Yuki and Azam both lay on the ground, dark bruises scattered on their bodies after countless hours of unending sparring lessons.
"Get up. I didn't even hit you that hard. I'll teach you something." Both rookies groan in pain before sitting cross-legged on the bare floor. Vivian pays them no attention and begins to summon something.
"This is called a Mist Construct." In his hand, a familiar lance sits, its dark blades exuding a slight black smoke.
"So, it's like a Recollection?" Yuki commented, her body ached all over but her mouth kept moving. Vivian just nods.
"You'd be half correct. A Mist Construct is like a Recollection since they're made of the same material. The black mist..."
"However, what separates them is the memory stored inside the Recollections." Vivian explained, turning his lance, he continues. "So these are hollow constructs. Something without a memory. As it is, it's pretty weak."
Tapping the wall to his side with the lance, it instantly bursts into black smoke. "See? So, to make it stronger, you must use your own memory to fuel the construct..."
"For example, you can make it sharper." Another lance appears in his hand, the edge glints with a dangerous aura. "Stronger." As if morphed, the lance suddenly feels more durable. "And even, more powerful." And the regular lance that they've once seen wielded on the battlefield sits before their eyes.
"This is how people without offensive Recollections fight." Vivian explained. "However, while they can be made into anything." The black lance morphs, turning into a dark substance in Vivian's hand; it changes into a knife, a ball, and even a cup.
"You must have a certain amount of understanding of the object to actually make it functional. That's why you don't see people making Mist Constructs of a vehicle; they're just too complex." He dismissed the construct; it explodes in a faint black mist.
"That's why we have Recollections; they allow us to skip the whole process. It also can give you abstract power that aren't constructs, like how Juliette is able to fly with her [Sky Grave]." Vivian explained. Getting up from his seat, Vivian stares out of the gaping hole of the building they're in.
"You guys have improved over the last couple of days. So I'll give you a mission. After all, having a goal can hasten one's progress." Suddenly both rookies have their system pop up.
[There's a request from your friend. Would you accept?]
Both of them look at each other before hesitantly agreeing. After all, they have no reason to refuse. Not to mention the consequences of refusing. Yuki shuddered at the thought.
"Good, now what I want is for you guys to defeat that guy right there." Vivian calmly said, his finger pointed towards a distant building. It seems like it had once been a shopping complex, but they can't see anything from the building they're currently in. "There's a guy there named Gary; I want you to beat him up."
"What rank is he?" Yuki asked.
"D." Vivian answers, his tone even. The two rookies' eyes widen as they hear his answer.
"Huh? But we're still E; we can barely kill another soul that has the same rank as us!" Azam protests. Yuki just nods, agreeing.
"You're asking us to kill ourselves."
"What's the difference? You're dead already." Vivian joked.
———
A single punch connected to the ground. The impact sends the ground shaking, making the unstable buildings around the area collapse.
[Corrupted Soul Gary
Rank: D
Recollections: Blunt Force Trauma, Corrupted Mutation, Reaching The Sky
Corruption level: 50%]
Yep, that's him alright! Yuki curses before dismissing the screen. Running for her dear life, she slides between the fallen rubble.
Unfortunately, the creature had noticed her. They turn their head before growling with their huge maw. Their huge hind legs swell before they leap into the air.
[Corrupted Soul Gary used Reaching The Sky!]
Their giant, dark gray fist swirls with a black mist before it punches the air. The force alone ignites the air and creates a shockwave heading straight towards her at lightning speed. The system rings beside her, notifying that Gary has used another one of their Recollections.
Without much thought, she commands a black mist to form a wall. Within a second, it materializes, creating a solid concrete wall.
It shatters upon impact, sending dark debris everywhere that dissipates into dark mist.
"Shit! This is crazy!" Yuki curses as she continues running. The creature seems to lose her in the thick smoke after that last attack. Yuki continues to slip past the fallen rubble.
"Did you get that, Azam?" Yuki shouts. Her screen flickers, showing a video of Azam sitting tightly at their camp.
"We're fucked. There's no way we can beat that guy." Azam's voice can be heard through the system.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious!"
"Where are you going though?" Azam questions.
"Back to the camp, where else? Do you want me to fight that guy or something?"
A couple of Corrupted Souls stand in her way, but before they can notice her, however, she's already onto them.
"Snow White," she calls, mist swirling in her arm. She plunges the obsidian knife into the corrupted soul's mouth. With a single slash, she severs their head. The wounds inflicted by her leak black liquid.
[You have guided a lost soul!]
She doesn't stop. She can't afford to stop. The other lost soul had already turned their head towards her. They look like a human, which means they're barely corrupted.
A huge claw swings at her. She ducks, nearly getting her neck severed by the claw. It scratches the concrete, leaving a deep, uneven cut.
She resumes her attack; black mist swirls in her hand before materializing. Thick, dark rope tangles the corrupted creature.
With a single motion, Yuki pulls the rope, causing it to tighten around the creature's body. The rope ties the creature's limbs to their body, restricting their movement.
She plunges her knife deep into the creature's stomach. Dark liquid gushes out of the wound. She continues to stab the creature. The scene was brutal; a normal human would've already emptied their stomach by now.
But Yuki kept stabbing until the creature dissipates into black mist. Her stained suit gradually becomes cleaner as the remains of the creature turn into the same mist.
The system rings in her ears. Yuki just sighs in relief. She hasn't managed to kill one of these creatures before, but now, she can effectively kill one of the weaker ones. She doesn't know whether to feel happy or not with this information.
[Name: Yuki
Rank: E (Soul Reaper)
Recollection: (Snow White) (Gray Sand) (Eternal Acquaintance)
Souls: 15]
She stares at her profile. "15 souls..." that's the amount that she had killed— Sorry, "guided" over the course of the last few days.
A distant rumble snaps her back to the mission. Peeking from the pillar she had hidden behind, she can barely make out a huge, giant creature moving through the collapsed rubble.
So our Gary guy here has caught some poor souls.
She continues to watch as Gary feasts on some of the lower-ranked souls. "Crunch!" They bite onto another. Their body begins to swell faintly, and their skin begins to get darker.
The sight made her gag a little, but she held it in.
"Let's get out of here before I become their next meal on the menu." Seeing the creature further distracted, she sneaks away from it.