The Music Speaks

The second stage [enlightened] is standing between me and Calvin, my body is in terrible condition, and I have no way to contact Maestro Lauren. This is what I would call a hopeless situation.

"Fighting a first stage using my [melody] is overkill and would bring shame upon my name. Listen young man, I'll only use pure flow and I'll even put my right hand behind my back, come at me."

'What a nice guy.'

I draw my sharpsong and charge, in the opposite direction. I am no fool, and I do not plan to die today. Sometimes, running is the correct choice. Who could blame me? How am I supposed to beat this guy when I've only been [enlightened] for 5 months and have recently entered the mid-point of the 1st stage? As I attempt to increase the distance between us. The man takes no more than a second to catch up to me. We are now running side by side.

"Retreating isn't a bad choice, but you must know that you cannot run from me. Why don't you use the ability you used on that woman?"

"Shut up!!"

I increase my speed as much as I can but the man follows besides me without breaking a sweat. It's like he's playing with a newborn.

"Do you really have nothing else up your sleeve? Unfortunate."

He delivers a swift kick, sending me skidding across the ground. I bounce off the hard concrete a few times until my body stops. The injuries caused by this attack are not light.

'Ouch... are my ribs broken? I need to buy time to think of a plan somehow.'

"Listen man, why do you even work for that scumbag, at your level, there are so many more doors open to you!"

"There are powers at play you cannot understand young man."

He performs an axe kick straight at my abdomen. I clutch my stomach and vomit my dinner. My words do not get through to him.

'Damn, he won't even let me talk to him...!!'

Calvin, watching from the rear, says something to the man.

"Hey!! Make sure not to kill him!"

"Mhm"

The man delivers another blow towards my stomach which causes me to reel in pain. I cough up blood as I try to catch my breath. Surely at this point I must suffer from internal damage. He prepares another kick, but I speak.

"Wait! I'll tell you what you want to know just stop hitting me for a second!"

Of course, that is a lie, but I am hoping that it will make him hesitate for just a moment. I somehow need a second to at least gather my thoughts. My hopes are in vain, he strikes me once more.

"You will not have a choice either way young man, we have means to make you talk. For now, I will make sure you will not resist."

The man seems confident in his victory, but he has yet to figure out that my plan is going smoothly. I have led him into a false sense of security, and he is now consistently hitting my stomach. His attacks are powerful, but I have exaggerated my reactions a little to increase his confidence. His next strike is still aimed at my stomach. It will make contact with my body in the next instant. I place my shield in front of it, but it breaks. He must think that it is nothing more than a desperate attempt at survival.

'The second stage is seriously different... That was a perfect condition shield you know..."

Once it gets past my shield, what meets his leg is not my abdomen, however. His blow is stopped in its track by some other sort of barrier. In this dire situation, I have activated the special defensive feature of the watch given to me by DaiKar's manufacturing department, Thankfully, it performs as expected.

The moment his leg hits the barrier created by the watch, I grab it with all my might and strike him with the strength of a second stage, the special offensive feature of the watch. I hope to break, or at least weaken his femur bone. If his mobility is reduced, I should be able to escape. Instead, my hit connects with his right hand. He has stopped my blow, perhaps he was expecting me to pull something like this. My last trump card ended up being useless, but I speak to the man with a grin on my face.

"Heh, you used your right hand there, didn't you?"

"..."

'Please be the type of guy to let me go because I impressed you!'

"You are correct, I broke my word."

"So... are you going to let me leave?"

"No."

'F*ck!'

At this point, we are quite far away from Calvin, but I can still see him looking at us. We have barely left the premises of the abandoned warehouse and nearly entered the forest surrounding it.

"Instead, I'll reward you, you'll have a 1-minute head start. Run away."

'!!!'

Calvin speaks.

"Hey! Who told you to do that? Just capture him!! Don't let him get away!"

The man shoots a pebble in his direction which draws blood from his cheek. Calvin is clearly shocked by the act. The ma speaks with a cold voice.

"Know your place, scum. He will not escape."

Calvin attempts to say something else, but an intense glare from the man shuts him up.

I do not wait another moment, I painstakingly raise to my feet, and, in the 1 minute allotted, I run as far away from Calvin and the man as I can. Fortunately, the warehouse is situated at the entrance of a forest. I decide to head into the forest to have a better chance at survival. I am running through the trees and the bushes. Before the countdown ends, I try find an adequate hiding place. I consider many locations such as the top of a tree, the inside of a cave or even digging a hole in the ground. In the end, what I decide on is a set of mildly poisonous bushes. This decision was made in hopes that he would think I am not stupid enough to hide there.

Eventually, I hear footsteps near me.

"I know you are here somewhere, let's end this now, come out."

I hold my breath and try to remain as calm as possible. If everything goes well, after some time, he will start looking for me somewhere else. I do not expect him to look through every set of bushes in this forest, especially poisonous ones. Against my expectations, he approaches the bushes where I am hiding.

"In the end, I guess you were not as smart as I judged you to be. I followed your footsteps young man."

He digs through the bushes and pulls me out. He throws me against the ground and speaks again.

"Be sorry that you went after the wrong people. You only have yourself to blame."

He prepares to deliver the final blow, a blow to knock me out. However, he misses.

"...What?"

He tries to hit me once more but misses again.

'Finally...!!'

"Now, now, what are you doing to my precious student?"