Blocked Ascension

Tim was running up the stairs, reaching the fifth level of the hill. He stopped running and bent forward. He grabbed his knees and breathed heavily. "Who the... Who the hell needs to make so many stairs?! Give me a break!" he sweated, then looked forward. "I didn't expect to run into you first, captain. Very unfortunate. I guess there's nothing I can do to avoid it."

Tim froze. "How many guards does this island need? Come on, I've run into a few now." Stated Tim. "It's Peter. I think that's a pretty easy name to remember. I'm the leading captain of the soldiers.

A question mark popped on top of Tim's head and immediately popped out of existence. "I thought my name was normal, but look at yours." He straightened up and hipped his arms. "Yours sucks." Tim's straightforward answer infuriated Peter, who stepped forward and made fists. "Aw, come on! Not only are you the strongest man on the crew, but you're also a bully too! And I thought Rosi was mean."

Tim scratched the top of his head. "Okay, so, why'd you come here? If you want to fight, now's the chance." Peter's arms dangled in front of his knees. "Of course, I'm here to fight. That's my job, even if I don't want to fight someone, especially the one who's much stronger than me." Peter sighed, but Tim didn't budge.

"Huh, interesting. You're the first person who admits they're weaker than me. If you don't want to fight, just don't. You can let me go free any time, but be quick. I have a limited time." Tim explained.

Peter straightened and became serious. "Well, I should just do that since I'm only a hitman to eliminate that stupid little girl. To be honest... I didn't come here to fight people who have some special abilities. Just look at me. I don't even have a special ability to fight with."

Tim could decipher that Peter wasn't much self-assured and seemed somewhat fine around him. He became unimpressed and placed his left arm on the hip. "You were hired to eliminate a girl? Hold on a minute. What's the girl's name? Tell me now or I'll break that cowardly nose of yours!"

At Tim's sudden voice raise, Peter reacted by bouncing back. "Whoa, please don't do that! Look, let me get this straight. I'm a professional hitman whose job is to assassinate the required target given to me by a bounty request. If I successfully eliminate that target and bring the proof to the person who requested it, I'm rewarded with a ton of money. But, that changed when I stumbled across a random bounty to eliminate this girl.

"I didn't realize that the request was given to me by Niklas, the leader of the Craftsman Island's civilization. To be honest, I don't like killing children, but if the job is worth it for the money, I'll gladly take it. I almost caught that little girl, but then another kid came and stopped me from doing so, and I have little time left."

Tim stepped forward. "That's not what I asked! I asked, what's that girl's name? How could you be a hired hitman and do a bounty if there's no name on the request?! Hurry up, I don't have time for this!" He shouted.

Peter became serious and became serious. "There's no way I'm telling you her name. If I tell you her name, I'll most likely end up in the grave. I don't need to fight you, but if you don't back off this instant, then only force will be used."

Tim's mouth shook with frustration. "Is it Louisa Dillinger by chance? If that's your target, then I need to find her. So, tell me if it's her, or get the hell out of my way! I'm losing patience over here!" Tim shouted. He couldn't restrain himself for much longer.

Peter grinned and laughed. "It might be, or it could be someone else completely. I'm sorry, pirate, but I don't want to die, so I think I'd rather do the job that I was given." He explained.

Tim lowered his head and the corner of his mouth shook faster. "You're annoying as hell. Make up your mind!!" Tim flicked his right arm to the side. He leaned forward and blinked from the spot.

It caught Peter off guard. Tim popped out of nothingness in front and punched Peter's face at rapid speed. Once his fist collided with his face, Peter felt the pressure building up inside of him. It felt as if a part of his skull cracked, and his face felt squeezed.

The force that built around him lifted his body into the air. It sent him flying through the air at rapid speed and crushed his back into the stairs behind him. The backfire of Tim's attack caused his own body to nearly stumble, but he managed to catch his footing by stepping forward.

The cloud of dust kicked up around Peter's pummeled body, which then curved into a screen of dust that covered him and his view.

Once the dust cleared up, Tim looked into Peter's face and noticed that he was bleeding already. "Should've stayed away." Without showing concern for his opponent, Tim ran toward the stairs and hurried on up, but not for long. Peter's hand wrapped around his ankles and Tim couldn't escape it. "Sorry, but I can't let you go through."

Tim felt his body getting pulled back and tossed back at the bottom of the stairs. He flipped in the air to then land perfectly on the ground. He stepped back but stopped before he'd slip further down the stairs.

"I guess that wasn't enough to stop you." Said Tim. He observed Peter standing up slowly. Peter blew off the dust from his clothes and then exchanged views. "No, it wasn't. I might be a hitman, but my body's sturdy enough to withstand attacks that would be fatal to an average person. But I won't lie. That attack really packed a punch. Too bad that I'm done fooling around, pirate."

Tim spit out because of his irritation and prepared his battle pose. "I guess everyone on this sea sees anyone who sails the ocean as a pirate. I mean it's fun and all of that, but I don't like that everybody knows about us. Just so you know, I'm a Spiritual Duelist, not a pirate." He claimed but continued. "And this necklace is the proof of that. Keep in mind, that I'm the only Spiritual Duelist you'll see, even if my friends say the same for themselves, at least, Ayuka, that is. But she's a completely different role than I am."

Peter looked Tim in the eyes. "A Spiritual Duelist? What are those supposed to be? People who duel with spirits or what?" He asked. Tim just smiled. "It's a little more complicated than that. You see, I'm a Spiritual Duelist whose job is to protect spirits that are intended to be slaughtered. I need to protect the leaving souls to find them a brand new place to stay, which is mostly the Spiritual Realm. If those souls are successfully protected, then they become one of the duelists, but just duelists." Tim explained.

"Though, it's a bit difficult when you don't have a blade to use in battle. Those are supposed to be the main core to safely retrieve a soul, without it, it's nearly impossible. But if you have a spirit connected to this necklace, then you don't need to worry about protecting those souls. It's far different than a hitman."

Peter became intrigued, but he didn't let that stop him from doing his job. "So, where's your spirit now? I expect that you would need that spirit to be around you, right? So, where are they?" His question derailed Tim into silent fury. "She's the reason why I need to hurry up. I promised that I'll get rid of Niklas and then go find Tomomi, or, if what Yumiko told me was true, I suppose I should call her Chiaki."

Tim tensed his palm, and both exchanged looks. The wind kicked up and swirled around them, and before long, their hand-to-hand duel would begin.

To be continued...