"She always gets everything..", thought Eimi about Shizune while she stalked her opponent, Renji. "How annoying.. thinking about this stuff while trying to finish a job."
The feud between Eimi and her twin stemmed very deep from the core of her consciousness that it usually was the very thing keeping her brain from being idle. There was never a single day in her life when Shizune did not visit her thoughts.
"Halt!..", the referee supervising the five year old Takenori twin's "Kumite" announced when Shizune brought Eimi to the ground. "The winner.. Shizune ojou-sama."
Eimi shoved her twin aside and stood up to rush towards their father who was watching. "Otou-sama! One more round.. I'll win for sure!"
The masked Oniwabanshu, Takenori Mirio, smiled endearingly at her young daughter with his eyes. "Now, now.. it is agreed whoever wins this 'kumite' gets the kunoichi doll.."
"But I was the one who requested that doll! I wanted it more..", pleaded Eimi as tears began to well in her eyes. "Please.. otou-sama.."
Everything her sister had, Eimi wanted it badly. And it was no denying she even desired more than what her sibling possessed. However, her hatred for Shizune was always only a mask deceiving their peers of what the real story is.
"You can have it if you really want it, Eimi..", said Shizune as she offered the doll to her sulking sister the night after their sparring match.
Even if her elder twin willingly gave up her new toy with a bright smile, Eimi just carried on pouting in the corner of their room. "No.. you won it fair and square, onee-chan. Keep it."
But Shizune never gave up and sat beside her sibling while wrapping an arm around. "Well.. it's mine now.. but I decided we can share it every other day. How's that sound?"
A faint smirk began to form on Eimi's small and puffy face. "Okay.."
Something along the lines of healthy and unhealthy, one could say it was just really some kind of competition, but it was all only in Eimi's mind. Her envy for Shizune simply made everyone believe they had a rivalry going on. Therefore, it created a perfect situation of pretending she had everything her twin had, and that, it was only a matter of time before she surpasses her.
"Konnichi wa, Eimi-chan!..", the boy who Eimi liked greeted her as soon as she opened the door to their house. "How are you?"
Middle school Eimi blushed immediately the moment she saw her crush's face smiling at her. "Mo.. Morisaki-kun! W-what are you doing here?"
"Oh.. I'm just here to pick Shizune-chan up..", replied Renji to Eimi's dismay. He peered through the interior of the house as if searching for something. "Is she here?"
Eimi slammed the door with a blank face, which shocked Renji out of his sanity. However, she did not entirely abandon him there and called for her sister. "Ugh.. Wait there outside. I'll call her."
"Come out, come out wherever you are!..", yelled Renji as he carefully searched for the twins around the ruined concert grounds, bringing Eimi back to the present.
"Tsk.. really, onee-chan? What terrible taste..", sneered Eimi in her thoughts while hiding behind a huge boulder. "Why did she have to pick a man who cannot distinguish the better of two choices?"
As Renji moved towards a distance, Eimi placed a spherical object in front of her with an incantation text written above it. She lit the fuse after that and held her hands in a "Download gesture".
"Download Gekitai Suru no Jumon (Ward Spell) Seven..", chanted Eimi right before the fuse ran out. "Shoukan (Summon)."
The moment Eimi changed her gesture to holding two fingers near her chest as a form of ninjutsu, the ancient text on Renji's leg lit up once more and exploded in a flash bomb.
"Aahh! Again?!..", yelped Renji as he flipped backwards due to the impact. He covered his temporarily blinded eyes while he grimaced in pain. "You annoying little pest! Show yourself!"
Right after that, Eimi quickly rushed towards Renji and pinned him down. While Renji struggled to break free, she began searching for the ward infused concert ticket all over his armor. "How did a stupid oaf like you catch my sister's attention? You can't even determine where the explosions are coming from."
"What the hell are you talking about, you cultist?!..", exclaimed Renji while still struggling to get out of Eimi's grapple hold, but being blinded confused him even more and prevented him from counterattacking.
Annoyed, Eimi slammed her opponent's head towards the ground. "Oh, shut up!"
The fight between the two seemed like a lopsided match in favor of the young Kunoichi. It would have been the case if taking Renji's life was allowed. However, Eimi's objective was to dispel the cult's ward by disposing of the ticket. And the constant struggling, not to mention the thick knight's armor on Renji, only made things more complicated and difficult for her.
Suddenly, Renji pushed off the ground with an arm and used the other to knock Eimi over. He was beginning to gain the upper hand.
Luckily for Eimi, she was able to hide at once quietly. "Not good.. he's starting to regain his vision."
Renji pulled himself up groggily while his vision began to clear up. He picked his sword and shield up and proceeded to look for Eimi again. Glancing quickly towards random directions every now and then, he moved more carefully than before.
"Seems like he hasn't figured it out..", thought Eimi as she watched hidden behind a rock. "If only I could use a real bomb.. it would've been over already."
Eimi quietly changed her position. She followed Renji, cautiously not letting her opponent detect her. Silently, she kept herself within striking distance.
"Seems like I'm going to have to chip that huge HP of his away with flash bombs instead until he falls down unconscious..", pondered Eimi in her thoughts as she prepared another summoning.
Even if the young Kunoichi kept herself stealthily at all times, her bombs were never left unnoticed. The explosions she caused boomed throughout the grounds as if the fireworks show set for later were lit up prematurely. Every single time the flash bombs erupted, many of the combatants around had to pause for a second look.
"Sounds like they're having fun back there..", commented Jax while cocking his huge weapon back for another attack.
"Keep your eyes on me..", replied Seijurou while he raised his shield in anticipation. "I might just hit you."
Jax rushed at his illusory enemy with a full swing. He continued to deal consecutive hits but only hitting steel. "You're all talk.. stop blocking, and hit me already!"
"You sure? You'll regret it..", shot Seijurou back with continuous parries from him as he contemplated on releasing his reckless fire magic. However, he desperately held it back due to Satsuki's favor of not hurting Jax to the point of no return. Instead, he dealt Jax with a shield bash enough to make the "Berserker build" stagger momentarily.
Jax recollected himself and raised his axe after being literally stunned for a second. "That usually comes with an attack.. why are you hesitating?"
Seijurou thought Jax was on point. A bash is usually followed by a slash or a stab for "sword and board builds", but he did not have a weapon. He had his combustible flames instead, however it would be of great risk to use it with many of his classmates and innocents around. His "fire cloak spell" was another option, but he has not mastered it yet and drains him dry of both MPs and SPs quickly. Reserving his trump card as a last resort was the most logical thing to do against a monster like Jax.
"And telling him I can't make a hit due to bad aim and terrible offensive skills is stupid..", thought Seijurou as his opponent carried on releasing a barrage of axe chops and cleaves. "Bashing to gradually chip away that large health pool of his will take forever.. so that's out of the question."
All of a sudden a strong cleaving attack from Jax caught the edge of the Shield of Athena, knocking it away from Seijurou's grip. Consequently, the base of the two handed battleaxe hit his chin, making him twist midair and eventually fall to the ground. Fortunately, he was still conscious enough to roll out of the way of a decapitating smash. He spun to a few paces back to recover his stance after that.
"I almost forgot he was this skilled..", thought Seijurou while anticipating another attack. But Jax simply held his position and shot him a smug look.
Jax snickered as he lowered his axe a little. "Looks like you can't hide behind your little shield anymore."
Seijurou took a familiar looking vial from his pocket and drank from it. He gave his opponent a taunting look right after. "But you just made me a little faster.."
"Oh yeah?..", responded Jax as he raised his weapon once more for another offensive. "Then let's put that to the test."
With many children raising arms against each other throughout the center of a relatively humble town like Shizuoka, a sensible person would normally think that this was a scene taken from the pages of hell. However, if seen through the eyes of the many present, the situation called for desperate measures obviously. One of whom was already in dire circumstances.
Not far from where Jax and Seijurou fought, the constant friction of steel on steel and steel on earth relentlessly caused sparks as if it were a smith's hammer hitting the anvil, lighting up the dark due to the mist like dust from the rubble. Saiki helplessly tried to hold his own against his behemoth of an opponent by using both his ninjato and earth magic.
Learning from his teammate's demise, Saiki parried all the claymore attacks his blade's integrity could take and evaded those his quickness could avoid. But he was hardly doing any damage, and he was running out of stamina points as well.
Swing after swing, cleaving and stabbing, Nagato never cared for defensive countermeasures. His armor was enough to soften the damage dealt by Saiki's sword. The aura he casted around him earlier was also enough to regenerate both his stamina and health that it seemed he never lost a single point of them.
"This is bad. I won't beat him without injuring him..", thought Saiki while bending backwards to avoid a horizontal strike from his opponent's claymore. "He's just too big and strong."
Right after he let his massive sword follow through, Nagato kicked Saiki through the gut, flinging his opponent a few yards in front of him. He immediately rushed towards the opening with his claymore over head.
Saiki immediately rolled to the side to a lateral squat position to evade the young Paladin's downward strike. He placed his palm flat on the ground and held two fingers up close to his chest with the other. "Ninpo.. Doro Kabe (Mud Wall).."
A wall of hardening soil erupted between Saiki and Nagato. Contrary to his earlier spells, Saiki was able to pull off a more advanced type of magic with his ninjutsu, preventing his gargantuan classmate to smash through. It gave him time to recover and rethink his strategy, at the cost of more MPs and SPs however.
"Hiding is pointless. That aura can detect nearby lifeforms..", said Saiki in his thoughts as he showed himself to his enemy, readying for another counterattack. "I'm out of options.. I'm sorry, Aokishi.."
This time, it was Saiki who dashed forward to take the offensive first. Almost instantly, Nagato blocked the ninja's swift slice with his two handed greatsword. But the massive warrior was oblivious to his opponent's advantage, agility. With one quick spin, Saiki struck the back of Nagato's thigh, which was barely covered by plated steel. Cutting through few tendons brought the young Paladin down to a knee.
"I'm really sorry.. I promise we'll heal that later..", said Saiki as he turned to Nagato. Not letting time slip away, he quickly worked on the presented opportunity.
Striking metal shocked Saiki to the point where he was suddenly floored. It all happen too fast that it barely registered to him. His ninjato shattered into pieces when Nagato swung his arms towards him. At the same time, the enormous fist of his opponent hit his chin. With an attack backfired, he found himself lying on the ground a few yards away from Nagato.
"What thick steel.. it broke my sword..", whispered Saiki as his blurry vision slowly recovered to see the tip of a golden claymore gradually approaching his head. "I never stood a chance in the first place.."
Nagato was standing over his opponent, gripping underhandedly his weapon with two hands to prepare for a deep thrust. "Any last words?"
The moment Saiki closed his eyes and smirked at his impending end, he was suddenly flying again. However this time, he was being carried by someone. He opened his eyes in a confused daze. "Is this how I'm supposed to be brought to the afterlife? It's a bit fast.."
"No.. you're not dead..", a familiar voice said while the blur in the surroundings continued due to their speed. "And prepare for a rough landing.. as I thought, I'm not ready for Jax-sama's 'Berserker Break'."
"Mizunoto?!..", said Saiki in surprise right before Gin and him crashed about forty yards away from where he originally was.
As Nagato began his pursuit, another towering figure appeared before him. He was a little shorter than the "Paladin build", but he also wielded a two handed weapon, a warhammer.
"Oi, Aokishi!..", called Keigo with a serious look on his face. "Why don't you pick someone your own size, eh?"
"I am against violence for it is not the Almighty's will..", answered Nagato as he drew his claymore in front. "However, the fact that you know of my name is disturbing.. let's do this, cultist."
An explosion of energy came right after the two handed warriors clashed into a clinch. Neither one was able to land a clean blow as if their attacks canceled each other out with a block. As soon as they pushed each other out, Keigo spun for a full hammer swing, which was immediately avoided by Nagato with a step backwards. Capitalizing on the opening, Nagato dashed forward for a two handed thrust. Keigo met it with an upward swing this time. It was followed by Nagato's downward slice consequently, but was parried with Keigo's horizontal cleave.
The battle between the two leviathans went on with neither yielding ground. Leaving all defenses aside, they blocked each other out with powerful attacks. Until eventually, they got themselves into a clinch again. It was a fight of who lasted longer.
"Dammit! He's even bigger and stronger than Jax-sama..", thought Keigo as he grappled his opponent with his massive weapon. "Good thing he isn't as skilled.. but that aura's regenerating his stamina. What a pain in the ass.."
The contest of strength momentarily ended when Nagato pushed Keigo back a few paces. Yielding a little distance meant Keigo was gradually losing the battle. With Nagato's increased stamina regeneration, it was only a matter of time before they reached the duel's conclusion. However, a strong gush of wind suddenly interrupted the fight, catching both in surprise.
But it was not some sort of gale force that passed through. It was a smiling Satsuki standing between the two huge boys. "Igaraki-kun.. tend to the wounded. I'll take this one."
With a blank expression, Keigo sighed disappointingly. "But I was having fun, Satsuki-chan.."
"We don't have time to play around..", answered Satsuki with more serious resolve this time. She raised her katana afterwards. "Now go.."
Unable to argue due to the immense difference in ability, Keigo dispiritedly looked down and turned around to begin searching for their injured classmates. He first saw the unconscious Shoutou and carried him to safety. But before he could leave, Nagato broke into a mad dash to attack him again.
Satsuki tripped the behemoth with her foot and giggled. "Oops.. sorry! Does it hurt? I couldn't find another way to get your attention.. so yeah, I'm your opponent now, you know."
Instead of standing back up right away, Nagato crawled back in fear before Satsuki. He was only half trying to attack Keigo when he ran earlier. In truth, half of it was escaping from the overwhelming presence of the Heiress. As a build under the warrior class, he could at least perceive an overview of his opponent's power levels without relying on a "console command". And with just getting a glimpse of Satsuki, he already knew she was a cut above the rest.
"What're you doing, Aokishi-kun?..", asked Satsuki in a deceivingly innocent manner, although she most probably was truly and sincerely confused. "Stand up and fight properly.."
Nagato stood up carefully with cold sweat beginning to break from all over his body. He raised his sword reluctantly and prepared for an attack. "If that's what you say.. I shall try my best to meet my end with dignity."
"Eh?..", bewildered, Satsuki just let off a confused response as Nagato's full claymore swing almost grazed her. She just simply bent backwards to evade it unconsciously.
More attacks from Nagato came from different directions. Compared to his two earlier duels with his classmates, his fight with Satsuki was more desperate. His strikes were more powerful, his slashes were faster, and his movements were more precise. In short, he was giving his all. Doing all this might have ended the fight quickly against Saiki and Keigo. However, Satsuki remained in her initial position and never yielded a single yard of ground.
"She's fast.. too fast..", thought Nagato while continuing his merciless barrage. "She's just there dodging everything.. I can't even push her back."
After tireless moments of continuous offensives, Nagato stopped and took a step back. He cocked his sword back into a two handed stab position and began a unique incantation. "Buki no Jutsu (Weapon Art).. Seinaru no Tsuku (Holy Thrust)!"
Golden light erupted to a swirl around Nagato before he thrust his claymore forward with all his might. It seemed he was finally going to hit Satsuki when all the bright energy exploded into a blinding white.
To his surprise when the effects of the flash cleared out of his vision, Satsuki was standing on his claymore. He stared silently in disbelief as he maintained the end position of the thrusting pose.
Satsuki smiled endearingly at her gigantic opponent like it was child's play. "You actually made me give the ground up.. sugoi, Aokishi-kun! You're really strong!"
But those words meant nothing to Nagato as he watched helplessly his miniscule but incredibly skilled enemy make a front flip over him and knock him unconscious by hitting him on the nape with the hilt of her katana. The fight was over at their end.
However, the battle in the west side of the dome continued to heat up. From the very beginning of the conflict, Seijurou and Jax had been exchanging blows. The former could not even remember the last time he took a breather. And the worst part was the fight seemed like it was going the distance. The first one to drain all SPs loses.
Seijurou caught his opponent's axe in between a cross armguard block and kept the clinch for a little breather. "Still have more left? Looks like you're tired."
Jax laughed as he pushed Seijurou downward with his battleaxe. "You're pretty 'tanky' yourself.. but fast!"
"It's the armor.. grants me extra health too..", said Seijurou while pushing out of Jax's weapon grapple. "And the potion earlier.. increased my strength to carry all this metal.. making me faster.. don't know why I'm saying all this to you.."
"Hah! You're funny.. I like you..", said Jax in between some chuckles while he tried to pin Seijurou down.
"I'm not trying to make you laugh.. I'm distracting you so I could rest a little..", thought Seijurou this time with a blank face. "But I still prefer this version of this moron.."
Without warning, something caused Seijurou and Jax to break the clinch. Jax pushed out and took a step back while Seijurou rolled sideward to a stand. The two stared in surprise at the little object that pierced through the ground between them. It was an arrow.
Judging by the angle of the arrow in relation to the ground, Seijurou and Jax were able to deduct the trajectory of it before it landed. It came from above the dome. As soon as they both looked up, their gazes were met by the eye of an aiming brown haired ranger.
A sense of dread shrouded Seijurou's thoughts as he stared wide eyed at the girl. "Chi.. Chizuru..?"
Translation Notes:
Kumite – an essential hand to hand sparring training for the ninja of Jihon.
Konnichi wa – an informal way of greeting or saying "hello".
Tanky – a term used for builds having large amounts of HP and/or protective gear.
Monogatari Concepts:
Order of the Almighty – the most prominent sect of the religion worshipping the Elder Four and the Revered Seven. It branched out from the faith for as long as anyone can remember. Primarily praising the head of the said religion's pantheon, the Almighty, it is also the most powerful church of the known world.
Originally an order of knights, the Order of the Almighty is presently headed by priests and priestesses. Its knightly origins is still present through the existence of Paladins, knights who are well versed with the Holy Arts.
Character Description:
Aokishi Nagato – speaking of Paladins, here's one. His classmates hail him as the official gentle giant of class 2022. He's literally easy to spot in the middle of a crowd. He's also very distinguishable in battle due to his glowing Holy Arts. Well, it's just really because he's enormous. However, even with his sheer size and strength, he's very kindhearted and soft spoken, gentle indeed. How he was raised is strongly adherent with the values taught in church, which eventually led him in choosing his build, a Paladin.
Nagato avoids violent conflict as much as possible due to his core values. However when push comes to shove, he's considered as one of the most formidable warriors in class. His strength is enough to be a one man wrecking machine, although he tends to be apologetic whenever he deals damage. Not really one of the smarter ones in class, his grades are pulled up by his practicals.
When not in holy armor or school uniform, I personally see him as a lumberjack kind of guy since it hasn't been told in the story how he dresses. A simple shirt, cargo shorts, and some trekking shoes would usually come to mind. He stands at an astounding 201cm and weighs in at a staggering 100kg, easily the largest person in the group. I purposely created this character for epic battles to come. It just doesn't sound right for a fantasy novel not to have a big dude around. His favorite thing in the world is nature appreciation (expect to see this guy mentioning things about flora and fauna).