The Last Conjura

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

FLASHBACK: TWO YEARS AGO

RYUU

For the past ten minutes, all he’d been saying was floating into one ear and leaking out the other. Adachi would never give me a break during training. But I’d take a proper beat down over his annoyingly long three-hour lectures any day. 

“Are you listen—”

“Yes, yes. I’m listening” I grumbled, crossing my legs underneath me.

“Really? Then what was the last—”

“The Jinzhen’s! One of the strongest paranormal forces in the universe. You were about to explain the way their power works.” I lifted my gaze off the floor of our training facility, and emotionlessly glared at him. “…right?”

He sighed in response.

Yup, I was right.

“I actually said the Jinzhen’s are one of the most overrated paranormals in the universe” he crossed his arms in front of him. “You weren’t listening, were you?”

“Just explain what you were gonna explain anyway.”

He stared at me for a while, but eventually got going.

“Most people would believe that the Jinzhen’s are actually strong. I’ll give them some credit. They sometimes pack a punch, but it’s not because they’re strong. It’s actually because their opponents are weak.”

“In essence, a Jinzhen could fold you at any moment, right?” I eyed the decent set of muscles he’d always say was a product of discipline and determination. “Because you don’t look like—”

“I never said physically weak. A Jinzhen rarely ever focuses on the physique of his or her opponent. It’s too fickle an asset.” 

He poked my head twice. 

“It’s all about what you got in here. The aim is to break you down mentally. By using the power, of illusions.”

“Hmm?”

“That’s their domain. A simple yet effective technique. A mirage whose main aim is to break down its victim from the inside-out. First mentally, and then physically. It could bring to life your deepest insecurities or fears. Maybe a gory memory, or a troubled past… but—"

“But what?” I asked, inexplicably invested for the first time in a while.

“There is one mirage that surpasses the rest” he turned his back to me. “…the phantasm duel. It’s the peak of Jinzhen illusions. It possesses the ability to actually summon an opponent, dead or alive, that’s an incarnate of your fears and/or weaknesses. From then on, the incarnate proceeds to complete the ‘breakdown effect’. This time… in a physical duel.”

“I thought you said they’re all illusions?”

“They are” he turned back to me with a smile. “But the more the mirage breaks you down mentally, the more physical it begins to feel.”

“The realer it gets.”

“Exactly. In a matter of moments, you could go from fighting shadows, to fighting for your life. A scale that has to balance regardless of the weight of its two compartments.”

 I let that simmer for a little bit. It… It was actually quite intriguing. The possibility of fighting such a—

“Don’t get ahead of yourself now” Adachi snapped me back to reality. “You’ve still not conjured your dragon, so you’re both physically and mentally weak. A Jinzhen could probably use you to pick their teeth" he joked, and I hissed in response. “Don’t worry. You’ll get there… eventually.”

CURRENT TIME

“You gonna keep hiding behind them illusions, Ittetsu?” I wiped the blood off my face, clenching my fists soon after. “How the hell are you an upper rank? You’re a fraud” I let out a ghastly laugh.

If I could switch the mind games and get under his skin, perhaps I stood a chance against this—

“…and you’re a disappointment” a familiar voice echoed from the bleak darkness in front of me.

I recognized that voice anywhere. The way his feet unhurriedly tapped the canvas as he made his way closer. The multicolored robe he’d adorn ever since I was born. That walk, that chiseled jaw, that dark hair, and even darker eyes.

“…dad?”

He stepped into the light, and graced me with that disappointed face he’d always throw on whenever he saw me.

“Once a disappointment, always a disappointment.” 

“Ittetsu, you bastard! Do you have no limits? You’re going overboard, you—”

“Why did I always have to listen to your mother” he cut me short. “I knew the very day I saw that disgustingly weak embryo pop out of her body, that you’d grow to be the bane of my existence. And look…” he walked towards me, “…I wasn’t far from the truth, now was I?”

“Father—”

“Don’t call me that!” he yelled, as always. “The only person who had the right to call me that, is dead. He’s dead, because of you!”

He punched me so hard, my body tore through the barricades of the ring and flew out into the darkness. 

I knew it was a mirage. But every second of it felt real.

Adachi warned me about this.

No. Ittetsu’s trying to get in my head.

I got up twice as fast, but soon noticed that I was surrounded by darkness. I couldn’t see a thing. I had no idea where I—

*TWATTT*

A powerful right hook made my face swerve. 

“What the—”

*SLAM*

I’d barely recovered from the first when another landed. Then another, then another. Every strike only milliseconds apart. Even if I wanted to trade punches with my old man, I couldn’t see where they were coming from. I could see any—

*CRACK*

One thunderous landed, and that was all it took. Aimed intentionally for my spine, it connected with immaculate grace, and stunned me on the spot. 

Clattering to the ground, I collapsed back first. 

But that wasn’t the end.

“Why on God’s green earth would Adachi sacrifice himself, his life, and the future of an entire kingdom… for you” I heard.

His head peeked through the darkness, allowing me see the disappointment on his face once more. 

“You will never amount to one-quarter of Adachi” my dad repeated, towering over my paralyzed figure. One last time, he crouched beside me, and sunk the final blow in one sentence. “You, Ryuu. You are my biggest mistake.”

Although an effective line, it was riddled with errors.

My father never called me by name.

From the bleak darkness, he pulled out a knife.

I felt my heart thud one last time.

“You—”

“D… id everything… to make you love me” I managed to utter, just before he could make the decision to sink steel into my septum.

I coughed a ball of blood before completing my statement.

“You think I wanted to be the strongest, quickest, smartest? No. I just wanted to be enough for you. But you could never stand me, father. No matter how hard I tr—”

He pushed through and aimed straight for my heart, but I blocked it, and it pierced through the back of my palm. For something that was an illusion, it didn’t feel like one.

“At a point, I stopped trying to please you. Because nothing would ever be enough.”

The second I said that, I felt a burden fall off my shoulders. With my last strand of strength, I summoned the strength to say my next few words.

“I would never be enough” I pushed, wobbling up, and the knife trailed even deeper into my skin.”

“This fucking illusion, is much like my life” I was up to my knees. “This knife… like my efforts, were fake and useless.” I headbutted him, and the moment he collapsed, I pulled the knife out. “This darkness, like my happiness and satisfaction, was never really there” I dropped the knife, and it hit the ground, but made no sound when it plopped down. 

I’d never stared at him with so much hate in my eyes. I didn’t care whether it was a mirage or not. I meant the next words that would trickle down my tongue. “And you, like the mistakes and weaknesses you’d never failed to remind me of… aren’t…” I staggered towards him while he stared on in fear, “…aren’t…”, when I fell, I made sure I did so with my hands around his neck. “…real”

I squeezed with every last bit of me. The blood, sweat and tears that trickled down my face weren’t enough to stop me. I made sure I extinguished every last muscle I had, staring him deep in the eyes… until his body vanished, and my body weight pushed me to the ground. 

I’d just won the battle, but lost the war. In this state, I was ripe for the picking. 

Ittetsu would kill me without a—

“I think that proves it.” A light, fluttery voice chirped up.

I turned my head to sneak a glance.

“G… Gabby?”

“Even though Ryuu is yet to conjure his dragon, this clearly proves that even at his weakest, the Conjura is unmatched.”

Who was she talking to?

Turning my head to the side…

“Jared? Jennifer? Ittetsu?” 

A bunch of other faces looked on. Some with stern and disgusted expressions, and others managing to sneak a smirk. Were these the protectors?

“So… What’s the decision going to be?” Gabby said.

Decision?

“I still believe Ryuu is a—”

“Shut up Koman” A distinct bass voice cut through the crowd. In a second, they parted and allowed the character make his way through.

But it wasn’t just one person. It was three.

I couldn’t make out what they were wearing or what they looked like. My consciousness was fading.

“We’ve made our decision” I heard, just before I fainted.

“Ryuu Ittetsu… #15… will be our newest addition.”