I grinned as I entered Tsukasa’s mind space, the memory of Charlotte blushing as she realized we were being watched was adorable. She tried playing it off and acting all haughty but when a glob of my cum splashed on the ground her face turned crimson. The sound of her flashing away with [Sun Step] was hilarious. 

“Hehehehehehehehe—!” My eyes narrowed at the grating voice laughing in front of me. Tsukasa kneeled on one knee, a grimace on her face. Her right arm was held at her left elbow, the joint was bent inward toward her body. Bleeding nicks mottled her sun-kissed skin with crimson streaks. Her hair was disheveled, and jagged cuts along her scalp looked like a haphazard attempt at a haircut by a drunk barber. To say she was a mess would be an understatement and that was the complete opposite with her opponent who looked like he hadn't even been touched.

“What's wrong baby girl, did you really think you were ready to take on your old man?” His voice was nasty, like a 40-year-old alcoholic who smokes a pack a day and likes to describe sex in the most vulgar language possible. His sharp teeth gleamed under the blazing inferno around us. The charred remains of a traditional Japanese home were all that remained of the property as flames licked at the blackened wood. The fire roared, and the howling wind whipping at the flames sent a shiver down my spine as it sounded like the screams of people. 

“I will kill you.” She gritted her teeth as she stood up on shaky legs. Her body was coated in a dark grey aura as she prepared for a flurry of attacks. Yoshinaka grinned at the sight, he loved nothing more than whittling his opponent down to death by a thousand cuts. It was too bad for this illusionary Sin-eater though because I had other plans.

“[Lethal Series Necto: Iron Maiden].” His shadow spread out underneath his feet, and before he could even move he sunk inside of the inky pool of darkness his silhouette had become. The inky void rose from the ground in the shape of an iron maiden, a haunted face etched in a rictus of horror looked out with hollow eyes on top of the coffin.

“N-no, wait help me—!” The sound of spikes being jammed into his flesh accompanied the sound of his hoarse scream. The wet gurgling sound of his struggle against the coffin's interior wall of needles was futile as he slowly drowned in his own blood. 

I watched on with an impassive expression. Had this been a real fight where there’s a limit to how much geist I could throw around that technique would've drained all of my reserves. On top of that Tsukasa underestimated her father's ability greatly leading to her mindscape version of him being incredibly underpowered compared to how strong he really was. If I were to fight him I doubt I would lose but it would take everything I have plus a liberal usage of trickery and illusions to pull it off. A head-on clash with him would kill me, his raw strength and elemental aura were incredibly deadly in a conventional battle.

“He’s stronger than that,” I spoke, my footsteps leading me to the weakened form of the girl. Her eyes hadn't even registered me as she continued staring at the spot where he stood. She had just watched the man she had struggled to even land a hit on die in a single move, it must’ve felt humiliating. “If you’re serious about killing him you will need to train more than just your metal aura. First, you need a sword—”

Her metal-coated fist tried denting my skull in before I could finish. Stepping back our eyes locked and for the first time she registered my appearance. Her amber eyes narrowed and her fists clenched, the sound of groaning metal filling the air. I probably should mention that just like how Batman has a no-guns rule, Tsukasa refuses to wield a sword. It's fucking stupid and I hate the fucking mangaka for writing that in her character but until I find a workaround for it every time I mention her using a sword she’ll swing at me. 

“I won't wield a sword!” Her glare and the threat of her fists in my face were meant for me to back off of this subject. Unlike her desire to drop the matter however, I grinned before creating an entirely different weapon. If sharp pointy bits aren't her thing then maybe something blunt will do better. In my palm a pair of brass knuckles formed out of my shadows. I practiced a few punches before looking over to Tsukasa who had seemed to catch on, her own metal aura creating a similar pair of knuckle-dusters. 

“Okay, now that we've got a weapon that isn't a sword how about we work on the thing Charlotte said you struggled the most with.” As I spoke I dismissed my brass knuckles and began channeling geist outside of my body, the pale white haze floating off of me grew potent enough that even a human uninitiated to geist could probably see it. “You over-rely on your elemental aura during fights, and unless you plan on killing your dad by tiring him out while he pummels you like a punching bag I suggest we fix that.” 

“She said the same thing but what do you mean by that? Am I supposed to just coat myself in geist and charge them or is there something else that you can do?” She groaned like a frustrated teenager and I guess for the first time she finally acted her age. Underneath the hard edge and revenge-driven mindset is a high school girl just like the others, and that is the thing I want to preserve.

 The canon would have her wallow in her current misery and when it comes time for her to finally achieve her revenge she is killed by her father. From the start, the mangaka had cultivated this tragic backstory for the sole purpose of making her death heart wrenching to the audience. So from the bottom of my cold black heart, fuck that. I'm going to turn her into a brawling tank, someone capable of going toe to toe with her father and winning. 

“Geist isn't just about enhancing your physical strength, you can also use it to enhance your senses.” The white haze covering my body spread out in a ring around me, the diameter being no larger than my wingspan. “This is a simple technique called [Zone], and it's normally used by people who can't form a [Geist Field].”

“What's it do?” She looked at the glowing circle on the floor skeptically. In truth it didn't look like much but it allowed for a really busted ability to manifest as a result. 

“It allows you to sense anything that comes within the circle, and combined with your elemental aura it can provide automatic defense by tracking where an attack will land and strengthening that area. This means you’ll be freed up to focus on countering your opponent, and as long as you remain inside the circle the technique will remain functioning.” This is a fighting style that normally wouldn't work because it involves standing still and solely relying on your defensive capabilities and for most dodging is their most solid form of defense. 

Even I am unable to tank most things as my skillset relies more on range, stealth, and illusions more than raw physical prowess. Tsukasa is different though, her natural [Eukrasia] allows her to tank almost anything if she can react to it in time. The reason she must be able to react to it is because at the point of impact to successfully deflect more powerful attacks, she’ll have to channel her metal aura on the body part under threat. If [Zone] can automate this process of detection she can react quick enough and prevent herself from suffering serious injury. 

“Got it.” Her brief response and dismissive tone were followed by her geist flaring like a supernova. Damn, what a powerhouse, maybe that's why she got killed off. If she could output this much geist as a first year imagine what she could do as a fourth year. I couldn't wait to find out.

“Impressive, but that level of raw output means controlling it will be more difficult. It might take you—!” I gawked as I watched her geist expand to form a perfect ring around herself, and even crazier was it was large enough to encompass me. She’s a prodigy, a once-in-a-million genius and that made me giddy like a kid. What could I make of her, all of those ideas swirling in my head on how to better implement geist when I read the series came to the forefront of my mind. 

“So, are we going to spar now or what?” She gave mean an eager grin as she stuck one of her toned muscular arms out waving me on with her hand. I nodded, grinning before stepping inside of her [Zone], and that's when she struck. 

Her first punch was coated in geist, the hazy white vapor pouring from it like smoke from a cigarette. I dodged under the strike before lashing out with a jab meant to hit her in the armpit. Her response was to coat the area in a metal aura and when my fist made contact with the knuckle-breaking steel her arm closed around my hand. Trapped underneath and with no way to break her bear trap grip without dislocating my arm I found myself stuck really close to someone who specializes in hand-to-hand combat. Her other hand flashed toward me covered in the telltale dark grey color of her metal aura. 

Channeling geist into the [Humor Node] near my kidneys I coated my body in the cool sensation of water aura. Her fist crashed into the glowing blue aura and instead of piercing through it was slowed down until by the point it made contact with me it was slower than molasses. Before she could pull her fist back I channeled Geist into my Air [Humor Node] and blew out a freezing gust of arctic air. The effect was immediate as her fist was encased in a block of ice.

“It seems we’re at an impasse.” I chuckled, and like dancers on a stage we circled around the ring of her [Zone]. Her hand was stuck to my gut and my arm was pinned under her armpit. I could easily end this by stepping out of the ring surrounding us and dragging her with me. She seemed to notice this as her foot stomped into the ground and a dome of earth formed around us. 

“No, this is where the fun begins!” Her leg moved to the inside of mine as she tripped me. Off balance I could only raise my hand and coat it in water aura as a flurry of punches were delivered from her free hand. My hand blocked each and every punch by deflecting them, it seemed like she’d learned her lesson as her jabs were short and incredibly fast to prevent me from trapping her other hand. 

My knee smashed into her gut and once again I grimaced a the feeling of crashing into hardened metal. If I was going to land any hit that would do any damage I was going to have to overwhelm her with speed. Channeling geist into the base of my spine and for the the first time ever I created Light Aether Aura. The efficiency at which I could pull it off was abysmal and I was spending two times the amount of geist as dark aether to just enhance my speed. My fist parried her strikes with lightning-fast speed, the golden haze surrounding my fist sparkled like gold dust as it trailed behind my movements.

“Do try to keep up Tsukasa because I'm about to begin.” I grinned as a punch made contact before she could even react, a grimace marring her pretty face. Another flurry of strikes landed on her gut each one placed in a different location to prevent her from anticipating where to block. Despite the rather one-sided nature the engagement had turned into Tsukasa hadn't stopped her methodical takedown of me, her kicks battering into my legs with the force of a speeding car. Bruises grew on my thighs as she tried breaking my resistance, even with light aether coating my body it couldn't compete against the incredibly hard metal aura covering her legs. 

“Sensei, wanna know...ugh...something funny?” She spoke between grunts of pain leaking from her lips, with the amount of punches pummeling her ribs I wouldn't be shocked if they were bruised. A smile grew on her face and my eyes narrowed as I wondered what in the hell she was going to try pulling on me.

“What's funny Tsukasa?” I grimaced as I blocked a particularly hard strike aimed at my groin, fair play didn't exist in any fight and the tan-skinned tomboy lived by that creed.

“That you haven't noticed that the walls have gotten closer.” Her grin was downright feral and when my eyes finally focused on something else other than her I noticed the earthen walls of the dome had closed around us. Claustrophobia set in as the memory of the guy dying trapped in the Nutty Putty Cave flashed through my mind. I needed to break out!

A knee crashed into my gut broke me out of my panicking thoughts. Spit flew from my mouth as I was pinned up against the stone wall. Tsukasa followed up the devastating kick with a punch aimed at my face, but right before it made contact my own free hand caught it. Her eyes widened as I grinned, even though I was supposed to be the instructor here I was the one getting taught the intricacies of martial arts. I could win any technique battle with my students and most of the school but in terms of hand-to-hand combat I was lacking. Damnit I should've taken an MMA class in my last life!

“Thank you for this Tsukasa, you don't know how much you’re helping me grow!” My head cracked against her own to punctuate my words, the stinging feeling of the head-butt made me feel alive! Was I a battle maniac?