A Hand-Woven Universe

Noone approached the tribesman without hesitation, his eyes pierced through the distance between them. The golden tribesman looked back at Noone, the grin and frown which he had worn earlier quietly evaporated along with the s.p.a.ce between them.

He would never make the mistake of underestimating his opponent at this distance, any energy used frowning or grinning or taunting could be better used to keep himself alive. All expressions disappeared from his face except for his eyes which shone with golden intensity.

The gold tribesman"s sword cut diagonally through the air at an astonishing speed, interrupting Noone"s advance. Noone - using his extended sight - easily saw the tribesman shift his weight just before attacking. He managed to violently twist his body just outside the path of attack. The tribesman"s eyes glowed as he judged Noone"s every reaction.

The tribesman shifted his weight against his left foot and leaned back, his right shin shot through the air like a whip towards Noone"s leg.

Despite your looks, you"re still too green. Despite his thoughts, no emotion seeped through expression. It was stated the same way you might declare having received due payment.

Instead of swiping Noone"s leg out from under him though, the tribesman"s shin struck Noone"s thigh with a heavy thwack and then stopped in place. His eyes widened in violent horror, and he quickly jumped back out of Noone"s reach.

When he watched Noone violently twist out of the swords path, the tribesman followed up as quickly as possible, attempting to disable Noone before the weird being could regain his balance.

Ideally, Noone should have been unsteady from the sudden evasive maneuver, and his leg should have been knocked out from under him, or even have his leg broken from the impact. Never did he expect that the other being would be able to take the full force of his kick so effortlessly.

Noone grit his teeth against the sudden hit. Despite having an all-encompa.s.sing sight, he was unable to dodge the kick in time, so he braced his body against the attack. His leg throbbed in pain, but it quickly faded from his awareness and was replaced with cold calculations.

Looks like just because I can see it… it doesn"t make me invincible. If push comes to shove, Noone was confident he could retreat from the lone tribesman. The only reason he faced up to the golden being in such a brash manner was too evaluate his own strength.

Noone was able to stay standing after being struck due to having experienced masterful training for his body. For years Noone climbed the edge of a cliff, constantly at threat of falling to his death. Thus, his entire body was honed, like an axe to a grinding stone, to move in ways that would never jeopardize his center of gravity, or his stability. As long as he had at least one leg on the ground, Noone could not be thrown off balance.

These movements were so subtle that they were practically unnoticeable by all but the most experienced warriors. Even Noone himself would not be able to explain what he did, not exactly. Everything he relied on was a mixture of instinct and calm thought.

Noone quickly dashed into the tribesman"s attack range before he could recover. Noone crouched his body and prepared to strike the torso of the tribesman. Even without a weapon, Noone"s body had enough strength to easily traverse vertical cliffs. Noone had no doubt at his own power.

Seeing the hulking muscled Noone suddenly dash towards them, anyone in their sane mind would immediately back away to create distance. Noone"s natural reach was longer than this tribesman"s, if it weren"t for their difference in equipment, that difference may have been enough to turn this into an easy fight.

Instead of backing away at Noone"s rapid invasion of his s.p.a.ce though, the tribesman stepped forward.

"Not on your life!" He growled, inwardly he was shocked by the st.u.r.diness of Noone"s body. In the eyes of this warrior, Noone"s movements were unrefined. But Noone had the strength to compensate for it.

One of the shields in the tribesman"s grasp was thrust towards Noone"s head. To back away would give Noone the advantage, and this tribesman was trained too well to ever risk such a thing. The only thing he could do was to try and steal the initiative back.

Noone"s eyes widened and he grit his teeth, sucking in a deep breath as his abdomen flexed tightly to support his sudden shift in direction. Both of Noone"s arms immediately shot upwards to guard his face. Using his inheritance of the Ancestor, Noone "saw" that the tribesman hid his sword behind his shield, wanting to take Noone by surprise.

If Noone had only been relying on his normal sight, he would have never seen the attack in time. A frown formed on his face. I really am going to need a weapon. Despite the pressing danger, Noone"s mind refused to respond in any way other than cold calculations.

Noone"s heartbeat pumped steady, and his brain throbbed under the stress of maintaining his "sight" during battle. He was already unable to maintain it at a consistent distance before fighting, after fighting it had become even more unreliable.

About this though, there was nothing he could do. But… there was something he could do about the sword and shield, he thought.

Noone"s hands which had been shooting upwards to block his face suddenly turned – palms open and ready to receive the shield. Just as the shield caused a blind-spot for Noone, it also created a small blind spot for the tribesman. The shield impacted Noone"s hands creating a solid thud before stopping in place. Noone grimaced as the bones in his hands seemed to crackle under the weight. He managed to catch the edges of the shield, his fingers gripped the buckler so tightly that small cracks formed as his hands bit into the metal and wood surface.

For the first time since the start of the encounter – a malicious smile crept through his stoic expression. I"ve got to be quick.

As soon as the tribesman saw Noone"s hands intercept his shield, he quickly began to loosen his grip on it. Shock pierced his heart, there should have been no way for someone to catch a shield like that in the heat of battle!

Although all of this takes a while to detail, in reality they had only fought for less than a minute. The current exchange took place in the time it takes sparks to fly off a piece of flint.

Noone suddenly stood to his full height, lifting the shield with him. Immediately the tribesman was thrown off balance, his hand still within the wrist-brace. The sword hit wide, missing Noone"s face by an entire foot.

Before the tribesman had any chance to slide his hand out of the grip, Noone grinned down at the man and his eyes flashed with malice. He violently twisted the shield.

Noone was a being which could easily support his own body weight while climbing. A being which could carve through stone for months at a time without exhausting his muscles.

The tribesman"s wrist stood no chance against this level of strength. Despite flexing every muscle in his arm, he couldn"t resist the violent motion. His whole arm bent to try and compensate with the violent motion, but a sharp crack sounded between them as dozens of carpal bones were shattered to useless shards of calcium.

A cold sweat appeared on the tribesman"s flesh and his eyes widened with such intensity that they went red with blood.

Suddenly the shield was easily pulled from his limp and useless hand. Pain like nothing he had ever known flooded his mind.

Noone"s stomach churned slightly as he realized what he just did. The feeling of crushing bone, the sound of breaking the tribesman"s wrist and seeing it hang at a horrible angle… Noone wasn"t possessed by the inner devil anymore. He still had all of his feelings as a being of Tapestry. A place free of violence.

But as he looked at the golden tribesman, he grit his teeth. They attacked him. There was no reason he should hold back.

Noone did not give the man a chance to recover. Using the shield like a weapon, he held the edge and thrust it towards the tribesman"s neck.

Immense pain flooded every nerve within the tribesman, however he knew that right now he was fighting for his life. He could not afford the time to nurse his wounds. Both swords flashed out, aiming to slice Noone"s arms down to the bone.

Noone was surprised at the sudden attack, with a sword advancing from above and below Noone could only try to retract his arm in time, or risk losing it…

Noone"s eyes narrowed as he stared at the other being. Both of their jaws were set in determination.

The tribesman tucked his chin down, hoping to use his jaw to keep the edge of the shield from crushing his windpipe if Noone happened to be faster than his swords. Although having his jaw shattered would not be pleasant, he had no choice but to take this option. It was too late to withdraw.

When Noone saw what was happening, his eyebrows scrunched together. Even with his extended sight, he couldn"t predict who would be struck first, it was too close. Air seemed to swirl around the two beings, as if trying to fill the gaps in s.p.a.ce left behind by their strikes.
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Suddenly, Noone flicked his wrist.

The metal-edged shield shot from his hand slicing through the air as it rotated at incredible speed. It immediately closed the last small distance, slipping underneath the tribesman"s chin just as his swords were a flint-spark away from slicing into Noone"s arms.

The weight of the shield combined with the overwhelming speed.

The tribesman"s windpipe was crushed, and blood spurted into his throat as veins and arteries ruptured into his trachea.

Immediately his eyes went red as blood vessels ruptured within. The swords dropped from his hands which moved to grip his own throat. Noone watched as the tribesman squeezed veiny fingers around his own neck ineptly trying to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

Regrettably, the damage was internal. His body screamed for oxygen but when he opened his mouth to suck air in, only gurgling noises could be heard as blood bubbled up from the back of his throat.

The tribesman backed away from Noone, eyes unfocused but equally terrified. He was unable to get oxygen. His lungs, throat and stomach all filled with hot putrid blood.

Tripping on a stone he fell back, body striking the solid earth. Rolling over to his hands and knees, he puked up ma.s.sive amounts of blood which pooled on the floor under him.

Noone"s heart thrummed unsteadily for the first time since beginning the fight as he watched the tribesman suddenly collapse. Seeing this other man suffer so much, seeing the ma.s.sive amounts of blood he puked up… Noone but his tongue to keep his own stomach from turning over.

Finally, the tribesman"s eyes faded and his consciousness blacked out. The golden-sheened tribesman was unable to support his weight and laid twitching in his own blood.

Noone looked on, his own mind was reeling from the visceral nature of what just occurred. He had been using his extended sight the whole time, and he saw every spasm and involuntary muscle contraction. He saw from every angle - the fear and anguish on the tribesman"s face.

Noone looked at the man, if this fight had gone any differently, that could have been him. If the last fight - when he fought with the group from the Order of Life – had gone any differently… that could have been him, or them.

His mind thought about Sarah, Feylin, Sally, Raelith and Tobias. What would they think of him if he had caused the death of any one of them when they encountered each other initially? How hostile would they have become if he had killed one of them?

Noone clenched his teeth, forcing himself to look away. He came from a peaceful place, but he knew that was not how this world functioned.

I have more important things to do, if I let such a small encounter cause me to hesitate… how will I ever avenge Tapestry. Remembering the rest of his group, he quickly put these thoughts out of mind and looked towards the north hoping to catch sight of the other tribesmen.