Parallel Vol. 1
Chapter 22: Blood vs Sword

Syèl jumped back, creating some space between him and his assailant. “If you’re going to attack me, least you could do is introduce yourself.”

“I have no obligation to give my name to scum.” Blondie got into a basic kendo stance, sword held in front of her. Despite how basic the stance was, he could not see any openings to attack her.

As if annoyed they had been ignored, two cockatrices ceased their attack on the other Blondie and bore down on the two of them. Syèl saw them from the corner of his eyes, but he did not dare take his eyes of the swordswoman in front of him. A lapse in concentration might spell death for him.

‘Wait a minute! I’m a mage.’ He remembered this mundane fact and smiled as he launched two fireballs in quick succession at her. He dashed forward, expecting her to dodge, but she did the opposite. She cut through the fireballs with chilling precision and brought down her sword at the halben who had unwittingly entered her range.

The cockatrice reached them as she swung down her sword, and bore down with their beaks to stab them. Syèl manipulated his blood to form a shield above him, protecting him from both the sword and the monsters’ beaks.

Blondie was left unguarded from their attack and would have been hit cleanly if it not for her swordsmanship. Gritting her teeth, she summoned her strength and guided her sword along with a smooth arc upwards, to parry their blows. The impact pushed the birds back and sent her sliding, sword arm high in the air.

Having broken her guard, Syèl dashed forward to stab her with his sword. To his surprise, she stopped fighting the inertia from the blow, allowing herself to be lifted off the ground.

In response, he iced the ground where she was to land to throw her off balance. Blondie saw through his play. She somersaulted and stabbed her sword through the ice, then landed on the hilt of the weapon, looking like a majestic prince.

Syèl could tell he would not be able to defeat her in terms of swordsmanship. She clearly had more training than he had - not that he ever had any formal training.

“You going to tell me your name now?” He asked, forming balls of fire in his hands.

“I suppose I could. You have proved yourself to be slightly above scum. You can call me Shokō*, worm.” She hopped down and drew her sword from the frozen ground.

“Shoko? That name, and those clothes… do you want to be a boy?”

With lightning speed, her sword was below his neck. “Do you wish to lose your head, elf?”

Sweat poured down Syèl forehead as he realized he had encroached on a sensitive topic. “I-I’m just saying… I can totally understand… maybe not, it’s hella weird. No, no, what I mean is I can understand your desire to be a boy. It’s only natural you like gi- Hii!”

The sword pricked his throat lightly, drawing blood. Down the moonlit blade, a pair of blue eyes burned fiercely. “It would do you good to watch your tongue, trash.” She withdrew her blade and sheathed it in a single swift motion. “I like men, thank you very much. I simply find male clothing to be more comfortable and befitting my tastes.”

A loud cry rang out and they turned to where the cockatrice had been attacking the other Shoko. The cockatrice dispersed, leaving a petrified Shokō behind them.

“Damn. I was distracted for too long.” Shokō turned to the halben. “You. Assist me. I’ll fight with you once these beasts are dealt with.”

“Sure, why not. I’ve got some new spells I want to test out anyway.” Syèl turned to the oversized meal entrees and launched his fireballs at them. The cockatrice charged right through the flames, seemingly unfazed by the attack. “Ho… Then, how about this!” He shot out a stream of electricity into the flock that chained into others.

The cockatrice spat out green substances from their mouth towards him. He raised an ice shield, and the poison hit the ice, melting it on impact. “Anytime now, Prince.”

Shokō crouched low, her sheathed sword at her left side, right hand hovering over the hilt of the sword. “Shoko Style: Second Form…” Her sword’s scabbard glowed blue as she drew her sword and sheathed it instantly. “...Sukai Bunkatsu.”

A shockwave burst out from her draw, hitting the Cockatrice and pushed them back. “Your move,” She said to Syèl.

“Nice.” Syèl dashed into the middle of the disgruntled Cockatrice. Blood seeped out of his body and gathered above him forming a sphere. Spikes of blood slowly formed on the surface of the sphere. “<<Blood Shower>>” On his signal, they shot out of the sphere, and stabbed through the cockatrice who cried in pain.

The birds rolled into balls, spun in place gathering speed then dashed at him. They were annoyingly fast, and he barely dodged their charges but then noticed too late it was a trap. While in the middle of dodging three simultaneous attacks, a fourth came up from his behind spot and hit him in the back.

He was hurtled across the field, landing roughly on the ground till he rolled to a stop. Before the halben could reorient himself, they charged at him again. As he struggled to get to his feet, a mass of blue and gold blurred into his vision.

Shokō dashed in front of him and got into her pose again, this time keeping the sword vertical, hilt facing down. “Shokō Style, Third form: Scythe!” She drew her weapon, carving a rising arc with her blade. The shockwave this time was much more refined, forming the blade of a scythe which split a cockatrice in two.

Remaining beasts: 20

Normally she should freeze after unleashing a skill like that, but just before she completed the skill, she twirled her sword around and swung it down, slamming it to the ground. The ground cracked beneath her strike, continuing all the way below the Cockatrices, where the earth erupted, causing the Cockatrices to lose their footing. “Shokō Style, First Form: Hammer.” Sweat poured down her face as she panted erratically, struggling to catch her breath.

“Thanks for the help. Let me return the favor.” Syèl dashed past her. ”<<Dawn Pelmut>>" Without waiting to gain his full health back, he summoned <<Blades of Blood>>. This time, in addition to the sword in his hand, two scythes grew out of his arms, curved downwards.

Far from done, he summoned <<Bullet>>. Blood rose from the downed cockatrice, forming several small spheres around him. These slammed into the Cockatrice with the force of a magnum bullet. He sliced through the birds, using the scythes to block and counter their blows.

Remaining Enemies: 18

The cockatrice formed a circle around him and hit him with their petrifying beams. Seeing their eyes glow green, he leapt into the air, but their gazes followed him. Using close to the last drop of his health points, he formed a sphere of blood around him. It turned to stone and fell to the earth where he shattered.

When the smoke from the crash cleared, Syèl stood there with seven ice spears floating around him. Flames emanated from their rear and they were coated in electricity, all of which was surrounded by swirling wind, concentrated to a single spot at their tips.

"<<Elemental Judgment>>" The spears shot forward, receiving extra propulsion from the flames. The drill-like wind bore a hole through the cockatrice, giving the rest of the weapon an entrance. The spear pierced through the beasts, simultaneously shocking and freezing their insides, then exploded, ripping them apart from the inside out.

Remaining Beasts: 14

The skill drained all of his mana and froze him in place while the survivors broke through their brethren and bore down on him.

Syèl smiled as Shokō jumped down in front of him. From her usual crouching position, she drew her weapon, cutting an arc around her rising from the ground. “Shokō Style, Fifth Form: Tornado.” A column of wind shot up around them and spread out, blasting the cockatrice into the air.

Recovered from his skill’s cooldown, Syèl regained both his mana and health from the dead Cockatrice with <<Dawn Pelmut>> then leapt into the air, hopping on the sky borne beasts, and using them to jump even higher.

Above them all, he formed a huge sphere of blood, drawing from the dead to add more size to it. ”<<Blood Shower!>>" Spikes the size of javelins shot out of the sphere and stabbed through the birds, dragging them down.

Shokō looked at the rain of Cockatrice and entered her crouching stance. She swung her sword above her and to the ground forming a shockwave that zoomed to the air. Instead of stopping, she followed the momentum and spun around, firing off another shockwave, then another and another. The speed increased with each revolution and soon the sky was filled with a net of shockwaves that did not allow any of the Cockatrice to fall through.

She dropped to her knee and sheathed her sword, her hair fluttering wild from the explosion above. Opening her eyes slowly, she whispered, “Shokō Style, Tenth Form: Spider’s Net.”

Remaining Enemies: 0

Syèl landed softly amidst the falling body parts, having protected himself from the attack with an ice shield. “You could have hit me!”

"Oh? You’re still alive maggot. Impressive; I suppose you might not be as useless as you look.” Shoko stood up, holding her sword in her right hand. She cast a rather handsome picture: the lone price standing in a field of his enemies’ bodies, while the wind played with his hair.

“You know, if it wasn’t for your humongous rack, you might actually make the girls go googy-eyed over their newest bishounen hero.” Syèl laughed and raised his hands in surrender when her hand hovered over the hilt of her sword.

Sighing, she relaxed her stance, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “I will not respond to your mindless taunts. I ha-”

She suddenly tensed up, and crouched low, gripping her sword.

“O-oi, I thought you sai-” he slowly backed away.

“Silence!” She gritted her teeth, eyes darting around the field as if searching for something.

“Seriously. What’s -”

“Speak again and I will cut you where you stand.” She closed her eyes, breathing out through her mouth to calm herself, then went perfectly still akin to a statue. “It’s coming… Duck!”

Confused, Syèl did exactly as she said, eyes wide in surprise as her sword clashed against an extremely large axe right where he had been.

He rolled out of the way, and looked to see a full blown nine feet minotaur glaring at Shoko, its eyes gleaming red. It had the body of a giant, with the head and fur of a bull,

its large horns curling into the sky. It flexed its right arm, adding more force to its swing and launched the girl into a building.

Gruger the Fallen: Lv:86

“Shokō!” Syel cried and turned to the beast, eyes burning with rage. “Bastard!” He dashed forward, but the beast suddenly disappeared. “Where did it go?!”

“Behind you, maggot!” Shokō screamed, emerging from the rubble.

“What?!” Syèl whirled around, placing several layers of ice shields between him and…

There was nothing there, but his ice shield smashed to bits regardless and he cried out in pain as he felt a blade slice through him. His health points dropped below half and he jumped away, eyes darting around searching for the enemy.

Shokō suddenly appeared in front of him and raised her sword. The minotaur reappeared as his attack was blocked, his red eyes glaring at her. She dropped to a knee under his strength. “Maggot! Do you not have the Instinct stat?” She asked through gritted teeth.

“What?!” Syèl manipulated his blood into claws that went around her and pierced the beast’s body.

It ignored the attack, increasing the force in his hand and digging Shokō even further into the ground. It opened its mouth, unleashing a breath of fire on her.

“No you don’t!” Syèl concentrated a lot of ice into one tiny pick and tossed it into the beast’s mouth. It expanded exponentially, freezing its mouth shut.

Shokō used that chance to push his axe away, and jumped into the air, sword drawn. Spinning around, she repeatedly sliced the monster, though they were shallow and only chipped away at his health. One her skill was done, she froze under the cooldown and Syèl dashed under her.

He did not have much life left, so he used <<Elemental Judgment>> clearing out his mana as his ultimate move pierced the monster. Despite the strength of his attacks, its health only dropped to half as it disappeared once again.

“Good work, peasant.” Shokō said, coming up next to him. “It seems to have retreated for the time being”

I’m promoted? “How can you tell?”

“You do not have the Instinct skill do you? It’s a wonder you have survived this long.”

“Just spit it out already cross-dresser.”

Her brows furrowed, and she looked like she wanted to say something, but then stopped herself. “Hmph. Such simple provocation will not work on me. Fine, I shall teach you how to learn it. If only to pass time until it returns.”

“Thank you, Prince-Sensei.” Sarcasm was heavy in every single syllable.

Sighing, Shokō shook her head. “It’s different for every class, but the basics are the same. Start with closing your eyes… Good, Now, control your breathing… feel the air enter and leave your lungs… Register each and every smell… Now, listen closely to the flowing off the wind, the song of the crickets, the rustling of leaves… Once you can process all of these, you should get a rough picture of the field… and any discrepancies.”

New Skill(Passive): Instinct

Instinct: Ability to use the five senses to the highest, to feel the environment. Stat distribution is prohibited.

New Skill(Passive/Active): Mana Sense

Mana Sense: Every living thing possesses mana. This allows you to sense mana flowing around you. Stat distribution is prohibited

“Learned it,” Syèl announced.

“That should take an average user days before he can sort out the noise from the sounds he wants to hear.” Her eyes sparkled as a smile curled up the side of her mouth.

“I’m not average.”

“Apparently not…” She turned back sharply “...peasant”

“Yes, I can sense him. He’s back.” Syèl formed a javelin from his blood and threw it with all his might. Gruger the Fallen appeared as he blocked the strike with his axe, eyes glowing red. “Time for round two…”

The duo charged at the beast, bloodthirst oozing off of them.

A few miles away, a man stood on a red dragon, watching the entire fight. On his left arm was a tattoo of seven broken swords bound together by a sash of blood. His deep voice echoed through the silent clouds “It begins…”

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