(A New Distortion has begun. Let us see what will happen next to our chosen people.)

Bold = English Conversations

Bold + Italics = Japanese Conversations

Distortion 29

Bullet looked at the sky as she waited outside the trailer housing Vlad's black market collection. Both her and Sora were currently still at the Mafia's winery and distillery facility, now getting the gear they needed for the mission ahead. She grabbed her series of rations and had just finished her conversation with Garlond after he gave her some time. She couldn't help but ponder about her current situation and how she got mixed up on this whole criminal mess.

'Hmmm… I wonder what Sora is doing in there?' Bullet thought as she realized that Sora was taking his sweet time inside the trailer. Was he seriously planning on how he was going to handle this situation? Now that she thought about it, it was probably not only just weapons he was looking for but also other products in mind such as clothes. She decided not to think about it too much and just focus more on herself as inside the trailer, Sora was inspecting the series of coats that were in front of him.

"Anything up to your fancy?" The merchant questioned as Sora looked at the coats with a bit of wonder on his mind, he couldn't help but question what kind of coat would suit his needs as due to his one hand situation, a lot of coats will not fit nicely on him. He had decided on a smaller jacket sized coat but even then that was still hard. "Anything that can fit this arm inside it's jacket?" Sora questioned, raising the prosthetic arm in the air. He may hate this arm but he still needs it for his purposes.

"Nah man, you have much better luck finding something to hang on your waist to carry that. But if you insist, we can custom fit the jacket you choose to fit it." The merchant explained as Sora nodded his head, deciding that he should focus on fashion later and decide he should go for his weapons. The first and easy choice was a knife as without the Rev Blade/Arm by his side, he was going to need to use more normal weapons rather than that.

"I see you picked a bowie knife there." The man said as Sora nodded his head, the weight of the bowie knife was good enough for him using it as one hand. He could just a more exotic knife like a karambit but there was no point in doing so, he needed to use what was familiar to him and not try to complicate it, "Yeah, what kind of guns do you have?" Sora questioned as next up in his mind was guns. Sure he was comfortable with just a knife but he needed to be better prepared.

"Guns huh, since you're a one hander, pistols should be the best option for you." The merchant said as Sora couldn't help but think that the guy was just being stingy and didn't want to sell him something like a sniper rifle. Even if he wanted to get a sniper rifle, he was pretty sure the bank he used back in his world does not exist. Thus Sora stood in front of the pistols, examining his options and trying to figure out what would be the best one for him.

"I personally would recommend a semi automatic pistol for you, something that fires a smaller cartridge to minimize recoil for you." The man recommended as Sora's mind began to think about what he needed and what was necessary. If he was going in an assassination mission, he would prefer something much quieter to not draw as much attention. But disadvantage of pistols he found was that while they were friendly for one handed usage, he was more naturally inclined to fighting upclose and personal so he would prefer to make each shot count rather than trying to rely on volume.

"These pistols look like they don't have much stopping power against body armor and ars magus barriers, do you think you can show me something more powerful?" Sora questioned as his eyes drifted to the more higher calibur pistols and some revolvers. "Well what are you feeling, a ? Or a revolver?" The merchant questioned as Sora's eyes drifted a bit more before landing on a specific revolver, removing it from it's wall mount and holding it on his hand.

"Well now… just to warn you, the cartridge fired from this is much higher caliber than normal, your wrist may break before you are even able to to fire a second shot." The merchant warned as Sora held the hefty magnum in his hand and swung it for a bit. He then grabbed it by the barrel and swung some more, practicing hook like motions as Sora couldn't help but nod his head at his satisfaction. "This will be fine, can you show me the further modifications you can do to this?" Sora questioned as the merchant smiled, happy to show Sora more of his wares at that moment.

As Sora finalized his purchases, Bullet was busy getting some exercise. She couldn't help but feel a bit restless as she didn't have much to do at that moment. She could go through the information she had just gained but her mind wasn't in it so she decided that she should exercise her body, keep herself moving and try to think about other things like what she should have for dinner that night? Should she eat one of her rations or get something from one of the restaurants in Akitsu-Ko even though they are expensively priced. There was also accommodations to think about.

'God I am trying to relax but all I am doing to myself is just overthinking myself right now.' Bullet complained, realizing her attempts to relax have simply devolved to her wondering about her life choices and what she should do now. She should really just stop thinking for a bit and take a deep breath, maybe finally try out meditation and get to relaxing. Or she could just start punching the air even more furiously to vent her frustrations.

"Ummm...you alright Bullet?" A voice said as that alarmed bullet immediately to the person around her, she stumbled a bit before dropping down, shaking her head several times as she looked to see who spooked her the way they did. It was Sora as he wore a brand new pair of clothes that clearly were better than his old pair of clothes. A simple pair of military laced boots were matched with black pants as Sora wore a simple white shirt underneath a black jacket that had a sleeve hang to the side, exposing Sora's limbless arm in the process.

"You seem to be thinking about things hard. Is something on your mind?" Sora questioned as Bullet couldn't help but look down on Sora's choice of clothes. "Yeah… and it seems like you chose a rather simple pair of clothes? They didn't have anything to your liking?" Bullet questioned as Sora looked up and down his pair of clothes. "Not really, I just picked what worked and it works does it not?" Sora simply said as Bullet continued to look up and down, simply amazed by the choice of clothes in front of her.

"Not going to lie, the way you are dressed right now, you simply look like one of those people who grabbed their clothes off the dollar store." Bullet commented, shivering a bit as she couldn't help but feel cold seeing such an outfit in front of her. Sora on the other hand didn't really see anything wrong with his choice of clothes. "I mean, it works right? I am fully protected from the elements and my clothes are practical and functional." Sora explained.

"True but at the same time… you got to dress yourself better. Think about the people you hang out with." Bullet commented, not to say she was a woman of fashion as she too understood practicality in clothes, but there has to be a limit to such simplicity. Sora couldn't help but keep in mind what Bullet had said as he looked at his choice of clothes. Maybe for now his choice of clothes would not impress anybody but he didn't really need to impress people.

"So I guess by your choice of clothes, you are ready to go?" Bullet questioned as Sora looked around the area for a bit before deciding on his next choice. "I know this is not really the ideal place, but can we spar for a little bit?" Sora questioned as Bullet was surprised to hear that. "You want to spar? Right now?" Bullet questioned as Sora nodded his head. "I need to make sure the equipment I have right now is up to par and if I have to make changes. Also the merchant said he was giving me a free test trial of the stuff so I figure why not take advantage of it." Sora explained the logic behind the spar.

"I don't mind helping you test your gear, do you want me to go soft on you?" Bullet questioned as Sora simply drew out the knife he grabbed to show in front of Bullet. "I would prefer something more full contact if you don't mind. There might be firearms involved but don't worry, I got non lethal bullets for the purposes of training." Sora explained as Bullet couldn't help but think about how spartan this guy was. She had heard of guys like Sora but this was taking things to the next level.

"So you saying I can go all out as well here?" Bullet questioned as Sora tilted his head. "I mean… that's the point of a full contact spar right? No holds barred?" Sora answered as Bullet couldn't help but scratch her head at that. She didn't know to be impressed or horrified to hear Sora's answer to that. "Well… it's your funeral." Bullet said as she began to check on the gauntlets that were on her wrist as Garlond and Vlad emerged from the inside.

"Oh? You two not are not yet done?" Garlond questioned as Sora nodded his head at that. "I hope you don't mind us doing some sparring out here in your winery Mister Garlond. Your land is spacious enough without attracting the attention of the local NOL." Sora explained as Garlond couldn't help but chuckle a bit hearing that. "What, you don't trust the equipment I supplied you?" Vlad questioned as Sora shook his head on that. "Of course not. But a good mercenary or business man must make sure their equipment functions properly before doing anything, especially if it's to preserve their life."

"You know, I first had some doubts about you. But at least you are proving to know what you are talking about." Vlad said as Sora politely bowed before the two. "I say let them do their thing Garlond. It's rare to see such a professional at work and we get a show in the process. Besides I would like to see a woman like Bullet fight as well as a fellow mercenary." Vlad commented as Garlond simply shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't going to oppose the sparring match but if Vlad agrees then it's only more reason to let it happen." Garlond answered.

"Well you heard the men, we got a spar to get to." Sora said as he walked out to the field, stretching his arms as Bullet was glad she did her practice punches beforehand. Even if she was not expecting to get to a fight, it was still good to be warmed up unlike Sora who was already assuming a battle stance. "What? No stretches? No preparation?" Bullet questioned as she figured that a spar was not going to be as serious as a real fight but it was then she felt her instincts tell her to be more serious as she couldn't help but become tense all of the sudden.

There was an aura, an aura Sora was producing at that moment. He was not leaking out blood lust but it was more focused than anything she had ever felt. It felt like a blade was cutting down right at the middle and if she did not maintain her focus, she was going to lose and even though it's a spar, she would rather win to maintain her pride in her fighting skills rather than think she had gotten rusty due to the lack of action.

"Right...Ready whenever you are Bullet." Sora said, his face going from a more relaxed face to a more serious expression. This was the kind of person Bullet was expecting to see the first time she met Sora, she couldn't help but become tense at the sight as Sora himself held the knife in his hand with a firmness that was ready to go all out, not like when he helped her prepare the meal they shared the night before.

"Don't worry about getting hurt, I am sure healing ars magus will heal up any wounds you guys suffer before the big fight." Vlad commented as Garlond raised his hand to stop his friend from talking further to which Vlad got the hint and smirked a bit. Garlond would be talking a lot more at this point but something he sensed prompted this action from him, so Vlad simply followed and didn't bother questioning further from that.

There was no need for any go sign, at any moment one of them could strike. Bullet expected Sora to be playing safe and she would need to move in first. She may be the one unarmed and Sora was using a small knife but that doesn't mean that she was at an inherit disadvantage. Sora seemed to be unable to use Ars Magus so that would give her more of an advantage in that case since she has access to Ars Magus abilities.

But that all flew out of her head when she suddenly caught a glimpse of Sora rapidly charging towards her. She raised her fists to guard from Sora's first attack and counterattack, feeling something strike her as soon as she did so. She immediately raised her arms up to deliver her counter blow but Sora had a surprise pointed at her face that prompted her to form an immediate barrier as the sound of gunfire rang in the air,

The sheer impact of the shot was enough to send Bullet flying from the ground and the barrier to almost shatter in the process. Bullet immediately dismissed the barrier and focused on landing her feet as she took a glimpse of what Sora was wielding. Sora had actually discarded his knife, letting it land on the ground to go for a close up shot with his new magnum that was in his hand, the barrel smoking as Bullet couldn't help but note how ridiculous the gun was.

The magnum itself was a strange choice for someone who is a former mercenary but it was the bullet that Sora had decided to go with this gun that seemed like insanity for a person with one arm. He could have gone for a much more reasonably sized cartridge but for some reason in his head, he had decided to go with a rifle sized bullet instead. He also seemed to had the weapon suppressed, more likely to tame the recoil of the gun but it still had a massive amount of recoil as Bullet could see visible marks on the snow on Sora's feet to suggest he had dug into the ground a bit thanks to the bullet.

Sora in the meantime was trembling a bit, this was his first time firing this gun and while he was used to firing guns and was not a stranger to them, the power and kick he had felt from this one was enough to make him feel it rock him to his core. 'Damn, that merchant was not kidding when he said this was a gun for hunting, even with this suppressor it's got the recoil of a mule.' Sora thought as he had hoped the longer barrel provided by the suppressor would have gone in a way to taming the recoil of this gun a bit. Obviously that was not the case and he may have to instead forgo the suppressor once this assassination mission was complete.

Regardless, he at least felt a bit confident at the gun's stopping power as he quickly took aim at Bullet once again and readied a shot, letting it send him flying back to his bowie knife where he managed to slide right next to it. Bullet decided instead of trying to block it with another barrier to instead just dodge as the bullet in question struck a tree behind her and caused a massive amount of snow and bark to spread out in the process. It was then that everyone watching could see the destructive power this bullet had as Sora stared at the gun in mild shock

'That's the destructive power with just non lethal rounds? God I do not want to picture what will happen to a person should a lethal bullet be involved.' Sora thought as he shook his head and tossed away any stray thoughts to focus on the spar, quickly holstering the gun at his hip and grabbing the knife from the snow to charge at Bullet. Normally it would be suicide to toss away your ranged advantage against someone who fights bare handed but Sora didn't want to develop a reliance on the big iron on his hip and it was a sparring match, not a battle to the death. He wanted to be sure he was at full strength and just using the gun would not be a fair assessment of his current condition.

But in Bullet's head, she was thinking a different thought unknown to Sora. She misread Sora's unwillingness to develop a reliance on the gun he had just fired into a kind of warning. 'Is he trying to say that should I get out of his range he will not hesitate to fire a bullet at me?' Bullet thought as Vlad could see the thoughts of Bullet fly in her head, processing the situation quickly and trying to decide the best possible outcome she must take in order to survive the trial placed in front of her.

"Then I won't get out of range then!" Bullet said to herself, charging forward as Sora noticed something appear on his chest. A symbol of crosshairs manifested on his chest as he immediately raised his blade up to guard. He felt glad he did so as Bullet immediately lunged forward, slamming her shoulder right at his guard and forcing it open as she grabbed him by his shirt and tossed him into the air. A flash of fire manifested around her as Sora quickly recovered and charged once again for Bullet, trying to not let what she did get to his head.

"Flint Shooter!" Bullet yelled as suddenly, flames leapt out of her hands and skated across the ground. Alarmed, Sora stepped to the side only to see the flames continue to persistently follow him. Sora leapt back and tried to focus on another way in but Bullet saw this as Sora trying to reach for the gun once again to put in some range. This prompted her to hold a stance as Sora got a better look of what she was doing at that moment.

As she focused her breathing, a small circle emerged from the gauntlets, these rings only continued to grow bigger in a dome like shape as they slowly became bigger and bigger, the flames heating around her body only grew brighter as Sora felt the circle envelop him, revealing the target that was now on his chest once again. This made sense in Sora's mind as to what kind of weapon Bullet was using at that moment.

'An Ars Armagus?! I have to fight one of those!?' Sora thought. He has had experience with his fair share of Ars Armagus and Nox Nyctoreses from both his mercenary days and current life. Ars Armagus could be considered the prototypes of Nox Nyctoreses and while they often times lacked the sheer destructive power Nox Nyctoreses could have, Ars Armaguses were no less deadly as they were often considered the "Grandfather" of modern day magic weapons, just like how the bow is considered the grandfather of all projectile based weapons.

This train of thought was brought to a screeching halt as he realized he needed to prepare for Bullet's next attack as she immediately lunged a great distance, covering the vast distance he had created in mere seconds thanks to blasting the gauntlets right behind her and launching herself like a deadly projectile his way. Sora this time knew that blocking was not an option and readied up a stance. The moment Bullet grabbed his shirt for another takedown to the sky, Sora countered by grabbing back at her shirt and using the momentum she produced, tossed her right towards the ground in a swift manner, allowing him to plunge with the blade quickly to the ground in one smooth motion.

Bullet was not going to let such an attack land on her however and quickly dodged, kicking Sora off as he himself noticed the flames that were once around her now begin to dissipate. This began to help Sora make sense of the mechanisms that were happening in front of him. The gauntlets seemed to function based on a heat system, getting hotter more hits she managed to land with that targeting system.

'I don't want to see what will happen if she gets further into that heat system, I got to be careful.' Sora thought as he wondered what he should try to attack with next. Bullet however did not leave him such pleasure, going in and trying to strike him at key weak spots a mercenary should always try to go for. Eyes, chin, the groin, these spots were quickly attacked by Bullet and Sora swiftly parried each attempt, swiping back with his own return strike at her eyes, neck and tendons.

'He knows how to handle someone who is this aggressive.' Bullet thought as she then looked at the missing arm and began to hone in on that key weakness Sora had. As Sora tried to block another attack from Bullet, she immediately swung with right, striking Sora where his other arm would have been to block had left him open as Sora felt a swift strike to the neck cause him to seize up for a moment. This allowed her to immediately grab Sora by his neck and toss him to the ground roughly, dragging him for a bit and piling snow on his face before chucking him to a tree, glowing red.

She didn't let up as she immediately lunged and grabbed Sora once again and tossed him high into the air, glowing even more in the process, this prompted alarm in Sora as he grabbed the top tree branch of the tree he was tossed towards and stood his ground, observing carefully what was happening and not doing anything in the process as his eyes scanned and darted across, making sure that nothing was going to happen to him in the process while keeping the threat of Bullet's next attack fresh in his mind.

'Damn she is quick and brutal… if I was her with her type of fighting style… I think I know what she will do.' Sora thought as he immediately leapt off the tree he had been perched on as his instincts told him to do so. Down below, Bullet was gathering up the extra heat around her right at the palm of her hands, where the gems of the gauntlets were as suddenly a massive blast of heat struck the tree, dissolving the snow at her feet as the tree fell down with ease.

"Missed." Bullet said as Sora landed on the snow, his mind processing what was happening in front of him. Did...Did this woman just unleash an explosion on a tree? A big explosion. 'That was a miss? That's ridiculous!!' Sora thought as he quickly recovered when he noticed the aura of flame around her had subsided, calming down completely as Sora understood the mechanisms of the Ars Armagus in front of him.

First the user must pour in Seithr in the air right into the gauntlets. The seithr then slowly expands out as a ring of heat that does not hurt anybody it touches but instead creates a sort of marking on the person. This marking… or lock on as Sora would put it makes the gauntlets hone in directly towards a person and allow the person to lunge the distance needed to catch up to the person and if the attack landed or if physical contact was landed and the energy was able to be transferred, the weapon would heat up and allow her to expel out the excess energy as fire ars magus.

Now he knew how the attack worked, in theory he should have a method in dodging the attacks tossed his way. Unfortunately, with how aggressive Bullet was being, that was proving harder to do so as Sora understood that Bullet could change how she operates her Ars Armagus on the fly. Even in a sparring exercise like this, Sora was already feeling any kind of rust his long "Slumber" had inflicted on him fade away as he was becoming sharper once more.

He tried to quickly holster or drop the knife to pull out the magnum once again but that was a bit of a feint on his part to see more of Bullet's capabilities. As soon as he did this simple motion, Bullet was quick to respond by immediately using her Ars Armagus and immediately dashing in on Sora's position, the lock on circle briefly appearing on his chest before she lunged right for him. At that moment their bodies collided and she tried to use this as her chance to deliver a liver blow to his limbless arm spot.

Sora responded to that attempt with a simple thrust of the knife right at the spot Bullet had attempted to punch him at, prompting the mercenary woman to pull back her fist at that moment and for a rare moment in this quick but intense spar back away and assess the situation in front of her. 'He's not only reading my movements, but also is getting better at countering my aggressive attacks.' Bullet thought but that was not the only thing in her mind.

This entire time, Sora had not once used the magnum he had holstered up his person. He was now at range thus he would have the advantage. Thus her next move was based on the fact that he would try and shoot her at that moment as she lunged forward to grab him. Sora quickly holstered the knife and drew his gun for what Bullet presumed was to fire. However Sora did something unexpected and pointed the gun right behind him.

As soon as Bullet got into range, Sora fired, using the recoil of the gun to do a massive sweep down upon Bullet's head, forcing her to block and feel the impact of the strike hit her gauntlets. She realized she had messed up at that moment, she had hyper focused on the fact that Sora had a gun and thought he would just use it in long range that she had forgotten that there are methods of using firearms within close range combat itself. The pistol whip by itself is a basic technique but to use the recoil that would have been impossible to control with just one hand as an accelerated pistol whip was something that not a lot of people would have attempted in the first place.

Of course who would do something like this? This kind of logic should not work yet here she was, bearing witness to someone trying to technique out and hoping for the best. Sora meanwhile looked at the gun and saw where he had struck, the scales attached to the grip for a more secure shooting grip had cracked as that caused alarm for Sora. He couldn't do that move again but even without his drive, he was able to control the recoil of the gun well enough, he probably could do more if he used his drive at that moment.

'Right, everything seems fine right now. I should just try and use my drive when I can.' Sora thought as he pointed the gun right past bullet, firing a shot and using that as both a way to create distance as well as act as a temporary sound distorter for Bullet. He then charged and holstered the magnum once again, this time going in with just his fists as Bullet threw a wild punch to try and stop him from coming closer. Sora intercepted the punch and used the momentum he had gained to toss her right at the ground, making Bullet cough out blood in the process and forming a small shape on the snow.

Sora then quickly followed his throw with a swift kick right to Bullet's back as Bullet immediately assumed a blocking posture as Sora continued to chase after her, delivering a series of axe kicks as Bullet was soon forced to roll away as Sora attempted to deliver a finishing blow at her head. Bullet then found her chance as she grabbed Sora's leg as he winded up to another axe kick to send him flying to the ground, making the same imprint on the snow she made at that moment.

Now it was Sora's turn to have the same thing happen to him but he was not going to let Bullet have her way for much longer. He allowed a punch to go by his head and immediately wrapped his legs around said arm, forcing her to the ground with the full mass of his weight and began to try applying an arm bar to snap her arm in half. All Bullet would have to do is just tap his leg to stop the submission hold but Bullet managed to overpower him enough to force the two to kneeling positions.

Bullet tried to lunge in for a strike but Sora immediately dropped his knife and pulled out the gun yet again, firing it immediately to create distance between the two but at the same time Bullet used her Ars Armagus to keep chasing after Sora despite the distance he had created. Sora felt that he needed to use his drive right now and try to divert the course of the battle to be in his favor once again. He waited patiently for the attempt that would allow him to do so, taking a deep breath as Bullet grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him to the ground, heating up and mounting on top of him for a ground and pound.

Bullet tried to punch Sora then and there as Sora countered by simply doing a headbutt right at her head as she had to angle herself to deliver a finishing blow but at the cost of exposing her forehead. Soon the two were now at distance once more and Sora saw his chance to use his drive. Bullet was standing right next to his knife so if he just ran right at her faking a punch to use his drive at that moment to go for a knife grab to deliver the finishing blow.

As Sora charged and began to focus on his drive, something immediately felt wrong. Whenever he would use his drive, an afterimage of what he wanted to do and what he was doing would appear in front of him. Only thing he could see at that moment was simply blank. The second thing that happened was a sudden excruciating headache striking him as Bullet noticed the pain that Sora was in as he collapsed mid run, tumbling in the snow as this alarmed both Garlond and Vlad who were watching from the side, seeing Sora grab his head as he began to scream out in pain.

"S-Sora!?" Bullet said in surprise as she rushed towards him, all pretense of sparring being dropped as Sora continued to hold his head in pain, unable to hear her words as he could feel his consciousness begin to fade almost immediately. It felt like agony the longer his consciousness remained until he felt every inch of his body simply cease. Soon his vision of the world began to fade as he felt the world around him simple become black.

…. His consciousness disappearing along with the world around him…

GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION!? HOW IS EVERYONE DOING ON THIS FINE DAY!? If I can be a bit honest, I was a bit worried about not being able to finish this chapter in time. Between having inspiration for writing and playing Elden Ring, I almost felt like my brain was going to fry trying to balance these two things at once. Thankfully for everyone here I managed to finish this chapter in time and still have time for Elden Ring. So if the next chapter takes a bit longer, just know that I am going through a From Soft game to relax… be stressed… keep myself occupied?.. Overall I am having a blast playing Elden Ring and writing these chapters.

SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT TO SORA MINAKAZE!? WHAT ON EARTH HAS HAPPENED TO SORA'S DRIVE TO CAUSE THIS EFFECT!? WHAT WILL HE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS BLACKOUT. HOW WILL THE OTHERS AROUND HIM REACT TO THIS DEVELOPMENT!? WILL THEY PRESUME THAT SORA SIMPLY BLACKED OUT OR DO THEY PRESUME MORE THAN THAT!? Well, there's only one way to find out and that is to wait for the next chapter to come out.