Paradise on Earth part 1 (I)

Before the events of the day of the Apocalypse I had never held a sword in my hands, so I cannot say that I possess any experience in what is called the art of being a "swordsman".

That didn't bother me at all, as the vast majority of my opponents have been beasts with the pure instinct to kill whatever is in front of them in the quickest and most effective manner. Outside of that abnormal invader in that place where I met Maria, all the others fell quickly after tasting the edge of my sword.

On the other hand, of the few humans I have faced so far only 2 confrontations stand out in my memories.

That fight against Victor I won by a stroke of luck, if he had not flinched and depended on his shield that supposedly defended him from everything, another could have been the result.

And in the case of Lavos, I wasn't able to cut through Kurogane's skin, so I give up trying and took the evasive approach of my glove hoping for the best.

Even though those victories were the work of chance, I didn't take them into consideration and went on with my life as if nothing happened.

But now...

We have the advantage of being 2 against 1, however Dimitri manages to block our attacks with superhuman agility.

No, that's not right. I desperately try to hit him even if it means tearing the robe he's wearing, but no matter how much I move my katana I still can't touch him.

Is this what it feels like to face me when I have my dexterity ability active? Have those tattoos on his limbs given him that speed?

Maria for her part performs simple and precise movements, but each one is blocked by some knife or strange object she pulls out from under his sleeve. The important thing is that they connect, which mine do not.

When did she become so strong? Could it be that being a manifestation of her soul, she can control her spear naturally as an extension of her body? Was it thanks to our training assignments that she gained such combat experience, or is it really the fruit of her innate gifts?

Lavos mentioned that our Spiritist powers could evolve, I never expected to contemplate that so soon....

"Asriel watch out!"

As I'm distracted, one of Dimitri's gems hits me in the shoulder and makes a slight explosion.

"Augh, I got careless!"

With my left hand I put out the fire, luckily it wasn't that strong and only burned my skin a little.

Maria takes a step forward and tries to bury her spear in our enemy's chest, to which he backs away dodging it. Instead of chasing him she comes towards me.

"Are you okay?!" she says releasing a warm light from the tip of her weapon to my wound, which heals after a few seconds.

What am I thinking about? This is not the time to ramble on about such things, I'm starting to sound like I'm jealous of her.

My incompetence is also getting in the way of her exploits, I must concentrate on how to be of use in this fight.

There is no other choice.

I decide to keep my katana in the sheath and make it vanish, then I materialize my glove.

"Keep pushing like that Maria. I'll cover for you"

"G, got it!"

I run ahead while she follows me from behind.

"Are you abandoning your weapon? You're underestimating me, do you think you'll have a chance?" said Dimitri and immediately took the opportunity to attack me with one of his rare utensils.

Despite the attack range I lost the new skill I now possessed more than made up for it. It was extremely easy to dodge the blow and hold his hand.

"But what the-!?"

"What were you saying?"

Maria didn't waste a second and with her spear pierced Dmitri's arm, quickly he jerked away moving away.

In his face I could see the astonishment and confusion of not knowing what had just happened. To tell you the truth, I was also a little surprised at how quickly she was able to react after my action.

Seriously, this girl is very special, I need to do my best not to be left behind.

"Do you think that will stop me?"

Despite the fact that his wound was quite severe, he managed to move his limb as if nothing had happened to it by taking out another new weapon from his jacket.

"That's impossible..."

I'm sure Maria cut his tendons, he shouldn't be able to use that arm. Would those tattoos on his skin have anything to do with it? They're certainly lit up now... How many tricks will he have in store?

Perhaps Lavos wasn't exaggerating when he mentioned that in our fight he didn't go all out because he had underestimated me.

"Is he really still human...?" she wondered.

"I don't know anymore"

"Do you think we can stop him Asriel?"

"..."

I thought if we broke an arm or a leg it would be enough. He would be unable to continue fighting and Maria would heal his wounds. Maybe in calm we could talk things over and prevent the conflict from escalating.

At this rate that possibility is getting further away from becoming a reality with every second that passes....