2.3

To be hopelessly outclassed

The naginata was elegantly swung through the air, cutting the wooden pole cleanly in exactly half. Or not, the proportion was slightly off. Johann was finally slipping after hours of non-stop training under the blazing sun. His grip was also foreign, loosing two fingers wasn’t a laughing matter.

“Woah”

Eikichi, who had been watching for a while along with Alva, applauded. A gesture which greatly annoyed Johann, although it wasn’t directed at the bald man.

“What’s wrong, it’s only a bit off but that is still a good cut”

That was the reason. Despite being quite a distance away, Eikichi could tell the two parts were slightly different, all the while wearing sunglasses. When it came to mechanical skill, intuition and experience the bald man far surpassed Johann. And so, the praise rang hollow.

“I see you have recovered enough to walk around”

“Well, Alva sure can work miracle. Although my stomach still feels a bit empty”

“Ah, thank you” Alva smiled

There weren’t simply enough pieces of guts to fill into the wound. While it was patched they still need more time to grow enough flesh to graft in there.

“What are you so pleased about, that’s your job” Johann stared the girl down then turned to the bald man “I know you haven’t been in bed the past few day doing nothing”

“Well, I only have a bit of practice”

Eikichi held onto a bottle which immediately fell into pieces then recovered in an instant. After the encounter with Six, Johann immediately issued to the order for Alva to teach the summoned how to use mana. The plan excluded Doraemon and Eikichi who were bedridden, but that didn’t stop the bald man.

Oh no, he became the first to successfully manifests mastery over mana but in a curious way. Normally, a practitioner in mana had to go through many steps and stages before finally learning any sort of specialisation.

And yet, Eikichi manifested his power in a strangely specific way and so was Mara in a lesser extent.

Alva speculated that since unlike Eden’s citizens, the summoned already had very defined values and way of thinking. And what was mana but a manifestation of ones’ mind. For that reason, these people would be able to use power that may take other years to master but only in a very defined constraint.

That would make more sense, why the Divines would want to call upon these people.

For now, Mara could concentrate mana into a physical object like Cassian. But she could only make small pieces of mirror that were too brittle for any purpose.

Meanwhile, Eikichi exhibited the ability to put simple object back together after being broken. It didn’t heal the object, however, the moment the power was cancelled, the object would fall apart again. It also only worked if he got a hold of the object before it was taken apart and the man must hold onto one part. Also, if the pieces were too small then he would lost control of it. That was why the bottle he was holding had chips all over.

“So how are you feeling now” Johann asked.

“Well, fine I guess”

“Good, then fight me”

That certainly came out of nowhere. Before Eikichi could say anything, Alva jumped in.

“What are you talking about, he literally just got out of sickbed”

“Isn’t that for him to decide” Johann answered, he didn’t even bother looking at his fiancée.

Alva looked at Eikichi nervously. The bald man seemed amused by the sudden offer. Oh well, he never turned down a challenge. He gave his white suit to the girl.

“Can you hold onto this for me then”

Alva was greatly against this idea but there was nothing she could do. Those inside the house was also starting to take notice of what was going on. Jim, Haruka and the others looked out of the window.

“What… what is going on?” Asked Fleur as she gazed at Johann, the young warrior looked like he was ready to kill. Her question was ignored by current company.

And so, out of nowhere, the two faced off. They immediately charged at one another. Johann held onto the weapon tightly right near the blade and jabbed repeatedly at Eikichi. The man simply hopped back to avoid them.

“What, why is he holding the weapon like that” Questioned Haruka.

The naginata was a halberd, a tool with great reach. And yet, Johann grip was near the blade, negating most of his own range. Of course, the young warrior was no idiot. It was tempting to use this weapon for its intended range. But against an opponent as formidable as Eikichi, that would mean an easy disarm.

That didn’t escape the bald man’s attention, who seemed pleasantly surprise. He raised his knee up and from it, sprung up a devastating kick straight at Johann ribcage. The young warrior tried to defence against the incoming only for it to divert in a crescent shape, connecting with his stomach instead.

Wasting no time, Eikichi bounced up and straightforwardly jabbed at his opponent. Johann, still unbalanced from the kick swung his naginata back in an attempt to meet the punch. The bald man curved his arm up to avoid the blade, his fist barely reached Johann. Not wasting this opportunity, his fingers shot out at the young warrior throat. Johann recoiled back coughing.

“Huh, so that actually work” Eikichi mused.

Johann finally regained his breath “You could have ended the fight”

“Well, why end it right there, for you to challenge me like this. There is something you want to know right?”

He wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t like Johann to be this spontaneous. But the young warrior had already found the answer. Ever since the summoned arrived, he had questioned his own capability. The conclusion Johann reached was that he was still woefully inadequate.

And yet, there was still this niggling thought in his mind. He was a child of the Divine, raised and trained by the great von Brandt himself.

A part of Johann believed that it was just the circumstances that were unfavourable, that he was perfectly capable. A dangerous idea to entertain, and the young warrior couldn’t have it there. Now here he was, bested so easily by a fish out of water. Now there was no longer doubt about his own inadequacy, now his entire mind and body could fully commit to improvement.

Johann wanted to see, how he was like when pushed to the limit. And there was no other better candidate than the man in front of him.

The young warrior gripped his weapon tightly, mana coursing through his body.

“Thanks for your courtesy, I will repay in kind” Johann raised his weapon.

“Oh, I look forward to it”

The young warrior lunged at his opponent, overwhelming him with pure speed and power. With his naginata fully extended, Eikichi couldn’t get close enough for the counter attack.

This seemed like a lost battle, but the bald man still had a card up his sleeve. One he truly didn’t expect to use, maybe there was something to the young man in front of him after all. Eikichi extended his arm far out and… snapped his finger as loud as he can.

“What the” Johann exclaimed then suddenly a realisation hit him.

Eikichi had somehow disappear right in front of the young warrior eyes.

How! Had Eikichi somehow developed another ability behind their back? Maybe he used Doraemon’s camouflage cover? No, none of those made sense. Johann had made sure to keep his opponent in view at all time!

For those outside watching, what happens was simply too fast for them to compute, well, most of them anyway. The moment the bald man’s fingers clicked loudly, he lowered his body, nearly touching the ground. Then from that position Eikichi dashed to the side, out of Johann cone of vision, all in complete silent.

Coming up from behind, Eikichi chopped at the young warrior’s exposed neck only to have him dodged it at the last moment.

It wasn’t a conscious moment, for Johann at least. Inside of him, an instinct he never knew he had somehow awaken, in this friendly contest. The young warrior countered with a swing of his naginata, which was met by a flimsy stick that was immediately cut in half.

Eikichi thrusted the remaining part straight at Johann’s eyes. The young warrior easily dodged it but he was now in great trouble. He was now caught in the bald man tempo, his initiative and range lost.

But this was something Johann had prepared for. When the fight began, his first swing had brushed the ground and he hadn’t moved from there since.

Naginatas, made beautifully by concentrated mana sprouts from the ground around Johann. Eikichi rushed backward just managed to narrowly avoid the attack. But the young warrior was there to capitalise on this. Rushing through the field of halberd, he thrusted his naginata forward at his defenceless opponent.

His attack was simply met with… a stick, one that Eikichi was holding up. Then, Johann realised, that was not just a simple stick, no, it was a broken stick.

Pain coursed through the young warrior body as the part, broken of earlier, pierced through his stomach. Just like the broken bottle, the bloodied piece returned to Eikichi.

“Ah, so it can be used like that”

The bald man stepped forward in an instance, his body barely moving. Before Johann could react he was met with a flurry of blows. The speed and ferocity unmatched. Eikichi wasn’t moving this fast before, no, this was a display of power. To show the tremendous gulf between the two. Even without using his power, Eikichi would have been able to beat Johann.

Even when using his full power, the young warrior was bested. But that was to be expected. Up until now, his vision had been narrow. But there was still time for him and for the summoned as well. Johann bowed in defeat.

“That was a good fight, thank you for abiding to my selfish request”

“Oi, there is no need for that. I accepted that challenge fair and square”

Johann looked at the naginatas ridden on the ground, finally disappearing. So this was what Eikichi considered ‘fair and square’.

Alva rushed to Johann’s side. She was going to have a dig at him for this, but the girl was surprised by what she saw. Seeing her face full of surprise, Johann asked.

“What’s wrong”

“I have to ask you that. I can’t remember you looking… that relaxed before”

Really? Perhaps that was the case, that was Johann first time truly immersed in a fight. For a short while there, the fate of Eden, the Divine and everything didn’t matter. No, the young warrior was only looking at himself, his own limitation.

Johann darted back to when he avoided Eikichi’s surprise attack. The instinct he displayed then, had it always been there?