The air was now heavier, heat rippling off the spirit's fists.
Flames wrapped around the spirit's forearms as it locked onto Takami and lunged. He slipped sideways, letting the first rush past.
Across the room the healer knelt among the wounded, palms spread, their bodies bathed in a faint green glow while wounds knitted shut. Kiya blinked away dizziness, seeing the spirit bear down on Takami she tried to shout but pain speared through her chest. When her gazed back, he was already crouched beneath the sweeping blow, movement smooth and unhurried. That isn't a Low-Grant Rank-3, she realized, pulse spiking.
Propped against a wall, Wazahi pressed a hand to his cracked ribs, eyes wide. "Is he reawakened? Was he using grant control? Either way, I seriously misjudged him."
A wet cough cut the thought short. The healer's eyes rolled as blood sprayed from his lips, he collapsed, grant reserves dry. The uninjured mage scrambled to catch him while the others, at least stable now, labored to sit up.
Takami and the rager were all that moved.
With a roar, the spirit ignited a burst beneath its feet, rocketing forward. A fist toward Takami's face. The heat alone scorched the air.
Takami raised an arm in guard and there was a flash, a burst of flame. Then nothing.
For one breathless second the team thought he'd been incinerated. But behind the spirit, Takami straightened, right sleeve burnt to be called a rag now.
"H-how did he?" Wazahi whispered.
Takami's eyes narrowed at the burn. "This was my last long-sleeved shirt," he muttered and his aura swelled, pale yellow thickening.
'Shadow blade' flickered into his grasp.
The spirit whirled. Both leapt at once, flaming fist driving in, steel arcing to meet it. Takami caught the blow on the flat of his sword, sparks wheeling as metal met fire, and the real fight began.
Sparks scattered where Takami's blade slid across the spirit's burning forearm. 'Shadow blade' hissed in the heat, drinking in stray tongues of flame that licked across its edge.
Takami looked fascinated. "Is this an upgrade from the system or one of it's abilities?" He thought.
The spirit pulled back, lips peeling into a snarl of pure rage. It pivoted and tried to sweep Takami's legs. He jumped, barely a blur. In mid-spin he used the momentum to whip the blade downward; a crescent slash carved the floor.
The spirit landed on the far side, skidding, fire roaring around both fists now. A muffled boom rumbled through the dorm as its aura expanded, oppressive, suffocating.
Takami set his stance, one foot sliding back, sword held low. Focused.
The spirit blitzed forward, leaving molten footprints that sizzled. It threw a straight punch aimed at Takami's temple, a second reversing into an elbow. He wove through the blows by inches, each dodge shortening his world to heat and scent of scorched air.
On the third swing he stepped inside the spirit's guard. His free hand darted out, fingers clawing for the spirit's wrist. Got it. He twisted, an Aikido lock re-purposed for inhuman muscle and slammed the wrist against the wall. His hand burnt. The spirit howled and jerked away, but not before Takami raked his shadow blade across its side.
The spirit screeched.
Across the side, Kiya pressed a palm to her cheek-bone, half-healed but still dazed. She watched. "He's keeping pace with an evolved rager that's definitely high-class 2… with one sword," she breathed. "Low Grant? Rank-3?"
Wazahi forced himself upright despite fractured ribs. "He's reading it. He seems to know much about them."
The spirit backed off three steps and exhaled fire, a tide that churned down the path Takami was standing. Takami's eyes narrowed. He slashed upward. A dark arc curved outward, cutting the inferno in half, flame parted around him like water around a stone, scorching the walls but leaving his body untouched.
Before the embers settled, he advanced. One heartbeat. Two. Sword flicking right-left-right. Each strike shaved a fraction off the spirit's aura, taking heat into the blade until his weapon glowed dull red at the core.
The spirit screeched, wings of fire coming out from its back, new limbs birthed by the evolution. They unfolded, skeletal frames coated in flames. With a single beat the spirit launched skyward, dragging Takami's focus upward.
Takami crouched,
⟨Drive Skill Active.⟩
Then he leapt. Air cannoned beneath his feet and he shot toward the spirit. Slightly above, he delivered a spinning kick sending it down as he followed.
The spirit struck first, downward stroke, blazing talon aimed to split Takami. Blade met claw.
BOOM.
A bolt sent them away. Takami slid back, skidding.
The spirit pressed, combos blurring into light. Takami countered each one, yet the force behind the blows kept mounting. Sparks whitened his field of view. A glancing hit finally slipped past, grazing his left shoulder, fabric and skin, pain hitting in, red hot.
Too direct, he mused, ignoring the burn. He pivoted outward and let the spirit's momentum carry it forward. At the last instant he slammed his palm into its spine, hurling the spirit face-first into a wall.
Takami inhaled through clenched teeth. His sword's edge had dulled, saturated with stolen flame. He flicked his wrist. The weapon absorbed the excess, returning to midnight black.
"So it absorbs exposed grant when in contact with it. Nice" Takami muttered.
The spirit regained it's stance, wings spreading to either side. Red vapour spiraled into a tight vortex above its head, condensing, crystallizing, forming a spear forged entirely of thick flame. It hurled the lance with a primal shriek.
Takami bent his knees, then disappeared. The spear punched through empty air.
He reappeared on the spirit's blind spot, 'shadow blade' going for a decisive thrust straight for the core pulsing beneath its ribs.
At the apex of his jab the creature twisted, not evading but feeding him its own counter. A talon flashed toward Takami's neck. He jerked the blade down to guard. The two forces collided, shockwaves sent them both crashing into walls.
When the debris plume settled, Takami stood, breathing hard but steady. The spirit staggered upright, flames flickering erratically, injured, yes, but far from defeated.
Kiya and Wazahi stood up limping, staring down. "Takami!" she called, voice hoarse.
He didn't answer. His focus was total, eyes locked on the enemy. Sweat beaded down his jaw, evaporating before it could fall.
The spirit spread its hands. Flames guttered, then brightened, turning into countless burning sigils that hovered in a widening circle. Spinning. They spun faster, forging a ring of wildfire.
Takami lifted his sword in a two-hand guard. If those explode at once, it will surely affect the others.
"One minute," he muttered under his breath. "End it before everyone else gets caught."
The spirit thrust both palms forward. The sigils shot out, each seeking Takami's heart. He burst forward, sword carving an arc of black light in front of him. Every rune that touched the lattice imploded, canceling itself in a pop of embers. But there were dozens.
Takami's muscles burned. But his focus was now on 'shadow blade', surprised. It takes in exposed grant energy and releases it in a powerful strike.
He ducked under one that he missed, dashing across, and came up knee-first into the spirit's abdomen. The blow lifted the creature. Before it could right itself, he spun, sword whistling through its thigh.
Yet even wounded, the spirit back-handed him with flaming knuckles. The hit cannoned him across the lobby into a stone pillar. Cracks made a spiderweb marking through concrete. He coughed, sucked in dusty air, wiped blood from his lip.
Takami forced a smirk. "Was that your trump card?" he taunted, voice raw.
The spirit responded with a screech, wings flaring anew, yet the flames guttered slightly, starved of power. It had spent a chunk of its reserve on the previous attack.
Opportunity.
'Shadow Blade' lay where he'd crashed earlier, its black edge buried in rubble.
No weapon. But he thought of how to use that to his advantage. The spirit, injured but furious now charged.
Takami exhaled once. He steadied his stance, right foot braced, left leg bent, arms loose and numb from the severe burns. Martial instinct flooding in. He waited, counting the spirit's thunderous strides.
Five meters.
Three.
One. Now.
He lunged forward, meeting the beast bare-fisted. Bare knuckles met ones with flames, skin open. He rotated his hips, redirecting the oncoming force in a tight arc, using its own momentum to sling it past. As it spun, he sent an elbow into the back of its skull.
The spirit stumbled but caught itself, turning around with a roundhouse kick. Takami raised his forearm, blocked, boots sliding. Impact numbed his bones.
Every contact scorched his flesh. He slipped under hooks, countered with knees, palms, joint-locks. The fight became brutal, close-quarters, too fast for the watching team to track.
At last the spirit feinted a jab, then stabbed its fingers at Takami's heart. Takami twisted, but not enough. It's claws pierced his side, punching through muscle, grazing his rib. Pain flooded in.
He trapped the wrist with both arms, locking it against his torso to keep the claws from ripping free. Blood pattered the shattered floor.
The spirit howled in triumph, flames intensifying to incinerate them both. Heat blistered Takami's skin.
⟨Use healing potion?⟩
⟨Yes⟩ | ⟨No⟩
The 'yes' option clicked itself. Takami's skin glowed as major injuries closed. All he had to do was think of using the healing potion for the option to appear.
⟨Note: Amount used - 3.⟩
Takami forced the spirit's arm deeper through his own wound, anchoring it. With his free hand he reached behind, 'shadow blade' disappearing in the debris. The sword reformed in his grip just as he pivoted, drawing spirit off balance.
He raised the blade for a final thrust.
A black streak followed. The spirit's head falling off. It's body starting to disintegrated. The arm inside him slowly vanishing.
⟨Extraction Complete…⟩
⟨Extraction Complete…⟩
⟨New Stat Available - Magic resistance +20⟩
⟨Final Stats Increased⟩
| Durability +30
| Strength +10
| Agility +9
| Intelligence +10.⟩
He exhaled and materialized a healing potion. One, then another. Three more bottles went down, closing his injuries from outside and inside.
Across the fractured floor, Wazahi's jaw tightened. "Where is he pulling those from?" he wondered. "The sword, the potions. Everything." His gaze flicked past Takami and froze.
"Takami!" Kiya's voice came loud. "Behind you!"
Takami glanced over his shoulder. A second emotion-bound spirit. Also a rager like the first. He didn't flinch. Instead, he activated Astral Forge. The loose grant still swirling from the slain rager gathered in his palm, taking shape; a sleek dagger, obsidian-black with molten-red edges etched in flame design s.
⟨Flame Eater | Class C+ | Attack + 50 | Nullifies flame-based attacks⟩
Takami's mouth curled into a thin smile. 'Shadow blade' in one hand, Flame Eater glinting in the other, he faced the charging spirit.
Kiya could only whisper, half awed, half terrified, "Just…who is this guy?"