"You know Paul did warn me about your fiery temper when we first met." Masumi chuckled as we made our way out of the room and down some steps.
"I'm not normally like this, it's just ever since I came here, all he's done is save others even if it's at the risk of his own life." I began to explain.
"I understand, it's like my brother, he would do anything to protect me, even at the expense of his own life. It's just something that comes with being strong and the need to protect loved ones." She smiled.
I took a quick look behind me to check if her bodyguards were still following us, and to my surprise, they were nowhere to be seen. "Um, are your bodyguards still following us?" I questioned curiously.
"They should be, Kohana, Tadaaki please join us." She requested politely and out of nowhere despite being in a building they were somehow perfectly camouflaged.
"Yes Miss Masumi," They answered her call and joined us.
"Come join us." She smiled as she led the way down the various levels till we eventually made it to the ground floor of the Atlantis' main building.
"So can you detect students that are influenced as well?" I questioned as we made our way out of the building.
"Yes, they have a hint of demon smell on them." She smiled.
"Are there many students that are helping them?" I questioned curiously.
"Unfortunately there are quite a few I probably number it around the twenties and thirties, luckily only around five have a stronger scent of a demon on them." She answered.
"Hmm, I remember we managed to free some students who were being imprisoned by demons, so they might be the faint ones," I replied to her.
"That could be a factor." She agreed with a nod.
"Oh actually, would you like to meet my friends? I'm sure they would love to meet you and we could use your heightened sense of smell as well." I asked her.
"Oh, maybe I should ask Paul for permission first." She began to hesitantly reply.
"Don't worry let's go." I smiled which made her ponder for a second or two.
"Okay! let's do it." She smiled and gestured for me to lead the way.
"Hmmm, now the question is, how would I locate the party," I replied wondering to myself. "let's head to the market stalls in the main courtyard of Atlantis." I smiled and began to lead the way.
"So when did you arrive in Atlantis? I do remember Paul saying you weren't here." She questioned politely.
"Yeah, I only arrived a month or so ago." I smiled
"Oh, I remember him telling me that he may never even see you again." She asked a little puzzled,
"It was a little complicated, but I feel it's all water under the bridge now," I admitted to her
"Wate under the bridge?" She asked looking a little confused.
"It means what happened in the past isn't important anymore." I smiled.
"Oh, that's nice." She smiled.
"So what about you? can you explain to me what the sword styles are?" I questioned curiously.
"So there are Eight main clans each having their own sword style, many years ago the progenitor of the sword style, he was the only one at the time who was able to produce elements from his sword, his one, in particular, was called the sun style apparently his style would burn as hot as the sun. His disciples couldn't wield his sun style, it would deteriorate their bodies and even burn them in some cases. Thus the other sword styles were born, and altering his technique gave birth to the other style, weaker to the sun style but they each have their own unique properties." She explained.
"That sound so cool! what sort of style are you and your clan known for?" I replied in excitement.
"Oh, we specialise in Ice based effects, our sword style is the slowest of we had the effect of slowing, immobilising and even freezing our enemies. So are you like Paul? someone who creates magic out of air?" She questioned.
"A little, sadly nowhere near as strong as he thought, what he can do seems so unfathomable," I answered.
"He did tell me that you're much stronger than him, filled with more potential, able to go beyond anything he could possibly achieve." She replied sounding a little shocked.
"Of course, that is something he would say, but sadly I really don't think I'm anything special," I answered her honestly.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, you've only been here for a short amount of time, especially compared to him," She answered but began pondering on something, "That's that saying he always says..... Oh, Rome wasn't built in a day. Whatever Rome is." She smiled happily with herself that she remembered.
"I guess you're right," I replied with a small pause. "So are you like him, using 'KI' to enhance yourself?" I questioned curiously.
"Oh, what was very interesting the first time I witness him use it, but sadly it's not the same or at least I believe it isn't. How did he explain it, his use of Ki allows him to go above and beyond human capabilities through the use of his Ki, so once his Ki runs out he returns back to his unenhanced state, but I can't deny that his capabilities without his Ki at also superhuman in comparison." She smiled.
"So you're normal? I find that hard to believe, you said Oni are stronger than our Demons but you can somehow deal with them despite being normal?" I questioned curiously.
"Well, okay maybe stronger and faster than normal, much like Paul our speed and strength and reaction times are far superior in comparison." She answered.
"Oh, so what makes you stronger than normal humans?" I questioned curiously wondering what weird power she probably pulls from.
"From a young age, we train our body and mind to become one with the sword." She smiled.
"Oh?" I questioned a little shocked.
"My father began teaching us the way of the sword when I was aged eight and when my brother was five." She smiled.
"What was that like?" I questioned finding it a little unbelievable
"It was hard, we had to endure a lot, training was rigorous and unrelenting even to the point where we would collapse from exhaustion." She answered.
"Wow, that sounds horrible," I replied in shock.
"At first we didn't understand why, but as we grew up and more responsibility was put upon us, we grew to accept the way of life in the hopes to make the life and future of our nation safer and brighter." She answered her voice filled with deep honour and pride.
"So how did you meet Paul?" I wondered.
"Oh, luckily fate brought us together, I was dispatched to a nearby town, there were reports of murdered men with specific wounds that a certain high ranked Oni tends to leave. being a foreigner he didn't know that the nights are when Oni thrive. Being naturally strong he drew the attention of the high ranked Oni. To my surprise at first, he was able to handle himself, easily able to even keep up, read and react to the fight, but unlike us who have a special sword that destroys Demons he has nothing of the sort, so the Oni just keep regenerating itself and it's body parts till Paul slowly began to exhaust his power. I intervened after realising Paul couldn't win and with the both of us we overpowered the Oni swiftly allowing me to exorcise him." She smiled, "After that he offered to buy me a drink, he said it's a custom of his land to buy someone a meal or drink after saving their life. I agreed since I was interested to find out more about him and what other kinds of abilities he has in his arsenal. After a few drinks and a meal, I agreed to show him around and get to know him better. He was like a small child everywhere he would go he would be filled with excitement and awe. I distinctly remember he said it reminds him of a place called Japan." She answered.
"Oh really? wow, I would love to visit sometime." I smiled wondering what it must be like to visit and see with my eyes what a pre modernised Japan would be like. Then it dawned on me that if there were essential old earth cities and regions, does that mean I could possibly visit other places? "And that's when he agreed to help you defeat that Yami Oni?" I questioned curiously.
"Yes after I reported back to my brother and he reported to his superiors. They instructed me to bring Paul into our ranks to help defeat him. His capabilities would be essential in protecting and ultimately defeating most of the High ranking Oni and Yami himself." She answered, "To my surprise though he agreed even though there was no offer of reward or something, he just said, sure I'll be happy to help" She added with a small chuckle.
"Did you guys spend a lot of time together?" I wondered curiously, she was very beautiful, elegant and clearly very talented,
"Yes, we did, being his first contact, upper command instructed me to be his partner relaying orders and explaining to him how everything works." She answered.
"So what when he appeared you knew nothing of magic?" I questioned curiously.
"Not at all, as far as I knew the stuff he did was only seen in fiction and stories, I was so mesmerised when I first witnessed him, he was able to deflect attacks with a simple wave of his hand, utterly dissolve things into ash with a point of a finger. Even somehow flying and teleporting in an instant to gain positional advantage everything was just so amazing," She smiled in remembrance clearly still mesmerised by him.
"I would love to visit sometime," I smiled.
"Oh, it would be amazing to take you around, especially my own city, providing I find time off or a break in my duties and training." She smiled. "And I would also recommend hiring a tour guide from the Masashi Clan, we do pride ourselves on our excellence and best service." She smiled but it came off so odd like it was rehearsed and something she would very often repeat.
"Hi!" A pair of older looking Atlantis students greeted us with a jolly smile but for some odd reason, their voices were a little off but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
"Do you know them?" Masumi asked suddenly grabbing my arm to stop me her tone and body posture straightened to seriousness.
"Not really, but they are wearing Atlantis School Uniforms," I answered her.
In an instant, she pulled me back and took one lunge forward with her hand on her sword hilt, with a speed unperceivable to the naked eye she somehow decapitated both the students in an instant despite being over five meters away without even drawing her sword.
"What the hell!" I shouted at her as both the bodies slumped to the ground decapitated so quickly they couldn't even let out a cry for help or pain.
"Those aren't students." She answered which caused Kohana and Tadaaki to ready themselves with their fists.
Taking a second glance at the two bodies, they began letting off steam as they slowly dissolved into a weird brown goo. "Impressive you somehow spotted my clones that are indistinguishable from normal humans." A voice spoke out to us but have no clear location.
"Emilia, contact Paul now, tell him I'm sensing a huge increase in odours throughout the school suddenly, whatever is happening it's going down right now," Masumi ordered me
"Paul! Masumi sense a huge number of Demon activity!" I yelled out to him through my broach, but to my shock, there was no reply.
"Cute, you think that we were so unprepared?" The voice laughed at our attempt to thwart them.
"Kohana, Tadaaki send word to Paul right this instant, go as fast as you can!" She ordered them,
"Yes, Lady Masumi!" They nodded and within an instant, they both disappeared from sight. Masumi suddenly appeared again and again in flickers towards the direction we came from, her sword drawn and the appearance of several brown goo descending to the floor.
"Your abilities to see past my camouflaged attacks and my almost perfect clones are amazing, your prowess far surpasses the information we have gathered on you." It carried on speaking to us in a very confident demeanour.
Masumi continued staring in a direction her sword still drawn ready, "I don't see him." I communicated with her.
"I know, it seems invisible." She replied
"Let's make a deal, you give me Emilia and I'll let you and your two friends go." It made an offer to her, I stepped back a little in shock at how it even knew my name or why it even wanted me.
"And if I refuse?" She questioned loosening her grip on her sword.
"What will happen is inevitable, we have planned everything meticulously this is the culmination of months of delicate planning and manipulation." It laughed.
"What are your plans?" She questioned.
"We want Paul and or her, either will do." It answered its 's tone filled with such overconfidence there wasn't even a hint of doubt in its voice.
"Hmm, very well, I barely know her anyways," She agreed to my surprise making my jaw drop in shock drawing my wand as she sheathed her sword, my eyes darting all around me trying to use my enhanced perception to try and anticipate where the Demon was gonna come from.
Goo droplets began seeping out of the ground coalescing into one spot with each passing second as the goo began to bind together and grow a revolting smell of sewage and rot began to assault my nose to the point of making me vomit as a weird goo monster began to form along with two eyes and a weird mouth. Inside of it was plant and soil matter that seemed to be letting off bubbles like whatever was inside it was being dissolved by acid.