Chapter 2 Hidden In Plain Sight

Despite the fact that they are all very clueless as to who I am, I have to give them credit because they are very coordinated, they fight as if every one of their movements were part of some dance. In order to stick to the plan I have to win, but with the way things are going I am going to have to end the fight now or never, the seven swordsmen have very distinguishing traits, the first swordsmen has blonde hair, green eyes, a black outfit and a extremely bad habit of jumping at any opening he sees, the second swordsmen has black hair, red eyes, a skull shirt and a terrible habit of yelling "Your finished!" before he attacks me, the third has white hair purple eyes, and unlike the others is actually female, she wears mostly red, and to be fair if she wasn't trying to kill me I would date her, the fourth has Brown hair, brown eyes, and wears a rare drop, it's a cloak that is solid black and boosts sword attack and stealth, the fifth has hair that looks like that one kid from that old kids show, johnny something, he hides his eyes so they are barely visible, yet his sword distinguishes him alone, it looks very regal and appears to be a personally made weapon, the sixth has blue hair, blue eyes and a purple shirt and solid black pants, while the seventh has no noticeable features, with blonde hair, brown eyes,  although he has a strange open edge sword that looks like it should be a two hander yet, he wields it in one. 

They all stop attacking and I freeze as the first swordsman says, "Hey boss, are we going to tell him our names before we take him down?" The ordinary looking one nods and then I hear the first swordsmen say as he points to each of them in order, "My name Is Alexander, that's Kraizer, this is Marcy, that is Terrence, Morton, Gavin, and that is our boss, his name is.." He is cut off by their boss who says with a smile, "My name is Orthidox." I look at him and say, "That's a very strange name.." He glares at me and says, "Nobody makes fun of my name, everyone back down, I will handle this on my own." All the other swordsmen look at him and say in unison, "Are you sure? That sounds like a bad Idea.." Orthidox laughs and then says with a grimacing smile, "Yes, I am very sure, I can handle Ryan all on my own." I stop in my tracks, "You know who I am?" He nods then says, "If you believe yourself to be undefeated prove it, right here and now, I'll do you a favor if, and only if you win me and my group will join your team, since my men haven't reported back I know they haven't defeated your team, if you win I will not only call them off but I will also join you. However, if you lose.. You lose Everything, because I will show no mercy. Does that sound fair to you?" I look at him and say with a frown, "I guess? Sure, I'll take your offer, but just know that I do not plan to lose." He nods and says solemnly, "Nor do I. Now, you have your first move." I nod and say with a friendly smile, "Thank you very much." I activate Contemplate Stat boost and then Juggernaut increases my boost and moves faster than the eye can see and I slash my sword at him, then to my surprise he dodges and counters, then I am knocked back taking the damage I would have dealt to him. I get up and wipe the blood from my shoulder. Orthidox Smiles at me and Adaptation activates and rather than gaining a new power my dexterity quadruples. I vanish again and immediately pinpoint where I can strike as to not allow him to counter, but there is a major flaw within the weak point, he has a Zethrilium armor in that specific place, normally I can just phase through the armor plate, but Zethrilium is not only the strongest metal, but is also anti magic so as it would appear the only way to get to his weak point is with a plan, then right as I begin to strategize, he vanishes and I hear his voice coming from every direction. So as it would appear his powers aren't only counter, but he has illusions as well, I close my eyes and adaptation activates again and I am able to sense auras, I feel a strong concentration of energy coming from behind me. 

I focus on it for a split second and I know it is a fake, his sword is large, but not made of energy, I concentrate and I sense within the trees is a low energy level, but I sense no sword made of energy and I open my eyes. I open my inventory and pull out a throwing knife and throw it at the energy source and it vanishes as I'm punched in the face. I spit out blood onto the ground and laugh, "I knew it." He appears in front of me and says as he swings his blade, "Good night brother." My dexterity boost and agility both work towards my reflexes and despite the fact I believed I lost I opened my eyes and I caught his arm. He gasps and Tries to free his arm, but since I didn't attack him at that moment his power didn't activate so he couldn't counter, I continue to hold him arm then I twist it behind his back and he yelps and then says with a sad tone, "You weren't supposed to be able to do this, I should have won, I built myself as to win against you, I planned for everything… How are you stronger than me still?" I break his arm causing him to drop the sword which I pick up, it's surprisingly light. Orthidox then says with a tear running down his face, "It's me Cole… your big brother, I just wanted to be cool like you for once, yet look where that got me.." I release him and say, "You're joking right? I had nothing against you, all you had to do was ask to team up with me, I would have accepted." He chuckles and says, "Yeah, but what good is that, you never really cared for me, all you cared about was being the feared one within this game…" I begin to walk away then I stab the sword deep into the ground, "You should have just told me the truth, Now that I have won, call off your group as you called them." He nods then I say, "You can come out now Kai." He jumps out of my shadow and surprises Cole who says, "Wait you have someone with you this whole time?" I nod and say as I continue to walk, "Kai is part of my team. Come on Kai we are going to check on the others." He laughs and says, "That was awesome, I'm no longer upset that you one punch knocked me out at the school, you're a beast in a fight!" I shrug as I place my sword back into my inventory and depower. As I approach the others I see them with a smile, "Why so happy?" I am confused, Hector then says, "We ranked up, I'm now a rank 12 and Lily is rank 75." I shrug, "I'm still rank 1, by the way our team has majorly expanded." I hear Mark who says with a panting voice, with sweat drenched over his face, "Define…. Major….ly… Expanded.." I shrug, "Turns out the ones who attacked us were led by my brother Cole." Hector lets out a girlish excited scream surprising everyone, "You Have A Brother?!?" I nod and then say, "Adaptation, bladeform." Hector gives a weird look and I say, "What, you didn't know I can control it? I can alter Adaptation at will, but it's more handy when it auto activates because it is called adaptation for a reason. It grants me a power that suits the current situation. And my brother had a very unique blade that I believe I can improve." I envision the sword wielded by my brother, with every detail, then I make it soul bonded to me, as well as Indestructible, then I make it so I cannot damage me. I am about to finish it then I get an idea, I then make it so it can change its shape and weapon type to suit the situation just like adaptation. I then say, "Seal and Forge." Then as I clench my fists Adaptation deactivates and the sword quickly materializes within my hand.

Hector says, "Holy crap! That sword looks dope!" I then say, "Yeah but it is soul bonded, indestructible and has a form of adaptation, ooh and it cannot harm me." Hector and Kai both frown and look at each other, "Soul bonded?" I open my mouth to speak then Mark says, "I mean he can materialize it and dematerialize it at will, as well as throw it, and it will come back to his hand when he wants it to." I then laugh, "No it me… wow you're actually correct, I have to give you props you actually know what you're talking about." He shrugs then says with a sarcastic tone, "Where to oh so amazing leader?" I look down and say, "What time is it?" Hector opens his menu and says, "It is currently 11:49 am, why?" I then say, "Considering the fact that it is only 11, Monster hunting is out of the question for now, although if I am not mistaken then business is very high within the Tysidion borders right now. Which if my memory is correct, is very close, maybe about a 10 minute walk away." Cole then walks up to me and says, "I thought you gave me my sword back, why do you have it?" I smile, "I created my own and improved it." He shakes his head and says, "So now you're not only bragging about defeating me, but also copying the only thing I own that makes me look cool…" 

I shake my head and I am pushed to the ground and I hear Lily say, "Oh my god your hurt! Do you want me to heal your arm?" Cole then glares at me and says, "No let this be a reminder of the day, I not only got beaten by my brother again.. But he also ripped off my cool sword.." Lily giggles and says as she heals his arm, "Nonsense, you're hurt, if you're hurt then you can't fight, and if you cannot fight you will be of no use to me, or anyone else." I laugh, "Yeah Cole, you're useless to us if you don't get your arm healed!" He facepalms with his now healed arm and then says, "This is why I don't try at anything, everything I do never works out.." I then lightly punch him on the shoulder and say, "That is what mom said until I came into the picture." He looks at me and says with an actual laugh, "I hate you!" I then say, "You don't have to like me, especially when we are family, you just have to bear through the insults." He smiles and says, "So are we going to Tysidion or not?" I nod then the girl with white hair walks up to me and says, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're kinda cute." 

I then look at her and say, "I'm not cute, I'm deadly, and deadly isn't cute, unless you count those ancient atrocities called furbys; those things were so annoying they could kill you, but somehow they were cute.." I shiver at the thought of them then start to walk to the east dematerializing the sword. Hector and Mark both walk side by side, showing that they are very close friends, and Lily gaily follows Hector and casually glances over at me with pride, Kai continues to talk about things I don't care about, Coles squad try to keep their distance, all except Marcy whom of which won't stop pestering me, she walks up to me and says in an explicit voice, "Hey are you single?" I just keep walking and act as though I didn't hear her say that, then we eventually reach the borders of Tysidion. We walk up to the gate and a man who appears to be in his teens runs up then says in a panicked voice while panting, "A-are.. Your R-Ryan…?" I nod and he says while trying to speak normally, "We.. need.. Your help." I then say with a concerned face, "Why do you need my help?" He steadies his voice and then says in a calm voice, "You know how last year you took out a man who would repeatedly steal the goods with the use of his powers?" I nod and he says, "Well he's back, and not for the goods, he's back for you." All my new friends say in unison, "We'll back you up!" and I turn to them and shake my head, "No, this is a job for me, and me alone, let me handle this, if I die, make sure you're watching and analyzing his fighting strategy so he doesn't take all you down too." Kai then tries to protest and says, "No you can't fight alone, you have us now so.." Hector silences Kai  and says to me, "Do us all a favor, don't die." I smile and say, "I mean there is a low chance that I will, but if I do die, don't go against what I said, Is that understood?" They all nod in a solemn manner and I dash into the city and head for where me and the man fought the previous year, I head for the center of the city activating adaptation in order to jump over the buildings to move at a fast rate.

I eventually reach the city's epicenter and I see him, "How have you been Mason?" He turns around and says with a menacing smile, "Oh I have been fine, and more than ready for a rematch, one that I intend on winning." I laugh and say, "Sure if you say so, but by the way, we will have a crowd watching us." He then frowns, "A crowd you say?" I nod, "My team of friends that I trust." He then says, "As long as they don't interfere then that doesn't matter to me." I then materialize my sword and he says, "Well well, you have a new toy there! What does it do?" I shake my head, "That's for me to know and you to wonder." I flick my wrist and it becomes a whip then I flick it back and it retracts. I then say while looking him directly in the eyes, "I am ready whenever you are." 

He dashes at me and unsheathes a black handled claymore with a dark red blade and I remember the look of it, it is known as Soul slicer, it has the ability to deal its damage twice as well as dark elemental damage, It requires a lot of speed and strength in order to wield it properly. He slashes at me and I block it with my blade and I jump back and slide, he then runs at me once agains and slashes horizontally and I stab my blade into the ground and front flip behind him summoning my blade back into my and just in time to slash at him causing him to grunt in pain, as I jump away from him blades range. He then turns around and says, "Ok if that's how it is." before he can dash at me I activate Adaptation and gain a strange new power, he then slashes at me and my reflexes activate instantaneously and I dodge, it was as if I could predict his attack just from watching his arm slightly move, he then says, "That was a lucky dodge, too bad it won't happen again!" he slashes at me and I dodge his attack and slash at him directly after. He then says,"How did you do that?" I grin acting as thought it was part of my plan and he goes to kick me and I dodge then he slashes at me with his sword and he successfully hits me. I drop to the ground and cough up blood then I get back on my feet, "That..was.. a very dirty.. Trick…" he laughs and raises his sword and says with a laugh, "AHAHA, That's the point, i'm here to kill you not fight fair!" I then dash at him and he smiles and throws down a ball of sludge stopping me dead in my tracks, he traps me, "I can't move!" I yell in panic. He then walks up to me and punches me in the face several times causing me to drop to the ground.

He smiles and says, "Good night buddy old pal AHAHAHA!" He then goes to stab me with the soul slicer, I then raise my sword catching the soul slicer within the open edge of my blade, then as he tries to free his sword I grip my blade with two hands and break the soul slicer. I hear him get angry as my vision fades and I drop down, his sword disappears and he begins to kick me repeatedly. A loud yell, then a muffled laugh, then screaming that I start to lose the ability to hear, then my vision fades to black.