YUKINA AYLING

The view was serene. The wind was so gentle and soothing; it felt like it could caress more than just the body. I never imagined a place could be this peaceful. I stood at one end of a short wooden bridge not more than four meters long, which ran perpendicular across a narrow creek. The bridge was connected to a pathway that spawned between two verdant hills with very gentle slopes. I couldn't help but notice the unusual topography of the area. Naturally, the creek was expected to flow through the valley between the two hills, but instead, it flowed transverse to both of them.

Across the bridge was some sort of wooden fence which ran adjacent to the creek, with its gate at the other end of the bridge. The fence had no guard post or personnel watching over it. It probably served as some sort of settlement demarcation. 

I walked past the bridge and through the gates. I followed the pathway. After a not-very-long walk, I got past the hills, and there was a settlement just in front of me, as I anticipated. I found myself smiling at the sight I beheld; children playing in the meadows, young men and women working in the fields, and the older ones in groups of little clusters, probably discussing irrelevant things.

For a moment, I wished I had grown up in a place like this but knowing the kind of person I was, it was certain that I wouldn't last long here. It was almost as if I never liked normal; I was just not comfortable with it. There was always a desire to seek, disturb, and improve. Generally, I was never merely satisfied.

I found myself standing in front of a cottage, but my attention was drawn to a little girl in the garden beside it. I wondered why she walked quietly towards the daffodils until I saw a butterfly take flight. She chased the butterfly as they went in circles around the garden.

“Is she really trying to catch a butterfly with her bare hands?” I asked myself, stifling a giggle.

It wasn’t long until a heavily pregnant woman came out of the cottage. She watched her daughter for a while before calling her.

“Sweetie, it’s time to have your bath.”

The little girl abandoned her butterfly chase and ran towards her mother, receiving a pat on the head as they both went inside.

I woke up with tear-filled eyes.

“Why am I crying over a dream? This is weird,” I said, wiping the tears along with the sleep crust on my face. It was dawn, and Svan was still asleep, but it didn’t matter. I had to start making preparations for the day.

SVAN CHORYTH

It was the third day in the forest. Besides the attack by the falx on the first day, our journey had been relatively uneventful and tiring. Our horses were gone, so we had to use our legs.

“Hey, get up. I want to get a taste of that new ability of yours,” Yukina said to me, nudging my thighs with her legs.

“There are other ways of waking someone up than kicking them,” I said in protest.

“If you don’t want me to kick you harder, you’d better be on your feet.”

I clumsily got up and reached for my sword, wondering why Yukina wanted to spar first thing in the morning. I was just getting used to the grey domain. The backlash was still there, but became less severe by the day. As much as I was tired and wanted to sleep more, I was proud that at least Yukina was eager to spar with me.

“I won’t hold back,” she said as she ran at me at a frightening speed. 

Reacting to her onslaught, I switched to the grey domain. Movement in the grey domain had become easier, and the experience was quite different from what I had imagined. At first, I thought that maybe I needed some kind of help or that I might just manifest another type of ability that would help me move around freely in the domain, but that wasn’t the case. It was more like, the more I used it, the more comfortable I got with it. It was more like I was bending it to my will.

Two days of using the domain yielded improvements, but sadly, those improvements were limited to merely movements. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself; a gradual pace was good enough for me.

I immediately saw Yukina’s silhouette in front of me. Her movements were by no means dull as she turned medially. Blue flames condensed in her right arm; she was going to slash in a back-arm swing. I had already anticipated all of it before she could even execute it. Carefully placing my sword, I held it downwards to meet the impact of her blow, but the strike never came.

I had underestimated Yukina, forgetting that she was an elite fighter. I was certain that blue flames condensed in her right arm, and her stance indicated an imminent strike. But she didn’t. It was a bluff. Rather than striking, she side-flipped, repositioning herself to my left and landing in a crouching stance. 

Blue flames condensed on both her arms, so I couldn’t predict which one she would strike me with first. I decided to initiate an attack in order to control the flow of the fight rather than being on the defensive end.

I attacked, swinging my sword in her direction, but she was ready, blocking my sword with both of hers. We stayed in the same position for a brief moment until she parried my sword away. I was sure she used a bit of her strength stillbring in executing it, as I found myself a little wobbly. Seizing the opportunity, she pressed forward, slashing with one sword. I was barely able to avoid it, arching backwards, but Yukina wasn’t slowing down.

“How is she this good? Grey domain is supposed to give me some sort of advantage,” I bemoaned.

Yukina was very precise. She knew just when to apply a particular stillbring to her advantage, and I couldn’t help but wonder how insane it would be when she would be able to use two or all stillbrings at the same time.

There was only so much movement I could perform; my body was made of bones and muscles, not some elastic material that was all flexible. I was just able to avoid her sword by arching backwards, and almost immediately, she switched her stance and sent a round kick that was coming straight to my arched back.

“Fuck!” 

I could clearly see her legs approaching my back, but there was nothing I could do about it. It wasn’t like I could suddenly reverse the motion I was already in. The kick landed squarely on my back. It definitely packed a punch as it sent me flying. I was expecting a painful response from the kick, but I didn’t receive any.

“I can’t feel any pain.”

I was a little ecstatic about my most recent discovery, but it had its cons. For starters, it could take away the element of cautiousness, thus making me careless in a fight. Most importantly, I couldn’t stay in the grey domain forever, so whenever I returned to reality, the pain would always be waiting for me with open arms. At that moment, the pain could wait. I just had to find a way to stop Yukina.

I didn’t want to crash-land. I couldn’t afford to incur more damage, as I didn’t even know how much damage Yukina had done. The viscous-like atmosphere made my flight slow, almost like it didn’t want me to in the first place. I could move. It wasn’t like moments ago when I felt helpless because I couldn’t perform an antagonistic movement. I just had to move my body in the same direction I was propelled in, and thanks to the much-needed resistance the atmosphere provided, it was possible.

I front-flipped and landed on the ground with my feet wide apart, one knee flexed, the other extended outwards, with one arm on the floor and the other away from my body. A classic three-point landing. It was a sublime recovery, very much needed, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. Judging by the fact that Yukina didn’t press on with her attack, she was almost certain that the fight was supposed to be over.

Everything was fine until I remembered that I wasn’t with my sword. It probably fell when Yukina kicked me. I was already fighting a losing battle from the beginning, and with my sword gone, it was lost already. 

I turned around and watched as Yukina’s silhouette walked toward me. Its demeanour was calm, a calm that was frightening. I couldn’t tell what she was about to do next, so I just had to wait until she launched her next attack. I steeled myself and clenched my fists even though I knew that any blow, if I landed any, wouldn't hurt her.

I noticed she dropped her swords. That was honorable coming from her. I let out a sigh of relief but still expected an attack from her. She drew closer, but I didn’t dare strike first. The last time I did, I received a kick that might have probably done a lot of damage to my back. An unsettling feeling welled up inside me as my heart thudded in my chest. It felt like it was sinking all the way down to my gut. I was scared. 

I could see blue flames condensing on both of her legs, but she was definitely not in striking range, which made me wonder what she was up to. In an instant, she closed the distance between us.

“She got faster,” I said, gritting my teeth.

I was barely able to keep up with her sudden increase in speed. Paying full attention to her every move was the best thing I could do for myself at the moment. She slid underneath me at that pace when she got within striking distance. I turned immediately, as backing her would be the worst of ideas, and before I knew what was going on, she launched her left knee toward me, aiming for my face, precisely my jaw. I was just in time to counter with my hands, trying to press her knee downwards with both of my palms. My arms jerked and my wrists felt like they were shattered, but it was just sufficient to keep her knee away from my face. She followed up rapidly, planting her left foot on the floor and striking an upward kick with her right. 

Again, I managed to block as her foot met my elbow. I thought I had an opening. Her torso was open, I struck with my other hand with all my might, but she didn’t block or defend against it. She let me hit her on purpose. Seizing that opportunity, she shot me a kick, striking low and hard at my shin. 

Though I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever, I felt my leg jerk and lose a bit of momentum. I tried to recover from her strike as quickly as possible, but I wasn’t given a chance. With a front kick landing on my stomach, I was sent flying again. My flight was low. I wasn’t able to think of any moves to salvage my crash, but I was just able to cushion it well enough in a way that didn’t look too bad.

Funny, I knew that Yukina wouldn’t do anything to put me in harm’s way, but I still couldn’t shake off the feeling of fear that overwhelmed me. I felt her hands pat my head. Still unsure, but it seemed like the fight was probably over, so I let my guard down and switched out of the grey domain.

I expected a strong backlash, but surprisingly none came, or was reduced to dull aches. Even the kick that would have supposedly broken my spine didn’t. I felt a little pain, but that was it. My wrist and shin also seemed fine. I tried so hard to contain my excitement, and even so, it felt like I was going to implode from it.

“I don’t know what kind of abilities you have or how it works, but I can say one thing for sure, you are getting stronger.”

I didn’t even know how to respond to Yukina’s compliment. I was proud of myself. Even though it was obvious that Yukina would have beaten the shit out of me if she wanted to. I was improving, and that was all that mattered.

“I noticed something. Your abilities seem to be reflected in your eyes.”

“How so?” I asked with enthusiasm.

“The last time you fought against that creature you called the falx, your eyes shone blue, but during our session, a purple ring appeared over your pupil. Did you notice any changes?”

“Really? …. mmmh, nothing much changed, just that the aftermath pain subsided a lot. But on a serious note, did you plan on incapacitating me? I mean, those kicks were not funny.”

Yukina giggled.

“I’m sorry. I guess I was a little carried away.”

“Ha, you can’t be serious. Sparing with you is the closest thing to a death match, but it’s not bad anyway, at least I get to improve.”

I yawned as I went back to my makeshift bed.

“Can I sleep a little? I’m still feeling sleepy,” I said to Yukina, wrapping myself in a blanket.

Yukina sat beside me.

“Do you miss home?” she asked, soft-spoken.

“Probably not,” I replied in a low voice.

“I don’t even know what my home looks like or who my parents are but strangely enough, I miss home and I miss my parents. I think I have been lying to myself for so long. In truth, I want to find them, and if they are dead, I want to know about them. I think it will bring some sort of comfort to my conflicted life.”

“Then let’s do just that. Anywhere you go, I will follow.”

Yukina smiled. That beautiful smile across her face conveyed a feeling of warmth.

“You should smile more often. You are beautiful when you smile.”

Her smile broadened.

“I think you should sleep now. I will wake you soon because we need to move.”