Ch.22: Properties.

"It all started when I was 14."

A young, dashing boy was seen repeatedly slashing at a wooden dummy. With grace and elegance, the kid seemed to be a natural with a sword in hand.

'It's not enough..'

With a quick thrust, the wooden sword went through the wooden dummy. The kid pulled the sword out the dummy and stared at it. 'My technique is perfect and yet, this isn't enough. Is it me? No, that's not it. It's this sword.'

He snapped the sword in two and threw it onto the ground. Around him, countless broken swords could be seen. Whether it was metal or steel swords, all of them would be detached from their handle.

For a 14 year old, he was buff and full of muscles. In this sense, it made him appear ugly, but the women of 1940 liked this sort of look.

'If I could create a sword capable of keeping up with my skills and techniques, I'd be unstoppable..'

Just then, he felt something inside himself unlock. Like only now figuring out that two plus two equals four, he could sense something deep within himself that he could use to possibly overcome any obstacle.

He walked towards a shed then went inside of it. In it, hundreds of swords of various types. Metal, wooden, copper, so on and so forth. He picked any random sword and left the shed.

'What is this? Has God listened to my request?' He thought, looking at the metal sword and seeing 3 words branching off the sword.

[Replicated Knowledge.]

[Future/Past Sight.]

[Absolute Hypnosis.]

'What are these?'

He waved his hand in front of the words and they didn't disappear. He couldn't physically touch the words, and yet he could see them.

'What happens if I pick...this one?' He focused on the last one and the rest disappeared.

[Absolute Hypnosis makes those who look into ones blade become hypnotized, leaving them in a trance and giving the user a free chance to strike. Effects ware off after a the user deals one single attack.]

'Well, I'll be damned.'

The kid thought as the information in his head slowly faded away. 'With this, none will be able to step up to me. I have to test it out! But first..!' He sat the sword down and went back into the shed.

Minutes later, he came out with a wheelbarrow filled up with various swords.

'I wonder if..'

And for the next couple hours, he checked and see if he could implement these...properties onto these weapons. And it didn't take long to realize that he could with only minor, and I mean minor, limitations.

'It's only limited to metal swords. Anything other than that won't allow for me to see and or set properties onto those swords..'

A sword that controlled gas. A sword that dealt more damage with each strike. A sword that could even fix other swords. The possibilities were only limited...by well,..he didn't really know himself actually.

'And the powers are permanent. I used a power infused sword to break another, fixed the broken one and the properties still appeared on the once broken sword.' He stood up and only now realized how long he's spent out here.

The stars were shining down on his pool. The chilly breeze made his clothes rustle in the wind. 'Did God choose me? He gave me these mysterious powers, right? Well, whatever it is, I can see my future already.

I'll be a God in battle.

With hundreds of weapons in my arsenal, each with the power to make me untestable, who can I lose to?'

He looked around and picked up a sword. With it, he started attacking at the air, each and every strike making his experience with the sword become better, his techniques, more fluid than before, and his overall skill, on the level as someone's who's trained for an entire century.

'Father could split a rock. Grandpoppy, a 20 meter metal tower and finally, great grandpoppy, an entire mountain. With these powers, I can accomplish all of that and more within a months time.

Just watch!'

....

"Dad, I think he's actually gone senile.."

Clay whispered while looking at the back of Gramps. "Ha, you really are your father's son! He said the exact same thing when I told him this story!" Gramps surprisingly stood up with vigor.

From a cold and mysterious man to one filled to the brim with energy. Turning around, a chill went up Clay's spine. This would happen everytime when looking at Gramps unsightly apperance.

Eyes voided of life like he was blind, scars all over his face and chest that shown through the robe he wore.

"Come on boys. Follow your old man.." Gramps then started walking outside into the garden and Kazemi followed.

'I have no reason to not believe him though. He never explains how he went blind or how he got those battle scars. Also, the swords that line up the hallway walls always seemed ominous. Gramps probably is telling the truth..'

Clay stood up and followed behind Kazemi. They were truly following their old man. Gramps took them out to the shed and when Clay came in, he saw how old and shabby it looked. Like it hasn't been cleaned in decades.

"Now that you know my secret Clay, remember to never speak of this place when we aren't around."

The door then closed on its own. There was a metallic box fan on the wall with no front guard, meaning you could touch the blades directly.

Gramps went up to this and spun the blades in a counterclockwise motion. The ground shook slightly and dirt fell from the ceiling and onto their clothes. Just before Gramp's feet, the floor board opened up to reveal a long trail of decending steps that led into darkness.

"Telling anyone about this place will cost you your life."

The threat from Gramps meant nothing since he couldn't die.

"Okay."

Clay said, his right arm finishing from its regeneration. Seeing this, gramps scoffed and started walking down into the floor.

"I'm sorry for all of this, Clay. But if you want to be strong enough to protect people, then I'm afraid Dads route is the only right way to go about it."

Kazemi took a few steps before going down into the floor. "I'm going to assume that hes gonna give me a sword? If that's the case then it's fine."

When Clay walked into the floor, the floorboards sealed itself, leaving the floor like it was before they arrived. The stairwell was tightly packed. It was meant for one person to walk down in at a time and it showed.

'Gramps was always mysterious. When I had my sleepovers, he always disappeared at night around 8 and wouldn't be back til the next morning, cooking breakfast while watching the morning news.

He's blind, but he can move around like any normal person could. Overall, he's intimidating. Scary, almost scarier than mom. Glad I stopped going here in the later years. Love em' to death, but dude was just way to scary for little ol' me...'

They all reached the end of the steps and Gramps flicked on a lightswitch. As the ceiling lights came on one by one in a movie like manner, gleaming shines invaded their vision, only Clay however covering his eyes.

"When I had my powers, I implemented many properties on swords.."

Sabers, ShortSwords, LongSwords, Katanas, Rapiers, BroadSwords, etc. There was just about any sword you could name down here and they were each made up of metal.

"But when I lost them, I realized,.." As Clay stood their in amazement, and Kazemi, with a hint of fear, Gramps started walking towards the shelves of swords. There were alters, statutes, shelves, so on, so forth, that either held swords or were swords.

"I realized that I...couldn't use them anymore.."

He would touch on the swords and look at them like they were his lover. 'Nah, he has more affection towards those swords than he does Dad. See that's why this place weirds me out...'

"You couldn't use them anymore? Why?"

"Me and Kazemi concluded that only [Ability Holders] can use my swords abilities."

"Huh? Gramps, stop lying. It wasn't a damn ghost that did that to my arm."

"Kid, that was all your Gramps right there, no powers. You can be faster than the eye if you just train hard enough."

Clay forced a smile and said, "Whatever Gramps. So anyways, I can pick out any sword I like? No point in wasting time.."

He was about to start looking around when he was stopped by the mere silence from the two.

"What's wrong? Can I not do that?"

Gramps reached for his back, then tossed a wooden sword at Clay.

"Ah, don't do me like this Gramps. I promise I'm ready."

"How can you say that without showcasing your capabilities to me? Can't go giving a knife to a baby, can you?"

Gramps started untying his robe. "You're about to find out why I hate coming here.." Kazemi said, crossing his arms and backing away.

'Are we about to spare or something..?'

Taking off his robes complety, Gramps was wearing a white sash tied to his waist and a white cloth which covered his entire lower half. In this apperance, it could be said that he looked like some sort of Greek God.

"Kazemi here had to go through the same thing that you're about to if it makes you feel any better. Although he's just a normal human being, so I had to hold back agaisnt him. That doesn't apply to you however.."

A dark shadow covered the eyes of Gramps. "We're really doing this, aren't we?" Gramps put his right hand out towards the wall. A normal looking sword rattled and flew into his hand. Catching it, he crouched down, but not all the way to the ground.

With his left leg forward and his right arm past his shoulder, his stance was indeed interesting, noting how Kazemi would step back and look away from Gramps.

'My old self probably would've pissed their pants by now. But not the new me. I've seen scarier things and besides, my danger sense isn't going off, so I have nothing to worry about..'

Clay didn't get into any particular stance, leaving hundreds of openings that Gramps saw and scorned at.

"You know, if I ever took a stance like that against my father, he'd beat the shit out of me. Ain't that right, Kazemi?"

Kazemi didn't respond, but Clay did.

"Saying your an abusive father isn't really getting you anywhere.."

Gramps laughed it off, his smile slowly disappearing as he let out a long, exaggerated sigh.

"I'm gonna enjoy this."

"Me too, Gramps.."

Then in the blink of an eye, a silver blade was all that Clay saw in his vision. 'If I had to put it terms that even a toddler could understand..'

Clay ducked, grabbed the arm that went over his head, pivoted on his left foot and launched Gramps using the immense momentum he gathered.

Flying across the room and into a shelf full of swords, Gramps coughed out blood as he fell onto the floor and stayed.

"Peak Human Vs. An Enhanced Human. Doesn't seem like much of difference, but trust me, it is."

He was not indeed Superhuman as he was way weaker than that. He knew that after some research and power testing.

Kazemi's eyes visibly got wider as his arms slowly unfolded. 'No way. Just like that? He beat dad just...like that?'

If you dug deep enough onto the web, you could find articles stating that Gramps, or Nagami Ozerden, was not only considered a Martial Arts Master, but a Master swordmans as well.

'Dad wanted me to follow in his exact same footsteps, training me day and night 20 hours a day, 6 days a week.

Even after all this time, I can't say I've even grasped 2 percent of his 'power'.

Heck, I lose to Molly and she only trains an hour a day, once a day in 2 week intervals..'

What he was trying to say that what he just saw, what he just witness, it shouldn't have been possible and yet, it was.

"Oh, lordy, my back~..." Gramps slowly stood up, coughing and wheezing. "Ah, shoot. Gramps, are you okay?" Clay dropped his sword and went over to help him stand.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. But boy, where did that strength come from? Being an [Ability Holder] doesn't necessarily mean your strength is supposed to increase, does it?"

"Pretty sure that when I regenerate, I revert back to peak strength."

"Hmm, I see.."

Gramps stroked his tiny goatee for a moment, then looked at Kazemi. "Okay! His training will start as soon as you guys make it to Japan. Now if you'll excuse me, me and Molly have a flight to catch! See ya!"

Gramps jogged out of Clay's arms and ran to an elevator. When its doors open, he got in, waved while pressing a button and left.

"Wait, what? As soon as he makes it to Japan? Dad, what is Gramps talking about?"

"Well, I've been holding off on saying this, but...there's a place over there, a place where people with abilities like yourself can learn to fit into society even if you have superpowers.

I was going to tell you about it, but I wanted to wait on your decision. You've been thinking about it as well, right? Going to Japan, I mean..."

"A place where there are others like me? I already knew it existed..." Clay sighed as Kazemi became a little surprised upon hearing that Clay already knew about the existence of such a place.

"I've been thinking about it this whole time, wether or not I actually want to go. And now finally, I've decided that yeah, I'll go. They can teach me how to use my powers better all while staying in an environment were there are others like me.

I guess maybe I wanted to stay here just for the memories. But I've been reborn for christ sake. Why am I not allowing myself to do more with my life?"

His old self was holding him hostage here. He wanted to be in a familiar place and he thought he'd be safe here.

A city where his dad was the best cop there ever was, a city where his mom was considered the most beautifulest woman there ever was, a city where Eve's smarts could be acknowledged.

'Change. There has to be change.

Mom, Dad and Eve can still be all of that, but at the same time, if they stay here any longer, who knows how long those titles will last for.

It isn't exactly hard to find us. If we were to move across counties however, we can have some peace and quiet for a little while before threats arise again..'

"Soooo,... That means..."

"Yeah, let's do it.."

It brought a smile to his face when hearing the decision that Clay made. He was happy knowing that not only would he be able to go home, but he'd also he able to bring his family along with him.

"I already told your mother about the possibility of us moving. She's gonna be excited to know that you agreed.."

"So I really was holding us back?"

"Yeah, but don't take it the wrong way, Clay. We wanted to give you time, remember? If you wanted to stay here, then that would be perfectly fine with us. We only want what's best for you, y'know?"

Kazemi placed his hand upon Clay's head and shook it. A smile appeared on Clay's face as Kazemi faintly laughed.

'I'm not used to them showing me this sort of love. I hope..that they'll keep showing me it.

It's really...nice..'

....