Chiharu found the uneven ground turning worse. Her left foot slid down as her right remained. She jumped away to more level terrain before she completely fell over. Unfortunately, level in the Field meant very little. When she reached her desired spot, it was already changing. She slid down the steep angle before it caught her. ‘Damn…I can’t even get solid footing for more than a second…’

Riding out the unstable terrain, Chiharu glanced over at her opponent. The middle-aged man was unaffected by the Field. She expected it to be the case or he was used to maneuvering in it. In her current situation, he clearly had the advantage against her. ‘This would be over in an instant if I could reach him. He’s just a normal human.’ Chiharu could see so many openings for her, but the shifting ground never stopped. She had to adapt to her new environment.

“Having some difficulty?” he commented to Chiharu. He took some casual steps forward without appearing overly aggressive. The intent remained clear even if he seemed relaxed. A flick of his finger unleashed a disruption in the air. It chipped away at the raised earth as Chiharu carelessly dodged. “It’s unsettling to see someone as young as you caught up in this. This is no place for you.”

Making use of cover, Chiharu threw a kunai at the man. “I’m not interested in your words.” However, she misjudged the changing elevation of the ground and her aim went too high. ‘I thought I accounted for it…there has to be a pattern…’

Chapter 164 – Uneven Ground

Fumiko felt a little ill watching the changing surface. She tried to exit, but the strength in her legs failed her. ‘I need to do something to help Chiharu, but he’s neutralized my magic… I’ve only got my physical attributes, but with this Field…’ A trapped feeling ran over top of Fumiko. No exit and uselessness plagued her.

Chiharu scanned the area looking at the shadows. Her powers ran through her calculations. ‘Everything is changing so much… I can’t rely on any accuracy with the shadows… I need a plan.’

He continued a slowly paced stroll towards Chiharu. Every so often, he sent out attacks as though not intending to hit anything. Regardless, the distance between them shrank by the minute. “I’m guessing you’re like your friend and the reports. You have some ability, which doesn’t seem to be like our own. You think you're special because of it and don’t think about your age. Youth is a precious thing to waste.”

The talking annoyed Chiharu, but she could do nothing to stop him. Her mind tried to absorb everything around her, but the pattern to the Field continued to elude her. Everything she crammed into her mind made it feel like she would explode soon. “I’ve got no interest in an opponent that only likes to hear his own voice.” She worked around the endlessly rolling earth trying to increase their distance. His progress didn’t escape her mind. ‘I finally get an opponent and he just talks and uses annoying powers.’

A bit of laughter escaped the man’s lips. “Well when you get to my age all you can do is talk. You might want to listen. Your elders tend to know a thing or two.”

“I doubt you have anything interesting.”

Detecting the change in position of Chiharu, he altered his direction of movement. ‘She’s doing a good job keeping out of sight even on the changing surface. That takes some skill. Such skill is troubling…in someone still so young.’ He knew nothing of Chiharu other than what he read from her movements, words and actions. It still gave him a lot to work with and he didn’t like the feeling it gave him. ‘Why is someone so young so skilled? What world did she come from and grow up in to become like this?’

Keeping things tense, his hands motioned through the air, displacing again cutting edges. He had to keep things moving until he could make his move. “I don’t know about that. I have several things that might interest you.”

Chiharu felt the ground suddenly react strangely. ‘Is it getting rougher? Is he doing something?’ Any patterns or sense of the flow she had shattered with the change. It unbalanced her even more than normal and left her completely exposed. While almost completely on her back and staring meters away from the old man, Chiharu threw out a kunai to keep him off her. Her aim improved since the last time and it actually had a chance against him.

However, he motioned with a single finger cutting the kunai down before it came in reach of him. The cutting air continued on towards Chiharu. She rolled away and got back on her feet to recover her stance. The ground kept altering faster than before making it difficult for her to hold her position. ‘This must be his doing…’

She felt the use of her shadow lose any chance of working. The only options left to her were what she could achieve through physical abilities. Yet she questioned her success with the Field. Her eyes darted around trying to read the situation again. Chiharu caught sight of him closer than before to her. She made the risky move of exposing her position.

Standing up, she balanced off the uneven ground long enough to give her a moving start. She couldn’t manage her full speed, but it was still enough for her to move faster than a human eye could perceive. Unfortunately, she miscalculated the landing as the terrain moved in her path. ‘Damn!’ Reflexes only saved her from a complete exposed opening. However, she still left a signal to her position.

Several cutting blades went through the air at Chiharu. She bent over backwards taking advantage of the terrain to improve her range of dodging. The attacks went over her and disappeared at the edge of his Field. Chiharu pulled herself back up to glare at the old man. “Aside from a fight, I don’t think you have anything that interests me.”

The man came to a stop after hearing her words. “A fight, that saddens me to hear that.”

“I don’t care about how you feel. I’m only interested in fighting strong opponents.”

“That’s a rather narrow view of the world for someone so young.”

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Listening to the fight from a distance, Fumiko kept with the two of them. She had concerns about Chiharu in the fight. Fumiko knew she could handle herself in a fight, but the man kept talking to her. It bothered her that Chiharu kept talking back. ‘She’s normally very quiet and talks to no one unless it is important. Why is she continuing to talk to him? Is something wrong?’

“Enough about my age! It’s meaningless!”

“But you’re just a child. You should be at home and learning. Not out here fighting.”

Chiharu had enough of his prattle. His last words were enough to break her free from the defensive strategy she played. Her feet juggled the terrible balance to stand before him. “I’m no child!” She used her speed to push her forward at her target. Her appearance shifted into a blur that momentarily surfaced during the need to adjust to the terrain. Removing her tanto from its sheath at her back, Chiharu let the blade arc through the air closing the distance between them.

Her blade suddenly stopped short of its target. The man’s hand held her forearm preventing her from finishing her slash. “Only a child charges off emotions. I see no adult.” He finished his words by lifting Chiharu off the ground and throwing her across his Field.

Cast carelessly aside, Chiharu bounced on a couple of blunt rises in the ground before she caught herself and landed on her feet. She hardly had a moment to react, but surprise filled her face finally catching up. ‘What did he do?’

Fumiko could hardly believe what she saw. Shock covered her face as well. ‘I could understand if he had special abilities or did something to block her, but barehanded? How is that possible?!’

Countless calculations ran through Chiharu’s mind in the seconds she waited before covering up her stunned look with hardened determination. She started her charge through the ever-changing earth. ‘He can’t have my strength…’ Her hand tightened around the hilt of her short sword. ‘His Field is reducing my speed and agility, but it should still be faster than a human’s…’ Nothing came to her.

Questions filled Chiharu’s mind. Answers disappeared from sight. All her planning meant nothing.

“Charging again?” he remarked. “Having a weapon doesn’t make you an adult.” He flicked his fingers, discharging several invisible blades in the direction of Chiharu.

She felt that she was getting more used to them. A couple of side steps kept her out of any danger. However, she confronted even more at different angles coming at her. The array was wide enough that a simple dodge was no longer enough for her. Her eyes glanced at the warping ground. Winding back her arm, she slammed into the earth.

A ripple bubbled up from the earth and churned up the surface. Earth stretched under pressure, but held tight, not ripping. It rose from the force all around Chiharu acting as a shield. Impacts sounded off dully cutting into the distortion. The earth shattered a moment later and the blades broke through to Chiharu. She already had her arms up in defense.

Moments passed with loose dust hanging in the air in a thin veil. Chiharu’s figure is easily outlined through the sheet. She stepped out from the cover dropping her arms. Small droplets of blood fell from her fingertips.

The man narrowed his eyes a little, but didn’t look surprised or confused by her condition. “Making use of my Field’s properties to create a defense to dampen the attacks. You’re pretty quick.”

“And you’re annoying,” added Chiharu. She broke into a sprint for her enemy once more. He presented new targets to avoid, but they felt a little faster than before. She evaded them, but felt the narrow escape. ‘He’s getting serious…’

He released even more attacks on Chiharu as she got closer. “You only need to surrender. Even after all you’ve done, there is still time to turn back. Foreigners don’t belong here.” His stance altered slightly as Chiharu came even closer to her without signs of stopping.

Chiharu didn’t give him an answer. She left her sword to respond. ‘He’s changed his stance, but I can still get an opening…I just need to put him down in a single strike!’ Unfortunately, her blade never made it to him. As though replaying recent history, his hand clasped down on her forearm halting her blade centimeters from him.

She felt him going to repeat his previous move, but she fought his attempt. Her body shifted her weight and moved in closer to his space making it difficult to maneuver around her. Chiharu intertwined her legs with his in spite of their vast height and size difference. “I have my reasons for being here. I won’t be surrendering!”

‘She’s still got strength to fight me? How powerful is this girl?’ He danced around Chiharu’s movements trying to improve his position. She forced him to block her kicks, no longer satisfied with keeping things even. While she pushed him back a little, their situation largely remained a stalemate. “What reason would you have for being a foreign country?”

Secondary attacks failed to connect with him, narrowing her expression. She fought with her emotions to keep them from overflowing out of control as before. Her arm still was tightly held down in spite of her efforts to free herself. “I’m not telling you!”

“You’ve got a stubborn streak,” he commented. His hand pulled on Chiharu’s arm as he managed to improve his position. A slip in the contest by Chiharu finished it off for her. ‘Finally hit her…’ He lifted up Chiharu and cast her aside into the back line of his field.

‘Dammit…’ she muttered to herself, as she recovered. Chiharu re-established her footing, but felt her legs complaining more to her. ‘Is the ground getting worse again?’ Her question remained unanswered as attacks from the old man kept her focused on dodging. ‘They’re even faster than before…I can barely dodge anymore… What’s he doing?’

Chiharu narrowly dodge the last slice through the air with a couple of strains of her hair clipped. The disturbed air brushed against her face. Something about it felt stronger than before. Her eyes widened a little. Something was wrong. ‘He’s still got that lazy know-it-all look, but he’s getting better… What’s with him?’

Leaving behind her questions, Chiharu sprinted for him once more. She felt her last attack gave her a better understanding of him. She struggled with him unlike the first time. ‘I’ll get him this time!’

Fumiko watched the two fight, but felt things were turning worse for Chiharu. Her face turned to confusion in watching her. ‘Why is she moving so slow? I know she’s faster than this… What’s wrong? It’s not just the Field…is it?’ Through the fight, Chiharu seemed to be getting progressively slower in Fumiko’s eyes. Before, it was hard for Fumiko to even see her, but in her present state, it almost seemed as if she was standing still. ‘…something’s wrong…’

Another attack came for Chiharu at lightning speed. Her reflexes did nothing for her as her body felt oddly sluggish. The balance she maintained before slipped and she tripped into the earth. She coughed on the dirt that sucked into her mouth. ‘What’s wrong with my body?’ Suddenly, Chiharu heard a pounding in her chest like it was a jackhammer on her. She clinched her hand against her feeling short of breath.

Chiharu’s eyes widened not knowing when her body felt so exhausted. ‘It doesn’t make sense. I haven’t been fighting for long… So why am I so…out of breath?! Why does it feel like I can’t stand anymore?!’ She looked up from the ground to see the old man’s feet near her face. He stared down at her, still no more attentive than before. His casual attitude annoyed her even more as though he did not see her as a threat.

The man raised his brow a little, noting her glare. “You’ve got a good pair of eyes, but you should have finally begun to realize it. Right?”

“What are you talking about?” Chiharu ground her teeth together baring them at him a little. His always-right tone raked down her spine inciting her anger.

He knelt down towards her, losing any sense of defense. It became even more apparent that he felt no sense of danger from her. “That all of your precious strength is gone. It’s sapped away.” He looked away towards the horizon. “It’s bothersome fighting at my age. So I just let my opponents tire themselves out with my Field. The unstable ground is only a distraction to the real ability of it. It drains away your strength and physical energy until you’re too exhausted to fight anymore.”

The middle-aged man stood up rubbing his neck as though he was tired. He looked down at Chiharu with eyes that for once looked serious. “It’s over for you.”