Spoiler (Click to Show)
"Wake up, my friend... Time, as always, is not on your side"
"Listen close to me Aiba. A new danger is upon you... And it is someone you are very familiar with... It is the ones that you share the same blood with"
"Prepare yourself Aiba. I am sure that our companions will be there for you, and you are strong enough to take them on"
"Now, awaken my friend... Awaken"
That was the dream I had before I woke up at the hospital a couple of months ago, after I defeated Yun.
It was my master who had spoken to me in that dream. I found it kind of weird that he referred to me as a "friend". I don't know how I should take that, to be dead honest with you.
After I left the hospital, I did manage to go to the Christmas party I was invited to, and a man named Dante was kind enough to create a new weapon for me. Seriously, Mikadsuchi(Mi-kuh-zu-chi) is awesome. It helps that I can use more electricity tricks with this thing. It's the greatest thing I've gotten in quite some time.
With the help of an old friend, I got some modifications to the spear, and got the remains of my katana incremented to the tip of the spear, which should, in theory, enable me to use Soul Mode again. I haven't had the time to confirm that though. All the rehabilitation stuff that the rest of the guys of my clan made me go through has given me little to no free time.
Well, I felt a lot better after some time off. The wound I got didn't leave any major scars, and I was able to train again in a month. Charlie told me I shouldn't be moving around so much after recovering from a near-fatal so soon, which I was actually surprised that I'd hear that kind of thing from him, but I've been back on my normal schedule.
We also got a new member in the clan, Venox. He apparently knows Vamprina, which wasn't too surprising based on his appearance (I'm not being racist, I swear). I hope he can contribute to the clan as much as Vamprina has... and not do the bat-shit crazy things that she does.
After looking through my e-mails, which the inbox was completely loaded after not responding whatsoever for the past couple of months, I decided to go train a little. A bit wouldn't hurt, right?
I grabbed my workout gear, and headed down stairs. It was another quiet day at the hideout, with Charlie sipping coffee and Vamprina watching TV, as usual.
"Isn't it a bit too early to be working out after having a punctured stomach?" Charlie questioned me as I went down the stairs.
"I fell fine, and I've been cleared to do physical activites. So why the hell not?"
"...You're a trooper alright..." Charlie said, sighing out loud.
I used the elevator to go underground, and saw Zackaroar at the entrance, swinging his That hasn't changed either in the past few months.
"Hey buddy. How's the training going?"
"Hello Aiba. Back to training already I see" Zackeroar said, impressed.
"Well, I got cleared by the hospital, so I thought I'd get back to training. Can't be recovering forever, right?"
"Indeed. Training can be part of your steps to full recovery as well. The sooner, the better"
Zackeroar seemed very happy recently. I'm not saying that he's usually grumpy or anything, but he's not the kind of guy you would see smiling all the time. And with the addition of a new clan member, which he was against, I thought he would be more pissed than usual. But I'm glad he's not.
Zackeroar led me to one of the rooms for individual training. The room is basically like a typical gym room, with weights and running machines. Speaking of Zack, he complained a lot when we suggested we get the running machines. The guy barely knows how to use a microwave, and he says that "running in place aimlessly" is a waste of time. Remember people, when it comes to buying things you want, it's easier to plead for forgiveness than to ask for permission. It applies to guys too, don't forget that.
After Zackeroar left, I got to the weights on the rack. I started with doing squats with 20kg dumbbells. It felt weird that I was mildly struggling with weights that I would usually breeze through. That hasn't happened in a while... Yun got me good, I guess.
I'm lucky that my spear is really light. Even in the condition I'm in right now, I've been able to swing that thing left and right without any problems.
After I finished up my usual routine, I went back to the main entrance to talk to Zackeroar again.
"Hey man, you wanna spar a little?" I said, with a smile on my face.
Zackeroar looked at my direction. He still had his helmet on, but I'm fairly sure that he was giving me a stupid look.
"Look, I know I said training was good for getting you back, but I didn't mean you to take it THAT far..." Zackeroar replied.
"I need to get back into the habit of fighting again. And come to think about it, I haven't legitimately fought against you yet. It'll be beneficial for the both of us, I swear"
"If you insist... I suppose so" Zackeroar said with a sigh.
"I'm not responsible for your injuries"
"I'm fine with that" I replied with a smile.
After agreeing to meet back in 15 minutes, I went back to the surface to grab Mikadsuchi, my kuda-yari. I've never used it against someone yet, so I was a little nervous about the fight. But I wasn't going to back from a fight I started.
As I went back underground, Charlie and Zackeroar waited for me at he front of the elevator.
"Are you sure you're ready for this buddy? I mean, you DID get cleared by the doctors only 2 days ago..." Charlie said, clearly not happy with the decision I made.
"I'll be fine, don't wory about it. Besides, I've been through worse. You should see the things I had to go through back when I was a..." I stopped myself mid-sentence, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with what I was about to say.
"You don't need to say anymore" Charlie said, presumably understand what I was about to say.
After a few minutes of convincing Charlie to monitor us, Zackeroar proceeded to walk to one of the training rooms designed for combat, the one similar to where I fought Zoe a while ago. As the door opened, the room was illuminated by the automatic light system, showing a plain, wide room that was more rugged and beaten up than I last remembered. I'm pretty sure Zackeroar caused the amount of damage. He's really taken a liking to holograms, and we weren't able to put the regenerating walls and holograms in the same room because it would focus way too much energy on generator. Even the power of money has its cost limits, apparently.
We both got into position, holding our spears tightly. I got to be honest with you, I was nervous to go against Zackeroar. I've seen what he's done with the holograms, and it's very, VERY frightening.
Zackeroar made the first move. He dashed forward, going for a shield strike. As I dodged the incoming shield, Zackeroar went low and did a legsweep on me, which hit me square on the back of my knees, causing me to fall on my back.
"Your legs are wide open. You're usually cautious about that" Zackeroar implied, staring at me on the ground.
"Yeah yeah I know, I still need some time to get used to fighting again... Quit worrying about me and work on your own problems, will ya?" I said as I got up and regained my stance.
I leaped backwards and swung Mikadsuchi around, generating electricity around me.
"A voltage field huh... When'd you learn to do that?" Zackeroar said, looking interested.
"As soon as I started training with this thing. It's really cool. Wanna see what it does?" I replied, with a big smile on my face.
"Don't mind if I do" Zackeroar said as he stepped forward, his spear raised high and mighty.
Our weapons clashed again and again, with sparks emitting from the two spears with each collision, trying to push each other backwards. I could clearly see the discomfort in Zackeroar's movement. And that's exactly how I want him to be right now.
Zackeroar went for a vertical swing, aiming for my left arm. As I swiftly dodged the incoming attack, I hit a palm strike on him with my open hand. There was a large crackle that rung through the room as Zackeroar was knocked back, clutching his stomach in pain.
"Agh... What was that?"
"Only the most annoying away to hurt someone"
"You don't mean..."
"Yup, static electricity. With the voltage field around me, I can make it hurt ten times more than it should, and make it happen almost anytime I touch someone"
I shook my hand lightly as I said "Don't get me wrong though, it hurts a lot on my end too."
As soon as I finished talking, I dashed towards Zackeroar, going for a thrust. He blocked the attack easily with his round shield, and proceeded to push me back. With his sheer amount of strength, he threw his spear at me full-speed. The spear barely missed my head, going past me like a bullet.
"Jesus christ... How many things have you killed with that kind of throw?" I spoke up, still astonished by the speed of the spear.
"Thousands and still counting. No one can throw spears quite like the spartans do" Zackeroar said proudly.
"No shit. I bet you can take an ogre's head off with that kind of impact"
"That was kill 637, I think"
"No way... You actually did?"
"More like a giant than an ogre, but yeah"
Even though we were supposed to be fighting, Zackeroar and I liked to trade battle stories once in a while. It was just awesome to hear what this guy is capable of. I'd trust him with my life whole-heartedly.
"Shall we go back to fighting then?" Zackeroar asked.
"Indeed, we shall"
Zackeroar pulled his short sword out, and held his shield in front of him, taunting me to attack. I stabbed Mikadsuchi to the ground, and pulled out my kukri and pistol.
Zackeroar started to run towards me, with his shield in front him. I shot at the shield to in order to get him to flinch. He didn't stop though, and he shrugged the force of the bullets off and proceeded in his attempt for a shield bash. I jumped back to avoid the incoming shield, and aimed my pistol at Zackeroar's now exposed head, and shot my final bullet in the magazine. The bullet decked Zackeroar on his helmet, right where the forehead would be located if the helmet wasn't in the way. I was using rubber-tipped bullets for this fight, but it still managed to create quite a dent on his helmet, one that would make the person wearing it struggle to remove it from their head.
As I expected, Zackeroar clutched hard onto his helmet, using all his might to remove it from his now injured head. A few seconds later, the helmet popped off of Zack's head, and he slammed the dented piece of armor hard onto the floor, holding his forehead in pain.
"Aaagh! WHY!?" Zackeroar screamed.
He started swinging his sword wildly at me, with the expression of rage clearly on his face. I blocked and dodged as his sharp blade slashed through the air, but was getting pushed back. When this guy goes full out, he completely forgets what personal safety is, and tends to attempt to slice any living being in front of him into mince meat. I've seen him do it to actual people. It's the most fucking gruesome thing that you'll ever see.
Eventually, the enraged spartan managed to hit me after a swift shield bash, which I failed to block and got slammed to the wall. He then proceeded to bang my head mercilessly onto the wall. After he was through with the bashing, Zackeroar stabbed his sword hard into the wall, merely a few millimeters from my face.
I could barely see the anger in his face, with his brows and forehead forming wrincles, and twitching. His long, black hair started to color itself white as snow, and his sky-blue eyes were now in the shade of blood-red.
"Zack... let's calm down alright?" I claimed, with my hands raised slightly above my head. Zackeroar did not seem to have an ear to listen though.
"Do you wish this to pierce your throat, or will you surrender like a coward?" Zackeroar said with a quiet, but powerful voice.
"Do I not have a choice here?"
"Don't play games with me, mortal!!"
Great, Zack's lost it. He has this thing called Rage Mode, which basically gives him a power boost, but he gets a liiiiiiitle more angry than he usually is. Hence the palette swap with his hair and eyes.
But, with his anger issues, he usually doesn't think with his head on straight. So, a little bit of smarts is all I need.
"Alright, I give up. Show me your mercy, if you wouldn't mind" I calmly answered his question, still with my hands up.
"What... did you just say?" Zackeroar said, now with a passive-aggressive kind of voice.
"You heard me, I call quits. I don't want to die right now, thank you very much"
Zackeroar, with his veins starting to be visible on his face, made his sword pierce through the wall even more.
"You, of all people... Would be such a fool and a coward... I've lost faith in you. You are not worthy to lead this group"
Zackeroar ripped the blade from the wall with all his might, and positioned to stab me through the head.
"You will perish before my blade, and I will command this clan!"
The rubble-covered blade swung down to claim my head. As the sword came within a few inches of my forehead, I teleported behind him. As the spartan turned to face me, I decked him right in the stomach with a punch. Zackeroar groaned in pain, his white hair swinging through the air .
He started swinging his sword wildly again, but this time I was prepared to parry him. As the two metal weapons clashed, I could feel that I was gradually losing my strength. Okay, I'll be honest. I think I'm pushing myself a little too hard right now. I honestly didn't know it was going to be. this intense.
If I'm going to do something, I should probably do it soon.
Zackeroar knocked the Kagutsuchi out of my hand, giving me only my pistol to protect myself. I dodged the incoming slashes to the best of my ability, but I was getting torn up as I gradually retreated to the wall behind me.
As the spartan raised his blade for the finishing blow, I stepped towards him and palm striked Zackeroar in the stomach, with a little assistance from my wind powers. He flew back a couple of meters, giving me enough time to get my kukri.
"Sorry buddy, I make this up to you later" I said as I held Kagutsuchi closely.
The blue aura started to form around me like mist, and got absorbed to me. I took a deep breath as the wounds I had disappeared. Good, my Soul Mode still works. At least to a certain degree.
The white-haired spartan charged at me, annoyance and hatred in his face. I quickly tripped him with a drop toe hold, making him hit his head hard on the asphalt. He still wasn't through, as he kicked and pounced at me when I tried to approach him, looking more like a wild beast than a proud warrior.
I know that feeling... The feeling that you have to do anything and everything to survive, even if you have to throw every sense of pride away. There won't be any pride for one self once they're dead. I have respect for Zackeroar for that reason. He knows what it's like to struggle onto life.
"DAMN YOU TO THE NETHERS!!!!! I AM THE BETTER WARRIOR!!!! I WILL NOT LOSE TO AN UNPOLISHED WARRIOR LIKE YOU!!!!!!" Zackeroar screamed at the top of his lungs.
"You're letting your anger get the best of you. Please, calm down..." I replied.
In response, Zackeroar picked up the spear in the ground, and swung it around wildly as he proceeded to attack me. I kept dodging his strikes, making myself closer to my spear as I took each step backwards.
Zackeroar went for my legs as he swung his weapon low, but I jumped backwards, landing right next to Mikatsuchi.
I retrieved the spear from the ground, and spun it in the air, with the air crackling and roaring as it formed a ring consisted of electricity and air in front of me. I launched the ring at Zackeroar, who barely dodged the move. I immediately dashed in for a swing, which hit Zackeroar directly on the head with the blunt part of the spear. As he fell to the ground, I g