Strand Mutilation

-2 Months Later-

"Seems like you got the hang of the healing. Ready to go hunting again?" Illya asked me.

I squeezed out the water to one of our blankets and nodded, setting in on the drying rack and picking up my body armor made from wood.

Over the past two months, I had been training with healing, and it hasn't been that fun. This was the worst part.

More often than not, I would forcibly detach one of my limbs on accident while trying to repair scrapes. Strands and how dangerous they truly were was finally starting to become obvious to me. I ripped my limbs off as easily as I cut through Rubeki.

I screamed and cried every time I did it, but I still persevered. Healing with strands is such a valuable skill, but it hurts every single time to use it. Therefore, I couldn't use it freely and had to concentrate on when was best to utilize the skill.

"Does this mean I can heal other people as well?" I asked Illya. She nodded, explaining that other people would feel their own pain and I could heal others at will, so long as strands existed in their body in the first place. It was a fair set of rules and made sense, but I wonder how many of them were classified as etiquette and how many rules could be bent to fit what I needed to accomplish...

Maybe Illya is rubbing off on me.

Illya and I tried to keep track of how many Rubeki we killed but lost count after two thousand each, so it varies how many have died, but they are infinite. When I asked how we could permanently stop them, Illya told me it would be impossible, considering the person we would have to fight.

"The Leader of all Rubeki is a fierce opponent. She's one you shouldn't be near for too long or else you'll go insane and kill yourself out of a strange feeling she radiates off. I've never seen her myself, but the legends of her are all consistent on that one fact. As long as we keep their numbers slim, they have less of a chance to multiply and the students at MTG can remain safe for now. So, at least we can look forward to that." She told me.

"I guess that's a good way to look at it, but going all out against that leader would be preferable. Eventually, we'll grow old and die from fatigue if we kept fighting them. A battle of attrition is a useless fight." I told her. Illya nodded and shrugged.

"Then it looks like we'll have to return to MTG and get Mrs. Ali's help in taking out the leader. Hasn't she fought her before? Say, what was it like?! I forgot that I wanted to ask her so many things... do you know them?" Illya asked me with a curious sparkle in her eyes.

"I know a little yeah. You see, the Rubeki that Mom called 'Providence' might be the leader of the Rubeki, and Mom fought against her. She had her eye taken out and Mom took one of her eyes so she's on the same level as Providence now... she also explained the way she looked to me, and I'm not sure if I'm convinced." I told Illya. She shook her head.

"It may sound ridiculous, but the Rubeki and all things who wield strands have a certain breaking point where the strands can't be contained anymore and their appearance will change at random, or at their imagination's discretion. For example, if you imagine yourself to be a Demon or an Angel, you'd mimic what you think one looks like and the strands would be at their strongest." Illya explained.

"Interesting... I never really knew strands functioned like this. Have any other tidbits of information for me?" I asked her again. She began her explanations.

"Strands can be defined as 'Imagination Filler'. They work in tangent with your imagination. They're also a parasite, so I've been told. Becoming a Rubeki is a complete parasitic takeover, but no cases have happened to humans. It's believed that because we are the only thing with such complicated sentience, the Rubeki are created off of the leftover strands that leak off of our bodies and live inside animals. That's why every Rubeki looks like an animal, but sometimes Humans can fall to it as well. It's a pretty gray area, but during a transition to a Rubeki, the strands cause you to mimic what you imagine in your mind. If one imagines themselves to be a Demon, they will turn into what they think a Demon looks like. Strands can go as far as your imagination takes you, but that also means strands use your brain more than you do, which is why it hurts after a while." Illya finally finished with a deep breath and I could feel my head smoke.

"Oh, it'll make sense after a while. But, you see how complicated they are? They're not just parasites, they're just like us." Illya suggested.

"I understood you, it was just a lot to take in. So, is the reason Providence or whoever the leader of the Rubeki might be looks as confusing as Mom explained, is because she's between Human and Rubeki and constantly changing?" I asked Illya.

"Sort of. Providence can willfully bounce between Rubeki and Human, which is why her appearance is so weird... apparently according to your Mom. My Mom and Dad heard about Providence, but never told me anything." Illya told me.

"No matter, we'll be the last ones to see here anyway. So, Illya, are you ready to train to kill Providence?!" I said with a hyped-up tone.

"Let's do it! She doesn't stand a chance against the dream team!" Illya said while pumping her arm. I enjoyed moments like this...

We both laughed off our declaration to end the Rubeki permanently and I went back to using strands and messing with them in order to boost my skill. So far, I could hold my armor for two hours straight and could swing the purple sabers twenty times when holding two, so forty times separate. I was much stronger than I previously had been at MTG.