Fighting Ryker

"You...wretched dog! How dare you harm my body?!" shouted Ryker. The wound on his leg was big. It only remained connected due to his quick usage of aura to limit the damage. But there was damage now.

Ryker was mad. His face was contorted. His calm composure gone now.

"You...you'll pay for this!" shouted Ryker as he brandished his sword. The wave of the sharp edge came close to me chest. Unlike before, Ryker was not playing around. He was swinging with the intent to kill. But now that I had a grasp of his ability, I also could do the same.

His ability was actually quite simple. The blade was fake. Rather, the location of the blade was shifted a bit. It was why his attacks went through my sword and cut me. I was trying to block a blade that did not exist. However, the position of the real blade was surprisingly easy to know.

I dodged and dodged. I made sure none of the attacks hit me. Although Ryker's speed had increased in his anger, it seemed as though he also became less varied in his swordsmanship. As a vice-captain, he would have learnt the Soaring Cloud Technique's sword part. But I could not see a hint of him applying the style to his sword. He was just using power and speed to try and overpower me which would not work as I was only becoming stronger as the battle went on.

His sword became too easy to read. His strikes became useless. I easily started counterattacking him. A few parries at first, then I delivered him some blows. And finally, I directly cut off his sword holding hand.

Ryker screamed as blood gushed out of his hand like a fountain. He tumbled to the ground and let out an excruciating howl. I put my sword to his neck and he started begging for mercy. But my head would not listen. The sword demanded his death, and so did I. For a moment, morals flashed in my head. Did I really have to kill him? But before the thought even finished, the cursed sword was already through his neck.

The battle was won.

As the powers of the cursed black blade withdrew, the red tint of the world disappeared along with it and I returned to my senses. Pain. So much pain. Every corner of my body was hit with immense amounts of pain. It was accompanied by magnitudes of heat. I wanted to jump into a pool of icy water. As the aching pain took over, I fell to the ground. My vision blurred and I felt intense throbbing in my chest.

I don't know how long I was out, but I woke up with pain all over my body. The ground wet with my blood and sweat. My mouth was dry. The pain seemed to have lessened. I could crawl on the ground, but I forced myself to stand. It was very difficult, but I felt someone help me rise. I looked over and saw the kid from before.

"A-are you okay?" the boy asked nervously. I could still see the slap mark on his face, so I must not have been out for very long.

"I'm feeling fine..." I trailed off. For I realized that I should not be fine. In fact, I should be dead from all that blood loss. I looked at my arms, and was shocked to find the sword cuts were now just small wounds. They were practically healed. Was this also a power of the cursed sword? It held so many abilities. It was so mysterious, but also dangerous. It demanded blood in exchange for granting power.

"Sir?" the boy called out to me. He had a confused look on his face.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" I asked the boy.

"I...I'm alright, sir," the boy said on the verge of crying.

I looked around the place. It was still dark, but my vision had become accustomed to it, so now I could see better. It really was an underground open space. And a huge one at that. I walked around to the wall of the space, and there I saw the cells. Rooms built into the wall like cages. Inside, there were quite a few children. I counted fifteen at least. Some of the kids were far worse than others. They were starved and thirsty. I broke open the locks on the cells and asked the kids to come out, but none of them moved an inch.

"Listen, kid," I turned to the kid who I had rescued before. The kid turned to look at me, I could see he was terrified looking at the conditions the other kids were in. "I want you to go find someone."

"Find someone?" the kid said.

"Not just anyone. I want you to find someone with the color blue on their armor. As many as you can. They should be wearing armor and have a sword. Lead them here. Don't worry, they won't harm you," I told him. The kid was confused. But I told him it was an extremely important mission that could save the other children's lives and he set his mind on helping me. I guided the kid out of the room, through the dark alleyway and onto the street where he started running towards the main street.

I returned inside the facility, I observed the children. They were beaten and malnourished. Some had been there for quite some time. There was a door hidden in the dark corner of the space. I tried to open it, but it was shut.

There must be a secret lever or something that unlocks it. I searched around the door for a button or something, but found nothing.

"The tile next to your left hand, mister," suddenly, a kid spoke up. The other kids quickly covered her mouth, fearing that they will be hit because of her.

"Thanks," I said as I pushed onto the block, it popped back out and the door was unlocked. "Someone trustworthy will be here to save you, kids. Don't mention me, ok?" I told them. The kids looked at me with doubt but nodded anyways. I headed into the room. Inside, there were records and a lot of items stashed away.

I spotted some drugs, probably also illegal import. Alcohol and fake money was lying around. And...monster parts? Why would they keep monster parts in here? I did not pay attention to any of these items, for only the their ledgers recording their activities. Thankfully, they had a book of all their past deals. Reading through it made me angry. These people were incredibly sick. Their operation had already been running for a few years. I was tempted to go after the buyers myself, but I had my own goal. I could not afford more distractions. Besides, a much more capable person would be coming here to handle it herself. I left the ledger out in an obvious spot. It would be the first thing she sees when entering. I took one more glance at the monster parts. Something about them felt off, but it was just a feeling.

Monster parts by themselves weren't weird. I walked out the secret room and met with the kids. They were still inside their cells, not taking even a single step out in fear. At this point, I heard some noise from the side of the room. Another secret passage opened up and some burly and scrawny looking men walked in.

"I smell blood, bro. Hey, is that Rilker?" a man shouted from the group after spotting. I sighed and stepped forward. So, the vice-captain was actually name Rikler?

In total, 6 people died in that room. I left the room in a hurry through the way I came. I reached the street quickly and kept an eye out for people. A while later, a group of people showed up following the boy from before. The group were armored and appeared to be well trained. At the front was a woman. She had a blue cape that matched strangely well with her blue hair. She looked like a knight.

"You'll handle it thoroughly, I'm sure," I said to myself. And suddenly, the woman's gaze turned towards my location and I hurriedly ducked. She didn't spot me, did she? She still had her keen senses.

I looked back after a moment and they were gone. A couple soldiers had been positioned at the entrance. I left things to them and headed out.