Cursed Soul: Ch.10

In the training hall of the Dreadfort, the sound of a fight echoed as it was occupied by just two people, the higher-ranked of the two looking amused as he had restricted himself to just parrying and blocking.

I on the other hand felt like I just ran a marathon as my entire body felt as if it was on fire, the sweat making my clothes cling to my body as I slowly walked in a wide circle around him.

“You've improved. Not much, but I can see some improvements in your stance and your capabilities.”

“That's…not enough…” I breathed out as I tensed my legs before lunging forward, feinting a chop to his neck while bringing my left leg around for a side kick.

He was quick to block it with his shin before pushing my leg down and out of the way, spinning with the block before landing a back heel into my upper back.

The attack wasn't enough to hurt, but it was enough to knock the wind out of me and I coughed a bit to get used to the pain as I spun around and glared at the amused man.

“What? It's not everyday I get to knock the newbie around.”

“You've been knocking me around all week!” I grumbled as I decided to take a breather only to groan as the man rose an eyebrow.

“You ain't getting a break. Besides, your jutsushiki have been helping out a lot.” He said while gesturing towards the two dozen other rings that were engraved into the flooring itself.

The jutsushiki themselves are meant to give a slight boost to both fighters' stamina recovery, learning capabilities and muscle recovery.

Not only the air inside said area be thinned out a bit help with getting used to low altitudes, but the jutsushiki can also be reversed to simulate a heavier gravitational pull on their bodies.

'And these are just with the one book on basic jutsushiki. Once I can figure out how to make it so that these boosts are increased exponentially and how to apply the same things to boost my ethernano…Ooh~ I can just feel the training montage.'

“I know it's a good thing you made, but you really gotta stop salivating over it.” Danny's voice drew me from my thought process and he rolled his eyes as I huffed and stuck my tongue out at him.

“No one understands the sheer brilliance you all are using, but once I upgrade and finally perfect this work of art, whoo boy~! You guys are going to kiss the ground I walk on.”

“That's a very nice dream, Private Creed, but reality is often disappointing.” Baul asked as he walked in with an amused smirk and I simply grinned as I walked out of the domain with a snort.

“Oh, do not worry, dear Colonel. Unlike most people's dreams, mine will actually become a reality.”

“Well, until then, get ready. You got another job.”

“I was wondering when the next one was coming in.” I muttered and Baul snorted before nodding at Danny as the man walked out of the domain.

“You too, Lycan. You and two others will be accompanying him on this mission.”

“I expected that. What's the mission? Escort? Protection? VIP guard?”

“Assassination.” Baul's words as well as the casual way he delivered them made me blink a few times as I turned to Danny, shaking my head as I saw the man's eyes lit up.

“Seriously?”

“Details will be given by the captain. Get washed up and be at his office in five.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The target's name is Commander Pokko of the Boscoan Military Army. Usually, we would not target commanders of this country since a war could break out because of this at any moment, but we have been given the go-ahead by both the Xylander Royal Family from Bosco and the E. Fiore Royal Family of our own Fiore.

Your objective is to not only eliminate this man, but plant the file of evidence in your grasp to frame one of the factions that are a political enemy against the Xylander Royal Family.

Completion of this mission will result in us earning a gold star and failure would result in us losing a gold star. Make sure to bring his head back as proof that the missions was completely successfully, understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“Uh, apologies for interrupting…but what is a gold star?” I asked with a sheepish smile and General Sparda simply looked amused as Baul looked exasperated.

“Did they not teach you guys about them in the camp?” Alex asked and I snorted as I crossed my arms.

“We were taught the basic laws, tactics in battle and then the rest of the time were pure physical and magical exercises. We never went in depth on anything, but then again, I was mostly concerned about figuring out my own personal magic so I could have studied up on that.”

“Gold stars are what a battalion receive when they have done something of great importance to the country, whether that could be from eradicating an invading army to stopping a war before it could break out. They are very rare and even our battalion, which has the most gold stars amongst the Rune Knights, have only been given twelve.”

“…I feel like I shouldn't be on this job, then. This is way above my paygrade.”

“I thought so too, but with your jutsushiki, this mission may go smoother. However, if you still feel like giving up, we can ask another person to take your place.” He said and I frowned for a while as everyone looked at me before smiling.

“Yeah, can someone else take my place?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wait, you gave up the chance to get a gold star?!” Alya whispered/ shouted and I nodded while watching as Alex, Danny, Erica and one new girl flew away in a Praying Mantis.

“Yep.”

“…You know that's an instant promotion from Private to like Sergeant Major or even Captain, right?”

“Oh, really? Then I'm even more glad I didn't take the spot.”

“I know I'm going to regret asking, but why are you even more glad?”

“I know my limitations and I know that while my jutsushiki are good, I myself will be nothing more than a liability. Thus, I felt it necessary to not take part.”

“I could not have said it better myself, Creed.” I turned as General Sparda spoke up from behind us, looking to see the man standing as tall and regal as usual with a proud smirk on his face.

“Really? Wait…this was a test, wasn't it?” I muttered with a facepalm and Alya's eyes widened in realization as the man simply rose an eyebrow.

“Indeed, it was.”

“You were never going to send me on that mission, were you?”

“Oh, absolutely not. You are far too weak for such a mission.”

“And what if I would have said yes?”

“Oh, it is an assassination mission, but there is no gold star. This was simply a quick mission to take out a political rival of the Fiore family. You would have still gone on the mission, but Lycan was ordered to explain everything the moment you all finish the mission.”

“Then why even ask me, sir?” I asked as I looked at the general and he smiled before raising his cane and gesturing it at me.

“To see whether or not you have thought about your battle just last week. I wanted to see if you had developed an ego after taking your first life or if you are still the same confident yet cautious young man I met when I accepted you as a recruit.”

“Is everything you do this roundabout?” I asked and sighed as the man simply smirked in response.

“You'll come to learn that everything I do is roundabout. Now, follow me back to my office.”

“For what?” I asked even as I walked after the man, to which he smirked in amusement before answering.

“For your real job. Sergeant Hunters, you follow too since you have no urgent missions to do.”

“Okay!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Here is your real mission.” He said as he pushed the portfolio over and I took it before opening it and raising an eyebrow at the first word.

“Border Patrol?” I asked and the man nodded as Alya looked excited.

“Indeed. With the recent invasion by those terrorists, the border outposts have been working overtime in figuring out just how they broke through the Jutsushiki barrier. They also asked for all capable and free Jutsushiki users so I recommended your name and they approved.”

“And I am tagging along as his bodyguard, sir?” Alya asked and I snorted at her excitement as the general nodded.

“You are indeed. Now, the flight for the border is leaving in ten minutes with a group of soldiers that volunteered to stay there for the time being so you both should prepare for that.”

“Will do, General.”

“Before you go, though, I will ask one thing.” He spoke up right as Alya and I went to leave, to which I blinked and turned to see him frowning slightly.

“Something we should look out for?” I asked and the man nodded as he interlocked his fingers in front of his face.

“Yes, while the Scarlet Mantis falls under the jurisdiction of Fiore's army, you do not answer to anyone other than myself or Colonel Mundus, understood?”

“Understood.” I nodded as I realized what he meant, Alya nodding as well as the general looked at her before he smiled and sat back in his chair.

“Then, I have nothing further to say. Dismissed.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Damn, this place is pretty big.” I muttered as the Praying Mantis landed, following the rest of Scarlet Mantis out to what was going to be our home for the following two to three weeks.

While border outposts were normally the size of like a small camp or such, this one was just one gigantic fortress built near the top of a large mountain, its walls a dull grey with numerous watch towers and Rune Knights patrolling it.

However, the one thing that attracted my attention the most was the large radio tower/ antenna built on the top of the building as well as the pillar of purple energy shooting high up into the sky.

Looking out in each direction of the beam, I hummed at the possible thousands upon thousands of Jutsushiki carved into the ground and the sky by said beam while Rune Knights were busy tracing and carving new sigils into the barrier.

“Ah, you must be the reinforcements from the Scarlet Mantis, correct?” Looking back at the fortress or its entrance to be more specific, I was surprised by the sight of a smiling Lahar walking out and towards them.

Taking a quick glance at the bespectacled and curvaceous woman with short black hair by his side, I quickly shook my head and turned back to look at the man right as he spoke.

“I thank you all for coming on such short notice as it is quite hard to find strong Rune Knights that wish to help out. Now, which one of you is the Jutsushiki user?”

“Right here. Eric Creed, sir. Reporting for duty.”

“Alya Hunters, his assigned guard as ordered by General Sparda, sir!” Alya spoke up and the man frowned for a brief moment before he smiled and nodded.

“Understood. Eric Creed and Alya Hunters, you two will follow me to where the rest of the Jutsushiki users are already busy. The rest of you will be escorted by Colonel Romoan here to your stations.”

“Please, follow.” The woman spoke as she turned and walked towards the fortress, with Alya and I following after Lahar as the man gestured for us to do so.

“So, can I ask what exactly everyone is focused on so much that they need more users?” I asked before blinking as the man requipped a page and handed it over along with a pen without even looking.

“First things first, I need to know you know the basics well enough. Please complete this test.”

“Sure.” I said with a shrug as I took the test, taking my time with a hum as I followed after Lahar into the dense forest around the fortress before handing it over right as we entered a clearing.

“Mr. Creed, question #8?” He asked as he looked up at me and I frowned slightly as I looked at the question and back up at him.

“Is the answer wrong?”

“No, it's just…quite the unique way to look at it.”

“Well, since the poison is already stuck inside your body and you need to create a domain to remove it, why not add in a few Jutsushiki at the same time to slowly make your body resistant to it? That way, you can heal even faster and the next time that exact poison is used, you have more time now.”

“That is quite the way to look at it, but at the same time, I do not dislike the idea. Also, you pass so here's the situation.” He said as he gestured to where a trio of Rune Knights were crowded around one section, each of them humming softly as we walked closer.

The moment I looked past them, I read through the entire section of that specific barrier and slightly realized why they were humming.

“Am I…reading that correctly?” I asked with a slight frown as I crouched in front of it, not daring to even touch the hole in the barrier as one of the Rune Knights snorted.

“You are, indeed. Someone used a simply Jutsushiki opening key to open up a part of the barrier.”

“That, however, should not be possible considering the pattern sequence for each country's barrier is changed slightly to make sure something like this doesn't happening.”

“That's not even mentioning the fact that each sequence is changed once every week which leads to only one conclusion. There's a traitor in the fortress that gave them our key and led them in.” The last one ended their theory and my frown deepened as ethernano gathered at my fingertip.

“What if we just make a pattern that forbids anyone without a specific key from tampering with the barrier? We can make each key unique to each person and let the barrier give off a unique reaction to each key. In doing so, we can figure out who the traitor is and apprehend them.”

“You want us to create a ten kilometer long runic pattern on the barrier and then make a specific pattern key for each of us here?” Lahar asked before smirking as I snorted and shook my head while standing up.

“No, we make the ten kilometer pattern and then we make a key for every single person in this fortress as well as everyone in the fortresses along the barrier wall.”

“That would take weeks of work alone on the barrier let alone making the perfect key that reacts uniquely to every person's ethernano.” One of the Knights spoke up with a frown and I nodded as ethernano gathered at my fingertips.

“Then it's a good thing I've been stationed here for as long as it takes. Now, who has books on Jutsushiki that continues on from the first tome on the basics that I can read?”

A/N: A quick and short chapter as I didn't have anything big planned for this one.

However, the next chapter is going to be another battle but this time, Eric is actually going to do some work!

That and I couldn't figure out how to end the chapter off better, but give me a night of sleep and I might have something to put in there.

Also, yes, I'm focusing a whole lot on Jutsushiki, but that's because I want him to be such a master at it that he can expand an entire domain within a split second.

Hehe~ Expand a domain. Get it?…I'll see myself out.

Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!