Chương 23: That's Cheating

Uvogin's shout announced Aren's return to the entire house. Machi and Nobunaga reached the hallway almost instantly.

"Aren, you're finally out?" Nobunaga said, relief plain on his face.

"You locked yourself in there for five days. If Machi hadn't said she couldn't feel anything wrong, Uvogin and I would have broken the door down." Machi said nothing. Her eyes moved over Aren from head to toe. Only after confirming he had no injuries did the tension in her shoulders ease.

"Five days?" Aren blinked. His internal clock had told him two or three at most.

"Ahaha... I didn't expect it to be that long." Considering that more than half of those five days had probably been sleep, he felt a little embarrassed.

"So?" Machi asked.

"Did it work?" Aren's smile deepened.

"Very well." He looked at Uvogin and Nobunaga.

"You two wanted to spar with me, right? Perfect timing. Let's test the result." Uvogin's eyes burned. Nobunaga's hand moved to his sword. They had wanted to measure the gap between themselves and Aren for a long time. Before this, Aren had been too busy developing his ability to play with them. Now, even knowing they were probably being used as test subjects, neither of them could be happier. The four of them went outside. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Aren stood in the open ground and crooked a finger.

"Come together." Neither Uvogin nor Nobunaga felt insulted. They knew Aren too well. This was not contempt. One-on-one simply would not be enough. Weakness was never the real obstacle to survival. Arrogance was. Nobunaga lowered his body, right hand on his sword. Aura crawled down his arm and wrapped the blade as he took an iaido stance. Uvogin gathered aura into his right fist and charged.

"Big Bang Impact!" The punch roared forward. At the same time, Nobunaga stepped in.

"Battoujutsu: Flash!" His draw came half a beat after Uvogin's charge and yet arrived at the same moment, sealing Aren between fist and blade. Their coordination was almost seamless. Aren smiled and raised both hands, as if he intended to catch them with his palms. Limitless Technique activated. The closer Uvogin's fist and Nobunaga's blade came, the slower they became. Then, under their shocked gazes, both attacks stopped in midair. No matter how hard they pushed, they could not close the last centimeter.

In truth, their attacks had not stopped. They were still moving. They had simply slowed to a speed too small to matter.

"What is this?!" Uvogin barked. Nobunaga tried to pull his sword back. It would not move. Advance was impossible. Retreat was impossible. Nobunaga could still release his sword if he wanted. Uvogin was worse off. His entire fist was caught in the field.

"Well?" Aren said brightly.

"This is the result of my seclusion. Limitless Technique. Impressive, right?" He looked like a child showing off a new toy.

"Damn it!" Uvogin shifted aura into his leg with Ryu.

"If my fist can't move, I'll kick!" His foot swept toward Aren with crushing force. It also stopped. Uvogin's expression froze. Aren's raised hands had been a trick. Limitless Technique had covered his entire body from the moment it activated. The gesture only made the ability look as if it came from his palms. Being handsome mattered for a lifetime. The pose was important.

"Besides stopping attacks," Aren said, grin turning wicked, "I can do this too." He changed his hand sign, imitating a certain surgeon pirate's spatial trick from memory. Nobunaga's blade, Uvogin's fist, and Uvogin's trapped leg shifted direction at once. Their attacks collided with each other. The impact blasted both boys backward. Dust rose from the ground. Because their aura output was similar, neither suffered serious damage. They only looked miserable.

If this had been a real fight, Aren would have directed the attacks toward weak points instead.

"Cough!" Uvogin and Nobunaga pushed themselves up, covered in dirt.

"Aren," they shouted together, "what kind of ability is that?!" Not being able to hit him was one thing. Not being able to pull back was another. Having their own attacks turned against them was simply unreasonable. Uvogin pointed at him with outrage.

"That's cheating!"