Location: Terra Colony Andromeda
North Sector - Training Field Septa
Frontline Position - Opposing Opposition
Time: 1041
January 31, 2050
Breaking from the gray clouds above, human figures emerged, alarming Arielle. She swore at herself in frustration. Besides her, Haruka was probably doing the same. Her look of aghast horror was evident. At the same time, Sinder sped off before they could get a word in, or make a plan. That girl had always been an act first kinda person, so good on her, but really, did she have to leave now?
What they faced made Arielle want to turn tail and run as fast as Sinder, though she preferred it to be in the other direction. Better yet, resigning from the contract she made with the Headmaster was her next thought. Today’s job as an apparent helper for today’s training exercise was going so well for their side after they had sprung the headmaster’s fun little trap. Being the attacker was always fun, you could get rowdy and let loose.
But now? It seemed the roles had reversed. She and her friends were on the back foot. They were outnumbered and their foe had a plan, worst of all it seemed that Itsuki had seen through the headmaster’s scheme.
This was a familiar situation. Caught in the middle, things going bad all the time, it felt like she had traveled back to those horrid days in academy all over again. She set her heeled boot down hard and braced, arms tensing in front of her.
[Jesus H christ!] She yelled, [Look at them all! I swear, this has Itsuki written all over it! Only he can go this overkill!]
It was like the sky fell and the earth had folded on them. If she had claustrophobia then she would probably pass out from shock. But any easy way out of this wasn’t to be. All around, gunfire peppered her position across the broken and cratered expanse of the training field. From above, trainees Arielle had thought had flown off, after Itsuki let loose his maniac of a plan, had come to nip her in the bud. Their anti-armor rifles cracked thunderous shots, rocket launchers roared like golden lions, and an onslaught of swarming bullets lit the sky in bright red tracer streaks. And it didn’t stop there.
As if drawn to the sounds of battle like a pack of battle junkies, the CDU and CAU trainees’ tanks and brigades of young soldiers rushed them from the distant horizon. Arielle barely had enough time to put up a barrier as enemy tanks got into a line on a nearby ridge and volleyed shell after shell. Her high tech conjurations had their limits and concentrated tank fire was pushing them a tad too far. Barrier after barrier was getting put up, but shattered into blue shards, again and again, left and right.
The energy she exerted to maintain a defense was manageable, but a CAU’s tank fire could destroy Tactical Class Monsters in one well placed shot, they weren’t to be reckoned with and she hadn’t even caught her breath yet from earlier.
And now I have to deal with this!? GIVE ME A BREAK!
This job, this whole morning, was becoming a shit show dangerously fast. Haruka pulled up her own barriers in support. Arielle put her back to her, opening a comm link.
[Haruka, hurry up and get some golems up. We need some constructs to even this fight.]
[I'm going as fast as I can, I’m still dizzy, so hold your horses!]
Arielle could hear her irritation, she was definitely fed up about how today was going as well.
[I’ll direct another group of puppet constructs to buy us some time.] Haruka told her in a rushed huff. [Use that time to thin out their numbers, and focus on the damn tanks!]
[Got it. You better hurry! I don’t think my barriers can last for very long under all this, and we don’t have any support from the other explorers on our side. They’re gone!]
[Yeah! I know, now get off my back! Will you!] Haruka frowned and tapped her communication earpiece. Usually, she’d call up a fellow explorer by now, but like Arielle had made annoyingly clear, that option was no longer there.
In the short time after Itsuki’s suicidal stunt of crashing into them from orbit, they had checked the comm lines coming from Headmaster Joel and there other co-conspirators in today’s change of curriculum. The unique comm lines that were once available were dead and they weren’t getting anymore leaked intel from the students or trainees. That was the first sign that the plan was coming apart at the seams.
In the beginning, half of the 10 observing explorers hired for this specific training field were to turn sides. At the same time numerous groups of new constructs would be added to the playing field by the headmaster’s manipulations. The students and trainees would be thrust into chaos, and everything was going as planned. But in the matter of what felt like one move on a chess board, the tides had changed.
Not only had the combined trainee and student forces enact an effective counteroffensive, they also foiled the next phase of the headmaster’s plan. 4 of the 5 remaining explorers on the combined forces side were to enact a betrayal and completely decimate their once allies. The headmaster seemingly planned a dastardly and cruel curriculum for this year’s new students. Not to mention that it was also his fun prank to pull on Itsuki.
Usually Haruka and the others weren't for terrorizing people and kicking them while they were down. But after hearing the headmaster out, they found a common ground that swayed them to go along. The money and bonuses were good, but a chance to get some payback for the old days on Itsuki? They were ecstatic to agree to the plan.
It would be harsh. That was the word she would use in describing these series of events for the students. She sympathized with them, but not Itsuki. He deserved what was coming to him, though now that seemed impossible with how the game had changed.
Still, the headmaster’s plan wasn’t completely a lost cause. Haruka knew the students had next to no chance in winning. If only herself, Arielle, and Sinder were left on the opposing team, then the combined force of trainees and students were no match. She and her cohorts had the gift of experience. Only Itsuki was the issue, but he was battered and running low on everything. Ammo, core energy, and stamina. It was a matter of time before he’d fall, and then the students would have to step up.. Then fall.
Again her heart went out to the students. This was the first day of the practical classes for them, and as an alumni she connected with them on an intellectual level. Unfortunately, they were going to get their asses handed to them as a lesson. She grimaced at the thought of what face the headmaster could be making as he watched all this play out. Was it a sneering glee or a polite smile that didn’t reach his blood red eyes?
That damn Headmaster. Haruka cursed inwardly. Always acting so posh, but I see what he is. He’s a wolf in sheep's clothing. That suit, that smile, those eyes, and that head of his.
She shuddered to think what else the Headmaster could cook up in the ways of hidden plots or so called efficient education. Shaking the sudden chill off her back she focused, adrenaline was kicking her head into overdrive.
[Construct Contingent Z23, converge on my position.] Haruka sent out the command and waited in bated breath as she expected the icons on the map to change. Contingent Z23 was only 1 mile east of her position, they could be here in minutes. As a few seconds ticked by, her frown deepened. Nothing happened, the constructs didn’t move. Again she ordered, her tone louder and affirming.
[I repeat! Construct Contingent Z23! Converge on my position! I repeat! Converge! Converge!]
No dice. She tried another nearby contingent.. and got the same result. She continued a third time but all she got was nothing, no response.. over and over. She had lost control of the puppet constructs or any of the constructs that weren’t her golems.
[Query.. That will not work.] Said a new voice in her ear. [I have rescinded your administrative privileges to the master system’s construct control system. Further attempts will be reported and you will be labeled under suspicion of malicious intent. I advise that you stop any further intrusion.]
[What the? Who the heck are you?] Haruka asked, surprised. [Actually, what are you?] She could sense the faint presence of core energy through the comm line. This was a peculiarity unlike anything she had experienced.
[Query.. I am 00.] The thing said. [Now I suggest you mind your own business.] Whoever this 00 was, his or her voice sounded flat, yet it had a kind of moody unemotional bitchiness. It was irksome.
[Well aren’t you rude.] Haruka said. [And what’s up with your voice?]
[Query.. Your complaint is noted but has been found non crucial. Your recent actions against user Itsuki Homura have nulled any further argument. And your involvement with the recent breaches in system protocols are distressing.]
[User? Wait?] That startled Haruka. [Are you Itsuki’s personal AI? He has one of those?]
[Query.. Further conversation is deemed unproductive and unneeded, shutting off connecting comm lines. Good bye, Miss Haruka.]
[Wait!] Haruka called out, but 00 was gone in a blink and the line went dead. She turned to Arielle and said. [We gotta problem.]
[What kind?] Arielle asked, grunting through her exertions to put up a new set of barriers. She turned to Haruka after a cascade of explosions rocked the dirt around them in pluming geysers. [Don’t tell me you forgot how to use the system.]
[Of course not!] Haruka shouted back. [I’m not as tech savvy as you but.. Oh.. never mind.] She bristled for a second then quickly helped to pull up supporting core energy barriers around them as she explained. [I found that not only are our comms dead with the Headmaster’s data and the others, but we don’t have the authority to control the constructs anymore. We’re locked out of the system, and this weird voice, or an AI? I think? I don’t know, but whatever it is, it's barring our attempts to access the construct system. It’s like a cancerous virus or some weird program doohickey.]
[Wait What?! An AI?] Arielle couldn’t believe it. She took a second and reviewed her own comm connection. When she tried to access or tap into other communication lines, they were heavily guarded and a painful static bleep rang in her ear. Then a warning message was pulled up.
It read. He told you he would use the Hard Way. It took a second, but Arielle remembered that Itsuki had said this to her before. He’d pulled the rug up and over their eyes, all of them.
[Can today get any worse!] Arielle screamed at the empty air. [Why the hell do we have to deal with all this shit!]
[I know what you mean, but what was that weird voice?] Haruka asked. [Do you know something? Come on! Tell me!]
Arielle sighed. [I’m not entirely sure, but I can guess what he used.] She pulled her long blonde locks away from her earpiece to tap it. [From what I heard from your comm line, our support from the Headmaster has been cut by that thing. Getting a connection now is close to impossible.]
[Well what is that thing?] Haruka insisted for an answer. [Can’t you do something? A counter hack? You’re good with that kind of thing, right?]
[I can’t just snap my fingers and make it happen.] Arielle said harshly. [For now, forget about that thing. Let’s focus. You conjure some golems. I’ll keep the defenses up and find a way to take out those tanks.]
[Alright.] Haruka tiredly slumped her shoulders, muttering. [This is a pain in the butt.] Plunging her oaken staff into the ground, veins of green roots lit the dirt under them. Arielle was shaken for a second by a tremble running up her legs, something was beginning to shift in the crust. Undeterred she threw out conjured energy blasts like hands of poker. They shocked and crackled lightning blue electricity into the trainees and tanks.
With two full hands thrown, 10 targets were downed. She heard the trainees shout at each other and then their gunfire intensified. She clicked her tongue.
They’re persistent, and how are they all reacting so fast?
She focused on a group of trainees who made to get to cover behind some nearby rubble. There was something different about them, the sound of their rifles had a unique crack to them and there was something on their backs. Her eyes widened. Her HUD picked up a growing energy signature and then she shot a glance to a certain corner. In the corner of her view was Itsuki’s equipment status data. Running through the numbers again, she saw it.
9 of 10.
9 of 10 storage ring units were in use on his person, so where was the 10th. The answer came immediately.
No way! He resupplied them?!
When she thought about it, it should’ve been obvious. It was an underhanded tactic she could see Itsuki using, especially since he seemed agitated and had been burning through equipment like wild, more so than he usually would. The hairs on her arm immediately rose, the air was becoming electric and it wasn’t because of her Cyberkinesis.
Turning to Haruka, she grabbed and pulled her friend prone to the ground. They were just in time as a brilliant ray of silver light pierced through all their barriers, disintegrating all rock and rubble in its path. The beam swept up to the expanse of sky above them, traveling miles away. The echoes of booms behind them rang in a symphony of destruction. Arielle spotted the green icons on her map blink off one by one in an increasing rapidity.
[Holy cow!] Haruka clutched the ground as if her life depended on it. [What was that!]
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
[One of Itsuki’s toys.] Arielle told her. [He must’ve loaned out his stuff.]
In light of this, she grinned, even with how bad the situation was. Haruka had no idea why she could be so calm, excited even. Arielle crawled over to some cover and set her back to it, all glee and unbothered.
[That means he’s really out of ammo, and gadgets.] She said, [You know what that means, right?]
Haruka didn’t get it for a moment, then it dawned on her. Her lips turned up into a smile like Arielle’s, as if a glint of opportunity showed itself.
[Then what are we waiting for!] She declared and pulled herself up with her oaken staff once again. Faster than before, she flourished it in front of her as if it were a baton, the earth shifted rapidly like a quivering wave in a pond and then dirt rose into an enormous 10 meter tall wall. [Let’s go!]
Arielle nodded and threw off a returning volley of energy bolts in the direction of the newly arriving trainees. They shot up and then curved to vault over Haruka’s wall like soaring birds. The gunfire lessened on them and they could hear the panic cries from their enemy. The trainees might have pinned them, but not for long. These two explorers could still fight and they had a bone to pick, and a score to settle.
***
Itsuki braced, his arms up in a cross guard. Sinder lunged at him with all the power of a corebinder could bring to bear. Her wolfish nature showed and was accentuated by the raised, perky, animal like ears on her head that were aflame in passion. They were really on fire, and he felt the heat on his cheek.
She ducked in and was right in front of him. In a second she readied an uppercut to his face. From this angle he could see the deep cleavage between her breasts. The first thing anyone would do would block or run away, but even in this intense situation he kept calm and analyzed what he saw. Since they were colleagues, Itsuki knew she was doing the same to him. Sinder’s eyes seemed to be judging him, trying to decide on how to take him down. He was doing the same, but he was also critiquing her and mentally reprimanded her choice of attire with his expressions.
Why the heck are you wearing that! At least wear some armor.
He sighed inwardly for a moment, he knew better to say this aloud. Sinder had a kind of fashion sense when it came to her clothing, and she had gotten a grasp on what made her look good. Like it or not, girls would be girls and fashion was a realm wholly out of his reach to understand.
The tight red sleeved frilled blouse hugged at Sinder’s ample chest, and her short, black leather skirt clung dangerously too high. The heeled boots and asymmetrical fishnet leggings worked well with the rest of her attire, but Itsuki was unimpressed at the sheer sexual appeal she was exuding. This.. was a battlefield, a training exercise, and a fight no less. Not a fashion show.
Nothing she wore was tactical, or gave any strategic advantage like armor would, her attire only served to be fashionable, and to also.. Draw the attention of men.
A good distraction. Itsuki admitted silently. But only when it worked with the weak of heart, it doesn’t work on me.
Sinder threw out a punch, redirecting it to his gut to throw him off and circumvent his crossed arm guard. Itsuki slid on his right heel and shifted his weight back. Her punch whipped the air. It missed, yet he felt the skin on his belly begin to burn and sting. His uniform smoldered, spotted singes marred the black fabric and he feared his toolbelt had been hit. Working through the pain he withdrew a riot shield from his storage ring and brought its edge down on his opponent. It appeared as if materializing from light sparkling in the air.
Sinder’s eyes gleamed with a fiery wavering that was unaffected by the sudden approach of a mass of solid metal and composite aimed at her head. With the casual raise of a hand she caught the shield’s edge. Immediately, the ceramic and metal alloy composite melted, turning slowly into a paste. Itsuki disengaged the shield’s magnetic couple to his arm and threw himself back as he covered himself in another raised crossed armguard.
He flew, propelled by the blast as his shield suddenly exploded in a brilliant flash. The shockwave took him meters away. The reactive explosives he had set on the shield in advance had gone off without a hitch even after being damaged. He saw all the green status lights of the wireless detonation triggers appear in his HUD. But to his knowing dismay, Sinder was unharmed. Pushed back only slightly, there was not a single singe on her clothes or her flawless skin. She grinned, fangs bared as she licked her lips.
[Hmmm.. Nice try, bet you forgot I’m fireproof.]
[I didn’t.] Itsuki told her. [Just needed you to be distracted.]
Click.
[Wha!]
But before Sinder had a chance to react, she found herself thrown forward as another explosion boomed behind her. The earth under her was giving way, kicking up puffs of obscuring dirt, and not only that. The fragmentation of a hand grenade’s shrapnel pinged off her aura, protecting her. But her highly sensitive ears winced, curling up on her head. Just as the painful ringing was about to end, yet another boom rang, this time in front of her. It was louder and was followed with a flash of white. A flash bang.
Sinder screamed as her sense of hearing was overwhelmed as her sight was blinded. Remembering to keep her focus, her aura repelled the rapidly soaring pieces of shrapnel that continued to implode around her. Through the pinhole of vision she had left, she spotted Itsuki maneuvering around her, tossing explosive after explosive at her. Her rage built.
Shit! Does this guy ever run out of tricks!
Gathering core energy into her fist, the tips of her long dark brown hair burned a fiery yellow as her eyes shined a darkened gold tint. Her long and bushy tail waggled in irritation, kicking up a circle of storming fire. With a stomp of her heeled boot, the ground shook and was set aflame as her fist plunged into the once brown and green earth.
Itsuki was helpless to watch as Sinder rapidly turned her surroundings into a black patch of ashen cinders. He brought another riot shield out to weather the incoming wave of hateful blaze. He steadied him behind it, but it only lessened the indirect heat to a degree. He dug into his dwindling reserves of core energy to put up an aura of defense. The air he breathed into his lungs burned, he felt his skin sizzle.
Once the blaze passed, Sinder took no time to dally and rushed him. She was fast, so freakishly fast that he could feel the air heat at the mere friction she was creating. Itsuki smelt smoke and turned in time to trigger his shield’s reactive explosives to repel Sinder’s sudden back attack. Her claws had been inches from tearing into his gut.
No longer seeing the option to stay a distance away, Itsuki doubled down and rushed at Sinder this time. She was still staggered from the blast of his shield’s reactive plating so he used that small amount of time to coat his right fist in a layer of thin aura. He was able to resist the burning effect she exuded for a few seconds. Connecting a punch to her liver, he threw his weight in as he discarded his melted shield and jabbed with his now other free fist to relentlessly attack her floating rib.
Sinder gasped from every punch, no real damage had been done to her, but her brain wasn’t able to respond. Itsuki was certainly keeping her on the backfoot. But if there was anything she learned from the academy, and from knowing him, she knew she needed to push her limits. Fighting against her own staggered and stunned impulses, she reeled herself back and she slammed her forehead into Itsuki’s face. His nose trickled with two fonts of blood he wiped away. He licked his lips and then spat a red wad of spit at her.
Sinder cursed as it got into her eyes. “Asshole! You’re so fucking gross!”
Itsuki didn’t respond and instead drew his foot up to slam it into her gut. Sinder toppled over and he was about to bring up his foot again to heel stamp her into the burned dirt. She rolled to the side in time and inhaled sharply. Noticing her imminent counter and the flicker between her teeth, Itsuki drew up another shield from his storage ring and crouched behind it.
I’m running low. Itsuki spied the remaining equipment he had left in his storage ring. Then, Sinder howled a rush of hellflame that peeled and boiled the layers of his shield.
As it did, Itsuki’s attention drew to the nearby spectator. Amanda was left shaking in her boots at the edge of the ashen black patch that Sinder had created. Just as he was about to call out for her to run, his shield was shredded like paper and Sinder slashed her claws at him. She felt and heard the satisfying sound of a slice connecting. There was a thump as Itsuki jumped back, and it didn’t come from his landing. Sinder grabbed what had fallen, she laughed in victory.
“Ha! Got your arm! What are you going to do now! You little shit!” She clutched Itsuki’s dismembered left hand tightly as if showing it off like a trophy.
“Not bad.” Itsuki praised her plainly, holding his stump of an arm. It had been cut between the wrist and elbow, luckily the wound was cauterized from Sinder’s attack. It both burned and stung endlessly, but he didn’t look pained or tired, he was as implacable and unnerved as always. Sinder scowled at him. It really ticked her off how unemotional he was, he took things so seriously, though his flat compliment of her was a small silver lining.
“Thanks.” She said, momentarily awkward and left scratching her head. “Now, since you don’t need this anymore, I’ll just get rid of it.”
Producing a blaze in her palm, Itsuki’s dismembered arm was reduced to ash before his eyes. He seemed to grimace at that, likely because he could’ve reattached it using his core energy to regenerate the ligaments and nerves. It was an advanced self healing technique known among veteran explorers, something Sinder was well aware of and was never going to let Itsuki use in this fight.
Itsuki frowned at her. “You’re still as bad at controlling yourself, aren’t you? We’re not supposed to injure each other to this extent. You know that.. Right?”
His reprimanding tone made Sinder want to retort, but to the contrary a cold sweat began to trickle down her neck. She made a complicated face, as if saying, Oh.. yeah.. I forgot.. Uh.. My bad.. I guess.
“I.. I um.. S.. sorry?” She muttered, to which Itsuki glared at her with his blank black eyes. Her lips tightened and she was about to apologize, but a haze of gray smoke erupted between them.
“Hey!” Sinder shouted, realizing that he had been playing her, and she had really meant to apologize. “You freaking jerk! Get back here!” She ran into the growing gray screen of smoke but Itsuki was gone, but not really.
Only a few meters away, hidden in the expanding smoke, he caught Amanda’s arm and drew her up to her feet. She had been feebly sitting on the ground, dazed and looking traumatized. He saw as her eyes went to his stump of an arm. For a moment Itsuki thought he smelt the unpleasant aroma of piss. That was probably his imagination. It definitely wasn’t his own.
No time, think later.
For now, his mind focused on getting Amanda to safety. With how berserk Sinder was being, he was sure she’d end up hurting and injuring him or Amanda to an irreparable extent. Only a minute after breaking from the cover of his smoke grenade, Sinder caught wind of him and was on his tail. She’d get to them in seconds. By the looks of it, her attention was on him and it didn’t look as if she had any qualms with who she fought or who got in the way. As mature as Sinder thought she was, Itsuki knew she was still a greenhorn as an explorer. If Amanda stayed she’d be a bystander who would be in the way, so he had no other choice to get her out, and fast.
With the seconds he had left, he spotted the nearest battlegroup, rounded on Amanda as they ran, and lifted her up by the collar of her manifested armor. The backplate of her white and gilded gold manifested armor made for a perfect grip.
“Huh?” Amanda yelped, feeling that this was familiar. Itsuki whipped her around like an olympic athlete would do in a hammer throw contest. With a grunt he threw her.. again.
“NO! NO! NOT AGAIN! NOT! AAAAAGAINNNNN!” He could hear her scream as she flew off. Hopefully she’d land with no issue.
In the next second Itsuki turned and ducked around a flaming kick from Sinder’s blazing heel. With his one arm, he grappled and flipped her onto her face into the dirt. Itsuki withdrew a line of flashbangs and grenades from his belt. Biting with his teeth, the master line of connecting pins clinked off. Tossing them they exploded as he jumped away.
By how Sinder howled, she was pissed off.
Good, that means I have her full attention.
Itsuki pulled up a comms line and connected with S1.
[This is Itsuki. Situation Critical. Send available medics.]
[Critical? Are you okay?] S1 asked. [How bad is it?]
[I’m alive, but I’m getting pushed back. Just find me someone who can regrow an arm.]
[An ARM! That the heck are you..]
But Itsuki cut the line before S1 could finish, Sinder was already back up and her long locks of dark brown hair wavered like an angry god. An angry wolf god was a better analogy, but puppy or cat seemed more appealing. Itsuki wasn’t sure which to choose, all he knew was that he was going to get his shit kicked in. He could already feel another two predatory intents behind him and they were getting close.
This was going to get ugly real fast, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to get back to a hospital in one piece after this. He supposed being brought back in body parts dumped into a vat of medical fluids would be the worst outcome. It was tolerable, but a horrifying experience.
Of the things that could make Itsuki shiver in fear, the medical procedures to put wounded explorers back together was one excruciating event he loathed to endure. Explorers could take a lot of punishment, Sinder’s staunch perseverance and persistence was proof. Not to mention Arielle and Haruka. Even after he exhausted hundreds of grenades, thousands of bullets, and literally used himself as a battering ram to slam two of them from the sky and into the ground, these three girls had not a scratch on them.
He on the other hand, no pun intended, had lost an arm, had probably cracked all his ribs, and had burns across his arms and face. Still, they all stood as testaments to how durable explorers were. But he was probably going to pass out soon from exhaustion or blood loss if he let his focus slip.
“But this is nothing new.” He muttered to himself. The war had been worse and the stardepths were worse. If he couldn’t handle this, then he couldn’t consider himself an explorer.
He took up a fighting stance as Sinder howled at him. The pressure she exuded with her core energy staggered him for a second. He bit his lip and stirred his own core energy. His perception of time slowed and the unseen wavering of their energies came into existence.
Sinder and Itsuki had their perceptions changed. They both entered a state of mind that was beyond human. Now visible to his eyes, tongues of Sinder’s raging golden red and yellow flaming aura screamed against the sharply crackling lines of his own silver aura. Their battle had been taken to a level where it should’ve never gone unless they were trying to kill each other.
A small smile played across Itsuki’s lips, not that Sinder noticed. Inside his thoughts, he was proud of Sinder, like a teacher would for a successful student. It had been a year since he had last seen her. The last time he did was her graduation from the academy and her subsequent send off from the dorms. As supervisor of said dorms, he gave the usual off handed goodbye. To which Sinder had so cutely pouted at him, complaining that he should’ve at least treated her to a present. If he were her parent, then maybe he would’ve. But he wasn’t, so the send off was normal. She gave him a farewell slap for his trouble. It wasn’t a pleasant good bye. That was fine. What mattered was that he saw to it that she had what she needed. He kept a chuckle from slipping as he reminisced.
She’s really grown since then, and in more than just bra size, no, she’s now an even greater and impressive force to be reckoned with. She’s.. A good girl. And her acumen as a fighter is far from as it was before. She has grit, a hotheaded personality, a heart steeped in emotional passions, and playfulness that could turn vicious on a dime. But.. she could try to be less sexy all the time.
He thought that last thought was off the mark, perhaps Sinder’s charm was getting to him. In any case, this was going to be a hard fight, and with her being a corebinder type explorer, who excelled in close combat and had such a unique physiology as a beast human, he was presently against numerous disadvantages he could only hope to overcome.
So nothing new.
Suddenly coming to a decision, he did something he hadn’t thought he’d do today. With his only good hand, he raised it toward Sinder as he would with a pistol. Sinder blinked, a full face of focus, but as she blinked a second time she saw silver trickles of light begin to gather in Itsuki’s hand. By the time she blinked a third time, what was now gripped in his hand was a gilded silver pistol.
It radiated an energy signature that was unmistakable. A manifested weapon, but Sinder wasn’t sure. She had never seen Itsuki use one, either this was a weapon from his storage ring, a trick, or he was bringing out a new technique of his own to this fight. Her eyes trained on the pointed silver barrel of the pistol. It made her tremble unconsciously.
Itsuki brought the pistol’s top receiving slide to his face and pulled it back with his teeth. His eyes turned down for a second, peering into the inner mechanisms of the gun. Even with his attention off her, Sinder saw no into his defenses.
“Three shots.” She heard him say. “Only three shots, better not miss.”
That! Was ominous. Hella! Ominous!
Her tail’s hairs stood on end, every part of her animalistic senses were telling her to run like hell. She didn’t like the look in his eyes. Itsuki seemed ready to throw down even if he had to lose another arm, and she’d seen him do things to students she would’ve liked to unsee. Saliva pooled and she swallowed carefully, as if something would go wrong if she didn’t do it right.
[Sinder Concept]
Thanks goes out to Vtuber Sinder for Inspiration for this character. Any comments are welcomed. Link: https://www.twitch.tv/sinder
Description: Fiery girl who both exudes a youthful charm with a wild style who down right loves cute things. To be Continued in Sinder’s Character Sheet.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/0NgzF0C7/1708741622325.jpg]