a month or so passed, Aya, the doctor that treated me, she could utilize water nyth, and had a unique attribute to control the flow of nyth. its still different from manipulating it, but due to that, my healing was miles faster, and i was already at my peak, even higher. as today was the day i was going to get discharged. Sae had taken care of talking to the Emperor of Velmaris about this incident, i had never met him, though i heard he had a shitty personality, either way, my arrival and ran's disappearance, it was relatively high-profile, since Rin and I were brothers of Meika, a solstice.
Either way, i was back in training, i arrived at a training ground, Sae and kaito were in charge of training me, i knew it was going to be brutal, but i was prepared.
Sae handed me some weighted clothes, and wrist bands, they were like 5 kilos each, so 5 kilos on my arms each, 40 on my body, and an extra 10 on each of my legs, alright. i had to lock in, i charged at kaito, the weights threw me off alot, my kicks weren't kicking, slashes weren't slashing, and worse, we couldn't use nyth. So this... training, went on for a few hours, i had gotten used to the weights surprisingly fast, and the weights now felt light, weird. but good. i could also feel the control over my nyth easier, i could distribute it to my body however and wherever i want with more ease.
I was also trying to train my stamina, while keeping up precision in my non-stop attacks on Kaito. sometimes he parried and attacked me, but good. i could also train my dodging, parrying or blocking skills.
By the time the sun dipped below the cliffs, my arms were jelly, and my lungs felt like i had asthma or something. Kaito didnt even break a sweat.
Sae clicked her tongue, With a smirk. "You're adapting faster than expected."
i was silent, too tired to respond. Finally, the training was over.
That was one day.
The first of many.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. The weights got heavier. The rules got stricter. Nyth restriction, blindfolded sparring, zero rest between drills. Sometimes I collapsed on my bed before I could even unstrap the gear. Some mornings I woke up with my fingers still clenched around a blade.
Though not a day went by where i didnt think of Rin, i had requested to not remove his stuff from our room. it gave me a sort of assurance. Either way, time had passed by in a flash.
One and half years. it had been one and a half years since... Since rin had 'died', that's what the ADC called it. i knew he wasn't dead, he wouldn't die like that. he was just... missing. i knew meika and sae, and kaito agreed with me, meika never said it out loud, but i could tell. Rin's disappearance hit hard.
The weights didnt slow me down now, they were good for grip, and not slipping in battle, i could use Fire, wind and earth like i could walk, now i had to learn ice, i could learn lightning, water or more, but i was going to learn ice.
i was also 13, i was also tall as hell, which i was proud of, i was 5'6 at 13! which i know, its tall and all, for a 13 year old. i was also officially made a hunter, i was an Ashborne, slightly on the lower scale of em. but hey its something, i occasionally went on missions, always with someone, Meika wouldn't allow me to go alone after what happened with rin.
Today was also a mission, I'd be going with Sae and Kaito, it was slightly high class, so i don't know why i was allowed to go, id ask one of them on the way.
i was ready, at one of the gates of Velmaris, we three stepped out, as after walking for a bit, i asked.
"So what is this mission? it seemed kinda too secret" i asked, looking at sae and kaito.
"it is, We're going to investigate the forest that you and rin went to. i insisted that you could come along, its not that smart, but i know its the right thing." Sae said. i froze for a second before composing myself.
i wanted to say something about how they never told me, but its pointless. Either way i was going to kill every demon i saw.
i stayed silent, nodding. around 15 minutes passed, we arrived. the same eerie feeling had lessened, maybe it was because i was stronger, or i had two solstices with me. we stepped in, we walked and i saw it, that same tall rock that i got slammed into, the mark was still there, there was a small crater in the ground, it was probably me falling. i couldn't see any demon though.
"Something is in there, that rock." Kaito said, it looked like sae was aware, kaito was saying it to me.
"So we destroy it?" i said.
"No, rin could be inside, stay behind us. if you see anything, tell us." Sae said, i wanted to argue that i should go first, but that's batshit stupid.
i just nodded, and we went around the rock, finding a small entrance, going inside, it was empty, hollow. dark too. suddenly a thump from behind us, the sunlight blocked, the entrance had closed. suddenly lights, well. fires. on the roof. i, no. We saw it, a demon, it wasn't the same one that i saw that day, but still, I'd kill it.
"Are there others like you? can you even understand me?" Kaito said to it, unsheathing his sword, sae and i followed.
"hmm. There were, they just left. you know, its a good coincidence. i was about to hunt for prey... and look what i found..." the demon said, it seemed relatively calm, but it was a wraithborne or archfiend, i hope it was the first.
"Kael, stand back." Sae said, i didnt want to. but i had to. i dash back. as the demon charged at sae and kaito, i didnt even see it. sae and kaito? gone. i couldn't see them, only trails of sparks, and bursts of winds, sometimes from nyth, or speed. i could see fire, that disappeared in seconds, insane... i couldn't even begin to feel it, the amount of nyth in this cave was insane... so this is how a solstice fought. suddenly, i felt suffocated.
Bloodlust, i felt it, the demon was looking at me. never in my life had i felt like that. i felt like an ant, standing infront of a hurricane. i tried composing myself, i couldn't. i couldn't move. i was scared.
No. i was going to do something. For rin. i clutched my sword, taking a deep breath, looking up. the demon, and sae and kaito were fighting, Kaito got pushed into the wall, the rock was about to break, quickly i make an outline of rock with my earth nyth, kaito charges at the demon again while sae blocks, then finally the demon jumps back, i could see their states... the demon wasn't exhausted. Sae and kaito... they were. kaito looked like he had a broken arm, it was bent in an unholy way.
"Rin! go get help from others if you can, hurry!" Sae said to me. panting, as i nodded. running towards the entrance that was closed, suddenly, it was infront of me. the demon grabbed me by my neck, before i could think, i got thrown into the walls. it hurt like hell. i fell down. holding my chest. I looked up, Sae and kaito were caught off guard from the attack on me. the demon had pinned them both, in a layer of shadows. i had heard about it, Shadow nyth, one of the solstices could do it.
but sae and kaito.. they were going to die... what could i do? nothing, and it pissed me off. even when i let go of rin that day, i couldn't do shit, and it pissed me off. Right now, everything pissed me off.
"Look at you... so powerless in this, Watch, watch your friends get eaten alive. Just like your brother got eaten alive." the demon said, how'd he know about rin.
No, i couldn't give a damn about what he knew and what he didnt. id just kill him, even if i die trying. I'm not going to run away like i did with rin.
a single sentence that came from my heart.
"im going to kill you." i charged at the demon, it blocked, i spun and kicked in, sending it crashing into a rock. Well shit, i was strong. i charged at it again, boosting my speed with fire, as i grabbed my legs with its shadow nyth, i threw my sword at it, landed in its heart. but it pulled the sword at, laughing. as the wound healed.
right, it was a demon, id have to aim for its core, i had learned that wraithborne's had the ability to move their cores throughout their upper bodies. so id just have to tear it to pieces.
i yelled, ripping apart the shadows trapping me with my hands, as i chucked a rock at the demon, it dodged, getting to my side, my sword in hand, it clawed at me, i leaned back, grabbing its arm, slamming him into the ground, creating a small crater. as i stepped on his chest quickly snatching the sword, it threw me off, i landed on the roof of the rock we were inside, as i pushed off it, impaling my sword where i thought he was, turned out, i accidently impaled the rock, he wasn't there. he was behind me.
i quickly let go of the sword, dashing to the left, the sword was stuck, it charged at me, i glanced at Kaito and sae, they were incased in its shadow, i couldn't beat this demon alone, somehow i needed to free them. i charge at the demon. it throws punch. i dodge, jumping and front flipping, didnt know i could do that, i kicked him on the head, putting his face in the ground, then using him to bounce to kaito and sae, i quickly use a burst of fire to burn the shadows, it would hurt them, but it was better then dying. the shadows ripped, the escaped. they were idle, so they could regenerate a bit of stamina.
before they could say anything, i charged at the demon, i heard kaito grit his teeth, sae behind me. for a few seconds, she was faster, i felt myself slowing down. shit, i felt sloppy. i fell to the ground. i couldn't move, Well there goes my adrenaline.
Was it really just adrenaline though? i heard blood splattering, i barely moved my head to lock, the demon had imploded, that's what happens when you break their cores, they explode. finally, it died.
Sae and kaito quickly came to me.
"Kaito, you take him to the hospital, ill be behind you" Sae said to kaito. i didnt want to go right now, i could walk.
"No.. i can walk. let me see..." i said, before kaito just picked me up, breaking the rock we were inside, as i finally saw sunlight again. i glanced at the trees. i felt something there. a small presence, not a person, not a demon. i saw a glimpse of something, something black, like an animal. a bunny? no, it shouldn't be here. and the thing was like tall, 3 feet or something, the trees were taller though, as i couldn't feel it anymore. i was too tired to say something about it... Way too tired... i passed out.