over his shoulder and leaned forward, taking an offensive stance. "Well then, allow me to make the first strike!" he said with thrill and excitement in his voice.
Alba then bolted forward and quickly closed the gap as he brought his axe down and swung it upwards in an uppercut motion. Caius dodged by jumping back as his swing narrowly missed. He then shot forward, swinging his own axe vertically as he approached him. Alba blocked his attack by pole of his axe, letting out a loud, metallic clang. As they clashed Tsuki came in from in from behind Caius, swinging his sword at him while he was preoccupied with Alba. His pincer attack didn't work, however. Caius took his right hand and drew the katana on his waist and blocked his attack in one, swift motion.
Caius had a wide grin on his face as they clashed for about a minute until he broke his clash with Tsuki by finishing his swing upwards and throwing his arms up as he staggered back a bit. He then kicked him to force him back further away as he turned his body and swung the katana at Alba. He ended up jumping back to avoid the swing but, as it turns out, the swing was a feint. Caius used the opportunity to charge up Mana in his axe as he jumped back and before he could react, he swung his axe, releasing an arc-shaped violet blast of energy at him. Alba ended up being hit by the attack which sent him crashing through one of the small shops nearby.
Tsuki rushed at him once more and as he approached, Caius turned to face Tsuki and repeated the attack he just did on Alba two more times. Tsuki dodged the first one by jumping off to the side and then jumped over the second one with the help of a sudden burst of power. He spun in the air and came down like a meteor as he swung his sword downwards at him. Caius looked up and easily blocked the attack with his katana and continued his vertical swinging motion which ended up breaking their brief clash and forcing him off to the side as he landed back on the ground. He quickly recovered and, feeling not only another burst of power but speed as well, he shot forward and quickly slashed him across his chestplate, cutting through it but not hitting skin as bits of metal and chainmail came flying out. At the same time as he did that, Caius made a similar motion and sliced through the metal plating covering his upper right arm and made him bleed as blood started to run down his arm.
Caius put his hand over his chestplate that he managed to slice through. "Hmph. Not bad, boy. You've improved a little bit. However, you still have much more to learn" he said.
Unaware to Tsuki, a pool of darkness started to form behind Tsuki as he got into another offensive stance. Moments later, a blast of dark energy shaped as a piercing spike shot out at him from behind.
The Caliburn quickly grew intensely bright all of a sudden as Allie could be heard through his mind. "Master, watch out!"she shouted. Suddenly, Allie quickly manifested behind him and erected a defensive barrier.
The spike of dark energy collided into the barrier as the two forms of energy sparked violently. Thankfully, the barrier was more than strong enough to block and absorb the attack as Allie casually stood behind him, holding her hand out towards the barrier.
Tsuki looked back at Allie who covered his back from the surprise attack. It was the first time he's seen her take action in a fight. "Thanks. I appreciate it" he said. She was close to being a Great Spirit so it would make sense that she would have the capability of having both offensive and defensive measures.
Allie looked up at him and nodded before stepping over to stand next to him. "It's not much but I've slowly been regaining some of my power. I am a spirit, after all" she said.
Caius looked down at Allie as he raised an eyebrow. "So, it would seem that the rumors were true after all. That sword did house a spirit" he said.
Suddenly, a blast of arc-shaped energy shot out from the shops that Alba crashed into and collided with Caius, who simply stood there and took the hit. Smoke was kicked up as Alba stepped out from the shop and walked up to Tsuki and Allie. "Don't go forgetting about me now" he said. Most of the armor he was wearing was practically destroyed, revealing the black undershirt underneath which was torn to shreds from the earlier attack. He was bleeding more heavily and looked like he could collapse at any minute if it weren't for his monsterous stamnia and adrenaline.
Tsuki glanced over at him for a moment. "You're looking pretty beat up, old man. Maybe you should take a break" he said in a joking manner.
Alba scoffed at his remark. He may have been fighting with Caius for a while now but he still had a bit more energy left. The fight was too much of a thrill for him. "Ha! You may be in your youth but I'm still in my prime!" he said.
Moments later, a ball of violet flames shot out from the smoke that enveloped Caius. Allie quickly erected a defensive barrier in time for the attack to collide into it and absorb the hit. Meanwhile, Tsuki and Alba darted out from the sides of the barrier and rushed towards Caius while he was still surrounded by the smoke. As they approached the smoke, however, the gravity took a dramatic shift and effectively stopped Tsuki in his tracks. He suddenly stopped and dropped down to one knee but Alba was seemingly unaffected most likely due to the fact that he was on an equal or higher level to the Gravity-based Arte. Alba felt the sudden shift of gravity but that didn't stop him and Allie was completely unaffected as well. Alba swung his axe downwards as the smoke around Caius started to disappear. Caius suddenly dropped his axe on the ground and blocked the attack with his katana. They stared into each others' eyes as they remained clashed for about a minute.
Soon after, Caius started to chuckle a bit menacingly. He had a similar look to what Alba had as if he was thoroughly enjoying the fight. With that in mind, he decided to escalate things to another level. "I must say, you're a truly frightening warrior. Not only are you able to completely negate my Gravity Arte even in your current condition, you're still able to fight fiercely. It's been an age since I've encountered someone like you. However..." he said.
A pool of darkness quickly formed between them at their feet. Alba sensed something was coming but it was too late for him to react as he was too close to do anything. A thin, dark piercing spike of energy shot out from the ground and pierced straight through Alba's lower left side slightly above his waist. He coughed up blood as he stumbled back but remaining on his feet despite the serious injury.
Tsuki tried to move as he watched Alba get seriously hurt but was unable due to the heavy gravity. "Alba!" he shouted.
Caius was impressed that Alba still stood his ground with the heavy gravity despite having a hole through his lower left side. "You're going to need much more than raw power to defeat me" he said.
He then rushed at Caius once more and swung his katana with force and power behind it. All Alba could do was block the attack but due to his injuries, he was unable to stand his ground from the force of the attack and was sent back, crashing into a merchant stall. The combination of his accumulated injuries and the force of his attack was enough to knock Alba unconscious and removing him from the fight.
Caius soon turned and faced in the direction of Tsuki and Allie. "And then, there were two" he said. He saw that Tsuki was still struggling to get back up onto his feet and how Allie was still unaffected by the reinforced gravity. Because of this, his attention was locked onto Allie.
Tsuki noticed that his attention became fixated on Allie and had a feeling that something was going to happen to her if he didn't act. He exerted more of his energy as he tried to stand up but was still practically immobile. The reinforced gravity was much stronger than how it was back in the mines where he was able to at least stay up on his feet. "Come on...! Move...!" he said, struggling to stand up.
Allie saw that Tsuki was struggling to stand up. She was able to sense the shift in gravity but since she was unaffected by it, she didn't realize just how much of a shift it was until she saw him. "Master! Are you okay!?" she asked.
Tsuki looked over at Allie. She may be a spirit but he was concerned for her well-being. He had no idea what happens to spirits if they are injured. He didn't want to find out though and wanted to keep her safe. "I'll be fine! You're in danger though! Retreat back into Caliburn!" he said.
Caius chuckled a bit as he started to approach Allie, walking past Tsuki. "O' Great Spirit of the Sword, I ask that you open your eyes. This boy is far too incompetent and inexperienced for a being of your nature. Join me and your potential won't be wasted" he said. He stopped not too far from her and extended his hand out towards her.
Allie gave him a blank, expressionless stare for a moment. She then turned her head, closing her eyes. "No" she said in a stern voice.
Caius looked confused by her answer. Almost as if he didn't hear it correctly. "What do you mean, no?" he asked.
Allie look towards Tsuki and pointed at him. "Me and Master have an unbreakable bond. Master is Master. I obey no one else" she said.
Caius looked like he was slightly irritated. Violet sparks started to appear as he gritted his teeth. "Oh? An unbreakable bond, you say? Fine, if you will not join me willingly, I'll just have to break you" he said.
Tsuki noticed that he was gearing up to attack her. He felt utterly powerless as he was unable to do anything. "Allie!" he shouted.
Suddenly, Caius charged at Allie and swung his katana at her. As he got closer to her, a replica of the Caliburn formed from pure Mana formed in her hand as she blocked his attack. The two of them clashed several times and thanks to her small size, she was able to move around a lot easier compared to Caius. They both shot off energized blasts at each other where they both dodged and blocked them when necessary. At first, the two of them seemed to be evenly matched as they matched each other's pace without any signs of significant struggle.
The two of them put some space in between in each other as Caius looked like he hasn't even broken a sweat. "Your power is what I'd expect from a Great Spirit. It only disappoints that you won't live up to your true potential" he said. He then took an offensive stance as he started to charge up Mana into the blade of his katana. Soon, the blade was enveloped by violet energy. "Allow me to demonstrate why!" he said.
Tsuki could feel the intensity of the attack he was charging up. "Allie, get out of the way!" he shouted.
Caius let out a maniacal as the energy from his blade surged and sparked with intensity. "There's no escape for you. Nether Volt!" he shouted. He then swung his sword vertically and released a concentrated, dense and volatile crescent-shaped blast at Allie.
Allie's eyes and body started to glow brightly as she formed a three-stage defensive barrier. She errected a small dome over her followed by two separate barrier walls in front of her. She could feel the intense negative energy in the air grow stronger as the attack approached her. Nearby buildings were hit by sparks of energy that were shooting off in every direction. The crescent blast of energy soon collided with the dome as the two energies sparked from the collision. The attack, however, soon broke through the dome as it shattered around her and came into contact with the first defensive wall. Must like with the dome, it soon broke through that one as well. The blast then collided with the final defensive wall which held up longer than the previous two due to Allie diverting more of her Mana into the barrier.
The intensity and force of Caius' attack, however, was still too strong and the final defensive wall soon shattered. Allie ended up taking a direct hit from the attack as her screams of pain could be heard through the ensuing explosion of energy. Smoke covered the area as there was a stillness in the air. After about another minute or so, the smoke started to clear and a figure started to form from within. Allie soon emerged from the smoke, her clothing in tatters and bleeding all over as she was kneeling down on the ground. Despite the pain, however, she looked up at Caius with defiance.
Caius approached her and stopped within a few feet of her as he looked down towards her. "Now, do you see why you're not fit to be contracted to that boy? Your own power will suffer for it" he said.
Tsuki felt anger swelling up inside him. Her screams of pain had really set him off. Because of that, he was able to stand up a bit but was still immobilized due to the gravity. "What are you talking about...?" he asked.
Caius looked back at Tsuki and saw that he was almost back up on his feet but didn't react to it. He simply shook his head and pointed at him. "The difference in power between you two is far too great. When a person and spirit form a contract with each other, their powers blend into one another and allows them to share their respective powers. If the difference in power between pactmaker and spirit is too geat, the spirit suffers" he said. He then looked back towards Allie, giving her a glaring look that could pierce stone. "I'll say this one more time: nullify your contract and join me. You have no other choice" he said in a threatening tone.
Allie continued to stare up at him with stone-cold defiance. "It doesn't matter to me how great a gap in power we are. It was my decision to make and mine alone. My master is the only one for me. Besides, I don't like big meanies" she said, her child-like nature showing a bit in the end as she rebelled against him.
Caius continued to glare down at her as his piercing gaze turned into a ruthless death stare. "So be it. Your life as a spirit is forfeit then" he said. He then lifted his katan straight up in the air.
The two of them kept their unflinching stares for a moment before Caius brought his katana down towards her. Allie was too weakened to put up another defensive barrier in front of her and was left defenseless. Despite that though, she kept staring up at him in defiance as he brought his katana down with full intentions on killing her with one strike.
Time felt like it slowed down for Tsuki as he could do nothing but watch all this unfold. He never knew just how loyal and devoted she was to him until he heard her speak in unflinching defiance in the face of death itself. They may not have been together for very long but yet she had formed a strong bond between them that he never noticed. He didn't know about her past but from looking into her eyes, he could see that they were lacking so much life. They were the eyes of someone who was essentially used for their power and little else beyond that. Like, she was more of an object to people than a living being. He didn't know if her devotion and loyalty is a byproduct of what happened to her in the past but what he did know was that her words were genuine. It was then that he made a decision. He wasn't going to allow anyone to treat her in the same way that she may have already been treated. He wanted her to live as a free spirit, unchained and unshackled.
Suddenly, Tsuki gained an intense burst of power and speed in that moment. It was strong enough for him to break free of the reinforced gravitys' hold as he shot towards them. In the blink of an eye, Tsuki had positioned himself between Caius and Allie as time seemed to pick up again. In that same moment, he put up a different kind of defensive barrier that he's never put up before as his eyes started to glow yellow slightly. The katana collided with the barrier and that seemed to stop Caius dead in his tracks. For some reason, he struggled quite a bit to try and break through the barrier.
Caius didn't understand what was going on. The barrier he was clashing with was far stronger than the ones that Allie had put up. Tsuki had erected an extremely high-level barrier when he shouldn't have been able to at his current level. This forced him to put more power into his swing as he gripped his katana with his other hand, holding it with both hands now. "You think this is going to stop me!?" he shouted.
The force in his swing intensified as he was now using both his hands. Soon, the barrier started to slowly give way as the katana's blade started to chip through it. After about another minute of this stalemate, the blade managed to slice through the barrier. As a result of that, Tsuki ended up taking the hit as the blade sliced down in a diagonal direction, cutting straight through slightly above his left breastplate down to his lower right side and piercing skin along the way. Blood shot out from the vicious swing as he was inflicted with a very serious injury. Tsuki ended up coughing up a lot of blood as he dropped down to his kness almost instantly. It was an injury that he's inflicted on others that have killed them instantly. Thankfully, because of the barrier, his strike was dampened significantly, making it non-lethal but it was still a very serious injury that required immediate attention.
Allie's eyes widened as she watched Tsuki step in front of her and take a potentially deadly strike and fall down to his knees. "No! Master!" she shouted. She tried to get up and help him but she wasn't able to. She's used up too much of her Mana and was unable to act.
Caius was slightly out of breath from his clash with the barrier. He hadn't expected something like that to come out of Tsuki. It was then that he recalled the shift in his eye color to yellow for a brief time and remembered about that unawakened power inside of him. "Do you see now? Even with that hidden power inside of you, you're still too weak to do anything. You can't protect the spirit and you can't even protect yourself. What hope do you have to defeat me?" he asked. He noticed that despite the serious injury he had, he was still conscious and breathing, although a bit shallow. He looked like he was on the verge of death. "I grow tired of this. Allow me to put you both out of your misery" he said. He then held his katana up and geared himself up for another swing.
Tsuki knew that he was not going to be able to survive another strike like that. Unfortunately, when he tried to move, his body wouldn't respond. It was like his entire body had become paralyzed and frozen. It felt heavy and weighed down as his vision started to get slightly blurred. His hearing became muffled as well. He truly felt like he was about to die. "Get up...move...! You have to...! I can't die like this. There's still so much for me to do. Elize...Cheria...!"" he thought to himself. It was like darkness was enveloping his surroundings where he saw nothing. No buildings, no people, nothing. Just a black, empty void.
Suddenly, a young female voice came shouting out through the enveloping darkness. "Don't you dare die on me! Get up and fight, Zuchi!" the voice shouted loudly.
It was a voice that rang through the darkness as his surroundings seemed to be filled with a sudden blast of light. The voice that he heard wasn't just an ordinary female's voice. It was a voice he recognized immediately. Not only that, but he was also very familiar with the name, Zuchi. "That voice...Elize, is that you!?" he thought to himself. It was in that moment that he felt something fully awaken inside of him. A power that had been sleeping inside him for his entire life that has leaked out time and time again whenever things got too dangerous. He could feel the power start to freely flow through his body as he felt invigorated by it. With a content grin on his face, he sighed. "You're right...I can't die here. Not until I find you. Wait for me a bit longer, Elize" he thought to himself.
Back in reality, Caius brought down his katana in a slashing motion. With nothing stopping his attack this time, his attack would surely deal the finishing blow. However, as he did that, He noticed a sudden, drastic change in Aer coming from him. At the same time, Tsuki's left arm reached up and grabbed onto the blade of his katana, stopping his attack and held it in a tight grip which made blood shoot out from his hand and bled down his arm.
Caius tried to pull his katana away but it wouldn't budge from how tight his grip was. Not only was his hand injured and bleeding, he showed no signs of pain. "What's this!?" he asked.
Allie could feel the intense levels of Aer coming from Tsuki. She couldn't explain where it came from as it suddenly appeared out of nowhere. However, that wasn't all that she was sensing. There was something else inside of him that has been fully awakened. For some reason, not only could she feel the presence of Tsuki's soul but now the soul of three others within him. "What's going on here?" she asked.
The feeling coming from Tsuki intensified further as a red aura started to form around him. He was looking down at the ground with his eyes closed as he started to chuckle a bit. "You better step back, Allie. Things are about to get rough" he said in a sudden slight deeper tone of voice.
Allie wasn't sure what was going on with Tsuki but what she did know was that something serious was about to happen as she could feel the Aer charge up around them. She soon found herself able to move and almost practically re-energized as she started to feel some of that same power within her due to her connection with Tsuki. It was more than enough for her to get up and move out of the way. She made her way over towards where Alba was, still unconscious. "This power...I wonder if..." she said. She used some of this new power to try and treat Alba's injury but kept her eye on what was going on with Tsuki and Caius.
All Caius could do was stand there in utter shock as he witnessed what was happening. The power that he had been feeling up until now. The seemingly short bursts of power felt nothing compared to what he was feeling now. "This power...who, or what are you?" he asked.
Tsuki could be heard chuckling a bit more. Then, he raised his head up towards Caius and opened his eyes, revealing that his normal azure blue eyes had turned into pair of multicolored eyes. His eye color was a mix of azure blue, violet, yellow and dark red. It wasn't just an eye glow that happens when someone uses Artes. His eye color has completely changed as well as the pitch of his voice as it was now suddenly in a slightly deeper tone. "Your worst enemy" he said.
The blade on the Caliburn started to glow red. Suddenly, Tsuki released his katana and shot forward with blinding speed, more so than ever before. His speed was so blinding that Caius couldn't see his attack as he sliced straight through his upper chestplate and this time actually penetrating his skin as blood shot out. Caius shouted out in pain as he stumbled back a bit before turning around to see Tsuki behind him.
Tsuki spun his sword around so he was holding it back-handed as an incredible concentration of Aer was funneled into it. Tsuki looked like a completely different person with a significantly higher level of power. Once he charged up enough Aer in the blade, he looked up at Caiuse once more with an extremely vicious look. "Have a taste of this. Final Cross!" he shouted.
He then charged forward at a lower speed, swinging his sword up in an uppercut motion with the blade slicing through the pavement under him like butter and slicing upwards straight through his chestplate once more on his left side. The attack sent him up off his feet as a blast of raw, red energy shot out from the swing high into the air which resulted in an outwards explosion that rocked the entire town, sending shockwaves out for miles as windows shattered and small, unsteady structures collapsed. The series of blasts sent Caius flying back and crashing straight through the walls of a nearby building. It was an explosion that could be seen and felt from any point in town and Tsuki didn't even appear he broke a sweat, even after unleashing a devastating attack like that which he should have been uncapable of normally. Whatever Tsuki was feeling, it was raw, unbridled power and he liked it.
All Allie could do was watch in total shock at the drastic shift in Tsuki. She was at a complete loss for words. She could feel her master was still there but he wasn't at the same time. It was difficult for her to understand what was happening. An extreme heaviness filled the air as smoke rose high up into the air and sounds of wood and debris falling to the ground from the explosion and shockwaves could be heard was silence took hold. Tsuki simply stood there as he twirled his sword around so that he was holding it normally again and stared off into the smoke in anticipation for what's about to come next.
To be continued...