Chapter 259: Time-Placement

The sound of the Corruption hitting Orochi's face reverberated around the space in his mind. It was almost as if the world had fallen silent to hear this. However, everything had been quiet during this time. Orochi went flying backwards, a shocked expression still lining his face. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he did know that he was no longer standing up. Soul smiled, looking at what he had done. He was preparing himself to be hit by a counterattack. However, when nothing happened, he was slightly disappointed.

"For all that talk, you haven't done much to back it up," Soul said out loud. "Come on. Show me that the body you have is capable." Soul added, watching as Orochi appeared in his vision, his fists curled up into a ball. He was trying to hit Soul with all the strength in his arms. It was just to show him he could do what he set out to do. It was almost like a motivator to get Orochi back up and running.

Soul watched Orochi throw a flurry of punches at him, although Soul was just smiling through it. He dodged the attacks as if they were in slow motion, much to the annoyance of Orochi. Soul was using an ability that Aaron had rarely used that was made impossible using Boundless Telekinesis. It increased the speed of his mind, allowing him to perceive things quicker. However, Aaron had paired this with the increased physical reactions the last time he used it. Soul just wanted to see how Orochi structured his punches, so he didn't. They were pretty basic punches, so Soul went about correcting him as he threw his punches.

Orochi could actually see Soul changing his punches, almost as if Soul was mocking him. However, he couldn't deny that his attacks were getting stronger the more that Soul fixed them up, so he kept punching for as long as possible. Orochi wanted to see how well Soul could fix him up. After all, he wasn't used to a human body, but he adapted quickly. It was like magic.

Soul just smiled, realised what Orochi was doing. Orochi was no longer trying to hit him, so Soul had a bit of fun with this new knowledge. He threw a quick punch at Orochi using his right hand. The one that wasn't covered in Corruption. You could hear the wind leaving his body as he crumpled slightly. Soul looked at him with a smile on his face. I just winded you. It's a weakness known to humans when a hard enough force impacts their stomach or chest. They lose the ability to breathe as all the air leaves their lungs. It's quite an intriguing process, but I won't bore you with the details. I will just give you a demonstration, shall I?" Soul asked as Orochi tried to grab at Soul using his hand. He was planning on burning Soul's clothes somehow.

Soul jumped away, flipping backwards as he did so. He just wanted to get the satisfaction of both kicking someone's hand and backflipping at once. It was just a level of satisfaction that couldn't be described in words. Soul kept smiling throughout all of this. After all, while he was in here, there wasn't anyone on the outside to worry about. Soul believed that time moved slower inside of a person's mind.

Let me explain the laws of time between a mind and the outer world. At least, while Soul, Aaron, or two people inhabit concurrently. During this time, time moves at a fraction of the original speed. Ten thousand seconds to one, to be precise about it. This meant that for every two and a half hours spent inside the mind of someone else, a single second would pass in the outside world.

Soul's hands lit up with pink light, putting his Boundless Corruption to good use. In his hands appeared two swords. They were clones of Aaron's sword, Tsuyukagiri, still at Soul's waist. "Now, I'm going to teach you how to swordfight. The blade I'm about to toss to you is better than my own. However, since you're a dragon, you should pick up sword fighting easily. We want you to have a decent repertoire of skills. Just in case you ever lose your magic. Mind you, neither I nor my friend Aaron can professionally wield a blade either, so we just go with what feels right. If you want to follow in our footsteps, go for it." Soul told the dragon, tossing one of the Corrupted Tsuyukagiri's over to him.

Orochi grabbed the sword by its handle, surprised by the weight of the blade. It wasn't heavy on its own, but the sword was eight feet long, increasing the torque on his wrists, making it feel like it weighed than it did. "Hey, would you mind decreasing the length of this sword? I need something a bit more manageable than this." Orochi asked Soul, who waved his hand in the air. The blade shrunk from eight feet to four feet, losing a lot of the metal. The handle was still fine, though. "There you go. Now, I'm not going to go easy on you. If you plan to guard my city, you had better be prepared to take on the toughest of challenges. After all, some monsters out there are as strong or even more powerful than me, and I want you to be able to survive. Not necessarily win, but give yourself enough time to escape or make a comeback." Soul explained, rushing towards Orochi as he thought about what Soul said.

Now, of course, Soul was going slower than his max speed, but he wasn't going to go and obliterate the dragon. He wanted him as a city guard, and he also didn't want to completely shatter the confidence of Orochi. He needed that to make it through the day.

Soul's blade collided with Orochi's, sending pink sparks flying, signalling the start of an intense and quick struggle for dominance in a battle of swords.