In the Palace dining hall:
"Oishī! Your chef's cooking is way better than Anns-ARGH!" A loud thump came from under the table as Ran could no longer feel anything in his groin. Ann was evidently wearing a pair of high heel boots today.
Aaron watched on in amusement as he continued eating his steak. "So… what would you have me do your majesty?" Ran ended up bringing up the subject first. "Well, I'll tell you when the time comes. For now, there's nothing that needs me to acquire the service of a young man such as yourself so... Oh, you're staying at the Academy right now, yes?" "That's right." Ran nodded. "Then you know about the beast horde coming up in two weeks right? The Academy has put a mandate for its entire populace to join in on the fight. That includes you, boy." The King looked at Ran and Ann inquisitively. Obviously expecting a satisfactory answer.
"Uh, what!?" Ran looked at Ann for an answer, but she just looked away while pouting; clearly still mad about what he said earlier. "What beast horde? We have those!?" Ran didn't even know what a beast horde was. He could understand that it is a horde of beasts (obviously), but he just didn't know they existed. "How could you have never heard of a beast horde!? It happens literally everywhere!" Aaron shouted. He was not amused by Rans "act" of stupidity.
Ran thought it was weird as well. "Your majesty, you have the wrong idea-" when the King heard "wrong" he furrowed his eyebrows but chose to continue listening, "I've just never seen one in the Holy city State before." The King then shifted his gaze to Ann questioningly.
"Yes, your Majesty. In fact, in all of its history, the Holy City State has never encountered a beast horde!" Ann said with a completely straight face. "Hmm." The King, Aaron, got back to eating his steak, but he talked no longer; presumably thinking about the information he had just received.
After a while, Aaron sighed and spoke, "sigh, that is most peculiar indeed. It is an unspoken rule that all the powers in the world battle each other once a year. You know, to get the best pickings, so to speak. It also keeps everyone in check. I suppose that the Holy City State was too... weak? After all, the only powerhouse there is only considered to be your father. No offense, but you guys aren't a threat at all with just one rank 4 power house. You guys aren't a power at all, but for the beasts in the desert to completely ignore you? Now the Kesh, just what are they thinking?" Evidently, the King has a lot on his mind these days.
After eating and talking with the King for a while longer, Ran found out the most important detail about the beast horde. The prize! The Academy had indeed made the mission mandatory, however, they couldn't just order a bunch of people around and expect them to follow obediently. Thus, a bait was needed! What was that bait, you ask?
It's actually a V.I.P pass for the Mystery Shack! What is the Mystery Shack? Oh it's nothing, really, except for being the biggest auction in all of written history! It's said that they existed since before the golden era. Do you even know how long ago that was!? The golden era ended over 5,000 years ago! Except for the most powerful powerhouses and their families, almost nothing had a lineage that extended that long.
With the world currently being in the yellow era, the Mystery Shack is probably one of the most powerful factions to have such a known presence. Even with Ran being sheltered in the State, he had heard of them. In fact, he had even seen them. As an auction house, they were practically in every major city of every faction. With their properties everywhere, they naturally had to have a representative for every auction house.
This included the Holy City State as well. Ran, as a child, still vividly remembered the face of the representative of the Mystery Shack. It was a very alluring woman who carried an aura of, wouldn't you know it, mysteriousness. Her allure didnt come from just her body, however, even though it was more than enough. Instead, it radiated from her very being and it would affect everyone within a 100 meter (over 300 feet) radius of her.
Now that Ran was reminiscing about her, her allure seemed to be slightly similar to that of the Giant Snakeheads pressure, though one came from the might of a fleshy body and the other came from… where? She was most definitely a powerhouse, so her body was probably hundreds of times stronger than the Snakehead, but the allure clearly didn't come from there; yet, they clearly affected the mind in similar-ish ways. Coupled with her mysterious aura and attitude, anyone who wanted to gain information about the Mystery Shack would not only end in failure, they would ultimately be shooting themselves in the foot. All in all, the might of this faction is, indeed, unparalleled.
***
Looking at the sky, Ran saw that the suns were already setting. The sky could be seen segmented into two parts. The north, northeast, and the northwest sides were a dull yellow color while the south, southeast, and southwest were a radiant orange of the sunset. The east and west sides were a gradient of the two. This was the world Ran lived in currently.
When the World Serpent was placed here, it coiled around the world in a messy spiral. During this time period, if one looked at their horizon, they would find what appeared to be a golden wall reflecting the light; causing the sky itself to be a radiant golden color. This was the Golden era. However, now, the sky appeared to be a dull color because the world… moves on. Over the course of ten thousand years, the earth began to surround the serpent with well… earth. The dirt grew trees and plants which die and become more earth and the cycle repeats. If one looked at the horizon now, they would see chains of yellow mountains teeming with greenery. In Rans mind, the same chain of mountains that he's seen all his life appeared in the distant horizon.
However, Ran wasn't concerned about any of these details; it's just me, the author, building the world around him without his knowledge! Ran, you best prepare yourself, you can't hide your darkest secrets from me, I was the one who created them after all!, muahaha! Cough, sorry about that.
After leaving the King's Palace, Ran and gang stumbled themselves through the business district on their way back to the Academy, when they heard a thump. It was coming from a house nearby. More accurately, its courtyard. While it can be considered as rude to "investigate", Ran couldn't help himself-he's definitely going to die one day because of his curiosity… sigh. Curiosity did kill the cat, who's cat though, that's the real question.
Looking through the gates conveniently placed rails, he found a somewhat familiar face.
"Oi! Queenie!" In the courtyard, Queenie was currently practicing on a dummy with a wooden rapier. Stab. BOOM! Queenie accidentally slipped and the force behind her attack doubled, causing the human sized dummy to suddenly explode into a sandy dust cloud. Clearly, she was holding back her power for training. "Cough, cough, not appreciated."
Queenie looked to the source that caused her to slip and she felt a chill run down her back. A hooded, obscure, man was slowly waving at her. She could even, by the grace of God, somehow make out a grin underneath that black mist! CREEPY!
Immediately, she summoned her rapier fetal organ and said in a shaky voice, "who are you!?" Evidently, she didn't recognize his voice and since he ran ahead of the others, she didn't see them either. Queenie was always a rather cold person, however this scene had thoroughly traumatized her to the point where she can't even act cold!
"Ah? Oh right." Seeing her freaked out, he finally realized the problem. He felt extremely remorseful and sorry for her now. Looking at her, her body was shivering and her teeth would sometimes chatter. She clearly was just acting cold and it isn't her true nature. She was just a girl after all. One that had beat his a** in one encounter!
Taking off the hood, he looked at her… no response. Her face had a blank expression. Oh s**t! We broke her! F**k, I guess I made Ran too handsome. Well, no turning back now. But wait… what's this?
"Ah. Who are you?" And the situation just got awkward. How could you not recognize the almighty Ran!? He's the chosen one! THE CHOSEN ONE GOD DAMNIT!!! I made him! And you dare say you don't recognize him? Don't make me erase you from this story… pui. I'll f**kin do it! I'm crazy like that.
***
"Ah, right, right, you were the guy he sent out to the mountain range. Now I see. You're pretty late. And I don't appreciate you "trespassing" on my house." Queenie looked at the now hooded Ran and the rest with a scornful expression. They had seen her in a vulnerable state. She must get back at them! She must get back at Ran.
Smiling wryly, she said, "say, now that your back, why don't we duel? After all, Lanx said you had to be my equal in swordsmanship by the time you came back and you just got here. While you're a month late, I don't think he'll mind much. Plus, you destroyed my dummy." At this point, she couldn't stop her laughter and hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand.
"You ready?" Getting into a battle ready stance, she looked at Ran inquisitively. "Su-sure." Ran, on the other hand, was not prepared at all. Well, he did cause her dummy to explode earlier so I guess it's fair. And I have to duel her anyway, so it's better to do it now. Thought Ran. He smiled awkwardly as he also summoned his sword and also took a stance, though it was not nearly as elegant and refined as Queenies.
He held his sword in his left hand and put his right hand behind his back. He twirled his sword in circles as it made whoosh and swish noises.
His sword seemed to have grown a bit more as he grew stronger in the cave. Its handle (by itself) was fully capable of having three very stocky hands upon them. The guard, for what it's worth, is the size of a single handed handle. Just the hilt of the sword is actually bigger than the blade itself! The chiseled, toothed, blade was actually only a little bit less than half the length of the handle. Let's not even consider the matter of balance and center of percussion with such folly as it would only confuse our minds with bulls**t! But can you even consider that a sword!? It might as well be a staff with a blade at the end, a bladed staff. It could be a polearm as well. Just make up your mind author, I'm sick of your games!
Ah, I have to say, although my impression of Queenie has dropped significantly because of what she said, she most certainly makes for a good plot device! Ah so that's why you gave her a name, Author-San, such foresight is definitely unmatched! Aw, you guys are too much, you're making me blush… just… pretend you didn't read that.
At this moment, though, Queenie gawked (I mean really gawked) at Ran like she was fish out of water. That's because he seemed to have changed… slightly. One has to know that a goofball can be some of the hardest people to change their nature. Something must have happened. She thought. Though the change was minute, in part because they were going to fight, it was enough to impart a second glance on Ran from Queenie. Even Bob, and Ann especially, noticed the slight change in both stature and aura coming from him.
Of course, a "slight" change isn't enough to warrant a closer examination, but, this was Ran we're talking about here! The number one goofball!
This slight change was actually just a change of… scenery! One would think that a goofball would be in their own world, being silly and not having a care for anything. Except that happened here as well! Ran was smiling in such a silly way that both Ann and Bob were smiling too. Queenie was also affected and literally could not take him seriously as a person. But if it was only that, then it would be perfectly normal, which is not what is happening here.
Looking at him again, one would find that he's extremely… giddy! No he's definitely giddy as he's always like that, but that's not what you're looking for. look closer. Look deeper. Come on, you're not going deep enough. Deeper! DEEPER!
Ah, you found it. He's... calm.
Calm? Calm!? All that hype and s**t, just so you could say "calm"; I hear you, the readers, saying. But just hear me out, okay? Okay.
Okay, well he's a giddy person, okay. And he's calm, I see. Is he both at the same time? Well, it's a bit strange, but definitely in the realm of possibility and is fairly normal. After all, he's about to have a duel. Even a stupid person would take even a duel seriously.
But that's just it. Queenies taking this "seriously" like I said a second ago. But Rans not! Being serious and being calm dont always mean the same thing. And it's not that Ran is confident in himself and thus is calm; like he already won.
Well since he's a giddy person, he's easily excitable and often loses focus on things because of it, sometimes to the point of "disorientation". Like how he heard something and immediately ran to it for no apparent or reasonable explanation. That's just who he is. But he's also calm which means that he is also lacking emotions or at least having no noticeable feeling that actively affects the way he thinks.
At first glance, they might seem like polar opposites of each other. One is an extreme emotion that is always affecting your mind, while the other is preventing emotions from affecting your mind. Now what if I told you that, in actual fact, these two words and the meanings and feelings ascribed to them are actually one and the same!
If you read in between the lines a little (a lot), you would find something that they both have in common and that is what allows me to write so much bulls**t just to get to a single point. And that commonality goes by the word of mind. More specifically, the effect the two emotions put on the mind.
Think about it. They both affect the mind. Okay. They both affect the mind in the same way. Meaning that they drive other existing emotions and feelings, leaving only one singular state of mind (let's just leave out the fact that he's feeling giddy and calm at the same time which makes my explanation of the both of them quite… neutered). The way in which they reach this result, however, is what differentiates them apart from each other. They're just like identical twins that just so happened to like different brands of clothing and became two different people on the outside while being exactly the same on the inside. In what way are they not the same!?!
But this is just the start. The real question is, if he is naturally giddy, then where did being calm come from?
Scenery. If one looked closely, one could almost see a painting. A young man was sitting under a Sakura tree and had a look of extreme happiness. His grin was so wide it pushed his cheeks upwards, covering a good portion of his eyes. It seemed so dopey that it seemed like he was on drugs and was incoherent about anything and everything all at once. But in fact, being under this tree, Ran never felt more carefree in his life.
Leaning on the tree, he tapped his shoes together like a little kid when suddenly a petal drifted downwards from the tree. The petal of the Sakura flower continued drifting until it found its home on the tip of Rans nose. It balanced itself there and would sometimes swivel about, but it never tipped over. Ran, at first, wanted to sneeze, but that feeling left quickly. What replaced it was a feeling of familiarity. It felt like the petal was a part of him and him, a part of it. He quite enjoyed this feeling and soon burst into a hearty laughter so loud and silly, it seemed to echo out from illusion and into reality; affecting everyone around him yet again! It wasn't even real, but it affected everyone!? Wow, author, you sure have a way with words.
Of course, no one could see this because it truly wasn't real. Instead, it radiated from Rans very being.. It was like the aura surrounding him was laughing along with him and even the air around him seemed eager to join in on the fun. He truly is just a big ol' goofball.
Throughout his bout of laughter (in the ilusion), the petal still, against all odds, managed to stay balanced on his nose. Breathing in and out, he calmed himself before the grin reappeared, but something happened again. This time, a breeze appeared and lightly "caressed" his face. He was simply on cloud nine after knowing that even the tree, petal and wind all wanted to be friends with him. He was about to laugh joyfully again when the wind left and took the petal along with it. Ran wasn't sad they left. He was with them! He felt himself as the petal and just followed along with the wind with a calm expression. He didn't have to worry about which direction to go in or how to stop or start it or even how fast he was going. It felt almost like leaning on a chair while sunbathing and having an ice cold drink in your hand. Not a care in the world! He bursted back into a cackle as he enjoyed such feelings.
This is it! This the point I was trying to make! The essence!
Boom! With the tap of her feet, Queenie disappeared from her position and appeared only a meter from Ran before violently thrusting outwards towards his chest. With one hand behind his back, he loosely leveraged his sword and immediately caught her rapier within its rounded teeth. He twisted his wrist and successfully trapped her rapier. He then pulled on his sword and with it, the rapier and Queenie.
At that moment, she felt something. Well, three things. One, she felt her energy being sapped into the sword; two, a light tug (different from his pulling) on her rapier happened at the moment of contact. She surmised, correctly, that this was its ability. But this wasn't what surprised her the most. With her speed and thrusting motion, her momentum, for her rank, was simply stupendous. However, he moved his sword, caught it, trapped it, and pulled in one smooth motion. When he pulled on his sword, he didn't simply just pull on the rapier and Queenie too. No. He pulled on her momentum too. This was three.
This was after all, the only thing this guy trained! Those last two weeks were hurtful with his training, but also extremely fruitful. He didn't train on any other movements and focused solely on this one move. Everything afterward would just come naturally. After all, he was very ambitious. Using someone else's momentum to use against them is truly ambitious. Gaining your own momentum via someone else isn't rare and is actually common, but directly stealing their momentum… like a petal in the wind, he just followed along for the ride. And then stole that ride, yee haw!
One has to know that because of the loss of momentum, they have to start it up again. Basically most swordsmen won't be able to reach their peak before getting shut off, over and over, and over again! Such a thing would be unbearable to them and thus, Ran can be considered to be the bane of all swordsmen (or women)! Especially a thrust oriented sword like the rapier! Queenie had truly drawn the short stick on this one. Yeah that's right, beat her! Make her understand the power of the chosen one!
With no momentum, she was forced to follow along with this dance. Letting go of her rapier, Queenie kept stumbling in the same direction before she saw the spine of Rans sword shoot down on her shoulder. Before he struck her shoulder, she had already disappeared. If there was one way to beat this move, it was to be fast so it couldn't catch you.
Ran, however, did not stop moving. He struck air, but he continued moving the sword down until he twirled it into circles. His twirling was just a normal twirl, with no profound or intricate movements, but that wasn't enough to hold the momentum. Instead, as he twirled his sword in circles, his body would follow his blade. With the momentum intact, the sword continuously tried to fly out of his hand in tangents along its circle, but instead of fighting against it, he just… followed along. To others, the whole scene appears to be like a pendulum was suddenly snipped from its center and went spiralling out of control.
Except this abstract movement also allows the bearer some immunity as the attacker would have trouble landing accurate hits in such a situation. Queenie, in this regard however, is exceptional.
Swish. Queenie revealed herself as she prepared to attack again, but as soon as she started, that damnable sword had already appeared before her eyes again. Did he know where I would appear? She thought. She was extremely surprised by this turn of events. She didn't think he would be able to catch up in a mere three months! She had been training with the rapier for most of her life after all. "But he would be a fool if he thinks this is all I got!" She shouted in her mind as she disappeared.
Boom swish. Boom swish. Encounter after encounter, counter after counter, Ann was astounded by the scene in front of her. With her power, she could see everything as clear as day. At first, Ran might appear to be some sort of expert that is easily countering Queenie, but only she knew the truth. This goofball didn't even know what he was doing! She had to say she was proud of him because he knew two things and just those two allowed him to basically dominate Queenie so far. One, his swords catching and trapping movement, and two, the accurate prediction of where she would appear next. But apart from that, it seemed like he was just spinning like a little kid going around a pole. His attacks were the most mediocre piece of garbage she had ever seen, yet it still somehow works. His movements were even worse as it seemed like he was drunk and might slip from his own foot and fall to the ground.
This surprised her very much because he was weaker and slower than her, as well as not nearly as refined in his movements, but he fought evenly against her… for now.
And with his hood on, both Ann and Queenie were unable to judge how he was able to extrapolate her movements. For Ran, however, it was an extremely simple matter. His nose! For some reason, his Koi fish bloodline had increased all his senses to inhuman degrees, especially so for his scent. In fact, if absolutely necessary, he would be able to "see" with his scent.
With his eyes closed, he Inhaled and a spicy aroma assaulted his nose. Extremely spicy! It smelled like orange chicken but it was dusted with powdered Carolina reapers. But his nose failed to notice one thing. He loved spicy food! Acting exactly like Ann, his nose became a vacuum against its own will and the smell infiltrated and continued to dance it's way across his whole body. His body shivered slightly in reaction as his brain sent out various signals. Dopamine was created and sent out into his body as he reveled in the scent. He was suddenly feeling very hungry! But he didn't let him distract him, though he secretly inhaled more often and with more vigor; causing a change in his rhythm.
Even with his eyes closed, the world was still visible to him. All around him, a faint red mist surrounded the area. It wasn't like the blood mist, no this was the scent he just smelled a second ago. However, a blob of thick red mist flashed about the courtyard. This was Queenie, otherwise known as the source of this divine smell! This was how he was able to track her.
Oh, thank gosh, I almost thought that this forbidden bloodline would only be useful for smelling food and bursting people's hearts into a million pieces! This-this-thing killed Rans heart! No matter what, I won't forgive it. Oh wait… I was the one who wrote that, f**k!