Self Trade.
A facet of the Death Trade Cursed Technique which works outside the domain of the technique. As the name suggests, it's a type of trade which the user undertakes within themselves, trading a certain aspect of themselves on a temporary basis to gain or remove an aspect on demand to gain an advantage at times.
It works very similarly to Binding Vows. However, because this is a facet of one's internal technique, it allows for a broader and more precise interaction with a person's aspects.
Like this...
[Self Trade - Increase mobility for decreased weight.]
The roar of jet engines screamed overhead as I completed my trade, and I threw myself into a sideways roll, the decreased weight helping me move faster, and just as I moved, the section of road where I had been standing less than a heartbeat earlier exploded beneath Hanyu's dive, chunks of asphalt erupting into the air like shrapnel before crashing against nearby storefronts.
"Geeze, lady, you don't have to be so triggered just because I called you un-datable." I couldn't help but sigh.
I only asked the guy beside her how he handled her, why she was so triggered because of that?
Honestly, all sorcerers are crazy.
I did not waste time admiring the destruction though, magnificent as it was, because Aiko, the helicopter dude, was already descending from above, the blades of his helicopter-like hair spinning so violently that they created powerful gusts capable of ripping loose signboards from buildings and hurling them toward me like oversized projectiles.
I planted one foot against the wall of a convenience store and sprinted upward before kicking off the side of the building, narrowly slipping between two flying chunks of concrete as I flipped over Aiko's head.
The decreased weight, increased mobility, and hours of practicing my Cursed Energy control were paying off big time.
The moment my feet touched the ground again, I accelerated toward him, forcing him to retreat into the air instead of allowing him to keep attacking from a safe distance.
"He's fast!" Hanyu shouted from below. "Don't let him get close!"
"I'm trying!" Aiko barked back while climbing higher into the sky. "The idiot keeps chasing me!"
A laugh escaped me despite the situation. It's actually easy for them to say that I'm just fast. They brush off the complexity required to pull off a Self Trade.
At first it looked easy, but in reality I had to adjust how much weight I wished to remove to increase mobility manually. Remove more than required and the wind from those hair-copter blades would send me flying.
Don't do it enough and I'm leaving performance on the table.
Hanyu immediately folded her body into another diving charge, the jet engines growing louder until the air itself vibrated around me. I waited until the very last second before sliding beneath her, my shoulder grazing the pavement as her attack missed by inches.
And just as she was passing above me, my hands shot out, grabbing the agitated woman by the leg where I could feel both of them were weaker, with less concentration of Cursed Energy, which was most likely the result of pouring more of it toward their head for their Cursed Technique.
A Binding Vow or just a simple downside of a technique which focused more on a certain body part. I'm not sure, and I wasn't interested in finding out either.
[Trade Switch]
Hanyu suddenly felt a sharp tug on her leg, as if the entire limb might rip off at any second, before she was forcefully yanked back from her earlier route, and then the boy redirected her path using her own velocity against her.
Then the world spun, everything before her blurry as the bastard made her spin from his axis like she was some darn fidget toy before releasing her in another direction entirely, with improved speed from the inertia no less.
She overshot completely, unable to stop her momentum before slamming through the wall of an abandoned office building, sending broken glass and clouds of dust pouring into the street.
"Huh... it worked, I honestly just winged it back then." I for once was surprised. Who knew physics classes were this important?
Though honestly, it was due to the 'Trade Switch' I pulled off in that last moment.
It's a special trade command I created, so I didn't have to manually invert the given command all the time.
And as the name suggests, it inverts the trade conditions as they are, meaning I went from being a relay runner to a sumo wrestler in the matter of a heartbeat.
"NICE"
Before she could recover, Aiko dropped from above with his spinning blades aimed directly at my neck.
I stepped inside his attack instead of retreating.
Maki's voice echoed through my mind.
"Get inside their effective range. That's where techniques become awkward."
My hand shot out directly at him.
"Sumo Slam."
It struck Aiko square in the stomach with enough force to fold his body around my arm before launching him across the street.
He skipped across the asphalt several times before crashing into the hood of an abandoned car, the vehicle crumpling around him as every remaining window shattered from the impact.
"Ugh… damn monster…"
I just smirked. "Next time find someone of your own weight class, mister."
I barely had time to breathe before Hanyu burst back out of the destroyed building, blood trickling down the side of her forehead as she screamed and accelerated straight toward me. Instead of meeting her head-on, I hurriedly switched the trade conditions again and sprinted toward the nearest apartment complex, using the wall almost like solid ground as I raced upward several stories before leaping from balcony to balcony.
"Damn you, come back here." She shouted and followed without hesitation, her engines tearing apart railings and balconies as she chased me through the narrow gap between buildings.
Concrete rained onto the street below while windows exploded one after another, filling the air with countless shards of glass that glittered beneath the afternoon sun.
"Stop running away and face me like a man." Hanyu shouted.
"I'm sorry, but I'm still a minor. Perhaps after a year or two."
That seemed to tick her off even more. She must be old, it seemed.
We kept on running inside the building, through corridors and across floors. A place like this was the worst place for a technique like hers.
And then I stopped abruptly.
Her eyes widened.
"What? Not planning on running away anymore?" She taunted.
"Nah, my knees are still shaken from that fall. Not to mention, I accomplished what I intended to, didn't I?
Look at this place, your mobility and flight are useless here." I pointed around the enclosed area inside the building and then shrugged.
At that she just scowled. She didn't attack directly though. She must have been thinking about what kind of Cursed Technique I had, or whether I had any in the first place.
Good for me though, I too had a few questions of my own.
And I was right. Hanyu currently was thinking just that.
'What is this bastard's Cursed Technique?' She internally grumbled. She recalled the entire fight and didn't see me using any.
'Does he not have one?'
'NO... not possible, without one he would have never survived against both me and Aiko until now. He must have used it, and it should be a discreet one if I couldn't tell when he did so...' Her mind raced.
Flashes of the fight from a few minutes ago ran through her mind, and something seemed to click.
'The first time I attacked him, he went flying even though I didn't hit him that hard. Either I hit him harder than I remember, or the weight difference was too big.
But if that is the case then he should have never been able to forcefully redirect my path while I was mid-flight earlier. To resist that amount of force, the weight gap has to be huge again, and this time all the other way around.
Meaning, his technique must be...'
"Why are you attacking everyone? Killing people?" She was abruptly driven out of her thoughts midway.
"Huh... What do you mean?" She asked with irritation building in.
"Just as I asked, why resort to killing when you guys are strong enough? Self-defense I understand, but this is no self-defense. And seeing how both of your techniques are based on modern concepts, you can't be ancient sorcerers either.
So why?
Why are you killing indiscriminately?" I asked, a bit of irritation and anger leaking through my voice.
She paused for a second, as if I had asked her something either too obvious or completely ridiculous.
"Are you an idiot?" She eventually replied with a snort.
"Killing innocents, modern and ancient sorcerers... haaa, don't make me laugh...
What do you think is going on here, you fool? Everyone here is fighting for their life. If we don't kill, then others will kill us. That's the new law." She said hysterically, as if even asking her that question made her angrier.
It seemed like the conditions in here were even worse than I had earlier thought they would be. It's sad seeing how fast people could forsake every law, every bit of their humanity when they have unchecked power or their own survival to look after.
It was my turn to pause before I could say anything.
'Now that I think about it, it's not entirely their fault either. I can't put the entire blame on her or any modern-day sorcerer if they really resorted to killing...' I sighed.
However, that doesn't mean they should get away with it.
"Surviving and killing innocents are two different things entirely." I said seriously, but that didn't even seem to faze her.
I doubt she's the kind of person who will change her ways if I just spare her now, is she?
"Very well... seems like I have no other option but to put you down." I decided. Killing is not an issue for me. I have already killed one; another is no different.
But killing innocents or those who are ready to change, that is not something I wish to commit.
She certainly doesn't fall in that group though, and that I just had to know before I decided.
"Even if it means killing you." I uttered, and Cursed Energy erupted out of me.
To her credit, she didn't bat an eye at that little speech; she just snorted and spat on the ground.
"Like as if a soft pretty boy like you has a chance, you bastard. You are already dead...
I have already figured out your technique.
It's weight manipulation, isn't it." She shouted like she really figured it all out and then launched herself at me.
I didn't move. Just brought my hands to a very familiar sign...
"No, it's not. But let me show you my...
Domain...
EXTENSION..."
xXx
A/N : Wondering what new he came up with again... hehehe...
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