The power to overcome

As Zeke headed home, he was still immersed in confused thoughts and feelings. Fortunately, Mr.Herrler's speech made Zeke feel better, but at the same time it raised even more questions for him. In his mind, Zeke was still thinking at these words 'Don't be afraid to trust other people, we are not creatures made to live alone, don't be afraid to trust someone else but yourself, don't be afraid to ask your loved ones for help when you need it and feel that the situation is beyond you."

'If everything were so simple, things are much more complicated than you think Mr.Herrler…' he thoughted.

At that time, Herrler's image came to his mind. An old man, with his white hair, a gentle face full of emotion of a long-gone youth, with his glasses whose tick lenses stood out. That elegant suit he always wore inside the university to give a pleasant feeling of a responsible man, passed through life, to those around him. The right position with which he always walks, with the chest out, and the chin raised, a real man among men.

Just thinking about his image made him smile, However, all of Zeke's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone notification. He had received a message from Yuki stating: "See you tonight".

'Are we already meeting for training? Hmph, it looks like I have plans for tonight' he thoughted.

After that he texted her "Ok, see you tonight" and continued on his way, however, as he walked home, he received a call from the university's director, who also happened to be Zeke's boss, saying that the courses could no longer be held and that all students would be sent on summer break, but because he works at the university, he will have to help with the renovations.

So when he got home, Zeke got all the things he needed and went back to school for renovations. So in the end what seemed like a day off for Zeke turned into a 14-hour workday, for which he was paid accordingly. But it was already almost 10 o'clock in the evening, when Zeke arrived home from work, after which he threw himself in bed, exhausted from fatigue and checked his phone: zero messages received, It seems that this is the life of a loner, you are not often sought after.

Even yet, Zeke knew he had told Yuki they were going to meet; the problem was, he didn't know where they were going to meet. So he checked Yuki's phone location, and to his surprise, she was an hour away from where Zeke was.

'Wonderful,' he thought while putting on something more comfy and suitable for training. After what seemed like an eternity, Zeke finally reached the "established" place.

Yuki was here, waiting quietly. When Zeke saw her, she was dressed very differently than she had been the previous two times. She was wearing a simple black training suit, and her hair was caught in a ponytail. As Zeke approached her and looked at her, in the light of the moon falling on her, and made her look like a princess of the night, Zeke could only notice one important detail.

'They're 100 percent D cup,' he thought, but Yuki's voice drew him back to reality.

'You're late!' she said, looking a little upset.

'You know, you could have told me where you would like to meet, not just tell me to meet. Luckily I can see where you are on the map because of your phone location.

Hearing this, Yuki took out her phone and then began to use it very vigorously.

'Wait, that's what that thing does!?' she asked in surprise then she sighed out loud 'Ahh, anyway, let's say I forgive you for this time, so? Are you ready?'

'Ready for what? You haven't said what we are gonna do'

'Haven't I? Oh…' she said, starting to get closer and closer to Zeke. Zeke's heart began to beat faster for some reason, this was something different from what Zeke had imagined. She moved closer to Zeke until she reached his ear and whispered softly.

'For our date, for what else?'

Zeke fell to the ground in shock. His face became bright red and he avoided eye contact with her.

'B…but…you are in a training suit…you…YOUR'RE TRYING TO TEASE ME AREN'T YOU?'

Yuki burst out laughing at that moment, bringing her hands to her belly and crouching on the ground.

'I can't believe you really believed that, hahaha, my belly hurts, hahaha'

'I swear I will take my revenge someday…' Zeke said to himself.

'Now, now, we should stop joking and start training'

'Tell that to yourself, not to me'

'Oh come on, don't be too upset, a little joke from time to time won't hurt, or you're worried that your girlfriend will find out about our little date here?' said Yuki smiling.

'So, to understand that you're taking your revenge for what I said at the terrace?'

'More or less'

Zeke sighed loudly and wrapped his legs up 'We should start training'

'Something I can finally agree with you on'

'So, where should we start?'

'Hmph...I'm glad to see you eager to become stronger, but it's pointless to start training, if you don't know what you're fighting against, so first you need to understand what Halses are, and how to fight against them.'

'Seems fair enough'

'Hals are creatures that come from Hell, but don't possess a soul, instead, they feed on them. What you need to know is that there are different species of Hals, some stronger than the others, and in order to differentiate them from each other we would assign to each one a rank E, D, C, B, A and S, E being the weakest and S being the strongest.

The rank that a Hals has is not definite, it will not stay with that rank forever. A Hals can evolve from a rank B to say a rank A if it consumes enough souls, otherwise if it consumes too few souls, well, like any other animal, they will starve and eventually they will die'

As she was explaining, Yuki's expression has changed. Her eyes became darker, her gaze was fixed on the ground, and her arms were folded across her chest. A light spring breeze began to blow smoothly, until the silence of the evening was broken by her words

'I will tell you just one time, so be very careful because I won't say it again…The one you defeated two days ago was a C-rank Hals'

Zeke's eyes got bigger, and a wide smile started to appear on his face.

'So, you're telling me that I was able to defeat a rank C Hals in one shot? This is awesome!'

'See…exactly what I was saying'

'What do you mean?' he asked, confused.

'Don't get full of yourself! Just because you defeated a C-rank Hals doesn't mean you're as strong as one! You don't have to be as strong as your opponent to defeat him, this should not increase your self-confidence, but should make you more aware of the situation you are in right now. You should be able to understand at least that.'

'What kind of brainless monkey do you think I am?'

'Definitely a very stupid one' she replied.

'Here we go again…' Zeke sighed out loud, before saying anything 'Shouldn't we start training instead of insulting each other?'

'It is true that practice helps you learn easier, but without a proper theory you will not understand much, so be patient and listen carefully if you want to understand what's happening with your body. After you drunk my blood, you should be either dead, or nothing will happen, but…'

'But?'

Yuki sighed loudly, resting her arms around her body. 'There is a chance…a chance for this to happen…I'm not sure if it was fate or your will not to die that kept you alive, but here you are, stronger than ever…'

'You make it sound as if it's not a good thing'

'It's not, now that you have a part of the demonic powers, I can't use my powers at full potential…I can no longer fight like I fought before, I can no longer use high close-combat spells or summon weapons. Or...the most important one…'

'And what would that be?'

'It's called 'Demonic transformation'. It's a spell that allows us to enter a berserk mode for a while. The first time we met I was in 'demon mode'. If you remember, I had the demon horns coming out and my hair purple'

'Yes, I remember that. I guess it's not a good thing that you can no longer use "Demonic mode".'

'It's called, "Demonic transformation"...and yes, it's not a good thing at all, that was my strongest mode, so without it…right now…I don't think I will be able to take down a C Hals alone…'

'And that's the part where I intervene'

'And this is the part where you intervene…'

'One short question is you don't mind'

'Go ahead'

'Why can't I tell you apart from a normal girl, despite the fact that you're a demon?'

'Demon aren't very different than humans when it come to appearance, we are very alike'

'Aha, I see, so that means that there are more demons among humans?'

Yuki remained silent for a moment, before giving Zeke a proper answer.

'No, they are not, I'm the only demon on Earth, yet there should have been more…'

At that very time, Zeke noticed something unusual about Yuki: she was squeezing her fist fiercely, but he decided to not say anything about this. She did not develop the subject any further.

'Anyway, this doesn't matter now, what is important for you are the things related to Hals, not demons. As I said earlier, 'summoning spells' and 'close combat techniques' are things that you will have to master as soon as possible if you want to have at least a chance of survival against the higher rank Hals.

That's why we should start with the summoning spell, without that sword you are a dead body on the battlefield to be honest'

'Well, thank for compliments'

'There were no compliments. Listen here!' she said in a serious tone 'If you can't even summon your sword you'll die on the battlefield as soon as the battle starts'

Zeke remained silent.

'Good, if you understand that, I will continue now. I'm done with the introductions so I should explain how the summoning spell works. Basically, you form a contract with your soul. The weapon that you'll summon will be a weapon that is made by your soul'

Zeke didn't understand what Yuki meant, he looked very confused.

'I see that you don't understand very clearly, let me explain in more detail, before you summon your signature weapon, that weapon have to be made, and it's made by a portion of your soul, the best material that can be used to create something'

'So, will my soul be used as a material for making a weapon for me?'

'Normally yes, but your case is special, you already have one weapon…or to put in another words…we have another weapon. As I said before, when you drunk my blood everything changed, you've gained demonic powers and my sword recognized you as it's owner, so all you have to do is to learn how to control it'

'And how can I do that?'

'You have to prepare you body first'

'Prepare...my body?'

'Yes, we need to make your body stronger, some spells are stronger than others, so usually when I first learn how to summon my weapon, my father used to take me to an intensive training to be sure my body can resist the power of the weapon that choses me'

'Wait, don't you contradict what you said before?'

'What do you mean?'

'You said that weapons are made by your soul, I don't really understand, how can a weapon deny you, if it's made by your soul'

'Very easy, maybe your soul is stronger than your mind, maybe you think you are a good person, but your soul wants only destruction and suffering, maybe you do bad things, but want to be a better person, these are some basic cases where your weapon can deny you, for not being "worthy". It's important that you are what you tell your weapon that you are, and even if you are the best liar in the universe, you can't fool weapon'

'This means that this should not be a problem'

'Yes, it shouldn't be…or maybe?'

'Maybe?' asked Zeke confused.

'Maybe you're not who you're attempting to look to be.' Yuki replied, looking right in Zeke's eyes.

'Don't you think you're making a lot of assumptions? Did you forget you don't me at all? Maybe you're the one who isn't who she claims to be'

'This is also a possibility, or perhaps neither of us are who we appear to be.'

'Do I get the impression that you like to make assumptions about people?'

'You're close' she replied 'I like to read people, because no one is who they seem to be.You know, all of us have three faces.' she continued to say, turning her back to Zeke.

'Three?'

'One for the world, one for our family, and one for ourselves. We all attempt to be different than we are because, in the end, we want the world to believe that we are amazing, so we show them our flawless part, because that's what we want others to believe, that we are perfect, but guess what…'

'Our family knows who we are…' Zeke continued as Yuki stopped talking 'Since they witness our imperfections and mistakes every day, they know who we really are, and they know we're not the people we're attempting to be in the public.'

'Finally' Yuki started to speak again 'There's the third mask, the one we only wear when we're alone, because…'

'We don't want anyone to know who we really are' they said at the same time.

After that a moment of silence was left between the two. Before adding anything else, Yuki smiled a little and continued to talk.

'After all, you're not as terrible as I first thought, plus we appear to be more compatible than I had anticipated'

'You're not as bad as I thought either, you still have to work on some parts'

'HUH? What do you mean I still have to work on some parts? See, that's why you don't have any friends, because you don't know how to speak with others'

Yuki's words made Zeke noticeably irritated. A vein in the middle of his forehead began to pulsate fiercely.'You know, I'm a loner because I chose to be one, but you? What is your excuse?'

'I don't like humans, that's all! I also decided to be a loner!'

'This excuse is already taken, chose another one'

'Huh? What exactly do you mean by "choose another"? What are you? Eight?'

The dispute between the two lasted a few minutes longer. They began bickering about really ridiculous topics that had nothing to do with why they had met in the first place.

'What do you mean when you say banana chocolate ice cream is superior to strawberry chocolate ice cream? Are you insane?' asked Zeke.

'I can't bear the taste of strawberries! I'm not sure if I'm allergic to them, but I can't tolerate being near them.'

'Strawberry'

'Banana'

'Strawberry'

'Banana'

'STRAW-BE-RRY'

'BA-NA-NA'

They were both out of energy and began to breathe loudly in anticipation of regaining their strength.

'What are we doing here?' asked Zeke at some point 'Didn't we come here to train?'

'Yes, but you insulted my banana ice cream, so I felt forced to respond.'

'And we were talking about someone who acts like he's eight.'

'Do you want to start over?'

'Nonononono, today was enough for me; I simply want to train a little and then go home; I'm exhausted and want to sleep'

'I agree with you that some training would be beneficial; after all, that's why we came here, in the first place. Now that you know somewhat about Hals, I think we should start with…'

'With?'

Yuki remained silent.

'Have something happened?'

'Zeke' she said on a serious tone 'We have a problem, a big problem'

'What? What happened?'

'Zeke, listen carefully, there's one nearby'

Zeke remained speechless too, he grabbed Yuki's arm and started to run in the woods.

'Hey, what are you doing?!' she asked, confused and a bit irritated.

'You said you couldn't fight at your full power right? Can you feel how strong it is!?'

'It seems like a D rank, I think we could take it down'

'Do you want to take that risk?'

'Maybe, do you want to take that risk?'

'I don't know. I don't know how strong a D rank Hals is.'

The two kept running till they came to a clearing and could see what was going on around them.

'Why did we come here? We are exposed here'

'Maybe, but I don't want a Hals to jump from a tree in front of me, so it's best if we're out in the open right now.'

The two sat back to back, and began to look around. 'Can you feel it?' asked Zeke.

'Yes, it surrounded us, but it is approaching'

The danger could be felt in the air. A very menacing and dangerous presence begins to appear. From the shadows of the trees some bloodshot eyes were looking at the two of them, after which a fierce roar broke the silence of the moment.

'It's coming, be ready to fight' said Yuki.

A creature with the look of a massive lion appeared, but it was a little different, its claws looked more like sharp blades made to tear the skin from enemies. It had a long tail like that of a snake and sharp teeth like those of a tiger.

If you were to compare that Hals with something, Its size was at least equal to that of a medium-sized orca. It was huge. It was... a highly deadly beast... the murderous intent could be felt in the air...At that moment, Yuki screamed at Zeke, warning him about the creature's next attack. The Hals rushed upon them and launched an attack with its sharp claws, but fortunately Zeke and Yuki were able to avoid that attack.

'Zeke! Try to summon your sword, I know it's all at once, but you've done it before, try to remember how you did it, until then I'll be dealing with it to gain some time!' said Yuki, as she was rushing toward the Hals.

Yuki screamed 'Lightning Cage!' then her entire left arm becomes surrounded by a purple aura. Yuki then punches the ground, and some purple lightning has appeared around the creature that seemed to immobilize it.

'Hurry up! I don't know how long this cage can hold it in place'

'I'm trying!' Zeke replied, trying her best to remember what he had done before 'But it's not that simple to remember something that you did once by mistake'

'Well, try harder! The cage won't resist forever' she replied, breathing a bit harder.

The walls of the cage began to crack, due to the blows of the Hals the cage became more and more unstable. Yuki uses her magic to strengthen the cage to gain more time, but it seemed the cage was almost broken.

'C'mon Zeke! I can't resist long!'

At that moment an oppressive silence fell on the whole place, the only sound that could be heard was the walls of the cage where the Hals was held, as they began to crack. But the silence was broken when Zeke shouted loudly.

'Yuki! Release the Hals when I tell you!'

'Have you lost your mind?! 'She yelled back 'What are you going to do?!'

'Just do as I say!' He said, rushing to the cage which could barely withstand the creature's attacks. Once he was face to face with the creature, Zeke screamed as loud as he could 'NOW!'

'This is going to be a bad idea…' said Yuki to herself.

She then released the spell and the cage broke. The Hals rushed towards Zeke and Zeke towards it as well. Then the Hals launched an attack on Zeke but he managed to dodge it.

'Take this!' screams Zeke with all of his powers.

Thereafter Zeke punched the creatures and due to his enormous power the Hals was thrown some meters back, but it didn't fall, instead it launched a counterattack on Zeke, with its long tail, throwing Zeke over Yuki and knocking them both down.

'Ouch…it hurts…' said Yuki, getting up 'Hey Zeke! What was in your mind? Why didn't you summon your sword?!'

'How am I supposed to do that!?' he screamed at her 'You know very well that I summoned it only once, by mistake!'

The situation becomes more and more tense between the two, but the real problem was right in front of them, a Hals with immense power who does not intend to let its prey escape. They both look at the creature and then say the same thing at once.

'This is bad'

The Hals launched a dangerous attack on the two, but fortunately, they were both able to dodge it. Zeke was visibly worried about the situation; his legs were trembling and he was sweating profusely. He didn't think they'd be able to get out of this alive.

'What are you doing?' he heard Yuki's voice screaming at him 'Don't tell me you're scared'

'O…of course I'm not!' he replied 'I just don't know what we are gonna do about this. You said you couldn't beat it in your current state, could you?'

'Oh this? Hahahaha' Yuki started to laugh very loud 'I was just teasing you. Do you really think I can't beat this Hals on my own? Who do you think I am?' she said, cracking her fingers, and preparing for the fight.

'Hey Zeke' she said in a low and soft voice, with her back to him 'Be honest with me, are you really scared right now?'

Zeke remained silent for a moment, but he respond sincerely 'To be honest, yes, I'm scared'

Yuki giggled hearing his answer 'I see, so you really aren't like him after all'

'What?' he asked, confused.

'Never mind that, just stay behind, I'm gonna fight this Hals alone'

'Are you sure?'

She turned to him, put her arm on his shoulder, and said with a smile on her face 'Yes, just go hide after one something, until I'm done with this'

Zeke followed Yuki's instructions and retreated after a stone in the area, but something inside him was not at ease. He saw Yuki's legs tremble, he knew she was also scared, he reminded what she previously said, that she's not at her full power.

'She's just trying to be tough...but in reality…' he felt useless, he wanted to help her no matter what, because he knew something bad was gonna happen. But while he was thinking about what he could do to help Yuki, something happened. He saw her rushing toward the Hals, and he was impressed.

'I don't know if it's courage or recklessness what you're doing now Yuki…' he said to himself.

The Hals rushed towards Yuki to launch an attack with its claws, but when it approached her something happened, it stopped suddenly, remaining motionless in one place. Zeke was confused because he couldn't understand what was happening 'What is this? Why did the Hals suddenly stop?' Then a thought crossed his mind 'Don't tell me that…'

Yuki was smiling before revealing what she did 'I got you, Electric Net!'. The place where the Hals was, started to electrify, and great flash of lighting struck the Hals from the ground causing it a lot of damage.

'I can't believe it, you really are amazing, Yuki' Though Zeke before screaming out 'Good job, you can do it, Yuki!'

Yuki's cheeks began to slowly turn into a pinker tint 'Thanks for the cheers' she replied 'But the battle is far from won'

The creature got up, and it didn't look happy. Yuki's attack didn't seem to have much of an effect on it; instead, the Hals became angrier.

'It doesn't look very happy' said Zeke, but Yuki didn't respond.

'He's right…' She said to herself 'It doesn't look like the Electric Net had any effect on it, instead, it's much angrier than before…'

Yuki clasped her hands together and started casting a spell again. This time is not the same one as last time. This time the electricity around her gathers at one point, taking the form of a weapon.

'Didn't she said she can't use summoning spells anymore?' Zeke asked, surprised.

'I heard you!' she yelled at him 'And this is not a summoning spell, it's a constructing one, and advance form of elemental manipulation, it allows me to build different weapons made by elemental powers'

'Elemental powers? What should that mean?'

'Don't bother with this now, you have a long way to go before you reach this level. For now, just shut up and watch,' she said, focusing on her movements. 'It is not easy to use elemental power, if you are not careful and focused enough you risk destroying the spell. If the spell you cast is a high level one, you risk even dying from it. But that's not a problem for me, instead this should be enough to beat this Hals!'

Yuki finally finished the spell, the weapon she built was a bow, a bow made of electricity, a light purple color that emanated a strong aura around it, even Zeke could feel its power.

'Now let's see who's stronger, creature' she said, while the Hals took a defensive stance.

'Electric...Arrow!' she screamed out loud.

A bright arrow came out of her bow, surrounded by a strong current of electricity, which struck Hals directly in the forehead. A strong wave of electricity began to penetrate Hals' body causing its severe pain. The Hals began to roar in pain and poked its tail everywhere it could.

'Hmph, it's still not enough, I need to get closer for a stronger attack'

She looked directly into the creature's eyes and the creature into her eyes. The Hals was not happy at all, it had received a few good shots but they were not enough to bring it down.

'Ranged attacks are not powerful enough to knock you down, BUT THIS SHOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH!'

After screaming this, Yuki disappeared from where she was, and appeared right in front of the creature with a different weapon in her hands. It was a sword, with its blade emitting a strong purple light. Both Zeke and Hals were surprised and did not fully understand what had happened.

'Wait! What? Did she just…teleported? Or maybe…no, there's no way she's that fast' said Zeke to himself.

Yuki gathered all the power she had left and stabbed the creature in the chest with her sword. From the point where the sword penetrated the creature, a lot of waves of lightning came out, causing much more damage to the creature than before. The Hals began to bleed, but unfortunately that was still not enough to take it down, and the Hals had enough time to use its tail to launch a counterattack on her.

Yuki realized she didn't have enough time to dodge it, so she drew her sword from the creature's chest and blocked its attack, but it was in vain, the attack was too strong and her sword broke. She was thrown into the rock, from where Zeke was watching, and blood began to flow from her head.

'Yuki! Are you alright?' said Zeke, starting to run towards her, worried.

'Hmmm...It looks like electro powers really can't be used against the Hals....Damn you Akuun...I hate you from the bottom of my heart...I really underestimated this Hals, although it is a D rank, it is quite strong' she murmured, but Zeke couldn't understand everything.

He grabbed her in his arms and gazed at her; seeing her wounded and bleeding made him feel uneasy; it was a sense of helplessness that he felt. Even though he felt completely useless, he looked her in the eyes and told her in a serious tone.

'Yuki…you've done enough for today, you should rest, let me do this' but she rushed at him, and said 'Have you lost your mind? If you try to fight now, in your current condition, without even knowing a few basic spells, and without a weapon, you're like dead!'

Zeke looked again at her, and then close his eyes 'I know...but I can't let things go like this, you're in a state where you're out of access to your original powers because of me'

Yuki remained silent, she was stunned hearing his words.

'Let me take responsibility for what happens, please, you've done enough for today, if you're gonna fight again, you'll be hurt even more.'

'I can't believe it…' she said in a low voice, looking at the ground. 'You're even more of a brainless monkey now…'

But Zeke was laughing, in response to Yuki's words. 'It looks like I really am'.

Yuki began to smile, but even so she still couldn't look into Zeke's eyes, a strange feeling lay inside her.

'You idiot...don't try to act cool right now, you know we could both die anytime right?' she said in a soft voice.

'Yes, I know, but I won't let this happen, I still have a lot to do, and a lot of places where I want to go, and so will you, so I promise you, we're not gonna die here'

At that moment, Yuki was blushing hearing this 'I told you...you just try to look cool now…' she said softly.

Zeke put Yuki down, after which he turned his back on her 'I want to ask you one more question, what rank did you say it was the Hals from yesterday?

'It was a C rank…' she replied 'But it was already wounded in the fight with me, and on top of that, at that moment you summoned your sword, even so it was just luck, it was an advantage'

'Yuki…' he replied, interrupting her 'To be honest...I'm afraid…This creature looks very menacing...but at the same time, I don't know why, but I feel excitement.' he said smiling.

'You say this, but your legs are still trembling' she remarked

'Well, you did the same thing,' Zeke replied, laughing.

Yuki was blushing again and looked away 'Hmph' she replied pouting.

'You're just like a small kid'

'Sh..shut up! You have no right to speak!' she replied with her face turning red.

'It's true, I also act like a small kid sometimes, but right now, I can't to this, not as long as you rely on me'

Yuki remained silent, seeming to want to say something.

'You said that your blood made me stronger than a normal human, didn't you? I noticed as you fought that your powers didn't affect it too much...however, there was a time when it really seemed hurt.

Yuki was amazed 'So you've noticed?' she asked him.

'Of course I did; how else am I supposed to beat my opponent if I don't know his flaws? I saw that, magic doesn't have much effect on Halses, but melee attacks do, so you use weapons to hunt these creatures'

Yuki smiled 'You're right'

'That being said, I think this is the perfect time to test my powers, so Yuki, please let me take care of it'

'Hmph, what can I say, even if I try to stop you, you're still gonna fight, aren't you?'

Zeke also smiled, replying to her 'Looks like you're getting to know me'

However, Yuki was still worried 'I will let you take care of this, but as I see you're starting to get beat up, we're changing places, ok?'

'Don't worry, I can do this, I have the feeling that the result will impress you'

Zeke approached the Hals, who stared at him with a criminal expression on its face, ready to tear him to shreds. Even though Zeke was still terrified, something inside of him made him excited. He confidently tightened his hand in his palm and said, 'Let's settle this now, beast, I'm not going easy on you.'