The Man Without Pupils
Part 1.
It was so unbelievable he could not explain if asked. Even now, he could do nothing but stare at the creepy middle-aged man in front of him.
He would have already escaped from there if his legs had followed the commands of his brain.
Unlike startled Ren, the man without pupils made his move without any warning. He held up his right hand and brought the fingers together as if forming a blade.
Danger. It was all Ren could think. By pure reflex, he kicked off the ground and backed away. A moment later, a slicing attack came down where he had been standing.
Missing his target, the hand hit a light pole and cut it in half. The upper part fell roughly into the asphalt with a loud sound, scattering a large cloud of dust.
It did not make sense how a simple hand could do that.
"Wh-what are you!?" Ren shouted, frightened by the tremendous speed and strength.
"I'm someone that's looking for a nice meal."
In that instant, the man without pupils made a blade out of his other hand. He rushed toward Ren, attacking him with a torrent of lacerating attacks.
"Damn!"
Ren could do nothing but twist his body and move his head to try to dodge. Miraculously, Ren avoided most of the attacks, but escaping unharmed was impossible. Several superficial cuts appeared on his skin.
While concentrating on dodging the blade hands, Ren slowly inhaled and exhaled, attempting to calm himself.
(Calm down! Calm down! Look at him! He's full of openings!)
The movements were lethal but clunky and easy to read.
"Take this!"
Finally reacting, Ren diverted the direction of one of the attacker's hands by slightly touching it while dodging. That created enough of an opening for him to step back and ruthlessly thrust his fist to the man without pupils' gut.
The fist was so strong that it seemed to sink on his stomach, and the impact also pushed him away.
However, even after that powerful blow that would make anyone writhe in pain, the man without pupils seemed fine and rapidly recovered. He looked down at his red-painted hands, stained by Ren's blood.
"Ah! This red liquid! How delightful, this sweet aroma of iron. This vivid color! You really are the ideal receptacle!"
He brought his hand to his mouth and licked the red liquid.
"Gross!" Ren yelled, keeping his mouth shut to suppress the urge to vomit.
Moved by disgust, Ren did not hold back. Quickly closing the distance between the two, he fiercely rotated and used the momentum to land a clean hit with his leg.
The disgusting man blatantly took the blow to his face, but again, it seemed he had not taken any damage. The most that attack did was make him lose balance and slightly step back.
But then, in an unexpected move, he grabbed Ren's leg, which had just hit him, and dug his fingernails in it. An acute pain ran through Ren's muscles as he desperately pulled his leg back. A terrible mistake, as the fingernails lacerated his skin until it reached his foot.
"Argh! Seriously, how sharp are those nails of yours!? You clearly aren't normal!" Blood started to flow from the wounds as Ren screamed in pain.
"You don't seem normal to me either. To think you'd try to fight me. Could it be...? You're here to exorcise me?"
"I wish I were!"
The battle continued; the man with just his scleras once again assaulted Ren, this time with a different method. Instead of using his blade-shaped hands, he opened his mouth, baring his abnormal fangs, and aimed at Ren's shoulder.
Ren crouched, briefly avoiding the biting attack. Taking advantage of his position, he kicked the man's ankles in a way that would make him lose balance.
Luckily, it went as planned. The blow caused the man to fall. However, something that was not in Ren's calculations occurred.
Primarily, Ren had thought that as the man fell, he would instinctively use his arms and hands to stop the fall, which would make him susceptible to an attack.
Regardless of Ren's intentions, human instincts did not apply to monsters.
"Ah."
BLAM!
The man without pupils hit his head on the asphalt with all gravity can provide.
"H-hey, are you okay? Y-you didn't die, right?"
"..."
"Hwaa! Wait up! I'll call an ambulance!"
It was the man trying to kill Ren, not the other way around. Apprehensive, Ren pulled his cellphone out of his bag to make an emergency call. But as soon as he began dialing the numbers, he heard cracking noises resembling snapping joints.
And by the time he looked to see, the man without pupils had already gotten up, with no scratches whatsoever; no blood was leaking from his head.
"What!? You're alive!?"
"You can't kill what's already dead," the man without pupils explained. "Let's say, this body of mine is like a puppet. I'm just pulling the strings."
"Just pulling the strings..."'
"Exactly. You can't kill me, let alone knock me unconscious. I'm an external being controlling a drone. So please, be a nice meal and don't exhaust your own body."
Ren was panting; his clothes were wet with sweat and blood; he had bruises all over his body.
Furthermore, it seemed that the man without Pupils did not take damage, and Ren did not have scissors to cut the strings controlling the body. He had nothing to his advantage.
With slow movements, the man without pupils brought his blade-shaped hands together.
"It's passed the time I finish this."
A distorted voice rang out, and before Ren realized it, the ominous man, like a spear, dashed towards him.
"Die!"
"!!"
Ren threw himself laterally into the asphalt and somehow dodged the attack.
"You won't escape!"
But that meant nothing for the man without pupils. He unnaturally twisted his spine, leaped into the air far higher than the human capacity can, and stretched his arms forward in a motion similar to diving into a pool.
Ren was in a terrible position and had no way to dodge now. He could only close his eyes and wait for that death from above to arrive.
KAPOOM! A loud noise resembling a battering ram on an armored door reverberated through the empty, lonely alley.
"What!?"
But no matter how much he waited, he was still alive. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that the man without pupils struggled with something.
"Argh...!"
Something had stopped the attack.
Ren had not realized before, but he was shielding himself with the bag he had been holding. He had done so unconsciously.
The man without pupils quickly backed away while shaking his hands as if to ease the pain.
"What's that? Not even my claws can cut through," he mumbled.
Ren was just as surprised. He wasted no time and thrust his hand inside. He could feel the torn cloth, but also something hard that was unscathed.
"...The book..."
It was the suspicious-looking grimoire.
The man without pupils hesitantly glanced at the book in Ren's hand. As it had resisted his attack, he might have been feeling more cautious about it.
The man was uncertain, and Ren was sure to exploit it.
"Oh, are you afraid of this?"
"How could I not be? This pressure is immeasurable."
Then, Ren, holding the book, slowly stood up and looked his opponent right in the eyes—or what should have been his eyes.
"I see. I forgot that this is a magical item."
Now Ren had the upper hand.
Perhaps it would even be possible for him to flee to safety.
And usually, he would have merely run away.
But something was preventing him from doing it.
Was it justice? If the man without pupils failed to catch one prey, he would simply move to another. No, Ren doubted it was it.
He did not understand what it was, but he did not need to understand.
"Screw that."
He abandoned all hope.
Gritting his teeth, Ren used all the force remaining in his body and made a suicide attack while the man without pupils was still dazed.
A powerful blow from his shoulder was all it took to hurl the man to the ground. The skin was so hard it looked like he had directly hit a concrete wall—but this was no time to agonize over pain.
"Gh!?"
Immediately afterward, Ren mounted on the man without pupils' chest and pressed his weight.
"What do you intend to do!? Your attacks can't hurt me!"
Yes. Ren already knew that.
But still.
He held the book in both hands and lifted it behind his head, and with help from gravity, he slammed it down on the man's sinister face.
BAM!
"That-"
BAM!
"Won't-"
BAM!
"Work-"
BAM!
"Either-"
BAM!
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!"
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Several times, Ren slammed the book on the man's face.
His muscles were screaming in pain, and he could feel his consciousness fainting, but he could not stop.
There was something in his mind telling him to continue.
"FIGHT UNTIL... YOUR... LAST BREATH..."
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Another barrage with the hammer book.
"Wha-"
Even so.
Even when his life was at stake, Ren showed no sign of pain or exhaustion whatsoever.
That left the eyeless monster wordless.
But the moment he began to question himself, BAM! Finally, the last blow arrived. Ren passed out and, as a powerless robot, fell sideways with a thud.
"Heh, finally."
Despite all Ren's efforts, the man without pupils came out victorious in the end.
"Hm..."
The frightening book was still on his face, so the man without pupils had to remove it. But the moment he touched the book, he felt a tremendous pain that did not quite come from his body. It was as if it was damaging his very existence.
"Aaargh!? Wh-what is this!?"
He rapidly tossed the book aside and stood up with a jump.
"Haah... That scared me a little."
With a distorted sigh of relief, he approached Ren's unconscious body, forming a terrifying smile that would scare any kid.
Assuming a stance for a lunge, he opened his mouth wide and rushed to Ren's skull.
"Urgh!?"
But despite being so close, he was stopped by something. Suddenly, he lost control of his body and fell, only managing to do random convulsions.
"What's happening!?"
The distorted voice disappeared. There was only a single human voice.
"I-I'm losing control of this body!?"
As he convulsed futilely, he finally noticed something.
The book the boy had used to protect himself now floated in the air and shone brightly with a bluish light that illuminated the alley.
"Shit!" He cursed. "That thing... It's sucking my existence!?"
The man without pupils, no, the evil spirit controlling the body could do nothing to resist.
"T-this can't-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, a strange colored smoke came directly out of his mouth. Like a vacuum cleaner, the floating book rapidly sucked the smoke.
After wiping it all, the light ceased, and then fell on the floor, returning to its sealed state.
Silence returned to the alley.
It was all over.
Still, it was incorrect to say that Ren won this fight.
Part 2.
The mist had dissipated, and the temperature was back to normal.
A woman that wore a traditional kimono looked at Ren's unconscious body and flashed a satisfied smile.
"Heh, I told you it would work," she said while proudly puffing out her voluminous chest.
"Well, I can't deny the results..."
Another voice answered her. It came from a figure right beside her and whose color contrasted to the dark ambient.
"Exactly," the feral ears sprouting from the woman's head twitched as a response to her happiness. "But I must say, it only went well because you reminded me to cast the people shielding spell."
"Indeed. Anyway, it's about time you take this boy to a safe place and explain everything."
"Yeah, I think I'll do just that."
"..."
"What is it?"
"Don't you find it odd...?" The figure asked. "...It was a fight until death, but he did not seem shaken up in the slightest."
"Now that you mention it... He started smiling at some point in the battle. I guess that only proves my point."
"Well, we may be worrying over nothing. Humans do have that thing with their adrenaline."
Abandoning that subject, the woman approached Ren's body, lifted it with surprising ease, and carried it on her shoulder.
"He got me worried for a moment. I'm glad nothing bad happened," the woman said, almost dropping the body off of her shoulders, thankfully managing to adjust it correctly before it fell off.
She smiled wryly, but that did not stop the other figure from giving her a disappointed look.
"By the way, what are we going to do with that other body? We can't leave it here."
"There is no need to fret. That body has long passed its expiration time. It will dissolve and return to the soil eventually. It will be no more than ashes."
"I see."
It was unfortunate for the defunct not to have a proper burial, but it was too late to help.
The two began walking away, but then the woman remembered something and stopped, "Oops. I forgot something," she said before quickly vanishing from sight. She soon came back with an object.
"There."
With a movement of her head, she tossed a thick leather-covered book towards the figure, who grabbed it with its mouth.
"We can't forget about the most important part. Okay, now let's go."
Part 3.
There was a beautiful and vivid forest that overflowed with green.
Inside this forest, two children wandered like a nomadic tribe.
One of them was a girl who looked six or seven years old, wearing light casual clothes and a big hat that protected her from the sunlight.
The other was a boy the same age, perhaps a little older. He wore a simple T-shirt and shorts. He swung a stick back and forth to move the large plants out of their way.
"Onii-chan, we're lost, aren't we?" The girl asked, bothered by the many insects flying around her face.
"We aren't."
She frowned and insisted, "Of course we are!"
"We aren't! I know the way!"
"If you know the way, why are we still here!?"
"I-I just wanted to see nature!"
"..."
The lack of words served better than any answer.
The boy awkwardly looked away.
"O-okay, I admit that I possibly don't know the way," he confirmed, though not totally.
"Onii-chan, I'm serious here! Being in this forest with all kinds of wild animals around scares me a little."
The girl stopped talking, and several sounds echoed through the trees and plants. A dog howled, monkeys jumped from branch to branch, many bees flew around, and a few geese swooped down the river.
The boy shivered and said in a shaky voice, "A-are you afraid of some a-animals?"
Letting aside his fear (?), he walked a little further and placed his right leg forward on a rock, pointing the stick towards the sky.
"If anything happens, I'll protect you!" The boy courageously asserted.
It was an attempt to look cool, but he failed miserably as his shivering from before was still evident in the girl's mind.
"You seem more afraid than me..."
"I'm not afraid!"
"Yes, yes."
The girl noticed that discussing would lead to nothing, so she moved on. Thereon, she spotted something that caught her attention.
"Onii-chan, what's that?" She questioned as she observed a bush a few meters ahead. From there, she saw an unnatural light.
"I don't know..."
"Let's check it out then!"
"Wait!"
The two children shot towards the direction of the light.
"What's this?" The boy mumbled.
It looked like a light that had gained mass.
However, just then, someone appeared from behind the other bushes. It was an aged man holding something similar to a long wooden skewer. Upon seeing the children, a gentle smile formed on his mouth.
"A 'Lilly-of-light', harmless spirits, but can easily set a forest like this on fire."
He then lifted the skewer and pierced the ball of light, making it fade away in the wind.
The two kids looked up to see who did that, and when they did, they rejoiced together.
"Grandpa!"
"Grandpa!"
Part 4.
Suzuki Ren woke up.
"Ah..?"
His mind was still dizzy, and he could not understand what had happened.
"...A dream...?"
From what he remembered, he had passed out from exhaustion during his fight with the man without pupils.
"Hm..."
He started to investigate his surroundings. He was in an unknown environment, on a plain futon, inside what appeared to be a traditional Japanese room, which had nothing except the futon.
He was alive. Someone had rescued him.
"...Argh."
Ren tried to get up, but a dull pain assaulted his body. Losing his strength and forcibly lying down, Ren looked at his body and noticed no visible wounds.
They must have healed until a certain point.
(Damn. How much time has passed since I passed out?)
As he wondered, he heard footsteps from the hallway. The sound got louder, so whoever was doing it must be getting closer.
(Is someone coming?)
Finally, they opened the door and stepped inside. When Ren saw who it was, the only thing he could do was open his eyes wide and feel perplexed.
"R-Rui-san!?"
It was a woman with a traditional kimono, protruding chest, and bestial ears coming out of her head.
"Ohh! You're awake! How are you feeling?" She said, as casually as someone asking their friend to play.
"Uhh... I'm fine."
"Is that so? Great! Haha, you must be feeling tired, right? Sorry for disturbing you. I just wanted to check how you're doing. Since you're okay, I'll leave you to rest now."
In the same way that Rui opened the door to enter, she opened it to leave. It was such a smooth action that it took some time for Ren to react.
"Wait, Rui-san! Ack!" Ren shouted and then groaned due to the pain that little effort caused.
Almost instantly, Rui burst the door open and scolded him.
"Don't make too much effort. You're still weak!"
"But, but... I'm so confused right now."
"..."
"Rui-san?"
"Hahh," Rui sighed in exasperation. "It's as Haiji said, I owe you some explanations."
"What do you mean?"
"...Wait."
From a place in the shadows that Ren could not see, Rui took a mysterious book with a thick leather cover, holding it in her hand with a firm grip. Then, like a mother comforting her child, she sat down beside Ren's futon.
He had several questions in mind but chose to hold them for the moment.
"Boy, first of all, I must apologize."
Rui bowed her head with an apologetic look.
Ren, who did not understand why she did this, shot her a quizzical look and asked, "What are you apologizing for?"
"Ahn..."
Rui scratched her head hesitantly, visibly in trouble to convey what she wanted to say. That only served to create more question marks in Ren's mind.
"That fight, no, not only that, everything was just a means to an end," Rui admitted with sadness dwelling in her eyes. "I'll explain everything to you. You have all the right to be mad at me later."
Rui raised the book in front of Ren's face as if showing it. It was a familiar book that he had already seen plenty of times.
"You could say I used you as a test subject. At first, I did not intend to do that, but when you came in contact with this, I decided to try."
"Try what?"
"Let's start from the beginning," Rui brought the book closer to her and held it with deep affection. "I've already told you this, but a long, long time ago, someone gave me this book."
"Yeah."
"A magician who could not use magic that wrote this, and it contains his forgotten techniques."
"You said me that too."
"But I lied about something," Rui said, downcasting her eyes. "At that time, it wasn't yours."
"Wait..."
Ren started to understand.
It had been all a means to an end—but to what end?
"In resume, to define its owner, one must pass through a test."
"And that test is...?"
"Showing true fighting spirit."
With that statement, everything became clear. It was as if a powerful spotlight spread light throughout a tunnel devoid of light.
"Sorry!" Rui loudly apologized before Ren was able to open his mouth. "It was all a plan! A scheme! I manipulated you and put you in danger. I knew the risks but did it anyway..."
The downcasted gaze prevented Ren from seeing it, but just by her tone, it was possible to know Rui was on the verge of tears.
"I..."
He did not know what to say. With an uneasy look, he only glanced at Rui—it was information that was hard to swallow.
"You can hate me if you want, but we can't go back anymore. You're the owner of that grimoire, the successor of the Art of the External Energy."
"...Why me?" was the only thing Ren could ask. He failed to comprehend why Rui would leave something so important in his hands.
"Would you believe me if I said, 'you're the chosen one'...?"
"Totally not."
"Then I... don't know. It just seemed correct," Rui wailed.
"Rui-san..."
He could not just forgive her.
It was not like she wanted to kill him, but still.
"Well, I can't just forgive you now but... I guess I'm at least alive. You said you owe me some explanations, so may I ask you something?"
"What might be it?"
"Why did you do that? I mean, why would you want me to be the successor."
"The creator of the grimoire told me to..."
"Told you to find a successor for him?"
"Precisely..."
"Is that...so?"
"Yes..."
The heir of the Art of the External Energy—it looked like an important position. It was sad that Ren knew next to nothing about said art.
"I don't know why, but for some reason, I can't be mad at you now."
"What?"
Ren sighed and said, "Nevermind, I was speaking to myself. But what happens now? To me, that is."
"I have no idea."
"How boring..."
"Sorry..."
Rui's sadness was starting to irritate Ren, who was the one who should be sad. Ren needed to resolve this, but looking at Rui, it would not be easy.
"Hey, Rui-san, look at me. A sad expression doesn't suit your cute face."
"Hm...?"
Befitting her sadness, she slowly looked up at Ren's face, and a grasp at his heart became inevitable with her combo of teary eyes and downturned feral ears.
"I-I'm not sure if I can forgive you for what you did now, but I can at least move on, right? I mean, a friendship isn't ruined by a simple mistake to which you're already regretting."
"Ha," a small self-deprecating laugh escaped Rui's lips. "Are you serious? You consider it a simple mistake?"
"Yes."
Rui was confused.
She had done something horrible. She had been sure that she would be despised and hated, but yet, this boy wanted to move on as if nothing happened? It completely broke her expectations, but she felt happy about that.
It would be painful if the only human friend she had made in ages hated her.
"Frankly, human stupidity is beyond countable measures."
"Sorry for that. But it's as you see, so stop looking like a crying dog."
"I'm a wolf, and I'm not crying."
Rui was finally able to calm down a little. Although some water was dripping from her eyes, she had a smile that hinted at happiness.
"Much better."
"Am I interrupting something?"
But then, someone suddenly appeared.
Part 5.
The elegant voice belonged to the wandering spirit Haiji, who had walked inside the room without warning.
"Haiji-san?"
"I see you're well, Ren-dono."
"Yeah, you guys must have taken care of me very well. Thanks for that."
"No problem. But it was actually Rui-sama who nursed you all this time."
Dismissing Rui's complaints from afar, Haiji shook his head in what Ren thought was a nod. As he did not have a human neck, it was difficult to interpret that movement as anything.
"Haiji," Rui, finally wiping her tears, called out to him. "Can you help me answer the questions that will come?"
"I don't mind. I can understand the state you're in now," Haiji secured. "Ren-dono, you must have a lot of questions, right? After everything that happened—and what Rui-sama said—your mind must be in a mess."
"That's right. I've been holding questions for a while, so I'd be happy if I got some answers."
"Go ahead," Haiji urged Ren to proceed.
"Right. So, first of all, how much time has passed since the fight?" "This might be shocking to you, but only some hours."
"What!? How!?"
Just some hours could not have healed the wounds Ren had. He had thought that days, or even weeks, had already passed.
He was worried about Kuriko, but it seemed his worries were in vain, fortunately.
"Rui-sama used a bit of magic. Although your wounds didn't heal fully, they should be better, at least."
"Magic...?"
"Yes," Rui answered. "Genuine magic, I guess it's the first time you're seeing—well, you didn't see it. But, you get it."
"Wow."
"It was a weak healing spell. We were short on time after all."
"Speaking of time, Ren-dono, you'd better head to your home as soon as possible. Rui-sama brought your bag, and something inside was vibrating violently, like that last time."
"Oh, damn! It must be Kuriko. Where is it? I need to see the time!"
Rui pointed her index finger saying, "It's over there."
Ren was about to rush toward it, but a pain in his body reminded him that any effort would hurt even more. He had no choice but to ask Rui to bring it to him.
It was in the corner next to her, so she brought it quickly. Ren promptly took out his cellphone to look at the hours.
"Oh, thank goodness! I still have time."
It was surprisingly convenient, but, as Haiji said, just some hours had passed. If Kuriko had called him, she must have only intended to warn him not to be late.
He was already late, though.
"Isn't that great? You now have the time needed to get the answers you want."
"Yes," Ren corroborated. "So, as for my second question, what really is the 'Art of the External Energy'?"
"Well, it's—complicated. As you know, it's somewhat a martial art focused on magic. Sure, there are a lot of martial arts that use magic, but the users are magicians."
"And, differently from them, the Art doesn't use the magical power of the user," Rui cut Haiji off, continuing the explanation. "Instead, by the use of specific movements, the user can manipulate the magical power in the environment to kind of simulate spells. To be honest, not even I know exactly how it works."
"You say that, but it looks like you know quite a lot about it."
"I just know a thing or two.".
Ren could only imagine how incredible the creator had been.
"I see... Then for my last and most important question..."
Ren paused before continuing, but Rui already idealized what he would ask.
"If I am the real successor of this art, will I be able to learn it now?" Ren questioned, corresponding to Rui's expectations.
"I thought you'd ask that. Well, you might have a chance. The grimoire should be showing the teachings of the first part now. You'd only need someone that has some knowledge about it to help you out. Too bad there is no human suitable for the job."
It was as Rui said, no human in this world knew about the Art of the External Energy, but that was not relevant to Ren.
"True, that's too bad. How fortunate I happen to know someone who isn't a human that knows a thing or two about the martial art in question, right?"
"Ahaha! You're sharp, boy. But I must warn you: it's far from easy. You even have the chance to put your life in danger, not only in training but for life. So, are you willing to take this risk?"
The result was obvious, but Rui had to try anyway.
"With this opportunity in front of me, do you think I'd lose my grasp on it?" Ren granted.
"Heh, so be it. We shall start your training as soon as your wounds get healed. It's the least I can do to pay for what I've done to you."
"Alright!"
Letting his excitement run forth, Ren made a brusque movement, clenching his fist, resulting in more seconds of pain, which he overlooked, continuing to celebrate.
And that was how Suzuki Ren started his training in the Art of the External Energy and began the path towards becoming the powerful magician—or magical fighter—he had always desired.