The sun slowly dips down the horizon as Zatu's training comes to an end.
Now alone in the Backyard as Arbo had gone back to the tower to see how discussions were progressing.
Sat at the ground the sword in his lap shines with a purple glow that lingered way more than just a few seconds after his skill use.
Still, as the glow slowly dims he glances to his system panel.
================
Name: [Zatu Rainfall]
Age: [18]
Class: [Magic Swordsman] -- (Tier 1 - Level 6/100) {5 → 6}
Resources:
(Tier 1)
[Mana] -- (4 / 18) {11 → 18}
[Sword Intent] -- (0 /14) { 9 → 14}
Skills:
(Tier 1)
[Basic Mana control] -- (level 3 /100) {2 → 3}
[Basic Sword intent control] -- (level 4/100) {3 → 4}
[Imbue Lightning] -- (level 10 /100) {5 → 10}
============
To his surprise Imbue lightning kept pace with yesterday's progress.
Even though he was indeed focusing on leveling this skill, he also knew that as levels get higher it would take a lot more investment of both mana and sword intent to level up.
However, as both his mana and sword intent grew at a fast pace, their meditations required got slightly longer but a lot more efficient.
Counteracting the increase of the skill's level up thresholds.
Just like Imbue Lightning all else kept leveled the same amount except one thing.
Today he had finally gained another level in his class.
'Damn, to level up by training without the truth state takes way too long.'
He grumbled in his mind, hoping that fighting beasts to the death would skyrocket his level like Arbo had once told him about.
Normally at this time he would take a rest, maybe eat something, maybe pull up to Blue Dream to chit chat.
But today there was one more thing he wanted to do.
Raising for the ground, he holds his sword tightly in his hand.
With fast and sharp moves he executes a shadow fight in the dirt ground.
His breathing shifts together with his body as he connects himself with his sword.
The sword cuts through the air with a laudable swoosh that Zatu feels resonate within his chest.
Hour by hour in the last few days he could feel the connection with his sword grow stronger.
And the new sensations that brought also grew familiar.
After recovering half of his sword intent with this mix of shadow fight and meditation Zatu stands tall in front of the dummy.
His eyes travel over the device, noting there is not a single sign of the white mark left earlier in the morning.
Lowering his core Zatu stares down at its metallic face.
With his mana sense he can feel the multitude of runes covering the magic device shift and change over its metallic skin, in a constant pattern he knew way too little to know its purpose.
Raising his sword High he readies a strike, channeling triple the amount of sword intent he used in the morning (6).
As he does so a quiet feeling comes from his sword and a few purple arcs jump around its body for a moment.
'The lightning intent is trying to synergize with my sword intent, but for some reason it can't.' He understood instinctively.
But understanding didn't mean he knew how to do so either.
Since the energies were already interacting with each other and yet were unable to meld together.
His instinct only warned him that he needed to do something for it to actually happen, but he could not for his life imagine what it was.
Leaving the energies team work to be a sum of their powers instead of a multiplication.
'I should look into this later.' He made a mental note, pulling his attention back to his imobile metallic foe.
Pointing his sword to the sky, Zatu fills his lungs with air.
Clarity fills the corners of his mind.
His sword falls down in a blur, fast like lightning.
A clink echoes in the backyard.
And Zatu is pushed to take a step back from the impact.
His eyes travel back to the dummy and lock in the place where the sword hit its metal skin.
His heart feels the sweet caress of expectation, could he see another color with another color after a few hours of training?
He knew it was asking for too much, that such a feat made no sense in any way shape or form.
And yet a small hope couldn't help but bubble inside his chest.
As the line of color starts to appear he watches it intently, only for a sigh to soon escape his lips.
A white line, just like the one he made just this morning.
'So only sharp enough to cut through beast skins of level 25 to 75 huh and I'm probably on the lower side of these numbers.'
Zatu thinks to himself, chewing on his lips and squeezing his eyebrows together.
Arbo had mentioned the weakest beasts around the city were at least high tier 1 and for now his sword wouldn't even be able to scratch their skin.
'How can I train harder?'
He questioned himself, completely ignoring that he was in fact, still level 6.
And with less than two days with the system and already able to pierce the skin of a level 25 beast.
A feat many would be proud, but that for Zatu it somehow was just not enough.
Staring daggers at the dummy, he ruminates silently.
Till a small little knock echoes from the front of the house, followed by a feminine voice that pulls him back to the world.
"Mister Zatu! I got some of the mission done!"
Maira calls out from the front door.
Making Zatu's tilt his head as a confused and playful smile appears in his face.
'Mission? Is she referring to the gossip I asked about?' He wonders, recognising the girl by her voice.
***
In the kitchen after inviting the girl inside and giving her a cup of water Zatu notices she doesn't seem well.
When she sits at the kitchen table her arms hang by her sides, as if she had spent hours carrying something around the city.
Her shoulders in contrast are tense as a bowstring and her hands never stop fidgeting with either the cup of water or the two thin notebooks she carried inside.
Zatu sits at the kitchen table with her.
"You look troubled Maira, what happened?"
Maira's eyes shift between Zatu and the two books, before pushing one of the books towards him.
"In just a day I found out a lot about Lyara, she seems to be a sweet and genuine girl from what I heard, all the rumors I got about her are in this book."
She says with a proud smile as her shoulders relax a bit, her eyes lock onto Zatu waiting for his response.
"Good work Maira." Zatu chuckles, giving the praise the girl's eyes were clearly hungering for.
The girl blooms with happiness for a second, before tension weighs down on her again.
Her face morphs from satisfaction to seriousness and a tremor appears in her hands as she pushes the other book towards him.
'This must be the Night Fang one huh, what the hell is in it to make Maira shake like this?'
Zatu wanders, both worried and amused by the sudden shift in her mood.
Gulping down a fist of air Maira talks about the second book.
"This one has very little, but its everything I could find about…" She hesitates for a second, lowering her voice to barely a whisper looking to the door as if a lion is waiting on the other side. "...Night Fang."
Zatu's curiosity grows larger, seeding a budding interest in this guide in his heart.
"Why are you whispering Night Fang like that?" He chuckles at her.
To which Maira bolts out of her seat and covers his mouth with her hands.
"Shhhh, you can't say that outloud!"
She yells in panic, trembling as her eyes jump wildly everywhere in the room.
Zatu follows her ever shifting gaze, before noticing something curious.
Maira isn't looking at the windows or the door, but instead her eyes jump between every shadow in the room.
"Why are you so worried about the name of this guide?" Zatu asks as he pushes her hands away.
"She aint a just a guide, at first my search resulted in nothing, at the time I found it weird, now I see that anyone who knew anything didn't dare to speak up."
Maira says, her voice growing smaller with each word.
"And I was going to keep going like this till I disappeared if not for luck." A tremor spreads to her body. "I met a mother and a kid, willing to talk, and that only because the mother was dying."
"That sounds odd." Zatu comments leaning forward.
Hearing his curious but unphased tone Maira sulks a bit.
"You're not taking this seriously!" She bangs her hands on the table. "After we took the mom to a healer she told me a lot of things. Disappearances, false charges, families harassed after trying to search for the truth."
Her hands shaking she grasped Zatu's shirt, small tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
"The mother doesn't even think this 'guide' is human, she says this thing lives in the outer south but that it travels between the city's shadows, watching, hunting." Maira said as more and more tears gathered in her eyes after each word.
"She told me that this 'thing' waits silently till an innocent victim speaks its name before rising from the shadows and pulling them into the shadows."
At this point sobs and fear took over her body, her words growing unintelligible.
Gently Zatu pulls her into a hug, patting her back slowly, just like Arbo used to do with him when he cried at night.
"It's okay Maira, It's okay, everything will be fine and nobody is going to hurt you, I promise."
He coaxed her softly, even though to be honest, her tale sounded like just a horror story to his ears.
After all, Schalt's girl apparently knew Night Fang personally and yet nothing seemed to have happened with her.
As her loud cries slowly calmed down, a part of him wondered.
'Is this was what it feels like to have a younger sibling who's afraid of the dark?'