Sachihiro

After being seen to by the healer and having most of my most immediate aches and bruises magically whisked away I walk to the weapon's rack to chose a sparing weapon. Sparing is usually done with these beautifully made dull bladed weapons that have been enchanted to be nonlethal. It first seemed an extravagant waste to me when I was first exposed to them. To have a smith and an enchanter waste their time and effort to forge what feels and appears to be a beautifully crafted practical weapon only to realise it can't kill, designed that way in it's forging.

But then I saw how good Om really is when he has a hammer in hand and no worries of killing his sparring partner. I saw how really good Ava is with a polearm as she spun around the sparing area facing off against three tribesmen. And I got to let loose with my sparring partners as well without the fear of maiming or killing them, but nothing feels as good in my hands as my single handed throwing axe Kata, my beautiful razor sharp o-katana Razor, and my beautiful destructive monster nodachi.

And yes, I've named my weapons but to be fair they have been with me through a lot and have saved my life and the lives of my comrades many a time. I know my zanpakutō's name as well, at least part of her name but I can't say it with full effect until her soul is fully healed or mine is. It's only been 7 years since her forging and we've made many strides towards the healing process but not having people to kill anymore to harness the energy a soul releases as it departs has slowed that recovery some, at least the war was good for something.

I grab a practice o-katana from the rack of weapons as Volvox grabs two straight short swords. I was surprised to find that the Conclave has weapons designed to be katanas in their armoury but I suppose it makes sense since they are the ones that sent Asriel to the Hidden Valleys. Volvox grins at me and his eyes flash emerald before he moves off with a few steps and a jump. Just because practice weapons won't kill you, doesn't mean they don't hurt you when they hit. Time to test myself against a good opponent with no need to hold back much, this should be interesting. I grin as well, a little sinister grin as I loosen my neck and shoulders, it's definitely payback time.

We face off as I take a high guard stance jōdan-no-kamae facing my opponent with loose shoulders, my left foot forward in hidari . There are a few snickers from the other spectators but I have already found my centre, my focus. I'm already visualizing the combination of moves that I will open with so vividly that I'm practically having a waking dream.

The adjudicator says something and Volvox moves in an instant and we clash in the middle of the mats for I also moved and my follow up results in thick orange sparks like the hot dross coming out of a furnace. I move and we clash again even as I duck and carve a path up diagonally through the space his torso just was at to the sound of a blade displacing air and my opponent swerving away.

I step in and follow through with the most basic of all moves one I have done a million times before, the first move of the 36 kenjutsu moves, jogeburi, the straight down slash but the power behind it is devastating. He stops it with crossed blades and I frown slightly, that didn't have as much power behind it as I was expecting but I've been practising with my artifacts and this blade in my hands certainly isn't my Razor.

Our eyes meet for less than a second and I see the frown on his own face as the impact rattles his forearms some. We separate even as he parries the remainder of my strike with his left blade as his right swings for my face. I move into it and am in his space taking the power out of his swing even as I release from his parry and use the neck of my blade to catch the strike with raised elbows.

I know immediately that there is a line of blood on my forearms where his blade touched my skin, it shouldn't be there, not with these weapons but I'm not worried. The cut is more from my unfamiliarity with this weapon than with his superior skill.

Even as he moves forward to body rush me flaring his aura so as to have greater power the bottom of my foot connects to his shin stopping his advance as my head connects to with his chin in a grazing strike for he moves out of the full strike, he's fast. I move sideways from almost completely horizontal in a move that uses lower leg muscles not regularly used in everyday life as my strike comes at his side even as my other hand slaps the flat of his blade from cutting into my ribs, my hand braking in a loud slapping sound and my own strike only grazing him before being deflected away.

The next instant there is a meter of space between us as we face off, our weapons at the ready. Not even 20 seconds into the fight and we are already both bleeding but I also have a broken left hand so points to him. Our audience is beside themselves with exclamation but the trainers and some of the more skilled guests are watching everything attentively.

I can hear my zanpakutō humming in its position against the wall were the personal weapons are kept. I smile as I feel how happy it is for me that I'm having some fun for a change, anything that involves fighting is fun for that monster of mine. Volvox's frown deepens and his eyes squint suspiciously.

"Are you ready?" I ask as we circle each other. Blade held up at shoulder level in my right-hand point facing my opponent centre of gravity kept low with a slight squat.

"Do your worst." He says throwing a quick combination of strikes left right, left right, right right left right whilst moving forward with his momentum gaining ground.

I give ground as I parry right left, right left, left left right left single-handedly. Moving back to give myself the extra room since I have the longer more cumbersome weapon not ideal for very close quarters fighting. The ringing of steel on steel drowning out every other sound as we move back and forth around the mats. Wrist movement, shoulder movement and footwork keeping me from getting cut, experience helping me keep up with his speed. A kick to the chest out of nowhere sends me to stumble back but also gaining me the space I needed to really use my unique school of kenjutsu, a style Kazimoto and I decided to call akurobatto.

I'm up and down and all over the place as I use my long reach and twisting jumps to keep him at bay at keep him guessing. My strikes coming from any number of directions including my legs which deflect some of his strikes on the grieves, now he knows why i put those on. I didn't use any of these acrobatic moves while we were fighting unarmed for this very purpose, so they would be a surprise when I used them in kenjutsu. He deflects a sword cut and my shin guard blocks his other strike even as my other grieve protected shin connects with his hip hard. Causing him to retreat with an immediate limp from the strike, I'm grinning like a cheshire cat and he doesn't like it one bit.

Our next series of exchanges are more protracted as we are both a lot more careful around each other but my styles isn't designed to conserve energy, making it a very bad style to use in a long fight. I take a few risks and get another cut on the forearm but I deliver a spinning kick to the face that stuns him a moment.

"You little shit." He says whipping away the blood and immediately coming at me with a full awakening of his aura.

A seemingly purple plasma swaying on top of his skin like a fire in the wind. His strike completely honed as a blade sheathed in aura comes at my face faster than is possible to defend.

Yet the strike never connects as a moment later an amplified ringing sound of a blade that has broken the sound barrier grates on all who are hearing the sound for the first time. Some of the masters grin though, others frown, some the twitching of an eyelid the only sign of surprise as they feel for the first time outside of the battlefield, true unbridled battle-lust as if its a force of gravity pulling them to the ground.

My spiritual pressure billowing in a soundless roar like the Congo Water Falls in the middle of flooding season. The spiritual pressure of a Barbarian warrior, a before unheard of type of pressure as anyone who cultivated such high spirit energy has always become a Seer instead of a true warrior.

It isn't with only condensing my chakra visualization has helped me with but the breaking through a barrier in my spirit being and managing to harness spiritual energy like the soul-samurai do. Instead of just buffing myself and affecting those around me I affect the world itself, for a split second changing the constitution of the blade as it cuts through the air at speeds faster than the travelling of sound through a wave.

I have learnt from the growing library at Paradisum, from Carmella the sidhe fae who has taken an interest in Mira and I and who instructs my visualization instructor Gorr, and from my own experiences to harness spirit energy into an almost tangible tool. It deals more with the spiritual and psychic side of the body, the other side of the coin to the physicality of flesh that aura energy provides and it's severely underutilised.

Spiritual pressure is like aura but only worse because it deals with parts not easy to defend or even understand are injured, let alone are under attack. And my pressure is a domain of overeager parched bloodlust that thirsts for the rivers of blood provided by battle. It saps at confidence, it saps at will. It eventually saps at fighting ability and the will to live of a person, making them accepting of their death at my hands. Eager for it even as it will be the highlight of the acclamation of their lives. The perfect ending, being added in the annals of my story immortalized as one of my worthy opponents by the world, by history.

Aura honed sword meets spirit influenced domain again as Volvox swings again not understanding how I managed to stop his first blow while he's fully powered by aura. Fourteen more blows follow in quick succession of concussive pops of displaced air an instant later than the next strike is started as our exchange takes place at speeds that break the sound barrier repeatedly.

His trump card didn't work and for the first time in this match, he's worried that he might not win this match. Our exchanges are titanic to the extent that even my own eyes can't keep up with what we are doing, using battle sense and sixth sense for asserting where I need to move next and how.

I jump and follow through with sweeping slashes that come from six different directions at him before my feet touch the ground again. He deflects all as I land with my right foot hopping lightly up and over diagonally slightly out of his reach while keeping his one arm busy and outside the other's reach.

The fight continues for I don't know how long but my stamina is starting to flag and he isn't, not with his aura still buffing him as it is. But I know that it takes a different type of toll on you to hold your aura at this level. My practice weapon is chipped, cracked, with pieces sheared off and the stabbing point is already gone. Two weapons of the same type of material and workmanship clashing at each other for this long one of them has to give, and its usually the one that isn't sheathed in the destructive aura.

Even as I think that my blade practically shatters into three pieces and I duck under his follow up and pull my head back even as the tip of his blade splits hairs by my face.

"Time!" Instructor Reagan says immediately between us blocking Volvox's next strike with his staff.

I take a few steps back but keeping an eye on him and his cousins, my pressure still maintaining influence all around me as much as I can. It's a relatively new skill still and seems to have only marginally worked on my opponent.

"That's the end of the match, well-done everyone. You are all dismissed to your bunks and the combatants are free to do as they please the rest of the day. Dismissed!" he says loudly breaking my influence with a burst of his own spiritual pressure.

The entire room takes a breath of relief and Volvox's aura spatters out as he glares at me dangerously. I look back at him without giving anything away, you want me? Come to get me, I'm a Barbarian, ever ready to fight to the death, are you?

He looks away first and I walk towards my friends.

Ava snorts at my arrival, "not bad but don't think your suddenly cool all of a sudden. I could still kick your ass."

"You wish," I say sighing as they gather around me and I start safely limping and showing some of my injuries.

"The guy was tough." I'm says sagely lightly supporting me as Teà pulls the healer towards our hardled group.

"You've been holding out on us, what the bloody gates was that pressure you exerted?" Asger asks conflicted between wanting to praise me and feeling peeved that I didn't go all out on our spars.

"Oh come now Asger I know you've also been holding back during our sparring sessions." Teà says as she shoves the healer student lightly towards me. He frowns at her before checking on my injuries, I know he won't be able to do much. Not at his level of expertise again aura inflicted injuries but he manages to stop the bleeding.

"Yea but I have certain combinations of moves I'm keeping hidden away, not an entire level of power."

I tune them out as I replay the fight as best I can in my mind. Trying to see how everything went down, visualization has many uses, and learning is one of them. I'm disturbed by the loud voice of Master Reagan in my head, both you and Volvox come see me in an hour.