"Let me be in control for a moment Teru," voice echoes in the back of my mind. General Iskander.
It feels strange, being a passenger in my own body. I watch through my eyes as if I'm floating just outside myself, seeing everything from a distance. My body moves slightly on its own, as though it's still breathing.
I can almost walk, see, and hear independently, like a spirit hovering near him when I'm not in my body. It feels warm. Comforting, unlike before. But I know I'm making things harder for my group.
When I glance at my body, it doesn't look quite like me. Not physically, but somehow it carries Iskander's presence. The ice that once bound and suppressed his power is gone. No armor, no chains. He looks free.
He stands tall. Broad, unyielding. Every line of his frame radiates power. His eyes glow a dull silver. They pulled me in like the gravity of a collapsing star.
I want Iskander to teleport us to the next floor, but I know we'd be trapped. Every tenth floor is special; we can't leave until the boss is defeated. There's no way of knowing what awaits us until we jump.
"From now on," he says, "we should keep a katana on us."
"Why's that?" I asked.
"I'm much better with katana's."
Iskander stretches, controlling my body. My arms swing to my sides. "I'm not used to this weight."
"Weight?"
"Weight… on my chest."
"Are you calling me fat? You perv," I tease, smirking.
He doesn't respond.
"Iskander," I say, changing the subject, "can you see me like this?"
"Yup," he replies. "Like a ghost. Not real, but there."
"When you're in control," he continues, "I'll stay in your body so I don't scare you."
The wind holds its breath. A sudden gust brushes past us. It's cold but alive. Everything is quiet. It's charged with the anticipation of what comes next.
Iskander makes a grabbing gesture, as if seizing the air itself. He holds my staff like a sword, and the snow swirls around us as I catch a glimpse of the person who has finally arrived.
The first thing I see are her eyes. A cold firebrick, colder than the snow falling around us. Bright gray hair shifts slightly in the wind. She wears a dark black cloak that drifts like liquid shadow, ghost-white trims catching the falling snow.
The air feels heavy, charged. I can sense her mana before I even see her fully.
"Did you kill her?" Her voice cuts through the wind, icy and sharp.
"Iskander, let me have control," I beg.
"No can do, Teru," he says. "She has more mana than you."
Sho. My heart hammers faster, nervousness crawling up my spine.
The snow never settles. It twists and shimmers around her. The shattered ice under her feet moves as if alive.
"Who the hell are you?" Iskander's voice trembles slightly through my body.
"We're screwed."
She couldn't hear me, but I feel the weight of her presence.
"Stillwind_," Sho mutters.
She walks closer, step by step. Her eyes grow colder, sharper. Her cloak billows in the wind, a dark wave of menace. She stops eye to eye with me, analyzing, her mana spilling into my senses like a tide.
Ha. She laughs. "So you are in there somewhere, Tenshi."
"Why can't I move?" Iskander asks, his voice halted by the wind.
"Boss, can I speak with Tenshi?"
"Unfortunately not," Iskander laughs, cruel and effortless.
"Alright, boss," Sho laughs. "Gust_(10%)."
The effects hit the forest like a hurricane. Trees shatter with deafening cracks. Trunks splitting and tumbling to the ground. The earth quakes beneath us. Chunks of frozen soil and jagged rocks erupting into the air. Snow whirls violently. Shards of ice twist and spin like shards of glass. The wind screams around us.
Branches slice through the air. They whistle like knives. A wave of cold hits my chest. Biting deep, yet thrilling.
"Like standing inside a storm's heart."
Iskander halts, frozen mid-step, his eyes narrowing as he takes in the devastation. Even his broad frame seems small against the force she wields. I feel it in my bones.
"What was that?!"
"If you won't let go of her body, I'll beat it out of you," she says coldly.
Iskander hesitates.
"I really don't …"
"Give me a katana, and I'll oblige," Iskander says.
"I really don't think this is a good …"
"Fine," Sho mumbles. "You're not making this easy."
Sho kneels, picking up snow, sticks and stones from the ground. Her finger draws shapes in the air.
"Craft_Weapon_Sword."
A bright white sword materializes, the air itself glowing with its form.
"Will this suffice?"
"No!" Iskander yells. "I'd rather die than use snow and ice as a weapon!"
Sho signs again, precise, unimpressed. "Summon_Silver_Katana(player: Sho)." A glowing brick-red rune appears in the air. It hovers for a few seconds before she reaches into it, pulling out a katana.
The weapon is simple. Pure silver, the hilt unadorned. She smiles at me. "You can keep it."
Can Sho see me?
Iskander grips the weapon for a few moments. "I've been waiting eons to fight. Even more than a wind magic user…"
"I hope to make it interesting for you."
"Come at me, Sho! Show me why my host fears you!"
The snow churns violently. The wind howls. Everything feels alive. Everything waits for the first strike.
I stare at her, awestruck and terrified, as she steps forward. Each movement bends the chaos around her, shaping the storm with her presence.
"This is a valued member of G2, a top fifteen guild. I'll try not to hurt you too much," she says, her eyes glowing like frozen fire. "In fact… I won't even use my odachi."
"Odachi?" Iskander asks, his voice tense.
"You've already forgotten it? I'm here to hurt, Tenshi," she replies.
Iskander's grip tightens.
"Don't take her lightly."
"Ha. There's no one that can't be defeated." Iskander taunts.
"Weren't you sealed?"
"Besides her…"
With a fluid motion, Sho yells. "SUMMON_SPELLBREAKER_ODACHI!!"
The world around us trembles. The wind stops completely. A silence so absolute it feels unnatural. The forest itself is holding its breath.
A white rune forms in the air, then erupts into a magnificent, burning red.
"What?" Iskander gasps, disbelief and awe tangled in his voice.
I watch her, my heart hammering, as she lifts the odachi. Its steel gleams purple-white. It's unnaturally bright. The blade is enormous, closer to a greatsword. It presses down on the world itself. A presence that bends the air around it.
A small red-and-silver band wraps the hilt.
She pauses for a moment, eyes locked on Iskander. "Before we begin… what is your name, boss?"
"My name is Iskander," he replies, his voice steady, filled with authority. "General Iskander, the Singularity of Victory, protector of the gravity dragon Veltrax."
A little over the top, I think, though he doesn't seem to care.
"And you?" he continues, turning to her.
"My name is Sho," she says, "child of Whisira, the eye of the storm."
Iskander exhales sharply. "I'll try to go easy on you."
Sho tilts her head. A faint smirk on her lips. "I'll try not to break Teruki's body."
"I'm cooked."
Iskander grips the katana. I almost feel it in my hands as he moves, shifts, and channels every motion. Sho stands poised, her expression the same. Cold, confident, unshakable.
"Let's win this, Isk."
Iskander glances at me.
'Nicknames already, Teru."Isk shouts,"ALRIGHT!"
I felt a surge of instinct I didn't know I had.
The ground beneath our feet dips as I return to my body. It's like fighting without being in full control. I can see, feel, and react, guided by something deeper than thought. Iskander twirls the rattan, ready for anything.
The forest groans under our feet, but the wind is still. My body moves with a precision I haven't felt before. If I were in full control, I'd be scared. I'd want to run. I've seen her power before, and yet I feel a strange confidence.
Sho stands unshaken, her gray eyes cutting into me. The white odachi rises in her hands.
"I'll try not to kill you." she says, a cold smile curving her lips.
Sho disappeared.
I leave our body for a better view, hovering like a ghost, and see her reappear. Isk grips the sword, blocking her first blow.
The impact throws him back with a shocking force. I'm dragged along with the same force, unable to break free.
I can't leave a certain radius around the body, but Sho blips in front of us again, her weapon raised.
"This is why I didn't want to use my odachi." .
She slams it into the ground with a force that makes the earth tremble.
"Stay inside!" Iskander yells. He dodges a strike, my body moving in ways I barely recognize.
Sho jolts toward us again, sending us flying through the air. The forest shatters beneath us as her weapon arcs, the same unstoppable motion repeating, relentless.
I feel the ground vanish under me, the wind ripped away, and yet… I can't stop watching. Every movement is a lesson, every strike a warning, every pause a promise of what comes next.
Isk leads, moving like a force of nature as Sho strikes. She lifts her white odachi, eyes locked on him, and calls out each deadly move:
"Gust! Tempest_Rend!"
The slash tears a ribbon through the air, a storm-wrapped wind that shreds the forest floor. He twists, dodging just in time, feeling the force pass inches from his body. She spins, summoning another attack: "Aero_Dominion!"
The air bends and screams, a vortex of chaos, but Isk calculates every step, every beat, letting gravity guide him around the danger. He counters, shifting gravity to send her soaring, only for her to twist mid-air.
Sho lunges forward, her odachi slicing the air as she calls out, "Cyclone_Breaker!"
CLASH!
The wind presses us down to the ground, pinning us against the earth. For a moment, it feels like Isk can do nothing. Then he snaps his fingers. A silent cast. The stormy wind collapses instantly, neutralized.
He grips the katana. Blood trickled from his mouth. His focus is razor-sharp.
'What's wrong." I ask.
"I'm not used to this little mana."
"Little?" I think, unsure.
"For a beginner, this is nothing?"
Sho's eyes widened, but she didn't hesitate. She slams the odachi down. A flash of white light erupts as she punches forward. A raw force. A raw wind crashes toward us. Isk neutralizes much of it.
Not in time. He stumbles to his feet, the ground trembling under the impact.
Sho lands before us, her expression teasing, almost playful.
"Why are you calling out all your attacks?" Isk asks, narrowing his eyes.
She pauses, her grin widening. "I want to give Tenshi's body a chance. I'm sure she's not as fast or strong as I am. You should try it."
"Alright … but where did your odachi go?" he asks.
"I decided I didn't need it against you," she replies, bouncing lightly on her feet, ready to strike.
Sho jumps forward.
HAHA! Iskander bellows, "GM: Anchor_Crush!"
Invisible chains of silver coil around her, wrapping her to the ground. She thrashes, sending sparks of wind and fragments of ice scattering, but Isk's gravity magic pins her, compressing the space so that even her movements feel heavy.
He presses his hand to the katana hilt. "Graviton_Slash!" The blade arcs, bending the air, warping space itself. I feel my mana twist, drain, and stretch as the invisible energy carves a path toward her. She grins, unfazed, and counters mid-air:
"Cyclone_Breaker! Gust!"
Tornado-like columns of wind rise to intercept the slash, scattering snow, shivering the trees, and slamming into the invisible chains. The forest groans as gravity and wind collide.
We move as one, hands guided by instinct. "Weight_of_War(GS_GA Blood spills across her face.
Thousands of slashes cut through the air, some tiny, some massive. The space twists into jagged, chaotic patterns, and the wind itself feels dead, suffocated by the force of the attack.
"Your slashes are bypassing my armor!" she yells, laughing despite the pain.
"Better heal yourself before you get permanent scars," Isk replies calmly. He shifts gravity beneath her, slamming the earth up in waves, forcing her off balance.
A white light. A red light.
Sho leaps, flipping through the air, the odachi tracing arcs of white light.
I catch a glimpse of her grin as she flips through the air, odachi raised high.
"I guess you are worthy."
The forest is a storm of motion. Sho twists through the air, odachi slicing arcs of white wind, each strike tearing snow and debris into spiraling currents. I feel Iskr's presence guiding me, gravity bending subtly around my body, pressing me down, pulling her off balance, keeping me grounded while the storm swirls above. She moves freely, but every leap, every slash is calculated; gravity drags at the world beneath her feet, compressing air and earth to slow her, to twist her momentum.
Isk weaves with the force, our body moving almost instinctively.
A vortex that throws trees sideways, snow spiraling like shards of glass, wind screaming. We counter with a push of gravity, forcing the current upward, crushing it, bending it to my will. The collision throws ice and wood into arcs around us, shredding the forest with every twist and pivot. She spins again, wind slicing invisibly sharp, forcing us to adapt mid-step, the battlefield collapsing and reforming beneath our feet.
We strike. Our katana swings in a perfect arc, a gravitational surge radiating from the blade. The pulse presses everything in its path toward the strike: grass bends flat, branches snap, metal shivers under the invisible force. Time seems to slow for anything caught in the pulse, debris hanging suspended midair as the world tilts and warps around the attack. Sho is flung backward but recovers instantly. She slicked downward with a screaming column of wind through the compressed air. It scatters snow and ice like blades.
I feel the pull in my bones. The strain on our senses as the odachi arcs again and again. Each strikes a cyclone, a tempest, a whirlwind of destruction.
Gravity bends around us. It forces adjustments, predicting, pushing, pulling. Sho adapts mid-air, twisting through invisible currents, flying, slashing.
She's uncatchable.
And yet, with one perfectly timed strike, the katana lands. The gravitational pulse flattens everything it touches, pressing her wind into stillness for the briefest heartbeat.
She struggles against it, odachi flaring with energy, but the compression continues, bending space and air around the strike.
She is calm? Sho's calm.
The wind overtakes the gravity; she spirals downward, powerful and untouchable. She lands a blow. The storm subsides just enough for a moment of clarity. She stands victorious, the world around her shredded, the snow and debris settling in spirals.
"You okay, Tenshi?" Sho asks.
"That was… incredible," I hear Iskander say.
I'm back in control of my body, but it doesn't feel real. It's the same calm, like a dream, my hand curling into a fist with no other input.
Sho sits beside me. "I'll make sure no one from my guild mentions anything about this."
"Thank you, Sho," I say quietly, grateful.
"You can only get stronger from this. You may be your guild's S-rank, but now both of you are stronger."
"I will. I promise. I will surpass my brother."
"Try to work on talking to yourself, though," Sho says, smiling. "It was very confusing."
I lay in the snow, a small smile on my face. I no longer feel the cold. The quiet settled around me.
A blue glow surrounds me. It's warm, familiar.
"Good luck," Sho says. "You'll need it."