(Part 3)
10 YEARS AGO, 10450, WINTER MONTH 4, DAY 6, YEAR 10450 SAMURAI COUNTRY NAGASUKE
And right as he was gorging on unsanitary food that electrified his entire body with each bite under the seemingly serene night sky, his instinct saved him.
DANGER!
In the euphoria bleeding into every individual fiber of his being from every bite and his relaxation at finding food at last, he missed the descent of another near Awakened creature.
So, his mind oddly spaced at out for a second before he saw…
…
trails of gas in the air….
Funny enough, before the Vampire Bat that was at least quadruple its expected stature latch onto him, he rolled away as it smashed into the ground leaving a web of cracks.
In a quick recollection of how he had seen lines but had interpreted them to a roll that his body had performed on by instinct he faced his new enemy.
Ha!
Now full of food, this would be a better fight.
However, his opponent was also almost Awakened as it clearly was not a Vampire Bat of its usual stature.
Strangely though, his vision suddenly swayed after it opened its fanged mouth and he saw the faint lines again which suggested he should leap to his right but he instead back flipped once and then positioned his Wooden Sword to impale it.
Thus, it approached him in speed and kicked off his blade point before approaching with a bite that its lower canines left a trail of blood on his face from.
He had faced off against opponents before but why was this bat so different?
Yes, it was physically stronger than him.
But right now, he had so much energy there was much more to spare if he spent it all.
And what the hell were those lines!!!
Spinning around in the darkness of night, his opponent seemed to have disappeared.
No sound, no nothing until…
“Aargh!”
His head swarm and he knew it was back again, no lines this time but he jumped out of the way and missed a bite that was as audible as it was foreboding.
CHOMP!
He was there, the next instant and was bringing his sword down on it; when his mother had trained him every day, every week, every month and every quarter, how could he not take advantage of this opportunity?
However, his vision shook and he missed it after stumbling!
Immediately though, he took his stance and waited.
Nothing happening for a good stretch of time and he spun around to catch it’s fangs on the sharpened weapon edge.
Which meant that he was now being pushed back and its talons were making a mess of his body.
Eventually, he wrenched it to the side as his shirt now had his blood stains.
Then, he kicked off the ground and launched himself to stab at it.
The Vampire Bat flapped it’s wings and horizontally moved away but he rolled into a springing step and cut into a tree instead of its head.
Insidiously, the creature then made his vision blur after opening its mouth again and he was disoriented as its claws sank into his flank.
“AAARGH!”
Gritting his teeth, he yanked the sword free and the release of the weapon whipped it away to which he pounced on the Vampire Bat, clipped off a bit of its left wing before the point of the blade ended up in its mouth.
He reeled back at the confusion of his senses which was as though someone was screaming directly into his brain and twisting his nerves as he then tried to regain his posture.
And it was only after several moments of failing to properly hold himself upright that he knew it had left.
Stumbling quickly to the carcass of the Owl, Skrylla Yokuta reached the defeated foe and gobbled the rest of it up, hungrily.
***
The meat he had taken this time had filled him with energy for 3 days which even strictly following his practice.
However, a new improvement he saw was that when he Meditated and cleared his mind, those trails from before – the same one that had saved him from the Vampire Bat’s opening strike – were visible and hung about the air.
Then, after his Visualization practice, when he was doing his sword strokes he was getting inspirations.
At the first day since after he ate the owl, it had been a disturbance but when he has followed the inspiration they gave – after his Meditation and Visualization – he saw that it was as though it was giving him forms and movements that he had never thought of!
In fact, when he recalled the contests his mom had taken him to and the times when he had faced off against his sister, he saw new ways of potential response.
Thus, his Meditation and Visualization practice came before his Sword Practice but after his body fitness.
Anyway, following his bad luck of finding food, it was on the 3rd day after he had gorged on the Owl that he saw those lines again.
The trails of gas illuminating his mind, made him roll to the left and bump into a tree to see a friend of his and smile then kicked off another, successfully puncturing a wing albeit a shallow strike as the Vampire Bat was flying back up until it was out of reach.
He deftly climbed to a branch and waited.
And while this would seem disadvantageous at first sight, he would be throwing his entire body into every attack as he used the branches platforms.
Meaning that after he had followed the trails of inspiration to kick off the tree and land an attack, he assumed that it would be appropriate to be on higher gro-
Skrylla Yokuta whipped on the spot, striking where its wing met its head and they both fell because of its approaching momentum.
Luckily, it was not too high.
So, while it sank its fangs in him, he sustained no other damage as he stabbed the same wing and drew the blade up while screaming.
RIP.
One wing totally useless and both of them locked to the ground.
Gas trails!
He leaped forward the same time that it did and its claws sank into the tree after he slid under it as his breast bled.
Knowing what to do next, he missed a bite this time after he kicked off the tree.
CHOMP!
Gas Trails!
Instead of advancing, he jumped to the side as it had flapped its good wing and boosted to the right.
That same right direction he was jumping in.
Gas Trails again… but it had come too suddenly.
So, when he missed after landing and swinging a cut, the Vampire Bat shot out a talon to slow its speed before flapping again towards him.
CHOMP!
If not for his reflexes, he would have lost his right breast.
However, its talons were free.
Crap!
With his sharpened wooden blade caught in its teeth, Skrylla Yokuta kicked away the talons like his life depended on it.
And while his shins and thighs got the worst of it, he heard a cracking sound to see the creatures ruined wing growing back.
Gas Trails!
Snapping out of the shock at noticing the recovering membrane, his grip had weakened because it was something he heard about from his mother but had never seen.
So, instead of getting bitten, the bat lunged its fangs again.
CHOMP!
He felt his arms weaken from blood loss and thought to deliver a blow to the outstretched neck but Gas Trails illuminated his mind and gave him inspiration.
Thus, he grabbed it, rotated his balancing leg on his toes and then got the least of one of its disorienting attacks as its mouth open.
WHAM!
Its breath was snatched out of his lungs and he hoped to finish it off it as it could not escape the proximity but the Gas Trails gave him a better idea.
Thus, he turned the creature around with leverage around again to slam Its back against the tree once more, missing the worst of the disorienting attack he had not expected.
The Sharpened Wooden Sword slipped into the flank of the bat on his 3rd twirl, cutting off its chance to disorient him.
However, it still tried to bite his head off and he jumped away from his experience of training before leaping right back in and beheading it against the same tree.
He felt light headed and dropped to the ground heavier than he thought he would but food was in front of him and it was what will keep him alive.
So, he rushed to it and minutes later, he felt waves of pleasure rushing into his very being, and squirming under his skin.
So, he yanked his shirt off his skin to marvel at his injuries closing up.
“WOAH!”
If only Eiko Shandiry Yokuta was here to see!
Tears came to his eyes again and he stood back to his feet.
***
Dragging his dustbin and makeshift storage item, as well as the box that carried his swords and manual, Skrylla Yokuta enjoyed the next 3 days hunger free.
However, after that things improved and even if he found no Unawakened meat, he did friend a few fruits in the winter.