บท 34: Sparring
"...what happened to you?"
"Ah, well," Shikaku smiles tiredly, looking entirely too calm for someone who's quite literally steaming from all over. "Akeno-sama had an idea she wanted to attempt." He points at his left arm, which had been twitching uncontrollably for the past minute. "It worked."
I turn to the offender, and she giggles. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting my lightning to be that strong."
"Girl, that ain't lightning. That was plasma." I say simply, staring at the melted gouge of earth just behind Shikaku. "That would've melted his hand if he didn't use Touki."
"I'm fine, Issei-sama."
"You're not." I say, before promptly slapping a 'Healing' Ofuda onto the man's arm. It begins healing immediately. "Your flesh is fine, but the blood inside your arm boiled. Your arteries are popped, and you would've bled to death if I did nothing there."
"Ah, I see." He says, completely nonplussed. "Thank you."
Akeno just giggles more.
"You're insane." I say. "Both of you."
"And so are you." Akeno says back.
I open my mouth to retort, and then close it. I eventually sigh. "And so am I." I admit. "But at least I know not to almost boil someone's arm off 'by accident' or whatever."
Akeno smiles, completely unapologetic.
I sigh.
It's early afternoon at the moment, and we're inside one of the few training grounds in our summer home. Shikaku's with us today; his fellow kind had to physically wrench him from his workplace to have him rest. Unfortunately, they didn't consider that he'd just come here and become Akeno's test bag.
Akeno should be studying, but the exam tomorrow is Math, and she's become frighteningly good at mathematics in the past few years. So she's decided to skip studying for today and instead come to Kyoto for the first time in a while.
Although, I suppose she had to become good at math. Calculations are an integral part of magic after all. Or, human magic at least.
I would've suggested she continue studying, but my eyes tell me that she's learnt more than enough for the upcoming exams. Magic requires complex calculus; she's far blown past the required math for her exams.
And so here we all are, trading ideas and doing experiments for the upcoming conflict with the Five Principal Clans.
Shikaku and a few other noble Youkais will work as the rescue team, diving into the village of the five clans and saving those that are innocent. They have with them several 'Invisibility' Ofudas to keep themselves hidden.
Akeno will face the head of the Himejima Clan, and maybe the other heads as well. I was initially wary, but she's insistent, and I can see that this is something she needs to personally do. And from the quick spar I've just seen, I think she'll do alright. Especially since I'll be weakening the leaders using an 'Isolation' Ofuda, much like I did with Suou.
And I'll be the one dealing with Kagutsuchi, and potentially other gods who might follow him. I know I won't be fighting a god at their full strength, but it's still nerve-wracking. I have a plan, and a list of backup plans, but I can't help but worry still.
"Issei-sama."
I blink. "Hmm? What's wrong?"
Shikaku frowns. "Will you really not use a weapon during your incursion?" He asks. "Nurarihyon-sama will be more than happy to lend you one from his great armory."
I grimace. "No. Most of his weapons are too famous for me to bring out, and any normal weapon will melt before Kagutsuchi's flames." I glance away. "And we have too little time to request a new weapon from our smiths.
That's only for me though. Akeno will be fighting with her naginata. Raikiri; the 'Lightning Cutter' it's called. Previously a naginata forged by one of the finest smiths working under Nurarihyon, it gained its name when she, quite literally, scaled up a mountain with the sole purpose of cutting a bolt of lightning with it.
It took her nearly a month of constant trial and error, but eventually, she managed it. A bolt of lightning was cut with nothing but her speed alone, and the spirit that lived in that mountain was impressed enough to bless the naginata's blade. From then on, the blessed naginata had basically become a Tsukumogami.
And it's only become more powerful since then. Every time Akeno uses her Senjutsu, Raikiri will absorb some of her Ki into itself, growing stronger and stronger.
"Not that you need it." Akeno quips with a wry smile. "You can shatter my bones with a single punch."
I shrug. "And you can cut off my arm with a single slash."
"Two slashes." She corrects.
I raise an eyebrow. "That one cut severed my shoulder entirely. My arm was hanging to my body by a single tendon." I say, remembering the panic we felt when my arm nearly fell off that one time. "That's basically one slash."
"I nearly vomited from doing that, so it's pretty much two slashes."
"...sure."
I guess it's a little odd to be talking so casually about such life-altering injuries. Then again, our biologies are vastly different to a normal person's. Our cells regenerate far faster, and aided by both Primal Energy and Ki, severed limbs can be attached back with some effort. We can't regrow limbs just yet, though I'm getting pretty close.
"Although I believe it's closer to three slashes now." She mutters, staring at my biceps. "I think your arms got a little bigger after that little stunt of yours yesterday."
I turn to my arm. "Are they?" I quickly use my eyes to see if that's true. It isn't. "They're the exact same size." I say, before pointing at my rolled up sleeves. "Probably just my shirt though. I think I wore the wrong size today."
She squints her eyes. "...I suppose so." She admits.
I then turn to Shikaku. "How's your arm now? Feeling better?"
The man blinks, before he gives his shoulder a roll. His arm moves far easier than before. "I feel much better now, Issei-sama."
I nod. I can see that his arm's mostly healed by this point. "Keep it light for the rest of the day, yeah?" I say. "Give your arm some time to readjust."
He nods. "I will, Issei-sama."
Shikaku leaves several minutes later, having gotten a call from one of his colleagues about the school Nurarihyon and Yasaka are planning to build. Akeno and I spend some time just sitting, occasionally talking about mundane matters as we wait for Akeno to absorb the Primal Energy contained in the 'Gathering' Ofuda I gave her.
Then, once she's fully recovered, we spar. Although calling it a 'spar' would be a vast understatement.
It's a fight, ending just when one of us can't even stand. She fights with her Raikiri and her array of lightning spells. I fight with my fists and my blasts of Primal Energy and Ki.
Our bouts are always bombastic, sending gusts of wind and beams of lightning flying all over the place. The entire house would've probably burnt down years ago if Yasaka didn't personally hire some people to reinforce the house with the strongest Seals the Youkai has to offer as a whole.
Injuries are common. Mutilations are as well. My strikes can break her bones if she isn't careful, and her Raikiri can tear straight into my bones if I don't reinforce my body in time.
But it doesn't stop us. Our fast regeneration keeps us going, and when we get seriously injured, I have an entire pack of 'Healing' Ofudas at the ready.
Our spars are done weekly, or they're supposed to be. In a perfect world, six days are spent learning, and one day is spent using everything we've learnt in our spars. But this isn't a perfect world; we're often busy with something most of the time. So we just spar when we have the opportunity.
It wasn't always like this. When we first started, we were both too careful with one another, too afraid that we'd permanently injure each other.
That only lasted about a month. Akeno's sadistic tendencies flared up one time, and she completely fried the nerves in my left arm, leaving it lifeless. She'd cried then, only for both of us to blankly stare as my Primal Energy fixed it up in minutes.
From then, there exists only one rule in our spars. Don't kill each other. Which is honestly not that hard; both of us are very sturdy.
This time is different though. Normally, we'd only spar for an hour or so. Maybe two if we're bored or something. But this time we spent hours, only stopping to teleport back home to eat dinner with my family.
From the early afternoons, to late nights, and all the way until the morning of the next day. Fight after fight after fight, each an enactment of a different tactic. When she loses, she falls with several dozen broken bones in her tally. When I lose, I drop to the ground with my limbs barely attached to my torso.
And then, just as the sun creeps from the horizons, our last spar for the time ends in a draw. She crumples to the ground, her arms and legs completely broken. I collapse right by her side, the flesh from both my shoulders ripped and torn horrifically.
"You win." She says tiredly.
I raise an eyebrow at her. "It's a draw."
"I fell first." She continues.
"We both fell. I don't think it matters who falls first. We're both out of the count."
"I still fell first."
I sigh. "Sure. Fine. Whatever." I try to reach for the 'Healing' Ofudas just a distance away. My arms don't move. Neither do my legs. "Damn, give me a second."
I send a pulse of Primal Energy into the dirt below, and the ground begins trembling slightly as a vine shoots up from the ground. It snakes towards the stack of 'Healing' Ofuda, and grabs a pair. It grows towards us, and its head splits into two, each with an Ofuda each. It sticks the Ofuda onto both our foreheads, and we sigh as a cooling sensation spreads through our body.
"Oh, and don't fall asleep this time. We still have exams to do."
She clicks her tongue, completely having forgotten that.
I can't help but laugh slightly.
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