148 Chat ( You and me are going to go far kid)

The coming week was filled with scrambling around searching for interesting fights to observe. Again it was mostly misses instead of hits but there were a few interesting gems. Oddly enough those abilities were not the most interesting thing for me this week.

That award happened to land on Ikki. Every since that fight with the Kirihara-senpai Ikki has been on some different timing. Before he walked around with this easy confidence and a light smile on his face. It was almost like no matter how bad things got he was always going to be a pleasant man who would face issues with a clear head.

That of course was not an accurate reflection of Ikki’s mental state as the guy was under tremendous pressure but it was the image he outputted. Now that image had shifted. The easy smile was long since gone replaced by a frown that seemed etched into his flesh. The easy confidence was replaced by an unyielding determination.

If before he was training himself till he dropped he now was training himself to the bone. The guy did not go a single day without incurring some sort of grievous injury that he had not business experiencing. The number of times Shizuka begged me to heal the guy was crazy but every single time I did he would glare at me with everything he had.

Which of course led to more begging the next time he injured himself. I was honestly getting sick of being tugged over and over again to heal the thankless fuck but his sister managed to convince me every time. She knew she was being unreasonable and that Ikki was being a dick head but she still faced me with a heart breaking expression on her face. She could not bear to see her brother in such an awful state.

I will say that while this training was rather extreme it was probably the best thing that Ikki could be doing right now. His body had almost reached the absolute limit of what training could provide. When he reached that peak it would be make or break for the guy.

Would he give in to the limits of humanity or charge forward recklessly shredding the chains of Fate? I honestly had no idea, his determination was certainly higher than the original work but in the same vein, his mental state was on the fucking brink.

I could not wait to see what happened to him. Beyond the training he was putting himself through the change in attitude and actions have certainly changed the tides of fate. 

Stella ironically enough actually respected Ikki more for putting himself in the grinder instead of wallowing. She still thought he was not worth her time but at least now she no longer thought of him as a pathetic display.

Alice seemed a bit more distant from the rest of their peers. Sure there was still an easy smile on their face and they still joked around and talked with Shizuka but that was it. Ikki was not able to reach them as he was so maybe the secret assassin would stay true to their original mission.

Then there was the next match that Ikki needed to get through. 

He was up against the maiden of wounds herself Ayase Ayatsuji. In the original story, she befriended Ikki and upgraded her own swordplay while also sabotaging Ikki making sure he went to their fight already injured.

Ultimately she lost to him from her own soft heart and went into her tragic backstory to get Ikki on her side. Ikki than promises to win back the Dojo that her father lost all those years ago.

She was honestly just a character to showoff Ikki’s own compassion while introducing a jealousy arc between Stella and Ikki. That does not mean she was not fleshed out but her purpose was clear in the story.

Now things were going to be massively different. Ikki while impressive has not been able to show off his intricate swordplay. So she had no reason to follow him trying to close the gap between her own sword and her father’s. Ikki was also far less approachable now with his standoffish nature and the constant frown on his face.

It was not like she needed to injure him before hand either. The guy was a walking talking wound machine by this point. All she had to do was enhance his wounds even further.

When I found out what her Blazer ability was I knew she was a gem. I had already explained why a Blazer with Wound Amplification was already crazy but she held the domain of Wound Manipulation. A lot more broad but anything Amplification could do as well. She could also heal even if she never should off that particular aspect considering her Father’s mental state.

Again I would blame that on the lack of creativity in most Blazers. From what I understand her Father was under some mental wounds and she would have ever thought of such things as a wound. So he was left in a near coma-like state in the hospital.

So she had no reason to learn from Ikki and they guy was already injuring himself constantly. That meant she had to ensure that he could not get the proper care he needed before their fight.

Which led to the current situation in front of him.

Ayase had found him after class and asked if they could talk privately. Stella had a frown on her face when it happened but she just watched suspiciously from the other side of the class. I had agreed to talk to her as I wanted to see what was on her mind.

As soon as they reached a private location she faced him and bowed her head deeply. Shaking from the nerves running through her body but determined to get her way.

“I know this is a lot to ask but can you not heal Kurogane-san?” She practically begged but she did not raise her head an inch. She was apparently going to stick to this until I agreed to her request. 

I took a step back and thought it over. Honestly, Ikki had been pissing me off massively with him hating me but taking advantage of his Sister’s begging. Beyond that, I felt for Ayase more than I did for Ikki. At one point I might have respected the guy but in comparison to motivation, I would have given Ayase the trophy every time.

So it was not really anything that I had to think about for very long.

“Okay, raise your head already. I won’t heal him but I am going to make that clear to him and his sister. I am not going to blind side them for you.” I spoke out after a moment. Blindsiding them would have been the greatest assist I could give to Ayase but I was not going to do that.

This was going to be the last bit of kindness I offered to Shizuka.

Ayase raised her head from the bowed position and bit her lip while looking at me. She was probably happy that I had accepted her request so easily but she was also thinking about how to get me to agree to the blind side. Seeing that I let out a sigh.

“Look, I get it. But I’m not the kind of person that would do that sort of thing. It’s not like you are going to need that anyways. Your Device is really broken when you get into it.” I spoke out after a moment of silence from the girl.

She seemed surprised that I would say such a thing but that surprise was replaced by a frown and a helpless bitter look. Again I felt for the girl but she was too lost in her pain to notice what she could be.

“There is no need to lie to me Prince-san. I know how weak I am. I have to rely on cheap tricks like this to advance in the tournament. I can’t face my opponents fairly. Any single one of them could overwhelm me before I could even give them a single wound.” She spoke out bitterly as she clenched her fists.

She hated that she was effectively spitting on her Father’s legacy but she was not willing to compromise on this. She needed revenge and she was willing to sell her soul to get it.

I let out a scoff that seemed to startle her but it really was ridiculous how much she was holding herself back.

“Do you really think so? From my perspective, you have something really special. Do you understand how rare Conceptual Manipulators are?” I asked with a frown on my face. She seemed utterly confused about what I was talking about. Seeing that clueless look I let my eyes go wide.

“What do you mean? I just manipulate wounds?” She asked with a frown and her brows furrowed. I looked at her blankly and felt completely baffled.

Was I perhaps being too harsh on the people of this world? I had thought that they all had an instinctual understanding of what their Device did but was that wrong? Did they have a vague sense of what their device did and rolled with it?

Maybe Stella did not even know she was a Dragon? Perhaps she settled on Flames for so long because that was what came easy and she never thought deeply about her device. The same could be said for any number of people who just did not get what they were doing. Hell, Ikki himself kind of had a misconception about his ability.

Maybe he truly thought that it was just the initial doubling. The kid might have accepted that a person with such a weak mana would have such a weak ability. Sure, the doubling would cost more Mana the more he did it but he should have been able to at least pull off two. Sure it would drain him but he should be capable of it.

Combine that with his super move and the kid could move but he never did it. I looked over at the confused girl and decided to play around with fate. Like I said I felt for her and helping her here was something rather easy for me.

“Tell me Ayatsuji-san you wish to be strong right? Strong enough that you no longer had to rely on such cheap tricks to win?” I asked with a gaze that bore into her.

She clenched her fists and looked like she wanted to punch me but she also nodded with a glare.

“Good, then I will teach you till your fight. You are not as weak as you think Ayatsuji-san. If you still think you can’t handle the fight under my training then I will agree to blindside Ikki for you. Hell, I’ll take it a step further a mess with him myself.” I spoke out with a sharp smile on my face.

The anger seemed to be dragged out of her in an instant. She just looked at me stunned about how things turned out but I could see the determination blaze back into her eyes as she faced me with everything she had.

She was willing to do anything for her revenge but if she could get it with a clear head she would sell ever single part of her to get it.