Bab 52: The Level Two

Ryuma was panting hard is he stood with his guard up. The cut on the spectral ape's knuckles looked like mere paper cuts in comparison to the one on his stomach. Those ones looked like actual slice marks.

In Ryuma that meant only one thing. Instead of trying to use strength, he was going to have to try and use speed to get to that monkey baby. The only problem being that it meant that he was going to have to hit that same spot over again each time they crossed paths. If in between that ape manage to hit him once, that would be the end of him.

"Dammit," Ryuma cursed. He knew that he was going to have to be clever. Although the spectral monkeys were not at all considered intelligent, the circumstances for victory were stringent to say the least. If this was any one in Geneo's group, he'd no doubt they'd have an easier time with it even individually. That vibrating katana could cut through anything regardless of toughness. He'd no doubt this creature would fall to it before it could recognize how dangerous it was. Not to mention the sword clash with the other one could incapacitate it long enough for the wielder to do permanent damage.

Their only mistake was having turned those weapons on a thinking human. It was a saving grace that his personal sword skills were high enough to close that gap in ability, but for situations like this, their abilities would be perfect.

It's what they were designed to do after all.

He could see the spectral mist leak out of the abdomen of the ape in larger quantities than he saw it leak out of its knuckles.

{Wait a minute… what if I just keep wounding it?}

Indeed this was a solid idea from the cut on that things knuckles. Of course, he could try and go for a counter every time, but that was far too dependent on whether that ape could adapt and catch him one time.

What if he just kept cutting the ape all around. Death by a thousand paper cuts could drain the ape of its stamina, leaving it exposed to danger. This could work. He could get rid of this thing.

This time it was Ryuma's turn to initiate the fight. He dashed forward. The ape swung its arms around trying to be the one to counter him. With every swing of its arms, Ryuma would strike it and spectral mist would start leaking out wherever he sliced. The slices were bigger than the cut on its knuckles. Not big enough to cause lasting damage, but bigger than he thought it was going to be.

Ryuma smiled as he backed up. "Found a way you ugly son of a bitch,"

With every swing the spectral ape made, a new mark appeared on its arms. Now it was a battle of endurance. Though chipping away at its endurance little by little was the most surefire way of doing it, he still got smashed earlier and that might now work in the ape's favor.

Their exchanged lasted twenty more minutes of the two engaging in combat. Each time, a fresh wound appearing on the great ape and none on Ryuma. If he could just keep tapping a perfect like this, it shouldn't be too much longer.

Throughout the battle, one thing was for certain, and that was Ryuma's focus had jumped to a higher plane field. Though his focus on every move the great ape made, he himself hadn't noticed. It was a matter of life or death.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAWWWWRRRRR!" he yelled again, shaking the heavens and earth.

"Looks like you're getting frustrated,"

It jumped at him and started swinging its arms. Ryuma began flipping around him, using its arms as footholds to handstand like the acrobat that he was, to avoid fatal blows. His perception and reaction have grown to the point to where he wasn't as scared to even be near it. On second thought, to him, being near it felt safer than being further away. He'd rather deal with dodging just its arms than to deal with the speed of that thing closing in from a distance.

It made another grab for him and Ryuma sliced his mid-section again. He noticed how many cuts he did towards his stomach. It was enough to the point where he could stab it and his katana would go right through, killing the monkey baby inside.

"Wind Artes: Wind walker!" Ryuma shouted.

He started dashing around the spectral ape. Its wild swings missing every attempt at hitting him. He wanted to confuse him a bit more. He backed far away from it to get a good speed start. Once he was a comfortable enough distance, he got on one knee with the ball of his foot stretched far behind him. He was posed like a sprinter.

His spirit energy was rising. He could feel the wind around him. "Wind Artes: Wind Walker!" Ryuma shouted again.

He burst forward with a speed he's never reached before. Both katanas were pointed forward. The gap between shortened instantly. Both weapons were aimed towards its stomach. If one of them gets through, it would be his victory.

The spectral ape dodged to the side at the last second. Ryuma's eyes widened. This thing just learned off him. He never calculated such a thing. He just assumed that this thing had the intelligence as a wild beast. This miscalculation left him wide open.

The spectral ape smiled and grabbed him by the leg as he passed. It swung him around and threw him with incredible force, enough to smash him through a boulder. He skidded as he bounced off the ground repeatedly until he came to a full stop.

"Hgghhhh!" Ryuma grunted. He was shaking as he struggled to move. Every bone in his body ached. Every muscle fiber felt paralyzed. He tried desperately to get up.

He felt the ground tremble with every step the apparition took. It was getting closer. If he didn't do anything, he was going to get eaten.

"AAARRRGGGHHHH!" Ryuma screamed. He'll be damned if he died here like this. With every willpower he had, he forced himself to barely stand. He was panting heavier than he previously did before.

His vision got blurry. The world was unfocused, and the ground he stood on didn't seem level at all. He felt himself fading. He can't. If he fainted here, he was dead.

Ryuma bit the back of his hand hard enough to draw blood. The pain should be enough to force him awake. His vision soon stabilized.

"Monkey see, monkey do hughh?" Ryuma asked. He flipped the black katana in his right hand to hold it backwards. He was holding one katana with a forehand stance and held the other katana with a backhand stance.

One katana pointed in front of him towards the apparition, the other pointed behind him. He got in a sprinter stance again.

The apparition stopped moving. It stood there. With this move, Ryuma could tell that he wanted to time his speed again. "I assure you, that same thing is not going to work," Ryuma said.

He didn't think the dumb ape could understand him. Honestly, he didn't care either. He raised his spirit energy again, this time in levels higher than he did before. Focus… focus…

He reached peak levels of his energy again. This will be his last chance; he'll have to make it count. "Wind Artes: Wind Walker!" He screamed and launched at the ape again.

He moved so fast, the wind current that blew off him uprooted bushes. The ape stayed in one spot and waited until the last second just like last time. Right before Ryuma hit him, he dodged towards the left.

"Wind Artes: Whirlwind Spin!" Ryuma screamed.

Thanks to his current stance, both blades faced the exact same direction. Ryuma's spinning caused his entire body to arc towards the apparition's direction. Something entirely out of its calculations. He crashed into him like a spinning bladed tornado, slicing its stomach at the exact same spot.

The force pushed the apparition backwards and with every full turn, Ryuma sliced deeper into the spectral ape. Spectral mist was spilling everywhere, shooting out like a blended mess of blood.

The apes body resistance ended when it finally gave out. Ryuma broke through it, ripping it in two. Its top half also had the top half of the monkey baby.

Ryuma tumbled onto the ground as the top half of the corpse hit the ground at the exact same moment he did. Its body finally started dissipating.

Ryuma rolled onto his back, breathing a sigh of relief. Talk about a close call, that thing was not playing. He tapped his ring, and his disheveled clothes came out again. There was blood leaking down his head from his prior crash. He was going to have to wash his face before walking into a village. If not, there were bound to be questions.

He was just glad that he could resolve it before anybody else could show up. He picked himself up and started limping towards the village. Running was out of the question. He no longer had the energy to do so. Besides, he wanted to focus on healing his injuries before walking into town looking like death.

"Well… it could be worse… it could've been a level three…"