The next day arrives. I had opted to sleep alone, outside in a place where nobody could stumble across me.
There were many empty buildings and rooms scattered across the fields, already pre-prepared full of bedding, butttttttt…
I slowly open my eyes and find myself face to face with a blue, utterly cloudless sky. The wind blew lightly, the kind of breeze that felt more comfortably cool than cold. "Man this place is just too perfect." I mumble to myself. It just didn’t feel right to me, resting on something as soft and squishy as a bed, after years of sleeping on the ground, little bit of discomfort makes for perfection.
I was lying down on a thick branch near the top of the a tree. Hidden away from outside view with the leaves and foliage. It was in a pretty secluded location of the area. Not that I saw that many people roaming around anyways. This really was just a place where you would come, train, and go. The strong teaching those who want to be strong, the strong making the other strong even stronger. At least, that's what Rudeus told me when I asked him about what this place was supposed to be about. And now I guess I'm one of those people. But unlike everyone else here who were training for their own purposes and goals, I was training because Rudeus wanted me to.
"Alright, six more days to go until I can get out of here." I take out the mask which never seems to leave my presence and put it on so I could safely drop down from the tree. As my vision grows sharper, I spot a boy sitting cross legged in the middle of a grassy field. Set beside him was a couple parcels of what looked to be a couple of sandwiches. Real genuine sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes, some sort of meat, and a unknown yellowish sauce. Practically identical in shape to the sandwiches found in my old world. Without realizing, a drop of saliva drips from down my mouth. My old instincts begin kicking in. I see it; I want it. I begin prancing around restlessly.
Wait, wait, wait, stealing is bad, people always work hard for what they have, I'm sure that kid over there wants to eat those things just as much I do, and he should be the one to eat them, after all he’s the one who owns them therefore he has the rights to them. Yep, yep.
With that in mind I put on my mask and take a running dive off the tree. As the wind sails through my hair, I focus the anku dispersed through my body into my feet, landing in a harmless crouch. I grab the bottom of his shirt and pull it over his head while simultaneously grabbing one of the sandwiches, then spring off the ground with my next step, looking to escape into the forest. One thing that I've learned about these people is that when not actively using their anku. They have the speed and reflexes of an average person. So surprises like these are extremely effective.
I laugh, feeling the thrill of returning to my roots, then take a look at the prize.
...Huh? What's going on? I grabbed it right? My hand was empty, devoid of any sandwiches.
"Ahhhh!" I yelp as I immediately trip on a rock that seemed to come out of nowhere. My momentum slamming my body too the ground at breakneck speeds. If I was not good at controlling my anku in order to mitigate the damage, that would have been really bad.
"Ow, ow, ow. What's going on? I was sure the terrain was clear."
"I would have given you one if you just asked you know." The boy's voice rings out from behind.
I get off the ground, turn around and grin sheepishly. The boy was holding the sandwich that I tried to steal in his hand, still in his original position. He tosses it over to me.
I catch it embarrassingly. A seven year veteran thief with superpowers failing to steal a sandwich and then receiving the sandwich in pity. I stare at him in silence unsure of what he was going to do next.
After an entire minute passes, "Um, could you at least be a little bit mad that I tried to steal your food." The boy seemed to lose all interest in me already, closing his eyes and returning to his previous state of meditation.
"Why? Nothing happened in the end."
"Exactly, I just expended all that effort for nothing to happen, makes me feel a little bit useless you know?"
"Okay I guess that I'm mad at you then. Now leave me alone." The boy said in a completely monotone voice that showed no hint of anger.
"T-Thanks... Guess I'll get going." I leave the clearing, take off the mask, and munch on the sandwich as I slowly make my way to Rudeus.
It tasted great but… "For some reason I just can't enjoy this." I murmured to myself. The little bubble of happiness in every bite was gone.
"Still that was strange. I knew I had the sandwich in my hands and was a good distance away from him. How did he get it back without even moving?" I mumble.
"Ah that guy? I don't think he's actually told anyone his name, but he arrived almost the same time you did while. Doesn't really like to talk to many people, like a lot of people here actually. He usually just sits in that field concentrating on something for the entire day then goes to sleep. Other than that, I don't really know anything else about him."
I duck as the whistle of steel flies over my head. We were still going anku-less, but given my rapid improvement, Rudeus had decided to step it up a notch today. Of course, he used the blunt side of the sword. After I duck, Rudeus instinctively moves his sword down to block an attack from below. I use that chance to swoop in as close as possible, pushing my weight on the flat of his sword so that he couldn't lift it up, then I aim a punch directly for his face.
Rudeus responds to this by tilting his head just barely enough to dodge it. Now that my arm was above his shoulder, he pushes up on his sword-arm, uses his free arm to push me up by the armpit, and lifts my entire body off the ground, then dumps me over his back. After I land, I rush to turn around only to find the tip of Rudeus' blade pointed at my throat.
"That was pretty good, I didn't expect you to get in close like that." He pulls his sword back as I lift myself off the ground, brushing off the dust.
"Hey, are you sure you aren't using any anku?" I complain, I've yet to get one hit in today.
"Don't start thinking of excuses like that. Right now, I'm simply better than you technique-wise, but you'll catch up really quickly." Rudeus smiles and then sheathes his sword.
"Alright, breaks are good for the mind and building up muscle memory, lets get back to it in 30 minutes." He claps then walks away, whistling, clearly in a good mood.
I lie down and watch him as he walks away. His intentions to make me join the war had been exposed as clear as day, but here he was, doing nothing but just sparring with me. He's never mentioned the war even once; I don't know what side he's on. Actually… I don't even know what the sides are! What is he doing? If he's trying to paint himself as a trustworthy person, it's not working.
I stare at the peaceful blue sky, It's hard to remember sometimes that this place was practically located in the middle of hell where deadly storms, natural disasters, and great danger always roared. It was just... so peaceful.
I close my eyes. Sunlight seeps through the skin of my eyelids, making it so that it wasn't totally dark.
Taiga, Taiga, Taiga Akudani. I softly repeated my name to myself over and over again. It somehow held a different weight than any other name. Whatever that voice was right before I died, it told the truth. It was impossible to explain in words, I just... knew.
The reddish tint that clouded my vision turns dark. I open my eyes to see a girl standing uncomfortably close to me, casting a shadow over my body. She had light brown skin, and medium length hair roughly strung together in a ponytail, but what stood out about her the most were her eyes. Brilliant gold irises that seemed to practically glow.
...
...
"Can I help you?" She was staring at me silently.
"Dundee." She speaks.
"Hm?" I didn't expect this topic to be brought up.
"How do you know about Dundee? And why do you want to find him?"
"Eavesdropping huh?" I murmured to myself. Her tone carried a weight behind that made me tense up. If I don't tread carefully, this might end badly.
"What did you say?" She snapped at me.
"I want to find Dundee because I believe he has answers to questions I'm looking for, also Rudeus was the one who told me about him." I gave a purposefully vague answer.
I blink, a millisecond later Polly had 2 fingers trained on both of my eyes, centimeters away from my pupils.
"Why didn't you move out of the way, anyone with even a minuscule amount of anku could have seen that coming and avoided it."
"I just have great self-control, I could tell that you didn't intend to go through with it." I could tell that something bad was going to happen if I told her the truth.
Polly retracts her fingers. I have an internal sigh of relief as she does this. The next second, a searing pain shoots through my left eye.
I yell out in a mixture of surprise and pain and clutch the damaged eye.
"You... You don't have any anku do you?" Polly had poked me straight in the eye. Fast enough that I couldn't see it coming at all.
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"You're not the most tactful person either are you?" I said, well aware of the irony of my words.
"Sorry, talk to Torika later." She said in a completely unapologetic tone.
But still, I had to be careful and not attack back. She wasn't exactly being friendly, but she wasn't being outright hostile to me either.
"Okay I guess I'll go talk to her then, have a good day." I got up and started walking away. However Polly started to follow me.
"There's something inside the back of your shirt. What is it." She was referring to my mask, which I always keep bound with a string to the inside of my shirt.
"Just some lunch I was saving for later, do you want any of it?"
She doesn't respond.
We made it all the way to Torika's house, saying nothing more after the comment about the mask in my shirt.
She then stares quietly as I got my eye fixed by Torika, and then followed me away.
"Are you okay in the head?" I said what I wanted to say from the very beginning.
"I've decided. Give me some of your lunch."
"No." I immediately reject her.
"You offered some to me."
"And that offer has expired."
"Then how about this... Take out whatever that is behind your back or I'll kill you right now."
...
I sigh. I think about trying to pull a fast one on her. Taking out and putting on my mask as fast as I could, but I don't think I could do that before she kills me.
"Ten." She starts to count down.
"Wait wait wait! If I take it out, can you promise me that you won't do anything to me?" I frantically wave my arms
"You are in no position to negotiate, nine."
"Then can you explain why you want to see what's behind my shirt?"
"Eight."
...
"Seven."
I reach out from behind my back. Polly stops counting and eyes me closely. Just as the white ivory of the mask, reaches over my shoulder, Polly's eyes widen. Danger signs explode throughout my body. For me, time slows down not as a result of anku, but as a result of the heavy amounts of adrenaline that had just been released in my body.
Polly draws a machete looking weapon and lunges towards me, her eyes conveying murder. My body immediately rushes to get the mask on as quickly as I could, but I felt suspended in midair compared to the speed at which she was approaching me. My entire will, my entire purpose in life right now was to get this mask onto my face. Come on! Move body move! Come ON!
Just as the machete was inches away from slicing open my stomach, I felt a sudden change in grip. The mask had disappeared from my hand, materializing directly onto my face.
There it is. That familiar swirling of energy through my body. I step forward and grab her plunging arm, I then hammer a vicious blow into her stomach.
Polly grunts in pain but stays on her feet. She then headbutts me, sending a shockwave through my head. Disorienting my senses. I push her away and stagger backwards. Unsteady on my feet. Polly also begins to clutch her stomach in pain.
"I don't recall ever doing something that would make you angry."
Once again a the deep dark fear of death breaks my focus. I concentrate to push the fear into the back of my mind and begin talking. This girl knows something about me. I have to be patient and find out why she's doing this.
"You're the successor to a bastard. That alone is enough reason for you to die."
"Are you talking about Dundee? My name is Taiga, so I think you got wrong person."
"Nope, I got the right person, the power in that mask doesn't belong to you."
"How would you know? I've had this very mask for over 7-8 years by now."
"That's enough, I don't need to explain anything to you, it's obvious you're just stalling for information, so die."
Polly crouches low and stabs at me. I jump back in response; however, the instant I do that, Polly whips her arm forwards, revealing a sling that was attached to her arm protector. A small metal ball hurtles towards my chest at a speed much greater than the bullets from modern guns.
Shit, I can't dodge it! In the minuscule amount of time that I had, I gathered as much anku as I could into the area of impact.
The ball slams into my chest with enough force to launch my entire body into the air. I gasp under the mighty pressure of that blow. The next instant, Polly had already closed the distance between us, wildly swinging her machete from above ready to deliver a final blow. However it was rough, and the trajectory was predictable.
She must have thought that I had taken more damage from that projectile than I actually did. I bring my arms out and thrust my palms together, catching the blade in midair. I then use my leg to kick at the the hand holding the machete, disarming her and launching the weapon high into the sky. I land on the ground taking a roll backwards from all the momentum.
"How did you..." Polly started but then shook her head and continued running at me, bringing what looked to be brass knuckles with spikes attached to them.
How many weapons does this girl have hidden on her! I thought to myself. I weave and dodge as Polly takes swing after swing. After dodging one particularly heavy looking swing, the sling comes out once again, hidden behind her fist, using the momentum of her punch to launch another metal ball. When did she load that sling again!" I was at point blank range. Having much less time to react than before, I took the blow to my stomach at full force.
This girl seemed to be overall slower and weaker than me, but I just couldn't deal with the way she utilized her weapons. She was just too unpredictable! Once again, the limits of my overall skill slapped me in the face. I had grown immensely during the past day and a half; however, nothing could beat these people's years of training against opponents who were actually on their level. The only thing I could match them in is control of Anku.
I lay on the ground stunned, completely unable to move.
"That didn't kill you?" The girl murmured incredulously, "No matter, don't try to block this." She takes a second machete from her holster and rears it behind her back.
"Don't kill me." I stated outright.
"Then kill yourself." Polly said bluntly.
"I don't want that either."
"Then we're going with the original plan."
As Polly swings her machete downwards, another machete flies out of nowhere and intercepts the blow.
"You!"
I had purposefully cut my finger on the machete after catching it the first time, leaving behind a couple drops of blood, which I then used to manipulate the machete. I grab the machete out of midair and push with all my might. In a contest of pure strength, I held the advantage and was easily able to force her into a disadvantageous state.
"I'll die when I've learned everything I wanted to know. Now tell me everything you know about me and Dundee."
Polly smirks, "Or else what?"
"Like I said, I'll die once I've learned everything I wanted. If you don't tell me, I guess I'll keep living until I find someone who can tell me. Might take years."
"Don't act like you've won already." Polly jumps off the ground and loosens her strength. As a result, she gets pushed into the air through my raw strength, breaking the stalemate up.
I take a step forward in order to chase after her before she lands and immediately feel burning pain sensation at the bottom of my feet. I look down to see caltrops scattered all across the ground, piercing both my shoe and foot.
When did she... I look down and see the leather shin guards that she was also wearing, when retreating, she had opened a compartment in those leather guards that had scattered those deadly things all across the ground. How many damn tools does she have! There were hidden pockets all over her clothing. But gimmicky stuff like this were only useful the first time, every time she reveals a new trick, she becomes more and more predictable.
I stagger and shift all my weight on my uninsured foot. However, I don't think I'll be able to survive all her gimmicks if this keeps going. I was already off-balance due to this foot. She may hold the advantage in pure combat already.
Alright, I can't drag this fight out any longer then. I have to finish it right now. I quickly come to this conclusion. I concentrate, packing all the anku in my body to densities never before reached. Squeezing, tightly compressing, like a spring, going far past the limits of what I usually can do.
I take my first step, the ground below shattering into pieces from the force of the single step, in the exact same moment, all the anku concentrated in my foot flies over to my arm, the world converges into one single point, her chest, where I was going to rip straight through it.
I would defeat... no kill her with pure, raw strength. I cannot run away from it any longer, I need to be able to kill people. These people were much stronger than me; to hold on to those ideals would be akin to suicide.
Celestia was just a moment of weakness on my part; I will no longer avoid it. I've already been shown time and time again, just how much of an amateur I was when it came to fighting people who could match me. So, there's no point in trying anymore. I'm going do what I do best, relying on the mask.
I then feel a familiar feeling grip grasp my ankle. I abruptly change direction as the hand swing me away from Polly, crashing me into a wall. Sparks fly from ahead as Polly clashes blades with a second newcomer, ultimately resulting in her being blown away as well.
"What are you two kids doing." Rudeus said with an exasperated tone.
Standing behind Rudeus was another some-what familiar face. She also exhibited the distinctive brown skin, gold eyes features that Polly had. Toena, if I remember her name correctly.
"Don't stop me."
"Awfully full of yourself huh? If we hadn't intervened right when we did, you wouldn't be talking right now." Toena carried a very similar sword to Polly, short and curved, however one of her swords had jagged edges unlike Polly’s, something that could be used for rending flesh.
"As long as that boy dies, I don't care what happens to me." Polly growls.
"Well, I don't particularly care what happens to you either, but it'll be a headache for me you die."
"Ha... ha." Polly weakly chuckles. "So that’s why you’re here. Didn’t think they were desperate enough to pay for a mercenary like you. Well you can tell them to screw off! I’m never going to go back until I kill—“
Toena suddenly slugs Polly across the face, smacking her to the ground.
"Hmm? I really don't know what's going on, all I know is that I'm getting paid if I get you back to the Shesuan capital safely."
Polly coughs and spits out blood. "Then they should have no complaints if I kill you right? Save them some mon- Argh!" Toena stomps on Polly's head and grinds her foot back and forth.
"Idiot, why would I want to die? If you threaten my life in any way, I'll kill you then run away, simple as that. Money ain't as important as my life."
Polly was unable to respond, her mouth was being grinded to the ground.
I look away and sigh, a little bit relieved once again that I was able to avoid having to deal with killing once again.
"Are the 30 minutes up?" I asked Rudeus.
"Yep, let's go someplace else and get started again."
I silently walk away with Rudeus, leaving Toena and Polly alone.
Polly definitely knows something about me. Her words and her actions just don't make sense if she didn't. I make a mental note in my head. Before I leave, I will either make peace with her and then get some information from her. Or more likely, force her to talk. Things are coming together, I can feel it.