Chapter 266 Valen The Swift

Valen walked next to Ritsuka. His red tails moved behind him as he walked with Ritsuka in a random direction. He was looking for a place that would do well for the both of them. He came upon flat land with a bunch of trees everywhere. Valen wore a baggy v-neck shirt. It revealed his toned body and was tucked into some pants. He had a belt on and was barefoot.

"I guess this'll do." Valen spoke. Ritsuka nodded and looked around. Valen turned to face the human. He had seen plenty of humans on the Human Realm, but Ritsuka had some strange energy that made him curious.

"You're Ritsuka, right?" Valen asked.

"Y-yes, s-sir." Ritsuka stuttered, bowing.

"Don't call me sir. I'm nothing like the General or Commander. Just call me Valen." Valen gave a small bow.

"Y-you're very well-informed with the culture on Earth?"

"Mmm," Valen nodded. "I may be a Sprite-Fox Spirit, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't know about the other Realms. I think Humans are the most interesting out of all the other races I've seen."

"Y-you're a Spirte and a Fox Spirit?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yup, you heard right." Valen nodded. "I used to be this tiny." His body immediately shrunk into the size of what Florabelle would be. "I can shift between these forms. My previous life before I became a Fox Spirit, I used to be bound to the Jurya Desert." Valen's form shifted back into his humanoid Fox Spirit form.

"Ah, the Jurya Desert… General Halys spoke of that a couple of times when he used the powder in the soup."

"Ah," Valen chuckled. "The powder gets you good, huh? It's a great way to boost your muscles and basically get a free massage everywhere at once." Valen playfully patted Ritsuka. Ritsuka didn't know what to think about this. "Well, we should get started. What's your power?"

"Well, I can bind weapons to my soul and summon them." Ritsuka gave Valen an easy summary like he usually did. It was too complicated to go into the nitty gritty of it all, but that's how his power worked.

"Ah, makes sense why General Halys paired me with you, then." Valen smiled.

"Huh?" Ritsuka let out, confused. Valen lifted his hand and a crimson red dagger appeared in his hand. "Woah."

"Cool, right? This is a gift from the God King, himself. He said it came from one of the other Realms. Thing pierces through almost everything."

"C-can I hold it?" Ritsuka pointed. Valen smiled and nodded.

"Go ahead. You seem like someone who's really into weapons."

"Y-yeah, you could say that. I always had a fascination with creating and enchanting weapons." Ritsuka slowly spun the large dagger. It had a crimson red metal blade. The handle was black with straps wrapped around it. There was a small red jewel between the handle and blade. "Does it have a name?" Ritsuka looked up at Valen.

"No, official name. I just call it Crimson." Valen explained.

"Does it have any cool abilities?" Ritsuka asked. Valen motioned with his right hand for the blade. Ritsuka gave it back and Valen held it up, taking a moment to appreciate the blade before his body shifted and turned into a pool of blood. Ritsuka watched as the popol of blood swirled around him and Valen quickly appeared right back in front of Ritsuka. "Y-you can turn into blood?"

"The dagger gives me the option of using hemomancy." Valen nodded.

"Whoa," Ritsuka nodded. "I dunno if I should be scared of that or not."

"Other than that, I got a couple of more weapons." Valen made the Crimson dagger disappear and two black daggers appeared in his hands. "All of my abilities center around daggers so I kinda got into daggers. This one I got on Earth. I think they call it…"

"Distortion." Ritsuka interjected. The black daggers seemed jagged just like Ritsuka saw on TV. He took another look at Valen and his face started to seem familiar. "Don't tell me," he pointed at Valen. "You're the guy who bought Distortion for an absurd amount of money?!?"

"I physically wasn't there for that transaction but yes, I bought it."

"I was wondering what dumb idiot would buy such a weak enchanted set of daggers." Ritsuka bluntly spoke. Valen could feel the bluntness hit him across the chest. He took a slight step back as Ritsuka continued to study the daggers.

"Black and gold. It's really plain looking and pretty meh when it comes to terms in ranking." Ritsuka straightened his back and looked at Valen. "Why did you get it?"

"Low ranked daggers work best with my abilities. They meld with my skillset which typically involves powering the daggers I use. It gets harder to power a higher tiered dagger, so I don't usually use it." Valen balanced one of the daggers on his index finger. Red and black energy started to spark around the blade as he looked at Ritsuka. "So a one-of-a-kind dagger with a low enchantment ranking, works perfectly with my powers. Wanna see?" Valen let out a cheeky smile.

"Sure, please take care of me." Ritsuka gave a small bow. Valen nodded, snatching the dagger and twirling them in his hands. He took a couple of steps back and then motioned for Ritsuka to come. Smoke billowed out of his chest. Red energy sparked and Angerfang appeared in his hands.

"Anytime you're ready." Valen motioned. Ritsuka dashed forward towards Valen.

'If he gets past Angerfang, I'll definitely have a hard time. I need to practice with Angerfang as much as possible.' Ritsuka swung the scythe horizontally. Valen's upper-body bent backwards, watching the scythe blade miss him. He pulled himself up and dashed straight for Ritsuka. The two began to exchange strikes at each other.

Valen's strikes were quick and precise. Ritsuka could tell his strength wasn't his strong point, but he was dexterous!

'Using a scythe against someone who wants to get up and personal, quickly.' Valen immediately noticed. He dodged a strike and found an opening and slashed at Ritsuka. The silk material that the Foxes used blocked most of the damage, but it didn't mean Ritsuka didn't feel it. 'Not a bad choice, but the scythe weighs you down a bit.'

Ritsuka winced as he adjusted himself. 'The range advantage would be an advantage if I could keep him far away from me, but it looks like that's not gonna work.' Ritsuka quickly realized. Angerfang glowed bright red as Ritsuka swung at Valen, discharging the collected energy. Ritsuka forced Valen backwards, creating a window of time for him to move backwards.

"Should I show you one of my moves?" Valen asked aloud. Black and red lightning energy sparked around him. He threw the dagger straight for Ritsuka. Distortion started to blur and glow as Valen's body became black and red lightning. He shot forward, materializing his body as he grabbed the dagger and slashed at Ritsuka, mid-air. Ritsuka went flying, slamming into a tree. Angerfang clattered away from him as his body began to spark. He was paralyzed. "Distorted Lightning." Valen let out a smile. Ritsuka could feel the paralyzation effect on him. Valen twirled a dagger in his hand as he slowly took a step forward towards Ritsuka. "It was smart to use the scythe against me as a range advantage, but what if your opponent is too quick?"

Ritsuka's fingers twitched. 'The paralyzation effect doesn't last long.' Ritsuka watched Valen slowly move closer to him. Ritsuka didn't know how far the fight would go, but he didn't want to take any chances.

"What do you do when you're pinned in a situation like this? Do you accept your death? Do you fight a meaningless fight?" Valen asked. He didn't really know how to teach someone. He was put into situations and thought if he could put Ritsuka in similar positions, maybe he would understand. Valen looked at Ritsuka for an answer. Ritsuka's mouth slowly opened.

"Y-you're qu-quick." Ritsuka complemented. "B-but if you wanna t-teach me something… Teach me something I already know!" Angerfang disappeared into smoke. Valen leapt forward for the strike. Ritsuka lifted his hand, blocking the attack with Obsidian Glass. The two men pushed against each other. Ritsuka swung, forcing Valen off of him. He landed far enough away that Ritsuka could move his body, again.

'The energy is different. He had a sword hidden this whole time? I should be careful. He can compensate for the lack of speed now, but if I went faster he wouldn't be able to catch up to me.' Valen let out a smile. "This is getting interesting. Let's see if you can catch this." Black and red lightning coursed around his entire body. Valen leapt forward, the sound of a sonic boom echoing shortly after.

'Switch.' Ritsuka thought. Obsidian Glass disappeared and red smoke started to billow out of his hands and chest. Just before Angerfang could materialize, Valen appeared in front of him and slashed horizontally at him. The sound of thunder grew loud as lightning began to strike. Ritsuka lifted the billowing smoke, watching it materialize.

Lightning arced out of the strike, Angerfang pulling the energy. Lightning arced off Angerfang, hitting Ritsuka's body. He grunted, slowly sliding backwards. Valen's strike had actual weight against him this time.

'Can you absorb it fast enough?!?' Ritsuka grunted. He was going to get sent flying at this point. 'Come on!' Angerfang began to vibrate louder. Ritsuka could feel his chest shaking. The image of red eyes stared straight at Ritsuka 'A new ability?' Ritsuka let out a smile. Valen lifted his other dagger and slashed at Ritsuka.

"Huh. So that's how you're supposed to be." Ritsuka let out before black and red lightning made him go up in smoke.