Nayla stood in front of the Scythe presented in front of her. it's beautiful. a cylindrical snath made of marble, the clamp is made of gold with a single strand of white cloth waving from it.
The tang had two crescent moons and a pair of golden wings accompanying it. the blade? pure Aeternian Titanium steel, sharpened by Osko himself. The scythe had engravings that displayed an unknown language lost in time. Some say that it would light up if the weapon had become one with the User's soul, practically becoming part of their wholeness.
As for Nayla herself, she had changed appearances. While she is still wearing the same piece of cloth that covered her breast, her lower cloth has transformed into a short white miniskirt with golden edges and patterns, she also gained strands of semi-transparent white clothing flaps that are attached to the miniskirt, a golden bracelet on her left wrist, and finally, two golden underliners beneath her eyes.
Over the past few weeks, she has learned how to manifest a pair of transparent gold-colored wings, fly, and she has mastered the art of melee combat, preferring the scythe over any other Weapon in Osko's arsenal. However, she still has a lot to learn.
Osko: "It appears that your weapon has manifested. I am quite surprised that it is a scythe."
Nayla: "What do you expect?"
Osko: "A rapier. It's more elegant."
Nayla: "It's too small. I like the scythe. So, what now?"
Osko: "You have learned many, my apprentice. However, you are still far from mastering everything. Now, I will teach you the ways of advanced methods. Such as dodging an attack, or maybe ranged combat, and perhaps Weapon amplification."
Nayla: "Weapon amplification? what's that?"
Osko: "Well, what if I just show you?"
Nayla: "Uh... Okay."
Osko: "Now, lend me your weapon. I will return it after this."
Nayla nodded. She gave the small god her scythe. After receiving the weapon, he manifests a humanoid figure made out of silver. The figure itself is feminine in appearance, with no facial features except for the bob-hair they have.
Osko gave the figure a weapon, which it accepts before getting into a stance.
Osko: "While normal attacks with your weapon only harm your opponent to a certain degree, amplified attacks can harm your opponents even more. this method is used by channeling magic into your own weapon. Let me demonstrate." He said before flicking his fingers.
Immediately, the scythe the figure is holding has its engraving lit in gold-colored lines. this indicates that the User's soul has become one with the weapon, allowing it to possess the magical properties that the user possesses.
Osko: "Do you see the engravings being lit? That is the sign that it has become one with your soul, amplifying its properties. Now, let me show you the new ways you can attack an enemy with a weapon in this state."
The figure leaped into the air, falling down and spinning before smashing the ground with the scythe, creating a small explosion and a medium-sized shockwave around the figure. then, it spun around with the scythe in one hand before creating a manifested slash that was launched forward as it spun once. it then did another barrage of slashes with acrobatic movements as the manifestations of the slashes were launched forward, cutting everything in its path. After that, the figure launched itself forward with speeds that almost broke the sound barrier. the attack acts like a drill as the figure whirled mid-air.
Finally, the figure stopped. the demonstration was destructive, yet beautiful and elegant. it combines the mesmerizing acrobatics and deadly strikes as its style, perfectly mimicking Nayla if she had succeeded in her amplified weapon's mastery.
Nayla had her eyes wide like a child seeing fireworks. She was absolutely stunned by the demonstration that Osko made. She is already imagining herself battling countless beasts and bad guys with those moves.
Nayla: "Ohohohoho! whencanwelearnwhencanwelearnwhencanwelearnwhencanwelearn?"
Osko: "Calm down, youngling. you are going to learn that while also learning how to maneuver your way out and around. Now first, here is your weapon." He said, returning the scythe to its owner.
Osko: "Alright. you don't need to close your eyes, none of that generic mind-peace things. all you have to do... is to feel your soul reach out to the weapon. imagine channeling your energy into this very tool."
Nayla understands the instructions. She focuses on her weapon, imagining a part of her soul enter the weapon. her muscles relaxed, her mind flowed, her soul embraced. She can feel her... energy? energy, enter the weapon. then, the engravings lit up. she can feel it, her weapon becoming one.
Osko: "Good. Now try cutting down those mannequins over there, he pointed to the edge of the area."
Immediately, Nayla launched herself with speeds exceeding sound, she slices three of the mannequins in a single blow, slicing them off effectively. after that, she finds another group of mannequins. She smiles, manifesting her wings before flying upwards diagonally towards them. As soon as she reaches at least ten meters above the mannequins, she demanifests her wings before dropping down to deliver the explosive blow that Osko demonstrated. She rolled with her scythe for the momentum, charging her power into the weapon. Then, She smashes the ground when she lands, creating an explosion that destroys all the mannequins.
A slash of energy is launched at her. luckily, Nayla saw the attack and dashed out of the way, narrowly avoiding it. she looked at what caused it and became surprised. it is the white mannequin that Osko made earlier, and it has an exact copy of her scythe.
Nayla: "What... what was that for?" she asks, feeling slightly betrayed.
Osko: "A test. You've seemed to have mastered your amplified weapon. So, I wanted to see how you would do in combat. Now, try and defeat your clone."
She looks at the clone, who is already dashing at her, before jumping high in the air, committing a backflip mid-air to dodge before releasing a slash manifestation at her opponent as soon as she has her sights on the clone.
The clone evaded the attack, dashing forward faster than Nayla could see. it then spun its weapon, holding it on the tip of the grip as it extends towards Nayla before slashing down on her.
Nayla fell to the ground, face first. she feels extreme pain in her back. but when she reaches for any sign of blood on her rear, there is simply nothing. not even a wound. She is confused, yes. but there is no time to stay put. She rolls away quickly, avoiding an overhead strike from the clone.
Osko: "Your magical abilities do not only end on superior offensive capabilities, they also form a defensive barrier. However, with a few powerful hits, that barrier can disappear. the barrier does not protect against pulling, choking, drowning, or dangerous fogs, unfortunately." Osko explains from afar.
She slides to her left, spinning in the process to dodge a horizontal strike, and finally throws her own scythe to Copy. the scythe spun around as it launches toward the clone, producing a light blue trail from the blade.
Miraculously, the clone was not fast enough to evade the slash. So, it ate the slash directly to the body, launching it back a few meters before stopping to a halt. Nayla smiles, turning around to face her master. She walks with confidence. finally, she manages to take out that clone. She doesn't care if it's a lucky shot. all that matters is that she has finally won-
WHOOSH!
She has her eyes glancing to the left, not even a time to get her eyes wide. the clone... it's not down yet and it has taken advantage of her ignorance. To pay the price, she receives a slash from below that launches her up to the sky before being thrown to Osko's side.
Osko: "It appears that your arrogance has cost you your victory."
Nayla: "I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS STILL UP!"
Osko: "Well, the amplified staff might be powerful, but it is still not powerful enough to strike down a magic user of high amounts." Osko said, demanifesting the clone.
Nayla: "Then why did you put me up against a high level?"
Osko: "Because you are a "high-level". Every magic user whose purpose is combat is a high level."
Nayla: "What type of people aren't?"
Osko: "Workers, The common folk, the untrained."
Nayla scowled, not accepting the fact that she had been defeated by a mere Manifestation.
Nayla: "Not fair."
Osko: "There, there. I know it's hard, but you need to keep fighting. besides, he never did, didn't he?"
Nayla perked up upon hearing him mentioned. Why now? why didn't he mention him earlier? was it to motivate her? maybe... No, Nayla could never be like him. How could she? He's much stronger, braver... Angrier. but still more concentrated than she is. Sure, he didn't start like that. He started much worse. but gradually, he became better... he became unstoppable. To the point that he successfully murdered more than 300 men in that damn place... No, She couldn't become like him.
Nayla: "I... he..."
Osko: "He's powerful... more stronger than most of the legendary warriors here. but you? you can become his equal... somebody as powerful as him. but you must train. practice harder. I'm sure you can become more... now, you seem exhausted. how about you get some rest? We'll also be having a rest day tomorrow. Oh yeah, and I've also delivered food to your resting quarters. I hope you enjoy them."
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A5)2429: "KRUEGER'S DOWN!"
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+V.~N=: "He's bleeding. Oh god, they hit him good."
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A2=['][2: "Come on, man. High pay mercs, don't forget it" ....
Images of a strange landscape invades both Nayla's and Sabrina's dream. They are.... full of images of their own home... Earth. but it isn't about them. It is about a group of four men, fighting for their lives as they attempted to escape, taking... something with them.
The first few seconds shows the men, fully armored, infiltrating a base with an American flag.
The second one shows them killing many soldiers.
the third showing something unexplainable... it is incomprehensible in human eyes...or even any eyes.
The fourth shows each of the men, wounded. with military technologies they wouldn't even think existed in the first place.
The fifth and final, showing a man, who had lost most of his body parts, regenerating them all with a red liquid that came out of his body... it even regrew his clothes....
Suddenly, A voice rang out....
Remember...
it sounded familiar, like a voice long lost on their pasts.
Coming...
It sounded louder and clearer.
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Embrace.
The booming voice in her dream woke her up to a jolt. she is sweating. her breath heavy, her eyes looking around room, and her senses arise. but fortunately, she's still in her room.
Nayla sighed in relief. that nightmare was insane, yet confusing. who were those men? what did she saw? an american flag? and most importantly....were the man's limbs growing back?
But that voice... oh that voice. she missed that voice dearly. like a soothing song in stressful times, it healed her soul. it might be a regular voice for every other people. but for her? it is something that she takes pleasure in.
She misses him. every day, she couldn't stop thinking about her. she regrets treating him badly in the past, not doing anything to him while he needed her... she hated those moments. she wanted to go back in time and scold her younger self. but sadly, there's nothing she could do about it. they haven't talked about anything positive for years, not even a single word at family gatherings. he felt left out, like a black sheep. and it's all because of her...
even her last memories of them together is him begging her not to die. screaming for anyone to come, any help. he dropped to his knees, begging to God not to take her away from him.
But that god was non-existent (According to what she has experienced). Nobody answered his prayers. seems like Humanity was hopeless afterall.
She got out from her bed, dressed in nothing but her skin. Her room was large, like a big bedroom that is located in an ancient Greek city. there was a window, a desk, a piano, bookshelves, and other things.
it's currently night, with only the moonlight and her candles lighting the room up. and it's beautiful. nothing like she's ever seen. but perhaps not as addicting as looking at the man She dreams of.
She walks to the window, meeting the sight of Osko's entire residence and the night sky. she looks towards the stars, noticing how bright they shined over the horizon. and the moon... well, there are three moons, exactly.
She knows that even if Earth far away, it's still out there. and of course, there is him, still knowing that she's still there too.
Nayla: "Hi Adityo..." She spoke, seemingly to nobody. But in fact, she's speaking to him. Because she knows he's still out there somewhere.
Nayla: "I'm not sure if you can even hear me but... I hope you're doing great.."
She's having a good time, feeling like she's not alone in this journey.
Nayla: "Do you remember the last time we-"
Oh, no. of course he does. and it was horrible.
Nayla: "Nevermind, Don't answer that."
She feels embarassed despite being alone.
Nayla: "I'm sorry for hurting you... I really am."
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Nayla: "I wish I could go back in time and fix everything... then we can be together. But... That's all in the past now, Right?...Listen, I don't wanna hurt you anymore..."
She began feeling a deep sense of... unexplainable feelings..
Nayla: "And I know you don't wanna hurt me too...."
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Nayla: "We're both relatives... bound by blood."
She says with a tinge of sadness.
Nayla: "But I love you... so much... I know i shouldn't be feeling like this, and it's fine if you don't feel the same.... I'll still care for you."
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Nayla: "I just hope we could talk properly again one day...
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Nayla: "It's been a pleasure talking with you, My love.... Stay strong... I love you."
She looks towards the night sky, seeing a single flash of a star before it dims once more. she reaches out, feeling the wind gaze upon her hand softly.
It's like....
Somebody is holding your hand...
Knowing that they'll never let go of you...
ever.
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Sabrina woke up softly to the night sky. She looks around, noticing that she's still in the dorm room. apparently, she is now on this recruit program with, surprise-surprise, Chris and Alex. who had also transformed into beast-men like her. With Chris having the ears of a dog, and Alex having the ears of a cat. Well, If they appear here too, then there's a chance of Aletta appearing too.
But... She feels something else. It's like her love is not complete with Aletta. like something is missing... but then she remembers about... him.
Oh, Adityo... How she misses him. even with his short figure, and an introverted personality, she still somehow finds something so... addictive in him.
but sadly, he has been distant to her... ever since she has gotten with her current partner. She doesn't know why. but... is it because of... no, no way he's in love with her. There's no chance that a boy likes a taller girl.
But what if he did? what if he did harbored feelings for herself? Well, that would be shocking... and heartbreaking too. the idea of all those years of him seeing her with Aletta having the best time of their lives while he is left alone in the dark is saddening....
she just hoped that she could at least talk to him more once again, knowing what is he going through, or how is he doing...
But now.? all She could do is just pray for his luck, hoping that he'll have a good life ahead of him... because that's the only way.
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Forward.
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???: "Damn, look at him."
???: "We can just get that shit in him, He'll get better."
???: "Get better? He's just a Severely messed up Spine with some nerves exposed that's attached to a skull that's barely recognizable. And do i have to mention how his Brain Already lost a third of it's original size?!"
???: "Oh relax, buddy. All he needs are the Nanoes. Besides, everybody in the R&D, Science, and medical department made those, right? there's no way it would flop. Oh, and they said that he's still conscious, even now."
???: "...The fuck?"
???: "Yep, One tough motherfucker. and now we give him the JUICE!"
The figure injected the canister into the man's body...Nothing happened. Well, looks like it is a failed product. now they'll just have to.
His eyes opened...and they're glowing red.
His limbs are growing, with a black substance being the cause of regeneration.
Red sparks of electricity are beginning to zap all over the place..
this is when they know something bad is about to happen.
???: "Kikey, I think we need to run."
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