The cursed Sword

Kai had nothing to rely on to know about any of the two species.

But he had the knowledge and experience. Whatever was chasing him had shown all characteristics of a hunter to him, making him conclude he was dealing with a Yautja and not Xenomorph. Such knowledge wouldn't have made a difference to most of the Candidates, but Kai was different.

He knew nothing about the Yautjas, but he knew almost everything about being a hunter.

This hunter was unsure about Kai, he had concluded. It would remain in hiding until it had gauged his strength. So when Kai saw the woman, Spider, he knew that in her lay an opportunity. With her, the two made a group. There was strength in the group, but there was also the concept of weak and strong in it as well.

A hunter would always take out the weak prey first, Kai had learned. Not because of any cowardice, but it was in their nature to eliminate the substandard individuals.

And, so it happened.

'It is invisible,' Kai told himself, holding Afro's Tachi in his right hand, and Murasame in his left. 'That's one thing more than I knew about it.'

Kai's battle instincts roared. A smile crept up on his face, and he closed his eyes.

If there was one thing that Kai felt absolutely no fear in facing, then it was an invisible opponent. He had trained his senses, pushing them beyond the limit, to align them towards an invisible opponent.

And no matter how invisible this new opponent would be, it could never achieve the true invisibility of Brock Valeheart, he knew.

Kai let out a breath, reined his breathing, and all sounds seemed to vanish around him.

He had never talked about it, but he hadn't gained his instincts from birth. They were a product of years of training in the monstrous jungle, and after the death of his mother, his frequent excursions with the wildest and cruelest beasts out of the Cities' Defensive Walls.

These were the instincts Kai had forced himself to learn to deal with the ability, World Vanishing Camouflage, that the Chameleon's blood essence had granted his friend, his brother— his mother's killer.

Something was coming from his left, spinning, cutting the air like butter.

It was almost noiseless, but for Kai, there was nothing louder than this. He threw the Murasame, and metal struck metal before dropping on the dead leaves and muddy ground.

Almost instantaneously, something came for his heart from his front. Something long and sharp, and with an unimaginably fatal intention behind it. And he could tell there were two of these objects with the same sharpness.

Kai's eyes were still closed, and it seemed he had accepted his fate. But the moment these invisible blades were about to enter his flesh, Kai's Advance Slither Steps burst out, and he slithered to his left just by half a step.

Crunch!!!

Kai coughed out blood. His eyes opened, and he looked down. The invisible being had punctured through his bones and right lung and was now lifting him high in the air.

Blood pouring out of his mouth, Kai raised the sword in his right hand and slashed down. Once again it struck metal, and sparks flew everywhere. Little by little, the thing lost its invisibility, and through pain and squinted eyes, Kai got to see what had come to claim his life, what had been hunting him for hours.

It was around a 7 ft tall humanoid with a metallic mask on its face, a glint of red seeping out from its eyeholes. It had armor covering half of its left shoulder, over which there was a metallic tube that looked like a weapon to Kai. On both of its arms, below the elbows, there were gauntlets. From the right gauntlet, two wristblades were coming out, and it was through them Kai's body was dangling right now. The left one was letting out sparks because of the sword's strike, it seemed, making the Yautja lose its invisibility. [Image 1]

The humanoid alien lifted Kai even higher, like a trophy, and let out a roar.

Kai could feel its impressive strength, but his smile widened behind the waterfall of blood.

Exchange wounds, snatch lives! This kind of imagined scenario was the origin of Kai's battle motto.

The fallen sword, Murasame, lifted by itself, and then, like a bullet, flew towards the Yautja.

The hunter sensed the sword coming, and with a jerk, pulled out the wristblades from Kai's body, jerking away its hand.

Kai fell and saw the unworldly agility the alien showed while jumping back, dodging the sword. The sword failed to enter its body, leaving behind the tiniest nick on its right shoulder, which didn't have the protection of armor.

A trail of neon green bioluminescent substance spurted out.

Aside from that slight cut, Kai's meticulously planted move of using Telekinesis to control the fallen sword, catching the alien off guard, seemed to have become a pitiful failure.

The towering being looked at the sword that had lodged itself into a trunk, and then at its right shoulder. Finally, it looked down at him, and Kai heard a rattling noise coming from behind the mask.

It was laughing at him.

And then it choked on that laugh.

Dense, black runic markings exploded out of that tiny cut, and in an instant, it covered the thing's entire body like a virus. [Image 2]

Kai's tongue rolled, and he swallowed the hidden HP capsule in his mouth. It wasn't the one that the Systems had given him, but one with the price of 500 MC. 100 points of HP coursed through his vein, healing his torn flesh and bone first, and then refilled his flashing HP bar with the leftover HP points.

Kai stood up, approached the thing, who had already died, and crouched next to it, the notification of the Kill blinking in his eyes.

[

You have killed 1 Young-Blood Yautja

Points: 30

]

His eyes went to the tube-like object, protruding out from the armor on Yautja's left shoulder. It looked like a weapon to Kai. 'Some kind of gun?' He reflected. 'Why didn't this idiot use it, though?'

But there was another question that kept coming to his mind. 'Of all the unlucky Candidates, am I still the unluckiest?' Kai asked himself, stroking the long dreadlocks on the thing's head with his left hand. 'Why else from the 2 Young-Bloods on the entire islands was I the one who encountered it the moment after coming out of the pods?'

The smile on his face now looked even wider than before. Demonic and hungry.

Murasame, lodged into the trunk of a tall tree, slid out and hurled itself into Kai's left hand. He narrowed his eyes, and all the mud on it blasted apart, leaving behind a silver shine.

Once again, Kai felt no sword could be half as beautiful as this. He recalled the mention of the baleful aura by lady Elenora during the auction, and once again, he scoffed at it, as he could only feel a deep attachment to the sword and nothing else. And none could match the Stats hovering above it. Not for a long time.

[

Item: Murasame (Named Sword)

Grade: Uncommon

Specification: A cursed blade

Requirement:

1. At least one sword-related Ability

2. A heartfelt appreciation

Attributes:

1. Measurement: 105 cm

2. Material: Carbon Steel

3. Base Damage: 80 HP

Skill: One Cut Killer

Effect: Once the sword pierces the skin, a poisonous curse spread through the victim's body, killing them within seconds by stopping their heart

Skill: Little War Horn

Effect:

1. Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Perception: +5 points each (Time Limit: 1 minute)

2. To use Little War Horn, one must discard their humanity and embrace their inner demon. Only a truly demonic being can master the pain that the use of this Skill will bring forth on the user's body

3. After 1 minute, Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Perception: -5 points each (Time Limit: 3 hours)

4. Cooldown: 24 hours

Quality: 95%

]

'One Cut Killer,' Kai thought, looking at its first unfortunate target. 'Indeed.'

An even more hideous thought that had surfaced in his mind when he checked the Stats for the first time was what would happen if he were to combine the Skill, Little War Horn, with his Titan's Buff, using the ACT — Relentless Love.

A murderous bloodlust seeped out from Kai as his body thrummed with the imagined slaughter.

He controlled his thoughts, licked his lips, and only then did he turn his head to look at the woman's dead body, the open cylindrical thing, the Pokemon, and the alien thing wrapped around the Pokemon's head.

Then his eyes returned to the 7 ft tall Young-Blood Yautja, lying lifeless on the ground.

'Well, well, well,' Kai told himself, smiling. 'Fortune does follow misfortune, it seems. Haha!'

-Selene- he hissed. -Look, so much food.-

****************

AN:

1. The tube-like object is called Plasmacaster, a long-raged weapon, capable of firing armor-penetrating plasma bolts at distant targets. It is arguably the most devastating and technologically advanced offensive tool at the Yautja's disposal. The Young-Blood didn't use it becuase in their Clan, it is forbidden to use this weapon before marking themselves using the Blood of a worthy prey. In this case, Kai's blood. It is kind of a ritual. After this, the Young-Blood would have become a Blooded Yautja. [Image 3]

2. Relentless Love - ACT of the Tale: The Herald of Chaos, Petyr's tale. Gives boost of Strength, Agility, and Stamina

[Image 1] [Image 2] and [Image 3] are available on Discord.