Training #5

Rmmmmmm…….

Kaiser gripped his sword tighter than he would’ve liked to admit, but despite his experience on battlefields and fighting or subjugating monsters, he didn’t expect to feel the thumping of his heart.

Thud-Thud-Thud!

“How long has it been?” He thought, breathing sharply as he watched the sand hills slowly grow bigger. “How long has it been since I’ve felt this anxious…”

Rmmmmmm…….

The blonde adult looked over to his left, noting how Akiro watched the dangerous scene with a surprising amount of indifference. He couldn’t help but feel assured, “I hope you know what you’re doing.” He mumbled under his breath.

Rmmmmmm……..

“Hold!” He yelled, “At the ready!” Akiro watched the monster quickly slither closer, and he raised his right fist in a signal. At the second phase, the frontmost spearmen stepped aside, allowing the mages stationed behind them to step forward.

Rmmmm…….

Their gray and green uniforms made a distinct line behind the Chief Knight, who was wearing white and gold; the Hero that looked like him, and the other Hero wearing black. At the back of the line, there was another mage, but instead, she wore red and gold instead of gray and green.

Rmmmm…….

“The moment it gets in the range—” Akiro breathed slowly, letting the air out slowly of his mouth, and he closed his eyes, steadying his mind. The world became quiet, a black, blank space, with lifeforms being highlighted in white. “Here it comes!”

Rmmmm…….

When the monster came within the radius of Akiro’s passive skill, he opened his mouth and eyes, a large gulp of air entering his lungs— before he bellowed a loud command. “Now!”

Boom!

The monster was about two dozen meters from their position, the sand being displaced above it coming closer like crashing waves, exploding behind it; but the frontline knew their task.

Their loyalty to the cause allowed them to follow obediently as they clasped their hands together, the matching bracelets of each of their wrists clicking. In practiced unison, the mages opened their mouths to chant a short spell.

“Combined Earth-Spell—” The frontline roared, releasing their hands and slamming the earth with them— the magic they had incurred reacting to their will. “[ Great Earth Wall: Barricade ]!”

“Frontline! Disperse to the sides!” Akiro bellowed again. watched the sand, the topmost layer of it being blown away by sand, to reveal a thick line of earth embedded within the ground. “Almost! Almost!”

He looked five meters behind the summoned line, the ends thereof were two thick lines of metal chains then lead over above and over the wall.

Akiro then looked at the fire mage at the back, who was holding a fireball in between his hands, and Akiro extended his hand in a motion to hold the attack.

The men had obeyed the order, and they dispersed in two groups, one heading to the left, and the other to the right. The only ones that remained in the center were Akiro, Ayama, Kaiser, and the fire mage.

“Is it gone?” A soldier whispered, but as he said that, the sand in front of the line exploded in a great torrent of flying sand. In the center of the vortex of flying debris, was the giant sandworm, rising in the air.

Booooooom!

Akiro turned to the mage, “Shoot the flare!” He commanded, and the mage did so, the ball of flames soaring through the air. Akiro then spun around to Kaiser and Ayama.“Scatter!”

“Nice! It was a success!” Akiro cheered silently, “According to the documents, Sandworms are blind but are incredibly sensitive to light– so it begged the question? How could they see?”

The four scattered in two groups, Kaiser running with Akiro and Ayama carrying the lady mage in his arms as she otherwise would have been caught in the impending crash. Akiro held his breath as the monster kept rising. “Simple– They see through sound! and if their echolocation cannot spot a sudden ramp– They’d coil straight to it!”

Olivia spotted the rising signal and immediately clasped her hand together like the mages at the frontline, fire, and earth magic swirling around her hands respectively. “Advanced Combination Magic—”

The sandworm soared, extending about six segments in the air like it was reaching for the soldiers stationed atop the wall at an angled vertical; but due to the weight of the monster, it came down with a mighty crash.

Booooooom!

“Good!” Akiro cheered in his mind, unveiling the large weapon covered by cloth in his hand. He looked at the stunned monster, who was immobalized by the impact of its own body; and he looked up to the top of the great walls, eyeing the floating structure. If Akiro were to describe it simply, it was shaped like a staple from a staple gun. “Next– Sandworms lack the ability to back-peddal instantenously as they evolved to continously move forward!”

Olivia gasped for air, the toll the magic was starting to wear on her body, but she refused to not finish the spell. “—[Metal Magic: Great Sealing Bracket]!

Two incredibly long, sharp prongs on either side are connected by a centerpiece. It was made entirely of metal, and because of this, it came down with speed. Simultaneously when the flare was sent over the wall, the groups commanded at standby by Elias and managed by the other Heroes, were ready to act.

The chains buried underneath the sand, behind the buried earth wall, tensed, as thousands of people, composed of soldiers and volunteers began to pull together. Systems of winches, pulleys, and cranes had been built within the preparation period of this moment.

All at the same time, the large summoned bracket came down on the Sandworm, trapping its head perfectly; and the giant chains being pulled from the inside of the city tugged securely against the seventh segment of the worm– effectively immobilizing it with its weight.

“Not only that, but the length of a sandworm can also be it’s downfall for numerous reasons, either it be weight, speed or cost of food to survive.” At the monster’s state, Akiro sighed in relief, even as he grinned proudly. “So by using it’s lack of mobility, we used the worm’s hind weight and sealed head, for a flawless trap.”

“Sensei!” Akiro called, “I’ll proceed with the next phase, I’ll relinquish command to you just as planned!”

Kaiser grinned in amazement. “Akiro forced the sandworm out of the ground with a surprise-summoned wall, angled perfectly so that the worm would be launched out of the ground when it couldn’t dodge! and sealed it in place using well-placed magic spells, gravity, and its weight!” He thought, explaining it in his mind correctly, but he still couldn’t believe it. “And not without a single casualty!”

Akiro indeed did not lie, as he approached Kaiser after the strategy meeting. “‘I promise that I will minimize the casualties!’--Akrio said,” Kaiser remembered. “You did.”

As he whipped the smile from his face and adorned his helmet, Kaiser turned to the soldiers. “Don’t just stand there! Proceed with the plan!” He barked, the men already scampering for the supplies they had kept aside earlier.

Akiro jumped onto the thick-mineral-based carapace of the sandworm, using his sickle-daggers to do so; and atop the third segment from the Sandworm’s mouth, he met there with Ayama.

“The plan is going well!” Ayama beamed through his helmet.

Akiro smiled through his hood and mask. “Don’t jinx us by celebrating too early! We still have a job to do!”

Ayama took the mithril katana strapped to Akiro’s back, from the sheath he had commissioned, and marked the center of the segment with an 'x’ in two smooth movements. While Ayama was carving out the marker, Akiro unraveled the package he had been carrying and the assassin threw away the cloth covering to reveal a scythe.

The staff was long, just a little bit short of Akiro’s height, and the crescent blade was angled slightly outward so that the tip would be perpendicular to the shaft; but at the opposite end of the blade was a spiral-shaped– much like a spear.

[ Passive Skill: ‘Weapon Master’ is activating. ] [ ‘Spearmanship / A’ can be learned from this weapon. ]

[ Passive Skill: ‘Weapon Master’ is overwriting ‘Spearmanship / A ]

[ Passive Skill: ‘Weapon Master’ is activating. ] [ Lost Weapon-Art has been detected. ] [ [Congratulations! You are incredibly compatible!] [ ‘The Moonlight-Execution Style / S’ can be learned.] [ Do you wish to learn: ‘The Moonlight-Execution Style’?]

“Interesting– It’s S-grade too! But now is not the time for that. Yes, I will.” Akiro took two steps back, carefully aiming the blade’s apex at the center of the marker, before recoiling back and striking with all the attack power he could muster in one blow.

[ “‘The Moonlight-Execution Style’ Rank-S Skill’’ has been learned.] [Due to the lack of proficiency with the weapon, Only 1/8th of the style has been learned.]

[ ‘[Moonlight-Execution Style] Form 1: Waxing Crescent’ has been learned ]

“Whoa, I wasn’t expecting this.” Akiro’s eyes widened, as he looked at the prompt windows.

“Hurry up!” Ayama yelled, breaking Akiro out of his trance, “What are you waiting for?!”

When Akiro came to, Ayama had positioned the jars of poison onto the mark. Looking around a little more, he could see that chains and rope had been laid over the monster and the soldiers and mages were holding down the monster.

“S-Sorry, I was out of it–” Akiro explained, tensing his muscles once more. He sucked in a slow breath of air, focusing onto the mark; but Akiro felt something overcome him, or more accurately, appear behind him.

Da-Dun!

"Kill it... Kill it..." A deep, gravelly voice encouraging Akiro. "Use... my... power…”

The voice did not stop there, but time for Akiro did. He was conscious, and he was aware of it, but his body nor his mind was his to control at this moment. I have found it... after eons of searching... I have found an Avatar!"

Almost automatically, windows appeared in his view, but they were currupted. The clear-sky-blue window spasmed, the white letters glitching into another form; and it instead became black and silver. Either Way, Akiro opened his mouth to say the skill, but another thing came out instead.

“[ Moonlight-Execution Style ] First Form: Waxing Crescent.” [ Reaper’s Culling. ]

Ayama was about to pester his friend again, because for some reason he was hesitating; but when he was shivering, He looking at his friend, who momentarily seemed like a different person. His whole body froze, only for his eyes to look up and see an illusion, or was it a projection?

Large, black skeleton hands, darker than the night sky, gripped something that wasn't there. But only was it then that Ayama realized, it was not attacking-- it was guiding, guiding his friend's hands as if they were his own.

The blade descended and Akiro uttered the skill, and pure instinct made Ayama jump out of the way.

"[ Reaper's Culling ]" Akiro said, in a language Ayama didn’t recognise

In a blink of an eye, the scythe descended, not even touching the flesh; but whatever the large arms were holding, did. The Sandworm head was cleaved in two, despite the Scythe not connecting with the body; and the blood and juices splattered about.

Ayama gasped, almost tearing the helmet from his own head, and he heaved like he was out of breath. When the Hero looked up, cold beads of sweat came down from his forehead.

“Akiro! Akiro! what was that!?"

But he didn't answer, he just stood there frozen in place like a statue. Ayama reached out to grab his shoulder for a gentle shake, but as soon as his hand touched Akiro's shoulder, he fell forward.

"I got you!" Ayama huffed, holding his friend to his chest. "He's passed out on his feet." He sighed, obviously relieved, but when he looked at his friend once more, an old promise from a sweet lady rang in Ayama's head as he looked at Akiro.

The paleness and exhaustion of his attack reminded him of a distant time, a more sad time for both of them.

"Please... look after my boy... " She pleaded, tears running down her cheeks. she held Ayama's hands so gently as she was on her knees. "A...Akiro took... his death... quite hard."

"Yes ma'am! Aki' is my bestest of friends! so pwease stop crying! I promise to look after him!

The strange occurrence he had witnessed made Ayama pray a short prayer to the lady in question. “Ma'am, your son is quite something, that promise is going to be hard to keep."

“Uwwooohhh! The Hero did it!” Someone screamed loudly, sending a wave of cheers and whistles. The sound was painfully loud, even to Ayama, but Akiro still wouldn’t wake up. 

In his worry, Ayama couldn’t celebrate despite the astonishing status window that just popped up for him. “Healer! I need a Healer over here!” he called desperately.