He paused for a few moments, his eyes observing the peculiar inky creature. – Perhaps it was similar to even himself! Looking quite transformed into some kind of beast. The big difference being the fact that Tris's transformation looked genuinely real, rather than an ink copy.
It was tall, perhaps eight feet, or even ten, he could barely tell. After all, there was still a big distance between them. – Its claws inky, similar to a bear's, massive nonetheless. Its body seemed not to be covered in armour, but rather some kind of hide. Stronger than normal.
The Inky demon stood with its head raised, staring at the sky its head? Akin to a wolf of some kind, elongated, with inky fangs ready to tear anything apart. Piece by piece, scream by scream.
Tris took a deep breath. – This was not an unstable mutation, but rather. A perfected one. This being wasn't just on par with a lower high rank—it was far beyond it. And all he could do was blink. – No, he knew he could probably take it. In his own transformed form at least. But it was risky... And he wanted to gain from it.
He took out his phone, skipping over the contact list as he clicked on Fen's number, proceeding to call the man. – What did he want? A payment. He wasn't one to do such work for mere reputation. – Plus, taking such a fight would be seen by everyone around.
And as such, the phone began simply making its little sound as Tris lifted it up to his ear. Listening closely as he waited for Fen to pick up the call. His lips twisted in a small smile. – Click! Fen answered.
"Right, took care of it-? That was fast..."
Fen spoke with some confidence. He didn't expect him to lose, that's for sure. In the end, he knew why he had sent him in the first place. – A strategic move to send the one who would surely have the higher chances.
"No, it's a perfected mutation. Stronger than a lower high rank from the looks of it. – So, I want a deal. I ain't dealing with that thing without something in return, hm?"
Tris spoke, just smiling as his eyes kept watching the Ebon being. His voice was soft, almost following a poetic tonality once more. – He simply took a deep breath as he listened to the silence of the call. – Fen was thinking.
"Ah... Speak what you want, young man. And I'll answer. Knowledge is always what you seek... We both know that. So what will it be this time?"
He asked, Fen was already used to this. Tris always wanted more information. And he had a suspicion of what question he would ask this time. After all, he was quite pushy on it a few weeks ago.
"My mother, you barely speak about her. Yet you said she's a ruler of the angels, some kind of higher Saint, god even... Tell me about her."
The fox asked, his ears flickering. His voice almost got raspy. – Why was he so sad regarding a person he didn't really meet? Yet it sounded genuine... No, not genuine... Copied to some extent, mimicked. Almost all his emotions were shown like they were calculated, like he thought what he should feel, deduced it... Peculiar!
"Ah... Lady Althea. – Queen of the heavens, ruler of the skies. Those were the nicknames she was given. To some extent, they sound like something you would say. Do they not? – At your birth, when Dawn attacked in a moment of weakness. It was like the world knew it would happen. The heavens were sealed, and so was she with it."
Fen answered the boy's question, attempting to be as clear as possible. And he knew one thing Tris understood with ease. Poetry! – And he surely did understand, his lips pressing against each other.
"Sealed, you say? By what? And who holds the key?"
His lips kept pressing against each other as he spoke, his eyes still following the sleeping monster. – Attempting to just make mental notes of every piece of information. Like the usual.
"A relic of yours. Of course. – It said when claimed, you will get a power of your Mother's lineage, and the heavens will be unsealed... But sadly, we are unaware of what it is. We just know it's the Relic of Ascendance."
This time, Fen was blunt. It was clearly the most important piece of information Tris wanted. – And he was not wrong, Tris just gave a sigh, his ears flickering in an almost nod-like motion. Not like Fen could see it.
"Noted... That's what I wanted. We'll see if I want more after I deal with it. I'll make sure to have some fun playing with it..."
Tris spoke with a smile, his voice turning rather neutral. His eyes focusing once more on the beast's features. Trying to make his mind spot any weakness. Any spot he could piece with ease and dispose of this horrid creature.
"Mhm, call me if you need help with it. I'll tag along or get the others. – Take care."
As he said those words. Fen did not await a response from Tris. – As the call just stopped, clearly, he decided it was best to do that in the fox's nose. But the boy was not one to be sad, just giving a small pout, then a chuckle.
The book at his waist floated lightly from the belt, raising itself as it flew open. – Skipping through the pages in some swift manner. – The pages were filled with information, but not quite filled... It seemed like small ideas were noted in every corner. His memory was sharp, he just needed to sometimes have them in order.
He counted his runic papers once more and skipped through what each did, to make sure he remembered even in the heat of battle. – Precision and mind were the key to winning this fight. It was quite simple, taking he couldn't outdo it in hand-to-hand combat... Mundanely, at least, with runes he could volleyball with its core... Probably.
After making that note, he took a deep breath, grabbing the book out of the air and placing it at his waist, hidden by his white cloak once more. The more he could keep hidden, the less it could expect. And the more surprising he could be. – It was like a dance you knew, but the person you were dancing with didn't. And you were trying to embarrass them! He was good at it!
His memory went back to the little banquet he had after finishing eight grade, his nose scrunching a tad bit at it. He absolutely disliked dancing as an art. – But he heavily liked it as a battle art...
He spent the past few months developing one, apparently, it was something every Sol Heir did. Developing a fighting style for themselves. – Tris? He moved it around a dance in Japanese mythology. It was fitting taking his Kitsune nature. The Kagura Dance. Though heavily changed he attempted to keep its base.
It came out well, but it was missing something. He knew what it was missing, but he couldn't quite create it. – A stance of some kind. His hand and foot movements were too erratic. Way too erratic. It caused him to make mistakes and sometimes get hit without having a good way to counterattack.
He shook his head, it was enough thinking about it. He could fix it someday, time was something he did not lack as he took a deep breath. – Tris stepped forward as to have a clean line of movement towards the creature. His hand raised itself into the air as he forged a sharp, thick needle out of strings of light. Throwing it forward at the hide of the creature!
A loud roar could be heard as the needle lightly pierced its flesh. Slowly regaining its senses, it let out that ear-piercing sound. – But that took time. Before he could fully do it, Tris moved his body, in thin air he created his glaive, cutting the distance between them in mere moments as he stood behind it, raising his weapon, he lowered it with all his force, piercing and cutting its shoulder.
The flaw of such a mutation was its sacrifice. – It could regenerate its flesh. Normal shadows had their armour made out of their own hardened flesh. This one was different. Its hide was its own thing, almost made out of external materials. Harder than the normal armour, but its healing factor was extremely low.
Taking Tris's weapon was mundane, made out of normal steel he simply created. It could still heal, but significantly slower. – As it regained its senses and moved to slash its claws at him. He had already moved back a good distance, causing it to miss drastically.
Something made his ears perk up... It did not move, but Tris could feel something happening all around him. – Shadows moved. It was not alone.
In the corners, all above the buildings, shadows began forming, their cores darker and darker. Almost all of them had the same mutations as the first. All of the same rank. – This was a pack of them.
They still did not move, standing and surrounding him in a circle, yet keeping their distance. Tris clenched his teeth, breathing heavily. – Yet he did not have the chance to react. – As every one of them dashed towards him.