Chapter 06 ~ The Blue Whip
The silence that fell upon the road was not ordinary; it was the heavy, charged calm before a thunderstorm. Fulan stood in the center of a circle of four unconscious bodies, his black eyes darting left and right, scanning for any sign of the five invisible enemies that surrounded him. He knew they were there, but he didn't know from where they would strike, or how.
Regardless of the fact that I'm at a disadvantage, he thought, his mind racing, I'll be an easy target if I stay put. I have one advantage over them right now: my speed. I'll use it and keep moving!
SWOOSH!
Fulan vanished, his body a blur as he dashed to the left at the speed of sound. He swung his fist through the empty air, the punch creating a miniature sonic boom that cracked through the silence. A trail of faint white light from his aura traced its path. The remaining members of the Nine Lizards, still unseen, now understood with chilling certainty: a single clean hit from Fulan was enough to knock them out, just as it had their comrades.
While four of them were now terrified of Fulan, the fifth, the strategist, remained calm, his thoughts clear even while invisible. His movements are fast and powerful, but they're random now. I see, this is his plan…
Fulan dashed to another spot, unleashing a whipping kick that tore through the air, his white aura flaring. Nothing. Only the sound of his attack echoed across the empty fields. This was his gambit: to kick and punch blindly until he, by chance, struck one of them.
The bandit who had deciphered his move continued to watch, hidden, studying Fulan's pattern. I can't let him continue with these random movements; he'll hit one of us eventually. But this is also my best chance to end the fight.
He stalked Fulan. As Fulan dashed to another spot and threw a punch at empty air, the bandit saw his opening. He was directly behind Fulan now. He swung his longsword in a vicious upward arc, aiming to sever Fulan's arm from behind.
But before the blade could find its target, glowing blue bandages, radiating a soft cerulean light, shot out from the side. They wrapped themselves around the invisible sword, the sound of fabric cinching tight against steel sharp and clear as they stopped it dead in its tracks.
The bandit's eyes widened as he stared at his halted sword. He followed the path of the scarf-like blue bandages and turned to see Fayrouz standing three meters away—the exact length of the bandages she now held taut in her hands. Her blindfold was gone, revealing eyes that glowed with the impossible light of sky and sea. It was not just her eyes that shone; the blue bandages themselves pulsed with a faint, ethereal brilliance.
Fulan glanced back quickly. Those bandages are wrapped around nothing? No… they're wrapped around a weapon. An invisible weapon held by an invisible person! He gritted his teeth, his fists tightening.
The bandit barely had time to think, 'Wait… I forgot about the girl… she can track Menma! Damn it, just give me one second to—'
BAASH!!
Fulan's fist slammed into the bandit's stomach with devastating force. The man's eyes went white as he materialized out of thin air with an iridescent shimmer, like a lizard revealed from its camouflage. The power of the blow sent him flying backward, landing hard on his back.
Fulan's hair settled from his sudden turn. He smiled at Fayrouz, but for a moment, he froze, captivated by her glowing blue eyes. They were fantastically beautiful, the light within them making them shine with an otherworldly radiance.
She tightened her grip on her bandages, pulling and whipping her right hand. The bandages shot forward, ensnaring another invisible figure that had been lunging for Fulan. Her eyes were hard with focus. "Did you think I would let you get close to him?" she said, her voice ringing with authority. "There is no escape from my eyes."
The blue bandages coiled around the bandit, squeezing him until his iridescent camouflage failed and he flickered into view. "Stop! Stop! I can't take any more!" the bandit screamed, his voice choked with pain as the bandages constricted around his body. He was crushed until he let out a final gasp, his eyes rolling up as he collapsed to his knees, unconscious. Fayrouz's bandages were no mere decoration; they were a flexible, lethal weapon, and the bandit's cries confirmed their unnatural power.
With six bandits now down, the tide of the battle had turned completely. Fulan heard the sound of rapidly retreating footsteps on the dirt path. Fayrouz's voice came quickly. "They're trying to escape. One is on your right, five steps away!"
Fulan didn't hesitate. He dashed to the right. FWOOSH! This time, he led with his foot, his kick connecting squarely with the bandit's back. The force of the impact was so great that the man was thrown face-first to the ground, materializing as he fell, unable to move from the sheer pain in his spine.
Meanwhile, Fayrouz's bandages shot into the air, splitting this time into two glowing, fantastical tendrils, while the base remained a single piece in her hand. They moved with fluid speed, wrapping around the last two bandits. They struggled against their bonds, prompting Fayrouz to speak, her tone cold. "Do you like violence this much?" She squeezed, just as she had the other, rendering them motionless.
Fulan took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling as he calmed himself. The white aura around him dissipated as if it had never been there. I used the system for more than twenty seconds, he thought, a cold sweat on his brow. I didn't breathe that entire time. I have to manage my ability better, or my lungs will end up exploding.
[ White Tiger Ability Deactivated ]
He looked at the two bandits Fayrouz held captive, now limp in her glowing bonds, and then at Fayrouz herself. Her eyes, still glowing, had shifted from the color of the sky to a deep ocean blue. Fulan felt as if he were being pulled into their depths, as if he were drowning in the ocean.
He smiled as his gaze returned to the glowing blue bandages. "What a fantastic weapon. Does it have a name?"
Fayrouz looked at her bandages, which now pulsed with a soft, gentle light. She saw that the two bandits had finally lost consciousness. With a thought, the bandages changed shape, shrinking with a faint blue flicker, transforming into a simple dark blue scarf which she wrapped around her neck. "It's not a weapon," she said simply. "Just an old gift from my mother. I sometimes use it as a blindfold, but its original form is this scarf." It was now a normal dark blue, its glow gone.
"Really?" Fulan raised an eyebrow. "When we were in the cart, you were already wearing it, so I didn't notice. What do you think about giving it a name?"
"Why would I need a name for it?" she inquired.
"You use it in battle, don't you?"
"Only because it's the closest thing I can reach."
"That still means there's no harm in naming it," he insisted.
She sighed. "I don't know why you're so insistent on this. Let's see what's on your mind. I mean, the name you want to suggest."
"The Blue Whip!" he said, a sudden enthusiasm in his voice.
She stared at his face for a moment, her expression unreadable. "I don't understand why you're so excited," she said calmly. "But whatever. You can call it what you want."
Fulan looked around at the nine unconscious bandits littering the road. He ran a hand through his black hair. "We still have more than half an hour of walking to do," he said. "You don't expect us to carry all of them, do you..."
The white clouds drifted across the sky as minutes, then hours, passed. The sun remained a hidden presence, casting the world in a cool, consistent light.
At the gate of Saikono village, the closest settlement to the Kingdom of Saita, stood two men. They were guards, with swords resting at their hips. Unlike the guards of Petita, these men wore sleek black uniforms reminiscent of ancient ninja attire. On the left side of their chests was the familiar insignia: "Guard Certified by the Kingdom of Saita."
The atmosphere was, as usual for them, monotonous and dull. One of the guards let out a loud yawn, his eyes closing for a moment. When he opened them, he gazed down the dirt road leading to the village—a road that was usually empty, especially after the Nine Lizards had taken control of the route.
"What's that?" the guard muttered, his boredom evaporating.
His partner followed his gaze. At first, the scene was unclear, the shapes in the distance little more than blurry silhouettes. One of the silhouettes seemed to be carrying something—no, many somethings. The guards tensed, their expressions turning serious in preparation for any potential threat.
As the figures drew closer, the scene became clearer. It didn't look like a threat, but rather a girl with long black hair and a boy with short black hair. The boy wore a grey hooded vest over a white shirt and black trousers. The girl wore a flowing dark blue coat and loose black silk trousers. But what truly captured the guards' attention was the glowing blue belt—or scarf—wrapped around the girl's waist.
From it extended nine long, tail-like tendrils, each one wrapped securely around a person. The tails pulsed with a faint blue light, and the bodies they carried floated effortlessly in the air, as if suspended by an unseen force. They were the unconscious forms of the Nine Lizards. The girl's own eyes glowed with the same soft blue as the tails, a clear sign that she was consuming her Menma to maintain the strange spectacle. Fulan, his expression calm, walked beside her as she carried the entire bandit gang.
One of the guards stared in disbelief. "Is that... some kind of ethereal predator carrying its prey?" he stammered.
But his partner was quicker to piece things together. "Wait," he said, his voice sharp. "There are nine people wrapped in that blue thing. That means…" His voice trailed off, but his partner's eyes widened as the realization dawned on him as well. "Are you telling me those kids defeated the bandits on their own?!"
By the time Fayrouz and Fulan reached the gate, the guards were on high alert, their hands on the hilts of their swords, ready to draw them defensively.
Fayrouz placed a hand on the glowing blue belt around her waist. "They've lost consciousness three times already," she stated in her usual calm tone. As she spoke, the belt began to glow brighter before changing shape. "They will wake up for the fourth time soon. You should imprison them immediately."
The blue scarf-weapon began to contract, its glow dimming as it shrank. The guards looked at the bruised and battered faces of the bandits, and the same thought crossed both their minds: Was she really just knocking them out every time they woke up?
The transformation completed itself. The elaborate system of tails retracted until it was nothing more than a simple blue bracelet made of a light, cloth-like material. Fayrouz slipped it onto her wrist. Her glowing eyes returned to their normal, beautiful blue, and she examined the bracelet for a moment, which now also showed no sign of its inner light.
The guards were dumbfounded. They had never seen an ability like that before. As they gaped in astonishment, Fayrouz turned to Fulan, who was standing beside her. "You were right," she said. "It's much lighter now."
Fulan started walking toward the village gate, his tone casual. "I'm still surprised you didn't think of it before. It's easier to carry it that way, and if the weather gets very cold, you can use it as a scarf instead of a bracelet."
Fayrouz walked in silence for a few seconds before replying with a small smile. "Sound thinking. If only your thinking was sound enough not to suggest that strange name."
"What?!" Fulan exclaimed in mock offense. "It's a great name! The Blue Whip!"
"But it sounds childish," she retorted as they walked side-by-side, passing the stunned guards. "Knights don't name their techniques and moves."
"Well, you're not a Knight yet," he shot back. "I don't see the problem, haha."
She looked straight ahead. "Why do you insist on treating it like a pet that needs a name?"
They entered the village, their bickering fading as they moved deeper into the streets. The two guards, who had heard the entire conversation, exchanged a bewildered look. They glanced down at the pile of unconscious bodies at their feet, then back at the departing duo. They were so shocked, they hadn't even stopped Fulan and Fayrouz for questioning.
One of them knelt, checking the faces of the defeated bandits. "Remind me," he said to his partner, his voice hushed with dawning excitement. "What was the bounty the Kingdom of Saita placed on the heads of this bandit gang?"
"The Nine Lizards?" his partner replied, his mind already racing. "1,000 Diamo for each member, and 3,000 Diamo for the leader."
The first guard's eyes began to glitter with a greedy smile. "Eight members at 1,000 Diamo each is 8,000. Add the 3,000 for the leader... if we split that between the two of us... I could marry my fiancée and even buy a house! That's more than five months' salary from working here!"