Value of Life - Hero's Lies Arc

“Oh? It’s the God of Light himself, Tsuyoshi Kage, joining the battle! I wonder how this will turn out, everyone!” Alexander announced to the crowd, who were beginning to get even more excited by the second. Kuro-Yami, still residing in Hiroshi’s head, sighed. He hated when Kage was called that, because it simply wasn’t true.

All of the drones aimed their cameras at Kage, Tomokazu and Schulz’s position. Bibi rushed over, a panicked look on her face.

“Oh, my goodness, Tomo! Are you alright love?!” she pulled him in close for a hug. “I thought I had lost you!”

“We haven’t even gone on a date yet and you’re calling me love?” Tomokazu laughed, before coughing in pain. “A little fast, don’t you think?”

“No. I dictate that, and I think it’s fine, love,” she smirked at him. “I’m being serious though! You almost died! You have any idea how upset I would have been?!”

“You would?”

“Yes! Me, Wisteria, and even Hiroshi!” she pointed at Hiroshi, who jokingly made a ‘movie cut’ charade with his hand. “If there is a fight you can’t win, there is no shame in retreating! I would rather that than you be dead, you idiot!”

“And that is lesson number one. Value what you have, and what you bring to the table, because you are great the way you are,” Kage told Tomokazu.

In that moment, Tomokazu realised how much his friends valued and cared for him. He returned Bibi’s hug, who blushed a deep shade of red. For the first time in Tomokazu’s life, he felt love. Not just romantically, but platonically too. It was such a nice feeling to him, that he regretted not feeling anything sooner. Kage smiled at the interaction, then faced Schulz.

“You almost killed one of my students. I hope you know that I don’t take things like this lightly.”

“Ah, I know all too well, Kage,” Schulz laughed, cracking his neck from side to side. “Let’s get this over with, shall we, deserter?”

“For the last time, I retired!” Kage yelled. He took flight immediately, aiming his fist towards Schulz’s heart. Schulz blocked with his arms crossed, but was still flung higher into the air. The drones followed, dashing effortlessly through the sky. Kage followed up his punch with another, hitting Schulz harder into the atmosphere. Schulz laughed maniacally as he charged downwards, using the air as leverage. Both men went for another quick punch, their fists connecting, the shockwave being felt by the whole world. Kage flew into the ground with a loud crash, debris flying everywhere.

Within the next second, Schulz was already behind Kage, attempting to punch a hole through his back. Kage stepped off to the side, sensing his presence. Kage reached out a foot, kicking out and hitting Schulz’s hip. Schulz groaned in pain, but stood his ground, jumping into the air and spinning into a kick of his own. Kage ducked low, but Schulz’s foot managed to take off a few strands of hair from his head.

He launched forward, punching the hero in the stomach. Schulz flew back, but not very far. Kage was so fast, he almost teleported behind his flailing body, hitting it back into the opposite direction. He did this once, in quick succession. Schulz’s head was getting sore, as his body couldn’t handle the G’s of force Kage was putting on him. At Kage’s third time of trying, Schulz used his Money Magic to summon a huge pile of paper money between himself and his opponent, cushioning his fall. Kage rolled his eyes, then took to the sky vertically, before dive bombing towards Schulz. Schulz dodged, expecting Kage to be weak or disorientated from hitting the ground headfirst. However, Kage was not even the slightest bit letting up. He attacked with a quick flurry of attacks and blocks, and Schulz did the same, the two exchanging blows so fast, the naked eye couldn’t keep up, never mind the drones.

Kage had also mastered the art of fighting at the speed of light.

Almost abruptly, however, Schulz found an opening and formed a sword of pure gold while still fending off Kage. He lifted the sword up in a swift motion, taking off Kage’s left arm near the shoulder socket. The four students yelped out in terror as the arm hit a chunk of concrete, blood pouring out.

“Ahh! Kage! No!” Bibi gasped out, as Wisteria covered her mouth with her hand. Hiroshi looked on, dumbfounded. An attack like that seemed fatal, especially with the amount of blood loss that Kage was about to endure the pain of.

The two stopped fighting for a moment. Kage looked down at where his arm used to be.

And laughed.

“A sneaky attack, I must admit! I suppose I have gotten rusty! You’re making me look bad in front of my students!”

In the blink of an eye, Schulz gasped as he felt his own arm, his left to be exact, be thorn off his body with a clean slice. Kage brandished a pure steel katana, one of which was so polished, it reflected off the sun gracefully. The tsubu resembled a horse’s head, and it was made of pure gold. Schulz kneeled and grasped his arm in pain, then looked up at Kage, rage burning in his eyes.

“Dammit, you slick mink,” he thought to himself. “I forgot about his magic.”

“Your Teleportation Magic always was a bastard to deal with. Teleporting that sword to my arm was a nasty trick,” Schulz scowled. “Looks like we can both go all out now, right?”

“Of course! Let’s give the people a show!” Kage smiled. “Watch this, my fellow students. Here is lesson number two!”

Kage and Schulz stood there for but a moment, looking at one another. Just as the situation began to get awkward, in almost an instant, their arms regenerated back as if they had never been cut off at all, minus the clothing. The students gasped in amazement, except for Hiroshi, who had to cover his mouth to stop himself from gagging. If only that were in his world, it would help a lot of people.

“If you have a high manna concentration like me and Schulz here, you can simply reject damage entirely or regenerate a lost limb. It takes a bit of practice, however, which is why I’ll be teaching you that over the next six months,” Kage told his students, before focusing on his foe once more. “Go on, Schulz, don’t hold back. I want to look really cool in front of my students.”

“Urgh, fine, let’s up the tempo!” Schulz sighed, before looking at Kage, aiming his new arm and clutching his fist, aiming it into his right, open palm.

“Crap! I can feel it’s power! It’s at least a Grade Three!” Tomokazu gasped, but despite that, Kage seemed unphased and allowed his foe to continue his attack.

“Carte Blanche – Gambler’s Den!” Schulz cried out.

*QUESTION TIME!!!*

"What is your favourite time of year, and why?"

Hiroshi says - "Defintely winter. It's cold, and I'm not a big fan of the heat. I think Kuro-Yami likes it too, because it's the darkest time of the year."

Wisteria says - "Spring! Because it's the beginning of when flowers and cherry blossom's start blooming and it's so pretty! Also, when the blizzard comes once a year, it's so cool! I'm going to challenge Hiroshi to a snowball fight!"

Tomokazu says - "Summer. I get to go outside a lot more and train harder. I also find dates easier to go on...well...I haven't been on one, yet, but I suppose it would be easier."

Bibi says - "Autumn totally! The orange leaves remind me of my explosions, and just get me fired up!"