Kings of the Forest
(A/N: This is the first fight in the story where Samuel isn't holding back one bit. This is a reupload, there was a problem.)
Kingdom of Lugnica,
The Sanctuary,
Samuel POV,
In a small clearing surrounded by dilapidated and shoddy buildings, two teenagers seemed to be standing. One blonde, the other silver haired with the former standing straight while the latter seemed to be in some sort of stance. The ground beneath them was dry, strange considering that a forest surrounded the whole compound and the air seemed to stand still.
Then, far faster than anyone could even follow, the blonde or rather, Garfiel moved seemingly appearing above Samuel out of thin air.... however, the latter was quick to respond grabbing the outstretched fist firmly before slamming the palm of his other hand into Garfiel's chest... or so he would have liked but the hybrid quickly reacted, placing his forearm in front of the palm.
The sound of metal clanging resounded through the area as a few sparks flew to the sides, originating from the point where Samuel's clawed fist and Garfiel's shield gauntlets had made contact. Samuel took a step backwards, took one step to the side before swinging his leg in an arc slamming the heel of his shoes into the hybrid's face and as he did, Garfiel was shot away though he did reorient himself midair and come to a halt.
"Lesson number 1, never lunge." A small smile appeared on Samuel's face as he once more got into stance, fighting was definitely fun.. exhilarating even. An unnatural number of veins seemed to be popping out on his hands, their colour bizarrely standing out on his pale skin. "Are you sure you're human?" Garfiel asked looking at his gauntlet, it had been damaged just from one hit.... and how come metal clanged from a fist strike?
"Born and raised." Samuel's smile didn't die down, he was somewhat used to the remark after all. "I see." Garfiel once more vanished, an afterimage appeared in one direction and in the next instant a fist was approaching Samuel from the other side..... though, as before, he was quick to react, this time though, he slashed rather than deflect choosing to let the fist make contact.
Blood splattered from both individuals, Garfiel's chest had a gash running down it while Samuel's jaw hung loose. "Haha." The blonde jumped back with a grin, not quite bothered by the injury while Samuel too, only slightly tilted his face as the jaw reattached itself, "You hit good, I'll give you that." He praised once more getting into stance..... At the same time though, a small burning feeling enveloped his body, when he breathed out, visible steam made it's way out.
"Right back at you." Garfiel grinned once more disappearing from place, ignoring the fact that humans don't reattach their jaws. This time though, Samuel moved as well, slamming his forehead into Garfiel's fist, somewhat distributing and lessening the impact. "What th-" Before Garfiel could retreat, a pair of hands wrapped around his head.
Samuel slammed his knee into Garfiel's jaw and the hybrid's eyes widened in shock as he felt his entire skull shake from the impact, if he wasn't before Garfiel was sure of it now, his opponent might quite possibly one of the strongest humans he would face and the strongest of all opponents so far.
In truth however, Samuel's hits weren't supposed to carry that much force behind them. Then how? The answer lies in the hit to the jaw which Samuel took on purpose, his body had adapted to the force behind the punch, increased strength was a logical consequence of immense muscle development.
Samuel however, wasn't done yet, grabbing a hold of Garfiel's shoulders, he jerked the teen upwards, almost lifting the teen off his feet before slamming him down into the cold hard ground face first. Another humanly impossible manoeuvre, such an act required insane grip strength.
Garfiel slapped the ground somewhat upset now, how was he getting beaten by a human? The earth beneath them erupted outwards throwing Samuel a few feet back. "Good choice." Samuel smiled at Garfiel, he hoped this wouldn't dirty his new clothes. Making distance when outmanoeuvred was a smart choice.
"How are you this strong?" Garfiel asked, his tone completely serious as he smashed his gauntlets together creating sparks. Everyone had something which drove them, he wanted to know what drove his opponent.
"Maybe one day I'll tell you." Samuel smiled, taking a step forward and then using his foot to somehow latch onto the ground as it cracked underneath him before propelling himself forward with incredible speed. With his hand raised behind him, Samuel slashed down at Garfiel with a grin, his movements surprised the hybrid who barely blocked the attack even as his gauntlets were ripped apart from the slash.
"You though, you seem to want to protect the people here by keeping them confined." Samuel kicked him in the stomach, the force behind it, dragging the blonde back a good few metres. "How do you know?!" Garfiel's previous grin was replaced by an expression filled with anger.
"The world is not terrible..... scratch that, maybe it is." Samuel chuckled, stomping his foot, cracking the ground under him, "People claim it to be beautiful though, so let's go with majority vote." He joked pulling back his fist.
Garfiel was beyond angry after hearing Samuel's words and now moved more like an animal than an experienced fighter and as such, his punch was thrown to the side by a simple slap from Samuel followed by a punch directly to his face shooting him into the forest.... Maybe it was wrong of Samuel to anger his opponent in order to gain the upper hand but, this would help the kid too.
"I will, however, agree that it's filled with wonderous things. The beauty of nature is more than enough a reason, all sorts of people from saints to downright vile people.... I guess the variety is what makes it interesting?" Samuel asked rhetorically as he grabbed onto the kick headed his way before throwing Garfiel to a tree using the hybrid's own momentum.
"My point is, kid, the world ain't so bad. No need to fear it and these people, aren't safe here. This isn't life, it's just being trapped without the chance to grow. Just relying on a damn clown for supplies, no opportunity, turmoil and poverty...." Samuel sighed, raising his hands helplessly, Garfiel's obsession with 'defending' the residents of the Sanctuary by keeping them trapped here was frankly speaking, stupid as hell.
Garfiel roared in anger born from denial, his form growing taller and broader with each passing moment.... "....though...." What stood in front of Samuel now was a majestic yet wild 12 feet tall golden tiger, it's thick limbs seemed to exude power and then... it roared, strong winds flew about as Samuel's gaze turned significantly sharper. (A/N: This form of Garfiel's is a berserk mode.)
"If that's what you call freedom...." A miasma like aura seemed to seep into the surroundings making even the rabid Garfiel take a step back.... "You're my enemy."
As for what nearly everyone felt and 'saw'? It was.... bloodlust.
A common belief is that the more a person has killed, the greater the bloodlust they exude. While not entirely correct, the statement did hold some truth.
The calm yet wild Samuel people knew hadn't always been so, no, his former self was akin to a beast, a hunter. Having killed so much that carpet bombing the district he lived in was a thing to consider..... One day though, he had just turned himself in.... claiming to be tired.
But we digress, the thing to note here was that just now, after nearly two decades. Samuel was actually willing to go all out..... That was his nature, a violent person tired of himself and Garfiel, Garfiel was for now, an enemy he recognised.....
And this, this was no longer just a simple spar.
Ryuzu looked at the two fighting with a thoughtful gaze, still holding the strange object she had been given before not wishing to betray Samuel's trust in handing over something she presumed to be precious. Though, she wasn't sure which one was the beast here..... on one hand there was a 12 feet tall beast, on the other there was a man more than half it's size and yet the latter seemed more dangerous now that he was actually serious.
Samuel calmly analysed his opponent, choosing to not derive pleasure in this fight, and quickly judged that such a size should logically result in a drastic decrease in speed. This was proven to be true when the beast swung it's claw and simply tilting his body backwards was more than enough to dodge it.... though, dodging wasn't all he did.
Falling back onto one hand, he moved both his legs in arcs as blood sprayed from the extended limb. Takemikazuchi 'Sword From Body' was the essence of his school of Uechi Ryu, every part of his body could be called a sword. This also served as an explanation to why he chose to not wield weapons but rather fight with his own hands.
As his body adapted and evolved, so did the individual strength and sharpness of his limbs.
As Sekhmet had stated, Echidna was truly trying to make a monster.
Samuel's next action was completely unexpected though, the silver haired teenager struck his own left arm with his right, completely shattering the bones within making the arm fall limp. Consciously restricting the regeneration, he tilted his body to the side, dodging another fist from the rabid Garfiel which connected with the ground, shattering it into a million pieces.
This was more than enough time for Samuel to use the arm itself as a sort of pad and appear behind the beast's neck.
Ryuzu's eyes widened in disbelief at what he did next, what human would do something so...savage? He slid down the kimono he was wearing down to the waist and then...
Samuel used his own limp arm to strangle Garfiel's neck, pulling on it with his only working one trying to choke out the massive tiger. Garfiel roared slamming his back into a tree however, the action had little to no effect on the person currently choking him with a limp arm. He tried to scratch his assailant off slashing apart Samuel's back forming deep gashes.
The gashes themselves though, healed up in a matter of seconds as steam rose from his back. The next time Garfiel's claws made contact with him, they clanged off as if they were colliding with some kind of metal.
Seconds, Minutes, passed as the beast roared writhing around wildly destroying the surroundings but found the 'noose' around it's neck tightening further and further until finally, after nearly half an hour, it fell forward limp and lifeless yet still breathing.
Samuel's smile returned as his arm once more gained firmness, the shattered bones rearranging to be good as new seconds later. "Heh, still got it." He chuckled, wiping some blood from his lips as the beast at his feet slowly decreased in size until eventually only a passed out Garfiel was left in it's place.
"Who are you.... really?" Ryuzu muttered out, kneeling down next to Garfiel. "Just a travelling good for nothing." Samuel laughed scratching the back of his head. He fixed his kimono and once more, his well built body was hidden under clothes that made it seemingly disappear.....though, nearly the entire village saw it and some of the female demi humans were certainly 'intrigued'.
Samuel picked up his phone and smiled widely at the notification, it had in fact registered this as a victory.....
Only one more mission to go and he could leave this accursed world.
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So, how do you like it so far?
Side note though, for the retarded part of the community, he's a fucking Doomsday variant.