43 Hikaru

Shi flipped on his mana sense at Hikaru's words. Within Hikaru's chest was a silver glow that was almost difficult to look at. Shi took a step forwards, paying attention to his ankle. As he planted his foot, a small twinge of pain came from his ankle.

Shi came closer to Hikaru and returned his bow. "What brings you here?" Shi asked, reaching his senses out towards the army in front of him. "Revenge." Hikaru growled. Shi jumped back, drawing his kunai and raising it.

"Calm down." Hikaru said, a smile forming. "We can talk first." Chairs and a table formed out of the ground between Shi and Hikaru. Hikaru went up and sat in one of the chairs, after a second, Shi sheathed his karambit and sat down across from Hikaru.

"So, what is this about?" Shi asked carefully, keeping his mana sense on in case Hikaru tried something. "I want to hear about my late family from the one who killed them." Hikaru said, settling back to wait.

"Why?" Shi asked, activating stoneskin. "It's funny, I took my family's lives for granted. I never got to know half of them because I was focused on improving myself, thinking that there would be time for my family after. Now they're dead, and I wish I spent more time with them." Hikaru said, his face darkening.

"Why do you care now, and why should I do this for you?" Shi asked, using a touch of wind magic to draw a kunai from his leg sheath and lay it on top of his thigh. "I didn't think that I cared about my family before, but when they died, I felt rage unlike anything I've ever felt before. You know as well as I do, don't you?" Hikaru said waving a man forwards who came with tea.

Shi froze, "What do you mean?" Hikaru looked at Shi quizzically, "Did you think that your past was free from scrutiny? I found out what happened with you parents." Shi hid a sigh of relief, "Alright then, I'll start with Kaunto."

"Kaunto fought with honor, and pushed me harder than anyone else so far. If I could've recruited him I would have in an instant, but he was dedicated to his cause. Eito, well... he was underwhelming." Hikaru's eyes darkened at those last words. "In what way?"

"He was weak, relying only on his family name and never on his skills," Shi said, preparing to spring out of his seat at any sign of attack. "Keep going." Hikaru said, almost too low for Shi to catch.

"Hideo wished to solve things peacefully, but when pushed he was incredibly powerful, other than that I know little about his personality. Koji also relied on his name, but it seemed like he had some power to back it up with." Shi said, taking a second to remember the details of his encounters with the Eikyo family.

"Hisashi was loyal to his brother, and that led to his death. Akio was strong, but emotional. He could have killed me if he hadn't lost his cool in our battle." Shi said dropping his left hand to his lap casually.

"Thank you." Hikaru said, his voice coming out choked with tears. Shi tensed his muscles, preparing to fight. "If you had killed less than what was necessary for your goals, then I would have left it at that. However, you slaughtered every one of my family members that you met, even if it was completely unnecessary. For that, I can't let you go. You die here." Hikaru said, standing up.

Shi sprang out of his chair, raising an earth wall between him and Hikaru. Shi rolled to the side as the area where he had just been got pummeled by lightning bolts. Hikaru launched another lightning bolt at Shi that pierced his shoulder before he could dodge.

Shi looked up at Hikaru as he dived away again, narrowly dodging a storm of lightning bolts. Hikaru was wreathed in lightning, lighting him up in blue light. Shi launched a wall of water at Hikaru, hoping to divert the electricity.

Hikaru suddenly appeared in front of Shi, punching down at him. Without time to dodge, Shi focused all of his mana into stone skin, bringing his arms up to block Hikaru's strike. Shi's stoneskin shattered under the force of Hikaru's punch, launching Shi.

Shi desperately tried to slow himself down with wind magic but it was no use. He saw Hikaru hurtling towards him so he raised an earth wall between them before pouring a ton of mana into stoneskin and war cry on only his right arm.

Shi grabbed the trunk of a tree, changing the direction of his momentum before using his stealth spell. Shi looked back to see Hikaru going in the direction that Shi had been going a moment earlier and smiled.

Shi rushed back to where they had met earlier and rounded up his men. He sent them into a retreat before turning to Hikaru's men. They had started yelling when Shi had returned, trying to get Hikaru's attention.

Shi rushed in, slicing tendons in arms and legs but making sure to leave the major arteries untouched. He ducked under a spear thrust while cutting into the man's arm, before turning and cutting the fingers off of a nearby soldier.

Crashing came from the woods behind Shi so he summoned a low fire all around him, injuring all of the soldiers in his radius. Shi then darted towards the mainland, leading Hikaru away from his men.

Hikaru arrived at the junction to see a ton of his men injured, he stopped to organize a retreat of his men so the injured could be healed before chasing after Shi. Shi activated his stealth spell and laid down in the grass, taking care to breathe quietly.

Hikaru crashed through the area, frantically searching for Shi. After a while he gave up searching and rose up into the sky. Shi felt mana gathering above him and dumped all but a tiny bit of his mana into a water shield that had an earth layer beneath it.

Lightning formed into a giant ball in the sky before plummeting to the earth with a thunderous boom. The ball struck Shi's shield, slowing down before breaking through. Shi was flung through the air like a doll, landing heavily on the ground.

Shi activated stealth and made a small cave that he sealed off, leaving a small gap for air to come through. Shi heard Hikaru land and start searching for him, so he settled in to wait.