Chapter 36: Brutal Bout (2)

Ashur couldn't help but look on, awestruck at John. He instantly thought back to Mary, how the woman appeared in combat. Similar to Mary, John had a breastplate as well as shin coverings but that was roughly where the similarities ended.

John, unlike Mary, had a helmet and silver gauntlets on his hands. The man, unlike earlier in the battle, had a complete air of calm over him now. Ashur couldn't fully explain why, but he felt like the aura coming off of him now was greater than even Mary when she donned the steel armor.

"So, any idea of how we should handle this guy?" John asked Annerose telepathically.

"Somewhat. Currently you're able to use 15% of my power, and from what I can tell, Marion's only tapped into about 8% of Gi's. It's likely he can use more though, so we want to end this as quickly as possible before he can increase his output."

"Sure but that's easier said than done. I don't know if you were watching the entire time, but I haven't been able to get close to him."

"Don't worry… With my defenses, a simple punch should be deadly enough. Like I said, just make sure to end things quickly. Since this is our first time fully bonding you probably won't maintain this state for long, so keep that in mind."

"Got it, coach." John said as he slid the wooden sword into his belt.

Marion stomped on the ground with authority as multiple earth pillars materialized beside him. Several rock pellets flew from them but John dashed straight forward. He raised his gauntlets, able to shield the damage from reaching him. He marched forward, almost brazenly and Marion, not wanting him to close the distance, took a step back.

"So, this is how you use Annerose's pow-"

Before he could finish speaking, he was cut off. A steel chain that sprouted from the ground was attached to his foot, causing him to slip slightly. Right as he attempted to gain balance once more, a fist coated in steel smashed into his face.

Unable to defend properly, the only direction he could fall was to the ground with a loud thud. He was forced to roll to the side as John's foot narrowly missed his face. The blonde-haired man didn't stop his assault there, however, as he reached toward his belt, quickly sliding the wooden blade from it and striking him in the face.

As his pursuit of Marion continued, the crowd surrounding them went wild with noise. In the group however, three remained silent, being Ashur, Charon, and Sherryl. Ashur had a resolved look on his face, while Sherryl held a worried one. She could tell John wouldn't be holding the form for too much longer from the strained look on his face.

"How much time we got, Annerose?" John asked, as he once again swiped at Marion's face.

"I would say roughly a minute."

"Say less then." He retorted.

Marion, being on the backfoot now, and sporting several injuries across his body had a strained expression, as he was clearly trying to spot a moment to counter-attack. John on the other hand had a wide-grin on his face. To see Marion, who had appeared invincible previously get pushed to a degree was a fraction of what he wanted.

Next, he had to fully defeat the man. He would, no matter what, make him apologize to Annerose. "So, are we having fun now!?" He asked, smacking Marion across the side of his face once more.

"Not one bit." The man replied and in a fraction of a second, he lunged toward him. He swung his fist toward his face and John raised his left arm to block using his gauntlet. That was exactly what Marion wanted, as in a flash he crouched low, going for a firm uppercut to the man's stomach instead.

The hit was heavy even though John had steel armor to ward off some of the damage. Not wasting a second, Marion swiped the wooden sword from him, using that moment to gain a bit of distance. This time, he would be ready for whatever John could throw at him.

"Alright, so he gained distance… John, I'll handle materialization since you're not as used to it. All you need to do is focus on offense, alright?"

"Sounds good." He replied.

WIth a firm stomp, the earth almost seemed to bubble under Marion's feet. It then slowly started to climb up his leg, eventually encasing his entire body. He was similar looking to John with his own set of armor now.

"Ah, didn't know you were a copy-cat." John coughed up cheekily.

Despite being at a distance Marion punched in his direction and the earth covering his fist shot out. Surprised, John raised his arms to defend but a chain from the ground blocked the projectile.

"I told you to focus on offense, remember?" Annerose said.

"Right. I'll just trust you." He then rushed forward without another word.

Marion repeatedly stomped on the ground, over and over, and over. Dozens of earth pillars were erecting up, some being in John's direct path in which he went around them while others came from underneath him. He had to jump off such pillars, all the while an almost endless amount of rock pellets seemed to fly at him. From his steel armor, thin whips spun around, blocking any and all attacks from truly hitting him.

Marion lowered both of his hands, having open-palms facing the ground. The earth reacted to the action, forming into a hammer, about the size of a young child. It was massive, but that didn't mean it was slow. John learned that the hard way as in a flash, Marion swung it at him, smashing it right into his chest. John slid back, releasing a pained exhale.

"He's at 13% now John and I think you've got about another 20 seconds left. So hurry!"

"Got it." John said. He then rushed forward, his fists raised to strike. Marion prepared to raise his hammer to swing at him again, however, right as he did so it crumbled.

Annerose, the moment the hammer reached John prior, had stabbed it multiple times with tiny daggers to soften it. That moment of confusion and hesitation at his weapon fading cost Marion greatly, as a barrage of full powered punches were thrown his way.

Through the pain, the extreme pain of hardened steel repeatedly getting smashed onto his face, Marion swung back. He threw a flurry of punches of his own and the two continued trading blows back and forth.

At this point, the exchange between the warriors had been so intense, that they soon forgot anyone was around them. The people, the noise and cheers. It all went away and it just became the two of them, locked in a vicious combat.

Jab, uppercut, right hook, dodge, block, front kick, overhand left, block, block, dodge, block. Every atack Marion threw at John was now too much to simply take. He was sure, if he was hit with even one more punch to the face he would be done for. His vision was starting to blur, however, right as he felt he'd slip out of consciousness he heard a loud voice in his head.

"Don't expect to come out of a fight unscathed. If ya fight, understand you will shed blood. There will be pain, excitement, fear and everything in between. However, it's up to you to navigate those feelings and still overcome em'. That is the last thing I'll teach ya. Never lose, John."

That voice. He recognized it. It came from his teacher, Pride. Those were the last words she had left him before vanishing that following day. They were words that he'd long since forgotten, however here was where he regained them.

After taking a fierce kick to the stomach that sent him back a couple of feet, John coughed up blood. The smell of iron and dirt was thick in the air. His whole body was sore. He had no way of knowing, but at this point he no longer had the steel-armor covering him. He was that out of it. His opponent was much the same, as bits and pieces had fallen off during their exchange.

A drawback of utilizing the steel-armor to the last hair of stamina, was communication with Annerose would be impossible. This was due to the extreme strain on the body as well as mind.

John reached his hand out toward the ground, where a steel sword came up, falling into it. Marion, similarly extended his hand to the ground, a sword made of earth fell into his.

The cheers which had long-since become silent to the two immersed fighters, resumed. John was breathing heavily, a chuckle leaving his lips.

"You're really something, you know?"

Marion was also releasing and taking labored breaths.

"You as well. I underestimated you… You have grit…"

"Yeah… Well, think we should wrap this up?

Marion gave a silent, but firm nod. This would be the final attack for the both of them.

The two lunged at each other. John, with the last of his strength, was preparing to strike downward. Marion, opposite him, was launching an upward strike. While releasing guttural screams that heightened their fighting spirits, the two slashed.

At that split second, a bright light shone from down on the training ground floor. This forced all watching to wince, covering their eyes with their hands. After a couple of seconds when the light died down, and the villagers removed the hands from their eyes, the sight left them speechless.

In the middle of the training ground was Ashur, but unlike his usual self he had a golden crown on his head. From top to bottom his skin was a creamy yellow, having translucent shoulder-blades and shin-guards on his body. His arms were up, blocking both of their weapons. "That's enough you two." He said, a somewhat distant look in his eye.

John, unable to say a word after using the last of his energy, fell to the ground unconscious. Marion dropped his earth sword and as he faltered, soon to fall as well, he caught himself. He stomped on the ground firmly as his head shot up toward the sky. He released an almost primal scream into the air.

"I WOOOOOON!!!!"

A sea of cheers followed his statement. All in attendance were wide-eyed. Charon had a smile on his face as he turned around, starting to walk away from the training grounds.

Sherryl had a sorrowful glint in her eye. While everyone else was cheering for Marion, she couldn't bring herself to. She saw how hard John had fought, and could feel how badly he wanted to win. It was for Annerose as well and yet he couldn't do it. He had done his very best. She just hoped that would be enough for him when he awoke.

***

John reached for the doorknob. His house door, yes it was open but he felt… No, believed that everything was fine. He would go inside and see his mom, worried sick for him and he'd say that he was alright. But... That's not what he found.

John wouldn't be able to describe what it was he saw inside. If it was so traumatic his brain blotted it out or he simply forgot over time he couldn't say. However, the one thing he could remember vividly was how he felt.

The smell of pasta which would usually be his favorite dinner dish was perverted, mixed with the sour scent of rotting flesh. His heartbeat seemed to stop, if only for a moment. It might have been a well-needed respite for it, after all it had been working overtime ever since he started walking through his town.

Here, while his mind was breaking, his body was able to keep itself together. John pushed past his front door, running outside. He hunched over, releasing round after round of what was his breakfast earlier. His body felt hot, being extremely ignorant of the cold temperature surrounding it.

"What? There was one left."

A voice a bit further to his left caught his attention along with the sounds of footsteps crunching over the snow. He whipped his head over, seeing a robed figure. Beside him were two others.

"Oh well, guess that's why you do multiple comb-throughs. By the way, do you know if the other unit caught that other runaway, the little girl?"

"Not too sure… Haven't seen that unit in a while but it's just a girl, I mean how hard could it be?"

"Ha, that's true. Anyways." The lead man reached into his robe, pulling out a blade from its sheath.

John was panting, heaving for air. With every step closer they grew to him the faster his heart started beating. His first instinct was to fight, or even to run, but for some reason he was unable to. His mom, dead. Friends, dead. Teacher, dead. What point would it serve for him to actually continue at this point? He talked a big game earlier, saying he would get revenge but how plausible was that anyway?

When the lead man finally reached him, he raised his blade into the air.

"Don't hate me kid. I'm just following orde-" Before he could finish, a hot blue flame licked up his entire body. Even though John was a foot or two away from him, the heat felt extreme like it was scorching his skin as well. A scream couldn't even leave the man's lips as he fell, lifeless.

The two other robed men drew their weapons, fear washing over their faces. "W-what!? Who's there?" One of them barked, however, he, like his partner, was burned by blue flames in an instant. He fell down lifeless as well.

Now, the last remaining man in a panic, rushed toward him. John, confused about what was happening, was unable to resist as he was grabbed up. The man held a blade to his neck, as he frantically whipped his head around searching the area. "If you try anything, I'll kill him!"

"I don't recommend that." Someone said. The man swiveled to face them, and John saw as well. The person walking toward them was a woman. She had blonde hair that was scraggly yet was long enough to touch her shoulders.

One of her eyes was light-blue while the other was fully black, with a red-cross in place of where a pupil should have been. She was wearing a jet-black robe that had a hood, which was draped over her head. She had full lips that were pressed tightly together.

The woman would have looked beautiful if it weren't for her face which was currently scrunched up in disgust. "Goin' after a kid? That's pretty low dontcha think?"

"Shut it!" The man barked. "Are you the one who did this to my comrades?" He gestured toward the charred corpses.

"Yeah." She said casually. "I mean, y'all are pieces o' trash, right?"

The man clenched his teeth together as his eyes were filled with malice. He stared at the woman as he was thinking intently. How could he find a way out of this? She was at least 10 feet away from him at the moment so if he didn't close the distance to attack he would never make it.

The woman had been walking toward them but suddenly stopped. She tilted her head slightly, sporting a contemplative expression on her face.

"Hey, kid. Do you wanna try an' fight back? I'm sure ya could escape if ya try."

Fight back? In this situation? A silence colder than the snow surrounding them filled the street.

"No response? Ya know it's way more difficult to save somebody who doesn't want to be, right? At this rate, I'd be better off leaving on my merry way." Then, she turned around and started to walk from where she came.

"Hey! You can't just leave aft- OW!" The man recoiled from the pain as John hopped away from him. On the man's hand, his index finger was missing and John spat it out of his mouth letting it fall onto the snow-covered floor.

"You brat!" The man roared and in a rush of anger, charged at him. He raised the blade, prepared to strike down. The words of Zubec lingered in John's mind.

"Remember this. An enemy displaying blind rage is the easiest to defeat."

John spun quickly, scooping one of the dead men's swords from the ground before turning to face the last remaining one. In a smooth movement, he ducked, barely dodging the stab before launching forward with the sword outstretched.

He could hear the sensation of flesh being punctured and he felt a warm liquid spill onto his hands. The man's eyes were wide, his mouth agape with shock before he fell backward. John stood over him, seeing a scarlet red slip from the stomach wound. He raised his hand that still held the bloody blade, seeing it shake until the weapon slipped from his grasp.

Now gazing at the lifeless man, John didn't know what to do, or say. He had never killed someone before. What was he supposed to do? Regret his actions? Rejoice? He had no answer however-

"Hey kid." He turned behind him to see the blonde-haired woman. She was staring at him, a mixture of curiosity and some other unplaceable emotion was in her eye.

Slightly wary of her, John took a step back as he crouched. He started to reach for the sword behind him, just in case.

"Sorry about that a second ago. I wasn't really going to abandon ya, just wanted to catch him off guard but then you go and do that." She pointed behind him, at the dead body. "You got guts though. What's yer name?"

"J-john." He replied hesitantly.

The woman outstretched her hand for him to shake. A warm smile was on her face. "Well, it's nice to meet ya John. My name is Pride."