The White King

Tiga

"So, you never properly described what an Emblem is. All you said was 'It's a special power for those who've become adept at soul magic,' which isn't exactly enough to go on."

Nacah sighs, beckoning him closer. "Emblems are that, unique powers for people, but the method of unlocking them is strangely the same."

Clearing his throat, Nacah sits himself down on a nearby rock. Schwarz, being the pupil, kneels before him.

"Simply put, you need to steal someone's soul," Nacah announces without hesitation.

Schwarz delays his reaction a moment, silently seeking a followup to that, but none comes.

"You expect me to go out and just take a life?" he asks incredulously. "I can't do that; people are more than just animals!"

Nacah waves his hand to dismiss his concerns, though his words don't exactly allow that to happen.

"Schwarz, if everyone on the planet literally being part animal isn't enough for you, a man named Darwin proved around sixty years ago that mankind was descended from apes, and we are descended from them."

Not comforting, nor did it remove that sinking feeling in Schwarz's gut.

"I still won't kill anyone!" he shouts back, bypassing the argument completely.

After a brief sigh, Nacah stands up, an action Schwarz mirrors- though with more defiance than composure.

"You're gonna have three choices here. Pick someone- literally anyone, I don't care- to kill, abandon your mission to stay here, or stay here without my help. What'll it be?"

Schwarz's left eye twitches several times as he stares slightly up at his mas- former master.

"I guess we're do-."

Schwarz blinks at the person suddenly standing in Nacah's place.

"Novus...?" he asks, bewildered by the slightly out of breath pan.

The man in question takes a readied stance- one similar to Krav Maga in all but clench fists- and beckons towards the downed White Tiger.

"Rise, hellbeast," Novus commands of Nacah, something he is surprisingly willing to do.

His angered expression tells everyone there that he wasn't going to listen to anything else.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Nacah roars out, dashing forward in a blur. His speed is matched, however, and Novus steps diagonally right during a leg sweep.

Nacah trips, but merely flips over himself to land at his feet, already primed for a second attack. As if matching his anger, the minor glow around him starts darkening.

Linear approaches were limited, even at their irresponsible speeds, so he goes for something else.

Nacah lunges forward, but not at Novus. Instead, his target is a tree a distance over his shoulder.

The instant he made contact, a foot against wood, he was off of it again, leaving a shattered oak behind as he pounced back on Novus.

Schwarz's own complete inability to keep track of the battle doesn't seem to affect either of them, really, as Novus effortlessly ducks Nacah's diving kick.

"How you defeated my father, I'll never understand," Novus says, shaking his head at Nacah in disappointment. "I've only trained for a few decades, and this is what you have for me?"

Schwarz- already confused out of his mind by the events around him- would be unable to properly unpack that statement, but I'll be nice and say he could anyway.

Novus was at least middle aged despite having the physical appearance of a rebellious teenager, he had trained for 'a few decades' which essentially translated to 'at least thirty years', and was now stronger than Nacah who he sought vengeance over.

We good? Cool.

Nacah looks up at him through the dust settling into the newly made crater in the ground.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

Novus doesn't get a chance to reply, not that he would, as Nacah's soul flares up around him. The blinding glow doesn't divert Novus's attention, but it set up something else.

Nacah blitzes forward, visibly cracking the earth behind him as he slams a fist into Novus's already raised guard.

Though Novus takes no real damage, he can't brace himself against the force of the impact, so he's sent flying.

Without a surface to maneuver from, he's only able to ineptly attempt to block what follows.

Nacah lunges again, his respective blur passing directly next to Novus's form without pause.

The effect becomes visible a moment later when his neon green t-shirt darkens to a sickly brown.

Nacah crashes into a tree, the force of his landing more than sufficient to send it flying into the woods, but he wasn't going with it. Instead, on the instant of contact he sends himself towards Novus again.

This repeats until every nearby tree had been blown apart, the full attack taking only two seconds to conclude.

Schwarz takes a step back in awe- definitely awe, not terror- and tracks Novus's descending form on its path to the ground.

It slams into it with a mortifying squelch.

Nacah slides to a stop above him, looking down at the unmoving maybe-corpse of his opponent.

"Now you've seen something," Nacah acknowledges while stretching out his arms. "Man, what a workout. Haven't had to do that in thirty-four years."

His eyes shift sideways, peering towards Schwarz at just the right angle for the suns glare to reflect in his pupils.

"So, what was that, Schw-?"

Nacah's eyes flick upwards for an instant before it hits him.

For the second time in so many seconds, the conversation is interrupted by Novus kicking Nacah away, although this time he ax-kicked him into the ground.

Or, that's what Schwarz assumed from the momentary view he received before being sent flying from the shockwave of the strike alone.

Novus's face contorts into a wicked grin as he forces his heel into Nacah's back.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" he asks rhetorically, his beaten and bloody body seemingly replenished entirely, as was his clothing.

Nacah's teeth grit in a combination of anger and pain.

"You little guttersnipe," Nacah growls out while pressing his arms against the ground to brace himself as if rising.

Novus merely stomps once to put an end to that.

A moment would pass in silence if not for the wind.

"So you have an Emblem too," Nacah acknowledges with a slight frown.

Novus narrows his eyes and grinds his foot slightly further into Nacah's back, though this doesn't cause a visible reaction.

"Shame..." Nacah says plainly. "I'd have loved the ability to revert time."

Nacah flashes a brilliant white- the energy of his soul manifesting around him to create an explosion.

Since the ability had no movements to telegraph it's arrival, Novus doesn't get a chance to so much as cushion the blow.

Nacah shoves off the ground with both hands, easily bringing himself to his feet. Novus, on the other hand, landed quite painfully against the dirt.

"One."

Novus throws himself off the ground in panic, just barely managing to evade the foot placed where his head was but an instant before.

He doesn't get to dodge the followup explosion, however, and gets thrown yet again in a blast of white.

"Two."

Novus slides to a three-point stop, a position that grants him just enough balance to properly bat aside Nacah's flying kick.

Two, Novus taunts silently.

The universe seemed a little indignant about that.

"Three," Nacah's voice declares from behind him.

"WHAT!?" Novus cries out, whirling around at speeds that would make electrons s**t themselves.

Unfortunately, not even shattering physics would help against someone who could do it too.

~~~~~

To actually make me use my Emblems...

Nacah looks down at his opponent in a mixture of fascination and annoyance.

Just what was he?

Bending over to pick up Novus, Nacah hauls him over to Schwarz's limp body. While he was unconscious, that wasn't going to be an issue here.

Placing a hand upon his student's forehead, Nacah brings Schwarz's soul to light.

This would take but a moment.

Be grateful I am not who Novus remembers.