Chereads / Afterlife of The Fallen / Chapter 14 - Chapter 14: The Gap Between Us

Chapter 14 - Chapter 14: The Gap Between Us

"HYAA!" "Woah!"

"So close!"

We went on and on. As much as I would like to say it was a back-and-forth, it was obvious how one-sided this fight would be. 

20 minutes earlier…

"Before we start sparring, I want you to get used to controlling your scythe and wings. It wouldn't be fair if I challenged you now." Sothis explained. 

He had a point. The scythe was light, almost as if it weighed only a piece of paper. My wings felt similar to having extra arms, so I knew it would take some time to get used to. 

"How 'bout we head over to the plains and get started?" Sothis suggested, pointing with his thumb behind him. 

"What about the-"

"Already ahead of you!" Sothis exclaimed, snapping his fingers, resulting in the windows being cleared out, "We don't need them right now."

Sometimes, it really did feel like Sothis could read my mind…

We found a large open area after going over the river and through the plains. 

"Before we start, I just wanna ask: Does it feel familiar to hold your scythe?" Sothis asked, coming to a stop and turning around. 

"Well, yeah, same with my wings. Those still feel a little strange, though."

Sothis put his hand under his bottom lip as if he were thinking, "Muscle memory! Or something like that," Sothis face lit up and pointed upward, "It's the closest analogy I can think of…" 

"Muscle memory? With my scythe?" I responded, confused and staring at Sothis. 

"You know how this isn't your only life? Well, if I'm not mistaken, many aspects of your being will travel with you, such as fighting style, techniques, movements, and weapons used, among many other things." 

I guess in a way that makes sense, and comparing it to muscle memory does, too. 

"Anyways, give it a swing or two. I'm tryna see you in action again!" Sothis exclaimed, pumping his fist against his chest. 

I decided to focus on movement first since that was more important. I needed to get used to my new "limbs." What Sothis just told me wasn't him playing around, too. While walking, I naturally swung my scythe and positioned my wings with each swing. 

My attributes, such as speed and reaction time, had been strengthened too. 

I began thinking of them as I would my arms and legs, moving them up, down, left, right, which was easy. After that, I thought of using them as an extra pair of arms and practiced picking up my scythe. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at all. 

"Ohh, using them as an extra pair of hands is smart." Sothis applauded. 

"You're right about it being like muscle memory. It's like I'm remembering stuff unnaturally fast." 

The next crucial step was flying. How valuable would wings be if they didn't allow me to fly?

After dropping my scythe, I decided to jump normally. Even without the help of my wings, my jump was much higher than it had ever been before. Flapping my wings on the ground was good practice, so I didn't accidentally kill myself and forget to in the air. 

After several more warm-up jumps, it was time to incorporate my wings. The entire time, Sothis was just watching me closely and silently. 

I braced myself, entering a squat position and readying my body. My wings naturally sprung upwards. If you counted my wings in my height, then I'd probably be close to twenty to twenty-two feet. 

It was time. 

*WHOOOSH*

"Damn!" Sothis yelled.

I jumped almost as high as a ten-story apartment, shocking even myself. After reaching the peak, I immediately started falling. I tried flapping at first, but it didn't work.

"What!?" I exclaimed in confusion. 

I was falling fast; if I couldn't at least slow my fall, I'd crash!

"NNGH!" I struggled, just barely slowing my descent and

"UGH!" 

Landing in the dirt…

"Damn, it…" I muttered in defeat, getting off the ground and wiping dirt off my face.

"You good, my guy?" Sothis asked, grabbing my face and examining it.

"Yeah, flying's a little tricky. It was either panic or how fast I'd been falling that I couldn't flap properly. 

"Well, in any case, you did slow it down a little, right?" Sothis said, letting go. 

"Yeah, flying's difficult, but slowing my fall is more manageable for now." 

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it in no time!" Sothis said excitedly, giving me a thumbs up and smiling. 

His bright red eyes sparkled when he said that, and he began stretching. 

"You were already swinging your scythe on the way here and warmed up your wings. Stretch your body a little more!" Sothis suggested enthusiastically, stretching his legs. 

After a little more warming up, I was ready. Sothis looked pumped up, more so now than the entire time I'd been here. It makes sense since he'd only been watching me struggle through trials. 

"Alright, let's see how strong you are before we head out!" Sothis exclaimed, lunging at me. 

20 minutes later

I dodged Sothis's first punch, but after that, he hadn't attacked me; it had just been me attacking him. 

I tried grabbing his arm, but he vanished without a trace!

I scanned my surroundings quickly to find him nowhere until…

BEHIND ME!

With my scythe in hand, I quickly turned and slashed horizontally.

"Wow! That was incredibly fast!" Sothis said, jumping upward, "That was awesome dodging my first attack. Now, I want you to focus on attacking me!"

"Alright!" I roared, sprinting where I predicted he would land, and threw my scythe upward. 

My wings had made my sprint much faster, and I was reaching Sothis much quicker. The scythe was supposed to be a distraction. Still, Sothis predicted that, and as soon as my punch was going to land, he jumped forward, grabbing my scythe and saying, "Better watch out for throwing this around like a boomerang!" 

He was fast and jumped behind me in an instant. I only realized what had happened when he spoke and pointed out my strategy.

"Shit…" I muttered, chasing him down on foot.

Sothis landed and proceeded to dodge all my punches.

Left hook! Right hook! Uppercut!

All were dodged.

I even tried incorporating kicks such as sweeps, but he managed to short hop over them and bounce on my wings to get away. 

"I don't need this right now!" Sothis yelled, dropping my scythe. 

I caught it. I thought he'd use it on me, which would be horrible. 

He wants me to hit him once, right? Right now, he wants me to be on the offensive and him on the defensive, but he's fast and good at reading me. What if…

"Let's make a rule for this sparring session. If I can get a hold of either your scythe or wings, then we'll restart!" Sothis suggested. 

I looked at him like he was crazy. That was nearly impossible, considering their size! 

"Remember what I said about imagining them, right?" Sothis continued, pointing at his head. 

Sothis mentioned that imagining them could make them appear, so the opposite would be true by default. 

I decided to try quickly and imagined my wings disappearing. Soon after that thought, they dissipated into ashes and were blown away by the breeze. The same thing happened with my scythe.

Sothis smiled silently and gave me a thumbs up, "Let's continue! Come at me!"

I engulfed my arm and aimed at Sothis, preparing to shoot a barrage of fire bursts. 

*Whoosh*

Within an instant, Sothis appeared right before me, "Don't stand still long enough for the opponent to react!" 

Thankfully, I reacted in time and attempted an uppercut, but as expected, Sothis dodged and moved his head to the side. What he didn't realize was my scythe forming from my hand.

"Woah! That was good!" Sothis congratulated, instantly jumping out of the way in the air. 

After making my wings, I used them to help boost my jump as I made my way to Sothis.

"HUNGH!" As soon as I met Sothis in the air, I swung.

"Awesome!" Sothis said, instantly disappearing and appearing on the ground.

That obviously left me defenseless in the air…

"Woooaaahhhh!" I fell fast, slowing my descent, so my landing only ended in rolling several meters on the ground. 

"That was good. You almost got me in the air, and that was fast!" Sothis applauded me, "You predicted I would jump back in the air and surprise me there. Awesome!" 

"I managed to touch your wings, so we're still restarting." Sothis finished, readying himself again.

We ended up going for the whole day. I lost count of how many times we restarted. I was exhausted and bruised because, in the middle, Sothis actually started fighting back. I was often on the defensive, having to block with my arms and my scythe when the distance was just right. 

"Restart!" Sothis roared, crossing his arms. 

We had to restart again, and I could tell Sothis was getting a little impatient, but he was understanding. He wouldn't be easy on me, but he wanted me to succeed. 

The winner was crystal clear. There was no way I could beat Sothis, but that wasn't my goal, and I made sure not to have my spirit torn from it. Besides, being torn from losing like this would make me weaker than I thought. 

Sothis was a few meters in front of me. The ground became a mess. What was once nice, clean grass was dirtied by our fighting, dirt holes were scattered, and the ground took a new shape. It was flat before but now blended with the rest of the plains. 

I decided to take the first step and lunged forward, throwing a right hook at Sothis. As expected, he dodged, walking back as I continued throwing hooks at him. He would appear behind me or above me at this moment, so I shot two fire bursts from both hands, one aiming upward and the other aiming behind me. 

Sothis then appeared before me, ducked, and threw a surprise uppercut.

"HMPH!" I grunted, barely managing to swerve my head in the opposite direction. 

This was when he would make me go on the defensive. His punches meant something, as my entire body would convulse every time they collided with mine.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

I was expecting Sothis to sweep kick me, but whenever he did, it was up to inferring when he'd do it. 

He threw even harder punches then…

"Woah- UUF!" 

Sothis threw me off balance, sweeping my legs and forcing me into the air for a short time. Within that smaller time frame, Sothis backed up a short distance and spun around like he would do some sort of jutsu. With both palms thrusting into my chest, he sent me flying into a nearby hill.

"Ughhh…" I grunted, picking myself up with the help of my wings, thrusting me off the ground. 

No hesitation, Sothis flew at me. It was too fast for me to dodge, so blocking was my only option. After his punch connected, he immediately vanished, appearing from above and descending with a powerful kick. I materialized my scythe and managed to block it with an ear-piercing thud. I expected him to vanish again, but then he grabbed my scythe, hoisting himself around it, and kicked me straight across the face.

"AGH!" 

It sent me flying into another hill straight into the dirt. I quickly picked myself up and immediately noticed Sothis' presence close behind and…

"Huh!?" 

Sothis grabbed my wings and, like a ragdoll, threw me up. Sothis wasn't giving me much time to do anything but that was the point. It'd do me no good if he just went easy on me.

I felt he would jump at me, so I quickly charged up a fire burst to shoot. He jumped as I expected, but he vanished!

*BOOM*

The burst landed on the ground, resulting in an explosion, scorching the ground and further damaging the plains. 

If he vanished, that would mean…!

*SMACK*

He launched me back into the ground, digging me into the ground and distorting the plains further. 

"C'mon, get up," Sothis demanded. 

I obviously wasn't finished. Instead of going solely on the offensive, I should make sure to confuse him, if only a little. His speed and reaction time are unmatched, but hitting him once should be more manageable if I can manage to do that. 

After getting up, I was limping. The temporary cure for that was engulfing the weak parts, and since my flames increased my attributes, that would make me even faster!

Sothis stood several meters away, crossing his arms and waiting for me to make a move. I clenched some dirt in the palm of my fist and readied myself. My wings were still, waiting for impact. My engulfed legs had enough energy to last more than long enough. My scythe wasn't materialized; that could be used later. 

Ready… GO!

Within less than an instant, I made my way to Mother, and Sothis chased closely behind. I ran and jumped over hills and visible tree roots.

From behind, Sothis attempted to shoot a yellow object from his fingers. They would definitely have hit if it weren't for my sense and reaction time!

Sothis appeared in front of me, and I swerved to the side, using my wings to better propel me away. He vanished an instant later, appearing right behind me and punching me. Thankfully, I blocked using my forearm, but the impact made my forearm numb, and my entire body shook as goosebumps formed. The punch had so much strength behind it; it was a miracle I even managed to block it for a few seconds!

"AGH!" I cried out after being sent flying from the impact. 

My forearm was numb, so I couldn't rely on it, but that didn't mean it was over. Getting up, I jumped immediately after sensing Sothis crashing down and-

*BOOM*

Punching the ground, annihilating our surroundings in a large explosion. 

Was he trying to kill me!?

 Anyway, I figured he'd try appearing behind me and-

"He disappeared!?" I yelled, still in the air.

"Watch your blindspots!" Sothis responded, kicking down with immense force.

In an instant, my scythe materialized in my hand, and managing to swerve around, I parried Sothis's kick. It still sent me crashing down from the force, but I made the landing, albeit still painful. Sothis wore a shocked expression and smiled.

He's going to do it again!?

"That was awesome! Here comes another one!" Sothis said, wearing a much softer expression than moments ago. 

We'd been near a hill or, more so, a bump, so without telling my body, I used my scythe's size to dig into the ground and quickly jumped, my wings propelling me around the hill to get behind Sothis.

My scythe dematerialized after landing, and with as much force as I could muster at that moment, I threw a punch at his face. 

"HYYAAAA!" I roared.

I managed to graze Sothis's cheek, and the resulting power that I put into it was expelled into extreme wind pressure, which blew our surroundings with turbulence. 

We stood there silent. We made eye contact.

"You did it!" Sothis congratulated me, pumping his chest and raising his fist.

Sothis was shocked at first, but that expression quickly formed into happiness. 

"It may have only been a graze on my cheek, but that was some crazy power!" Sothis continued, patting me on the back. 

I did it… 

It sounds crazy to say, but I still hit him. We'd been at it all day, and I thought I already lost. I didn't even know how to react. 

"What about you touching both my scythe and my wings?" I asked, worried

"I'll let it slide for today!" Sothis said, wearing a smile that beamed. 

Sothis looked just as clean as he did this morning. I, on the other hand, was covered in bruises and cuts and overall just exhausted. 

"I might've gone a little overboard on some of those matches, especially that last one, haha. My bad!" Sothis mentioned, scratching his head. 

"I mainly did that because I knew you could handle it. You were getting better, too!"

I had no energy to speak at that moment. 

"Alright, let's relax and get washed up before we head out." Sothis suggested.