*CRACK!*

*CRASH!*

…

3 circular saws are all that is left of the 7 the mercenary codenamed One initially brought forth, to battle with.

Mysterious Fragment: “...(Interesting. I DID grant him the destructive levels matching my former body – but since he’s only a child, I decided to severely limit his origin energy output to match what the average human practitioner varies between in modern times after first embarking on the origin path: a mere 2-5%. It’s perfect to use as both his very first training – AND to ensure that he doesn’t accidentally kill someone while attending this ... human infested city.

He isn’t skilled with it by any means, just waving his hands back and forth. But there IS a silver lining – he adapts to the situation without overly panicking. By doing so, he has the focused drive needed to persistently chip away at hard to beat energies like the man’s 6% Origin infused saws.)”

1: “Huff, even without one of my legs functioning well, I will STILL accomplish this mission!

(That confirms it. This boy is actually managing to perform a strange manifestation of destruction origin energy. He shouldn’t be able to do that if he only successfully infused 1 of the three – body, mind or soul – with origin energy.

And THAT’S because he hasn’t picked a path! This is far too soon to be real. Normally it takes people about a hundred years to achieve all three – and THAT’S only assuming they lived a full life! Before you’ve completed this ‘culling’ and either successfully exchanged the diluted energy within from 0.something percent to a full 1 percent…

...or completely died trying, you shouldn’t be able to feel anything besides the common effects like ‘enhanced life span’ for the body. I refuse to believe this brat is over 100 years old! I REFUSE to believe the kid managed to so easily accomplish what others take YEARS trying to achieve!!

But…

there’s no refuting the facts. Somehow, this punk is ‘burning’ away the saws I’m attacking him with. Just how…)”

It was as if Noel was dancing. The saws circled his body and continued to attack from all angles, but he dodged each one of them with a donned smile. Succeeding every one of his dodges, Noel would gently place his fingers on the circular blades.

He’d manage to kick up an explosion of dirt under each of his evasive stomps. All 7 of the deadly saws received the exact same treatment, one by one. This routine was interrupted a few times by One attempting his control over magnetic energy to ‘force’ Noel to make a mistake. But he never did – and neither did he fail to disintegrate the expert mercenary’s gravity infused energy blasts that kind of resembled our human viewpoint of outer space itself: Fully black with specks of white, and an occasional random color here or there representing planets, galaxies and other such things within the universe.

Everything he swiped his hands dipped in that strange back and purple energy through, would disappear. Be it metals or invisible energy trying to hinder his movement, even magnetic blasts coming his way! So long as his fingers make contact with them, they will disintegrate and ‘phase’ through the object immediately.

But this only applied to things which he could touch. He took advantage of his natural speed to overwhelm the blades, then obliterate 4 over time.

1: “...Dammit. More important than HOW he developed his powers, is HOW they work. He can touch things and destroy them. his deadly speed doesn’t allow them to get close or reach him while he toys around as if they’re stationary. Even if I’M fast by applying increased friction to my body and eliminating friction everywhere else close by, he can still touch me. The pill I took granted me Origin energy at the 6 percentage for 5 minutes – but that is limited only to a small area I guide it towards: I chose my hands. I can reset the first pill’s time by intaking more of them, but I can’t increase the pill’s other effects, and they don’t quite work as well as REAL origin energy formed by the path-walkers themselves.

Besides, those pills destroy the body. Even the best of us humans can’t handle more than 3 high grade ones in a single lifetime. Healing factors are also unable to withstand it’s damage...

My body can’t handle any more yet...not unless I also walk down that sadist’s path… I can definitely grab him with precise timing – specifically his hands. I’ve confirmed at least this much during our exchange. Then I can use my metal to work on tearing him apart. But that implies the risk of failing and having HIM grab ME…

And with my kneecap crushed like it is... I can’t take that risk. His energy is far too deadly!

If only I could stop him from touching me…

Ah!

Wait! Aha! Upon closer inspection, I can sense it now! I was beginning to assume that his destructive specs of energy also disintegrated my scattered particles from those two artificial cloud beasts...but no! I just couldn’t sense it with his disintegration energy and body moving faster then my senses could understand! Now that I’m adjusting to the damned Spacial Acceleration’s effects: I’m picking up on a definite increase of metal content within this child’s body!

But... what exactly do I do with this intel...distract him with some more metal and rip the metal out from within when he’s unable to respond? Would that work?”

*Notices Broken Saws 5 and 6 disintegrating,*

1: “Now then. I suppose that’s something I never needed to try before. Let’s test it out first.”

1’s inner vest’s zipper actually contains a small device that emits a warp gate about head size within the large head-sized zipper itself. The spatial dimension isn’t very big, and this device only activates when it senses hand movement from within the zipper. Furthermore it’s quite costly to purchase and has to burn through a fair number of batteries.

Still, such a contraption actually increases One’s options while on a mission, Which in turn increases his own survivability AND the survivability of his team. With more options to choose from, his mission success rate increases and that increases the amount he gets paid by the clients – since a failed mission means no further payment other than the upfront amount for labor attempts. By increasing his chances of survival, his odds of actually SPENDING money on the costly thing increase as well.

Such an investment was incredibly important for days like today.

From within this heavy expenditure of an item – One pulled out a whole lot of things.

- 30 metal swords, chakrams, and wheeled saws.

- several clusters of metallic spheres.

- and a plethora of miscellaneous bullets

First: ALL of the items mentioned above were linked together with his magnetic energy before revealing them into the open air. He viciously yanked them forth, making sure to imbue each and every one of them with 6% origin energy.

Then: He imbued them all with his increased gravity and Spacial Acceleration techniques. He didn’t know if this combo would work or not for objects, so he only did so with 3 swords and a chakram. There were strict requirements in order to utilize his combo perfectly – and he wasn’t confident their metal could withstand the strain.

The final object to be released was a pair of strange gloves.

1: "Now then. In case THIS doesn’t work - If I somehow place these on his hands after imbuing them with origin energy...what will happen, I wonder?”

…

A large shadow cast overhead once again. This time, it was present over a certain part of the forest, AWAY from the original battlefield.

.

.

.

That very specific ‘part’ of the forest was the group of trees which provided shade for 1 and Noel’s high speed clash. Just as Noel finished dodging and incapacitating the seventh saw to attack him...

Noel: “Huh? Why’d it suddenl—oh.

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no...Dammit. Was I causing too much destruction? Is he so freaking mad that he has to launch a fucking MOON at me?!?!”

...It wasn’t a real moon. It was an enormous energy bomb the size of the entire forest – even 10,000 Noels standing above one another wouldn’t be able reach its full height. This cylindrical bomb was the result of 100 magnetic burst bombs linked together and releasing synchronized charges with each other.

But to Noel, gazing up from below...it looked like the moon was crashing down on him.

*Noel looks up.*

{Should...should I run? This is a bit of overkill for one measly ‘mission’ right?? Besides...I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT WON’T CATCH SOMEBODY-ANYBODY’S ATTENTION!!}

But it didn’t. Not even Rise, playing with his bleeding opponent noticed the shadow cast over the entire forest. Either that, or he just didn't care enough to look up. Moreover, how would One grant him enough time to run? Everywhere Noel turned to look: a weapon was there – waiting for him. Normally this would prove no problem for him. He’d just blitz the weapon of his choice away and run before it crashed down.

But right as he was about to perform that very train of thought…

1: “Little boy, I don’t think that’s wise. Within the weapons surrounding you, a number are extremely deadly. They’ve been enhanced the same way my body was – the same way I countered your EVERY move.”

Noel: “You didn’t counter everything. How many toys have I eliminated so far? That’s because of this~ *Flashes fingers* Tell me – if you could counter it, then why did your saws disappear?”

One: “…

While it’s true your technique lets you ‘chip away’ at more potent levels of energy, thanks to being tied to the destruction path…

You’ve met your match here right now! Tell me, young man. How long were you ‘occupied’ by my measly saws? Oh: and before I forget – another question.

.

.

Which do you suppose is going to happen first: My bomb engulfing you in a devastating explosion...or these 30 something weapons tearing you apart?

Ah hell. Why not add more to the mixture! Here’s a few hundred bullets to dodge as well. These are just ordinary bullets though, sadly.”

---