Tarous, стр. 29
Tarous followed me, quickly and silently. It’s not like he had anything better to do. I led him down several steps and down a few hallways until we eventually step outside into a courtyard. The area was empty and was mainly a small area some of the guards used to train in.
“One of the reasons I decided to bring you back as a trophy is I need someone to spar with. The only problem is you’re too weak to be a good sparring partner.” I wanted to give him a chance to prove himself. I wanted to see if humans could be more than food.
Tarous just glared at me. I had basically just called him weak. The worst part was that compared to me he was weak, and he knew it. I reached into my pocket and removed two small books that I sat off to the side on a patch of grass. Tarous glanced at them and then back to me.
Next I reached into my pocket and removed a cube made of a strange black metal. It was something a Rask had invented a long time ago, before humans even existed. It fit perfectly into the palm of my hand and it was cool to the touch. I tossed it towards Tarous and he caught it with ease. He held it in his hand and stared at it. After a few moments the cube began to heat up and he nearly dropped it in surprise.
The cube went from being warm to being scalding hot but the temperature didn’t seem to bother him beyond the initial shock. Soon the cube began to melt and drip through his fingers, and a black puddle formed at his feet. He gave me a dark look. The black liquid began to separate into two different puddles before reforming into two short swords.
“Based on what the cube found from scanning your body and mind, the best weapon, or weapons, for you are two short swords. They are the ideal close combat weapon for you.”
Tarous reached down and picked up the two weapons. He twirled them around a few times and did a little hack and slash. He seemed rather happy. Now that he had suitable weapons it was time to train him.
“To make things fairer, I’ll fight you unarmed.”
Tarous glared at me once again. He seemed slightly insulted. He probably thought me fighting him without a weapon was belittling him. The truth is he just didn’t stand a chance with me armed.
Black flames emerged from Tarous’s fists and began to creep up his arms. His two short swords became engulfed as well and the flames continued to spread to the rest of his body. He looked like one large bonfire of black flames.
Silence of the grave. Tarous disappeared as his speed increased. He poured all the death qi he could into the technique to try and get around behind me. Using all the strength he had, he cut downwards towards the back of my head.
I let out a quick sigh. I had a long way to go with this one.
The blade sliced downwards through my head, splitting it into two pieces. The black flames seeped into my flesh causing the left and right sides of my head to catch fire and then it slowly spread to the rest of my body. In truth it was rather painful.
A normal person would have died from this, but I heal quickly from such a minor injury. They weren’t even real flames, as they were flames made of death energy. Only real flames would hurt me, not these pseudo-death flames. It only took moments for my head to heal and for the flames to go out. They didn’t appear to have done any damage.
“You did better than I thought you would. At least that is something to be proud of. To reward you, I’ll show you one of my attacks. That is, if you promise not to die.” A sneer appeared on my face. I wanted to push him. I wanted to make him stronger. I always had a soft spot for an underdog and it doesn’t get much weaker than humans. I mean ‘witches’ as if that made much difference. Both were so weak.
I took out another black cube, but I held it close to myself. Unlike how long it took for his cube to change, mine almost instantly changed into a slender but solid looking sword. The more you use a particular cube the faster the transformation. Few changes had occurred since the last time I had used it. Tarous beamed as his pride swelled at having made me wield a weapon. That smile would soon be wiped from his face.
“Inescapable illusion sword art is one of the techniques created by the Rask family. It is a technique that uses our natural ability over illusions to confuse and attack a person.”
That was the true strength of a Rask’s techniques. We took what we were good at and formed it into an art. I began to explain my attack to give Tarous a better chance at defending. I was worried he wouldn’t survive even one of my attacks without a little help.
“When you attack with a sword there are nine general areas you can attack, including the center area of a body. I could attack in nine general areas and with this attack nine sword illusions will be created and they will attack those nine areas, but only one of them is real. Because of the power of my illusions you will be unable to tell which one is real until it is too late. Even monsters with special ocular powers are unable to see through our illusions.”
I faced him with my sword drawn. I focused all my attention onto the sword until my focus became as sharp as my blade. Without