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Alright, the Gaki won.

Of all the things he had faced in this world, the next, and a few others this creature was...beyond the shadow of a doubt the grossest thing Max had ever faced. He had seen death, he had seen gore. Blood and viscera came with being a flesh eating creature such as what Maximos was. The dissected and ruined miners had the same effect on Max red paint would have on a normal individual. But the Gaki itself...

...it wasnt horrible, in the way that it was deformed or mishappen though it was certainly that. Its that the creature was so very disgusting. Beyond the smell was its gaunt face and body, the way its bones protruded through its skin, its nearly decomposed mockery of the human form. It moved without the ferocity and grace of a predator. It waded through the cess around it like a child might wade through mud, thoughtlessly. Maximos was immediately faced with the very really difficulty, that was keeping his face stoic and not displaying to the dwarf and elderly man a way back how completely and totally repulsed he was and how very much he wanted to run off to a shower right here and now.

Maximos felt his stomach lurch, he tasted the salty tang of the trail mix he had eaten earlier revisited, and swallowed it down a second time.

The creature didnt seem to hear him, or rather it didnt respond in a way he understood it just squealed something loud and tragic. But most notably to the sword wielding hero of this little quest...it didnt attack. It had burst through the wall with some sort of fervor for flesh and here was Maximos a full bodied, living meal...and it didnt even try to bite.

Maybe it was because he had lived his life as such a killer, maybe it was because his hands were so blood stained, but Maximos found more and more with age and wisdom that came with it that sometimes...just sometimes, the most issue thing that screams for something to be put down and slashed to bloody ribbons and in truth can be resolved without so much as lifting a sword. Max couldnt say that was what this was, but this Gaki's reactions made him look at the situation a bit more objectively.

It had killed and eaten a bunch of men, but lots of predators did that. Was that a crime? No, not all the time. It was horrifically hideous and disgusting. Was that a crime? At this degree it probably should have been, but no it wasnt. And then the Gaki said something.

"Ch-ch...ch-choooocolaaaate...I can't find the chooocolaaate!"

And as much as Maximos wanted to dash into the warehouse and begin a flurry of steel and blood and stink...he couldnt. Not if there was another way.

He remembered what Toshio said about little Gaki's eating dog droppings, and he sincerely hoped that that wasnt the "chocolate" the monster was talking about. But to be sure, he reached backwards and undid the second zipper down from the backpacks face without even looking. He had reached in there so many times during the journey he knew it by instinct.

Trail Mix usually consists of nuts, fruits, and bits of...chocolate. Anyone who knew Maximos knew he had a sweet tooth, he always brought more. An extra bag or two of chocolate chips, which he pulled free from the bag, sliced open along the edge of his sword as he switched hands, and then held out with his right hand.

This was a spiritual creature made into a physical problem. But from experience Maximos knew that spirit issues were rarely ever handled physically. Or through force. Sometimes something needed to by physically done but the action was usually more of a tribute or symbolism. Maybe a greedy spirit just needed to experience honest charity? The Shadow let out a sigh, if this worked...excellent, if not he was about to feel very silly.

Holding the bag out to the monster he drew in a short, sharp breath, winced at the stench and said, "Here. Take it and leave."

Was it nodding? Maybe it wanted the chocolate but couldnt understand him? It dawned on him slowly with the last few undulations of its head. Abject horror spread across his face, pulling his mouth into a tight frown and opening his eyes as wide as they could open.

"...no." He did not speak the word so much as his mouth hung open slightly and it fell past his lips.

There was absolutely no subtlety in what came next. It whipped its head and opened its mouth and wretched for something truly vile. It was green like every sour milk and moldy vegetable Max had even seen. Green like the scum on the bottom of a still body of water. Green like dead flesh after those first precarious months when repose is no longer gentle. And there were things launched with it. Ugly, squishy bits of unrecognizable meat and bone.

For a moment, Maximos only defense was to stare at the oncoming stream and say, "No."

As if by will alone he could make it stop and let his understanding of reality no long encompass something like this. And then, the stream splashed down seven feet in front of him and began immediately eating at everything it touched and moving...towards him. This was not accidental although disgusting puke, this was an attack. In the span of a heartbeat, all semblance of mercy on Maximos' face utterly vanished.

What was left, with the stream a mere two feet away was a cold pair of mismatched eyes staring down the Gaki. Without a moment to spare, Maximos swung his right fist up as if uppercutting the empty air. The shadows blacked as deep as ink around his feet and the burst upwards like the tip of a spear following the motion of his fist, up and slightly over his head. Maximos had created a sort of shadow hood, which took the brunt of the acidic spray and diverted it off to either side and behind him like an umbrella. He could feel his shadowy protection being eroded away, within moments it would burn through and spill all over him. Maximos didnt plan for this to last that long.

The Shadow tossed the chocolate chips backward and outside the warehouse, he leaned forward, placing one foot behind the other in something like a runners starting stance, with his sword held in both hands and out to his right side and softly said. "And now you have to die."



The sound of Maximos' jet boots priming, and igniting. Such a short burst would have never been enough to let him fly or carry him across a great distance, but for here it was more than enough. Maximos launched forward in a streak of black traced with streams of purple and navy blue, just a foot or two off the ground. The shadow umbrella he had used to shield himself from the acidic stream parted like a curtain to let its creator soar past. Like a dodging a fire hose, Maximos went under and then around the wet stream.

Instead of dashing straight at the Gaki, he advanced diagonally at the warehouse wall. Maximos feet struck the vertical surface and via Shadow Walk sunk into small pools of black allowing Maximos to sprint forward as fast as his feet could carry him, running along the wall as if it were as solid a footing and leaving wet black footprints in his wake. If all went according to plan, Maximos meant to race up to and beside the Gaki, hoping to take advantage of what were possibly a set of equally decomposed reflexes, leap from the wall into the air and chop his sword down with both hands at its elongated neck. Beheading, to Maximos' knowledge, killed most things.

If, of course, he could cut it.

Well that wasnt good. That wasnt good at all.

Maximos was expecting the soft give of flesh. But he should have known better, no man alive can out chop a Dwarf. The sight of black blood rolling from the would like some sort of spoiled and spilled ichor did not put a satisfying feeling in Maximos. The Shadow felt a weight deep in his gut, pulling his stomach to the ground, as the realization settled things had just gone wrong, very wrong. This discomfort only grew as the Gaki's eyes like giant glistening and rotted eggs rolled in his direction and it let out a ear piercing screech of a sound.

What came next was a blur. Maximos saw the dim, dark, and bloody scene inside the warehouse rush by in a blur of dark colors. His back slammed viciously into the wall of the warehouse and then, with a sharp groan of iron and thin steel Maximos felt the wall give and break. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist was all he could do to keep his sword from flying out of his hands. Light poured in around him in white streaks and slices. Fresh air mixed with the scent of rot and decay, and Maximos was privy to the sight of two bone white protrusions, which had burst from the monster's arm flashing by in front of him. Brilliant in the sunlight before fading into the dark as the creature ended its motion growing smaller and smaller, and smaller still as Maximos was hurled backwards through the air.

The ground came with an unpleasant thud, and the uncomfortable sting of a bar pressing across his back as a very sturdy cane laced through a loop in his back pack dug into his spine. Maximos reacted out of instinct before thought. Skidding back along the mountain turf, Maximos brought his legs up and over his head, shoving off his shoulders and effectively flipping in place. As he came to a stop Maximos was no longer sliding backwards along the ground with feet toward the Gaki, but was in something of a three point stance with his face toward the creature, his left hand pressed into the soil and nothing short of a scowl on his face.

Maximos, quickly stood. Too quickly. The blood rushed to his head and the effects of being flung through a wall and across the battlefield, to then flip and land, caught up with him. He staggered forward a bit, his body swaying like a drunk and then shook his head and steeled himself.

Priorities first, Maximos switched his sword to his right hand and slipped his backpack off tossing it far back behind him and hopefully out of harm's way. His foe was already tearing through the warehouse walls and advancing.

"They all tasted like chocolate...where do they keep the chocolate!?!?"

"I have it!" Maximos called out, thudding his sword gripping fist against this chest and then thrusting his right arm out and pointing his sword directly at the Gaki. He lift his left arm up, his fist balled tight, indigo sparks danced along his knuckles and then suddenly his fist open. A black stones fell from his hand in a similar manner to the way the first stone had before Maximos entered the warehouse. Another sharp snap was heard, and then soaring from the shadows pooled at Maximos' feet another sword burst into being. Unlike the first blade, this one did not fly into Maximos open palm but instead hovered in front of it on the air. Absolutely nothing gripped it, it simply hovered beside Maximos as if resting on some invisible sword rack. "I have all that you need..."

Maximos slid his right foot forward along the gritty sand. His eyes slanted with focus. His breathing evened. His arm was firm and steady. He wasnt going to make the same mistake twice. This creature did not just eat people, it absorbed them as part of its grotesque self. But if its bones were so hard...this time Maximos had a plan, a small smile curled the corner of his lips as he said, "...come and claim it, pitiful beast."

That was exactly what he wanted, Maximos wanted the Gaki angry, hungry, insane with it, he wanted what little thought capacity it had beyond hunger to be occupied with hunger making it less capable of surprising him and...well, flinging him through any more buildings. As for this repeated mention of chocolate...so much as he assumed it was something more meaningful than a random obsession. And yet, he had already tried to offer it chocolate and if it meant the other kind, Maximos had no intentions of digging up a septic system. His disgusting quota for this month had been more than filled.

Now, it was time for business.

He could hear Ranulf and Toshio's distant voices behind him, but the details of their words were lost. In Maximos' experience concentrating on something other than the gigantic, rotting, flesh eating, monstrosity bearing down upon you as it assumes you are or have the object of its single most largest desire, was one of the leading causes of adventurer death. Maximos was patient, his body hunched forward slightly, his right hand tight on the handle of his sword, and a look of steely determination in his mismatched eyes as they bore down on the shambling horror about to assault him.

The creatures massive hand came down, and even in its shadow it seemed that the darkness around Maximos' feet was deeper and inkier than natural. A breath from having his face crushed under rotted skin, Maximos dove forward. His free hand landing on the mountain soil as he rolled over his shoulder attempting to quickly close space with the creature and attack. From what he could see, it had extra layers of bone but its flesh could still part. As such, Maximos was sure he just needed to attack an area with more meat and less bone.

With any luck, by rolling in, Maximos had placed himself near its bulbous gut. He swung two slashes. His right arm slashed left, and his left arm swung to the right directing the hovering blade to perform a mirrored slash, hopefully drawing a nice X across the Gaki's stomach and gutting it outright.

Maximos' boots whirred, ready to blast backwards and away should a torrential downpour of stomach nastiness attempt to flood over him should he be successful.

Blood, no matter how putrescent, carried with it the warm wet feeling of success. Maximos pressed his lips together into a flat line and did nothing to divert or dodge as the rancid substance spewed from the X slash he had made on the Gaki's belly and over his face and shoulders. The blade had cut, and yet not as fully as he might have hoped. There was something of a dullness to the motion, like slicing a thick chunk of rubber rather then soft and supple meat. And yet it had screamed a great deal.

Maximos, with streaks of bad blood dripping down his face and staining his eye with a salty tang, was already turning to move with his foe. The Gaki was rolling away up and over and Maximos meant to pursue. To press the attack until it moved no longer, soft meaty parts were next. Or many, just maybe he could get it a position where he could severe that long and emaciated neck.

Max rolled the sword in his right hand around his wrist then raised it toward the beast while he lowered his left and signaled for the hovering sword to float beside his arm, pointing forward like an notched arrow. Maximos snapped his fingers and the violet and indigo sparks began to dance along the length of the blade. He watched the creature lift its arm, he stepping forward when he hear a sound he did not recognize...



If this had been a job. If this had been a mission or a random encounter with a monster, Maximos would not have cared. But the Shadow had given his word. And without ones word they were nothing. Toshio's voice indicated he was way closer than Max had expected, way closer than he should have been. Instinctively, the Shadow stopped his advance and spun on the ball of his feet to look back. He turned just in time to hear...

"Fire in the hole!" And see Toshio duck and cover in fear. He also turned just in time to have his back facing the bony projectiles meant to the impale him to the ground. Maximos was saved only by the fact that he had infact turned, albeit not nearly far enough. A single bone spine struck his back at an awkward angle mid turn, the force caused Maximos' body to jerk and the spine to tear a long path from the high on his back down to this left shoulder, before it impaled the ground stained with fresh red blood. Max's body was forced to the left by the impact, his balance was lost, and the Shadow fell landing flat on his rump, facing the bloodthirsty Gaki as the second bone spear impaled the earth somewhere around the first.

"Noct damnit Toshio! Your supposed to be with Ranulf!" Maximos shouted, staring up at the Gaki's hungry eyes, momentarily prone. Max still gripped a sword in his right hand, while his left arm hung limp and bloody at his side with its fingers twitching, while the once hovering sword who's surface was still alive with sparks unmoving on the floor in front of it. "This is no place for an old man!"

Even knocked on his rump, Maximos held his sword threateningly toward the creature, lengths and flashes of pain moving across his back and left arm. He was not giving an inch, but the next move belonged to the Gaki.

The humongous undead creature was still, staring and drool. Maximos knew he had to get to his feet, and fast. Instinctively he rolled to his left, the side not holding a sword and pushed...and then flopped back down to the dirt as pain wracked across his back and down his arm, balling up at his shoulder which simply refused to move.

There Maximos lay under a drooling and distracted monstrosity, blood stained his left sleeve, and trickled down across his palm and between his fingers in crimson rivulets. A second black sword lie just inches from his inert grip, sparking with energy and taunting him. The Gaki was open, he only had to cut it, but down on the ground the sword in his right hand simply could not reach.

The creature was lumbering away, toward Toshio, toward Ranulf. Maximos had to move, if he didnt those two would die, his promise would be broken. And that, he could not allow.

Maximos gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow. At his back, the frayed and torn edges of his jacket began to writhe and move of their own accord. Threads swirled and spun and stretched down into his wound and across the tear in his flesh. The blood dripping down his hand grew darker, closer to a sort of burgundy, or the red of wine, and then finally he began to bled jet black until the bleeding stopped all together.

The Gaki was already most of the way to grizzled old Dwarf and lively old man, Maximos barely had time. With a renewed sort of determination, he shoved off his left arm, grabbed the sparking sword, and broke into a sprint. Black blood sprayed with each motion of the wounded arm, but Maximos seemed uneffected. Was he healed? No. But he didnt have time for the luxury of healing or injury, shadows played and pulled in his arm to make the limb work like a puppeteer.

He had one chance, and he had to strike true.

Maximos raced up behind the Gaki and then leapt into the air, powerful legs carrying him up and over the beast's back. He tucked his legs in to his chest, and flicked both of his arms outwards to either side flinging both of his swords out to either side so that the Shadow looked every bit like a falcon swooping down to scoop up prey. The swords stopped at either side of the Gaki, hovering in the open air as if it were some sort of solid thing, Maximos flew just just inches over the Gaki's head, and then attacked in one swift series of motions.

He brought both of his arms forward and across his chest, the swords reacted immediately whizzing from their stationary posts on either side of the creature toward it. Each sword flew like a black arrow, aiming to pierce the supple spots in the monsters elongated neck. Maximos could see its warped and deformed vertebrae and aimed to cut both swords into the space between a single pair. One sword was sparking with energy, the other was not. The moment the two swords struck home Maximos would snap his fingers and the sparking sword, hopefully now buried in the Gaki's neck would explode with all the concussion force (and only concussion force) of a stick of violet, blue, and indigo dynamite.

This, all timed so that, as the above occurred Maximos would be right over the gigantic undead's bald head and able to thrust both his feet down in a stomp and fire off his jet boots at point black into its skull. Maximos knew the creature was tough. With any luck, that would be enough to sever its head and send it crashing into the ground like a gigantic undead watermelon.

Decapitation, to Maximos' knowledge, killed just about everything. Maximos didnt say another word, there was no time too. The multicolored explosion, and the beasts splattered head as he landed in or on it, would be commentary enough.

He never had figured out what the original purpose to the training grounds had been, not in his year there or the subsequent times he had thought to look back on his time here. The building layout was like that of a Monastic orders grounds, with a central building used for most of their work and an outlying building set up for a place to sleep and eat with a section set aside for a small vegetable garden. The entire compound, if it could be called that, was hardly big enough for 4 people to live in if it had been set up for a house and yet it had seemed the perfect size for Damion and his master to train.

Even as he walked up the last of the steps into the clouded realm of his youth Damion could still pick out the indents and cracks where a fall had been halted abruptly by the ground or an attack had missed. The grey stone of the grounds were pitted like the surface of the moon with those kind of dents, new ones evident only by the harsh edges they had or the fact that they were there at all given the nature of the students here. Just as he had before the elemental had climbed the mountain side in the dark and risked life and limb to come to a place he had once called home. He had used the old signs to guide him, a tree set up so that its pointed tip led the way down a side trail, the claw mark of the master gouging its way through the ground a waypoint on the long stairwell.

Damion stopped at the meagre gate, just two statues set 5 feet apart from each other really with no real boundaries to guard despite their fighting positions. He breathed deep of the crisp mountain air, taking in the smell of food cooking, the smell of sweat not far distant, and the generally pleasant scent of pine trees freshly felled to provide the whisp of smoke that rose into the dawn lit sky. His bare hand reached out to rub the rain smoothed knee of the left statue and marvel at the feel of realistic muscles that bunched there, never quite diminished by the weathering of the ages.

The training hall itself was a small, squat little building with no walls and no doors, more like a patio really, that pushed itself against the mountain-side and the cave mouth therein. A rough wooden floor covered the space between what could be called an entrance to the cave mouth and if one looked close enough you could see where the sliding and stomping of countless feet had worn smooth the unfinished wood and left small dimples there that corresponded with kata's. He shifted his gaze from the place of training to the hovel off to the side, a one room affair that housed the student that undoubtedly resided within, the clothe windows rolled down to guard against the chill mountain air.

He smiled at that, remembering how he had not been allowed to do so, trained simply to weather the elements and strengthen his body through the simple suffering of his body. As it was, he had not followed that precept, wearing long pants and a long sleeve hooded affair made of wool to keep warm in the dark night of the mountain.

" Master?"

His voice carried across the mostly empty space well, pitched just right so that it echoed down the cave mouth like a mimic, bouncing back to him like a whisper yet undoubtedly carrying deeper into the darkness like a shout. He took no further steps into the realm and contented himself with standing beside the figure that he used to resemble, his human figure mearely a disguise for the beast that lurked in his heart and mind. The wind tugged at his long hair, blowing the cables of hair against his back like writhing serpents.