"So how can we be so sure you'll take care of those things for us?"
Tyler, a man with a lean build, green eyes and dirty blond hair, asked him. It was a fair question to ask, really. A random kid just waltzes into your group, proposes terms that the group isn't sure they can accept and then spews some nonsense about immortal monsters? Yeah, its not very convincing, not at all.
'Ironic. Who would've ever thought that kid would've been me in this situation?'
Grey decided to answer his question, as it wasn't a terribly difficult question to answer, and besides it would help the group lose suspicion of him. He did have to choose his words vaguely however. The reason being that Grey himself did not exactly know the mechanisms to his new right arm, though new probably wasn't the correct term as he's had it for a year by now.
"You don't have to be. Just watch what happens when my right arm touches one."
Tyler glared at Grey intensely, likely trying to intimidate the poor child. However, Grey did not look away from his eyes. Their color reminded him of jades, but more than that he was interested in the scar that ran across his face. It was a long diagonal scar that started at the top of his left eyebrow, and ended below his right eye, cutting right through his nose.
'Heh. That's kinda cool.'
Upon trying to inspect the scar, Tyler backed away and turned around. He muttered something along the lines of "Didn't your parents teach you it was rude to stare" before walking off into the distance. Grey's lips tightened as the words registered.
'Parents? Geez I never even knew my parents. Or maybe I did, I have had amnesia for most of… my life? Does it even work like that? Whatever.'
Unexpectedly Grey's respect for the man was raised a bit. Though, he really was an unpleasant fellow. Again, left alone Grey stared at the tree ahead of him. With no one in sight, he could now try out his new weapon.
Earlier this morning when Grey awoke he could feel subtle changes in his body, not that it felt unnatural rather than that it was more like he was aware of new functions for his body, but it did not disrupt the flow of his normal functions. He also received a sword from an A.I. Not Sylphie, she was going to be gone for a long time, rather it was the typical A.I that would assist most Ascendants such as reviewing what rank they were or delivering enhancements or rewards.
He held his hand out waiting for the blade to appear. After thirty seconds he gave up. Ascendants didn't have a magical storage box just lying around, they couldn't just summon objects from thin air… at least, not if you weren't Grey.
He balled his hand into a fist, pouring vis through it. Instantly, cool wisps of mist began emerging from his enclosed palm. As more mist was released, he let his fist relax and unraveled his hand. Grey now open palmed, clutched for an object that didn't exist. The mist spreaded and began to weave itself into a shape. The beautiful weave of vapor birthed a sword, a tang dao. It's blade; ivory white, as opposed to the typical silver. Its gray handle wrapped in the finest cloth. As his hand gripped the weapon, Grey instinctively knew; That this sword would not only be his first, but his last. The weapon radiated a deadly elegance, it seemed as if it could cut through the air he breathed.
"Cloudpiercer. A blade meant to cleave through the skies."
'Clouds and mist. What an odd combo.'
Though in reality, even if the Cloudpiercer could do something such as produce clouds, Grey would not be able to use such an ability if he could not understand its principle.
That aside, Grey still had to gauge the combat capabilities of Tyr's group. Since he knew that he wasn't strong enough to fill in any combat roles, he would have to become the group's tactician.
'It works out well for me, after all I'm no warrior.'
"Right so, I guess it's time to spar."
***
Grey found himself circling Ariette. They were sparring, but in reality it felt like she would kill him if he made one wrong move. A deadly aura radiated from her, even though she wasn't using any vis. Unyielding posture. Controlled breaths. Her presence alone was enough to cause unease and distress towards Grey.
Yet, although he was circling her, Ariette did not move a muscle. She simply tracked him with her eyes as she waited for him to make a move. She held a short sword in her left hand, a dagger in her right, and seemed ready to spring into action at the first irregular movement. She was calm. Grey was not.
Humans were the worst. Not because Grey hated humans, no Grey hated the prospect of fighting humans. They were neither the most intelligent, nor the ones with the best instincts, nor the ones with the most might. Rather humans were the most cruel, the most cunning.
They stood on a fine line between intelligence and instinct. They would not be swayed by the most logical action, nor the most emotional one. Where humans stood, they would hold their ground, they would never stir nor be deterred.
Worst of all, Grey found himself fighting a human Ascendant. They were always formidable, superhuman, and sometimes were accompanied by vis abilities, and Grey's opponent had all of those traits. Not to mention that it was the first time he had ever held a real sword. Swinging a weightless practice sword is worlds apart from swinging an actual sword.
'No use worrying about that though.'
Breaking his cycle of movement, Grey dashed in towards Ariette. He pulled the Cloudpiercer back, tensing his muscles in preparation. He swung the blade drawing an arc in the air, mist trailing behind the blade. Ariette was no amateur however, she didn't hesitate for even a moment. Her dagger shot out and parried the first attack with ease… but Grey wasn't phased.
He thrusted his blade this time expecting it to be parried, Ariette did not disappoint. Using her shortsword she knocked Grey's blade to her right, causing sparks to fly. Ariette immediately followed up with a vertical slash. Yet Grey reacted faster than anticipated, He retaliated with a slash of his own, and when their blades met, the Cloudpiercer sliced right through the tough steel of her blade.
'A clean cut! Now I just have to–'
A spark flew, instinctively Grey slammed his eyes shut. He felt a slight tug at his collar and forced his eyes open. The world around him was spinning. It was spinning faster than he could process his surroundings. Only then did Grey realize he couldn't feel his feet on the ground. Overwhelmed by vertigo he suppressed the urge to vomit. He attempted to stabilize his vision with vis but he couldn't even control the flow anymore.
As Grey tried to focus energy into his eyes, a blurry object entered his vision but before he could react to it he was struck in the face. The Cloudpiercer flew out of his hands, the air was sucked out of him. Upon impact his empty lungs reverberated. The grass prevented serious injury. Ten seconds. That was all the time it took to defeat Grey. He groaned in pain. If there was one thing Grey noticed that was odd, it was that the neurostitch did not react to her movements even once.
'Guess it doesn't matter if I've got good gear. If I'm this terrible at using them it's no use at all.'
***
"One more match, I've got a couple more in me!"
"Nope, sorry. You've lost thirty something times and I've been holding back after our first match, let's call it a day."
The boy tried pleading once more, only to find a fist driven into his gut. Tyler, who was observing this all from a distance, could only laugh at the sight.
Tyler thought the boy showed promise. Each time he went up against Ariette he increased the amount of time he'd survive the match. But each time the beatings he received only got worse, just thinking about it made Tyler wince.
'That kids' crazy. Even I wouldn't jump into another match with her.'
He sighed and stood up from the trunk he was resting on. It was time to report to Tyr. He walked over towards a clearing that led to the group's camp. There he spotted Tyr being yelled at by Angel. A woman with white hair, and bright blue eyes. She bore a striking resemblance to Grey, but she denied ever having met him, and Grey himself confirmed that they had never met.
'But you never know, I guess. They could be fooling us… maybe.'
Tyler waited for her to finish screaming at Tyr before interjecting. He liked avoiding Angel, as she was one of the more troublesome members of the group. Compared to her, Ariette was a saint, and she was a brute before anything. Of course, that doesn't mean Angel was the strongest, far from it actually. She was their support, they'd be dead before long if they lost her. It was worrying however, that she acted suspiciously on the daily. But now wasn't the time to think about stuff like that. Instead, he decided to report Grey's current situation.
"Hey, Tyr. Grey got beat up pretty bad."
Tyr turned his head to Tyler.
"Really? Man… I had high hopes for that kid. Looks like we're gonna have to–"
"Wait up man, I wasn't done. Getting put up against Ariette should have been unfair for him, and he got destroyed. But he kept getting up and learned from his mistakes each time."
"You mean he fought her more than once?"
Tyler nodded and Tyr put his finger on his chin in response. He exhaled loudly and then spoke his commands.
"Tyler, make sure they stop sparring for today, and bring him to me. Also let him know that tomorrow, we leave our camp."
Tyler nodded and walked off without a word. Tyr was making the choice to leave camp tomorrow only because he trusted Grey could guide them through the undergrowth safely. He wanted Grey to give up information in order to prevail. Grey complying would be in everyone's best interest… And yet, for some reason, Tyler wasn't very thrilled about it. Not a single bit.