Multiversal Missions

It was the morning of the seventh day, the last before the mission. Enea had brought Kazuki to the same plain where the first training had taken place.

"Kazuki, with yesterday's day I finished everything a person like me, with little experience in training, can teach in only seven days. So what we will do today will be a kind of final test to see if you are really ready for your first mission," Enea said. Kazuki, who by now knew Enea well enough to understand that this was definitely not going to be something easy, asked with a hint of fear in his voice, "What is this test all about?" and Enea immediately replied, "I'll tell you right away, but first I have to introduce you to your opponent in this test."

Next to Enea a mirror of ice appeared, which after a few seconds seemed to become almost liquid, but kept its oval shape. Out of it emerged what appeared to be a person. She was a girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail, her eyes were sky-blue, and like Enea, her right eye was covered by a wisp. Her face was very similar to Enea's, but much more feminine and without dark circles. She wore a black tank top that showed a deep cleavage thanks to her ample breasts. Her pants were dark gray tight sweatpants.

When the girl looked at Kazuki, a smile appeared on her face that could only be described by the word "wild". "So this is the person I have to face, Lord I? I like him, he seems to be a guy worth playing with," the girl exclaimed. Then, before Kazuki could ask any questions, Enea began to speak, "I'll introduce her to you: this girl is Nero, a kind of alter ego or part of me, created from my emotions of anger, joy and sadism, if you want to consider the last one as an emotion".

"So you can create people based on your emotions!?" asked Kazuki with a confused expression on his face.

"Not really, she and two other 'people' were part of my imagination before my abilities became real, but since they were also part of me in my imagination and deeply connected to the abilities I had imagined, they too became real. When that asshole made my abilities real, they became real too," Enea replied.

Slightly worried, Kazuki leaned close to Enea and whispered in his ear, "Are you sure you can talk about this in front of her?" but his attempt to keep the conversation secret failed completely.

"Don't worry, boy, I already know and I don't care. However, Lord I, could you hurry up and explain the contents of the test to this boy? I'm trembling to play with this him," Nero said.

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that? It's embarrassing, can't you just use my name? Anyway, Kazuki, the test is quite simple: you have to face Nero here and before it gets dark, you have to make her bleed in some way. Whether it's a drop or a liter, it doesn't matter, just make her bleed. If you can do that, you have passed the test. Of course, avoid dying in the process, because I'm sorry, but I can't revive people."

" if I can't get her to bleed before dark, what will happen to me? Will I have to start the training all over again?"

Suddenly, the expression on Enea's face became serious, with wide eyes directed at Kazuki. Enea said, "No, I will just kill you. That bastard won't give us any more days to train you and if you fail this test, you will surely die a painful death during the mission. So for your sake, I'd rather be the one to give you a painless death." Meanwhile, a katana had formed in his right hand that was different from the ice katana he had used during his training. The blade was half white and half black and the hilt was gray which he pointed at Kazuki. At that moment, Kazuki felt a feeling of fear and anxiety similar to the one he had felt at his first meeting with Enea, but extremely stronger, so much so that he could not move a single muscle and could barely breathe. "What the hell is going on here?", Kazuki thought.

But then, the serious expression on Enea's face was replaced by a much calmer one, the katana disappeared from his hand and he said, "But don't worry, I told Nero to hold back. If you put your mind to it, I'm sure you can do it." At that moment, the unnatural fear and anxiety Kazuki felt disappeared and he was able to move again. But before Kazuki could process what had just happened, Enea continued, "I would say, if you are both ready, we can start".

"Yes, let's start, I can hardly hold back much longer," Nero said. However, Kazuki objected, "W-wait, just give me a few more seconds." Enea nodded and Nero huffed.

Kazuki took a deep breath and thought, "Take it easy Kazuki, you don't have time for doubts. The training that Enea made me do so far was definitely difficult and extremely painful, but never impossible. So he's probably telling the truth, if I try my best, I can do it," he slapped his cheeks a few times, then raised her arms with closed fists to chest height and moved his right foot slightly behind his left. Looking into his opponent's eyes, he said, "Now I am ready, we can begin."

"Perfect, now I will toss this coin. As soon as it touches the ground, the test will begin. Kazuki, I remind you that the time you have is until the lights behind the clouds disappear on this ever cloudy planet," Enea said as he pulled a one euro coin out of his sweatshirt pocket and showed it to Nero and Kazuki. When they both nodded, he threw it so high that Kazuki, with his senses sharpened by training and sparking, lost sight of it almost immediately.

After a few seconds, Kazuki was able to see the coin again. At that very moment, his mind emptied of all thoughts, except those concerning how to pass the test.

In the instant the coin fell to the ground, several discharges of blue electricity formed around Nero's body, as if forming some kind of electric aura. In an instant, she shortened the distance between her and Kazuki by several meters. She concentrated some of the electricity in her right hand and then threw a blow that exceeded the speed of sound many times over, but by a hair's breadth, Kazuki managed to dodge it and countered with a right punch aimed at Nero's nose, which was one of the body parts most likely to bleed if hit. But the only thing he managed to hit was the after-image of the girl.

"You've got better reflexes than I expected, boy," Nero said, backing away slightly to avoid Kazuki's attack, then added, "But if you think that's enough to avoid all my attacks, you're dead wrong!" She disappeared almost completely from Kazuki's sight and reappeared in front of him, delivering a kick aimed at his chest. Kazuki knew immediately that he would not be able to dodge it, so he covered both his arms with the brown bandage and placed them in front of his chest just before Nero struck. The force of the kick sent him flying a few feet.

"Damn, he's too fast, I can barely react to his attacks. Besides, that kick was so powerful, if I hadn't protected my arms with bandages, they would have been useless for sure. I wanted to see if I could do it without using the abilities of these bandages, but it's like Enea said: If I don't try my best, I'll probably die before I even have a chance to make her bleed," Kazuki thought as he stood up. Immediately, he threw two punches at the ground, using both arms to create two walls of earth next to each other. Then, holding both hands open, he began to run towards Nero, hiding behind the walls that moved in front of him.

Nero, seeing what he was doing, said, "Are you going to use these walls as a diversion, boy? Don't you see it's useless! Even if you get close, you're too slow to hit me!" But Kazuki did not say anything or make himself visible; he just continued to advance, hidden behind the walls.

"Well, if you don't want to stop, come. I'll show you the futility of whatever plan you have," Nero said, preparing for whatever Kazuki had in store for her.

Now very close to Nero, Kazuki let the walls open like a double door that stood on Nero's sides. Then he closed his right hand to unleash a fist. Nero prepared to dodge but the blow suddenly changed direction to the ground below. Surprise at the change in direction slowed Nero's reaction by a few milliseconds, and as she instinctively stepped back to avoid the blow, her back slammed into a wall that had not been there until a moment before.

Taking advantage of Nero's limited escape routes and her surprise at the wall that should not have been there, Kazuki used his left hand to throw an uppercut. But before the blow hit Nero's chin, a smile appeared on his face. At that moment, a powerful bolt of lightning fell down from the sky, sweeping Kazuki and the walls he had created away and sending him back to where he had originally created them.

"I admit it, boy, it was definitely a good plan. Even if I hold back, it's not often that I'm forced to use a ranged attack. That's more the style of that bitch Bianca, so I don't like to use it," Nero said. But Kazuki did not listen to anything he said - he was too busy thinking about what had just happened and what to do from now on.

"Damn, what was that? A lightning bolt? It shattered my walls as if they were made of papier-mâché and my body is completely numb. With a move like that, it's useless to try to trap it: it's too fast for me to hit it in a direct confrontation. And since I do not know how much endurance she has, I cannot even consider the possibility of exhausting her. So, considering her personality, I'm left with this method."

Standing up with difficulty, Kazuki, after using the ability of the bandage to cover his right arm with ground, lunged at Nero, bringing the fight back to hand-to-hand combat. Enthusiastic with his action, Nero exclaimed, "Good boy, no more tricks! Let's turn this fight into a bloodbath--only yours, of course!" He licked his lips.

The next two hours were a bloodbath, as Nero had promised, but the only blood that was spilled was Kazuki's. In all that time, none of Kazuki's blows managed to touch Nero. On the contrary, most of Nero's blows landed and left bruises all over Kazuki's body and in many cases, made him spit blood.

If Nero had continued to use powerful blows like the first one she used in this test or his control over electricity, Kazuki would not have been able to get up even after the first minute of close combat. And Kazuki knew that very well. The only reason why the fight was not over was that Nero did not want it to end. All the time in this fight, a disturbing smile full of excitement never left Nero's face.

"I'm sorry, boy, I've had my fun, but it's time to end it," Nero said. The smile that had accompanied her for most of the fight vanished, giving way to a neutral expression that betrayed a drop of sadness. In an instant, she unleashed a powerful blow to Kazuki's stomach. He vomited blood, lost consciousness and fell towards her. At least that was what Nero thought.

But Kazuki was still awake. He did his best to resist the stinging pain coming from his stomach and managed to surprise Nero by grabbing Her's right arm with his left hand, taking away any chance of escape.

After the initial surprise, the usual excited smile immediately returned to Nero's face. "Another great plan. But aren't you forgetting something?" she said. At that moment, Nero's body filled with electricity, sending a huge shock to Kazuki who was holding her.

Kazuki could smell her skin burning. The pain was incomparable to anything he had ever felt, but without weakening his grip in the slightest, he said his first and last words of the confrontation, "Of course, NOT!"

With his right hand covered in hard earth, he used all the strength left in his body to deliver a blow straight into Nero's face. She, thinking that Kazuki would succumb to the shock and release the grip, had no time to dodge and took the blow right in the face. But her body did not move an inch.

Kazuki pulled back his fist and saw a thin stream of blood dripping from Nero's nose. Realizing that he had succeeded, he let go of Nero's arm and with a satisfied smile on his face, he lost consciousness for real this time.