Survival of the Fittest [Solo Training/Nephilic Advance]

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The cold winter air bit gently at Aldwin's neck as he stood facing the empty warehouse. Tossing his scarf ever tighter around his neck, Aldwin shivered to himself for a short moment. Lord, how he hated the cold weather at times. Moments like these made simply existing somewhat debilitating, and he just couldn't stand that. Hastily making his way inside of the warehouse, the Nakabakki did what he could to warm himself up while inside. Thankfully that wasn't going to be too too difficult; it seemed the building was rather well insulated.

Gods, he thought to himself, I didn't expect today to be so damned cold. Taking off his gloves and coat and gently putting them in a corner of the entrance, Aldwin gripped tightly around his scabbard cannon; an invention that he was truthfully rather glad to have on him for the time. He'd heard about some kind of underground labyrinth beneath Japan, and knew almost instantly that he was going to have explore. If there were hollows living underneath here, he was going to have to do what he could in order to clear out as much of the area as he could before heading back. He couldn't just let those poor hollows live on unless it was necessity.

Stretching his shoulder, Aldwin made quick work of finding the entrance to this labyrinth. Off to the far right, a grate laid on the floor. Using all of this physical strength to move the grate to the best of his ability, Aldwin eventually managed to get it out of the way, and was met with a ladder leading down into expansive darkness. With a soft sigh, he collapsed his Scabbard Cannon into one-blade mode, and attached it to his hip. Turning and carefully lowering himself down onto the ladder, the Nakabakki made sure his grip was steady on the ladder before allowing his grip to soften, sliding down the ladder as fast as he could've wanted.

On his way down, he made note of the fact that everything seemed to be rather well-lit all the way down. Various light sources and other forms of natural luminance found themselves present throughout the entire tunnel; that was nice, at least. Seemed that he didn't need any form of artificial lighting, which was certainly good. Last thing he wanted to worry about was having to deal with his options to see while deep down in the tunnel. A thought that scared him somewhat, given he didn't really have many ways to create light.

As he found himself still descending on the ladder, seconds quickly turned into minutes. He'd been falling for upwards of five or six minutes before he realized just how long it'd been going on for; just how deep was this tunnel? A mile or something? The thought annoyed the man. He'd have to climb back out of this place later, and he absolutely was not looking forward to it. He'd have to see if he could find some way out more easily, or if there was something he could do to get back up the ladder with more ease than he had getting down here to begin with. Only time would tell if that was really possible, though. Lord, how he hoped it was.

Eventually, he did find himself toward the bottom of the ladder, and in turn, looking outward into a seemingly endless expanse of tunnel that led him in numerous different directions. With another sigh, Aldwin through his hand to his face. "Good lord," he whined, "this is going to take forever to clear out." As he finished speaking, he couldn't help but feel something. Like primal instincts kicking in, telling him it was a very, very bad idea to be down here. He was going to have to shrug it off, though; he was here on a job and he wasn't going to just give up like that.

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"Well," he started, "no time like the present." Holding one hand down on the scabbard affixed to his hip, Aldwin began his venture onward. Looking around, he made quick note of the fact that everything down here seemed to be very akin to that of a dilapidated sewer system, but smelled nowhere near as bad. The only scents that seemed to find themselves present in this little tunnel were that of moss, and... "Iron. Likely blood." Tensing up almost immediately, Aldwin tightened his grip on the scabbard and grabbed the sheathed weapon's grip with his other hand.

Listening closely to the area around him, Aldwin did what he could to listen out for anything and everything that seemed to be making itself present in the tunnels. Sounds that echoed through the halls, seeming similar to rats, other small animals, and the occasional groan of something much larger. Naturally, he found himself rather intent on finding those groans; something he was now actively hunting for. He'd finally found what he was looking for. Some sign of potentially hostile life; something he had a duty to get sorted out.

Pursuing the noise, Aldwin found himself immediately faced with that of a hollow. One that he quickly made note of, looked rather similar to that of a dog of sorts, picking at the long-since dead body of a human being. Gritting his teeth, Aldwin called out. "Hey," he shouted, "the hell do you think you're doing?!" Gripping his sheathed weapon ever tighter, the dog-like hollow turned up to face him. "Oh, don't mind me," he said, his voice hoarse with spite, "I'm just enjoying a meal to myself. Surely you're not interested?"

"Why would I be interested?!" He called back, taking a few steps closer to make less distance between the two of them. "Oh, the answer to that one is simple... You're a hellion, no?" These words sent a level of anger through Aldwin. He was by no means proud of his hellish existence, and having long since been looking to clear that out. "Watch your tongue, friend," he called out, "else I won't make this quick for you." These words provoked a rather hearty laugh from the dog hollow.

"Well, then!" The hollow called out, "I implore you to try! Come; try to kill me!" Assuming an aggressive stance, the dog hollow immediately broke into a mad dash toward the Nakabakki at its top speed of 200. It wasn't anything incredibly fast, but enough to surprise Aldwin. Throwing a leg back, and assuming a stance himself, Aldwin rested a finger over the Scabbard Cannon's trigger, preparing for the hollow to fully close the distance. Lowering his body, the man simply smiled as the hollow found itself upon him.

Going in for a leaping strike against him, the dog hollow found itself quickly caught off-guard after Aldwin fired off a strike more than five times faster than its own speed, slashing directly across the beast's chest. Softly exhaling as though he'd been holding his breath the whole time, Aldwin took a few steps back as the dog hollow fell to the ground in a bloodied state. Forcing itself back up, the hollow seemed to grit its teeth. "You cheeky bastard," it said, "just what was that? How did you move so damned fast?" Aldwin simply laughed.

"Can't reveal my whole hand just yet, can I?" he said, sheathing his blade once more, his hand now hovering right by the weapon, "that was a warning shot. Next one won't be so kind, you damned mutt." Obviously angered by Aldwin's provocations, the dog grew angrier. "I'll tear you to pieces, you arrogant Hellspawn!" Charging Aldwin once more, but keeping itself low to the ground, the hollow once again went on the offensive in an attempt to try to strike at Aldwin.

And once again, Aldwin found himself prepared for the strike against him. Raising his scabbard a little higher on his waist, Aldwin prepared for another strike, gripping his blade and holding a finger near the scabbard's trigger. Once again, as the dog approached, Aldwin pressed the trigger, rocketing his arm forward and sending the weapon's blade into the hollow, though this time accounting for the hollow's lower posture and slashing horizontally through the hollow's mask. As the cut went through, Aldwin's own reiatsu laced through the blade, allowing the strike to proliferate a little further, and travel completely through the hollow, effectively bisecting it.

As the beast fell to the ground, Aldwin flicked his sword to the side, cleaning the blade of any lingering hollow blood, and slowly sheathed it once more. "D... Damn you..." the hollow somehow managed to force out, despite the rather intense wounds it'd just suffered, "Damn it all..!" Walking over to the hollow, and gently placing a hand overtop the hollow's head, Aldwin gave the hollow a serene smile. "Be at peace, friend; your days of struggles are over. When next you wake, you'll be in Soul Society. You'll be able to live on well in the afterlife. Rest well, and may we meet again under better circumstances." As he finished, and as the hollow seemed to begin to reduce to ashes, Aldwin stood up with a huff. Seemed as though he'd gotten his first confirmed purification.

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As he found himself walking further down the tunnels of the underground, Aldwin quickly found himself with a headache of sorts. "Ugh," he started, "just great. Not the time to be dealing with this." Placing a hand to his head, he did what he could to numb the feelings during his journey as best he could, given where he was and the circumstances. Naturally there wasn't all that much he'd be able to do, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try all of his minimal options to try to calm the dull ache that was slowly starting to make itself more apparent.

After a few moments, when the headache seemed to subside just a bit, Aldwin continued on. He had a long, long way to go, and wanted to get a decent bit of his trip done today if he could. Even if this was going to be a month-long excursion to deal with, or possibly even longer, he wanted to get as much of it done as he could for the time being. Though, as he continued to walk, it seemed that he was once again met with that same awful feeling of something lingering nearby. Something that almost... drew him closer. He couldn't stand the feeling. He felt almost sick just thinking about it.

Making his way into another alley after a short while, Aldwin was quickly met with another hollow that seemed to draw his attention; something a bit more... humanoid in nature. Before he had the opportunity to call out to this hollow, it seemed to be way ahead of him. "Hello there little hellion," she spoke with venom, like she was much more calm than her supposed hollow instincts were going to let on. Squinting into the darkness as Aldwin tried to get a better view of the girl, she continued. "what might you be doing down deep in these undergrounds~?"

Gripping onto his blade, Aldwin shook himself out of it. "That's none of your concern, hollow. I'm here on my own business." Through the piercing darkness, she seemed to chuckle rather violently. "Hollow, you say?" As she finished speaking, she stepped from out of the shadows, and into the light. As she did, Aldwin's heart seemed to drop. Standing before him was a woman on the shorter side, that very much was not a hollow. No, he could tell at first glance; she was like him; a Nakabakki. Someone condemned by fate, and forced to live a hellish life. No pun intended.

"W-what?" he stuttered, "what's someone like you doing down here?" Slowly taking steps forward, the girl began to close the distance between the two of them. "What am I doing down here? Well, how did you put it? I'm 'here on my own business'? It's 'none of your concern'?" Her words still seemed to be coated in a rather tremendous amount of venom; she meant nothing but ill will toward him. So much so, that he felt her violent urges practically bleeding off of her; an all-encompassing aura that threatened to swallow him whole if he wasn't careful.

As she approached, she scraped her hand along the wall of the cave, causing a rather unexpected and simultaneously unsettling outcome; everywhere she scraped, and spreading outward, it seemed that the wall was quickly turning to gold. Glowing in the light, this gold seemed to hold quite strong. Readying his weapon, Aldwin stood ready for an attack from the girl as the gold slowly crept and spread across the tunnel. "Hell is that," Aldwin started, "some kind of Midas touch?" once again, she seemed to chuckle. "Good eye," she said, slowly crossing her arms, and making her hellish mark visible, "seems someone knows their stuff. Doesn't mean you'll fare well against it, though."

As she finished speaking, the golden-coated walls quickly began to move. As though the walls had a mind of their own, sharpened stalactites of gold began to protrude at rather wild speeds, threatening to pierce through Aldwin if he wasn't careful. Quickly drawing his blade and slashing through these pikes as fast as he could, he allowed himself some time to remove them from his immediate list of threats. As each one of these blades was chopped from the wall, they fell to the ground, and quickly found themselves as nothing more than a puddle of liquid gold. It seemed... almost molten, without the heat associated with it. Like that of liquid mercury.

As these puddles began to settle, Aldwin once again sheathed his blade as he turned his sights on the girl before him. Breaking into a sprint, he did what he could to quickly close the distance between him and her, and drew his blade lightning quick the moment he was upon her. As he slashed directly through her solid form, it seemed her body broke down into this same liquid gold, collapsing into a puddle almost immediately. "Ooh, so close!" she shouted from behind him, quickly emerging from a nearby wall as an entity of full gold. Reshaping her arm into a rather large, cleaver-like blade, Aldwin found himself quickly under threat of an attack made against him.

Doing what he could to duck underneath the attack, he once again went for another quick-fired sword slash against her, and once again found his attack had no effect as this close also seemed to melt into liquid gold. Just what the hell is this?! He thought to himself, sheathing his blade as his headache found itself quickly returning. The woman seemed to do nothing more than chuckle, as though she knew exactly what was going on. "Ohoho," she started, her tone incredibly condescending, "seems as though you've got quite a bit of... potential inside of you. Perhaps we should act on that one?"

"The hell are you on-" as Aldwin tried to finish his sentence, he found himself being pierced by a strike against the girl in front of him. Almost feeling her reiatsu pour through the open wound now finding itself present inside of her, Aldwin was taken back by her advance as she seemed to speak up, now taking on a more "natural" form about her. "Hmm..." she started, slowly pushing her golden blade further through Aldiwn's chest cavity, "yep. You've definitely got the same type of reiatsu." Quickly and forcefully ripping her blade from Aldwin's chest, she allowed his body to fall to the ground. Taking in sharp, deep breaths, Aldiwn did what he could to cling to consciousness as he found himself in a rather rough spot.

Looking down toward his chest, it seemed that the gold she'd originally pierced through his body was still partially in his chest, and now... closing the wound inside of him? What... what was this woman doing? As his head began to spin, Aldwin gripped tightly against the concrete he laid on, doing what he could to make sure he just stayed awake. "Good, good!" she shouted, obviously getting more and more worked up, "keep going! Keep fighting through it! It'll kick in soon, if you're anything like me!" A sadistic smile seemed to emerge across the girl's own face.

As if on queue, Aldwin felt an excruciating amount of pain radiate from his demonic arm. Something much unlike anything he'd ever even thought was possible. With a hoarse shout of pain, he found himself thrashing about on the ground, doing what he could to fight against the pain he was now forced to endure coming from his arm. Gripping the limb tightly, he watched as the chitinous coating around the arm itself seemed to crack and crumble. A pained smile rose to his face as he hoped that what was happening was fulfilling his end-goal of removing his hellish corruption. Hopefully so? He couldn't quite tell.

Eventually, the plates on his arm crumbled into nothing more than small chunks of solidified reiatsu, as his arm seemed to remain almost... normal. His hell-chains still wrapped tightly around his arm, and various streaks of gold ran through his veins now instead of whatever had originally been tainting him, but it seemed that for the most part, any trace of hellish taint across his body was physically removed otherwise. He couldn't help but smile as the excruciating pain slowly began to subside. Once again, the girl began to chuckle.

"Don't get your hopes up, boy," she spoke, "all of that'll be returning to you in time. But... differently. That hellish corruption is never going to leave you; not if I have any say in it." What? What the hell was she on about? What was she looking to do from him? "Don't think you're special, hotshot," she spoke rather coldly, "I promise you that you're no different than the others that have gone through this exact same process as you. You're not special; you just happened to be in the right place at the right time is all."

Gods. He couldn't believe it. To be overpowered so easily, only to be toyed with so aggressively. He couldn't stand that feeling. He'd dealt with it on numerous occasions in the past, and wasn't about to keep dealing with it if he didn't need to. Enough was enough! As though he'd found himself slowly getting more and more energy, Aldwin pushed himself up off the ground with nothing more than sheer anger in his eyes. The girl seemed to smile rather significantly. "That's it!" she shouted, "get up and fight! Put forth that effort, little Nakabakki!"

As he stood back up, his weapon falling to the ground, Aldwin stared at the girl with a renewed amount of hatred in his eyes. As though he'd only just now comprehended what she'd said. And, to say he was infuriated would've been an egregious understatement. If nothing stopped him, he was going to rend this girl limb from limb. Allowing his reiatsu to flow from his body in order to manifest a bow, Aldwin quickly found himself rather bewildered by the fact that his bow took shape... differently. The form itself looked incredibly different, but not in a way that he minded. Even his reiatsu color tinted a pale yellow, as though something inside of him changed. Just what did she do to him?

Placing her hand to her chin, the girl simply watched. "Interesting..." she said, "I can't say that a change like this is uncommon, but for this to have happened so much... I can't say I'm complaining. Gold suits you, little Nakabakki." Standing up tall, and in a state of almost no physical injury, Aldwin watched the girl. Looking down as his "new" arm, he let out a soft sigh. "I'm not sure what you've done to me," he started, his voice having changed ever so slightly, "but I can't say that I'm a very big fan of it at all. Regardless; I'm going to kick your ass."

Jumping back a few paces, Aldwin took aim toward the girl and fired off a volley of arrows. As he did, he made clear notice of something rather odd; his arrows didn't hold even a bit of a trace of his hellish reiatsu; something felt... off. Like he was a pure Quincy. But, looking down at his arm, he clearly saw those hellish chains wrapped tightly around him. Perhaps his hellish powers were sealed for the time being? He couldn't quite tell. As the arrows he fired had made their mark, and subsequently missed the golden girl, he fired off another volley, this time aiming these arrows toward the girl's feet.

Once again, these arrows seemed to miss, as the girl found herself receding into the golden walls of the tunnel once more. Things were seeming to get ever harder for the Nakabakki, and he wasn't exactly fond of that fact. Gripping his bow tightly, Aldwin allowed his new reiatsu to coalesce into one arrow, and sent that arrow flying straight toward where the girl reemerged from. Through the expert use of some kind of stepping technique, it seemed that his shot had just barely missed her, grazing against her arm. "Tch," she scoffed, "good eye." "Thanks," he started, "only got lucky with a shot like that because of yourself, though."

As she found herself coming to a stop, Aldwin simply smiled as he realized what was going on. "Wh-what?" she said, taking note of where she was struck, and finding herself slowly turning into gold, "what the hell did you just do?!" Slowly walking up to her, and taking the opportunity to fire off two more shots into her legs, Aldwin watched as the girl grunted in pain. Much like her arms, though at a more notably sped-up pace, the girl's legs similarly started turning into that of gold. "Got a trick that I'm taking from you," he said, mere inches away from the girl's face.

Picking up his sword, and touching the end of the blade, Aldwin watched as the blade quickly found itself turning into a solid gold color. Smiling to himself, he slowly sheathed the sword, holding his scabbard down to his hip. "W-wait, maybe we can work something out!" She shouted. "Really?" he asked, "you're pleading now of all times? What happened to all this confidence you had? Thought you said you were 'like me'? Why don't you get yourself out of this mess?" As he finished speaking, the girl went quiet, now unable to move most of her body. "Thought so," he said, assuming an aggressive stance.

"Wait," she said, somewhat resigned to her fate, "at least let me know your name. If I'm forever bound to this form, I might as well get that for when I come back in time." Bound to that form? Did that mean that he too was permanently stuck this way? With some kind of hellish taint to him? Gods, this seemed to be the worst possible scenario. "It's Rose," he said, "and you'll be headed to Soul Society; rest in peace, and may your suffering be over." As he finished speaking, he pressed the trigger on his scabbard, forcing his blade to rocket forward, and accelerate his attack. Slashing through the girl's "mask", Rose finished the job.

Sheathing his blade once more after quickly cleaning it off, Rose took a soft breath. Seemed that he had a lot to learn about whatever he'd just been forced to experience, and even more to get used to now that his abilities seemed to be augmented by that girl's little gold tricks. He was going to have a lot that he'd need to take the time to research, and even more that was going to need to be experimented with. Regardless, though; he was ready to see what the future held in that regard. Gods only knew that he was going to be stuck with this hell curse now, so perhaps there was a way to break it? Only time would tell. For now, though, Rose decided it was time to return home for the day.

[Kitai Yoru]

38 paragraphs, 190 TTP