They were in a dilapidated house that was just barely passable. Ling Qing sat on one side, and the beast-like man sat on the other.
Tearing off his ragged clothes and tossing them aside, exposing most of his upper body, Ling Qing methodically applied medicine to his wounds. The man's actions, however, were much rougher. He slapped a large glob of ointment onto a wound and smeared it around carelessly, considering the job done.
Ling Qing glanced at him, wanting to say something several times, but ultimately swallowed his words. He knew it was useless to remind this man. It wasn't just that he might get impatient; even if he said, 'I heard you, I heard you, stop nagging,' he would be just as careless the next time.
Ling Qing wasn't quite sure how much time had passed. When you're completely absorbed in a fight, you lose track of the days and nights.
Before coming to Zaraki, Ling Qing had maxed out the experience points for his various skills, so to speak, but he had very little real combat experience. In his initial battles with this man, Ling Qing had gradually mastered the art of a true life-or-death struggle, turning combat into instinct and slaughter into strength.
His power, which he thought had reached its limit, continued to rise. It was only then that Ling Qing realized he hadn't reached his limit; he had only thought he had. And so, he broke through his limits again and again. First, his combat experience, then his power, and then his spiritual energy.
By the midpoint of their fighting, Ling Qing could already use his powerful spiritual energy to fly briefly or soar over long distances. The new variations and techniques that required him to be airborne were also quickly mastered with this man as his sparring partner.
This time, Ling Qing didn't feel that he was approaching his limit yet. But he clearly recognized that the fighting had to end here. As he had said, they had become completely familiar with each other's moves through their repeated clashes. Unless one of them underwent a fundamental change in fighting style or power, their encounters could no longer be called battles, but merely sparring sessions. Continuing to fight like this wasn't entirely ineffective, but the gains were minimal and it was a waste of time.
"Hey, you. It's about time you left, right?"
Because of his careless application of the medicine, the man, despite having far more wounds than Ling Qing—almost as if he had a masochistic enjoyment of being injured in battle—finished treating himself first. He tossed his saw-toothed blade aside, lifted his head to glare at Ling Qing with a fierce gaze, and asked bluntly.
"It is indeed about time for me to leave."
Ling Qing continued to apply his medicine, speaking without looking up. "It's a shame I couldn't take you down, the legendary 'demon' of this place." He even managed to crack a joke.
Hearing this, the man split his face into a terrifying grin. "You'll need more than that to kill me. I'll be waiting for you to come and cut me down again. Just make sure I don't kill you first next time!"
Since he knew Ling Qing was planning to leave, the man didn't have much more to say. From Ling Qing's perspective, continuing to fight was meaningless. From the man's perspective, even if it wasn't like their initial clashes, this kind of battle was far more interesting than the one-sided slaughter where he would kill weaklings in a single blow—fights that couldn't even be called battles, just swings of a sword. But he didn't voice these thoughts, nor did he try to make Ling Qing stay.
"I probably won't be back for a while. Try not to get killed by someone else before I get the chance to kill you."
Ling Qing was also reluctant to give up on an opponent who was not only his equal but could also grow in strength along with him.
But there was truth in the saying "too much of a good thing." The two of them had "hit it off at first sight," so to speak, desperate to kill each other, and had thrown everything they had at one another. Now, they had run out of new moves. If they were the type of partners who progressed together through friendly sparring, a situation like this probably wouldn't have occurred for five or even ten years.
Ling Qing figured his next visit would be when he had either forgotten the man's attack patterns or when his own power had reached a new stage.
The man didn't respond to Ling Qing's words, just gave a disdainful smile. In fact, if someone had actually been able to kill him, the legend of the demon wouldn't have persisted for hundreds of years, leading Ling Qing to his doorstep in the first place.
The conversation ended there for the time being. The man said no more, and Ling Qing silently finished applying his medicine. After a while, once he was done, Ling Qing used the water he had brought to quickly clean himself and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
Although the two of them had turned Zaraki upside down with their battle, the district itself was vast. It was possible to consciously avoid destroying things in one specific direction. As a result, at least one small, dilapidated hut remained standing, which held the supplies Ling Qing had brought: clothes, medicine, food, and water.
He didn't have to worry about these things being stolen. In fact, if someone was capable of sneaking in here to steal his things while they were fighting, both Ling Qing and the man would have been overjoyed to meet them.
"The clothes won't fit you, so I won't leave them. I'll only take the necessary amount of food and water. You can have the rest, including the medicine." Ling Qing said to the man after he finished getting dressed.
Unsure how long he would be gone, Ling Qing had prepared ample supplies. Having come from an 80th district himself, he knew how scarce resources were. As it turned out, he had found the man almost immediately and their battle began, saving him a great deal of time, effort, and consequently, a significant portion of his supplies. Ling Qing had no intention of taking the leftovers with him.
Although they had fought with the intent to kill, there was no hatred between them. After fighting for so long without being able to kill each other, a sense of mutual respect had even begun to form.
"Don't expect a 'thank you' from me."
Despite his words, the man's terrifying grin showed he was clearly pleased. For the resource-starved 80th District, these supplies were indeed valuable. It would be strange if he wasn't happy. The man simply loved to fight; he wasn't an idiot or an ascetic monk.
"Well then, I should be going." Ling Qing adjusted the sword at his waist, his brow furrowing slightly.
Noticing his action, the man raised an eyebrow curiously. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing... No, it's just that..." Ling Qing drew his sword and swung it a few times. "It feels more and more awkward to use."
Sephiroth could wield a two-meter-long sword with one arm, but Ling Qing was a mere mortal and couldn't do that. Before he died, the most he could do was swing a meter-long decorative katana with one hand. That was why he had adapted so well to this sword in the afterlife. But now, as his power grew, the sword felt increasingly unwieldy. Whether swinging or channeling power, something always felt off.
"If it doesn't feel right, just get a new one. What's there to worry about?" the man said casually, leaning against the wall with his hands clasped behind his head.
"You have a point."
Just as Ling Qing nodded in agreement, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. It looked like someone was lunging at the man by the wall with a sword!
But when Ling Qing turned to look directly, there was nothing there. The man, in turn, looked back at him, bewildered.
"What is it? If you're going, then go. Stop dawdling. If you don't want to go, then fight me again!"
"...What a beast," Ling Qing muttered, shaking his head with a wry smile. But this reminded him of something.
"Right, my name is Ling Qing. What's yours?"
It was only then that Ling Qing realized. They had been fighting for so long, yet they didn't even know each other's names.
Unexpectedly, the man was taken aback by the question. "A name?! I don't have one of those. That stuff is useless to me."
"...I think a name is useful. At the very least, it lets people like me know what to call you." Ling Qing had no intention of giving the man a name. But before he left, he said this:
"A name is very important for a person. With a name, a person is a person, not just a beast. I hope by the next time we meet, you'll have given yourself a name."
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