An axe lodged vertically, as an axe would with a log, into the creature's head.
The creature was a being that stood at 200cm, its gait slim, skin rough and coarse as bark on a tree.
Its legs thin, pointed, like with a metal extrusion acting as a foot would, providing the being with a dancer's balance and a martial master's control.
Waist—narrow, slim, perfectly in a suit with a doll's.
The facial contortion was disfigured with a newly established maw that spread across its blank canvas of a face.
Stood with a firm stance, the creature, even though its apparent death, hadn't wavered.
Rather, the beast's maw widened into a smile that seemed to mimic that chaotic
sediment Rue tended to portray.
The Blade of the axe—lodged into the head of the creature shot out—the severed skull snapped shut, while it simultaneously pummeled Rue's pelvic area with a powerful kick.
It had to distance itself from its opponent.
The creature's learning piqued as it recalled the gray-haired fellow's earlier combat style.
Chaos yet tranquility.
It possessed an undertone of contradiction—violence with a desire for peace balancing it.
Weird, but the creature never thought about those indiscretions.
All that it saw was a better, more efficient fighting style than the one it currently practiced.
POWER.
Strength could be inherit.
A person born with a powerful body suited for any martial arts, would inevitably be hailed as a person of unparalleled talent by any rational person.
However, what was the point of talent if that person never put forth any effort to reach it?
Talent, potential—sides of the same coin—yet what purpose did they serve if that talent squandered them?
Nothing.
They were worthless trash. It didn't matter; the world would continue another day, and eventually, people would forget about that black dove.
You could bring a horse to water, but inevitably it was the horse's decision if it would drink the water.
This was the creature.
A being of enviably high talent, and observational learning was its forte.
It needed to get stronger, so it had to intentionally prolong this fight in order to reach a complete enlightenment of the fighting style.
From the movements, combat styles, to the flavorful balance of each of the body's muscle contractions—
All of it, even the idiosyncrasies that shackled the fighting style down.
It would rectify them.
Or so, that was what the creature believed.
Boring his gaze into the creature's face, Rue's earlier smile contorted into a grimace.
'This persistent bastard,' he mused.
BANG!
The creature sent a powerful jab aimed towards Rue's face.
Depressing the angle of his neck several degrees, Rue dodged the first jab, but the creature had already readied a follow-up.
With its foot firmly placed onto the ground, the creature tightened its pelvic muscles and abdomen alike before exploding forward.
As with the first, Rue was able to maneuver past the attack.
Even through its every missed or failed attack, the creature stubbornly continued to pursue Rue with its own flurry of improved martial arts combinations.
Shifting his center of mass with his delicate, phantom-like footwork, Rue eluded the majority of the attacks—all while combating this raging storm of martial fury with his axe and the lifetime of combat experience throughout his life.
Finding an opening in between their dance, Rue jumped a considerable distance away from the creature.
Landing on the ground silently, Rue looked up, proceeded to outstretch his hand in front of him.
His fingers sprung forward, mockingly wriggling, seemingly taunting the creature to attack.
Held iron-gripped in his off-hand, was the silver axe now expelling a potent radiance of tranquil aqua-blue and a chaotic orangish-red light.
Stood still like a statue, the creature patiently waited until it sensed Rue through his Will emission's signature.
Crack!
Crunch!
Rapidly, the humanoid entity budded a new appendage from its empty shoulder socket.
Instantaneously, the limb exploded into existence; however, this new appendage possessed no hand. Rather than donning a simple hand, the creature's wrist sprouted outwards with two unidentical organic, triangle axe-like blades resembling Rue's silver axe.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Exclaiming its shrill, broken yell—similar in pitch to a demented man's—to the empty world, the creature immediately charged forward, barreling towards Rue with its bladed arm raised above its head.
From the newly strewn wooden axe grown from its hand, a dull, hetero-colored dark green and red light blossomed from both respective blades.
As he watched this shocking set of events unfold, Rue stifled all of his earlier urges to laugh, and his expression hardened—this was dangerous—the wooden humanoid now felt like a threat.
'Whelp, I guess no more fuckery,' Rue mused internally. 'Gotta put in some actual effort to kill this persistent bastard.'
Retracting his arm, he cusped the body of his weapon.
The monoclinic began to spin, its earlier trembling ceasing, pacifying into a gentle dance.
Channeling his Will through his body, Rue calmed his inner demeanor, and the world slowed from his perspective.
The surrounding environment vigorously gained heat.
Scorched, the grass below and surrounding a hundred feet painted a dark charcoal black. The air wavered from heat waves normally seen during a particularly grueling summer day—and there Rue stood—stoic.
Brandishing his axe, the inquisitor swung horizontally towards the creature.
As the wooden humanoid approached Rue, it changed its stance.
Then, it jumped into the air and spun so that the leg showing away from the opponent spun around, aiming for Rue's chest.
Watching the leg's trajectory, Rue stepped back before catching the leg, throwing it aside. This resulted in the creature's back being turned to him—simply devastating for the creature.
Bolting forward, Rue grappled the creature's trapezius.
Increasing his grip onto the creature, he pressed the humanoid under his body weight.
The creature extruded several large spires from its exterior, each of them punching a hole into Rue, yet they were futile as the inquisitor continued to crush the creature with his body weight combined with his Will.
From below, the creature howled loudly as it squirmed under Rue, desperately searching for any movement it could utilize to escape its current peril.
Scoffing at the creature's pathetic attempts at freedom, Rue secured his grip and gradually began to channel a powerful stream of Will into the creature.
Feeling a powerful tug from its master, the Will began to feel the presence of a newly structured passage leading from the body, leeching into another.
Enticed by this new prospect, the residue Will scattered accordingly through the inquisitor's body, all at once beginning to rush towards the new passage.
It felt weird, and new?
What could it be?
The master commanded it, so, of course I'll be none the wiser?
Feeling a new surge of thrill, the Will crossed through the borders between both bodies, entering the creature.
Forced below, the creature now locked into a balled position began to feel a foreign sensation drive itself into its body, and immediately ravaged its insides.
A searing heat pierced through the creature as it let out a deafening squeal of resentment.
Guiding itself through the vascular system of the creature, the Will noted all of the new stimuli flooding its view—from the transition of Will through flesh to the simple processes of the creature's recovery.
The Will noted it all, stashing each newly found detail to memory for its own later usage.
This was the rhyme scheme to his madness, the mystery solved as to why Rue was able to change his body proportions to such large, unnatural shapes—or just in general, completely unnatural forms.
For example, Rue's raptor-like legs were actually designed through the detailed findings he gathered from his studies of zoology, biology, anatomy, and physiology.
When you examine the physical and internal structures of an organism, it's like exploring through a library and choosing a book at random.
Each part was a book that provided information to paint the story leading to its narrative.
You can easily paint a picture of that being's life—the development of bones under stress, hidden childhood trauma, physical ailment, and an array of others.
Armed with these sciences, Rue was able to construct his current legs.
Mobility, agility, muscle coordination, balance—all of it was taken into consideration through their development.
"You really are such an interesting bloke, aren't you now?" Rue giggled with mirth, as his mind was bombarded with the sweet information about the humanoid anatomy.
After several minutes, Rue's Will had flooded the creature's insides completely.
The creature lay limp under Rue, its own Will forced to compress into a marble-sized object within its brain.
This was done for the humanoid's own preservation.
Destroying and forcibly healing the creature's flesh, the Will smashed, pulled, and tested structural integrities, proportions, and tensile strength.
Noting several under lining, key differences that stood spotlighted throughout the whole ordeal, Rue thought of his own body and gladly noted any further developments that he could additionally combine with his mortal coil for later improvement on these deficiencies.
It was fun.
This was fun!
Getting stronger was fun—it always was.
While in the beginning, forming a path may seem bleak, especially through the constant daily physical conditioning, rigorous techniques, and the other fundamental stuff that each joe-shmo undergoes—
It's not without consideration. Its later fruits are completely worth the earlier transgressions.
Rue was excellent within the Fourth Destination only because of his past toil, and Rue wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.