Smoke clouded the area around Yuki painting him out completely, leaving his fate unknown. Vangelis kept an eye on smoke, while continuing to put together schemes in his mind. He knew he would need a countless array of plans to deal with Yuki.

Once the wind started to pull away from the gray veil, Yuki’s darkened figure surfaced. “You’re going to have to do better than that if you expect to actually hurt me.” The last trails of the smoke faded away into the air. Yuki stood completely unmoved and unfazed by the blast. He didn’t even wear his usual gi. The tunic he used for a disguise remained on him.

Vangelis’ eyes narrowed while his lips curled. Excitement made his arms shake. Thoughts of fighting Yuki ran through his mind. ‘He completely negated it with only the power of his Field. Impressive kid…’

Staring at Vangelis with a hardened expression, masking out his thoughts, Yuki kept the tension between them high. Once Vangelis hurt Saki with such casual disregard, the shape of his eyes changed. He only saw Vangelis as someone needed to be stopped rather than a challenge. “I find it unlikely you’re as weak as this, not with the way you act. You’d better do something about that soon or this will be a short fight.”

Laughing a little, Vangelis relished the innocence of Yuki. “You’re just as guilty of holding back. No sense getting so worked up over such small details.” He grinned a little as he taunted Yuki. Bending a little forward towards Yuki, Vangelis acted as though ready to accept anything Yuki had for him. “We’ll get there eventually!”

Moving to completely confront him. A new ripple expanded out from Yuki. ‘I can’t hold back, not after what he did to Saki. I can’t treat this like the others.’ Tall grass grew up around Yuki expanding out into the distance fighting over space with Vangelis’ Field. ‘He’s not like the rest I fought. He doesn’t care about honor or justice like the other soldiers talked about, he’s only in it for himself. He just wants to play and nothing holds any significance to him, even a life!’

Yuki tightened up his fists and his gi surfaced along with the usual shimmer. “If you do nothing, I’ll end this very quickly.” The transparency on his fist lost a little as he built up the particles.

Chapter 188 – Shifting Thoughts

‘Interesting looking ability, must be the one talked about in the reports.’ Vangelis suddenly disappeared and reappeared flanking Yuki. “Let’s see if you can make good on your claim.” He lifted up a hand to motion Yuki at him. “Show me if you’re just all talk like the little miss.” A thin grin pulled across his lips.

Yuki glared at Vangelis with thoughts of Saki in the back of his mind. The ground at his feet exploded suddenly as he burst forward with sudden speed. An outstretched fist aimed for Vangelis’ chest, planning to disable him in a single blow. However, he disappeared on Yuki just a few centimeters before contact. The immediate area didn’t have Vangelis, as Yuki scanned the area. Another blast came at him. ‘There!’ Yuki charged into the blast forcing it to vanish from his proximity and surface on the other side expecting to find Vangelis, but nothing again.

“It’s looking like you’re no better than the little miss.”

Responding to the voice, Yuki turned around to meet Vangelis. He narrowed his eyes trying to get a read on him. “Nothing you’re doing is successful either. I only have to end this in one punch.” Yuki sprinted forward not planning on letting Vangelis keep talking. It had to end quickly.

Disappearing again, Vangelis came out to the right side of him. His arm crossed over his chest. “But you have to actually touch me with that fist. Something that you’re unable to do.”

Yuki fought with his emotions. The image of Saki tormented him. He ground his teeth together and stretched out his arm sharply towards Vangelis. Thinning out around his arm, the energy gathered at his palm. Displaced by a force, the loose form flung towards Vangelis.

Tapping his foot, a complex magical circle formed on the ground beneath him. Yuki’s energy splashed across a pale green barrier with no effect. At Vangelis’ feet, a brick pattern, as though part of an old fashion road, spread out in all directions. ‘Time to have a little fun with him…’ Snapping a finger for dramatic flair, five magic circles suddenly spread out in a straight line in front of the other. Water burst out from the first circle and transformed into ice as it passed through the second. A force erupted from the magic as it entered the third sending electricity to tear through the ground. Shattered into pieces, the ice turned a bright blue and grew larger passing through the fourth and fifth circles.

Speeding off from the circles, the shards covered all of Yuki’s path. ‘Magic?! This isn’t what he showed off before…’ Narrowing his eyes, he allowed the shards to approach. None of them mattered to him, nothing he did thus far actually presented any danger to him. Yuki dug his foot into the earth preparing to charge for Vangelis while the storm came at him. Two steps was all he managed before he heard ice shattered. ‘What?!’ His eyes widened in surprise.

The ice did nothing to him, his personal shield prevented it, but the effect was more than enough. Yuki’s expression quickly thinned as he heard the next volley starting up. ‘How is he suddenly stronger? Nothing’s changed!’ Few moments remained for him to find answers. The attack was already under way. Yuki chose to dodge rather than chance another attack. It went safely past him.

Still smirking like always, Vangelis laughed a bit again. “Already losing that confidence, kid? You’re becoming boring very quickly. You were more interesting before.”

Growling a little under his breath, Yuki charged after Vangelis. He threw his punch with the expectation of him disappearing, his eyes already looking around for his next location. However, his fist impacted something. The sound threw him off causing Yuki not to be ready for the counterattack by Vangelis. A hail of ice ran over his shield followed by a wide sweep of his leg, which looked too lazy to be actually threatening. Yuki easily passed all of it before jumping back away from Vangelis. ‘What’s up with him?! He’s not acting anything like it was just a minute ago!’

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Witnessing the confusion on Yuki made him cackle a little in amusement. ‘I’ve got him second guessing himself now. This should be fun…’ Motioning with his hand, a circle drew itself underneath Yuki. His confusion distracted him from the act leaving him with no time to act. Spikes of earth leapt from the grass. They easily crumbled, but the look on Yuki’s face was more than enough for him.

Internally, Yuki beat himself up for becoming distracted. ‘How is he able to do that under me?! It shouldn’t be possible!’ He gritted his teeth together. ‘Damn, he’s just playing with me! And I’m letting him!’ No harm came to his body from any of the attacks, but it didn’t feel that way to him. It already felt like Vangelis had won on some level. The arrogant look of the man only made him angrier. He couldn’t get the image of Saki out of his mind. They just danced for him in his hand. Yuki tightened his hand.

“Going to do something, kid? Standing and doing nothing wasn’t what you promised me, remember?” It sparked more attention from Yuki. Vangelis found it all too easy, even if it was enjoyable. “Thought you said this was going to be quick?”

Somewhere in the back of Yuki’s mind, he knew. He knew it was just a trap. Bait swung in front of him. He couldn’t keep watching that face and hearing that voice. ‘He…he…’ Yuki ran forward, an explosion of earth blasted behind his foot. ‘…Saki…’ He rocketed at Vangelis with his fists in the air. ‘He tried to kill Saki!’

Vangelis’ eyes perked up watching Yuki screaming at him. ‘He sped up, interesting…that’s quite versatile…’ He side stepped Yuki’s charge and provided a quick counter, which actually connected, unlike last time. Combined with the force of his speed, it sent Yuki tumbling through the grass.

Slowly coming to a stop several meters away, Yuki flipped up his head to keep Vangelis in his sight, while the rest of him recovered. ‘Damn…he never does what I expect!’ Continuing with the pattern, Yuki’s eyes widened further to find a large colorless cube flying at him. “Huh?!” The speed it flew at him only gave him the time to throw himself to the ground. After it passed over him, he turned his gaze back to watch it. It turned over a few times in the grass, but seemed to almost have no weight to it. The sight only confused him further.

Yuki quickly turned back to examine Vangelis for an answer, but found another cube flying at him. He had no time to dodge, but figured it was fine. However, it was a mistake as Yuki went flying backwards. Coughing from the wind knocked out of him, Yuki found himself in surprise once more. ‘What’s happening?! Nothing is making any sense!’

The cube only lasted a few moments before his shield destroyed it, but he kept flying backwards. Yuki fired off a blast from his palm to right his position. When he landed, earth blew out from his feet, countering his force and allowing him a bit of a cushion as he came to a stop. ‘What’s with him? This is the second time he’s done something completely different!’

Not long remained for Yuki, Vangelis already delivered more attacks at him, a sphere along with a pyramid. None of it made any sense to Yuki. All he did was dodge it making sure he didn’t have the same problem as before. ‘I can’t trust anything he does. I just have to dodge everything…’ Yuki focused back on Vangelis after the most recent round of attacks. ‘It’s like I’m being attacked by math, not that it fits with the jungle…’ Once he thought it, Yuki realized that something was wrong with Vangelis’ Field. ‘It wasn’t that before!’

Missing it earlier upset Yuki. He clenched his fist together, annoyed at himself. ‘How did I miss it before?’ Yuki straightened himself out. The realization sharpened his eyes a little. He saw the next cube flying at him. Bracing his foot behind him, he raised up his hand with the shimmering around growing stronger. The cube came to a stop on his palm and pulverized into the dust.

Vangelis noticed the alteration in Yuki’s behavior. He flung a few more geometric shapes at him to confirm his suspicions. Each one disappeared just as quickly as the last without even a second thought. ‘I guess, he’s actually become serious now…looks like playtime will be over soon…’ A grin of excitement developed for him.

Yuki closed his eyes. ‘He’s been taunting, taking me at his pace. I can’t fight him like this. He’s just been toying with me, almost like he’s making a point to show me.’ He hated himself for having been blinded by his certainty in his power. ‘Saki…I’ll do this the right way…the way I know how!’

Pushing the distractions of the past out of his mind, Yuki started to march forward. He kept a full view on Vangelis. ‘Three changes, three different Fields. There’s a connection, he’s got a weird Law set, but I’ll figure it out.’

“Looks like you are ready for the real fight to start.” He materialized a few spheres in his palm, no larger than the size of marbles. The three orbs quickly spin around until flung at Yuki. They flew at him appearing as though spinning at high speeds, though their form made it impossible to determine. Before reaching Yuki, they stretched out suddenly, becoming discs growing even larger. Their edges dug into the ground eating up the grass and earth coming towards Yuki.

Each of the lines of the attack from the discs made it difficult for Yuki. He considered destroying them, but worried about his chances at such speeds. Yuki opted for dodging them. Another blast came out from the ground under his foot pushing him out of the way. However, while he turned in the air he caught sight of the discs turning around. Time slowed down for him a little as he judged his actions. When his hand touched the grass, another blast came out pushing him off further.

It wasn’t enough.

Yuki dodged backwards as the discs turned around again. He kept forcing himself to jerk around to keep up with the dodging. However, he felt his body starting to get a little warm from all of the exercise. ‘This’ll go on forever like this… I’ve got to stop it.’ Another explosion came from the ground when his hands touched the ground propelling him further than normal. It put greater distance between him and the disc allowing him time to land back on his feet.

Sliding a little, Yuki came to a stop and threw up his hands. Forcing the particles into his hands, he formed up faint swords and threw them at the discs. The swords pinned all three discs to the ground, stuck together by the two swords.

The moment of rest gave Yuki a chance to feel his joints complaining. ‘I used that too much. My arms and legs are already feeling like jelly after all of that…even if I’m getting more used to the timing it doesn’t change the fact that my body wasn’t designed for such extreme moves.’

‘Very interesting…’ The Field around Vangelis changed suddenly with the jungle trees disappearing. ‘He uses that power of his to provide bursts of speed from the blasts he creates. Clever, but dangerous…’ He took a step out from the place he remained for so long.

Yuki lowered his gaze a little trying to understand the motives of Vangelis. He could tell that there was something different about him. ‘He hasn’t advanced the entire time against me until now…’ The waiting soon came to an end as Vangelis stopped, still several meters away from him. A sword appeared in his hand. ‘Something new again…’

Swinging the sword, the blade stretched out the distance to meet Yuki. Yuki’s hand came up to stop it, destroying the blade quickly. After the slash, the sword returned to normal size. The broken edge reformed. “Looks like it’s time to make things more interesting.” He grinned as though something happened, but nothing immediately showed itself. Vangelis swung the sword again, the action repeated, but blood sprayed up.

Staggered a little, Yuki took a step back to look at his hand. It was only a swallow wound, but the sword managed to pierce him. Blood dripped around his palm until he sealed it up with his energy. Yuki turned his sights back to Vangelis, tightening his eyes in confusion. ‘What did he just do?’

Vangelis lifted up his hand to reveal one raised finger. The knowing smirk only grew larger on his face. “That was the first Folding, I’ve got two more. Only one other person has seen them all. Will you be the second?”