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Part Eight

Only a few experienced EXO users could hide the essence inside their body. When they fought the essence would leak out, but that depended on the person.

Nick felt the air around the man change, the man was not holding back. Nick could feel the essence being released by him, however, Nick could not sense it.

The more Nick tried to sense the essence, the deeper he found himself being drawn away from his original goal.

“It is best if you don’t look too deep, or you might find yourself being devoured.”

The man calmly spoke.

It was like he figured out what Nick was doing. Although Nick was only looking at him with his icy blue eyes, the man was able to tell what his ability was, or at least what it was capable of.

Nick unsheathed his sword and took a ready stance.

He was not shaken by the foe in front of him. He might not be able to sense the essence within the man’s body, but his ability still let him see the weak points.

“We both know how things are going to end. I must praise you for standing up and trying to fight back.”

He told Nick as he waved his katana and spread his legs slightly.

The muscles in his body were relaxed as if he did not think Nick was a threat to him.

“For that, i’ll let you know my name. You may call me Geno, as it will be the last name you hear before your death.”

He sneered as his red eyes stayed focused on Nick.

Nick let out a cold breath as he calmed his breathing. The muscles in his legs bulged as he blasted off from the ground.

During the fights for class president, Nick showcased how agile he was. Now, his speed was only a different level. If any of his classmates were around, they would be shocked at how fast he was moving. His speed was on par with a low ranking agility EXO user.

This was Nick’s true speed. In front of Geno, he would not hold back.

Geno did not move from his position. His eyes moved to the left followed by a swift movement of his katana. A spark emerged from the collision of the two swords.

Nick’s attack was parried. He landed on the ground and quickly somersaulted backward to dodge the incoming attack.

Nick felt his blood pump wildly as he praised Geno’s reaction speed.

Keeping track of Nick was not exactly hard as long as one had trained their eyes, but reacting was a different story.

Nick’s sensei could not keep up with him at full speed and even praised him. Although Nick was not an agility EXO user, he was still able to harness a speed that the low ranking agility users would have. This placed Nick as one of the fastest non-agility EXO users alive.

Geno’s body blurred causing strands of grass to fly up in the air.

Nick’s left ear twitched and his body automatically moved. Nick’s katana clashed with Geno’s blade, causing another spark.

The force behind Geno’s swing was intense causing Nick’s hand to go numb. He clenched his hands harder than before and did a series of sword slashes.

Every one of his strikes was parried, or countered by Geno.

The two of them were moving at a fast pace, their hands left afterimages.

Once the two of them had their blades collided with each other, a spark would light up the night.

With the pace of their fight, it would leave others stunned.

Geno had yet to release his EXO ability and was overpowering Nick with brute force alone. Nick felt sluggish. His body was moving at a fast pace, but it could not keep up with the speed of Geno.

When Nick wanted to dodge left, his body would be one step behind him mind leaving it open to an attack. Even with his years of training, he was able to hold his own but just barely.

Nick knew how strong he was and he never envisioned himself as the strongest EXO user alive. However, Geno was on a whole new level. Nick felt that he might have to evolve himself if he wanted to stay alive.

Nick tried to hit the weak points in Geno’s body, but he was stopped every time.

Whenever the two of them clashed, Nick would gain a new cut on his body.

Clenching his teeth, he started to let his body move by instinct.

Katherine’s fingers started to twitch as she laid on the ground. Her eyelids moved slightly.

Nick dodged backward away from Geno’s sword slash, but roots wrapped itself around his feet.

He was immobile for only a second but Geno kicked him in the right temple sending him flying into a thick tree.

The tree branches moved elegantly as they wrapped themselves around Nick’s arms. The rooms in the ground-bound Nick’s ankles, restricting his movements.

“I’ll congratulate you for lasting this long, but our duel ends now.”

Geno started to swing his sword, but Nick was calm. He was not afraid as if he knew everything would be fine.

“I think you have to worry about something else other than me.”

Nick grinned as he told Geno.

Katherine pounched towards Geno in a crazed manner.

Her eyes were not their normal color, they were dark blue. A tribal symbol was spread across her face, emitting a purple glow.

Geno quickly reacted as he kicked Katherine away, causing blood to come up from her mouth.

The force was not enough to kill her, but she would be feeling the pain for a while.

However, due to her current state, she did not feel anything. She swiftly recovered and threw two silver throwing knives at Geno. Geno knocked them away as if they were nothing.

The two silver throwing knives spun around in the air and aimed at him once more.

Katherine was a control type, simply knocking away the knives would not do much. She could control them and have them attack once more. You either had to wait until she ran out of essence or you would have to knock her out to stop the assault.

While Geno dodged the incoming attack, Katherine quickly threw out two more knives. Making the total four. With one knife in her hand, Katherine rushed towards Geno. She gripped it like a kunai.

Katherine was like an untamed beast, her movements were unrefined. No matter how much damage she took, she would recover and charge again.

Under the assault of the four silver knives floating in the air, Geno clicked his tongue as he continued to knock them away. His movements picked up a bit more speed as he dealt with Katherine.

Geno cut her arm at the shoulder, sending it flying in the air. Blood spurted out, but Katherine continued on with her attack.

Her arm regenerated itself as if it was never missing in the first place.

She threw her knife, but Geno moved his head slightly causing it to miss him completely.

She was not aiming at him, as the knife went towards Nick. It cut the branch that bound his arm.

Nick grinned as he freed himself from the restrictions.

He pushed off the ground and charged at Geno once more. Hopefully, Katherine would be able to tell the difference between friend and foe.

He doubted it, but he still had a little room for hope.

With Katherine here, he would be able to sense the flow inside her body so he would use his ability to match her movements.

When her knives attack Geno from the back, Nick would attack from the front.

Geno had to focus his attention on multiple things at once, but he was still calm. His movements had an increase as he parried and dodged the attacks. The damage he took was light compared to Nick and Katherine.

Katherine found a chance to attack Geno and she took it.

Nick shook his head, as he realized it was not an opening. He wanted to speak up, but with Katherine in her current state, he figured she would not listen to him.

Geno stabbed his sword into Katherine's legs, and knocked her away, causing her to slide against the ground.

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Nick swung his katana, but it hit an afterimage.

Geno appeared behind Katherine he grabbed the sword that was embedded in her leg. Geno cut through her leg and sent a powerful roundhouse kick her away. Katherine flew and crashed into a tree.

The tree fell over and Nick heard bones break.

“Just because you are needed alive, does not mean you need to be brought back fully intact.”

Geno commented as he cracked his neck.

The knives in the air dropped to the ground.

Katherine helped against Geno, but she was unconscious again. The damage she took this time was surely more than what she encountered previously.

Geno unsheathed his second katana.

“Ready for round two.”

Nick sighed to himself.

Nick put his katana back into the green sheath and took in a large amount of air.

Away from the field that Nick and Geno were located, a figure was seated on a thick branch. The leaves covered them, making it hard for a person to spot them if they were not careful.

Their eyes were focused on the field Nick and Geno were at. A grin spread across their face when they saw that Nick was about to face off against Geno once more.

“Finally.”

They said to themselves as they adjusted their position trying to get comfortable.

If Nick saw this person, he would recognize him instantly. It was Darius his teacher.

Nick would ask if Darius knew no shame, as he did not help his student, he even left before they were attacked on the bus.

“Emily, record this.”

Darius said as a crow flew out of the tree and into the air. It’s golden eyes gazed over the field.

The way Nick was looking at Geno, it made it seem as if he was upset.

“There are a few things I hate in the world. One of which is using someone else’s power to help myself.”

Geno did not understand what Nick was saying.

“Break!”

Nick reached his hand in front of him. A black lock appeared and Nick gripped it as tight as he could. Cracks spread across the black lock before it was shattered into pieces.

Nick’s essence shot up causing all the black fog to disperse and the leaves on the trees to sway.

Geno was firmly planted on the ground, but under the sudden release of the essence, he slid back a few feet.

“So you had a limiter.”

Geno was surprised, he did not expect Nick to have a limiter placed on himself.

The essence in the air concentrated. The blue essence in the air turned black as it swirled around Nick’s body and engulfed him.

“Manifest, Ninetails.”

Nick’s curly brown hair turned jet back and his whole body had a dark blue aura around it.

Two black fox ears appeared on top of his head, and nine black furry tails emerged from his tailbone. His fingernails sharpened and were blackened as if they were painted.

Nick looked like a whole new person, once the essence dispersed.

Geno’s face changed, and it was not because of Nick’s sudden increase in essence. It was instead due to the ability Nick released.

“You are part of the Guardian Family? It was not on my plans to start a war with them, but plans change.”

Geno licked his lips, as he gripped his swords tighter. He felt his heart skip a beat.

“No, I am not.”

Nick replied in a cold tone.

His eyes were not hazel nor were they icy blue. They took on a different color, being golden now.

“Impossible.”

Geno refused to believe Nick’s words.

Nick also knew it was impossible, but what he said was true. He was not apart of the guardian family, and he would never want to be.

Nick was one of the rare types that were born with his EXO ability already awakened. ‘Providence’ is the ability he was born with, and it came from his mother. Nick’s father genes were very dominate and almost all of his father's relatives had the same EXO ability. They all awakened it at a very young age, the youngest one being his half-sister who awakened her EXO at age four. Since Nick showed no signs of awakening ‘Manifest’ his father showed very little interest in him. Nick’s mother had her EXO ability overshadow his father's.

At a young age, he came across his sensei who saw Nick’s true potential. An ordinary person would awaken their EXO when they were around five to thirteen. Nick was abnormal as he was born with his EXO ability.

She taught him and found out that he had a second EXO ability. She did not know why it was hidden behind his ‘Providence’ EXO ability, as ‘Manifest’ was the stronger of the two. If Nick did not become enraged at the time, she would never have found out about this ability.

She knew about his circumstances and told him until he was able to take care of himself he should hide it.

With his vast amount of essence and a second EXO ability, she knew that no one would be able to compare.

Nick asked her to help place a limiter on himself, which sealed away half of his essence and his second EXO ability. She agreed to his request.

During the evaluation for school, Nick broke his limiter to demonstrate his full power, however, he hid away this ability.

He wanted to save it for a special occasion.

Nick was sure that if his father saw this ability he would welcome Nick with open arms. That was because this ability was not only rare, it was claimed to be one of the strongest EXO abilities.

It was not just claimed by the United States, it was assessed from a worldwide standpoint.

‘Manifest’ can be classified into any of the three types, offensive, defensive, or support.

‘Manifest’ allows the user to have multiple abilities.

When the user uses this ability their body changes and takes in the spirit of a mythical creature or being. In Nick’s case, the creature that manifested itself in his body was the nine tailed fox.

“Nothing is impossible in the world.”

Nick said as his figure vanished, blending in with the shadows.

Nick had four new abilities he could use. Shadow Fade, Fox Fire, Fox Illusion, and Torment.

Shadow Fade allowed Nick to blend into the shadows and move around. Fox Fire let Nick harness a dark flame that would burn his foe. Fox Illusion trapped a person into a powerful Illusion that they could not escape. Torment showed the person in the illusion a terrible fate as it unleashed the wrath of the nine tailed fox on them.

The sphere in Geno’s chest glowed, and golden lines appeared across his body.

Geno turned and shaped his sword behind him, causing a black shadow to fade away.

Nick materialized and kicked the sword in Geno’s hand.

Geno was slightly off balance but he swung his other sword. Nick stepped on the tip of the sword and flipped into the air.

In the air with the moon shining down behind him, Nick unsheathed his sword. A black flame engulfed the sword as Nick unleashed a series of sword slashes.

Black crescent arcs flew towards Geno.

Geno dodged the arcs. The black arcs crashed into the ground creating large lines to emerge and flames to spread on the ground.

Geno countered with his own attack.

The two of them changed the environment around them, as trees started dropping one by one.

Geno sent a heavy kick towards Nick sending him flying back into a tree. Nick bounced off the tree and launched himself towards Geno.

The black flames on Nick’s blade caused Geno to shiver, as he swung his sword to parry the attack.

Nick’s katana cut through Geno’s blade like butter. The sword strike continued until Nick’s sword stuck itself in Geno’s shoulder.

Geno’s red eyes flared.

Vines and roots emerged from the ground and grabbed Nick.

Before Nick could move, Geno sent a strike towards Nick’s stomach.

Nick felt nauseous all of a sudden, as he saw two of Geno.

With one blade still in his hand, Geno movements were swift. His blade seemed to glow with this white light, and with each strike of his sword, a white line appeared in the air.

A hundred white lines appeared all over Nick’s body, as blood splattered all over the place.

Nick’s nine tails and two black fox ears disappeared. His black hair turned back brown.

A rustling sound was heard, and two students emerged from behind the trees.

One was Darren the other one being Fred.

They saw Nick’s clothes torn to shreds, with cuts all over his body.

Darren was the first to react as he vanished from his spot, with his gunblade in hand.

Geno glared at Fred, then looked at Katherine's body.

“We’ll meet again.”

Geno whispered to Nick, who was trying to hold down the blood that was coming up his throat.

Black fog appeared above the ground, then it covered Geno’s body.

Darren appeared and cut the black fog, but no one was in it. Geno was gone.

“Who was that guy?”

Darren asked in a cold tone as his gunblade disappeared from his hands.

Fred walked over to Nick and checked over his wounds.

“If my guess is right, should be one of the people who caused this mess.”

Fred answered Darren, as he picked up the unconscious Katherine.

“And, what does she have to do with all of this?”

Darren asked another question.

Fred shrugged his shoulders.

He had answers to questions, but he did not have all the answers. Before Geno left, he saw that look in his eyes. It was filled with bloodlust.

Fred was surprised that Nick did not die in the exchange, but he was even more surprised at how Katherine held up. Unconscious yes, but her injuries were healing at an alarming rate. He wondered who was this girl, and why were her healing abilities so great?

“No idea, once Nick gets treated we’ll find out. Take Nick back to the cabin first, have him be checked over. I’m no expert when it comes to healing, best to let someone else take a look.”

Darren looked at Fred in a confused manner.

“She came?”

Fred nodded his head.

Darren sighed.

“I hate her.”

Fred laughed at his response.

“You two are getting married in seven months. You should not hate your wife to be.”

In seven months time, Darren would be eighteen. Although the times have changed and you could get married when you were sixteen, his family still wanted him to wait. He had no say in his marriage. Even if he says he hates her, he does not truly mean it. As the girl is wonderful, but she always wants him to use his ability to make traveling faster.

He did not want to be her personal taxi!

Far away from where Fred was standing, a figure appeared in a dark room.

The glowing sphere in his chest looked a bit faded. The silver scales across his body were no longer there.

“Geno, you’re injured.”

The part where those black flames cut him was now spread all down his arm. Geno did not shout in pain, nor was there a tear in his eye.

Geno’s red eyes looked at the man leaned back in his seat.

If the freshman students saw this man, they would recognize him easily. He left a deep impression on them before they entered into Mt. Hessian. He was the one talking to them on that wooden platform.

Geno used his right hand and wielded his sword. One of his swords were broken, but this one was still usable. He cut his left arm off from his shoulder and the black flames ate away at it.

“Minor injuries.”

Geno responded back to the man.

“Who was it that stopped you?”

“Some kid from the guardian family.”

The man narrowed his eyes. He checked the list, there was no one listed on the roster that was from the guardian family.

“Don’t look at me like that, I know what I saw. If it was only him, I could have finished the job, but with both our essences exploding about it attracted three more problems.”

“Should have just killed her off. She is bringing more trouble than she is worth. First the ‘Phoenix,’ now the guardian family?”

Geno closed his eyes as he thought about something.

“It is fine, not like she’ll get away from us. Darius is still at the academy, under his watch she won’t escape.”

“True, but he does not like getting his hands dirty.”

“He will. For our cause, he will do anything. Afterall, we are using his wife to produce these subjects.”