Elric was currently walking around a small village in her standard outfit. The day was sunny as usual, and she'd already completed her daily battle for in honor for her brother. Now, all that was left was for her to complete her training, and then she would call it a day's end. It would be much better for her to go somewhere on the outskirts of village, due to the fact that no one in the village would really pose a threat to her.

"Heh. I've always wanted to train projectiles...they'd make a wonderful combination for my blade! But then again, I should get better with a blade! The way I'be seen cold steel piercing through someone's flesh, it just makes me giddy with excitement! I feel like I'm just at the cusp of my peak, so I should knock that out if the ballpark first~"

Although some might have thought it to be a little weird to talk out loud, it made Elric feel a lot more calmer. Perhaps it was the soothing, intoxicating sound of her voice..it had that effect on many other people.

She arrived to a nice and sturdy looking tree, which would be a good place to practice her sword strikes. Because she didn't really have what someone would call a "real" sword, Elric was forced to use a wooden sword.

"I'm gonna fucking kick this tree's ass!"

With a single, awkward motion she withdrew her blade with his right hand, a horizontal slash being the first attack she would practice with, leaving..not much harm. If it were a normal human, it would be alive, one hundred percent guaranteed. Obviously, the power behind the attack wasn't enough..she didn't want to disappoint her brother by staying weak. Was something wrong in her stance? Deep in thought, she continued to think about any flaws that would be possible to be improved, until..

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

The sound of wooden sandals crushing the dead, brittle leaves that plagued the wood's floor alerted Elric to another presence. Quickly, she turned around, already in her combat stance, which looked completely newbish. She had next to no skill in a sword fight, primarily using seals and Ninjutsu to fight. Perhaps this was a thief who's aim was to sneak over here, but then he would have failed easily. Tense, she spoke her next words.

"What do you want..?"

She didn't like the way that this guy looked. Such a nonchalant aura, and the way he walked with such gait in his step..it exuded arrogance! It was like looking in the mirror, except this man didn't deserve that smug look on his face. Unlike Elric, his boobs were small!

"Calm down kid..I was wandering through the forest on a little expedition when I heard your blade draw and decided to watch your skills from afar..that is, until I saw your sword slash, hehe. You  seem to have no potential, but you look determined. Thought if I gave you some pointers and a demonstration, it'd improve yourself by a good amount and lead you to the right path, heh."

"Alright you slimy bastard, you think you're so good, eh?"

This prick thought he could criticize her skills? Well, he had better hoped that he wasn't lying about them..she would NOT be holding back, as she gave what she felt like what was a quick leap, aiming to bisect this asshole. But, what should have been a quick and clean murder turned into something that was impossible, as instantly, her blade was matched with a pen quite casually..that was when she knew that this man proved his strength.

"Fuck, you're actually good.."

"Well, I wouldn't call myself good..just, determined..eh ..is that really the right word for it though? Ah, who cares. From my quick analysis from you, your rage doesn't seem to hinder you like it makes more people..you don't let it consume you, instead, you tame it. You're a real savage soul.."

"So? Can you get on with it and make me stronger?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting to that point..sheesh, young people...anyways, before I was RUDELY interrupted, I think it's better for you to learn through sparring. I'll restrain myself to someone around your level so you won't just get obliterated and not learn anything."

Elric grunted with a devious little smirk on his face.

"Sounds fair enough.."

Now that they would be of equal levels, she would finally be able to harm him, pounding that stupid little grin into the dirt and turning him into shreds and ripping up that stupid little kimono. Who even wore those anymore?!

Each fighter walked five feet away from each other, making the total distance about ten feet.

"You know, while I was observing you I thought your fighting style was a bit strange. You use quick and clean draws like Iado, but use the Kiai breathing of the Zenyo and the principle of "one with the sword" from Mugen."

"Eh? You saw all of that from a single slash?"

"HAHAHAHA I'M JUST KIDDING KID, didn't I tell you you're total ass? Anyways, yes, I can totally do that..that's the kind of level you have to be if you ever want to survive out here in the wild...but enough talking! Let's do what warriors do!"

Elric was frustrated by this man's constant taunting. Each fighter charged in headfirst with the intent to land the first strike. Elric was a little surprised that such a drastic change the mysterious man's abilities was possible..


They closed in, and Elric, knowing her sword skills were shit didn't bother with the swords, immediately throwing her sword. Not being well versed in projectiles either, obviously, it wasn't an efficient way to kill someone, but at the very least it served as a distraction as Tsukiyomi easily swatted it out of the way with his blade. Using the distraction to launch an assault, Elric threw a left hook right in Tsukiyomi's jaw. As she felt the sensation of her skin colliding against her face, a smile grew on her face. Maybe she could beat the smug out of him! But just as soon as she started celebrating, she was met with a head butt to the face which caused her to break up the scuffle..the total distance between them was five feet.

"Not too shabby..but, you're holding back, I guess..anyways,since you're sort of like my sensei, I should know your name!"

"Tsukiyomi.."

"I'm Elric, the strongest Ronin ever!"

Tsukiyomi raised a slight eyebrow at that statement, but decided not to address it, instead diverting his attention back to the battle. With a single arm, watching as Elric foolishly charged in he quickly flung a kunai in point blank range, which surprised her, although with a hasty block he was able to prevent the projectile from lodging itself in his stomach. But, it left himself wide open to any other attacks Tsukiyomi would want to attempt. She felt various attacks land upon his skull. Two palm strikes, a slap to the cheek, and a final punch in the gut that sent him flying off his feet..all because of that one decision, it all went downhill. If this was real, she would be dead. But, at the moment, she'd rather be dead. Her body was considerably sore, and a kunai was lodged into the middle of her arm, although it was slightly dulled so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Hey! That wasn't fair! I didn't know you carried kunai on you, asshole!"

"Pffft. Fair? Do you think this world is fair? A fight has no rules..even if your opponent uses the most underhanded and slimey tactic to kill you, he still won, did he not?"

That left Elric to think for a minute. He was right..she was starting to sound like her brother now. If she hadn't had this lesson, sooner or later she could have ended up like him. Frowning at the thought, Elric muttered something similar to the word yes.

Tsukiyomi paused..it looked like he was deep in thought.

"Eh? Did you just blank out? What are ya doing, some weird shinobi trick?"

Tsukiyomi nearly facepalmed, giving out an exasperated sigh.

"You could say that, I guess. I was sensing your aura to figure out what you specialize in..look, let me give you an important lesson kiddo."

"While it is nice to specialize in something, having a backup plan to catch your enemy off guard just like you did when ya threw that blade at me will do wonders. I think Taijutsu will be the perfect fit for ya, but let's continue sparring. I promise I won't use anything except my fists, heh."

"No need..this is supposed to mimic a real fight, remember! Use whatever you're comfortable with!"

As the afternoon became the evening, and the evening turned to nightfall, the master and the student felt like they worked hard enough for the day. Even though Elric hadn't won a single spar, she was assured that her own skills were improving, and she felt it too. Plus, Tsukiyomi taught her the basics of how to, well, dodge, which involved Tsukiyomi throwing various blunted projectiles at her. Needless to say, she learned the first few times she was hit. But before Elric departed, Tsukiyomi decided to have a little talk with him.

"Really, I do think you're something special kid..but let's just say I don't teach for free! Look, I'm not asking you for money, or any type of weird sexual favors..but, I need you to kill someone for me. A person with your type of personality? I know you won't have any problem with it."

"Tch. I'm not your little slave..what if I say no?"

Tsukiyomi gave a casual little shrug, knowing he was in control of this deal.

"I just take my services elsewhere, that's all."

"Feh. You play a hard bargain, ya know that? Fine, I'll eliminate him for ya. Give me some details.."

Tsukiyomi fetched a scroll from one of the pockets of his silk kimono, handing it over to Elric, who opened it and began reading some of its contents aloud.

"He wants to ban war...? I hate this cock sucking asshole already! But wait, you're pretty fucking powerful..why didn't you take care of this trash yourself?"

"I'm a busy man, Elric. I can't kill every little thing that annoys me..anyways, my address is at the bottom of the scroll. Swing by when you're finished, kay?"

As soon as that last word came from his mouth, he disappeared in a shower of leaves..

"Of course. Someone as weak as him WOULD need guards.."

Elric walked off back to her house..she'd start this when she woke up. After all, it would be important for her to get his full rest..it would be very silly of him if he died because she missed a few hours of sleep. His brother wouldn't be very proud of her, either and would most likely give some severe punishments for her massive failure in the form of after life trolling. Honestly, this task didn't seem like it would be that hard, and Elric should be able to complete it..but, she couldn't shake this odd feeling. Maybe an interesting foe would appear? She hoped so. It had been a long time since Elric had a fight worth noting, and she really hoped that this would be the one that would go in her memory bank.

WC: 2005

Reaction: E->D
Speed: E->D
Perception: E->E-3

[EXIT]