1.5 Hours later...
Fumiko began coursing the revenant throughout her body, becoming more efficient as time passed. She felt a strange sensation as her revenant spiked up, becoming something different.
[Innate Technique: Lunar Swordsmanship Unlocked!]
Fumiko heard the message briefly, going back to her training with her revenant. "(I'll look at it later.)"
[Description Loading!]
She suddenly felt a touch on her shoulder. "What is it, Kaguya?" A calm and deep feminine tone chuckled at Fumiko's response. "Jeez, just take a chill pill and stop the training. You'll go bald at this rate." Kaguya teased her playfully.
Fumiko ignored her and struck the practice dummy in front of her. "HAH!" The dummy flies back and rushes at her, throwing a blast of revenant at her. "Too slow!" Fumiko dodged the attack and struck the dummy again in the jaw. The force of her fists surged with revenant as the dummy crashed into one of the dark stone walls. Fumiko smirked with confidence as she saw the dummy wave the robotic hand, redirecting the blast of revenant from earlier at Fumiko.
[Skill: Blades of Revenant Activated!]
The blast of revenant clashes against multiple revenant blades Fumiko conjured, but not to her surprise, Fumiko's blades easily neutralize the attack. "This feels too easy."
[Description loaded!]
[Innate Technique: Lunar Energy]
A type of energy that is absorbed from the moon, the energy becomes stronger at night and can be used in any type of combative scenario.
Kaguya looks at the message, gesturing for her disciple to come and look at it. "Hey, Fumiko, come look at this message."
She reluctantly walks over with her revenant blade in hand. "What, I am trying to- whoa!" She looks at the message and begins channeling the energy through her revenant cores. "Finally! I can contend with Kodak!"
Kaguya chuckles at Fumiko's little assumption of Kodak's power. "Don't underestimate that boy. Cause you'll regret it immensely, Fumiko." Kaguya's playful and unserious tone shifted, swiftly becoming cold and serious. "That boy is a walking disaster, but also someone who is the hope for the modern age." Kagya's eyes sparked with ambition and determination as she thought about Kodak. "You could say he's a hope-induced disaster, bringing destruction toward those deserving while protecting and bringing hope to those in need."
Fumiko's eyes widened at Kaguya's description of Kodak, causing her to think back to what her mother said about him. "That boy is a child of prophecy and the hope of this torn world."
She then focused her attention back on her new innate technique, before getting sidetracked about Kodak's incredible power.
[Lunar Formations 1-3 Unlocked!]
[Multiple Skills Evolved and Unlocked!]
[Skills Evolved: Blade Aura --> Lunar Aura, Radial Aura --> Moonlit Presence, Blades of Revenant --> Moon Blades.]
Fumiko then looks through a small window from the room, looking at the shining moonlight gazing into the room.
[Moonlight detected!]
[Lunar Energy is at 20% Charge!]
A wave of energy washes over Fumiko as her eyes turn into a mix of white and purple. Energy from the moon charges throughout her body as she feels motivated to test this new ability.
But before she could even test this newfound power, a shockwave burst forth across the large town. A massive amount of revenant from the shockwave echoed through it. Fumiko felt this, and even Kaguya was shocked by this level of strength.
[Revenant Radar Activated!]
Fumiko sticks her arms out from her side and senses revenant emanating through the city. But what shocked her even more was the fact that it was Kodak's revenant echoing through the city. Fumiko then thought back to her brief fight with him, thinking about how he didn't take those opportunities to strike her down. "(Just how much was he holding back in our fight!?)"
Kaguya then flew through the roof of Fumiko's house with her astral form, looking at the surrounding area. Deformed beings of both humans and monsters walked the blood-stained streets of the town. Kaguya's mind raced with anxiety and stress from what she saw. "(Revenant Spirits!?)" Her eyes widened as she saw the monsters tearing through homes, affecting more innocent families. More bloodshed echoes through the town as the screams intensify even more gruesomely.
Kaguya gritted her teeth and flew back into the house, trying to get Fumiko's attention. "YOU NEED TO GO FIND YOUR FRIENDS!" Her voice filled with panic and recklessness. Fumiko looked at Kaguya, confused and worried by her tone. "Whoa, whoa. Slow down, Kaguya. What's happening?" She said, trying to de-escalate her avatar's frantic attitude and grasp the current situation. Kaguya quickly realized how reckless her attitude was; she breathed deeply and calmed herself just enough to calmly tell Fumiko of the current situation.
"Revenant Spirits are roaming this entire town and tearing it apart, killing the innocent civilians within this town." Kaguya's tone was calmer than before, but still held remnants of her wanting to save the people of the town. Fumiko's eyes widened as she could hear the screams getting louder and louder, so much so that they reached the training room she was standing in right now. "What the hell is a revenant spirit, Kaguya!?"
"Their humans and animals that couldn't handle the power of revenant, and thus mutated into something twisted and void of all emotions." A strange thought struck her as Kaguya said it out loud. "But I still don't know how they all awakened their revenant."
Fumiko thought momentarily, trying to come up with a valid hypothesis for what was happening. "(It makes sense why their spreading due to the negative emotions from the death and destruction happening. But unless it was an outside force, we still don't have a valid assumption for this apocalypse.)"
Kaguya looked towards Fumiko, wondering if she could think of why this was happening. "So, do you have a clue for why this is happening, Fumiko?" She asked her, seeing if there was a cause and effect for what was happening to this innocent town. "I have one," Fumiko replied to Kaguya with a sense of confidence in her tone. "If someone had a strong enough influence with revenant, they could've been the root cause for this."
Kaguya's eyes widened in shock as she knew what this could mean. "I think I have an idea for why this has been happening, Fumiko." Her response was calm and collected, but Fumiko could tell Kaguya was hesitant about telling the reason. "Just spit it out, I'd rather not have something important as this kept from me, Kaguya." An ignorant response towards an avatar, but regardless, Kaguya knew she had to tell Fumiko. "Ever since Kodak arrived here, don't you think it's weird that this town has been changing ever since?"
Fumiko then thought for a few moments before trying to deny what Kaguya thought was the reasoning. "No, no, no, no. He can't be. Kodak would never create something with this amount of pointless bloodshed!" Kaguya shook her head, "I never said he directly caused it. He's been a high-level revenant user for about 2 months, and it's not out of character to say he was the cause of this. His heritage would do the same-"
[Moon Blades Activated!]
Fumiko drew the lunar energy she absorbed from before, creating ten blades around her: One in her hand-painted towards Kaguya, and the other nine circling slowly around her, ends of the blades aimed at her neck. "Shut the hell up, you have no idea what Kodak even is, do you!?" Fumiko's voice lashed out at Kaguya with anger and disbelief. "He's a kind and powerful individual who strives to help the weak and crush the wrongfully strong. One that would fight off a hundred people just to save one person, even if they didn't matter!" Fumiko's voice cracked as tears ran down her face; the words she spoke were an important memory in Seoul, Korea. One where he protected Fumiko from a hundred martial artists trying to challenge her. But Kodak took on that burden and fought off the group and won with multiple injuries.
Fumiko's moon blades then edged closer towards Kaguya's neck. "Fine, then. Don't believe me, but when he faces true despair from this town's blood-stained streets, just don't come crying to me." Fumiko deactivated her moon blades and walked upstairs toward Charlotte and Akari. She looked around the house, finding them watching the news about the chaos echoing through the town. "Akari, Charlotte. We need to go and find the others."
But before Fumiko could get them out of the house, she heard a notification from the system.
[Revenant Radar detected four individuals!]
[A new revenant user has awakened 2 feet from you!]
[3 Revenant Spirits are 20 feet away from you!]
Fumiko looked around for the new revenant user that the system had notified her about, before quickly looking at Akari, her body flowing with revenant. "Looks like you got your wish."
A notification then popped up from Akari's perspective, from the system. "Whoa, it's like a video game!"
[System has awakened!]
[Welcome, Akari Yuka!]
Title: Beginner Revenant User
Strength: 100
Speed: 100
Revenant Output: 120
Revenant Efficiency: 100
Revenant Pool:100
Rank: Low D-Rank
Skills: None
Innate Technique: Locked
Akari's eyes looked down the list, looking at her stats, before coming across her skills and innate techniques. "Hey, why is it so low!?"
But before her questions could be answered, multiple revenant spirits crashed through the window, looking like deformed versions of the family across the street. Broken glass then scatters across the living room. Fumiko then conjures ten glistening moon blades, six of them surrounding her, while the other four blades protect Akari and Charlotte. A notification then rang from the system, alerting Fumiko and Akari.
[3 B-Rank Revenant Spirits detected!]
Akari rushed towards the door, holding Charlotte in her arms. A burst of energy surges through her body as she runs through the living room. The revenant spirits then turned their attention to her, rushing Akari down like a pack of wild dogs. The first one attempted to tackle her, but she just evaded by jumping over the beast, delivering a kick straight to the jaw of the creature. Blood leaks from the mouth of the revenant spirit, even catching Fumiko a bit off guard from what transpired. "(Looks like she isn't as weak as I thought.)" She smiled as the moon blades from Akari's side sliced through the revenant spirit that had just attacked her, killing it instantly.
A message from the system then appeared in Akari's eyes.
[Skill: Evasive Counter Unlocked!]
Akari smirked at the message, but her confidence was interrupted by Fumiko's shouting. "Are you deaf? Get my sister out of here!" Akari rushed towards the door as the other revenant spirits were held off by Fumiko. Revenant coursed through Akari's body as she kicked the front door, destroying it completely and leaving only splinters of the door on the ground. "(HOLY SHIT!?)"
Akari's face flexed with astonishment as she ran through the neighborhood, leaving Fumiko some new playthings. Fumiko's face glared with anger towards the revenant spirits, piercing into their ugly eyes. She then lifted her right arm, summoning the moon blades all back to her, even the ones with Akari. The blades spin around at blinding speeds, forming one blade. Fumiko smirked as a katana with a moon symbol along the blade was visible, showing off the power she had adapted to.
[Skill: Moon Blades Leveled Up!]
[Moon Blades LVL0 --> LVL 1]
Fumiko planted her feet, dashing at the revenant spirits at an immense speed. The moon blade slices through the flesh of the monsters, killing them with minimal effort and strain. Fumiko then released her grip from the blade, dropping it as it disappeared into thin air.
She then stepped outside, looking for her sister and Akari, no signs were anywhere as panic ensued within her mind. "Dammit! Where are you Akari!" Fumiko then soars into the sky, looking for any type of signature for Akari's energy. Fumiko then feels a surge of lunar energy bursting within her body as the peaceful glow of the moon shines upon her face.
She looks into the sky for a moment and sees the beautiful illumination of the moon, filling her body with even more lunar energy.
[Lunar Energy is 100 Percent Charged!]
Fumiko's eyes then glowed a mix of white and purple, but before she could do anything, a scream echoed through the dark streets of the town, a scream that she knew all too well. "AKARI!" Fumiko flies down in the direction of the screaming, soaring through the sky until she scans the town from above with revenant radar. But the mixture of Kodak's shockwave of revenant gave her no chance of even sensing a specific energy source until it got too close; you could even say the same about the energy signatures of the revenant spirits roaming the streets. The despair-filled aura they had made it hard for even revenant-based sensing techniques to be effective.
Fumiko then looked over towards a burning fast-food diner, flying towards it. "(Please don't be here Akari!)" Fumiko flew into the burning diner, sensing multiple revenant spirits within the building.
[5 C-Rank Revenant Spirits Detected!]
Fumiko then felt a twisted presence by her as she walked through the burning diner. "You better all come at me, it's easier on me."
The revenant spirits gritted their fangs in anger as they leaped at Fumiko with their jaws wide open.
[Skill: Moon Blades Activated!]
[Skill: Lunar Aura Activated!]
A light glow of purple aura surrounded Fumiko, and a burst of energy filled her body as the flames were reduced by the mere presence of her newfound aura technique. Fumiko stood there for a few seconds, shocked. She never really had a use for aura-based techniques because of her swift and precise movements with her moon blades.
The fangs snapped at Fumiko, latching onto her arm. But to her surprise, the beast couldn't even pierce through her aura. It even made her smirk a little bit as she punched the creature directly in the jaw, knocking its head clean off. Blood sprays from its neck as it drops dead.
Fumiko looked at the attack her fist did and then at her hand. "Jeez, no wonder Kodak uses aura-based techniques." She then thought about what else she could do with her aura and how to utilize it more efficiently in battle. "(Aura seems to be the main fighting power, both in terms of power and variety. But I wonder if you could make constructs out of this, similar to the way I use my moon blades.)"
Fumiko crosses her arms, thinking deeply while counterattacking the incoming revenant spirits with minimal effort. "Just let me think, you barbaric bastards!" Fumiko throws a swift kick straight to the creature's head, killing them instantly. "(Wait, they die if they suffer too much head trauma? It doesn't make sense, most B-Rank revenant spirits need their head to be slashed off or run out of revenant to die. That must mean the strength of a revenant spirit also determines how weak or strong of an attack you need to throw at them.)"
Kaguya then appears in front of Fumiko, flying around the diner to look for any survivors or friends Fumiko would know. A loud crash then echoed through the restaurant as Kaguya looked into the kitchen of the diner. A revenant spirit's body goes flying past her head, as Kaguya sees Kyoka, one of Fumiko's friends, fighting off revenant spirits with her bare hands. "GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER YOU BASTARDS!" Kyoka let out another yell of separation towards the beast as her hands were stained with the blood of the creature.
Fumiko heard a distant yelling in the large diner as she heard Kaguya's voice in her head. "(Hurry, Fumiko! Kyoka is fighting off multiple revenant spirits by herself, but she doesn't even have revenant!?)" Fumiko was puzzled by this statement from Kaguya. How could someone with no revenant fight off the C-Rank revenant beasts that dwelled within this diner?
She ran through the diner, turning a corner and seeing a battered and blood-stained Kyoka breathing heavily. With her accompanied by multiple dead bodies of revenant spirits.
[8 B-Rank and C-Rank Revenant Spirits Detected!]
Fumiko looked along the floor and the walls, seeing blood splattered everywhere across the room. Kyoka's eyes were closed as she clung tightly to her sister, before seeing a figure, but she was unable to make out the image due to the blurry vision she had. So Kyoka did the only thing she had ever done since this apocalypse started: she fought tooth and nail, every fiber of her being screaming at her to kill whoever this person was.
Fumiko looked at Kyoka, holding out a hand to help, but to her surprise, Kyoka was emanating a vigorous amount of bloodlust in her direction. "(Killing intent!?)" Fumiko looked around the room, trying to find out who was emanating this high level of killing intent, before realizing it was Kyoka emitting it.
Fumiko was thrown out of the diner and crashed through an abandoned building. She held her head in pain before she felt the same killing intent. She saw Kyoka leaping at her with a loud roaring echoing throughout the building. "STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Fumiko pleaded with her friend. "Stop, Kyoka! It's me, Fumiko Haruka. You know who I am! The pathetic loner who you brought out of the dark, so don't let that darkness consume you!" Kyoka stopped short as her vision began to clear up a bit, and she muttered a single word. "F-Fumiko?" Her tone was weak and brittle, but Fumiko saw she was getting to her. "Yes! It's me, Fumiko."
Kyoka then muttered a few more words, saying. "You are not Fumiko. You're just trying to trick me and kill my dear sister." Fumiko looked at her with a despair-filled face. "N-n-no, don't succumb to it!"
Kyoka then sped across the floor, punching Fumiko with blood leaking from her nose. As she flew through the air from the attack, Fumiko thought to herself. "(Why is she attacking me with no reasoning!? And why do I feel so negative towards her!?)" Kaguya then spoke through Fumiko's mind. "(You're feeling the effect of Mania and Agony coursing through the air. Mania is another negative source of power similar to revenant, but more twisted and uncontrollable due to how sensitive it is to negative emotions. Control your emotions and remember who you are, and subdue Kyoka without killing her.)"
Fumiko smirked and then sensed the incoming attack from Kyoka, grabbing her by the face and slamming her into the ground, as the entire building collapsed on them both. Fumiko was the first to emerge from the rubble as she saw Kyoka's body within the debris, unconscious. "Looks like you went down peacefully." She then grabbed Kyoka's body from the rubble as she saw her friend's sister, Akemi, yelling for her. "FUMIKO, HELP!"
Multiple revenant spirits burst from the ground beneath Akemi as Fumiko rushes towards her, hoping to make it in time. Her hair blows wildly through the air as she hopes to make it in time as the creatures etched closer and closer toward the defenseless girl. Fumiko screamed out as she tried to force her body to go even faster, not wanting another friend of hers to lose their sibling. "STAY AWAY FROM HER!" The creatures lunged towards Akemi as she closed her eyes, trying to hide from the savage beasts.
"NOOOOOO" Fumiko yelled with every kind of noise she could muster as the revenant spirits etched onto the girl. Fumiko then conjured multiple blades, wanting to hit them dead on, but she knew it was hopeless. Akemi was in the way of most of her trajectory. She could only hope a savior would save them.
The creatures tore at Akemi's flesh as she screamed out for help, cries buried by the sounds of flesh being torn from her body. Fumiko screamed out into the dark sky once more, hoping for someone to help.
"SOMEONE HELP ME!" But it was no use as she slowly descended and saw the flesh of the younger sister torn as she heard nothing but, "H-h-help... m-m-me...Fumiko." She dropped to her knees as she held Kyoka close, her body then froze from the sight of the dead Akemi Fujimoto. She muttered as she saw the revenant spirits rushing at her. "Just... Kill... Me" The dark and empty tone spoke out as Fumiko's eyes closed.
But as the creatures rushed at her, happily ready for their next meal. A voice echoed through the street, a voice that brought Fumiko a sense of surprise and safety. "Don't give up, Fumiko. You might have lost someone, but you keep moving forward for their sake and get the revenge you want and deserve. So fight Fumiko, FIGHT!" She opened her eyes and saw Kaguya in her astral form speaking to her. "Well, what are you waiting for? Show them what they must pay for!" Fumiko then saw the notification from the system.
[1st Lunar Formation unlocked!]
Fumiko summoned the moon blades that she wanted to use previously, telling herself that she would never be hesitant again. The blades then swirl around each other as another message from the system popped up.
[Skill: Blade of the Moonlight Horizon Activated!]
The blades come together, creating a greatsword rather than a katana. The blade was heavier and harder to wield, but Fumiko knew this and didn't care as she swung the blade, creating a gust of wind imbued with a bit of her lunar energy, amplifying the blast of energy being shot out of the blade.
[1st Formation: Twin Striking Moonslasher Activated Strongly!]
Fumiko's greatsword cuts through the revenant spirit close to her, slashing it into little bits of flesh left from the attack. But as the attack from the sword swung, a burst of energy extended from the blade. This skill Fumiko had acquired could attack with the force of two slashing attacks, one from the blade of the greatsword and an invisible energy slash that discharged lunar energy from her after the blade swung down.
Kaguya smirked at Fumiko as she tore through the enemies in front of her. The power, speed, and efficiency were unlike anything she had ever seen. It was like she was watching a master swordswoman perfecting their craft during the midst of battle. Fumiko then screamed in anger at the revenant spirits as she sliced the beast with her greatsword.