"Just to confirm, no magic is allowed, correct?" I asked, right before my duel with Amane began.
"Indeed. I would like to see a battle of physical strength, not magic," the catwoman - matriarch of the Neko Clan and Amane's mother - said in response.
Alright...that makes it easier for Amane to take down, which in turn makes it easier for to accomplish my goal in coming here. Besides, my mana is also quite low, so I would like to avoid using any more if possible, until I get it refilled again. In any case, good start so far.
"What about guns? If I shoot a bullet and Amane ends up not being able to block it, wouldn't that kill her?" I asked.
"Do you have another weapon?" the matriarch asked, raising an eyebrow.
I thought about it for a second, then made my decision. "Yeah, I do."
I summoned my twin katanas - Weapons of Chaos, and swung them around a feel tis since I hadn't used them in a while. I had been debating whether or not to reveal them here, and eventually decided there wasn't anything that could potentially harm coming from this.
"Oh? What are those weapons? I feel a powerful energy radiating from them...though I cannot quite place my finger on what exactly it is," the matriarch murmured thoughtfully, genuinely intrigued by my two katanas.
"Er...honestly? I don't really know either," I replied, feigning ignorance. "My parents bought these for as a gift when I turned 12."
"Hm...well, your parents must be pretty rich - or just lucky - people to be able to get their hands on such weapons," the catwoman said with a chuckle.
Lucky? Haha...if getting assassinated by your own family is considered 'lucky', then sure.
"Alright...if there are no more questions, then get ready. You will start your duel on 'go'," the matriarch continued, looking at the both of us.
We both nodded in confirmation, and the matriarch smiled.
"Very well, then. Three...two...one...go!"
*****
- ? -
(i Gui's Perspective)
Where...am I? What ti is it...? My head hurts. My body hurts. Everywhere hurts. Master? Where is Master? Master!
I slowly blinked my eyes open, and saw white. I was sitting in a white room...but then I noticed the tal wristcuffs, chaining down and preventing from getting up from the chair. I looked around quickly, despite still being in a dazed state. This made a bit dizzy, which didn't help my already hurting head.
I tried breaking free, but it didn't work. In fact, the cuffs seed to lock down even tighter. Not only that, but I felt as if my mana was being restrained sohow, as well.
...Damn it...I have to get back to Master...
"Oh? Finally awake, are you?" a man said, walking into the white room through a sealed door. "Welco to Exurtra Labs. The last ti you were here...I'm afraid I did not give you a warm welco. I apologize."
I narrowed my gaze. "...What do you want with ? Where is Master?"
The man smiled. "'Master', is right here..." he said, pointing at himself.
I widened my eyes. "What..."
"Soon, very soon, I will be your new Master," the man said with a crooked grin. "Yes...my ultimate product will be made from you."
I gritted my teeth. This chair was draining mana out of , and right now I didn't have enough to cast any spells, so I couldn't get out of here. I was completely trapped.
The last thing I rember...we were fighting that Holy Emperor in the bathroom...and then...? Did I...get kidnapped? Ngh...I am so useless...nothing but a burden to Master.
"I must say...I have never seen soone like you before," the man said, turning to a computer nearby and projecting so holoscreens. "Your mana...is weird. I'm still in the middle of getting samples, but one thing is certain - there aren't distinct elents in it. Instead...it seems like a mixture...of all the elents?"
He turned and stared at straight in the eyes. I stared right back, not showing anything on my face. After a while, he turned away and continued. "But of course...that would an you can use all 21 Elents - and we both know that is impossible."
"I will ask one more ti...what do you want with ?" I asked in a dark tone.
The man smiled innocently. "Nothing too big. Just...turning you into a machine."
*****
- anwhile, Back At The Neko Clan -
"Go!" the matriarch yelled, signaling our battle's start.
Amane was the first to move. She imdiately leapt onto one of the tallest pillars with a single jump, and began closing in on at an insane speed. But alas, she was going to have to do better than this to catch .
I stood still, waiting for the right opportunity. And then, she landed on the pillar right in front of , preparing to leap at . But just as she thought she was about to hit , I jumped upwards, and onto another pillar. Amane's montum nearly sent her flying off the field, which would have resulted in a win for . However, fortunately for her - and , truth to be told - she was better than that. Using her tail to wrap around the pillar, she managed to forcibly pull herself back into balance.
But this left a slight opening while she was using her tail - and I took advantage of it. I jumped towards her, aiming for her throat with one of my two katanas. She seed surprised, and went into a bridge position - an unbelievably low one. I soared past her, and landed on the pillar behind.
"Heh...nyot bad, Xuwan Kwai," Amane said, getting back up to a standing position.
I looked down at her. "You too."
She then prepared to launch herself at again, and I imdiately dodged this ti. We chased each other around the pillars for a while, but alas, I couldn't keep up with her catgirl speed and stamina. And so, realizing I couldn't keep running, I spun around suddenly, thrusting my katana while keeping the other one in a defensive position. This surprised Amane, since she had expected to just keep running like before.
Demihumans, however, have quick reaction speeds as well. Had it been a human, I most likely would've won right then and there, taking them by surprise. But Amane rely changed her position midair, using her left hand with the claws extended to parry away my attacking katana, sliding her hand across the blade while getting closer to . The tal hitting tal caused sparks to fly off, but it bothered neither of us.
But Amane wasn't quite done yet. Using her free hand - the right, also with her claws extended, she reached for my defensive blade, attempting to brute force her way through. She managed to get ahold of it, and now that my defense was completely gone, her other hand, which had slid all the way down to the hilt of my blade, was free to attack.
However, I wasn't going to go down like this. Maybe if I wanted to just give her the win for free, but not now. I noticed the matriarch staring intently at our fight, watching every one of my smallest movents.
Damn it...sorry, Amane.
Right before she could reach for my throat with her left hand, I spun around my attacking katana by the hilt, and stabbed towards myself, but it was going to hit her first, of course, since she was in between my blade and my throat. Taking advantage of the fact that my weapon was longer, I knew that I was going to hit her first before she could hit my throat. She realized this as well, so she used my body as a foothold, launching herself upwards before doing a backflip and landing back on the pillar she had ca from.
I managed to regain my balance, and Amane looked at in amusent. "Nya...you're weally strong."
I shrugged. "Just one of the downsides of your weapon - range."
She considered my words for a second, then smiled deviously. "Hehe~you just haven't seen the weal potential of these claws..."
Saying this, she crossed her arms in an X-shape, and then launched her claws at .
I was caught by surprise - so surprised that I remained fixated on the pillar for a good few milliseconds before finally responding. But by then, it was too late to jump to a pillar. My brain ran at hypersonic speeds, and I realized there was only one option left.
I jumped - off the pillar. Using one of my katanas to hit the ground below, I used it as a support to 'handstand' without falling to the ground as the claws flew by overhead. But that was not enough - the claws then circled back around, and began heading down - straight towards , who was still in a..plicated position.
What the hell...they're homing?! Goddamn it...the Neko Clan and its advanced technology!
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