DEVELOPMENT

Prior to slaying the Armored Saber Tiger, Marlin had gone to find Kibe, who was knocked unconscious. He heard the fight happening behind him and continued to run towards the area where Kibe was flung and soon, eventually finding him. He slaps his face frantically.

"Come on, Dragon Boy. Dying here would be less than ideal, especially for our current situation."

When that does not work, Marlin stands up and holds Excalibur. He closes his eyes and begins to put his chi into the weapon itself.

"An ever-changing blade which takes on the user's ideals and turns into whatever they wish."

He focuses on the creation of a new blade form, one that can heal someone's wounds. This is new to him as he had only ever created elemental forms of excalibur and with Quaking Wrath, it was a concept that dawned on him multiple times that was executed properly.

Excalibur responds to the wishes of its user and changes into the size of a stencil knife, much to Marlin's surprise. It takes the form of a scalpel with a grip on the hilt, glowing a green hue.

"Excalibur, Divine Refresher."

With that, he feels as though he has reached a new level of Excalibur that he could not utilize in the past and lets out a sigh of relief.

Marlin rushes to Kibe and makes a slight cut with the blade and as it takes chi from him, Kibe begins to glow with a green aura, healing his wounds.

He opens his eyes to see Marlin standing over him and changing the blade back to its Quaking Wrath state but staggering in the process.

(I need to train my chi if I ever want to wield this weapon to perfection.)

"Did we win?"

"No, but we will. It is time to finish this."

Marlin extends his hand to Kibe and helps him stand.

"Let's go."

Marlin runs back into the fray, holding his blade overhead while Kibe stands there.

He smiles remembering his past when he had no friends, thus bringing about Echo as a coping mechanism. A tear comes to his eye as he quickly wipes it and begins to charge another Dragon Shout. His chi pool is virtually empty and he can only muster a small amount but knowing this, he begins to condense the chi even further, attempting to also utilize mana to boost the output. He spends all the time necessary, hearing clashes of the sword and a bow string released, he then hears a giant crash followed by a shockwave and finally opens his eyes.

"Now! Dragon's Roar!"

Kibe releases a large blast from the mouth which blows the leaves off the trees it passes, moving at great speeds as the area brightens. The blast hits the Armored Saber Tiger who had been greatly injured as well as dazed and deals a great amount of damage, finally killing it.

Kibe smiles and runs over.

"We won! We…did…i-"

Kibe falls over, almost hitting the ground but gets held up by Marlin. He inspects his breathing then sighs.

"The idiot fell asleep."

The marks which were on Shinji's body begin to slowly vanish as he passes out.

Wazuki puts him on his back and looks at Marlin whose mask cracks, revealing him smirking.

"So, do you still think you could have done that by yourself?"

"You thought the same thing."

Wazuki retorts.

"Let us get off this hill. I am tired of seeing it already. Before you go though, regarding my face-"

"Relax. I already knew who you were. I will not tell them."

Wazuki begins walking down the hill, retracting all his weapons into the Spatial Ring, including the broken one.

Marlin picks up the larger portion of his broken mask and looks at it, thinking back to why he began to wear a mask. He thinks about how his siblings roam the world unguarded by anyone or anything but their abilities. He then puts the larger piece on his face, which shows his mouth and nose but obscures his eyes.

"I am who I am because of my decisions. That will not change for anyone."

Afterwards, he begins to head down the mountain as well, putting Kibe over his shoulder and carrying him down as well as retrieving his weapon.

The two finally get back to the barn where they see Muto, laying on the grass, resting with a wet towel over his eyes and smiling. Before they speak to him, he reacts first.

"Judging from the fact that you guys are here, I assume that you are done with my quest, correct?"

Wazuki walks towards him.

"I believe you have my compensation."

Muto bursts out, laughing.

"Slow down, kid haha! Take care of yourself and your friends first. I will wait. Besides, there was someone you left here that has been worried sick about you boys even if she does not show it."

Wazuki immediately thinks of Ruka and his friends who are still injured. Muto's words slightly affected him so he takes them into consideration and places Shinji on a haystack that is covered by a cloth while Marlin does the same to Kibe and steps outside.

Wazuki looks around the bar and eventually finds Ruka, asleep near the door of the barn. Muto walks in and leans on the wall.

She waited for you the entire ten hours that you were gone. I wish she cared to interact with me as much as she cared to wait for you haha."

He slides down the wall into a seated position, raising one leg and dropping the other.

Wazuki had a hunch about this and remembered a rumored hit that his father never accepted. It was about a man who married the Matriarch of the Chikai Family, only to divorce her in the coming years, leaving her with a two year old child. It was said in a fit of rage, she tried to get Mikoto to kill him as a result of emotionally scarring her.

"So I guess this means-"

"Yes, I am the deadbeat father to that child."

Muto takes a drink from his back pocket and throws it back in one go.

The assassination payment was never accepted as a result of Mikoto's personal law that he and the rest of the Hyakki family stood by. "All assassinations have to be as a result of injustice or an unfortunate circumstance which is to be determined by the Patriarch. An assassination payment, made as a result of emotional influence will not be accepted as they are the very things that cloud judgement."

Wazuki stares at him, awaiting an explanation but Muto simply raises his hand.

"I do not regret what happened in the past and I do not wish to reconcile. They are both safer that way and honestly, who would try to tie down such a handsome man haha!"

Wazuki knew that the last part was a lie as a result of him repressing his emotions for so long. Because of this, he normally understands how a person is feeling based on facial expression, body language and tone of voice. And yet, even knowing this, Wazuki did not refute it.

"Take good care of her. She can be hard headed at times but I truly do wish the best for her. Meet me outside when everyone is fully rested and revitalized for the trip to your next destination."

Muto says while standing up and walking out of the barn, drinking more alcohol.

Wazuki nods in response then ends up resting in that same area.