4 - Soul Combat
“Can’t believe soone like Hwang couldn’t put her down...oh well, it was a two-on-one from what he told us.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the other person in question was just his drunk delusion or sothing.”
“Still, if there’s soone who has to get work done, it should be . and Luca are already getting shit on our plates from the psycho. If I get the kills, we’ll get our rep back. And eventually, we’ll be all people talk about.”
“We might even get a few days off so as to not see his unhinged face anymore.”
...
“Sakuto, you brought your weapon with you, right?” Ichika said, slowly taking a combat stance. “Just stay back and wait for an-”
The ground shook, as thick roots erged from the ground - shattering it apart, launching Ichika into the sky. Sakuto turned around. He grabbed his blade, carefully looking for the source of the attack. Matteo, the tall soulful with dark brown curly hair and similarly colored eyes that was watching his prey, waiting for the pri opportunity to strike, stood on a platform made by said roots.
“Shit, it’s another one of those elentals...”
“If I’m not wrong, this guy’s ability was to-”
He noticed a root coming towards him and dodged to the side, he was sowhat surprised by his own speed. Instantly, he dashed in, and found himself leaping through a great distance in just an instant. Getting closer, he swung his blade and cut through so of the roots in his way. Matteo flicked his fingers and launched Sakuto away by conjuring more such roots.
The root structure slowly collapsed, and Matteo jumped down on the ground, chasing after Ichika. He launched a barrage of roots at her but Ichika successfully defended herself. So parts of the roots were frozen and broken off, while others were slashed apart.
Matteo summoned his spear in his hand and went on the offensive. He swung it while Ichika weaved back, seeking the decisive piercing attack that would could end the fight prematurely. Ichika threw a kick, but Matteo appeared to be faster and was already up close. Just as he was about to deliver a heavy blow, he quickly ducked and turned around. That last maneuver had saved him from a lethal attack that Sakuto prepared.
“Shit, how did he read ?” Sakuto thought, regaining his composure and preparing to swing again. “I’d say I’m not doing too bad, for my first ever ti holding a sword, but still...”
“Ichika said it was sothing to do with my soul presence...is it so bad that it renders sneak attacks useless?”
Ichika hit the ground with her kunai, freezing parts of it and launching a pair of ice spikes towards Matteo. He flung himself backwards, and Sakuto missed a chance to cut him off. Ichika quickly created a large spear made from ice in her hand and chucked threw it at Matteo. It pierced him in the leg, with the limb slowly decaying from frostbite. Matteo took his ti for a mont, focusing on healing his wound.
“Ichika!” Sakuto exclaid before running off. “Keep him busy.”
“Got it.” Ichika nodded. She seed surprised by the fact that she trusted his strategy of retreating so easily, and that mont of confusion was utilized by Matteo. With his leg healed up, he quickly rushed at her. Small roots erged from the ground, breaking the asphalt she was standing on...
Soulfuls of this caliber would often find themselves in such situations. Ichika was accustod to fighting soulfuls - she had sharpened her fighting style and worked on her mastery over her soul expression for as long as she was a soulful. However, Hayk, her ntor and effectively her caretaker, was always displeased with her. Not only were there so oddities regarding her soul expression, but there was also a lack of imagination from Ichika herself. It felt like she wasn’t using her ability to its fullest.
“It’s fine, Ichika...”
“Focus on dealing a piercing atta-”
She took a stance, but Matteo got to her faster.
Ichika barely managed to dodge out of the way, but Matteo’s quick readjustnt and his kicks and follow-up strikes dealt notable damage to her and knocked her back. A much faster pair of roots tried to pierce her in the air, but she managed to protect herself and properly land on the ground. More roots erged from the ground, as Ichika dodged them and tried to look for an opening. She focused, and dashed through them - cutting as many of them with her blade as possible.
Matteo himself advanced, greeting Ichika with a jab. She ducked away from it, and swung her kunai - juking and landing slashing attacks and constantly switching between Mateo’s face and torso. So cuts were already erging, but that was before Matteo’s own attack. He swung his fist, and at the sa ti a series of roots wrapped themselves around her. She took the strike with full force, and another one after that, and she watched as Matteo prepared to deliver a killing blow...
Large amounts of ice crystals erged on her body, and Ichika, exploding like a grenade, managed to free herself. The roots were broken off, but Ichika herself collapsed.
“What the hell?”
“Why was it so hard to break out of these things...and why do I feel so weak?”
Matteo took a few steps towards her, smirking. Ichika slowly tried to get up, the ice around her starting to lt and break apart. A shard of ice started forming in her palm, but it couldn’t be fully materialized into sothing useful. Matteo approached her.
“What happened to the other one? Did he leave you to die?”
“Eat shit...” Ichika said, before being kicked in the stomach. She coughed up so blood.
“Undisciplined brat...” Matteo sighed, before aiming his spear at her throat. “You should’ve joined us when you had the chance.”
[KLING]
Sakuto’s soul presence was always being tracked by Matteo. The experienced soulful, and one of the group’s most renowned fighters, was no stranger to surprise attacks. Sakuto swung his blade, but Matteo’s quick reflexes helped him parry the attack with his spear.
“And who the fuck are you?” Matteo yelled in anger. With his free hand, he made sure to restrain Ichika on the ground, paralyzing all her limbs. He swung the spear, carving a deep wound on Sakuto’s chest. He dashed back.
“This weapon feels so weird right now. I’m much better off with just my hands.”
He sheathed his blade back, taking a combat stance. Matteo seed bemused. Who the hell would bring their hands to a sword fight? He quickly dashed in, but instead of Sakuto playing it safe, he dashed forward as well. He swung his fist, landing a nasty right uppercut to his stomach, paired with a right elbow strike. Matteo took the hits, the discomfort could be seen in his eyes. He dashed back, and chucked his spear forward - missing.
Sakuto was lacking experience. He closed the distance again, thinking that Matteo was disard. It took him a while to realize that the weapon was once again summoned to his hands. It pierced his stomach, but Sakuto continued his assault.
“My only chance...”
“Ichika, I trust you to help here...”
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Sakuto was caught off guard by his own thoughts. He quickly shook his head.
“Not now...please, just focus!”
Matteo grunted in surprise, trying to break free. Sakuto’s presence had shifted to a different level. He continued wrestling his target, pushing him forward and back. The spear had pierced him even deeper, stirring his intestines around. He let out a distorted, bloody and painful scream, which sowhat sounded like Ichika’s na.
Ichika was unable to utilize her soul expression while restrained by the roots. Or so she thought. Hearing the scream, she tried to free herself from the roots again, but...
“No, no, no, no, no!” She scread internally. “The roots are ssing up my soul expression...”
“Ichika, what’s taking you so long? Are you...?” Sakuto asked himself, before turning Matteo around in their wrestling match. Sakuto’s stomach wound was bleeding profusely. Matteo was harassing Sakuto’s legs with constant low kicks, but Sakuto's superior wrestling skills and his newly acquired soul prowess reinforcent helped him keep up. During the brief mont he and Ichika exchanged eye contact...he spat on the ground.
“I get it!!!” Ichika lifted her neck. A second later, she spat out a sharp icicle, launching it at Matteo. The shard pierced his back, montarily distracting. Sakuto used this to land more strikes, decorating Matteo’s face with blood and blue marks. Sakuto unsheathed his sword, but this ti, his target wasn’t Matteo. He sprinted towards the roots and cut them up, freeing Ichika.
“How did you-” Ichika asked, slowly getting up. “You’re bleeding!”
“I can pull through.” Sakuto said, bowing a little from the pain. He held his wound, but held onto his blade with his other hand. “He can regenerate his wounds, right? How long does it take him?!”
“We have to kill him now.” Ichika said, before hitting the ground with her kunai.
“Ice Blast!”
A mountainous blast of ice erged from the ground, attacking Matteo. He blocked it with his roots, but by that ti Sakuto flanked around him and started applying pressure with his blade. He was still getting bested in weapon combat, but his main objective was just being a distraction. Matteo found himself in the middle of two dangerous fighters, who, to his greatest misfortune, started to develop a type of synergy.
“Is this what fighting soulfuls is like?” Sakuto asked himself amidst the exchanges. His own lee attacks were synchronizing very well with limited ice blasts and Ichika’s own weapon strikes.
“What is it, Sakuto?”
“Are you...enjoying this? This is pathetic. You might’ve died already and this is all just a delusion.”
“You’re so weird. You’re not even a soulful. You think you’re allowed to enjoy yourself like this? Just because you found so little friends? Can you even call them friends? You can’t, right?”
“Which ans you’re still a loner. And you’ll never find anything worthwhile. Ever.”
“You’re worthless”
Sakuto was slowed down by these thoughts. Matteo caught him off guard and knocked him away, and could now focus on utilizing both his striking and his soul expression against Ichika.
“Huh? Why’d he zone out?!” Ichika thought, barely blocking a heavy spear swing. “His soul prowess...”
Matteo juked his swings and used his striking, creating a window to attack. A powerful jab stunned her, and the spear was close to piercing her body...
Sakuto’s blade pierced Matteo faster than he could counter it. He forced the blade out, cutting through his now exposed abdon. Ichika quickly dashed back, and as Matteo turned around, she struck him in the back - slamming shards of ice into his lungs. Sakuto, almost purely functioning on fighting instinct, delivered the final strike and cut Matteo’s head off.
“It’s over...”
He stood still. There was no shaking in his hands, no troubleso fever-like illusions, and not an ounce of hesitation or regret. Matteo’s head rolled on the ground, blood squirting out of his neck, and a second later his body fell down.
“Holy shit...”
“I actually just...killed this guy...a mber of the elental group...”
“Oi, you’re losing blood!” Ichika said, pushing Matteo's lifeless body away. Sakuto seed like didn’t even care about his potentially fatal wound. She quickly ripped a piece of cloth from Matteo’s uniform and started to bandage Sakuto’s wound with it.
“Kouta told you about soul regeneration, right? Can you do it?!” Ichika asked him, putting his arm around her neck and attempting to drag him back ho.
“I just...killed soone.”
"That's a pretty big deal, right?"
“But...it's a normal thing for soulfuls, right?”
“Hey, Ichika...” Sakuto asked, sowhat whispering. “Do you...often have to kill people?”
“Co on, tomorrow I’ll take you to Rin, and Hayk, and everyone else...”
Sakuto’s breath slowed down, but not because of life dangers, but because of a sense of calm slowly enveloping and holding him. His soul presence jumped onto another level, and his blade was with him that ti. But he felt strangely calm, too strangely calm in fact for soone who had just taken a life. His eyes were wide open, his face didn’t change its expression too much.
“This was the right thing to do, right?” He thought, looking at Ichika whom he imagined dead. And that thought scared him quite a bit.
...
“I killed soone.”
“Here, it should seal the wound off. If you discover sothing like soul regeneration overnight, use it at full throttle, okay?” Ichika said, applying so more bandages. Sakuto was on his bed, with Ichika watching over him, worry blooming in her eyes.
“Fuck...I actually killed soone....”
“And my weapon...”
“I think I figured it out...” Sakuto said. He raised his hand, and within a second his blade materialized. He held it with a light smile on his face.“I don’t actually know how it works, I just saw you do it in battle...and I felt that I could do it too.”
“You keep surprising .” Ichika laughed it off. “It’s called a soul-bound weapon. Weapons can be imbued with a person’s soul if they experience an awakening event with it. Usually it involves killing another soulful or sothing like that. Looks like you did just that.”
“I see...”
“A soul-bound weapon can use the soul expression and sotis gets its own abilities too...that’s the textbook description that Hayk made learn.” Ichika said, before a long pause. "I can do ice stuff better when I have my own weapon out."
“Gonna have to think of a na for it.” Sakuto said.
“You want to... na it sothing?” Ichika asked, curious. “I don’t think calling its na increases its power or sothing...”
“Well, it’s bound to my soul, right?” Sakuto wondered. “It only makes sense to give it a na. Besides, it’d just be cool in general.”
“Hah, right...” Ichika chuckled. “So, what are you gonna na it?” She asked. Sakuto looked at his weapon, and a few monts later, answered.
“Withering Strelitzia.”
“Oh?”
“That’s what I’ll call it. Maybe it’s corny, but...I like it. I was into flowers for a small part of my life, and it was the flower I got for...nevermind.” Sakuto said, his voice dreamy.
“I don’t think it’s corny at all. I like flowers too.” Ichika replied, walking towards the couch. “It’s pretty nice. Anyways...get better, alright?”
Ichika left the room. The thoughtful clouds were constantly ringing inside Sakuto’s head, even chasing him into the night. Alone, in bed and relative safety, he still felt troubled. He held his hands by his mouth, feeling slightly nauseous.
“It’s fine.”
“It was technically self defense, right? Yeah. It was self defense. Kill or be killed.”
“This is what soldiers do, right? They don’t kill to have fun, at least most of them don’t. They kill because the enemy is gonna kill them if they don’t. Which is stupid itself, why kill if no one wants to kill each other...”
“God damn it, what the fuck am I thinking about? There’s a bigger issue at hand.”
“Let guess, I’m not just a waste of life now, I’m also a felon...even though I didn’t even do a cri...fuck, how do soldiers cope with this type of stuff? Maybe there’s so things they tell themselves to calm down, maybe there’s sothing like ditation...”
He took a deep breath.
“Whatever, I’ll just use the thod I always use to get my shit together. Just gotta hope she doesn’t find out about this, it would be pretty embarrassing...”
He reached for not just his phone, but also his earphones. It hurt him to do that, he was concerned about worsening his injury that was sohow not getting worse, but it worked out fine. He put his earphones in, searched up and played a video on his phone, and closed his eyes. A mont later, his ears were blessed by what appeared to be a female voice saying strangely sweet and comforting things to him.
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