Two swords clashed against each other.
One ridiculously big engulfed in fire, somehow fast enough to seem a blur against another much slimmer curved sword. Despite the difference in size, the curved blade didn't budge or lose any exchange.
Aside from the sound of metal clashing at high speeds, a particular noise began to resurface as the temperature increased.
*Tsss*
The blood around the crimson wielder began to boil…
'Was it then?' I looked at the past Jack fighting and me, 'the moment that I boiled the blood, it might've been when I lost… but, shouldn't my mask protect me from that?'
Revenants' physical abilities weren't the only ones to be overhauled; the brain got a nice boost as well. Though it doesn't make you smarter, the processing speed and storage upgrade were some good perks.
After all, if a normal human brain attempts to process the information that a Revenant's improved nervous system can sense, their brain will melt.
I could remember whatever I wanted in this mind space of mine. At least experiences like this fight were still vividly clear. After all, I used everything to make it out alive.
I don't think I have ever fought this desperately. My every sense attempts to capture any sound and twitch from Jack to counter and attack.
I've looked back many times to capture that feeling again. That sharp, keen intuition that helped me get one over him, but I had no luck in capturing it.
Spar or training, nothing brought back that feeling. It has long cooled.
Thus, I've been going over our exchanges instead. Analyzing the fight that transpired.
'If not then, perhaps here?' I examined my figure after it lost its balance from the spikes thrusting behind it.
It lost balance, and Jack exploited the opening. A swing quickly struck, piercing its guard and cutting into the exposed chest…
'But I didn't even drown in blood, so no lung was pierced… through the wounds? No, if he did that, I would've felt it…'
There was another scenario to look at.
'If not before, then this one is when it happened.'
When at the bottom of that canyon, I managed to weaken Jack's control of blood outside his body with all the mist and water.
Thinking about it, the fight wasn't even longer than two minutes, yet there was a noticeable change.
It wasn't like the aerial step, which felt like remembering something long forgotten; this was different. Not that I can grasp it much better, though, but I sure knew I could work towards it with simple Blood Code usage.
I know my Gifts are being molded to better fit my body, but at that moment, through constant shifting between Blood Codes, I managed to grasp my Gifts as they were meant to be for an instance.
It was for that moment that I didn't work with my new abilities and body.
They worked with me…
Similar to what happened when I shook off the paralysis once the Queen's eye analyzed me, but different. My BOR Parasite helped me that time, but this one, it was I who held the reins.
When I threw my blade, carrying vibrations from Ichos to make sure Jack's blood bending was weakened, the thought of such a feat being possible didn't go through my head.
I just did it.
Why? Because the moment I switched to Ichos to sense Jack's whereabouts within the mist, I just felt like I could.
Same when I exploited that moment of weakness.
Berserker blood code for the boost in strength, and Atlas blood code to make sure that the sudden burst of power is carried further.
There was nothing complicated, but it didn't need to be.
Everything felt just right.
Like a well-oiled machine, all parts cooperate to produce a result.
The strength generated by my legs and carried by my hips was transferred and increased the moment I swung my arm.
'But all that…'
*Crack!*
All that power was stopped by the armor that was being built under Jack's blood suit.
It had already covered his torso. The punch that should've taken him down only helped to reveal that his arms and legs were about to be covered as well.
The flying dead coral and droplets of water were frozen still at that moment.
I don't even have to remember.
I still feel it.
I saw the eye of the Queen, the same eye that pierced every layer of my being with a stare; it was bloodshot. Not, both of Jack's eyes were crimson, saying bloodshot was like calling the surface of the sun mellow.
I quickly understood what those eyes meant once he grabbed my face. A grip strong enough to shatter my mask like paper mache.
If Jack could control blood, couldn't he also control the one inside his body?
'That is what the eyes I saw probably meant.'
After crushing my mask… that must have been…
All the contemplating reached an obvious answer.
And I didn't like it…
Fuck!
…Does it matter?
I was too weak even before that!
I lost the first clash terribly-I couldn't adapt fast enough and was caught off guard! The only thing I could do was put a literal dent in his armor!!
Honestly, had he used the crystallization state of his blood on his weapon and body, I wouldn't even have lasted one attack.
I bet he didn't even use his weapon properly!
That curved blade had nothing else to it. Just a weapon.
Now that I can recall it all without the fear of having it run through my chest, its design was odd.
The curved blade had its sharpness on its inside arc and not on the outside. The other side had some abstract design as if it was meant to hold something.
A pair of tendrils hugging themselves, leaving some space here and there…
I could already see it. If Jack could make complicated systems with his blood while also adding his blood crystallization…
Ugh!
…That just makes me feel like shit.
I should be glad to be alive.
I should count my blessings.
I should-
I-
Ah…
'A successor has to be that strong… and Juzo Mido has to be a monster to manhandle that kind of opponent…' I looked at my parasite, whose presence remains static no matter the turrents of thoughts and emotions.
{...}
'Yeah yeah, glad to hear your feedback.' I waved off the many eyes of this damned entity.
I have never addressed it to explain what is going on, but if the meeting with Cruz taught me anything, it is that any other entity in my mind will experience my thoughts if I don't put up a barrier.
It should've heard my every thought since I woke up. I just hoped I could see if it would understand how fucked we are.
If not, I will have to give an example…
…
Adam sighed before opening his eyes.
His mood was terrible.
Powerlessness was something nobody liked. A sensation detested by everyone.
But what he felt was beyond dislike.
His blood boiled.
"Only one way to fix this." He was supposed to rest.
Not just him, everyone was.
After coming back from the expedition, there was a silent agreement among the group.
They needed to think, so they left to do their own things.
Will the expedition continue in the same way it was supposed to, and find the source of Blood Beads to restore it?
Or will they involve themselves in the Queen's detainment?
While Louis restructured his plans for the expeditions, everyone gave time to Adam as well.
Though he didn't need it.
To an outsider, it might look like a difficult choice.
The one at the very front of the Vanguard to fight the Queen and horrors 20 years ago.
'You did all you could, but maybe you could be of more use…'
'Get out of your grave; there are enemies yet to die.'
'Put back your limbs because you still have to fight.'
'As long as you remember how to swing a sword, it doesn't matter what you forget.'
Indeed, the man who fought the Queen until his Blood Code and memories became ash.
Now, his blood must be drained as well.
Adam should be bitter if anything…
But this Adam wasn't the one they thought of.
He was seething indeed, but not for the hardships that had yet to end. As much as he struggled, he had already accepted that part of his new chance at life.
If adversity ought to be faced instead of an abrupt end, turning a cold corpse under rubble, he would gladly take it.
"Hm?" Io perked up.
"Io," Adam stopped petting the head of the resting girl, "I need to get up."
He noticed how she had been oddly attached to him lately. Sure, she was almost stuck to him like glue, but now it was more than usual.
"Oh." She got her head off his chest and sat up, watching him leave the bed.
"... You can drink my glass," Adam said as he put on his shoes and got ready to leave.
"You don't want it?" Io gave him a puzzled look.
Adam clearly favors the wine that he bought from Coco. He even tasted it before leaving for their last expedition to the Dried-Up Trenches.
He gave the glass filled with the crimson liquid a brief look… but it only reminded him of the blood that was ripped out of his lungs. The iron-like smell and taste still filled his senses.
It wasn't just that one instance; it forced him to remember the time before he woke up in an absurd world.
… Blood slowly filled his mouth from the internal damage, slowly dying under rubble. Every second becomes longer and duller.
And once darkness takes him-
He is here. In a crazier world, wanting to bleed him dry even more.
"I… I don't have the appetite for anything right now." He left the room.
Only Io remained in the room, staring at the wine inside the glass on top of the drawer near the bed.
(˵・ ‸・˵) "Hm…"
🍷"..."
(˵ ・ ‸・˵) "..."
A stare that could make anyone uncomfortable if directed at them. Alas, this was but an inanimate object.
'What do I do now?' She…
The girl who has a blank expression even under the most dire circumstances had the light of her eyes dimmed ever so slightly.
Io was bummed-out.
'I will have to change the recipe…' Io got out of bed and went to the place where happiness can be tasted according to the two chefs she learned from.
The kitchen.
"That sucks… but I get it," Yakumo said as if he connected the dots.
Io nodded along.
Food.
Revenants don't require food, not even nutrients to function. They were all sustained by the BOR parasite.
And what the BOR parasite needed was blood.
So, more than anything, red colored food was the way to go for them.
Food was a luxury. The food that the base had in store was meat for special occasions, with some dried fruit as treats now and then, though there was something that didn't require such luxury items.
Yakumo mulled but quickly concluded, "Well, guess the pie can't be strawberry this time… but you can make it with apples, we have plenty of them."
"...No." But Coco came to another decision, "We will still keep it the same."
Yakumo turned to her, "Huh, why? Apple pie is easily one of the sweetest. I would put it above strawberry when it comes to flavor. Besides, red will make it hard to taste for him."
"It's not just about the flavor." She shook her head.
"IT is about flavor," Yakumo didn't agree and continued, "people tend to ease stress with a specific vice. Adam isn't the drinking type since the wine that you gave him wasn't one that replicates alcoholic effects like the others; he hasn't bought any cigars or tobacco to chew, so that leaves only things that offer certain flavors. Either sweet or just something strong-" Yakumo went on a small rant about what would ease Adam's nerves the most.
After all, candy was popularized during the First World War for a reason. In times of great tension, the U.S. and British governments provided chocolate, among other sweets, in soldiers' rations to boost morale and provide quick energy.
"It's not about how an apple pie is sweeter, but what a strawberry pie means. Red is the color commonly associated with passion and love." Coco clarified.
She couldn't argue against Yakumo, not that he was wrong, but Coco never made flavor the main goal of Io's first-hand-made plate.
Speaking of which, Coco looked at Io.
The girl had stood silently, staring at the two of them arguing. She was always quiet, but she was always attentive to whatever was said or done.
Coco had gotten used to her seemingly 'naive' attitude since the girl approached her about cooking after feeding Luna, the human girl, some food.
"Whatever you give him, it will be the sweetest thing he has ever eaten, even if it's plain bread." She commented to the girl.
"...?" Io simply stared with a blank stare, not knowing how to interpret her words, since a big part of cooking is about making something that tastes good.
It was contradictory, but Coco was a woman who knew cooking better than her, so Io held onto those words.
Yakumo sighed, almost bitter, as if remembering something.
Coco stared at the man.
'Right, even when he knows how to deal with people, he is bound to lack in at least one area.' A small smile made its way across her face.
"Don't look so down, I'll teach you when you grow up." She said before turning to the girl.
"Ugh…" Now he really sounded bitter.
"Come, Io. Just as before-" The merchant didn't bother continuing the little debate and immediately began to teach Io.
The little grin from the woman bothered Yakumo in a way he couldn't explain.
Yakumo scratched his head in annoyance before making sure the appliances were ready for use.
With the pie in the oven, all that was left was to wait.
And in that little time, Io went to the training room.
There was no need for her to ask where her successor was. Either in their room, 'meditating,' or training. One hardly found him in the lounge or the bar.
Her tranquil steps began to quicken once she entered the gym.
"STUBORN SON OF A-" Rin almost cursed, but stopped once she saw Io enter.
The attendant saw a group of three form around a person on the ground right beside an odd machine.
"Oh! Good thing you got here!" Rin, squatting near the successor lying flat on his face, beckoned the attendant to increase her pace further.
"Yikes…" Oliver.
"It looks nasty as hell from the outside." Yami.
Both of the revenants looked at Adam's back.
When the group arrived at the home base for the first time, they were survivors, but now, after just two weeks of training and expeditions, they were warriors.
Their lanky builds were no more, and their frames were sturdier. The proper machinery to stimulate muscles tougher than metal and Blood Beads to build them stronger did wonders on the four revenants when they arrived.
The changes were much more prominent in Adam's physique, given that he started from a bottom line further down than the rest.
The starved-like body had gained the power and poise of a real combatant. Still, it was smaller than the absurd Mr. Muscle Mountain that was Yakumo, but the rapid improvement in Adam's constitution was surprising, even to someone like Rin.
However, what they were observing intently wasn't his improvement…
Rather, the consequences of reckless pursuit.
Io's expression lowered as she saw tendrils under the skin reconnecting to the spine. They moved like snakes trapped under a blanket.
Adam had torn a muscle. A major muscle tear at that.
Revenants still followed the general rule of muscle mass becoming stronger and denser the more they were torn during exercise. But fully tearing a muscle from bone is still something to be avoided, even as a near-immortal individual with ultrahealing.
It simply wasn't as efficient. The time it took to heal and the strength of the reconstructed muscle just weren't up to par.
The wiggling muscle fibers under his skin reconnected faster as Io caressed them with a wave of light emanating from her palm.
A Gift that has come naturally to her as far as she remembers.
"Alright, alright, you two go back to your thing!" Rin shooed away the duo before looking at Adam with mixed emotions, "he finally passed out from this one."
She looked at Io, "This has happened three times already. Take him to your room. But first-"
She pointed out while poking Adam's back, "-his muscles have begun to change. They have become softer and more flexible, almost like the muscles of a big cat."
"... A cat?"
"Huh- yes, a cat."
(‶º – º ‶ ) "..."
ಠ⌓ಠ "... Felines… soft fur… cutest thing in this world, doesn't ring a bell?"
(˵ ._.˵) "..."
ಠ_ಠ "..."
(˵・‸・ ˵) "..."
"Y…You don't know what a cat is??? The cute little thingies that you just wanna-" Rin gestured as if rubbing something between her hands, "-smush their cute little faces??"
"...I just haven't ever held one." She only knew of Revenants, humans, Lost, and Successors. Animals might as well be an alien life form for her.
"Oh… uh- anyway," Rin went back to the main topic of the new massage routine.
Such a routine might not be useful for most at the base, but from what Rin learned a long time ago, it helps the newly awakened deal with the phantom pain that comes from training their new constitution to their limits. After all, while the body is no longer human, the mind takes some time to catch up.
There is a chance to incur trauma, aside from a new level of pain; seeing their body bend in angles they normally shouldn't be able to is an unsettling experience.
More so for Adam, since his body slowly adjusted to host the Blood Codes in his body, Rin ever so often had to tinker with the machine for his ever-changing constitution.
There has been an odd sensation Io has felt in regard to Adam lately. And, after hearing the opinion of someone who knew better about the subject, she wondered if this change in the constitution was the reason.
Louis had already proved these changes through his examinations of the blood samples, but it became easier to feel now.
'... Could Adam know what a cat feels like?' Io wondered as she brought him to the room they stayed… Carrying him like a princess.
Oh, if he knew that practically everyone at the base saw that…
After lying him on the bed and briefly inspecting his body, she went back to the kitchen.
"Just like that, as long as you spread it from outside, it will all come back to the middle," Coco observed Io put the filling after the crust was done.
"... and then the last layer," Io repeated to herself, Coco's instructions until the last step before putting it back in the oven.
"Indeed," Coco nodded to herself, staring at the work of her student.
"... Since that is done, it's my turn." Yakumo took out some ingredients from the freezer.
He might not know how well it would work, but if Coco said that Adam would eat after this, then he would trust her words.
It was time Yakumo showed some skills other than fighting and drinking to the new comrades.
"Hey, if Adam asks for a spar, don't-" Rin barged in to inform Yakumo about the training situation.
However, she couldn't inform him of any details as she saw what was on the counter.
"Is that for me?~" Seeing such a delicious pie, why wouldn't she get a piece-
Only, she didn't.
Io's blank stare stopped her…
Yes, a blank stare.
"You got this." Coco pats the mechanic's hat on Io's head, having her leave the kitchen.
"...Huh?" Rin looked at her hands, confounded, and noticed them trembling for some reason.
She only snapped out of it after she heard Coco chuckle.
____________________________________________________________________________
Word Count: 3,286
I'm more of a pecan pie man than a strawberry. Apple is also pretty high up there in my tier list.
Though, if we talk about flavors in general, it has to be mango. Be it as candy, gum, juice, and the fruit itself of course.
Also, this chapter has been rewritten many times because of how autistically detailed I had made the cooking pie scene. Like, it took about half of the chapter. Yes, about 1,500 words about pie making.
I don't know how I got into the flow of writing the process of baking that pie but I will try to put that into the following chap.