Return of the Fallen Volume 4 Chapter 58
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch58
After Danny brought up Kazuki’s name, question marks appeared above everyone’s heads. Kimi on the other hand only felt hatred.
“Why mention that bastards name. We would never have been in this situation if not for him.”
Danny didn’t argue that point.
“Your right. If not for him, our situation no matter how many times we rolled the dice, I don’t think it could have ended up worse besides us being dead but that’s not the point. In the end, we all made our own choice and decided to leave. We all felt that Garn’s attitude and actions toward other races as well as our friend at the time were disgusting and it was something that couldn’t be tolerated. Not only that, we all saw how the country was being run. King David framed Garn, we were witness to this. If the ruler of Treia was willing to betray and frame its greatest hero, how do you think he would have treated us? Even now, I know for certain that my decision to leave was the right one.”
Danny looked at where Kimi’s arm used to be and added.
“You blame Kazuki for your arm but it wasn’t him that tore it from your body. It was that thing over there, who was sent by Garn. If things continued down that route, you would have been killed. Shouldn’t you open your eyes and look at where the real blame lies?”
Kimi bit down on her lower lip until it bled but her raging her wasn’t quelled in the least. Only after Sam came over and gently held her chin up did she finally relent and stop gnashing her lip. Her eyes filled with tears and Sam pulled her in his embrace as she wept bitterly.
Sam glared at Danny for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh and relaxed his expression.
*Haaa*
Asuna had her own thoughts about Danny’s words. His words were logical but it still didn’t remove the hate she felt. Shin was a little more sympathetic. After seeing Kazuki’s memories, initially, he was pissed. Finding out you are being used for someone else’s purpose was gut-wrenching but at the same time, he knew where Kazuki was coming from. He had loved ones taken from him, murdered by someone he loved. That sense of revenge but having no place to unleash it was something that ate away at Shin for the longest time. He understood Kazuki a little now.
At the same time, he saw some things that didn’t go along with Kazuki’s revenge. Things that led him further and further away from his path. Shin knew that Kazuki actually did care somewhat for the others. Why else would Kazuki put his life on the line to save them repeatedly? So many times Kazuki could have simply run away from a dangerous and life-threatening situation, yet he time after time put himself in harm’s way to protect someone, to rescue them from the brink.
Shin stood beside Danny and smiled.
“Danny’s right. We all made our own decisions and we have to live with them. When we were in Treia, I chose for my self to follow after Kazuki but it wasn’t for any special reason. I didn’t do it because of Garn’s hate or King David’s betrayal and shit like that. I did it because I was excited about going on an adventure. As soon as we got here, we were told we were the heroes of the world and we were summoned here to fight the Azirians and deal with the Miasma somehow. When I heard that, I was truth be told scared. Then Kazuki found himself in trouble and was ready to flee with Nunully. I saw that as an escape. It was a way out for me and although its been dangerous left and right, again I don’t blame him because I decided. Besides, whether we stayed or left, the Azirians are still all our…all of humanity’s enemy. At some point, we as summoned ones would have had to face that reality. Going with Kazuki only expedited the inevitable.”
Sam and Kimi said nothing and Danny nodded along. Asuna couldn’t deal with such complicated thoughts and emotions right now and she went back to what got her curious in the first place. Pointing at the thin sword made from clear ice, she asked.
“How does Kazuki relate to your sword?”
Danny stabbed the sword into the ice before he held up both of his hands in front of her. Instead of answering her directly, he decided it would be more believable if he demonstrated it first hand.
His fingers began to flash and fold at odd angles. He had to shut his eyes at first as he did this because the sight of his fingers bending further than they naturally should, was something that made him queasy. Not only that but every sign felt painful to his fingers. Not bone-breaking pain but every new symbol he made with his fingers felt like a muscle being pulled or stretched just slightly past its limit. It was almost like spraining something every few seconds and it sent pulses of pain up his nerves.
Danny wondered how Kazuki dealt with such pain and he could hardly believe Kazuki experienced this pain every time he used these ancient hand signs.
From Kazuki’s memories, he only saw Kazuki move his hands and fingers in a certain way. Danny couldn’t see into Kazuki’s body and know that whenever he used his hand signs he used a bit of his own ki to ease the pain, however after using the ancient hand signs thousands of times, the pain no longer bothered him as much. It was still there but Kazuki ignored it. It was a way to test himself and increase his tolerance even if it was only a slight gain, everything added up.
After about two minutes, a long blade of ice condensed in Danny’s hand. Danny had now done this in total three times today and he felt drained. Not because of the magic but rather because of the amount of focus one needed to use the ancient hand symbols. Again he wondered how Kazuki was capable of doing this so many times throughout the day and never look tired.
Danny turned the blade sideways and the sun reflected off of it was almost blinding.
*Haaaa*
Letting out a long heavy breath he handed over to the dumbfounded Asuna.
Asuna felt the freezing cold touch of the blade and felt the flesh of her palm stinging repeatedly. She quickly dropped the sword to the ground and wondered if there were thorns poking from its hilt but looking closely she found none. Observing her hand, she found the skin had blistered slightly and turned red.
(So cold!)
Asuna knelt down and touched the blade with the tip of her finger ever so gently.
*Shck*
A line of blood fell from her finger.
(I Barely touched it and it cut me, no wonder it could slice through Abura. Even with his tough body, this blade is just too sharp.)
Shin and Sam looked at this scene with curiosity. Shin this time picked up the sword and he to could barely hang on before the skin of his palm blistered open.
Blood spurted out of his hand and he threw the sword away in panic.
“Dammit, what kind of sword can cut like this?”
Danny slowly bent over and picked up the blade. The cold stung his hand and dug into his flesh attacking his nerves constantly. Danny grimaced but didn’t let go. Spinning it a few times, he walked over to a nearby boulder. Turning the blade upside down, Danny simply dropped the sword atop the large rock.
The blade sunk in silently almost half the length of the blade before it stopped.
Asuna and the others were taken aback.
Shin ran over and grabbed Danny’s hand and turned it over to look at his palm. Although it was blistered as well it was nowhere as bad as Asuna’s or Shin’s.
Shin could hardly believe it.
“You’re not hurt?”
Danny took his hand back and almost blushed.
“You idiot, isn’t it obvious?”
Danny saw the dumbfounded look on Shin’s face and he found that he had been embarrassed for some reason. Clearing his throat he explained.
“I used Kazuki’s memories that we saw when he was in that ancient ruin back on Earth. I studied what he studied albeit only what was relevant to me. I didn’t have a lot of time but over these few weeks I concentrated on the water and ice ancient symbols and this is what I made. Again and again, I tried to get it right, and finally, I did it.”
Danny smiled at the others, a sense of pride welling up within him.
Shin, on the other hand, his face turned sour.
“You asshole! Why didn’t you say anything? If we had all been learning this, then we might have been able to escape much earlier. What the hell man.”
*Whack*
Shin felt something cold hit him in the head and he was knocked on his ass. A rag with snow stuffed into it laid by his side, the culprit was Asuna.
“What the hell! You really want to go again already, fine!”
Asuna shook her head.
“Clean your wound with the snow and then use the cloth to bind your blistered hand.”
Shin’s brow rose. Then he saw a missing piece torn from Asuna’s shirt. He cleaned his wound and began to wrap his hand while mumbling.
“Doesn’t give you the right to hit me.”
“I hit you because you’re being dumb. You’re getting mad at Danny but you don’t even understand the circumstances. The information he had, we all had as well but at the same time, there’s no reason to believe that Kazuki’s technique would actually work for us. Maybe Danny didn’t want to waste all of our time with something that wasn’t guaranteed or maybe he just didn’t want to get our hopes up.”
Danny smiled again.
“Ah someone who understands me.”
“Hmm, what’s this!?”
Reya landed silently in the snow behind everyone.
“Which one of you weaklings actually managed to kill Abura!?”
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