Among the Guardians present, Chipo would actually be the most skillful and strongest due to her upbringing and environment. The reason for why she didn't voluntarily pitch in to help was the same reason as the others. They all had their own lives and did not want to bother with an ancient history that had long since passed away.
Marvin was in a similar spot. He was the son of a branch family of Rose that lived a harsh life. During William's time, they had taken the hit for the main family during a political issue and had fallen in power ever since. As such, Marvin was exposed to the harsh realities of life from a very young age. At last, when his mother thought she couldn't continue anymore she decided to beg and plead with William or whoever the current successor was to take care of him. But luck was on her side since the first person she happened to meet was Hannah. Marvin was quickly accepted and adopted into the house as a thank you to the sacrifice they had made. To the outside, Marvin was just a child they picked up, but internally, they all knew he was a relative.
This radical transformation in the environment eventually led to different priorities to develop in Marvin. Meaning now that he had improved so far in the span of one month, as a child, it was all that was in his mind. Or at least that would have been the case if he was just another kid. Marvin's harsh childhood brought him to be more mature and ruthless when the time came, compared to others.
As such, even though neither of them wanted to bother with this charade, they were responsible enough to realize the importance of winning this.
From the moment Marvin laid his eyes on his opponent he knew the fight would begin; thus, he immediately started to feel the ground, that is, his weapon, beneath him. Unlike the rest, he did not have a proper weapon. Neither did Chipo. Both had to fight the old fashion way. But that was perfectly fine.
"Why you hurts? Me just want sweets! SWEETS!" He crashed both his arms to the ground in front of him. The shockwave made its way straight towards those two. But the vibrations that preceded it made them lose their balance and severely limited their options. However, limiting them was all it did. While this attack was pretty terrifying, if one managed to keep a cool head, there would be no problem to execute the split second dodge out of the way.
The ground where they previously stood caved in. Marvin was definitely surprised. That attack was powerful enough to label as a sure-kill technique. Marvin wasn't sure if this man was just so strong that attacks like this didn't even need him to make a chant or he was so dumb that chants themselves were too complicated for him. Someone this dumb probably had a different way of functioning all on its own, was what he concluded. Regardless, this simply meant he wouldn't know which attack was going to be used when.
Chanting, whether mental or verbal, was something that made users visualize and affirm their techniques before using them. While this was good, this also meant that it would take time and have certain preparatory stages as well. Because of this, it also became easier for opponents of certain skill levels to easily predict and prepare countermeasures. However, if one didn't need to chant at all, fighting this person would become much more difficult. As such, Marvin would need to observe every little detail the man made before he did any kind of attack. In a high speed, high stakes battle like this, it was incredibly nerve wracking for Marvin. But there was nothing else he could do.
On the flip side, since the opponent was dumb, he also had the slight trouble of deciding who to focus more on. Back on the deserted island, it was Arashi who was the main attacker, so he would focus his attacks on that woman. But here it was different. Both of them were his opponents of equal standing. As such, he ultimately decided to divert his attention using the simple logic of age. The older one must be stronger! If he took care of the stronger one first, he wouldn't have any more problems.
He turned towards Chipo, thus facing his back defenselessly towards Marvin.
"Whoa is this chance seriously coming? Or is it a trap?"
But he had no time to think. In a moment, Chipo would have to face a full force attack. Marvin definitely needed to take this chance even if there was a chance of a trap.
He quickly and nimbly made his way to the nearest tree and placed his palm on it.
"I'm sorry, but I need this!"
Marvin's temporary weapon of choice was a portion of the trunk of this tree. He broke it off in the shape of a javelin as his eyes sharpened.
Back when Marvin had felt the ground he clicked his tongue at the increase in difficulty. The ground was soft soil at the top that gradually turned into hard soil further down. But there were many other irregular impurities such as tree roots, nutrient deposits and both micro and macro organism clusters. Unlike this, if it was the deserted island soil, it would've been much easier. In comparison the trunk of a tall and straight tree, he felt, would be much more regular in shape. He was partially correct.
The broken wooden javelin had irregular edges that were not that sharp. To properly jab it into one's flesh, Marvin would have to use an impressive amount of force, which was something he could do only if he neared his opponent himself. But that would take too long. He had to be quick. Thus, he used his Natura to shoot it towards a place where it could firmly lodge itself into: his sides.
If this was one of the pure and regular materials that Marvin used as practice materials, then it would be quite easy for him to collapse and reshape the javelin into a sharper one. But the microscopic shape of living cells were too complex for him to reshape how he normally did.
The javelin cut through the air as it made its way towards its target. However, very quickly, as it flew out of Marvin's range of control, it started to arch downwards under its own weight.
"Shit!" Marvin cursed at his misjudgement of something so simple. He who had practised using small objects, the arching effect under its weight was negligible. That was not the case for this projectile. Not only that, but the target who was already on his way towards Chipo had finally sensed its approach and quickly moved away his leg, its apparent target, as he spun around and faced Marvin.
Thump! Crack!
He swatted his left palm downwards where his leg was previously and crushed the javelin on the ground.
"You… Annoying!"
People who dealt with hard and solid materials had vibration-sensitive legs since they usually channeled their inner strength through them and their core. Meaning, it would be relatively more difficult for a user to detect an approaching projectile aimed at their head compared to those aimed at their legs.
Marvin thought he had made a huge mistake, but Chipo was elated. She was well aware of Marvin's weaknesses and was troubled when the enemy decided to focus on her. She who had more tricks up her sleeve would be severely restricted if the enemy had their eyes on her all the time.
Chipo was also well aware of the way earth manipulating users worked. The fact that their legs played an important role was engraved into her head. Meaning, since her opponent was dumb, she shouldn't have problems in taking out those very legs of his.
"Let's see how hard you fall, big guy!"
Chipo jabbed her right leg almost horizontally onto the ground in front of her, making it seem like a sliding motion. Obeying her will, her Natura was channeled into and made its way towards the leg that the enemy currently had most of his weight centered onto: the left.
Lush forest soil was much harder to control than barren ones due to the countless irregularities inside them. Normally, it would actually take Chipo some trials to get used to the ground here. But the reason she was able to flawlessly execute this move was thanks to her opponent himself. The vibrations that preceded the shockwave of his first attack were read by her through her legs. Those vibrations put Marvin, an amateur, off balance, but not her, to that extent. Those vibrations gave her a rough idea of the composition of the soil in nearby regions. Hence, since she knew what the ground was like, she could channel her energy into it appropriately.
As soon as her Natura reached the area under his feet, it morphed the earth and instantaneously turned into spikes that jabbed into his flesh.
"IT HURTSSS!!!" he screamed and lifted his damaged leg upwards.
Disappointing Chipo's expectations, he did not tumble and fall down. Since he slapped his palm downwards to break the wooden javelin, he already had a third limb that he was using to keep his balance. All hope was not lost. This meant that, lifting up his left leg made him turn into a comical scene of a fat man balancing himself on his left arm and right leg.
On the bright side, she definitely got his attention drawn yet again. Although the plan was to tag team, Chipo never planned to do such a thing. She wanted to be the vanguard while Marvin would be the support. A behaviour quite unlike her, since she never wanted to bother with this situation. But the guilt of having been forced to depend on a child for what originally should have been her job made her feel immensely responsible.
On the flip side, Marvin was having the time of his life. Although he had video game knowledge, there were no such games that taught him fighting tactics such as the one they were currently employing. As far as he was concerned, they were pummeling him. It was only a matter of time until that large body collapsed.
This pattern of quick witten hit and run tactics, plus role swapping lasted for five minutes. But even an idiot will catch wind of such a simple and drawn out plan if repeated so much.
"Oh, I see what you doing! How dare you make me fool!!! RAWWW!!!"
With blind rage, he stampeded towards the one that looked weaker to him. He was hurt, and didn't want to risk fighting the stronger one. He tightened his back to brace for the onslaught of attacks from Chipo on the opposite side of the area.
"Oh, no."
Marvin could only let out a peep just before the large and fatty hands grabbed onto him like a wrapped piece of cloth about to be squeezed dry.
"How dare youuu!!!"
Snap.
"AAAHHH!!!" Marvin screamed as his shoulder easily dislocated.
"Get your hands off of him, you fat freak!"
Chipo, having decently gotten used to the composition of the surrounding ground, managed to will herself a pair of earth javelins, attempting to piece one into his side and another one at his neck while he'd be busy with the first.
However, it was at this point that the fight took a turning point for the worst. While it was true that Chipo had gotten used to her environment, the same could be said about her enemy.
Why was it a big deal? After all, this was the enemy's home ground, right? He should've already used the environment.
But, no. One might think that the enemy being dumb was a good thing, it was not always the case. If the enemy was smart, people might stay vigilant of what cards might have been prepared under their sleeves, but that guard could totally be let down if the enemy seemed as dumb as this one.
This was where the miscalculation occurred. This enemy whose name nor original was known by our fellow heroes had completely overlooked a crucial point because they were so focused on his wit. They had overlooked the fact the enemy was someone who could use special techniques without a complete incantation.
In a sense, this man was probably more troublesome to deal with than the other enemies. At one glance, it might not seem like a big deal, since there were definitely individuals who weren't that smart but gifted in fighting, so their enemy could've simply been one of them. But such a thought could only occur since they did not know his origin. While our heroes could definitely be considered smarter than this man, they were still just average people. Either that, or simply children. There was a limit to how much they could foresee.
"No more!"
It was then that the impossible happened. Even with his large body, he was able to twist himself around, grabbing one of the javelins and smashing it onto the other mid-flight.
"Stay put!"
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Marvin was smashed onto the ground, and the remaining piece of the blunt javelin was pierced into his left leg.
"AAAHHH!!!" Marvin howled.
Even an idiot would get used to his opponent's methods if they were repeated enough times. Truth be told, the enemy they were facing was a monster that had yet to face long hours of fighting. After Hisao had acquired him, he had tried to reason with him, all to no avail. A simple minded creature that treated the world as if he were a newborn. He would've been scrapped if it weren't for his latent talents.
Since reasoning was out of question, the simplest method would've been to use the reward and punishment based task assignment approach. However, Hisao quickly found out that using that method to train him would require him to have hundreds of people lined up to sacrifice themselves. As such, training was forgone and he was simply kept as a wild card.
The seeds were bearing fruit now, and within the blink of an eye, the entire fight was flipped on its table.
By the time Marvin got used to the pain and looked towards the direction of the fight, Chipo was already being treated like a ragdoll. The soil was upturned and rocks were scattered everywhere. Blunt bashes could be seen on various tree trunks. Dust didn't have enough time to settle as he could barely make out her silhouette in that large arm. Thankfully, it seemed her body still had to go limp, having some fight left.
"I need to do something!" he thought, but a simple movement was enough to bring back the pain.
"I must get this thing off first!" he told himself and grabbed onto the earthen rod; but as soon as he applied some force, that portion broke off. A moment of confusion struck him. How was it possible to stab him with this if it was this fragile? But he quickly realized that it was because both of them had held the material together using their Natura.
"Heh, so you're telling me I can't even muster up that much strength?" He scoffed at himself. The thrill in his mind had died down and the urgency of the situation finally soaked into him. Nevertheless, he still tried. "I didn't come all this way just to be deadweight!" He mustered as much strength and rationality as he could and held onto the remaining piece. If he made a mistake and he broke it to the point where only the part that's lodged in remained, then that would be a whole new problem.
"Argh!" he grunted as he raised it a few millimeters.
"Stay down!" a raspy voice scolded him from afar. He didn't need to think twice to know who it was. With every passing moment he wasted slowly pulling it out, Chipo was reaching a worse condition. Instinctively, he did the exact opposite of the order.
"I said stay down, Marvin!" she shouted after hearing another louder grunt from him. "Let me handle it! I was naive to think I could let you handle this! It's my fault for being lazy and negligent! Just stay put and don't make things harder for me! Do you know the shitstorm I'd have to face if you died?!"
No matter what she said, it was clearly a losing game. It was already proven that the two of them couldn't beat him. Not only that, their opponent had already gotten used to Chipo's patterns and was cornering her. Even though she needed help, Marvin was in no condition to do so. Even if he could help, he was an amateur. The end conclusion was simply that they didn't have what it took. Now, Chipo directing some of her attention to word out her commands to Marvin had resulted in things getting much worse.
"Buargh!!!" she let out a loud grunt as the next hit forced all the air out of her lungs. It was loud enough for Marvin to hear it clearly now that he was stable.
"No! Stop, you big oaf! Rwaahhh!!" he screamed and tried pulling it out as hard as he could. His left leg felt nothing but a hammer in the sea. A solid, and rigid piece of rod, incapable of movement. His bones were broken just like the piece of the javelin without naturous support. He already realized that if he stood up, his leg would be dangling limp, only holding on by his skin and some of his flesh. But he needed to endure. Endure and persevere.
And soon enough, he did it. A hard yank, and he dislodged the dreaded piece that was invading his blood. Once he pulled so hard, his body gave in and lay flat, facing the sky…
Or at least that would've been the case if a large sinister shadow hadn't been looming over his face for a few moments now.
Marvin took a hard gulp; and turned his eyes over to the lifeless body a few meters away. He didn't know how long it had been. Were they defeated fast or slow? Were the others done, or done for too? But one thing was for sure, it was his own impending doom.
"Now, you…"
"Hehe, so this is it huh." He cracked a hopeless smile and used his remaining energy to flick up a finger at his savage, drooling face.
Everything went silent after that. A sharp pain ran through his body only for it to be forcibly shut down by his brain. The world spun and his vision rapidly kept going from bright to dark over and over again. Perhaps not long had passed until the thrashing suddenly stopped.
Marvin was perplexed as to why it was over even though he was clearly still alive. Wearily, he turned his eyes and saw something that knocked him back to his senses. She hadn't died. Instead, using every ounce of her being to stay standing, she held the tip of the same piece that was lodged in his leg, on the enemy's back. Both of them looked at her, waiting for what she would do next.
"Why? Why do you still try so hard? You're clearly on your dying breath, and yet, why? Weren't you completely uninterested in this? I'm the one who was looking forward to the fight! And if I couldn't even manage to help you after a simple stab, then…"
"Fuck… you…" she barely let out from her mouth and used the last remaining energy she had to mold the tip of the piece into an incredibly sharp edge, after which, her body couldn't handle it anymore and she immediately fell unconscious.
But that was all that was needed. Even though her body was set on freefall, her grip still remained firm; and the tip that was molded sharp was enough to cut open a shallow wound like a razor blade.
"Ow! Bug! Move!" he shouted and shoved her away using his leg. "You still breathing! How! Why you hurt me!" His attention was drawn, meaning, he had finally decided to end it then and there. If she hurt him like a bug bite, then he'd end her like a bug. He would permanently squash her!
"No! Stop! Don't!" Marvin screamed in his head, but couldn't speak a word. He couldn't even feel his own body, much less speak. But this time, nothing was stopping him. It wasn't a matter of could or could not anymore. He must move!
"Move!"
What was the point of all that training? What was the point of all that showing off? What was the point of him coming here?
"Move!!!"
This was not how it was supposed to play out. He was being too immature, and was treating the situation way too lightly. He had let his success get the better of him. Even after all the warning everyone else had given him, he still stubbornly came forward. And this person who pretended to be lackluster actually had way more resolve than he could ever have!
"MOVE!!!"
He was even thought to have been ready to receive that 'birth fragment' or whatever. He had completely overlooked that and pretended it didn't even exist. After all, when it was put into him, he couldn't feel jack. What was the point? What was the point of any of this?
And it was at this time, as if waiting for the right moment, that very thing he had overlooked started to respond. As if answering his will, it resonated within, heating up his entire body, and… taking over his mind.
"A… ah… aaahhhh!!!!"
Marvin finally managed to let out a sound, but that of despair. He was facing exactly what he was warned of: the inability to control the fragment. While the guardian shards did indeed bring the harbourer to the peak of their potential, it only made sense if they could control it. Sadly, the weakened Marvin barely had a sliver of his will to hold on.
The enemy turned back and looked at his body twitching and arching up in pain, his chest slowly giving off a faint glow. At one point, Marvin's eyes turned towards him and directed him with open hostility strong enough to make his skin crawl. Even though he couldn't put his finger on what it was, he got the encroaching feeling that this was bad news for him.
Marvin's body arched and turned over onto his chest. His armed heavily bent and lifted him up, every single movement spurting blood everywhere. Suddenly, like a parasite leaping towards its next prey, he sprung with his remaining limbs straight towards his only enemy, only to have it blocked.
"Kill!!!" His eyes shimmered and irradiated hostility. Even though it was blocked, the receiver felt like he was hit with an iron rod the thickness of a pillar.
He grabbed Marvin's body with his large hand just like before, thinking that what just happened was merely a fluke. Unfortunately for him, that was clearly not the case. The new Marvin casually grabbed his large thumb and crushed it.
"YEOWW!!!"
It felt like his finger was crushed by a hydraulic press. What should've been feeble, soft hands, felt like solid rock. The change was mind numbing. He had no idea what this even was.
Yes, he had no idea. Although he was probably the most underestimated enemy our heroes could face, he was also the least privileged. He was not given even a sliver of the power of the shards that were taken. Even if he was given the power, he would probably have no idea how to use it, let alone understand the transformation Marvin had gone through. This was entirely foreign territory for him, and he was finally instilled with fear.
Fear of the unknown that could hurt him. Fear of being unable to deal with the situation. Fear of not having anybody to guide him through. It was this that made him lose grip of the tiny natural talent he had awakened for fighting, making this his last struggle.
Snot gathering at the base of his nose, he violently thrashed about, while Marvin maneuvered around him like a nimble cat. A cat with bones harder than steel. It was even unknown to him, but his broken leg had temporarily affixed itself together under the guidance of the fragment. This was the power of one who mastered solid materials.
Traditionally, such a person would fight like an unmoving boulder for their opponents, but Marvin with his small stature and less-than-optimal state, this little bonus was something he had to utilize.
Wave after wave he tricked his enemy into attacking mindlessly at air and empty ground. He would strike a few rocks at him and move away before they even landed a hit.
After his bones solidified, next came his muscles. His tissues had become so taught and tight that it had actually started to hold back his blood from escaping.
How was such a miraculous thing possible? Just by his simple will? No. In truth, the birth fragment had already sensed Chipo fading away. While this may sound godly and surreal, but at the very peak of mastery, it was even possible for someone to prevent their own death. With enough skill and knowledge, it was definitely possible. But of course neither Marvin nor Chipo were such individuals. Regardless, if the shards were tools meant to bring the user to their peaks, it was also possible for them to exhibit emergency measures. However, this was a privilege only granted to the youngest generation of the guardians.
Since the guardians are also meant to pass on the traits of having shards, it also prioritized the youngest generation who were most capable of having further offspring. If they died, the task would regress back to the previous generation that had a much lower probability.
In reality, the birth fragment's emergency measures would have kicked in sooner, but since Marvin was currently the holder, it didn't work how it was supposed to. A coincidence in timing. But who cared about that? Not Marvin. He needed to gain control of this situation and revert back from the savagery.
However, for the brief moment he did, he lost his balance and stumbled, giving his opponent the chance to strike back. And this time, he felt every bit of the pain from the attacks.
"Guhakh!" Air gushed out of his lungs.
"Why?! Why! Why!!! Why!!!!! WHY!!!!!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Ugh! Shut up! You're gonna make me deaf!" Marvin cursed.
He didn't know what to do. Almost anything he did had problems. He tried to help, but his body didn't let him. He tried to gain control, but he let his enemy capture him. He no longer cared. He just wanted to kill this meatbag in front of him. He wanted to tear him apart like how he had done to Chipo and himself.
This killing intent blended in with the animal instincts that the birth fragment would normally awaken, and he was finally able to properly comprehend a good deal of the potential that it would unlock.
I am a master of solid materials, was what his subconscious told him at the back of his head. Wherever there is structure, that is my domain. If there isn't any, then I shall bring forth structure. It is as simple as that.
"You really like punching me, huh? Then punch on this!"
He swayed to his left, leaving only his right arm to be hit; and the moment it did…
Crack! Shatter!
"AWOOO!!!!" he howled in pain as he grabbed onto the wrist of the arm he used to punch.
Shocked in disbelief, he stared at his bleeding knuckles that had glass shards protruding out from it.
"What… what this…" He began to cry and shiver in fright.
Meanwhile, Marvin held onto the psychotic look on his face, unbothered by the howls and whimpers. He had no need to look and confirm the situation with his right arm; he could feel that it was no longer there. He knew exactly the kind of state it was in.
"Invade!" he ordered, directing to some unknown location.
As if answering his calls, the glass shards on his enemy's knuckles started to rotate like a chainsaw and climb their way up his arm, embedding themselves deeper into his flesh.
"Ow! Ow! Owww!!!" he continued to howl and desperately tried to grab the pieces and pull them out, only to break them down into smaller bits that made it easier for them to go deeper. Meanwhile, the scattered glass shards on the ground launched themselves randomly onto his body like a swarm of bees attacking an invader of the hive. He was finally beginning to know true pain.
The pain was not like anything he had dealt to either of the two. This pain was incredibly sharp and stinging. Every movement he made was making him go mad. In one moment he felt like one part was in pain but in another moment it was another. The inability to pinpoint what exactly was wrong with his body was also traumatizing him. He had no time to deal with Marvin. He needed to somehow get rid of the countless bugs that seemed to have invaded his body.
Of course the simple answer would be to kill the source i.e. Marvin himself. However, the state at which Marvin was currently in, he could easily manipulate the invading shards to violently twist and turn to prevent him from attacking him. Seemed like that wasn't required.
He took his time torturing him until he got tired of the same unintelligent howls. Another reason was that he could no longer hold onto the control of the fragment, but he wouldn't admit to that.
He prepared his arm that looked like a broken bottleneck and stabbed straight into his enemy's stomach, while simultaneously, grabbing onto his clothes with his other, to make sure he couldn't move away.
"Get off me!!!" he howled and struck at Marvin, but it clearly lacked the previous strength behind it.
Marvin closed his eyes and focused as all the invading shards gathered back onto his arm, slowly regrowing it.
Yes, he was reforming back his arm right inside of his opponent!
The shards continued to pierce through all internal organs in their path, slowly forming back the upper arm. Once done, the lower arm had started to reform, bent upwards at the elbow. By the time the palm had reformed around the beating heart, his enemy had long stopped hitting back at him, losing all strength from his muscles, and bleeding through all his orifices.
And thus, a final squeeze had ended it.