Arc 4: What families entail
Smiles rained through Athens for what felt like the first time in years.
And yet hate, anger, bloodlust, grew alongside it.
Leaving Athens fate, said before and to be said again, in the hands of fate itself.
Leo: "THANKS TO EVERYBODY, THE RED ARROWS LIVE AGAIN!"
Under the capital, under the earth, were Red Arrows cheering, crying and drinking with joy. They had lost the others in the attack, people who had given up their life without hesitation to let Leo move forward. And those people would be carved into Leo's room, along with the thousands of others along the walls forever. And while his heart was sour, knowing just like they all did that the Warriors across Athens would now give up everything to win. The city of Cretan, what used to be the Red Arrows stronghold before the Tragedy by Solon Bay, was now pushed to ruin through hate. The roads were lit aflame, homes were broken in, families pulled apart. All to understand where they were, who they were, and what to do next. Leaving Bearguard screaming with rage and breaking everything in his office while Julius silently looked on. Forcing Warriors everywhere to sleep, eat, and drink as little as possible to push their limits. Either grow, die due to their weakness, and do at least one thing for the country.
Only those with hate strong enough in their heart for both Demi-humans and the Red Arrows could make it. The Red Arrows however had the first good day in what may have been four years. All reuniting with their friend, their leader, and their light. But not letting Toll or Peter get away with that they did either. Saving that lights every life.
Peter: "EEEEEH!"
They through him up into the air cheering his name and offering him booze, which he denied, while blocking him from escaping to his room. Toll on the other hand was more than happy to take the praise, holding large Demi-human women by her side to pour whiskey into her long mouth. Leo wasn't drinking, he was hardly eating. Trying to sit and see everybody, strangely silent, and obviously wounded with all the bandages and the cane he needed to walk as he healed. He wasn't hung up for long, but for about a week he indured torture, interagoation, feed nothing but slop every once and a while, and given the rain to drink. It was enough to make him visibly skinnier (partly due to how the healing magic was taking his nutrients) but all the wounds and swelling managed to cover it up. For only Toll and Peter to take notice. Toll was too distracted to speak up, and Peter couldn't get through the people, but that didn't matter.
Because now everyone was looking up, and roaring with cheers again. While Peter's eyes teared up, leaving him embarrassed. Leo was the one who screamed out first, before the echo of screams followed behind him.
Leo: "SOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
She had entered from above, and was currently crouching over the third floor railing. Smirking, tired, and trying her best to keep a straight face.
Peter: "YOU MADE IT! BACK"
Toll: "I KNEW YOU WOULD !"
Toll threw Peter up before Peter could deny the offer or any Red Arrows could reach her, sending him soaring up and spinning violently before smacking into the wall and falling into Soku's hands.
Peter: "What happened!?"
It was then Soku's entire frame shook. The fear, the sadness from seeing Rosemary, the horror from having to leave her behind once again, and yet it had only happened over the span of two or three days. They didn't even know she was in prison, captured, or about to be executed. Her life is gone forever, only to be grabbed by somebody in the same position. It was a strange feeling, something she didn't understand why it hurt her as it did. But it was just another weight over her heart, sending her to her knees with a single tear emerging.
Soku: "I was taken by Athens. But I escaped. Rosemary…She broke me out."
Peter: "What happened to her!? Are you alright!?"
Peter instantly tried to rush close but she turned away. Before quickly walking toward the barracks.
Peter: "Do you need anything? I finished your Glider! Do you want to talk? Wanna party?"
Soku went to speak back, to say something snarky, to blow him off to hold her anger, but she snapped. Ready to scream, ready to throw out all her anger without any worry. So much so that she began to surge with the wind. But she stopped. And just ran away to Peter's room, slipping through the cracked Dragon Stone door. Behind it, she pulled her hands together while pulling in the wind to then shoot it out around the door. She then yanked that burst back with a spinning pull, causing the wind to rush backward and slam the door shut. Letting her fall to her knees in Peter's cluttered room and cry. To scream and cry. To hit her head with her hands and hit the ground and surge with wind and see Rosemary beaten and dead and Edward dead with Ophelia and with her mother and with -
She broke, and fell, to sob and mutter for Ophelia against the cold stone. The Red arrows swarmed around the door, pushing Peter away, but all stopped with Leo's hand. Peter slipped under and between their legs to get all the way to the front in moments, surprising Toll, all to tug on Leo's dirty white shirt. Attire he would have never worn before, always seen in somewhat clean Red Arrow Gear, although Peter was far too concerned with Soku to notice anything.
Peter: "Let me talk to her!"
Toll: "She probably needs to be left alone."
Leo: "No. I'm going to talk to her."
The only man who could open the door and silence the hundreds of men and women of all ages and races slowly stepped to grab the handle. With a tug of his strained, bandaged arm it nudged. Red Arrows tried to move in and help but Toll guarded, letting Leo continue.
Leo {I'll do it. I'm the only person who can understand her right now. Because I know it better than anybody, especially right now!}
Like he did hundred of times before, without another hand, without his Dragons fist, he pulled the door forward with a single mighty tug. Sending a small wave of wind past the crowd while the door opened, letting him step in, and slam the door shut with the same hand.
Soku: "GO AWAY!"
Soku was instantly hostile, roaring out with wind blasting Leo against the door. She wasn't even looking, just shaking her head while her eyes toward the ground. Covered in self inflicted scratches and bruises, surrounded in small scattered drops of blood, unable to do anything but resist the world.
Soku: "JUST LET ME BE ALONE PLEASE!"
Leo: "JUST LET ME FORWARD!"
She wouldn't and she couldn't and she never could and she never would ever ever ever -
Leo: "Oh whatever! I'll do it myself!"
He stomped so hard it crushed the ground to pull himself on, so Soku pushed even more. Throwing paper, trash, scrap, and tools all around them like a small tornado. Still he went forward, again and again, before grabbing Soku with both his arms. Hugging her with all his might, even when her wind left deep cuts in both of them, until she stopped. She hit and kicked and bit him but he continued. She screamed and berated him, spit and headbutt him, even left him dazed and a bit hurt, but he never stopped. Until she finally stopped. And just cried.
Soku: "You -
Leo: "Don't tell me I don't understand. Because I do, far better than you."
Soku: "You haven't lost everything!"
Leo: "And you have? I've lost my brother, my father, my mother, my entire blood line! My country! Even my friends from outside the country! I knew Musashi, Kisohi, Al! I loved Walgonia! And I'll help you even if this all goes wrong! Because I believe in you all! Rosemary, Julius, Edward! And you!"
Soku: "WHY!?"
Leo: "BECAUSE EVEN WHEN WE LOST ALL OF THEM YOU STEPPED UP! YOU GOT CAPTURED BECAUSE YOU SAVED PEOPLE! YOU ARE A HERO! EVEN IF YOU WON'T ACCEPT IT DAMMIT!"
He hugged even tighter, and so did she, before he finally let her go. To sit with her, and hold her hand, while she silently continued to cry. Trying his best to comfort her, to inspire her, and to push on. Looking forward where the shining, rising sun would be, and smiled all he could. Not thinking of the pain, the loss, but of what must be done. And just how to do it. They breathed, and so did Athens. The people on the streets had a renewed light in their eyes for the Red Arrows. But the fear of what was next rose. The Spartans clearing the alley ways of Warriors knew it. The Pirates in the North West end of the island knew it. That a war was coming. Everything that's been happening, and what's going to happen for a while longer, has just been a long four year calm before the massive storm would rain down. From the wagons being ransacked just in case they held Red Arrows or were for Red Arrows to the people slaughtered for being friends with friends of Red Arrows; it was all fire wood to kindle a fire that may swallow Athens whole.
Lincoln: "Wonder if that kid is dead. At least Kioshi won't try and kill me because of it now."
The Dragon Of Athens was drinking, muttering, and wandering through the iron forest around his home while Edward rampaged in the distance, still under the earth, still wearing the now shattered stone armor and using the chipped stone blade he fashioned out of the caves and beasts. He didn't know how long it had been, he hadn't for a while now. It didn't seem like he was searching for an escape any longer. Just fighting before sleeping and fighting again.
Edward {Wonder if Musashi would give me a pat on the back or call me a dumbass for all this.}
He was running down the looping tunnels, thinking to himself while roaring with rage, finally thinking through the Warriors Spirit, before something finally changed. Like Athens was trying its best to save its may be saviors, or it was just the large beast eating smaller beasts below that caused the shaking and collapse. The stone had broken under Edward, letting him slide down the jagged earth and barely dive between stalagmites before getting thrown into a free fall and slamming his head against the stone.
Edward {NOT GOOD!}
It was so much it snapped him out of his anger; he was in a large circular area, with pools of magma pouring into a mote around the dense stone he stood on, in front of a massive High Tier Spirit Beast. A Supreme Magma Gina, three stories tall and six stories fully extended, coated in red hot stone cracked to show its lava insides, with a cylinder head filled with red boiling fangs. The two eyes on the sides of its head lit up with fire the moment it saw another piece of meat, boiling forward before crashing and bending with the room to continue moving. It was because Edward barely leapt with all his might away from its face, running along its body while dragging his blade on its dense back, and sliding across the floor to stop just before the bubbling edge.
Edward: "WHATEVER! EVERYTHING'S BEEN BUILDING TO THIS RIGHT!?"
He had to force the courage in, and ignite the Warriors Spirit. Thinking of Musashi, Al, his promise to Lincoln, his promise to Walgonia, to spark his power. The beast hardly thought, simply boiling forward while shooting out a torrent of lava. It jolted its body out of the way, sliding and breaking through the stone across the wall to leave Edward open. However he used his brain, slicing the stone floor before flipping it upward with his sword to make a wall that took the brunt of the blast. It was up to him to slam his hands against the stone, screaming while being dragged back, before throwing it away and dashing to keep fighting. All of the monster's movements now, and from the previous bloody meals it's had laying across the ground and walls, caused the stalactites to begin falling all around. Forcing Edward to look up, pivot, and shift between the raining earth while the snake tried its best to weave between it. Getting massive spikes in its sides, part of its head, and its thick bulbous tail. All the pain caused even more trouble; the end of its tail began to fire out acidic lava, a bright red substance that began to instantly eat through anything in its way, including the cave surrounding them.
The floor began to chip and break away to sink into the ocean of magma they fought upon. Edward struggled to keep his rage tight when he had to focus so lightly, leaping across the melting arena while dodging and vaulting over the crashing roof. The large beast managed to take most of the blast, but the raining flaming debris wasn't nice either. Then came the raining magma from the pools above, burning through the monster's thick skin and forcing it into overdrive.
Edward {SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!}
He tried his best to run toward the edge of the cave, preparing to leap over the mote, before Gina curved and thrusted toward him. Blaming him for the cave about to collapse, while his stone blade began to crack between its many fangs. They burned through his stone shoes, but the worst of it was yet to come; the beast then aimed toward the roof.
Edward {May the Spirits be with me.}
He let go, right after stabbing the sword into the roof of the snake's mouth to keep it open, and dove into its gut while scraping its insides all the way down to stop before he got too far. The beast then continued going upward, before crashing through into a massive ocean of lava. It screamed, and lava began to pour within right toward Edward, forcing him to fall further into the monster. In the boiling, disgusting, squishy darkness he reached an end that burned like hell. So he took off his stone vambrace and cut his way through, while the beast was forced further up to escape. Slithering with everything it had while its outsides charged off, leaving its red flesh and magma blood behind. It crashed through the caves, it took out any beast in its way, and it just kept going. The pain had broken its feeble mind, sending it further up and up, around, all around, through the walls and streams of boiling water and magma. Edward was thrown all around as he carved his way through, trying to reach toward the sides, but the constant motion and building pain made it seem impossible.
Edward {I can't die to some random monster after all this! Are you serious!?}
While he was in what may be in what soon will turn into the bleakest moment of his life, a bit in the distance, out of the caves and in a wide bright forest in the early morning, was a Bounty Hunter covered in blood named Yelenda. She was an eight foot Spirit Moose Demi-human with large wide spiked antlers and a bored look in her eyeAround her were dead Demi-humans wearing mostly tan pants and thin white shirts, the Grave Stone Pirates, all coming from a small camp ahead. She wasn't a foe, instead their leader came in cheering with booze.
Bella: "Yeah you can work with us! But how come Bearguard keeps hiring Demi-humans?"
Yelenda: "I think it's because he think's we're expendable. But it's easy money, and a long term job. Hard to come by these days in Saga."
Bella: "Hell if Moro likes yah you can come back to the Islands with us."
Yelenda: "Nah, more of a solo act."
They walked back into the makeshift camp filled with pirates, tents, and fires, before the ground exploded with a massive snake bursting out. But half of its body slammed onto the earth, on its side, with Bella and Yelenda watching as Edward came bursting out of its heart.
Edward: "RAHHHH!"
He felt the sun. He felt the wind. He saw trees and grass and it hurt. It was so much, so bright, so beautiful. But it all got erased the second he saw the flags of the Grave Stone pirates, and his mortal enemies around him. So he kept screaming, but all that control he had was almost instantly lost. If it wasn't for his own mind, trying his best to make the most of what Lincoln barely told him.
Edward {THINK! I'LL KILL THEM, I'LL PROVE HOW FAR I'VE COME! I WON'T LOSE! I WON'T EVER LOSE AGAIN!}
Like a renewed man he burst faster than the others, while Bella screamed in fear. Seeing the man who took her eye and her rank dashing toward her friends. They swung blades, but he punched against them. The many fish Demi-human were thrown around by his massive might, his pouring endless will, the Warriors Spirit at its strongest. Faster, stronger, smarter than ever. Free, finally free from days of hell, and taking the reward with roars. Roars that slowly turned into a smile, feeling the warmth of his mother for the first time since he was twelve as he slaughtered them. Thrusting his head up to knock their hands away before bashing their heads into the ground to hit them over and over and over again, grabbing arms with his foot against their sternums and pulling with all his might to dismember them, stealing their own weapons to cleave their their skulls and into their large hearts.
Bella: "SHIT SHIT SHIT DO SOMETHING DO SOMETHING! KILL THAT HELSING!"
Yelenda: "THAT'S A HELSING!?"
Fear quickly spread throughout the roughly thirty pirates around, but arrows began to rain down from them anyway. His stone armor blocked most of it, but after a few mighty jabs from the larger seals, sharks, whales, and even pufferfish, such armor was finally turned to dust.
The GraveStone Pirates used to be far larger, the pirates of Saga, before the Demi-human war forced them to merge with the Demi-human army and fade into history. Now, just an offshoot crew working under Blackbeard, they didn't have the wield the Inner Spirit, Demi-human transformations, or the mana technology found in Southern Islands. Just rage for humans, through either blood or chance, continuing on with their few hundred or so members through the seas. Edward was maneuvering over the large snake's body as both cover from arrows and pirates, swinging their large blades with ease and finesse around and through their backs, sides, arms, and chests. No matter their size, or might. All nothing compared to what he's faced before. Just something in his way like the Spirit Beast he had been cleaving through for days on end. Just smarter, more skilled, more unique, but died all the same.
Like a beast he used his dense calloused fingers as claws, ripping into their guts to pull out their life in a horrible, fearful fashion. Yet Yelenda finally leapt forward, forcing the archers to hold off and let her slam her massive leg near his head. Yet he curved around, almost cutting her in the same motion, before jumping forward with it swinging across her face. Yet she smacked it aside with her antlers before backhanding his face and grabbing his skin with her other arm.
Yelenda: " -
Before she could speak he threw out three quick jabs to her face, kicked himself back, spun and cut through a gold fish pirate, and then continued spinning to throw his chipped blade against her light silver plated armor. A scaly forearm came bashing against his throat to throw him back from another pirate, before a chain wrapped around his leg to slam him down. His arm went up to guard, getting draped in barbed chains an instant later.
Edward: "NOOOOOOOOO!"
He couldn't let them overwhelm him in a single moment of weakness; as he declared before, he'd never lose again. But he didn't lash out, he thought, and he grabbed hold of the chain to swing the pelican Demi-human round and round. He reeled her in, smacking her across pirate pirate pirate, before moving behind Yelenda to catch her in the chains. She broke them with a quick grasp, freeing Edward, and allowing him to roll out of the way of an arrow volley.
Edward {Look think fight, who's acting faster, what needs to be done next then next then next!}
Dodge a mace, grab it, bash the groopers face in, spin and gain momentum before forcing Yelenda to guard. Let go, pivot low and throw all his might into swooping her leg, burst forward and grab hold of her body while rolling against the grass.
Yelenda: "Get off me fucker!"
Edward: "NEVER!"
His mind was somewhat intact, but that rage was more present than ever. Flown into each punch to her head, over and over, sending waves of force through the ground. When she went to punch him off he hit it away before punching again, she tried to roll and he forced his leg into her gut and headbutt her; he would do anything to keep going, but had to use skill, really use it, and not become the reckless brute he always feared he would become if he ever began to use the Warriors Spirit. The Edward of before had died on that bay, but his soul would always exist. That rage however, that all began with "these damn pirates." He then used the barbed wire chain embedded into his arm to guard the punch of an angel fish, ducked under the swing of an axe, and rolled back to dodge a hefty kick from Bella.
Edward {DON'T STOP MOVING!}
Edward was surrounded by about ten Demi-humans, as the archers and stragglers ran back to base. Leaving Bella, Yelenda, and their either loyal or too dumb to leave the crew. So he pouched forward, kicking off Yelenda before dodging a jab from Bella and slamming his fist across her thick face. He then took his left hand, straightened it, and plunged it into her last eye. She was left screaming bloody murder, and completely blind. Lost to the darkness of defeat, before the end soon closed in.
Bella: "NO NO NO! WHY!? WHAT THE HELL!? WHHHY!?"
He grabbed hold of her body, leaving her in a choke hold in front of her remaining soldiers.
Edward: "SPREAD THE WORD! EDWARD VAN HELSING DIDN'T VANISH OR RUN! HE'S HERE! AND HE'S GOING TO KILL MORO GRAVESTONE!"
Right after he was done he took a dagger stabbed into his back and stabbed Bella heart, cleaving outward to leave her dead in moments and on the blood, organ soaked grass.
Yelenda: "SHIT MAN I JUST GOT HIRED BY ATHENS I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS!"
Edward: "THEN GO!"
She took off, while the other pirates did the same, leaving Edward alone. Victorious. Free. And in a destroyed camp covered in blood and torn open bodies, with a massive dead snake in the center. All Edward could do was laugh, in disbelief, in sheer amazement. Before he heard a voice behind him.
Lincoln: "Good work! I thought you'd died!"
Edward: "....Lincoln?"
Edward promptly passed out, right for Lincoln to catch him.
Lincoln: "I guess you really do get the spunk. I think you're ready, and worthy, to learn the Dragons Fist."
He passed out, but he heard it, and fell asleep with a smile. Like Athens, for the first time in a really long time. Everybody moved, some for the better. Walgonia moved just as harshly. The Sect continued to rampage across cities, towns, villages, and roads while Arthur cut out the old. Knights, soldiers, and guards thrown out were trying their best. Turning their small groups into far larger units, taking root in the alleys and homes of those kind enough to help. Mostly their own homes, hiding out until the darkness to strike and cut the ranks away. Like the Red Arrows, Walgonia's truest were forced into the shadows. And only they truly knew the difference. For the greater world, it was simply Walgonia against an organized set of militias or guilds. Erased away like nothing happened until Walgonia followed alongside it.
"Like that'll ever happen. We're Walgonians!; We don't ever fall!"
The guards trying to search for Gray early in the morning were all talking about the same fear, the same undeniable constant they were living in.
"It just feels weird to be fightin like this. It was never like this, not during the Demi-human war atleast."
"Walgonia has never been like this!"
Soldiers, knights, whatever rank finding safety in their own country's hidden heart. Old, young, with Marks and affinities scattered throughout. But against Gray were about twenty soldiers, because Gray had already taken out thirty of them from yesterday evening to this early morning. Right now he stood gulping high above the patrolling group, letting his Cloak flow out in the wind over the branch he stood on.
Gray {Edward coulda broken through all of them. So could Rosemary, and Soku could have definitely thought of something. I got all this mana, this giant connection, but I don't have that raw power. I probably never will. I gotta think like Ryo said. Use everything I've ever learned like Gordon said. Use everything I can like Musashi said.}
He began to take in as much Spirit mana as his body would allow, slowly, to properly take it in. His senses slowly became disorganized and dysfunctional before dripping into place. The distinct smells, vibes of spirit presence, bright sunlight, and heavy weight added onto his body. His mana turned from a bright purple to blue, while his eyes flashed white before turning black as he held in the power. He could see the five soldiers below, two Dire Wolves sniffing the air to look up and spot his Cloak extending down.
"SHIT!"
Two of the soldiers had their backs snagged by the sticky black Cloak, skinny and stretching out for Gray to soar down shortly in the distance. A soldier aimed their bow, another their hand, the third their claws, but the two taken soldiers were yanked into the air as the Cloak swung around a thick branch, holding on for Gray to come soaring through the air.
Gray: "SORRY!"
His legs bashed against their guarding sword and sent the soldier flying backward, spotting his friends flinging into the air and slamming onto the ground after Gray's swing.
"WIGVEN!"
The soldier to his left let out a quick whip of water, which Gray smacked away with his vambrace before jolting forward. She ducked his swing, taking a proper stance, so he took a boxer's stance. Rooting back to what his dad taught him as a kid, and jabbed her twice in her hamlet. Stunned, he shot the cloak toward her leg and pulled it out from under her, before swinging again to throw her into the archer. Yet she slid under and quickly shot out an arrow, which Gray managed to break mid-air with a slash.
Gray: "AWESOME!"
"Yeah that was cool!"
She shot out two more arrows, which he quickly broke again before stabbing into the ground. She dodged, his blade was stuck, and her leg almost hit his face, before he rolled backward with the kick.
"No -
She was cut off, as Gray leapt forward and slammed his shoulder against her body, rocketing her into the thick trunk behind them.
Gray: "Few."
His senses lit up, jotting his eyes ahead to see the two wolves. Alongside more wolves, and ten soldiers; they had gathered the others.
Gray: "Damn smart wolf."
He surged with mana before leaping into the air, swinging with his Cloak to soar around the scattering guards. The rest of them swarmed forth into the forest, all awake and ready to face him so early in the morning, but he was more ready than ever.
Gray {I spent weeks in the woods, this is no sweat!}
It was half a life, because he had a face full of panic, but he was skipping over branches and swinging with, some, grace. Squeaking, eeking, sweating, and jolting with each movement to get it right. But still the Cloak snagged onto each branch and wrapped around each trunk, for him to pinball forward. Stepping off the trees to pull onto another, swinging down to gain momentum and swing up. Moving, moving , moving, leaving the guards further disoriented while Gray shook off the pain.
Gray {Alright, strike!}
With a final swing toward the snowy floor he extended his Cloak, pushed toward the Spirits, and tried his best to hold that connection; he used his connection to the world to stabilize his aimed fall. Like a bullet he went through the air, slamming his sword into a massive shield to shatter it and erupt his arms in horrid pain.
Gray: "Ow ow ow too much force!"
The knight instantly reached, using his large size to try and crush Gray with a bearhug. So Gray shot out his Cloak into his face, pulled down as hard as he could, and slammed his face into the snow.
Gray {DODGE!}
He moved before his heightened senses could warn him, ducking under a dagger slash before jabbing the guard in the gut to throw them backward.
Gray {Mana boosted punches are still so awesome! I'll never get tired of that!}
His ever potent, massive mana, lead to few fighters with Spirit affinity groups right to him, and their sniffing wolves. Causing him to scream out and burst with even more mana.
Gray: "CENIC CENIC!"
The double concentrated blast sent chills through his blinded body, but he focused and used his Spirit enhanced vision to see each of the ten soldiers like glowing vestiges. To throw his Cloak toward and slam against others, to kick, to dodge, to punch, to scream with each missed attack, and send two tendrils toward a branch to escape the fading black smoke.
Gray: "Hah! I lived!"
He tried to take in the lost spirit mana through his faulty concentration, just for it to send a wave through his mind.
Gray: "EEK!"
He ducked under a small Spirit Eagle, a domesticated set of Low Tier Spirit Beasts with thick brown feathers, a black feathered head, and a blue beak. It knocked him off balance enough to fall onto the ground and get kicked in the face by a metal shoe.
Gray {Even with the mana defense this shit hurts!}
For him the force still reverberated through, not as much as it would have been, and wasn't bruised easily, but for a boy who'd hardly gone out before this world, it was so much he wanted to puke, cry and scream every single time. Tears still welt up each hit, his stomach churned, and he eeked, and he wasn't doing anything close to smiling, but he was still fighting. Fighting unlike he could have ever dreamed. But for some reason, even when he was stronger than anybody ever born from his old world, he felt so damn weak. So pitiful. Like a breeze would knock him down.
"Gisnic!"
A massive wave of bright green wind did knock him down, for a spear to whack his back and a knight to punch his gut.
Gray {Not good.}
This time he did hurl, causing the knight to back off in disgust and give Gray a chance to kick him in the nuts. It was then he realised he had let go of his mana flow due to all the chaos, and got hit right in the liver by a soldier. Sending him to the floor groveling in pain and hardly able to breathe.
"Finally, damn."
"Hey don't look at the sad kid, you did great! Gordon will definitely approve yah!."
Gray: "... -
He tried his best to speak, to breathe, to think past the pain. So he grabbed something brighter than it all; he took his hatred. For himself, for failing, and used that anger, that despair to push through everything around him with sheer will. He had mana, he had strength, he just had to defeat the pieces of him that were human to survive.
Gray: "SCREW THAT! NO HALF MESSURES! IF I'M GOING I'M GOING BECAUSE I'M WORTHY DAMMIT!"
He burst with mana, so much his armor cracked and his Cloak tore, but he didn't care. Even the knights backed away, aiming arrows, hands , wands and staffs, but then he took it all in. It created a disturbance that threw off all the spirits in the area, along with the snow and leaves, with how much mana he was forcing into his body. He had the massive affinity, one that was only growing through his grueling weeks with Ryo, and now he had the mind to use it. Taking so much in he couldn't feel the pain anymore at all, he couldn't even see through the blinding white light. Before the rage took forth; the crescent moon charm surged purple, the Cloak tightened, his mana bloomed a bright purple, and his eyes were submerged with mana. In an instant the Cloak shot out two tendrils that forced knights back while Gray punched through others, dodged sweeping blows before kicking them in the head like a jab with his foot, rolled to shatter an ankle with a sliding kick, and pulled out his sword to block another so hard it through the soldier back.
Gray {OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!}
Then the horrid pain set in, causing him to lose a lot of Spirit mana in bursts, but he continued. The Cloak also continued, moving on its own to push away guards, take arrows, and small blasts of magic, to let Gray keep rushing through the woods. With his heightened senses he could feel his muscles pulling apart, his bones cracking, his blood boiling, but it felt like the spirits were moving his body for him. His skill, his thoughts, his strength, but the choice to move wasn't his own anymore. The more Spirit mana he let out of his body the more control he regained, but the other Knights were thrown back all the same. Flashes of their faces, Demi-humans leaped over, the guards snagged and yanked into each other with the Cloak. He did it all and more.
Ryo: "Come on! We have to make sure nothing bad happens!"
Gordon: "Calm down, it can't be that bad!"
When Ryo carried Gordon quickly across the village toward the woods, the knights were already defeated. Moping back with their injuries, while Gray collapsed in the snow. Ryo instantly vanished from Gordon's sight before appearing in front of Gray to heal him, but Gordon took in the sight with awe.
Gordon: "The boy did it. What the hell did you teach him on that mountain?"
Ryo: "By the looks of it, this was all him."
The skin around Gray's eyes were slightly burned, he was bruised and cut all over, his body was shattered, but with healing magic and his own healing factor it could be fixed by tomorrow morning. Or just enough that he could push on.
Gordon: "Whenever he wakes up, he's leaving for Athens. Finally."
Gray fell asleep with a smile, spiritually with the others in their high. The Storm was coming, and that was undeniable, but so were they. Ready to take fate into their own hands, for the first time in their lives.