43 Blood
Stanley heard the words come from deep within him, one he could understand this time. However, they still sounded gibberish to him as he couldn't focus on it due to his whole body feeling as if thousands of needles were piercing him at the very same time, while his head hurt just the same as well.
He was on the verge of going unconscious from the pain, but he was just that short of it, so all he could do was suffer.
The woman saw Stanley struggling in the dim light and was genuinely surprised. She had used twice the amount of blood as would normally be necessary for a person to collapse into unconsciousness from the pain.
But somehow, the young man that was only a trainee was still not unconscious.
She quickly looked at the knife in her hand and decided to use more blood. However, to her surprise, the blood had already coagulated and dried up.
She needed fresh, liquid blood to use her powers, and unfortunately, there was none anymore. Still, her previous use of power still kept Stanley down, which she had to hope would be enough time for them to draw blood from the other one.
The woman hated her own powers. Ever since she had understood what her powers were, she had hidden them in fear that the town would shun her for it.
Being able to bring pain to others by simply using that person's blood was anything but useful to the town. People would even fear her if they ever found out.
That was why the woman had hidden it all this time.
However recently, after learning a truth that had shocked her world, she decided to use it. She was going to use it to help the ones that were fighting for the good.
Seeing his brother in pain, Bradley's rage reached its peak. He no longer cared about apprehending them without much violence. He was going to fight the best he could.
He charged at the man in front of him with his sword in his hand.
"Shit!" the man cried out. He was currently without a weapon since the woman had taken his kitchen knife.
He dodged the sword and kicked it with his feet. He then went in for a punch, only for his fist to go in through the young man's skull without touching anything.
Bradley brought back the sword while deactivating his powers. As two matters couldn't occupy the same space, the man's hand and his head jerked away in a different direction from the repelling force.
The man stumbled backward, not in a position to defend himself from the incoming sword. However, at the last second, he kneed the base of the sword, redirecting it just a little above so that it went past him.
He quickly stepped back for and few seconds and restored his stance again. "Phew, I nearly died," the man said. "Young man, are you really that keen on killing us?"
"I see no reason why not when you are trying to do the same here," Bradley said.
"I told you, we're not here to kill. Give us a bit of blood and we'll leave right now," the man said.
Bradley ignored the man and continued his assault. He attacked the man with his sword with every intent to kill. However, the man dodged most of his attacks.
'How is he so good at fighting?' Bradley wondered while he fought. 'Was he a trained Defender that failed? Or are there people who've secretly trained themselves to fight others?'
The man was a little slow for the most part, his body not used to moving so quickly and precisely. However, he seemed to have experience with what exactly it was he needed to do.
'Why is his fighting style so familiar?' Bradley couldn't help but wonder. As he continued fighting, an answer came to his mind. 'That's Stanley's fighting style!'
He stopped for a moment out of shock. He stood his ground and look at the man in shock. 'How does he know Stanley's fighting style? It doesn't make sense. Did he learn it from somewhere? Did he copy it?'
'No…' an answer came to him. 'He knew about our mother and he knew about Stanley being a Trainee despite the horrible visibility in the darkness. It must be his powers then.'
'His powers must allow him to learn about someone, and maybe even learn what they've experienced,' Bradley thought. 'If that's his power, then what's the activation ritual? Why has he not already stolen a copy of my memories and powers too?'
That was something Bradley had to think about. If the activation ritual was something simple like blinking or even clicking the heel of one's feet, the man should have done it already.
The fact that he hadn't stolen from him meant that the man hadn't activated his technique yet. At a moment's notice, he could come up with only two possibilities as to why that was.
First, the man couldn't learn about someone back to back. There was a period of time when he "You're Blake's father, aren't you?" he asked, realizing just how closely the two resembled each other.
15:52
The old man's face changed at the mention of his son. "You knew my son?" he asked with a surprised couldn't use his powers once activated. This was a genuine possibility that Bradley couldn't ignore. However, given what they were asking for, there was one more possibility.
'Blood! They need my blood,' he thought. 'That's why they keep asking for my blood. Is it to learn about my techniques? No, it's to learn about me.'
Bradley had to be careful now. The woman was staying where she was as she wouldn't be of much help to the man, so it was going to be a 1 on 1 fight. With his brother still struggling, he wouldn't help him either.
Since he was almost sure what was going on now, he started attacking again, only this time he knew what he needed to do.
He switched up his attack patterns so that the man couldn't keep up with it. 'You only just learned the fighting style today. Your mind might know what to do, but your body certainly can't keep up.'
Between attacking, activating, and deactivating his techniques, the man in front of him could not handle him at all.
Soon enough, Bradley started getting the upper hand.
When he saw the opportunity, he kicked the man in the side of his chest and sent him stumbling toward the light where he fell to the ground.
Bradley quickly rushed after him and prepared to stab the man. The woman screamed to the side, but he ignored her. He simply went in for the stab.
At the last moment, however, he faltered. The sword fell to the right, hitting the ground next to the man's shoulders.
"Y-You!" he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Now that the man was in the light, he could recognize the man's face.
"You're Blake's father, aren't you?" he asked, realizing just how closely the two resembled each other.
The old man's face changed at the mention of his son. "You knew my son?" he asked with a surprised look as well.
"Blake was one of my closest friends during our time in the Defender's training," Bradley said with a hollow voice. "I saw you during the funeral."
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