Misteria

Misteria 3: Clashing figures

"Speed is weight. Have you ever been kicked at lightspeed?"

The town guard was made up of ten people; they wore body armour made of leather but otherwise had very little protection. They charged at the mysterious traveler. One took a swipe at him. The traveler smiled and said "too slow." He ducked underneath the blade. Before the guard had any time to realise he had dodged his sword he felt a right jab piercing through his armour and hitting his stomach. The guard retorted in pain. The man was still smiling as the second guard swung at him. He side-stepped to the left and swung his left leg towards the guard's head. To people watching, all they saw was the man falling to the ground unconscious; His leg had moved so fast that they hadn't seen it move from the ground to his head.

*To a person using "presence" or to someone who had been trained in physical fighting, his leg would be clearly visible. However, to normal civilians, who's eyes are not trained to keep up with one's movements, this kick would travel too fast for the normal eye to keep up, hence why it seemed to disappear. *

The third guard went for his leg that was outstretched, but before he could land a blow the man drew his leg back and struck him in the head with another kick. The fourth guard tried to attack but the man punched the sword out of his hand and threw him at two other guards with relative ease. All three were rendered unconscious. Now there were just four guards left. Three of them decided that this was a fight that they could not win and fled; one of them stayed however and faced the man, who was picking up one of the guard's sword.
"Y-you Monster!!" The Guard shouted
"If I recall, you were the ones that attacked me," The man said with a small grin. At this point the guard attacked.
"It matters little if the sword is rusted, a soldier's sword is as powerful as the owner."
The guard, now trembling, swung down at the man. The traveler swiped in the opposite direction, and the guard's sword was cut clean through...

After the final guard was down the man looked around the town, everyone had now left their houses and were staring at him, horrified as to what he was going to do next. The man realised that he was the centre of everyone's attention at that moment.
"Now, I think that we got off on the wrong foot. I only came to this town because I was looking for something to eat. If you want me to leave I will but only after you have given me something to eat."
"Get away from us!"
"You freak!"
"Leave us alone!"
The townsfolk had become a chorus of insults and desperate cries. The traveler's smile turned into a frown. A villager then threw a dried fish at him. He grabbed one of his sword's that were on his back and sliced it in half. The villagers then became silent once again; the traveler's smile returned and he said to the villagers:
"If you're not going to give me food, then I will have to take it myself." He then grabbed his other katana and started walking towards the huts. Now the villagers were truly terrified. They pondered about what they had done to deserve this, and prayed to divine spirits (although religion is not practiced commonly in Kotodamoshu or Xiaomachi) for their wellbeing.
"Now, why are you scaring the villagers like that? They've never encountered someone like you before so don't threaten them."
The person who said this was hidden from the traveler's sight. The hooded traveler shouted back at the voice: "And have you encountered someone like me before?"
"Oh yes! Many a time! I've seen many arrogant, imposing blowhards like yourself."
"You sound awfully confident for a man hiding in the shadows."
"If I had wanted to hide, I would not have said a word."
"Then what are you waiting for! If you're going to act cocky around your superior, then at least try and do something to back up your words!"

At that moment the wind picked up. Smoke coming from the houses was drifting through the sky much faster than normal. Most of the people in Xiaomachi thought that this meant a gale was coming and therefore took shelter. The hooded man however felt something. He knew that this wasn't an ordinary wind. It was blowing against the direction of the sea. It was too strong for a day that had no clouds in the sky. He realised now that the person he was fighting was no rookie, although he couldn't tell as to whether this was an attack or whether this was the power of his "presence".

Suddenly, the wind dropped. The hooded man took both katana and held them, preparing himself for an attack. A few seconds passed and then a minute. The traveler became bored of waiting, raised both of his swords in the air and cried:
"Come on! If you wa-".
The hooded man had just enough time to bring his two swords down and block the attacker, although this was not enough to stop the momentum of the attack entirely and he was thrown into the air by the force of the attack. While in the air, he glanced at the person who had attacked him. He was carrying one sword, and from its appearance, it was meant for two hands, as it had a large hilt; however, it seemed light enough that one would be able to use it with one hand and this person was clearly demonstrating that. On the blade, there was a design that was hard to make out, but gave off a dark, purple hue. The hooded man tried to glimpse at the man's face but he attacked again. This time the hooded man was ready for the attack. He blocked the sword with one of his katana and attacked him with the other. However, before he could land the blow the man jumped backwards.

They now stood ten metres away from each other. Both had their swords in hand and were ready to fight for a second time.
"You're pretty good for a blowhard!" The man said.
"And you're not too bad for a coward."
"I still haven't shown my true power though."
"I could say the same."
The man then raised one of his hands in front of his face and clenched his fist. A dark purple sphere glowed around his hands.
"I have awakened my magic! You should know that this is it for you!"
The hooded man smiled and replied "You're one of the hardest opponents I have faced in a long time. However, you'll have to do much more than that to surprise me."
The man respectively raised his hand. He lifted a finger and out of it, a bright orange flame appeared at the end. This then spread until his whole hand seemed to have caught fire. From inside their huts, the villagers were shocked. They had never seen these powers before.
"I too have awakened the presence inside me."

"The brightest flame casts the darkest shadow."