Underneath the forest of Motsureta, a subterranean base laid beneath, harboring copious amounts of narrow hallways and rooms. In one of the rooms, at the end of a dark and desolate hallway, two people could be vaguely seen.
"It'd be quite an understatement to say that I'm appalled," A voice could be heard, radiating all throughout the hollow room. The hoarse tone indicated that the owner of the voice was a man of older age, perhaps ranging from their late sixties—potentially even seventies. "it really is quite interesting, Yuso."
The familiar sight of a male with crimson-red hair rested against a solid, stone table, his eyes closed as his kimono was open. Above Yuso was the man who was constantly referred to as 'Master' by Yuso, seemingly holding a higher rank than the demonic-eyed male. Yuso's master had his right hand placed atop Yuso's chest. Within the arm, magic was flowing to the palm, seeping into Yuso at a steady pace. As the process progressed, the redhead could feel as the foreign source of power triggered his nerves, mentally characterizing the sensation as numbness spreading across his body.
"Do you have anything to report, Master?" Yuso asked, keeping his eyes shut with his body still placed atop the stone table. It wouldn't be beneficial to interrupt Master as he was being generous enough to make an observation on Yuso's physical status. Ever since he failed at retrieving their target, their piece for a seemingly ulterior motive, Yuso has remained inside the subterranean base, which happens to be where his master resides as well.
"Well, other than your sudden hair growth—I am astounded at the surge of power I am feeling from within you," Master said in a surprised tone, his eyebrows crinkling as he hadn't ceased his analysis. "It's almost as if your power has doubled…" The gradual decrease in volume in Master's voice was certainly something to go off of to decipher this occurrence's significance.
"How odd," Yuso added, feeling as the numb feeling slowly dissipated as Master removed his hand from the redhead's chest. Yuso then raised his upper body to sit up-right, looking over to the older man in the white kimono. "I presume that it won't be a problem?"
Master shook his head and said, "No, not at all. In fact, we may find it to be beneficial." The older man trailed off once more, folding his arms into his long sleeves that hung off of his skinny arms. "...Can you recollect any moments that could've potentially triggered this type of outcome, Yuso?"
Yuso locked eyes with Master, contemplating on how to respond. It was all so blurry after a certain point. But the memory was certainly there—albeit very faint.
—Flashback—
Returning back to the battle in Ryakudatsu, Yuso was holding off a wall of fire that was launched at him by one of the unknown rogues that he had encountered early on. He had reached his limit, having created his limit of ten powerful pentagrams, he was practically vulnerable.
Yuso's demonic eyes watched as the unknown rogue with red sideburns grasped onto his target, smiling and waving at him as if to taunt him. How imprudent.
As if his emotions were building off of his earlier vexing emotions, he began to feel rage. It was a foreign emotion to the normally stoic and monotone Yuso. But, the anger was extremely prominent, blinding Yuso momentarily.
For the first time, Yuso scowled as he forced himself forward. Yuso's palms began to glow even brighter as his eyes rotated even faster. His Shirugeto was getting out of control. "No, you don't!"
Suddenly, multiple pentagrams appeared all around the area, all pointing at the fire. Shortly after, stone spikes shot out of each pentagram at blazing speeds, and all were directed at the fire. However, before any spike could reach the fire, Imawashiki and Mizuki had dissipated into nothingness.
He failed. How disgraceful.
—Flashback End—
Yuso broke eye contact with Master, coming back to reality. "I let myself succumb to inconsequential emotion." It was brief, but it was also the truth.
Master batted an eyebrow at Yuso's words. "Really, now?" The further this conversation progressed, the more interesting it becomes—to Master, at least. This also brings up another thing of importance, specifically for Master.
—Flashback—
Before Yuso departed for Ryakudatsu, the redhead and Master stood before the map that they used to coordinate their next mission of hunting down their piece.
As they were discussing how they were going to proceed with the plan, Master was observant about one thing. Yuso's actions.
"Understood. But what I don't understand is why you marked different villages?" Yuso questioned once more, tilting his head ever so slightly. Attempting to get a read on his supposed 'Master'.
'He's becoming more and more interrogative towards me. I might have to fix that.' The elder mentally noted vexatiously, sighing afterward.
That wasn't the first occurrence of Yuso's near disobedience—better considered as hesitation. It also wasn't something that Master was keen on enduring.
—Flashback End—
Master eyed Yuso's hair, spotting how it has indeed grown, reaching down to his neck when it previously rested just above his ears in length. A look of disgust appeared on the older man's visage, closing his eyes to distract himself from his current thoughts.
"Perhaps we need to cut your hair once more, Yuso. It could prove to be distracting out on the field." Master declared, not hearing any response from Yuso for a few moments.
"...It hasn't caused me any difficulties quite yet, Master," Yuso replied, looking at his master resolutely. "I appreciate the thought."
Master scowled slightly at the redhead's words, then sighing exasperatingly:
"Alright…Yuso."
XXX
It was a short chapter, but we got to see what happened to Yuso! We will be returning to the main characters in Buraun, as well as the other characters soon! It's all coming together at a slow pace to build one giant orgy of plot! Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz