Examining her wound, Yumi he dition of her arm. The blood made everything seem worse thay. ‘…rather shallow… could’ve gone for the kill, but didn’t… she was making a point…’ Yumi dropped the remaining pieces of her barrier. It served her no use if it no longer had a purpose. “I wouldn’t be so quiake that judgment. The powers she has aren’t so limited.”

  “I’ve seen your powers. I’ve calcuted for all of them.”

  All the talking did little to ge her situation. She had to do something about the ons. ‘The st time she used only one of her special swords disguised amongst the rest. She did it to catch me off guard. I only assume these are all the same barrier-cutting type. The trick’s out of the bag, no sense hiding it.’ Yumi analyzed the bdes to dis their differenbsp; The variand quality were all so random they all looked the same.

  Her eyes slid over at her side judging the distanbsp; Options ran short as well as uainty. ‘sidering their powers, it wouldn’t o be any different. Just something i. Only one choice remains then…’ Yumi leapt into the air. She saw the ons response dey signifitly before they ran to her previous location. ‘So she’s got full trht now. That’ll slow them down.’

  Yumi hovered in the air several meters above the cluster of metal. She extended her arm towards the spot. Her eyes narrowed as the seds worked through. Nothing ged for her. Each sed wasted away until the ons turned around and charged for Yumi. Still caught in the moment, she dodged te and found a new wound on her arm. She dropped down to the ground staring over at Photine. “You’ve sealed her telekinesis.”

  Photine o Yumi with growing smugness. “I told you. You ’t win.”

  Chapter 159 – Reality of Fi

  Staring back down at her hand, Yumi began to uand. The firmation from Photine gave her what she o work the problem. It troubled her. The implications wielded in the power. “You added a rule to your Field to e telekinesis.”

  The ons moved bato an encirclement position of Yumi. Photiook a couple of steps towards her feeling safer in her situation. “It’s not something normally very useful. g things that do is not something that’s needed. The more practical application of this is eliminating fri, gravity or something that exists in the normal ws of physics.”

  “Not really needed against others like you,” agreed Yumi. She uood the limitless possibilities of their powers, but the crippling application of them against her gave her more appreciation. Yumi found a new challenge. “When someone cel your Field with theirs it’s poio try to ralize their powers. However, we’re different. We’ve bee our owy. So you rewrite our reality. But only if you uand us.”

  “I’m gd you uand.” Materializing several more ons, they closed in to prevent any escape. Even above, all dires locked down. Photine lifted her arm to keep trol of the swords. “Now that I’ve crushed your powers and hope for escape. I’ll rip you apart! Just like you did to the soldiers here!” Motioning with her free arm, a hin bde appeared above Photine. It had a smooth edge heavily polished and sharpened. Floating in the air, it seemed to split everything that even dared to approach.

  Yumi raised her brow a little with disbelief. “You ’t kill me with those eyes.” She stared through the prison of bdes, uned by their presenbsp; The gaze she met with Photine ran so deep Photine couldn’t turn away. It drew her in, uo escape.

  A thin line drew across Photine’s lips with only a glimpse of her teeth bared. They ground together responding to her thoughts. Photiruggled to keep her arms stretched out. Shaking began to spread through her body and affect her muscles. “You don’t know anything about me!”

  “But I see your eyes,” ented Yumi. “You don’t have what it takes. You’ve never killed anyone. You still have your innoce.”

  Her emotions began to trol her again. All of the ons slid in closer to Yumi. The tightened left only timeters betweeips of the bdes and Yumi. “I have no innobsp; No one here does! It’s all stolen away! So don’t talk to me like you know anything! You grew up in a safe home without fear or oppression! So don’t you dare even start to talk like you uand!”

  Yumi crossed her arms. Her features didn’t budge for a sed. “A fear so deep and primal it makes even your bones feel cold. Lasting for so long that it bees the only feeling you uand. It bees your panion a is s that you never feel its release as it alresses down with no remorse. Not even being able to lift your head because they might see ynize you. You only wish it were like a cage, because then you could stop running. The emptiness of knowing it is the only thing that will be with you. That is true fear.”

  Photiook a step babsp; The words alone didn’t unnerve her as much as the cold stare, which persisted through everything. Her eyes spoke volumes more than the words. They pierced into her being. She felt the raw emotions. There was something more to her. Photine didn’t want to believe it, but it froze her emotions off. It sobered her to things she missed before. ‘Damn it! What’s with her? She’s not like the st time at all!’ She wondered whom she fought. She felt the age and experien her.

  Things didn’t add up correctly. “You speak as though you know it too well. And act like you’re familiar with death. The outside world is nothing like here.”

  “That’s because I’ve been killing since before you were born. The world I’m from is far harsher and deadly than here.”

  “That’s—“ she interrupted herself. She wao deny it immediately, but something inside her told her otherwise. It didn’t feel right. What was her enemy? “You’re lying! You’re too young to be making such cims!”

  The mysterious girl tilted her head, appearing almost amused by the reje. However, her eyes remained fixed on Photihout a break. “Believe what you want, but I’ve no need for lies. You shouldn’t use her body as your measurement.”

  “…her?” It seemed an unimportaail. One she fot before, many times. The word kept repeating and Photine finally noticed. ‘She keeps speaking like that, as though not herself. Talking about herself as though it was someone else.’ Photine narrowed her eyes a bit. The crity from her ess finally gave her time for rational thought. ‘I ’t believe I missed it before! No wonder she doesn’t feel the same!’ Unfortunately, logic gave her something even more uling.

  She still needed answers. Answers had to e from her enemy. She wasn’t sure if she could trust them. But her enemy was different and she o uand. Photine didn’t have much choibsp; “Who are you? You aren’t the same person I fought before, are you?” Her foot drew her forward as a show of her fidenbsp; She couldn’t have any visible weakness.

  “Oh?” The question ged the expression on her fabsp; “So you’ve finally calmed down enough to realize that?”

  “Enough with the arroganbsp; Who are you?!”

  “I resent during the time when she fought with you. I’m the ohat looks after her. I’m called Masa.”

  “Masa?” questioned Photine. So much said still didn’t make a lot of seo her. She felt like the girl spoke to her riddles. It had a disembodied feeling to the words. “It doesn’t matter if you’re someone else or not. You’ve vioted our ws. And you’ve killed a soldier. You’re under arrest!”

  Masa seemed a little disappointed. Her arms dropped to her sides. “Not pnning to kill me anymore?” A small smirk crept across her face just before the wind blew out from the point she stood. Light fshed from her hands and exploded almost immediately. Clouds of debris and dirt made it impossible to see. “You would have had a ce if you wao kill me.” ks of metal from Photine’s oo the ground adding fusion to the se.

  Realizing something happened, all of the ons cut through the veil. Photi out a click of her tongue when her swords found nothing. ‘She’s escaped…but where?’ All of her tools pulled back around her in defense. “You ’t escape me!”

  “I’m not esg,” Masa whispered, behind Photine. A fsh appeared with the trailing of blood. Masa narrowed her eyes as she gazed dohotine.

  Photine panted heavily feeling the wound in her waist. She thought with the way Masa looked she should have died. ‘Why didn’t she kill me?’ However, she forced her mind to focus on the problem in front of her. She called in her bdes to take care of Masa.

  She disappeared from Photine’s sight again. Explosions and a shower of metal remaihe only things left behind. Masa resurfaced a few meters away from Photine ued. She even held one of Photine’s swords. “There’s still things you don’t know about us.” Masa turhe bde out to point at Photine. Light erupted from within the bde creating cracks along the surfabsp; It exploded a moment ter.

  ‘What did I miss? I thought she used everything the st time!’ fusion filled inside Photine. She searched for the missing piece, but it only distracted her. It left her with openings.

  Masa appeared before her with a raised arm. A gnce up from Photine gave her enough to know what went through her mind. “Don’t ask for an expnation. I kill my oppos and nothing more. I was only buying time before.” She plunged her arm down drawing up blood. Her features narrowed again looking dohotine.

  Photine coughed from the pain, but realized she was still very much alive. ‘Again? What’s going on? Why did she miss twice?’

  “Damn, she’s already waking up.” Wrinkles drew across her fabsp; The time she had ran short. ‘I’ll have to end this before she pletely awakes…’ Masa’s started to glow with a faint red light. It highlighted tours of her fio make them appear sharper than usual.

  The events disturbed Photine. She didn’t uand why Masa missed killing her. The look she found in her eyes told her she had no reservation about it. In fact, the look of death in her eyes art of what made Masa so unnerving. She was nothing like what she entered before. ‘What’s going on?’

  Fog everything on Photine, Masa pushed back Yumi as much as she could from their mind. She only needed seds in plete trol to end it. ‘I’ll clear away the dirty work, that you don’t have the heart to do yourself…’ Her hand began moving down towards Photine. It shone brighter than before, ready.

  ‘No! Stop it!’

  Everything froze.

  Turning her eyes to the side within her mind, she saw Yumi ging to her arm. ‘This is how the world works. Your enemies die or you die. There’s no middle ground.’

  Tears built up around the bottom of Yumi’s eyes, too small to fall. ‘You ’t! Such a world is just…’

  ‘You’re being too soft. You o face reality.’

  ‘There’s another way!’

  ‘If you want that strength you so desperately desire, this is the only way!’

  ‘Then I’ll find my own strength!’ replied Yumi, narrowing her eyes. Determination built up around her features shining through her eyes.

  Masa sighed at the signs of Yumi’s willfulness. Her muscles rexed. She stood up to face Yumi. ‘The reality you face is worse than the one I present to you.’

  ‘Maybe, but this is how I want things.’

  She shrugged to Yumi, pletely relinquishing trol over to her. ‘You’re the boss. Remember I’m always nearby…’ Masa faded away from Yumi’s presenbsp; However, it wasn’t quite over for her yet. Beyond Yumi’s purview other presences appeared, but didn’t make themselves seen. She still khey watched her in judgment of her as.

  Masa crossed her arms, not intimidated. She looked up at the white void. “This is what you get when you send someone like me. Don’t like the results then stop hiding, otherwise you’ve got no position to be passing judgment. I kept her alive and out of the hands of the enemy.” Silence spun around in building tension. “Still nothing? Then keep out of my way. She wants strength, first she o lose that innod y. I put her on that path. This is how I teach.”

  Stillness surrounded Photine as Masa stared down at her unmoved. If she po kill her, pausing seemed a straactibsp; Thoughts of tering surfaced in her mind, but staggered with ina. It wasn’t her wounds, which held her back from ag. The uainty, from someohat bested her a sed time, froze her movements, even if it seemed like they were different. Photine waited to act.

  Across from her, Yumi’s features smoothed out from the harshhat previously shaped them. She pulled back her arm with the glow turning green before fading away. Her eyes darted around pig up the se. “This is reality…” A questioning tone came through in her voice with some uainty. Yumi’s eyes widened and her pupils’ shrank when they id upon a bloody corpse. She immediately reized it. “…the boy…I did this…”

  An awkward cough from Photine drew her attention. She narrowed her eyes as Yumi. “What’s going on? Why are you pying trie, Masa?”

  Yumi froze for a moment before turning around to face Photine. “It’s you!” Yumi excimed, reizing Photine. It took a few moments to process everything that happened. The fight she interrupted made it clear to her. “So you were fighting with her.”

  “What?” Photine pushed herself back up to her feet. The presence of Yumi felt nothing like that of Masa. She started to believe that the one she spoke with before was gone. ‘I’m injured, but I still move… She doesn’t look like she'll be of much challenge…’ ons surfaced from the dirt of the field and moved to surround her.

  The movement of the swords alerted Yumi to the situation. “You’re still wanting to fight in your dition?” Yumi didn’t need an answer from Photine. Her eyes told her everything that she o know. “Fine. I’ll just have to defeat you again!”