Time to pass

Careful to not wake me, Alce set her sword against one of the tree's roots and took a bite of a bogalew fruit and started to inspect the area. Looking over to a side of the tree she noticed the blue acid and grabbed something to clean it up. While she was cleaning it up I woke up and looked over to see her scrubbing it off the ground.

"Sorry for the mess." I said, walking over to her.

"If you were so desperate as to cut the root, then you've seen the effects and what it can do. Either way, I much rather clean up the melted remains of whatever this is than a human body. The stench it would've given off would be unbearable for at least a week." She replied without looking.

"The thing, whatever it was, looked like you but then morphed into some weird creature." I said, hoping she would know.

"Wait, you mean you saw a changetail and killed it? That's actually impressive. They're smart, like mimicry smart and if someone was to figure them out they'd typically be impaled by their tail before they could even think twice." She replied, finally looking up.

"Wasn't very good at mimicking your expressions and speech. You rarely speak, let alone smile like a maniac. You have a more… psychotic demeanor." I replied, crouching to the ground. "Psychotic demeanor you say. I've been described in many ways but that's never been one." She said, standing up. Unaware if I pissed her off or not I decided to just keep some distance and have my mouth shut.

"Maybe you're right, but it's simply because a pansy that can't do what needs to be done wouldn't survive very long. I guess that makes you a psycho in the making." She said, grabbing a bucket full of water. The last sentence "I guess that makes you a psycho in the making," lingered through my mind. Whether it was denial, or acceptance, something about it just wouldn't sit right with me.

"Little note for next time. Water nullifies the acidic nature of the blue vines." Alce said, setting the now filled bucket beside her. For nearly an hour, Alce scrubbed until all the acid was up.

For the next three weeks, the schedule stayed the same. At sunrise, wake up and have 15 minutes to yourself. Later was to the trunk for sparing till the sun is at its highest. After sparing, we'd take the path full of green vines and try to snag some lunch. At sunset, we'd return to the tree and start cooking. After dinner was around two hours of studying any of the books. Once the reading was done, we'd call it a night and repeat it the next day. That was until today. Alce decided it was time to step it up a notch since I was getting a little too comfortable with the schedule. For some random reason, she tried to let me sleep in. However, due to the three weeks I automatically wake up at first light. Unknowing to me though was the fact that Alce was actually cooking breakfast.

"What's the occasion?" I asked, standing up.

She didn't answer so I asked again, "What's the occasion?" Still no answer.

Finally, I walked over and reached out to touch her shoulder so she would acknowledge me. Before my hand could touch her, she wiped around and slammed me to the ground with my arm behind my back.

"The past few days, you've been getting pretty comfortable. I'd say it's about time to see if you're settling in because you've gotten better, or if it's just you getting cocky." She said, throwing me back across the room.

"The test will continue till you land your first hit. Till then, you'll be fending for yourself." She said, sliding me a sword.

Remembering the events of the first day, I picked up the sword while my eyes stayed locked on Alce. Hooking the sword to my waist, I slowly backed up and started to circle around the platform.

"How about this? If I can land the hit, you'll take me to Natsuki. Deal?" I asked, unsheathing the blade.

"If that's how you want to play then fine, I'll play your little game. Just know, I won't be holding back if these are the terms." Alce responded before grabbing her sword. The past week, I had been reading nothing but swordplay manuals and practicing the moves.

Slowly, the two of us circled around the room while getting closer and closer. Right before we reached the center of the room we stopped. With one small shift in an expression we charged into a straight clash. Right as the blades collided Alce turned to smoke and reappeared right behind me. Knowing I wouldn't be able to turn around fast enough to block the hit, I swung the sword over my head blocking the hit. Without hesitation, Alce kicked me in the back breaking the clash and giving me a second to turn and face her. While she was recovering from her last attack, I got back on my feet and charged at her. Blocking my first attack, I was now behind her. Quickly turning, I thrusted my blade at her. Just before it connected, she spun around avoiding the blade and punched me in the chest, sending me flying across the room. Quickly I got back to my feet and ready the blade to defend against any attack she might try. Slowly her blade started to glow a deep red as she mumbled something under her breath with her eyes closed. Right as I started to move in for the strike she turned into smoke and appeared on the roof above me and forced herself towards the ground. I jumped back and tried to block the attack. I felt the blade as they scraped across till she hit the ground. Once her blade hit the ground a gigantic explosion combusted under her blade, blasting me out of the platform and into the river. Quickly, Alce was back on me jumping after with her blade ready to impale me. Just in the nick of time I was able to block her blade. The force behind the hit caused a massive shockwave as I hit the water making a temporary crater in the water. Quickly, the water flooded back, engulfing me underneath. With the breath I had I swam as fast as I could till I was at the shoreline away from the tree. Alce was waiting on the other side, eyes locked on me. Without a word she raised her blade to her chest, pointing at me before charging so fast that she was running on water. In no time I could tell I wasn't blocking this hit. As fast as I could I jumped in the air. A sharp pain filled my gut as her blade pierced. Taking the opportunity, I tried to kick her in the head. Just as I was about to make contact, she turned to smoke and stabbed me from behind, then from the side, then the other, and in a rapid succession, almost too fast for the eye to see, she stabbed me all over before coming from a slight distance and sliced me across the chest. As I hit a tree and fell to the ground, my body started to be weighed down by my own blood.

"Pain… is just… the body's reaction to damage. It doesn't mean I can't still stand on my own." I said, struggling to my feet.

I knew that the wounds would slow down my movements and reactions but, I wouldn't get very far before Alce would kill me if I tried to run.

"Why?" Alce asked, lowering her head. "Why do you fight for someone you barely know? Who you just met by coincidence. Why would you throw your life away for her?" Confused as to why Alce was asking the question, my mind stopped focusing on the fight.

"My whole life I've felt useless. Whether it makes me good or bad, I really can't give a fuck right now. She is the only thing I have to actually fight for. Some might say I have my family, others might say my friends, some might even say revenge. For me though, none of them need me, so why care what happened to me. At least to her, my life can have meaning… To protect and make sure she gets a happy life like everyone deserves. Even if it kills me." I responded as I felt my conscience slowly slipping.

"I'll give you one more chance… Forget about her and I'll let you live. Got it?" Alce demanded. "And what would it mean to someone like you if I live or die? Originally you wanted me dead. The only thing that stopped you was your boss. So yeah… what does it matter to you?" To this Alce fell silent. "So that's it then, very well then.

" She said as she charged in for a final attack. With one final violent sweep, I was sent through several trees, nearly leveling the area.

My consciousness was now barely existent. As I laid there, blood started to puddle under and around. "And after I had so much hope that you'd be the first survivor." Alce said, sheathing her blade and turning back to the tree.

I could no longer feel my body from all the pain and blood that had been lost.

"I guess I was useless after all. I couldn't help Natsuki. I can't even help myself." I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and accepted that there was nothing more I could do.

Even through all the rage and frustration and training I still couldn't match a single blow… Looking back one last time to make sure I was dead, Alce said to herself, "Why must I be nothing but the bringer of death to so many young. I should've just killed that brat before he ever got involved with anything."

Continuing to walk back to the tree, Alce had found an emotion that had long since left her due to the mission… sorrow and regret. Looking around the area, she finally noticed just how much damage had been caused. The sorrow quickly faded into annoyment at the fact that she'd have to clean everything up. In an instant, Alce heard a whistle from behind as a sharp pain filled her shoulder. Looking down at it, she noticed it was a blade… impaled through her shoulder. Stunned by the pain and confusion Alce started to wonder who might have just attacked. Before she thought to look behind herself the hilt and handle came flying through her shoulder. Quickly, Alce turned around, swinging her blade. Before her blade could make contact with the figure she froze.

"H-h-how? I just killed you!" She exclaimed.

"Killed? More like awakened." I said, punching her other shoulder causing her blade to go flying. Quickly I followed with several hits causing her to turn and twist from each blow. Finally, I let all my rage out in one last punch that shook the area and ripped trees out from the ground and broke the ground into cracks and chunks. After the hit my body feel limp as I hit the ground. "What the actual hell? How did he… that punk actually passed the test. The Grimm Reaper is going to want to hear about this one." Yamimortel said to himself as he observed from a tree.