Monster King

Chapter 75 - Prince of Darkness

He glanced back at me and tossed me a black face mask. I caught it and skeptically looked it over.

"I figured you'd want a better mask for running around in. It's an active face mask. It'll be better for breathing." He said. 

I smiled some and took my surgical mask off, then replaced it with the mask he gave me. Which was genuinely a lot better for breathing! "Wow, thanks Hana."

He held a thumbs up. "We need you at peak strength."

"Right." I said. 

"You two ready!?" We both turned toward Mr. Masochist Bakeneko.

"No, but we're gonna start anyways right?" I asked. 

"Ah, learning well I see." The cat said. He turned toward the gigantic yard and got onto all fours. His paws started to shine with a turquoise glow. "Begin!"

With that, he was off and we chased. The cat sped off, leaving glitter under his feet. Hana took the lead. I followed behind as the cat only got further and further away from us. Hana went to the pouch strapped to his side and grabbed a throwing knife with a ball and string attached to it. He tossed it, and it flew ahead of the feline and exploded as it crashed into a rock. Sending out a huge wave of black smoke. 

I opened my soul and located the cat and sensed him coming to a stop in the fog. That's when Hana leaped in.  The cat moved to the leap and started to run past Hana. Too bad for him I'm Hana's eyes.

"Hana! To your left, mid waist height!" I yelled. 

I ran around to intercept the stupid feline and I heard the clanking of Hanas knife rikashaying off a rock. Suddenly the cat shot up and leaked out of the smoke. While Hanas knife flew right past my cheek. 

"Damn, he went up and around!" I called out. 

I turned toward the cat and chased, unfortunately taking the lead. The cat leaped over the huge lake and happily ran along the water. I grumbled and leaped over the lake water and soon landed on a stone in the middle. New ninja shoes don't fail me! I then leaped from rock to rock chasing after the cat. As I went I sensed Hanas soul behind me. 

I glanced back and saw him taking out a knife. He tossed a few at the rocks, showing off his knife tricks and letting them fly and bounce off rocks toward the cat. Who elegantly dodged until he was back on land. Then he decided to fly up and over to the roof of the compound. 

Fantastic…

"Nyx, I'll go around, you and keep on his tail. I'll set a trap." Hana instructed. 

"Fine, better not almost cut my finger off again." I said.

He just chuckled. "Sorry about that."

With that, we separated. He took some magical shortcut and I got on land. I ran over to the wall of the building and ran up, then leaped and grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled myself up. Then I kept running. 

"Ah! I see you two are playing tricks again, hhmm?" Bakeneko teased. 

"Don't get mad at me when you get skewered!" I yelled as awe ran, the shadow of a hanging tree was up ahead. 

As I ran through it, I dropped into its shadow and zoomed off at a much faster speed. 

"Marvelous!" The cat yelled. "Let's see what you have for me, prince of darkness!"

As I zoomed along the way I was practically close enough to reach his tail. I shot out of my shadow and used that same force to send my Khopesh out at him like a bullet. He dodged and Hana came out from the otherside, throwing his small knife at mine and sending mine back at me. The cat skidded to a stop right before it hit Hana and I caught my blade and skidded to stop behind him. Then Hana yanked his hands and a wire trap sprouted out from all around the dreaded cat. 

"I think that's checkmate, Feline." I said. 

He smirked and his magic paws vanished. Then he stood up right and snickered. 

"Truly astounding!" He chuckled. "This means we can move on to the next phase!"

"Next we will have to do it while balancing books atop of our heads…" I grumbled. 

"Well I didn't think you'd appreciate that training, Hana-chan has already completed that training." The cat answered. 

Am I sure Hana's really human? I've never seen his face after all…

"Forget I said anything, what's the next stage?" I asked. 

"Singles battle, all out." He then pointed at me. "Your swordsmanship and shadow crawl has grown Immensely under Himitsus tutelage. While I've trained your mind, body and soul to thrive at peak condition. Now it is time to work on your own unique moveset."

"And what does that mean exactly?"

"Well it's no secret boy, you are a tamer after all, aren't you? You must learn to use them in combat simultaneously with yourself. Then achieve coalescence." He said. 

"Do I really have to?" I mumbled. 

"You see what you have accomplished here in just four months with a partner?" He asked. "Why not use a gift you have been blessed with? Besides, Hana will be right beside you. He must learn Coalescence with me."

"Wait what?" I asked. "Is he seriously your Familiar?" 

Hana nodded. "Yeah, but it kinda feels like I'm his…"

"It's because you are far too insignificant to handle the mighty Bakeneko. But I think now is a good time then any to get you ready for my awesome power."

I sighed. "Fantastic." 

"So, I do hope you have fun on your little field trip today. Make sure you contact that Casey girl and let her know you need Thomas for an extended period of time."

My heart raced as he said that. Casey, I haven't heard or seen her in so long. I bit my lip and scratched the back of my head. 

"What about my temple training?" I asked.

"We will continue that as well alongside coalescence tomorrow. Master Boa will be here in the afternoon, so you'll report to the temple tomorrow around lunch time after you workout. Then take a few hours break and prepare. I think the vulnerable state you'll be in will help with connection."

"Well, technically I don't think Thomas is even my Familiar. Boa mentioned something about Generational Familiar connection. I don't know if that counts as the same as a soul bond." I said. 

"Indeed it doesn't. You both are merely family then. In that case you may have to use Yukimi." 

I shivered. "That's gonna be fun…"

He smirked."And ritual's don't start with kissing. So don't get too excited." 

"I wasn't thinking that at all!" I snapped. 

"Sure, you're a young man. You probably had much worse sulatious thoughts. I was a young man once myself, you know."

"Can you stop!"

He snickered. "So uptight. Well, come on. I'll reward you both with a Samurai's traditional dinner."

Man, for four months. I still don't like dealing with life anymore than I used to…