Location: Terra Colony Andromeda
South Sector - Training Room 101
Security Log ES21-0619
Time: [Redacted]
[REDACTED], 2045
Red.. His vision was dyed in it. Feeling around Chisuke touched his earpiece. The discrete device gave off a light hum against his pointer, a good sign that it was working. He then noticed a sensation of slick and gooey liquid permeating the tips of his finger as he pulled his hand away. Blinking the stuff out of his eyes, he finally saw that his whole hand was caked in blood, although the sight of the floor was worse. He was sitting in a pool of blood, his own blood. With the wall as his back’s support, he studied himself.
“What in the fucking hell?”
Lines of bleeding wounds ebbed and flowed down his chest, in fact even his eyes were crying a river of red. Shifting himself to try and get up, he ended up slumping back down against the wall. It was pathetic.. And there was a strange lightness to his chest. If there was less weight on him then why did he fall? It was as if he were missing a few pounds. Again red, there was red all over him and most disturbingly of all was the ghastly realization of an apparent open chest wound he somehow didn’t notice for all this time. It probably looked as if something had gouged out a chunk of him and eaten it, like getting mauled by a bear.
So that explains why I feel so faint.. Blood loss. But how did that happen?
Was he delirious? Certainly, yet uncertainly he wondered why he wasn’t in pain and then..
Shit! I just had to.. DAMNIT!
Regretting that he brought the topic up, a horrible pain flared across his face. His sobering up to the situation had backfired. His ability activated, turning his suffering into core energy as a miasma of red percolated from his skin and was keeping his aura up. This was why he was still alive. As long as an explorer had their aura up they could weather a lot of punishment, even if wounded to an extreme extent.
It wouldn’t last forever, but Chisuke thanked himself for all the drilling he put himself through to get that skill down pat. Huffing for breath, he checked the wound. The literal craved hole in him was hand sized, again he likened it to being mauled by a bear. He got the feeling though that a bear wasn’t the culprit because he’d be chopped liver by now and shat out as shit. Still, whatever had done this was brutal, savage, inhuman even. For god sakes he could see his ribs if he looked hard enough.
“Get up,” Said a flat voice. “How long are you going to sit around.. The class isn’t over.”
Chisuke turned his head up to see a person standing over him. It all came back to him when he saw those indifferent eyes. What he’d been doing, what had happened, and who this was. All the answers to his questions were solved and it didn’t bring him any smiles.
“Itsuki?” Chisuke rasped, confused. “Are we seriously going to keep going? After all that?”
Itsuki didn’t flinch, he didn’t even give him a hand up or was even concerned about his injury. He only stared down at Chisuke, his eyes urging him, asking him if he could go on.
Chisuke stifled a pained chuckle. “You’re fucking crazier than me.” He turned and spat a wad of blood onto the floor, then he glared back in defiance. “I’m game, how about another round? And this time we don’t stop until one of us dies?”
Itsuki raised a brow and his lips moved. Chisuke suddenly jumped in his skin in shock, he had just seen something he didn’t think was possible.
He can smile? That asshole can smile.. Really smile? Jesus.. Am I hallucinating?
But just as fast as it came, it went away in a flash. Whatever shape Itsuki’s lips had made was becoming less important since his eyes flared with an ominous silver color.
“Get up.” Itsuki said as he turned, showing his bloodied back to Chisuke. Chisuke smirked as he remembered that he had gotten a few good shots in.
“The faster you get up.” Itsuki continued. “The stronger you get. Just because you can take a hit and get stronger doesn’t mean you’re invincible. You need to learn how to stay conscious in even the most dire of situations. Now get a move on, time is short.”
Chisuke coughed, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Fine, but can we do something about this?” He indicated the messy state of his clothes. “Can I at least change?”
Itsuki didn’t bother answering. He just let his eyes do the work as he tilted his head around. They said it all. Stop bitching about it and get up, is what Chisuke could hear from him. Chisuke let out a small laugh, this training was crazy.
But I like crazy.. I like challenges too.. So.. WHY NOT!
A feral smile widened across Chisuke’s face. Licking his lips, he basked and savored the metallic flavor of his blood. It wasn’t often he got to taste it, mostly because his opponent would be the ones bleeding on the floor after they pissed him off.
When was the last time this happened though? That I’d be beaten flat on my ass? Back in the Eastern Bloc? Yes, that’s right, it was when the Elders punished me. So this was how it was like.. To be the one beaten.. To fall so low. He had forgotten ever since he was forced to run from them with his tail between his legs.
Never again!
With that raging thought in hand he staggered to his feet, leaning on his odachi for support as his grip tightened around its hilt like a vise.
I will have my revenge.. I’ll stick it to those old farts.. And I will be the one to stand at the top. To hell with tradition, to hell with the rules! Only the strong live, so Fight. Fight Fight Fight!
Location: Terra Colony Andromeda
North Sector - Training Field Septa
Time: 1403
January 31, 2050
“Grahahahahaha! What’s wrong, Miss little deer! Scared!” Chisuke bellowed as he slammed his odachi into Haruka’s barrier. “You can’t hide behind this forever! I’m going to get you!”
Inside her ball of protection, Haruka grimaced. Chisuke was right, this use of her core energy was draining and hearing him yell like a psychotic maniac wasn’t cutting close to a nerve.
“For fuck sakes, what kind of teacher did you..” She stopped herself mid sentence as she realized it herself.
Chisuke just grinned at her. There was a somewhat tacit understanding being exchanged. Yup, it was that guy. After giving each other a nod, Chisuke’s lips then widened as he bared his teeth.
“Die!”
The short lived moment of common understanding was broken as Chisuke screamed, bringing his odachi flying down in a heavy downward strike. Green and red sparks sputtered from their clashing of energies, a cacophonous dazzlement of unbridled fury and relentless resistance. Keeping her barrier up, Haruka kicked the ground and leapt into a retreating backstep. At the same time she fired off a burst of three quick energy bolts. They struck Chisuke dead center as he gave chase and kept on her like a sticky piece of gum on her shoe.
“Don’t even try to run!”
The red shine of Chisuke’s odachi filled haruka’s eyes as she was once again blown back in her bubble of protection. Her encompassing green barrier was holding but didn’t blunt out the strain it had on her mental faculties. Each blow was rocking her head with a brief daze. On the bright side, she wasn’t physically hurt in any way. Mystic type explorers like her were commonly trained to do two things: fire bolts of energy or create barriers of energy.
Haruka upped the density of her protective barrier as she planted her stance. She was confident she could weather the attacks as long as she needed for Sinder or Arielle to come and assist. She was proven right as Chisuke’s blade fruitlessly scratched across her barrier, now not even causing a shudder in her posture or a rattle in her senses. Giving him a perfunctory yawn, Haruka goaded him with a teasing smile. Preferring this lazier plan, she was inclined to hunker down and doze off. Her eyes fluttered as her even slackening knees bent to lean against her staff. Then..
A sickening crack snapped her eyes open.
“Die!” Chisuke screamed, his flurry of strikes increasing in pace as he spoke faster and faster. “Die! Die! Die!”
First Haruka saw one strike, then saw two simultaneously slice the air, then three, then four, and on and on until there was just a haze of red glimmers. She sensed a rise in Chisuke’s spirits, his core energy permeating the air around him in a bloody hue. The guy was getting stronger by the minute. Impossible. But the ever growing cracks in her barrier said otherwise.
Chisuke deftly paused for a moment, his blade parallel with the ground and its point readied and leveled towards her. “Blood Slicer!” Shouting, he thrusted and focused his gathered power into the tip of his weapon..
Haruka’s barrier seemingly held against the attack, but a second later, a blood red point of light seeped and broke through. Haruka dodged at the last moment before the tip dug into her chest. Deactivating her barrier she then jumped back as far as she could. The long white, draping sleeves of her manifest armor wavered as she shifted the staff in retaliation.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/FKKQwdTp/1717354796547.jpg]
“Damnit.. Can’t I catch a break!”
Razor leaves blossomed then bursted from the head of Haruka’s staff. They hit Chisuke with a sickening shower of slices, he bled as a thousand cuts marred his skin. Haruka pondered why he had deactivated his aura. If he had kept it up, then he would have weathered the attack. Then she remembered.
“Oh shit!” Her voice strickend with worry as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was just in time to guard against Chisuke's next attack.
He appeared like a red flash, with speed she hadn’t expected or anticipated. Sent tumbling to the ground like a rolling dust ball, Haruka cushioned herself by letting the momentum take her. As she righted her posture, her staff glowed from the small jewels of light adorning its length. A new green barrier enveloped her as golems arose around her.
Haruka pointed her staff at Chisuke. “Go!” At her command, 3 five-meter-tall golems trampled towards him.
Chisuke rolled to the left and evaded the first golem's fist. He then jumped to get on its arm. As he impaled one of its verdant green eyes, he spoke aloud as if complaining at someone. “Can you hurry the fuck up!”
“Huh?” Haruka was confused if he was talking to her. “Hey! Lunatic, just who the heck are you screaming at?”
“Not you!” Chisuke said as he brought another golem low. He jerked his head up. “Them!”
“Moron!” Yelled a voice from above. “This was supposed to be a surprise attack! Don’t you get that!”
Chisuke didn’t reply. Haruka was about to look up to see who was speaking but had to bring up her guard when Chisuke closed the distance between them and readied his weapon as if it were a baseball bat.
He grinned. “Gotcha!”
“Just fucking hit her already!” Complained the voice in his ear.
Chisuke slammed the flat side of his odachi against Haruka's barrier and launched her to the clouds. Haruka flinched, jostled inside her bubble of protection. Just as the clouds grew nearer, figures shot out from the underbelly of the sky. Raising rifles on wings of fire, the trainees of Group Epsilon opened up on her with a burst of bullets.
“Took you long enough!” A figure with white wings approached and sprung into a spinning kick that hit Haruka’s bubble of protection in the side. Like a bouncing ball across a court, she landed, and finally rolled to a stop in the distance.
[Mana! What the hell!] Chisuke yelled into his comm. [You were supposed to break her barrier, didn’t I tell you to hit her with everything!]
Mana flapped her wings as she descended next to him and hit him upside the head with her wing on purpose, she then let down Dahlia to the ground.
[Well why don’t you try fighting with someone hanging off of you!] Mana scoffed. [I’d like to see you try.]
Dahlia embarrassingly ducked her head. [Sorry about that, was I heavy?]
Mana shook her head and glared at Chisuke as she gripped the front of his collar. She got a grin as her reply, she so very much wanted to punch the guy. A burst of explosions over where Haruka had landed sounded out, so Mana let Chisuke go. They had a fight to finish.
[Report!] Mana ordered as she pressed a finger to her earpiece. [Osamu? Did you get a hit in?]
The earth under their feet rumbled as Osamu’s joking voice filled the comm. [About that.. I Uh? Well, I definitely hit her, but I think I’ve pissed her off.. Only a little though.]
A blast wave of green energy rose into the sky.
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[Yeah.] Osamu said, his voice a little shakier now. [Only a little.]
Mana groaned as Chisuke laughed his ass off. Dahlia though trembled and wondered how anyone could stay as calm as these two. They were going to fight an explorer and try to win. With about 15 students including themselves and all of Group Epsilon, they had Haruka outnumbered. But that was no comfort to Dahlia. Already, as they made their way to Osamu and the others, she could see a little more than half of her allies' status turn black, a signal that they were knocked out and unable to continue. Just how strong was Haruka?
As the others came into view, Dahlia gasped. “Just how are we going to do this?”
Tens of golems were already stalking the battlefield. Group Epsilon was warding them off with bursts from those who had heavy machine guns and grenades, but whenever a golem was felled, it would be replaced by another a few seconds later.
“What do we do?” Dahlia asked. “This is going pretty badly.”
“We fight!” Chisuke declared and ran to join Osamu, who was coordinating attacks with Gen and the other first year academy students who had walked into this hell. “On me people! We’re going to rip that little deer girl a new one!”
Dahlia was about to follow, before she could, Mana held her arm.
“Where are you going?” Mana asked. “You aren’t thinking of fighting? Are you?”
Dahlia hesitated to reply. She had thought so, but.. Her arms were still trembling. Her reaction was enough of a wordless acknowledgement.
Mana patted her back. “Get the wounded, help them get back on their feet. You can do that right?”
Dahlia’s eyes went wide. “You’re letting me fight?”
“That’s your choice.” Mana said as she studied her. “And it seems you aren’t sure yourself, so do what you can.”
Mana set off towards the fight. Deep down, she hoped Dahlia the best. This was a long time coming and she wasn’t going to hold her friend's hand anymore. As much as Mana wanted to, she reigned in her emotions and let it loose on the golem that blocked her way.
[There!] Osamu's voice buzzed over the comm as he pointed to a figure amongst a formation of ten golems. Hidden in their shadows, a glimmer of leaves had not been missed by him. [Target spotted! Gen! Let a rip!]
[On it!] Gen tightened his grip on the katana at his side. In his mind, a 20 twenty sided die rolled and a number revealed itself. Letting his body move through the motions unconsciously, his katana withdrew from its sheath in a blur that lasted only a second. An annoyed click came from the corners of Gen's lips. [Not good enough,] He muttered.
A ripple of air shot forward from him, the dirt ahead flared as 6 thunderous slashes tore down an equal number of golems. 4 remained, and Haruka, they’re target, was unharmed.
[Chisuke!] Gen called out and already Chisuke was bolting ahead with Mana behind him.
[I know! Keep up, Mana!] Chisuke slid under a golem’s fist and then broke into a roll to evade the next swing at him.
Mana went over and bore her fist through the golem’s forehead. [I’ll handle the golems,] She said. [I leave the target to you.]
[And leave command to me!] Osamu added. [Group Epsilon, form a firing position and herd the golems away. We need to give Chisuke a clear shot!]
[Understood!] Epsilon 1 racked the slide of his rifle, then motioned to the remaining numbers of his team and the students. [If you’re injured, get to the rear where Miss Dahlia is. If you can still fight, then get your asses back in gear and keep the golems away from those fighting the target! Am I understood!]
A mix of energetic and tired responses came back as Group Epsilon moved into position. As if trying to stop them, a wave of earth suddenly rumbled from under where Haruka stood. A tide of blunt boulders roiled toward them.
[Evade!] Epsilon 1 took flight with the last bit of energy in his propulsion pack as he shouted. He grabbed a nearby student as he gained altitude.
“Jesus Christ!” The student paled, almost looking ready to wet himself.
[What are you waiting for!] Epsilon 1 barked. [You’re a mystic aren’t you? Fire back!]
The student only frowned. “Don’t tell me what to do! Just get me to safety first.”
Epsilon 1 was glad his face was hidden under his helmet, not only that, he was glad no one could hear him when he spoke to himself in this thing. Fucking pansy. He looked over to where the real fight was, where the real students, the next true generation of explorers, were duking it out and proving themselves.
With cover from Mana, Chisuke dodged past the golems. Group Epsilon volleyed rifle grenades to soften up the next wave of golems Haruka had on the way. In doing so enabled Osamu to slip in with his speed to finish them off. With two golems left at Haruka’s side, Mana rushed one with a flurry of punches. It toppled as Chisuke ran through the falling debris of rock and dirt. The second golem made for him, but stopped dead as it reached with its huge bricky hand. The imposing 5 meter figure fell in two directions, its frame split right down the middle. Behind its crumbling form, Gen was dusting the earth off his shoulder. He was luckily where he needed to be.
Haruka grimaced, her eyes turning a glimmering verdant color. “Find then,” She said. “If you want to win so badly, then go ahead and try.” She slammed the butt of her staff into the dirt and her voice took on a rumbling tone. “But don’t blame me if you get hurt! I’m just doing my job!”
Over twenty bolts of energy formed in the air. They twinkled, firing off every which way in a row of booms. Mana pulled her wings around herself as a protective screen. Gen and Osamu pivoted and turned themselves through the barrage. Chisuke, not opting for defense, dashed ahead and let whatever bolts hit him. Each one gouged him deeply, blistered his skin, and sprayed the ground in his blood.
“That the best you can do!” He roared. “Hit me! Come on! Hit me!”
Even as his severe wounds were stacking up, he did not falter in any of his steps. Energy welled inside him as his ability, Bloodthirst, activated to its limits. While it gave him new strength and energy to continue, everyone had their limits and he knew he was nearing it. Haruka likely knew as well and was trying to push him off that edge.
But he endured.
“Graaaah! Blood Slicer!”
Concentrating it all into one attack, Chisuke raised his odachi over his head and its edges hazed in a sickening red.
Haruka smirked. “What a numbskull.” She met his attack with her own. At the head of her staff, green light collected from the glimmering jewels along its length, coming together to form a concentration of core energy. “Verdant Blast!”
Raising her staff to her voice’s bellicose, a visible shockwave of pure core energy dashed away the red of Chisuke’s odachi as he was blown back several meters. A tremor ran through everyone as a wave of green grassy earth rose to engulf them. The tide of solid soil traveled like a rippling wave, reaching as far as to where Group Epsilon had set up and threatened to bury them in an avalanche of earth.
[Brace for impact!] Epsilon 1 dived for cover, clutching one of his injured comrades head down. There was a slam that entered his chest, then a rolling writhing of brittle sounds. Yet, Epsilon 1 didn’t feel a lick of pain, in fact he felt reinvigorated.
Looking up he saw a beast human girl, Dahlia, standing in front of them all. Her trembling showed her cowardice, but a defiance shined as she clutched her staff with an ever tightening hold. To everyone's’ shock, a wall of roots and vines had enveloped them in a dome and had broken Haruka’s attack.
Even more surprisingly, was when Epsilon 1 checked his HUD and found that no one had been knocked out. [Report!] He coughed. [What’s your status everyone?]
[I’m alive. I think,] Osamu quipped. [Anyone want to explain what happened? And what’s with these vines?]
[That’s Dahlia you idiot!] Yelled Mana. [Did you forget what she can do?]
[Uh.. kinda?]
[Unbelievable.] Mana tapped her earpiece. [Chisuke? How about you? Are you dead? Or should we get a shovel?]
[Bleeding. But I’m mobile. Seems like Dahlia’s roots got to us in time.] Mana made out an almost inaudible grunt of approval from Chisuke, but then the asshole’s tune turned stern. [Dahlia, get over here and heal me.]
[Don’t just order her around your ass!] Mana barked. [Get off your butt and go to her!]
[N-no.] Dahlia said abruptly, her soft voice sounding louder than she thought it would. [I’ll come to you.]
[Good!] Said Chisuke. [Osamu, keep me covered and work with Group Epsilon! Gen, get the new golem’s attention! And Mana, get Dahlia over here.] He then abruptly clicked off his comm.
A second later Epsilon 1 heard the fight rage on. Mana arrived somewhat reluctantly a couple seconds later. She landed as the tangling shell of Dahlia’s roots buried themselves back into the dirt.
Mana spoke, her voice restrained and a little concerned. [Are you sure? You can still help by healing everyone, you don’t need to..]
[Mana..] Dahlia's soft voice surprisingly cut in. There was a pause of awkward silence, and then she said, [We both know I can do a lot more than heal, and I’ve already set up a healing ward here with my ability. So come on, bring me to the front.] She reached her hand out Mana.
Mana hesitated, seeing the tremor in Dahila’s hand, but quickly didn’t let her apprehension show. She grabbed Dahlia’s hand, hoping her friend didn’t notice her hints of reservation. They both weren’t sure if this was the right decision, but at least they were both uncertain together.
A green blast hit Chisuke dead center in his chest. He coughed up blood, licked his lips, and laughed at Haruka. “I thought you were an explorer! But you can’t even bring me down!” He sneered with disgust. “Pathetic.”
An anger flared in Haruka’s brow. Osamu, minding the golems that chased him, wondered if there was any point to Chisuke’s shit talk. Was he trying to get her to make a mistake or get her to keep hitting him so his ability keeps triggering? In either case, Osamu discreetly gave a little praise.
But he’s not that smart.. Right? Or is he still dumb?
Chisuke’s laughter then grew in intensity. “Die! Die! Die!”
Yeah.. he’s still a dumbass. Osamu shrugged, he still liked the guy for all his failings. He threw out a pair of kunai in Haruka’s direction amongst all his dodging. They got Haruka’s attention for a split second, except her eyes honed in on Chisuke a moment later and the kunai deflected against her barrier. Man that thing is tough. Not even me or Gen can get an attack in.
Gen had been trying, but the new conjured golems Haruka made had kept them busy, making it difficult to build up enough energy in any of their attacks. Not only that, Haruka began shifting the earth around her into tides that they had to be careful to evade. If they were swallowed up by one, then it was game over and they’d be buried probably 6 ft under in a literal manner of speaking.
Chisuke gritted his teeth in annoyance. He was swinging, attacking, but he was fending off more golems and waves of earth rather than getting any actual hits in. Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Seeing an opening as Gen moved ahead to engage an approaching squad of golems, Chisuke slipped past as 10 of Gen’s thunderous slashes hazed over him and filled the air in golem bits.
An incoming hail of Haruka’s energy bolts came in fast so Chisuke slashed them down and let the non life threatening ones hit him on purpose. With a distance of a couple meters left, which he could cover in less than a second, he frowned. He sensed trouble. Leaping back, Chisuke was in time to evade a maw of earth undulate up from where he had been standing a moment ago.
Haruka giggled, obviously finding some enjoyment in this fight. “So you aren’t as dumb as a brute,” She said. “Guess I’ll have to try harder, what a drag.”
“You little..” Chisuke bit his lip, letting the rage and pain not quell, but fuel his ability. “I’ll get you,” He said sharply. “Oh I will get you, Miss little deer.”
“I am a Moose! A Caribou!” Haruka declared proudly. “See these antlers! Get it right!”
“Never!” Chisuke laughed. “You’ll have to make me!”
“Oh you’re on!” Haruka shouted. “And I’m coming for that smirk on your face you runt!”
“Who the hell are you calling a runt!”
“You! You idiot!”
“No, you’re the idiot!”
“No! You!”
“No You!”
“No You!”
Osamu shook his head in utter bewilderment and he knew Gen was doing the same. This fight was divulging into chaos for the most petty of reasons. It was like watching two idiotic children duke it out, except they were two different kinds of idiots. He hedged his bets that Haruka would win though since Chisuke was blown back this time by one of Haruka’s bolts of energy.
Osamu moved to catch the idiot as Gen warded off the golems and any retaliating bolts from Haruka.
[I got this!] Gen said. [Get Chisuke clear!]
[Got it.]
Getting a few more meters away from Gen, Osamu laid Chisuke down. “You good?” There was response except a grunt. Osamu gently slapped his cheek, testing if he was still conscious or was on the verge of going into a mindless rage. It had happened before, and Osamu was not going to stick around if it did.
Chisuke blinked the slight daze out of his eyes as wakefulness returned. “Yeah, I’m fine. Hurry and get me up.”
“But you’re bleeding.. a lot.”
“Yeah? So what? This isn’t as bad as..” Chisuke coughed a mouthful of blood up into his palm. He gazed at it, face paling as he realized his legs wouldn’t move. “Shit.”
[Is Chisuke going to be alright?] Mana asked over the comm. [His vitals just plummeted from what I can see in my HUD, he doesn’t seem all that hot.]
Osamu agreed. His HUD showed that Chisuke was suffering from a punctured lung, a number of lacerations, and a few fractured ribs. But he was stable. [I can sense that his aura is still up, so he won’t be dying anytime soon,] Osamu said. [I’m carrying him back to where Dahlia is, where are you?]
[Hold that.] Mana ordered. [I’ll bring her to you. Wait one.]
And as she had said, as second later Mana landed and put Dahlia down.
Dahlia rushed over to Chisuke’s side, pouting. “You’re too reckless, what if you died pulling off that kind of stunt.”
Chisuke narrowed his eyes on her. “What’s it to you?”
“I just healed you,” Dahlia said archly. “And my work doesn’t stop until we finish this fight. Now hold still.”
Strangely, Chisuke complied. It was the most obedient Osamu and Mana had ever seen the guy be. Osamu nudged Mana in the side and pulled up a private comm.
[You think Chisuke digs your friend?]
A moment passed and Osamu got a punch to the gut for his trouble.
Mana huffed and glanced over to where Gen was. He unleashed slash after slash and the golems were falling unluckily over each other. Haruka was having difficulties getting a lock on Gen thanks to Group Epsilon and the other remaining students. A deluge of grenades, gunfire, and energy bolts was keeping her occupied and she was preferring to hide behind her constructs rather than engage.
By Mana’s guess, Haruka’s stores of core energy must be low since S1’s previous artillery had kept her on her toes and prevented any of them from recovering. That meant Haruka’s couldn’t use any of her abilities too recklessly, not if she wanted to win. Mana reminded herself of that as she and Osamu moved to pull some of the pressure from Gen.
Chisuke felt restless. He was sitting here doing nothing, waiting for Dahlia to be done with her work. It would only take a minute, but still, there was a lot that could happen in that amount of time in a battle.
[Finished?] He asked a bit impatiently.
Dahlia shook her head. [Your wounds are deeper and more numerous this time, and I can’t heal as fast since I’m almost out of core energy myself. Just a little more.. And..] She paused, then said, [And think of a plan.]
[My plan is to attack, now hurry up!]
[You can’t be serious?] Dahlia was unsure as she spoke, she pondered if she should forgo healing him as he’d waste what she had done and get hurt again, maybe even die. She hated that, hated how he was so reckless, how little he cared for his life. [You need a better plan than charging right at her, think Chisuke. Come on!]
That raise in her voice caught Chisuke off guard. He studied her, almost amused, but more confused, it was as if he had just seen a kitten bark like a dog.
[Well, you’re being more mouthy than usual.] He teased. [What’s up, finally got your nerve.]
[Yes. In fact, I did.] Dahlia slapped a glowing green palm against one of his wounds, deliberately getting a pained yelp from Chisuke. [Now stop thinking about me and trying to think of a way to win. I only have enough energy left for a few more times to heal and they’re going to be slow.]
Chisuke grimaced through the pain. [How many?]
[4, maybe 5 times. I’ll need about a minute for each full recovery.]
Suddenly Chisuke had an idea. [Do you need to have physical contact to heal me? And do I need to be still?]
Dahlia shook her head. [No to both, but the closer I am and the less you move, the faster the healing. Why do you ask?]
[I think I know how to win.] A grin painted itself on Chisuke’s face. [But I’ll need you to hold on tight.]
A sudden foreboding feeling welled in Dahlia’s chest; it made her want to back down. She gulped, trying to fight past the blocking pressure of her hidden anxiety. [W-What exactly d-do you need me to hold on to? I.. I..] Her stuttering was cut short as Chisuke grabbed her arm. She blushed as he explained, then her eyes went wide in exasperation. “You have to be joking?”
“Nope.”