Slavers pt 2

"Then come, I will add onto your power using a ritual that once belonged to my clan." He lead Gray out of the castle and then deep into the surround forest. Roars and screams from un earthly creatures could be heard around them, "Me and Fallen both have a spirit at our sides. Hiroshi and Sora. They greatly add to our power...except for Fallen...the power was rejected from him since he isn't from normal reality..." He patted his shoulder. "Go find a spirit with a tainted heart, fight it, but don't kill it. Take the taint from the creature...you gain all it's aura with a few exceptions, and then it along with the creature are bonded to you for life. But be careful. If you or the creature die after the ritual, you both die." He pointed towards the darkness of the forest, "Go make a new friend and then come back."

He nodded, slightly scared but eager to start. "I will comeback once it is done." He then took off into a run. He was jogging but he was moving fairly fast. There didn't seem to have any current residents of the forest. he heard the noises of the forest but didn't see the creatures. He was reminded of famous line "Lights are on but no ones home. " He had already dropped the wooden sword. He doubted it would be of any use. He became lost in thought as he ran now. He was thinking of what type of demon he would be fighting. He thought to himself now. "Will it be large? Will it be small or round? Will it be fat or skinny? What color will it be? What sort of demon will it be? Will it be nice or evil? Will it be a peaceful being or will it have it's own intentions? Will it's intentions good or will they be darker than I know?" He now was caught off guard as he ran into a sturdy yet soft tall object that knocked him down. He fell down on his butt. He let out a groan as he mumbled "Gah, why does that keep happening today?" Gray now looked up to see his barrier. It was a very large dark mass of something. Looking into it was like looking into a shadow that never ended and became alive and stood up on it's own. He could feel nothing but fear as he slowly glanced upward to try and see if this thing had a face. He could see long, thin, arms that seemed to grow into a point with long boney fingers. It didn't seem to have feet. Just a square box connected to his body. He now got to the head. There was black spikes shooting out from the top of the head. It was as if madness had exploaded from the top of his skull if it had a skull. He then saw the eyes. The eyes were just small red slits. They seemed to be closed but he felt terrified all the same. Something about this being of darkness scared him more than anything he had ever experienced before. The thought appeared in his mind "Am I going to die?"

(Remember that the creature you are supposed to find is a SPIRIT not a DEMON. The spirit is just tainted. And that looks like a demon to me)

(No worries. The Darkness is the Taint. You shall see.)

The being reached down with one long hand and picked him up by the neck. His fingers felt unusually soft. Panic filled Gray as he kicked as hard as he could, pulling himself out of the grip of the demonic like animal. He charged up a ball of electricity in one hand, preparing to strike. He threw a punch with the other hand, having it be stopped by the creature's hand, gripping his fist tightly. Gray smiled, seeing this as a opportunity to strike. He pressed the charged ball into the beast's shoulder, sending a shock throughout it's arm. This sent the creature thrashing and scrambling on the ground. Slowly a crack of white opened up where the mouth should be. He figured this was a sign that the taint was being removed slowly. He smiled and took the weakness as an opening and jumped straight into the air, cranking his fist backwards, preparing to pound the creature in the stomach. He brought the fist down hard on the spirit's stomach as he planned, sending shock through the being's body. The eyes instantly turned white and opened up. It was a female spirit. Gray could tell by the way the eyes were shaped but he knew the darkness wasn't gone yet. He still had to finish the fight and as much taint that was on this being, it was far from over. She stood up, screaming loudly and sounding much like a banshee. He could see the darkness infecting the entire body, both out and in. Gray growled as he charged a ball of water in his hand, preparing to freeze her. The being was too fast though. She instantly was in front of him, grabbing his wrists and head-butting him. He fell down, bleeding from his forehead. He cringed in pain then stood up, flinging his foot out, kicking her in the stomach. She moved back dodging the kick but putting her head down slightly. He smiled as he flung a knee to her face, knocking her back down to the ground. She laid there on her back for a minute, surprised that he had hit then stood back up, rising like tree growing. Gray sighed that the fight wasn't over yet. He ran at her, faking a blow to her face and went for her legs. He tripped her, wrapping his legs around the black box that was apparently was more flexible than he first thought. He pulled the box up, grabbing the spirit's arms. He now held her in a lock hold, repeatedly bashing his head into the back of her head. He eventually knocked her unconscious standing up.

Sen flopped from a tree beside the young Gray and places a seal on his forehead. He then looked to the creature, "So...she is the one who has been scaring away my lunch...?" He looked to Gray, "Good work...and one more thing...you have about five seconds before that taint because a larger part of your aura, and it will hurt like hell fire." He chuckled and crossed his arms.

He blinked at that then crippled down onto his knees in pain. He could feel the taint growing onto him. He could feel it becoming a part of him. He felt pain surging through him like a second heart beat. It pushed him to the ground and warped it's way all the way through every orris in his body. He held himself trying to get the pain to stop then for an instant, it did. It then continued to pulse through his body, becoming a large part of his aura. he felt what the creature must have felt and he figured he would be able to live with it. He slowly stood up, shaking from the pain. "Is this what you feel everyday?"

Sen nodded, "Sorta." He thought for a moment, "When I was five, I had a link made between my power and the darkness within the hearts of man. So...my power is endless. I also have the taint that Hiroshi used to have. Not to mention his partnership with me. However, It has been a long time since I gained those powers, and the pain will fade in about a day or two, so you should rest now." He looked back at the creature as the taint had now been removed, "Hmmm, quite a beautiful spirit now that the darkness has passed." He continued to walk back to the castle.

He slowly nodded, still feeling shaken by the pain as he began to walk back towards the castle. He was dragging his feet, feeling very exhausted from everything that had happened. Gray laughed as he thought of what was about to unfold because the day had barely started and yet he was tired enough to fall asleep. When he finally returned, he almost tripped on the stairs leading to the hallway to his room. He got in his room, pulled off his shirt, and fell onto his bed, falling asleep almost instantly. He had a dream that nap of what the spirit looked like before and after the taint. She was beautiful for a spirit. She talked to him while he slept. She told him how the taint came to be on her. She was walking in the woods one day and saw a cave. Being the curious spirit she was, she investigated and was attacked and over come by the darkness. She said it had felt like all of the happiness and emotion had been drained from her. She felt like she would never feel brave again. Fear had taken her completely. At the end of the dream, she thanked him and let him know that she was willing to do anything for him because of it. He woke refreshed the next day. He didn't open his eyes at first. He just laid there. He felt another presance in the room. He wasn't frightened of the being just aware. He slowly opened his eyes to see the peaceful white spirit sitting there on a chair, smiling at him. He felt a little embarassed for having his shirt off but then realized that this was his new companion so it really didn't matter. He grabbed his shirt and slipped it on, preparing for the day. He smelled himself and thought he needed a shower. "So I saved your life then?"

Kian would have been in the training yard, very far into the forest, for it seemed he had ventured quite the distance. He had his blade in his right hand and his iris were glowing white. His palms were simply dripping with blood at this time, seeing as he hadn't taken a brake since the other day, he simply lost track of time and continued to let himself wonder. He didn't feel phased or tired, nor did he feel any weaker, in fact it seemed like he had been gaining strength. He suddenly became alert as a large creature swung its claws down towards him, he ducked and rolled through the grass in order to avoid getting wounded and then stood up to see a rather strong demon before him. "...All the other demons have been weak...is it because I went farther into the forest?" The demon swung again and he rolled under it to avoid being hit, he then jumped up and dashed for momentum and built up his practiced strike and on contact...nothing happened, not even a chink on the armor. His eyes were wide and he was petrified that his sword couldn't even break the surface. "...what...?" He gasped as the demon turned and hit him in the chest with a blunt force, knocking him into a tree breaking the surface and slicing his back up. He fell forward onto his torso and as he stood up his shirt fell off, His back was cut up and covered in blood. "Not good..."

He still felt the pain as he walked out of the door, limping. This time, he had grabbed his cloak with his kitanas inside. "Wont make that mistake again. " The spirit watched him as she followed close behind him. He was headed out for the training field where he had began his training yesterday. He finally got out there when he stumbled on the bottom step but caught himself. He pulled out his kitanas, smiling as they gleamed in the sun. "Time to kick some ass." He got over to the place where he had started yesterday and began his striking techniques. This time, he was practicing with both blades. This gave him pleasure to be using his blades again.

He stood up and glared at the demon, "Okay...let me try this...at least he is slow...my speed gives me advantage...but his attacks are hard and his armor is bullet proof." He built up electricity in his hand and ran behind the monster, trying to electrocute it by contact, but the attempt failed, "He isn't a conductor...shit!" As he said this he swung around at Kian and barely missed as he jumped back. He clenched his blade and glared, "Where is it...where is the weakness..." He then noticed small openings in the face where the eyes peered through, he then grinned, "I will burn you alive..." He built up a heavy charge and suddenly let out a ferocious roar as lightening blasted through the ceiling, clinging to his blade as he built up the heavy power. The heat alone started to burn the surround area including himself, "I need to do this quickly." He suddenly flashed and appeared before the creature in mid air, the sliced the blade through the eye holes and through the eye. The monster roared as it was suddenly charred on the inside, he jumped back as flames shot from the eyes, the monster had burned quickly and combusted on contact. "Strong armor....but it seems that you are still highly flammable on the inside..." The remaining armor fell over and he gripped it, dragging it back out from where he came. He eventually made it back to the training field, covered in blood, scorch marks, and deep wounds. "Oh...good, it's you Gray..." He smiled as he fell over, passing out from the wounds that would take a bit longer to heal this time.

Gray saw him pass out and dropped his swords. He ran directly to his side, examining his wounds to see how deep they wore. He reached into his cloak to see if he had any first aid. His eyes got even wider when he felt a large plastic box inside his cloak. He pulled it out and it was three first aid kits strapped together. He instantly opened one of them up and began to distribute first aid. "Come on Kian. You cant go yet. Come one. Don't die."

He smirked a bit, "I can't die." He winced a bit from trying to talk. "I may have won the battle...but it took a lot out of me..."

He shook his head and wrapped his wounds in gauze then sighed. "You better not die. Can you see my spirit companion?" He felt very proud of his new power and companion.

He smiled and nodded, "Can you see the thing I killed?"

He nodded almost laughing and said "You might wanna be careful next time though. This guy seems a little out of your level of power. " He held out his hand, intending for him to take it. "Come on I will help ya back to your room if you want."

He grabbed his hand, not being ashamed to take help from others and pulled himself up, leaning on his friend. "Ugh, that hurts." He groaned all the way back to his room.

Sen was leaning against a tree laughing, "Surprising that he killed it..."

He helped him to his bed and put his hands behind his head. "If you need anything just yell." He felt proud of his friend and smiled. "Well see ya." He turned and headed out towards the training field, preparing to begin training again. he wanted to hone his skills at swordsmanship. once he got out there, he smiled, as he saw Sen. "Hey, come to over see our training here, Sen?" He walked back to his swords that were laying on the ground now and picked them up. "I met my spirit today." He motioned behind him at the spirit and smiled, beginning his swings.

"Yeah, I noticed. And I'm more here to just relax. Relaxation is a large part of being strong."

"Ah." He smiled and continued to rapidly swing his swords at the tree, pushing all his strength and skill into the blows. "You seem strong. I think I can trust your strength."

"Hmmm, let me teach you an old trick..." He went and picked up a large broadsword that was easily heavier than he was, but he seemed to lift it as if it had no weight. "They key to being a skilled swordsman is being able to wield your weapon as if it has no weight, it took me a while to get it myself...but it is pretty simple once you understand the concept." He jabbed the large sword into the ground. "Also...you should apply knowledge of using different weapons, so you can always have a knowledge of using them if a time arises. Now...try picking up this sword. Do not use any demonic strength, and remember, it weights a lot more than you do." He crossed his arms, wondering if he would try to pick it up the same way he tried when he was a child.

He nodded, shoving his kitanas back into his cloak as if it were big enough to hold it but the cloak hid the swords perfectly as usual. He walked towards the sword in the ground and placed his hand on the handle. He then lifted hard, struggling to pull the blade from the ground. the sheer weight of the sword was as if it wore fighting against Gray. He didn't understand how someone could hold something this heavy. He then remembered what Sen had said. "Wield your sword as if it has no weight," he thought to himself. He then smiled as he considered this. He then let go of all logic or feeling. He pretended the sword was as light as a feather and gripped the handle tightly then relaxed a little as he slid the sword from the ground slowly. There was a little resistance but then he continued to convince himself it was light and lifted it up high. "Hows this?" He then remembered how heavy it was before that and became shocked. The blade came crashing down in front of him, missing his toes by an inch. Gray was wide eyed as his jaw dropped. "Uh"

"Once you understand the concept as I explained earlier, you can actually use the wight of the sword to crush enemies. They wont expect the weight." He chuckled a bit, "Be careful as well, I hear it is hard to run with no toes." He clapped his hands together. "I need to train as well...but I wonder which one I should use. Sin maybe? Hmmm, I can actually use that as a lesson for the younger ones." Hiroshi was shaking his head, "I still don't understand that." Sen crossed his arms, "Simple concept...if you can think like a girl, well...it helps in some situations. Just be careful what demons are around you...some prefer female companions...Such as Sin and Sora..." He thought to himself, "I might as well teach them both the benefits of shape shifting in order to understand other creatures. Such as various spirits and animals. Like a deer or wolf. I remember...being a wolf was some of the best times of my life. Funny how no one figured where I went after the Demon March, I simply became a wolf for a few hundred years...or something like that." (Sen has an intelligence because he has a large concept of different things through shape shifting, observation, and learning from ancient warriors who died a long time ago.)

Gray chuckled and smiled as he nodded and focused himself to think of the weight disappearing as he lifted the sword up again, preparing to train with this massive sword. He swung at a tree and was surprised by how much damage it did to the tree. The sword had cut half way through the tree. Gray's mouth dropped as the sword was stuck into the bark. He backed away almost laughing.

Sen nodded, "Getting...better." He then picked up a rock and clenched it in his fist. He focused and then threw it at a tree, burning a hole strait through it, and continuing. He laughed to himself. "It is a lot more fun to do that with sword or living creature."