Elegy: Lost Shadow

Kano, as well as Anemone and Walter, was heading south. This was following some intel from Anemone. They were walking through the water-soaked grass. Making their way through the forest. At the time, Anemone had the little boy on her back.

   "Are you sure it's wise to have him tag along? If all hell breaks loose, I highly doubt he can protect himself," Kano said as they were walking.

    "I am sure it will be fine. Besides, he is safer with us than if hidden anywhere in this forest. If he can't protect himself, we just have to fill in those shoes," she replied. Still, something about that bystier's behavior is still bothering me. Bystier's are simply animals that have gained magic. The magic they gain doesn't make them any less of animals. They will still operate on their normal instincts. But it was different, I have never really seen a bystier act on purpose. It seemed to have only had its sight on the boy and no one else.

  That isn't even the concerning part here. It's the rate at which his spiritual vibrations are vibrating. His vibrations are way faster than those of a normal person. I mean, out of everyone here, his are the fastest.

  In a way, they remind me of Calida's spiritual vibrations though not as fast. I mean, my first impression of her vibrations were that they were so calm that I could compare them to still water. But after seeing her for a while, I noticed that they were vibrating at a rate so fast that I thought they were still. Those kind of vibrations stand out because they are rare. So if the bystier isn't dealt with, it will probably continue the search. And since it's acting on purpose, I will even go ahead and assume someone is pulling the strings. I wonder what they want from him.

      "Miss…are you sure we are going the right way?" Walter asked as they were walking.

"oh, Walter, I am. This is definitely the way. There is no way I can mistake that thing's presence for anything else. Even though it is outside my Remnant Chaos' range, my ordinary sensory ability can still detect it. I just can't tell what it is doing. But I am pretty sure it isn't moving right now." I am starting to wonder why I am sensing two areas of intense magic. There is south, where the bystier is. But the magic located north is one I can't tell apart. The only thing I know is that it is really strong.

      "I see. So like, I have been wondering, why do you want to fight that bystier again. I mean, like earlier, it almost killed both you and that idiot," he said.

    "Calling me an idiot? Are you really that bothered by the fact that pointed out your stupidity? How about you try not being stupid next time buddy," Kano added.

     "I am starting to feel concerned now. Won't this hinder their fighting capabilities? Anyway, Walter! You were asking why I wanted to fight that thing again. The truth is, fighting that thing again would be stupid. It would crash the same way it did the first time. But I kind of gave my word to the same boy I am carrying. I said I would protect him. And killing that thing just seems to be the fastest way to do that. How about you, What's your reason?"

    Walter sighed before he replied, "That is because it survived my attack. This is a first for me. I can destroy almost anything and it just got back up."

     "I see. That's some commitment."

He then added, "What about the idiot?

"Huh," Kano looked towards them. "Hmmm…I.."

      She smiled before she interrupted, "No, that's fine. I don't think we need to know his reason." I am pretty sure that he is here because he is my partner. I am hoping that's why.

"Huh, I see," he whispered. I guess that's that. She probably didn't want to hear what I wanted to say. My reason must not be relevant then. She must really be enjoying herself. He slowed down, letting them walk in front of him.

      As he was watching them walking ahead of him, he suddenly felt a headache. Everything around him became blurry. He began feeling discomfort in his left arm, a strong pain around his elbow. He pulled up the sleeve of his hoodie only to notice that the blue stripe made of magic that was covering his arm had lengthened. It was covering his arm from his shoulder to his forearm, almost making its way to his wrist. He quickly covered his arm.

    His breathing became shallow as he began shivering. I don't know why but I am suddenly starting to feel cold. What the hell? He saw his surroundings disappear before a different venue appeared. A little boy was on his knees begging with tears falling down his face. His surroundings then returned to normal. His was in the forest walking with the others. Why am I remembering that now?

   Anemone's once brown eyes were dyed to green when she thought, What just happened? There was a sudden flux in Kano's vibrations. For a second there, it was a presence that I couldn't recognize. The black spot in his chest seems to have grown too.

   "Get out of the way!" she exclaimed as she jumped left. As she was jumping, her bracelets broke into pieces which transformed into blades. Walter jumped to his right as the silver glow of his eyes intensified.

   An arrow made of flames came flying past the trees directly at Kano as he had not moved out of the way. When he saw it, it was too late as it was already to close to him. It was a direct hit sending him flying into the trunk of a tree. Upon impact, the flames scattered. He fell from the trunk and straight to the ground.

   "Kano!" she shouted before she landed. Her feet slid against the ground. Darn it, I shouldn't have used fragmented scrutiny on him. It limited my sensory ability to only this area. But he is still alive, I am sure of it. His spiritual vibrations have only slightly weakened.

    He began coughing as she made it back to his knees. The sleeve on his left arm was completely burnt off exposing the blue stripe that was covering his arm. Thanks to this thing, I didn't get a hole put through me. That arrow was aimed directly at my chest. I guess this blue stripe must have boosted my defense even though it is only solidified aura. He continued hyperventilating as he opened his left hand. He then closed his eyes.

     "Walter! You are a lightning user right." She asked as she put the boy on the ground.

"What would be the reason behind that assumption?"

"I analyzed your spiritual vibrations earlier. You were also in the field of my fragmented scrutiny. As a lightning user, you obviously excel at destruction. Do you think you have an art that specializes in large-scale destruction," she asked.

     "I probably do. Building up the necessary charge to use it will require time though."

"Me and Kano will get behind that. One more thing, will you be moving around while charging up?"

   The sound of sparks could be heard around his hand before he replied, "No, I won't be moving around. But why is that relevant?"

"That's perfect then," she smiled before she told the boy, "I need you to be as close to him as possible, he will be watching you. Also, do you still have the piece of my bracelet that I gave you?"

    "umm..I still do, here it is," he said as he held out his right hand. It was on his palm. She placed her hand on it before it began glowing. It then lifted and began floating beside him. "It will keep you safe." I feel as if another arrow on its way to meet us. "Hey Kano! We should get going before another arrow is shot!"

     Kano got back to his feet before a black and blue fog-like aura began being released by his left hand. From it, a blue crystalline estoc materialized. The four hexagonal pieces were busy rotating around the one at the center. The sword fell to the ground before he picked it up. He then began running towards Anemone. Anemone too took off running, heading further south. Fifteen of her blades flew above the trees and formed a circular formation above them. "Wind Art: Rampaging Blades; Remnant Chaos."

     Here it comes…. "Kano! The second arrow," Even though my vision is limited thanks to the fact that I am only using fifteen blades in my Remnant Chaos Art, it is still plenty to go by. After all, the bystier will only attack directly. That means my current blind spots won't be an issue.

    An arrow made of flames flew passed them through the trees as they had successfully dodged. They continued running until they ran into a massive wall of trees. The trees were about fifty meters tall, with their trunks being about five meters wide. The coiling of their roots was about seven meters tall. The jumped passed them and landed on the other side.

     A white sphere began forming in Walter's palm when he saw the flaming arrow heading his way. He picked up the boy and moved out of the way before the arrow struck one of the trees. The flames scattered as its trunk was absolutely scorched. They should have warned me. He threw the white sphere into the sky. It flew upwards until it reached the scattered clouds.

     I hate the fact that it rained earlier. Majority of the charge has already been scattered, I will have to start gathering them from scratch. He then placed his hand on the ground as his hand became covered in a white aura.

      As soon as they landed, they were graced by a different scenery. The grass grew in a circular pattern around the hot spring in the center. It grew all the way to the edges with the massive wall of trees. "I never knew that Redstar Forest had this many layers," Kano said before water began condensing around his blade.

     "Yeah, I never realized that too, by the way, we have another arrow incoming," she said.

At the other side of the hot spring was the bystier. Its flaming mane had grown longer and so did the flames at the tip of its tail. It stared at them with its brick red glowing eyes. Flames were gathering in front of it from its mane. It then roared.

     The blades that were rotating above them returned to her and began rotating beside her. Three of them scattered three directions, all flying towards the bystier. The remaining sixteen separated into two masses of rotating blades. Each mass comprised of eight blades and they were rotating on each side of her. One to her left, the other, her right. She got down in a set position before their speed increased.

      Four spheres of water began condensing in front of Kano. They stood four meters from each other as they formed the vertices of a square. The Panthera Leo Krugeri Bystier then released an arrow made of flames at them.

     "Water Art: Discordant Torrent!" He exclaimed as each sphere released a stream of water. They met at the center of the imaginary square, forming a circular layer of streams flowing in opposite directions. As soon as the arrow met the circular mass of water, steam formed upon impact before a layer of steam was generated between them causing a slight separation.

     The wind that Anemone was releasing increased as the speed of the blades increased. The two masses of blades interlocked with each blade moving between the gaps in the other mass of blades. She exhaled before she exclaimed, "Wind Art: Rampaging Blades; Remnant Zephyr!"

     She propelled herself as well as the masses of blades straight through the layer of water and through the arrow, heading directly for the bystier. She closed in on it. As soon as she was about to crash into its skull, she was caught in a clash of magic. Her wind clashing against its aura. A layer of transparent red aura had formed between it and her rotating mass of blades.

     She increased her wind output, allowing the blades to rotate much faster before a shockwave was generated. This sent her flying backwards straight through a sphere of water. The three blades that flew in the direction of the bystier all returned behind the sphere of water and generated a layer of wind to cushion her fall. She was hyperventilating as she sat on the layer of wind. "Thanks for that, Kano. My blades wouldn't have been able to generate enough wind on time if you didn't use your water to slow me down. But our job just got harder, if it keeps doing that, our attacks probably won't be able to land." Solidifying its aura is straight-up cheating. What even is that power? This is the first time I have seen it.

    Kano was hyperventilating. He then covered his mouth with his hand before he coughed. There was blood on his hand. He quickly wiped it off on his trousers before he looked towards her. He could tell that she was stuck in thought. This isn't the time for this. I can't reach my limit just yet. Visualize myself in the void, then visualize myself drowning in the water. Finally, visualize the water forcefully entering my body. Darn it…I feel so cold…but….that just means it's working. His shivering got worse as he began coughing. His body became coated in a blue aura.

     Anemone begun floating down as her blades flew around the battlefield. "Wind art: Rampaging Blades; Remnant Zephyr," she said, "Wait Kano. What did you do just now…your spiritual vibrations just got more intense." The air around him is much cooler too. It's like the air is saturated with a lot of moisture.

       "It is nothing special. We just have to figure out how to break the layer of aura, right? Let's try and make it quick." I am running out of time. I don't think I can hold my output at this level for very long.

     "Yeah…Let's continue then.