The moment Boshi finished tying off the last preserved organ, the floor beneath him trembled.
A low rumble spread through the gray room, he staggered back, nearly slipping on the cold surface.
"W-What… now…?" he whispered.
The floor lifted.
Slowly at first, then with the steady the floor kept rising with no sign of any mechanisms. Boshi pressed a hand to the rising platform to steady himself, he still hadn't had anything good to eat. His limbs still trembled from days without food and water, though the heart he had consumed had brought warmth through him, it was sickening and strengthening all at once.
Above him, the ceiling split open.
Lines appeared, thin at first then widening into a great circular iris of grey ceiling and nothingness. A pale white light poured down, celan, sterile, washing Kale's corpse in an otherworldly glow before it vanished from view beneath him.
Then with a final click, Boshi rose into a new chamber.
It was larger, vast even, its floor a pale stone, its walls curving outward like a coliseum. The ceiling arched so high he could not see where it ended.
At the opposite side stood a man.
An Original like him, Average-sized. His shirt torn and soaked in red, fresh blood, a lot of it, too much of it.
The man looked up and grinned as if he had been waiting.
Boshi's heartbeat staggered.
The voice returned.
"One must die."
The man laughed, actually laughed.
"Ohhh, I love when it says that." He spread his arms wide, still smeared with gore. "Means the game continues!"
Boshi's stomach twisted. This man… wasn't like Kale, wasn't confused, afraid, or desperate.
He was enjoying this.
The stranger took a step forward, eyes bright with amusement.
"You look awful" he said cheerfully. "Half-dead. Perfect! That means I don't have to work as hard."
Boshi swallowed, backing away by instinct. "W-Who… are you?"
"Who cares?" the man answered with a shrug. "No rules here. No consequences, just killing."He tapped his chest proudly. "Do you know how many I've taken down so far, not cause of this game, I did this before coming here? Five. One guy begged for mercy another girl cried. One tried to bite me after I broke there limbs, hilarious."
Boshi's whole body shook.
"You're… insane…"
The man chuckled. "Insane? No, free."He took another step. "And you? You're my next target, but don't worry, I'll make it quick."
Boshi's mind screamed to run, but there was nowhere to run.
Fight or die.
His muscles tightened, his breath steadied. His legs felt like sticks wrapped in skin, but they held.
"Fine" he whispered. "I'll fight you."
The man almost clapped. "Oh, good! It's fun when they struggle."
They approached each other slowly, step by step.
A strange sensation
A pressure formed between them, invisible but real. Like two threads stretching, trying to touch.
Boshi felt… something, a flicker of sudden intuition
A whisper from deep inside his soul,
Hands...
Boshi froze.
What… was that?
The man chuckled knowingly.
"You feel it, right? The Soul Link. Happens whenever two Auctors clash."
The pressure thickened, Boshi felt a taste of the man's intent, glinting, slicing, playful cruelty.
"When two Symphonies collide" the stranger said, raising his hand, "your souls get hungry, they will start tasting on the knowledge of the other. You get hints, blurry instincts."
His fingers flexed—
—then sharpened.
Bone pushed forward under the skin. The nails lengthened into curved points. Like knives growing from flesh.
A shiver raced down Boshi's spine.
"That's my Movement" the man said proudly. "Edgecraft, I make the body sharp, very sharp."
He lunged.
Boshi barely dodged the first slash.
The man's fingers whistled past his cheek, slicing a few strands of hair. Boshi stumbled, catching himself on trembling legs.
He was too slow.
The stranger laughed. "Not bad! You're still alive!"
He spun, slashing again—
Boshi blocked instinctively.
Pain exploded.
Something hit the floor with a wet slap.
His hand.
His entire left hand.
"AAAAAH—!" Boshi screamed, stumbling backward, clutching the bleeding stump. Blood poured down his arm in hot sheets.
"Oh, good cut!" the stranger said happily. "I love when they scream in surprise."
Boshi's vision blurred. His knees buckled.
No, no, focus
He tried to remember the feeling of using his movement, to use it on his severed arm and stub, to stop it from rotting and bleeding.
He felt Ti move within his soul
A faint shimmer wrapped around the severed hand weak, trembling, incomplete, but enough to halt decomposition and to stop his bleeding stub, buying enough time for him to either live or die.
The man tilted his head. "Huh, Interesting trick, I can't wait to kill you to see what caused you to form it."
He charged.
Boshi dodged, barely, but a blade-finger grazed his ribs, tearing his clothes and flesh.
He needed a plan.
He calmed down and began to hyper focus on how he could live.
The man's stance favors the right foot.
His finishing slashes always arc downward.
His style is wild, laughing, careless—
Careless.
Boshi clenched his jaw.
If he could
The man charged again, full sprint.
Boshi rushed toward him as well.
The stranger blinked. "Huh?"
Boshi dropped low dodgeing to the right, letting the man's slash pass.
Then Boshi rammed his shoulder into the man's gut, weak, but enough to stagger him.
The man stumbled. "What—?"
Boshi wrapped his arm around the man's leg.
Not to throw him. Not to hold him.
But to reach—
The ankle.
Boshi bit down on his lip, ignoring the dizziness.
He lifted his other hand grabbing his ankle, then winding his stub back with a sharp bone portruding.
The man laughed. "What are you doing? Hitting me with your—"
Boshi drove the stump of his severed wrist forward into the man's ankle bone.
His bones were exposed. Jagged, Sharp.
The stump pierced the skin.
The man shrieked. "WHAT THE—?!"
He lost balance.
And Boshi moved.
With his last strength, he grabbed the man's shoulder and pulled, making him fall toward the ground.
Boshi rammed the jagged stump deeper into the man's neck as they fell.
Blood sprayed in a hot arc.
The man gargled. "W–Wait no, stop!"
He clawed at Boshi's face but his fingertips scraped only skin, no sharpness remained, his Movement interrupted because of the unextpected attack.
Boshi drove the bone deeper.
Warmth flooded his hand, his arm, his chest, blood everywhere, metallic and heavy.
The man twitched.
The man had died.
Boshi collapsed backward, unable to feel his legs.
His stump throbbed.
His preserved hand lay beside him.
His breath came in shuddering sobs.
"I… won…" he whispered. "I… did it…"
Then the voice returned.
Cold.
Unfeeling.
"Good job. Take your reward."
Something inside Boshi opened.
His soul stretched toward the corpse.
The next Movement began to form.
Movement Index 2: Edgecraft
This Movement allows the Auctor to sharpen biological material of their own body, such as fingers, nails, or bone, turning them into cutting implements. Edgecraft was formed from the other man's existing experience with violence, predation and his deep intuitive understanding of bodily anatomy used for tearing, slicing, and killing. He like the feeling of warm blood on his hands, never wearing gloves, which is this only affects his hands.