Tokita blinked once. His breath was heavy, his body shaking from his adrenaline dying down. The damage he had sustained hit him like a freight train, yet he didn't fall over. His eyes were glued to the monster that was frozen in front of his eyes.
The color of the Eater had switched to a simple black and light, like the colors themselves were separated from it. It stood frozen in time, unable to move, breathe, or communicate. As if it was a sick joke, it still kept its consciousness and ability to think. It wanted to scream out; rage built like a roaring fire in its head.
"What's going on!? I can't move! I can't move at all!" The Eater thought. It screamed in its mind as the suffocating feeling closed even further. It wasn't dying, but its mind thought it was. To be completely stripped of its ability to move anything at all was absolute torture, one that the Eater had never experienced before. "Is this death?" For the first time in its life, it thought it must plead for it to be spared. Despite nobody being able to hear it, the Eater wanted to live.
Tokita grunted as he stood up, looking toward Akane.
Her bright red orbs glowed with vibrant energy as she looked down at her hands. She had never experienced anything like this before, but she loved it. It was a rush of power that she never thought she'd experience. Despite barely knowing anything about her new ability, she felt like she was at the top of the world.
She lifted one of her hands, pointing it at the Eater. She twisted it lightly, and color returned to the Eater's head. Its head bashed around at the speed of sound so much it was creating shockwaves every time it moved.
"Let me out, Let me out, Let me out!" It screamed, snapping its head around continuously without the ability to move its body.
Tokita turned towards Akane, holding his side as he spoke. "What-...How did you...?" He asked in disbelief.
Akane turned to Tokita with an almost sinister smile, grabbing one of his hands. "I don't know how I did it, but this must've been what Charles was talking about!" She chanted.
[ "So, what's our game plan once we encounter this beast?" Tokita asked while Charles was taking a long glug out of his water container. Akane had fallen asleep on the horse an hour prior. ]
[ "Well, In all honesty, you two aren't going to be doing anything," Charles stated nonchalantly. ]
[ "Huh? Then why are we even here?" Tokita questioned. ]
[ "You're both here to help any survivors we see; I'm the one that's going to be doing the fighting," Charles stated. ]
[ "Hey, we-..I can help too, you know!" Tokita exclaimed, quiet enough to not wake Akane. ]
[ "Maybe you could, but neither of you has even unlocked your Catalysts yet." Charles continued, his eyes a bit more exhausted. There were only about an hour and thirty minutes left until they reached Bruma, and his heart had already begun to race. ]
[ Akane had begun to stir, slowly rising from the sleeping position on Charles's back she was in, and looked at you and smiled. ]
"[ Good Morning." She said quietly with a yawn. ]
"Not exactly morning, It's almost night out." Tokita chuckled.
[ "It's good that you're awake; I can explain what Catalysts are before we arrive at Bruma," Charles stated. ]
[ "Catalysts?" Akane asked. ]
[ Charles nodded. ]
[ "You two are already aware of the ranking system the majority of the world uses, so I don't need to explain that again." Charles started. "While there are some cases of people becoming Knights, Adventures, or other combat occupations with the ability to get ranked, the highest any Non-Catalyst using person has got to was a C+ ranking." ]
"[ So these 'Catalysts' are required for getting anything better than C+?" Tokita asked. ]
[ "Not required, it's just that the people with the highest combat potential I've ever seen without a Catalyst, people who train themselves every day since birth, have only gotten to C+ at most." Charles sighed. "That's the way the cookie crumbles, I guess." ]
[ "Well, that's fantastic news," Tokita stated. ]
[ Akane turned her head towards Tokita, thinking for a moment. She was still not used to the experience they were going through, transported to another world? How had Tokita already seemed to integrate himself so well? ]
[ "Anyway, onto the explanation." Charles waited for dramatic effect. ]
[ Akane waited in suspense while Tokita simply got annoyed. ]
[ Charles chuckled. "Catalysts are abilities written deep inside our bodies from the day we are born. They go by 'Magic,' 'Arcanes,' etcetera. Their power normally is determined from innate potential and the emotions you experience, but they can also be affected by bloodlines, extreme choices, or sometimes even sacrificial rituals." ]
[ Tokita grimaced at the last option. ]
[ "So I'm assuming the reason we're not going to be fighting the beast is that we don't have a Catalyst?" Tokita asked. ]
[ "Precisely, you're way too weak." Charles teased. ]
[ An anger mark appeared on Tokita's forehead. "You mother--...What even is your Catalyst if you're so high and mighty?" ]
[ Charles gained a confident expression, holding his hand out as blue energy circled around it. He closed his fist as a war hammer construct appeared in his hands. Akane clapped as Tokita seemed disappointed. ]
[ "That's all?" Tokita laughed. ]
[ "H-HEY! You're laughing now, but It'll be the thing to kill the beast!" Charles laughed. ]
Tokita paused, looking back at the corpse of Charles.
Akane was still on cloud-9, while Tokita had a taste in his mouth he just couldn't get rid of.
"H-Hey, don't ignore me! Once I'm free, I'll rip you both into shreds!" The Eater screamed.
"Here, stand back Akane. I'll finish it-" Tokita was cut off.
"Who gave you permission to speak, you filthy animal?" Akane stated blankly to the Eater. Tokita's eyes widened. She had never spoken like that before. Her eyes glowed bright red as she raised her hand, whisking it to herself as Charles's broken sword flew into it. She walked with a different set of confidence now, walking directly in front of the beast that she had only a couple of minutes ago, shaking in fear at the sight of it.
"I'll fucking murder you, girl!" The monster screamed, snapping its jaw in an attempt to bite her head off.
"You know why I gave you the ability to move your head around? The ability to speak again?" Akane asked.
Tokita didn't know what to think; he had never seen her like this in the twelve years he knew her. It's like the new power she had gained switched a psychological switch in her brain.
"I gave you the ability to move your head because I wanted you to watch yourself bleed to death." Akane laughed, her smile eviler than the monster she was killing.
She gripped the sword, stabbing it straight into the Eater's chest. It screamed in agony as Akane ripped the blade out of its chest. Back in the edge went as Akane stabbed it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Each and every time, the Eater cried in pain, begging Akane to stop.
Tokita clenched his fist, running over to Akane, grabbing her shoulders. "A-Akane, stop!" He screamed, grabbing her shoulders.
She looked at him with a dead expression, like she didn't even know him. She swung the blade once, the monster's black blood being spun off it.
"Why does it deserve mercy? Look around Tokita." Akane stated simply.
"I-I know! But this isn't you!" Tokita screamed.
Akane scoffed, pushing Tokita off her. His heart stung at that. Akane turned back to the Eater.
"P-please...stop..." It pleaded, still unable to move its body.
Like a true sadist, Akane smiled at its pleading. She quickly stabbed the sword back into its gut, this time slicing vertically, causing the Eater's guts to spill out onto the ground below.
With that, she disabled her ability, causing it to fall to the ground, finally dead.
"A-Akane...What the hell was that!?" Tokita screamed, pointing at the complete overkilled corpse of the Eater.
"Why do you insist on thinking this...thing deserves mercy?" Akane exclaimed, walking past Tokita and to the horse.
"You didn't need to take it that far!" Tokita increased his speed, walking in front of Akane. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to stop!" Tokita clenched his fists, looking at Akane in the eyes.
She sighed.
"Fine, let's just get going." She said calmly. She walked over to the horse and was getting ready to leave.
"H-Hey, we can't leave yet!" Tokita stated. He noticed in his voice. He was nervous.
"What do you mean? What else is there to do here?" Akane asked, her expression annoyed.
Tokita steeled his nerves. "We need to at least give Charles a burial! We can't just leave his body out to rot!"
Akane was quiet for a moment, pondering to herself.
"And why is that?" Akane asked simply.
"W-What?" Tokita asked, dumbfounded.
"Why can't we let him rot out here? He's trash that died against something as weak as that beast." Akane tilted her head with a blank expression.
Tokita gritted his teeth in anger. He had never felt this angry at Akane before, not once in their entire life. He couldn't even believe what he was hearing. They were just talking to Charles an hour ago! He sacrificed his life for them!
"How could you say that!?" Tokita screamed.
"Tokita, I think you need to calm down." Akane turned it on him.
"I need to calm down?! You're calling the guy who was nothing but nice to us from the moment we got here trash because he died defending us!" Tokita screamed out.
"Obviously, if he couldn't handle something I was able to handle with no difficulty, he was trash." Akane shrugged.
Tokita was so angry that he thought the blood vessels in his eyes would pop. Sure, he and Charles had their disputes, but he genuinely believed that Charles was a good person and possibly even a better friend. He had done nothing but be kind and informative to them since their arrival, and she was treating him like trash!
"I don't see why you're so attached to him, Tokita. We only met him today." Akane stated, brushing her long black hair over her ear.
Tokita tsked, turning to the side. "Fine, you do what you want, but I'm giving him a burial!"
Tokita knew that Akane was power high right now and decided not to push it further. He went into an old storage shed of the town and came out with a shovel. He found a patch of dirt just under an oak tree and started digging. Akane sighed, simply watching Tokita as he worked himself into making the hole. He searched for a solid hour straight before he finished the 6-foot pit.
By the time he had finished, It was already dark out. He took the mission scroll off of Charles's pouch and placed him in the hole. Within another fifteen minutes, Tokita had filled the gap. He used Charles's sword as a gravestone.
"Are you finally finished?" Akane questioned.
"Yeah," Tokita said simply. He didn't feel like yelling anymore today.
"Then let's get moving. I'd like to get to Setale," Akane stated.
"Setale? What do we have to do with the Kingdom?" Tokita asked.
"Don't be an Idiot, Tokita. We're going to become Knights." Akane stated with her hands on her hips.
[ "By the way, if you two are interested in my Occupation, I wouldn't mind taking the two of you to my Kingdom." Charles chuckled. ]
[ "We can become Knights?" Akane asked, pushing her hands together in excitement. ]
[ "Well, you have the chance. You have to pass their initiation test, and boom, you're a knight!" Charles exclaimed. ]
[ "And where is this Kingdom of yours?" Tokita asked. ]
[ "Setale, beautiful Setale, the most gorgeous Kingdom in these lands." Charles closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "It's only about a day away from here on a horse; getting there won't be a problem." Charles stops for a moment and reaches into his pouch. "If for whatever reason we get separated, I'll give you a map in case you need to get to Setale." Charles pulled out a rolled-up map and handed it to Akane. ]
[ "Why would you assume that we'd get separated?" Tokita asked. ]
[ "You never know." Charles shrugged. "Now look alive twerp, we're two minutes away from Bruma." ]
Akane pulled the map out of a pocket in her uniform. She pulled it out, getting on the horse. She turned to Tokita and patted the seat behind her.
Tokita raised his hand and shook it. "It's okay; I'll just walk," Tokita stated.
"You're going to walk? It's going to be roughly three times how far you walked to Bruma." Akane stated.
"That's fine." Tokita kept to himself; he didn't feel safe with the Akane he had been speaking to.
"Hmm. Alright then." Akane stated simply. She tapped the horse lightly to let it know to start moving. The horse began trotting slowly as Tokita walked by its side. Tokita was exhausted, physically and mentally. He hoped that whatever Akane was going through was just temporary.
It was a quiet ride, with the two of them refusing to say anything. Akane was in a polarizing opposite mindset to Tokita. Akane's mind was seemingly innocent; she didn't understand why Tokita had been so angry. She had protected him.
The thought of protecting Tokita made her face heat up. Half of it was because she had the power to protect him after all the years of him protecting her, and the other half was because she now had the power to do --something--.
Tokita was in a dark place right now. He thought he had been adapting to their new predicament quite well, but he was so so wrong. The corpses and rotting bodies of the villagers were terrible enough, but that monster? That was something out of his nightmares. Even worse, Charles died protecting them, and Akane had completely switched her personality. Or maybe it was there the entire time, and the Akane he knew was the fake one.
.
..
...
Almost an entire day of walking, with some small breaks here and there, was all it took for them to reach the promised city of Setale. As they approached the gates, Akane couldn't help but whimper in happiness; the city was marvelous!
The Kingdom of Setale was ginormous, spreading for thousands of miles in each direction. It gleamed with such radiance and power, Tokita had never seen anything like it. He didn't think he'd seen a city this large on Earth, ever!
"It's beautiful!" Akane shouted, and they were only at the gate.
"It's definitely larger than our hometown." Tokita cracked a joke. That made Akane turn to him and give him a smile, one that she would normally give him all the time.
"Maybe that was just a little incident; what was I doing, thinking Akane had changed?" Tokita thought to himself. The two of them approached the gate and noticed a line of other people waiting to enter.
"Seems pretty crowded, huh?" Akane stated, getting off the horse. She patted its side and let it off of its saddle.
"It's a huge city, not surprised people are trying to get in," Tokita stated, crossing his arms as they waited in line.
They noticed a Caravan up ahead, with a rather large man screaming at one of the female guards at the gate.
"Do you know who I am!? I'll send you to Sanctuary if you keep this shit up!" The big man screamed, making the obviously inexperienced girl tear up.
"S-Sir, please don't yell..." The girl sniffled. The man saw this as an advantage.
"You want me to stop, huh? Let me and my Caravan in, and I'll stop!" He stated as he laughed maniacally. Tokita began to zone out of their conversation. He felt terrible for sure, but he was also pretty exhausted and didn't feel like spending much energy.
That was until the bastard put his hands on her. He began to grab her with his stubby little hands as she whimpered.
"That's it..." Tokita stated, beginning to walk over to them. But by the time he had started moving, Akane was already at the man.
She grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him around.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you fucking pig?" Akane stated, her tone going cold once again. Her eyes began to glow, and the air around them felt thick.
"Get your hands...off...me..." The man stated, slowly losing confidence from the pure aura Akane was resonating. He hadn't felt this type of pressure before in his life.
His knees began to shake, and his Fight or Flight kicked in. "I-I won't forget this; I'll send both of you witches to Sanctuary!" He screamed before running off and making his Caravan go with him.
Tokita walked over after than finished, and the guard was thanking Akane. She straightened herself out before speaking.
"Welcome to Setale. How may I assist you both today?" She asked.
Tokita walked up, holding out the mission scroll. The guard looked at it before her eyes widened.
"This mission...was accepted by..." She started.
"Charles," Tokita said simply, finishing her sentence. "He died protecting us but gave us a map for Setale to become knights."
The guard began to wipe her tears before nodding. "That's so like him..." She whimpered slightly before sniffling.
"If you're looking to try out the initiation, you just need to head down to the Arena just straight from here." She stated.
The two of them nodded and thanked the guard for her help. They entered the Gates of Setale, and Tokita couldn't stop his amazement. The Smell of Foods he's never had before, people of unique sizes, skin tones, races, everything was such an overload to his senses. He wanted to look around, talk to people, and socialize! But Akane had other ideas. She ignored everything around them, walking forward.
"Tokita, you coming?' Akane stated.
"O-Oh, yeah," Tokita said, following Akane.
They continued down the path until they saw a large building that connected to the Arena. They entered and saw a receptionist.
"Hi, How may I assist you today?" She asked. Akane walked over, whipping her hair over her shoulder.
"We'd like to attempt the Knight Initiation." She said flatly.
The receptionist nodded, pointing them to their right. "Before you enter the Arena, one of our Holy Sisters will read off your Catalyst potential; if you get a good score, you don't even need to take the exam!"
Akane nodded, walking to the right. Tokita waved and followed suit.
Tokita felt like a dog on a leash, just following Akane wherever she guided him.
Eventually, they reached the area with the Sister. It was a large, wooden room with an older woman sitting down with a large orb in her hands. They waited in line until it was their turn.
After waiting about thirty minutes, there were only about two people in front of them.
"Vincent Clationo. C+ Catalyst Potential. You may choose to skip the Arena, but I'd recommend you take the exam." The Sister stated. The man nodded while he was extremely delighted in his head. "Next." The Sister called out.
Another man walked up, placing his hand on the orb.
"Peralo Lanca. C Rank Catalyst Potential, sadly, it's not high enough for me to say you pass." The Sister stated once again. The man walked away with a glum expression on his face. "Next," The Sister called once again.
This time, it was Akane's turn. She walked up and placed her hand on the orb.
Suddenly, the old Sister's eyes opened wide. "Akane Nanosaka! S+ Rank Catalyst; already unlocked!" She screamed. "You could skip the initiation; hell, you could skip every other Magic Knight group and go straight up with the royals!" She coughed.
The rest of the room turned to Akane in surprise. "An S+ Rank? I've never even heard of one before..." One man said. "She got an S+ rank? Please, I could probably take her in a fight!" Another stated.
A wide smile grew on Akane's face, one more disturbing than when she gutted the Eater. She was above everyone else! She was on the same level as royalty! She gripped the sides of her face, holding in a laugh.
Finally, she had the power to show every insignificant ant what she was capable of, and it made her feel great.
Tokita clapped. "Not bad, Akane, but now I'll get an even better score than you!" He approached the Sister, placing his hand on the orb.
"Tokita Oziro..." She hummed, reading his energy.
He wanted to be as strong as Akane, to show her that he could still protect her.
"Come on..." He whispered.
But that day, Fate had not aligned with him.
"D- Rank Catalyst Potential...If almost none at all." The Sister stated quietly.
Tokita whimpered quietly, his voice breaking.
"Huh?"