10

Loid said,"Are those-"

"Two cores",Rin gritted his teeth.

He looked at Loid from the corner of his eyes,"Don't let it get near you."

With a painful cry, that creature bent over and began running towards the two boys, its naked bones cracking loudly with every step it took.

"Don't kill it until I tell you to",Rin said, stepping forward and pulling out his Genki, its stainless blade glistening under the moonlight. Sliding his right foot forward, he slightly bent his left knee.

FIRST STANCE : IMPERMEABILITY .

He swung the sword in front of him, engraving a circle deep into the ground covering a two yards radius around them.

One step on the circle and that undead being went up in blue flames. It shrieked, jumping away from the boundary and the flames began to fade away.

"That should keep it away for now", Rin said before looking over his shoulder at the village," The festival must not be ruined. We-"

Loid pulled him down to the ground by his shoulder mere moments before an arrow went right through Loid's palm, its sharp tip halting in front of Rin's left eye.

Rin's eyebrows went up.

"Loid!",he cried, grabbing his wrist.

"No. Stay behind me!"

Loid pulled the arrow out, fresh blood dripping on to the ground and staining the soil.

"But you-"

Rin held his breath and slowly turned his head, his heartbeats echoing in his ears.

There was a man there.

He was standing outside his IMPERMEABILITY. A man in black kimono, black eyes, blonde hair and bandages covering his neck and arms. The air was heavy with the pure cursed energy that he radiated.

He smirked,"Nice reflex."

He snapped his fingers and arrows instantly materialized over his shoulders, their tips glowing with a black radiance.

"Let's see how good you are",he said before clenching his fist.

The arrows dashed forward.

Rin abducted his left arm. THIRD STANCE: SHIELDING BLADES.

Five swords instantly appeared in front of him, shielding the boys from the advancing arrows. The metal surface of the swords deflected the arrows, their blackish glow fading away as they too vanished into thin air.

"Great! Great!",the blonde guy clapped his hands as if enjoying his favourite show.

Rin huffed, sweat trickling down his temple. Maintaining two stances at once was draining him rapidly of his energy. He held Genki firmly in both hands, the crack in its handle getting hidden under his palms.

Loid's frown deepened when he saw the exhausted state of the boy. He put together his index and middle fingers, touching Rin's forehead.

LOYAL GUARDIAN.

The man eyes widened at the reddish glow that surrounded Loid's hands. His creepy smirk grew wider,"Such tremendous energy! I must acquire your core. You-"

The tips of his blonde hair caught fire."You need to shut up!", Rin cried, throwing daggers at the man.

He sprinted forward, Genki ready to cut through that person. The man snapped his fingers and arrows were shot again. Rin deflected them with his blade.

An arrow flew past his sword, grazing his left cheek before getting stuck in the ground behind him. Rin felt a warm drop of blood rolling down his cheek but it vaporized the next instant, leaving his skin intact.

Loid's spell.

Rin smirked, jumping up in the air, hiding the moon behind his back. He needed an opening.

SECOND STANC-

A bandage got wrapped around Rin's ankle, pulling him down. He cut through it but couldn't avoid crashing into some rocks, his bones cracking audibly upon the impact. Coughing out blood, he bent over, a hand on his definitely broken ribs. No need to be worried. It would heal up in a wh-.

His eyes went wide when he looked across the clearing at his partner,"Loid!"

There was a huge scorpion pinning the boy to the ground, its poisonous sting going straight through Loid's left shoulder. Hearing Rin calling him, Loid looked over at the human, his vision getting blurry and his body going numb from the dangerous amount of blood he was losing. He feebly lifted his shaking hand, reaching out for Rin.

'I must protect Rin.'

"Aah!", he gave out a cry of pain, the sting piercing deeper into his flesh. He placed his blood stained hands together, reddish glow engulfing them.

"Go to hell! BEAST SPIR-"

A fist collided into his jaw, snapping his head to the other side. The scorpion went up in bright blue flames making it let go of its prey.

Loid was grabbed by his shirt's collar.

"You idiot!", Rin cried, a frown on his face,"What did I tell you about-"

Loid coughed out blood.

"Loid! Dang it!",Rin cursed before putting his arm around his waist to help him get up. His ribs cracked once again and he bit hard on his lip to ignore the burning pain.

"One down. One to go",the man said, a hand on his face, his annoying smirk showing from between his fingers. The white scorpion spirit came to stand beside him and Rin scowled.

Loid could tell that he was thinking of a way out but with a cliff behind and enemy in front of them, their options were highly limited.

The forest? But will they make it?

He couldn't run in his current state and he was running too low on energy to heal himself.There was only one solution.

Rin should leave him behind.

Rin stretched out his right arm, swinging out Genki.

SECOND STANCE: SHIELDING BLADES

A curtain of swords hid them from the man's sight and Rin dashed towards the woods as fast as he could with a broken ribcage.

"Hold on to me",Rin said, looking over his shoulder to see if they were being followed.

Loid couldn't believe that boy. He chose the option that Loid had given up on. To cast a spell when he was having trouble breathing. Only Rin could have the will to do so. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips.

"What? Is this funny to you? Morphing like that. What the heck were you even thinking? You fool!"

Loid shook his head. Was he really being scolded as they ran for their lives?

Rin looked over his shoulder before casting SAFE HAVEN. The blue glowing barrier grew large until it enclosed the entire village. Rin winced taking in a sharp breath.

He tripped over his feet, making both of them fall on the ground.

"Rin?", Loid turned on his side, frowning at the sight of Rin's sweaty, pale face.

"Sorry. Could you please heal me? I can't move my body anymore."

Loid didn't need to be told twice.

HEAL UP.

He ran his glowing hand over Rin's ribs, healing them up with his spell.

"Thanks",Rin said and Loid shook his head, helping him sit up",You don't need to thank me. Ever."

Rin raised an eyebrow,"Ever? Isn't that too much?"

He got up, looking around. They weren't being followed by that blonde freak or that scorpion spirit of his. Losing sight of their enemy was bad.

HEALER'S CONFINEMENT.

Loid found himself floating inside a magic orb. His body glowing with a blue fluorescence. He frowned at the boy outside the confinement. Using a high grade spell instead of HEAL UP. That human was pushing his limits.

Looking up, Rin could see the barrier he had casted around the village. A wall of blue energy that allowed nothing to penetrate it. The pixies should be safe unless that man had already entered the village.

A tap on the orb and Rin vaporized it. Loid landed on his feet, his wounds healed up.

"Thank-"

He was punched in his jaw. Again.

"That's for trying to break your promise. What the heck were you thinking using BEAST SPIRIT?"

Rubbing his stinging jaw, Loid said,"I needed to save you."

"I wasn't going to die with a single blow! Do that again and I will turn you to ashe-"

Rin grabbed Loid by his arm, jumping a yard away from their spot. The blonde man jumped down from the branch he was sitting on, his bandages coming lose from around his arms. Rin scowled.

'He had concealed his presence. That's bad.'

That would put him on the same level as a Kage. Loid looked around for that scorpion.

"Oh, Arashi? He's right there."

Loid pushed Rin away from him mere moments before the scorpion's sting hit Rin's previous spot. The ground shook violently underneath their feet.

"I need you to remove that barrier. It's irritating", the man said from the branch and more bandages got unwrapped from his body, hovering in air.

"I told you to shut up!", Rin charged at the irritating man but he was caught by those bandages. Wrapped up, he was lifted in air, Genki falling down from his tied hands.

He was in a pinch not being able to cast a spell. Loid wasn't doing any better either on that scorpion's back, barely dodging its agile sting.

"I'll get two high energy cores. It's a feast!"

Stealing cores. But for what possible reasons? Rin's eyes went wide as the realization hit him. That undead creature. Was this freak the one responsible for its state? A decaying body with broken bones and lacerated flesh.Thinking of its misery made Rin's blood boil.

"What's this? You trying to break free? That's futile. Yo-"

The bandages burnt to ashes, a flaming fist hitting the man in his face, bones cracking with the impact. The man fell down from the tree, his skin splitting open by that punch.

The scorpion faded from underneath Loid and he landed on his feet. He looked over at Rin and his breath got hitched in his throat. His fists on fire, Rin's glowing blue eyes were glaring at the wounded man. He bent over, grabbing him by his collar. Intense amount energy got concentrated into his fist and he punched the man's broken face. Again, again and then again.

Loid didn't dare to move. That person wasn't Rin. No. He could never imagine him showing such hostility.

"RUNA!"

A large bird with pure white feathers came charging from nowhere and grabbed Rin into its claws before flying away into the night sky.

"Why didn't you stop him?"

Loid found Thor standing beside him, catching him off guard. He had a spear in his hand, a lightning bolt engraved into its golden body.

"He will be out for a while. ENTANGLED VINES."

A golden magic circle appeared over the unconscious man, vines emerging from inside it and wrapping around him. Loid looked up at the bird flying in circles over their heads, an unconscious Rin held securely in its claws.

"That fool's fine. For now at least. Can you kill?"

"Excuse me?"

Thor cracked his neck,"We need to take care of some undead beings."

As if waiting for Thor's words, those creatures came out from behind the trees. Ten. No, twenty of them. Each one having two glowing cores inside their open thorax.

"Rin told me not to kill them",Loid whispered.

Thor twirled his spear, eyes narrowed at the advancing enemies.

"They are already dead. I'd rather end their misery."