The Dream Shifter

Chapter 276

Kallias held many of the same qualities of the punks she beat endlessly into the ground. The same ones that just wanted to stand over Yuki and see him in the dirt. Yet, he eyes had unknown quality in them. He did not even see her as human. 'I'm just a toy to him. Something that he can break if it doesn't please him. He doesn't want to just crush me. He wants me to entertain him. He wants me to challenge him and if I don't comply… This isn't like the worthless students in school. He's something completely different!'

Everything went through Saki's mind with pain. Claws ripped through leaving her raw. She never knew such a person could exist. She never even considered it. Saki liked to consider herself more connected with the reality of the world than the rest of her friends, but Kallias completely turned everything on its head for her. She only had a word for him. 'Insane. He's insane!'

Saki did not know what to do in her situation. She believed he would actually do what he said. The reality of her situation slammed on her so heavy that it paralyzed her body. None of the water around her even entered her notice.

Tired of the silence, a strip of water rose from the field. It appeared shaped like a ribbon, if it had not been liquid. Forming a loop, it rose over Saki's head. It came with an ominous presence, backed by the stare from Kallias. Several centimeters remained between it and Saki, but it stopped level with her mouth and nose. The intent turned immediately clear.

"Your name, before I must forcibly make this more interesting." His hand rose toward Saki as though controlling the water's radius. There was no need for the motion, but it added to the effect as though he personally wanted to strangle her.

Stubbornness ground her teeth. Fear froze her throat. Saki did not know what to do. 'I can't satisfy him. He only wants something to enjoy.' Her eyes saw the water threatening her. He no longer wanted her alive. Something had to change. She was no longer certain about her life. 'If I don't though, he'll kill me and there's nothing I can do to stop him!'

The seconds ticked off for Saki. Her mind spun the decision around as pointless at it might have been. It was only with the water less than a centimeter away from her that she spoke up. "…Furukawa…Saki Furukawa…" she relented. The water around her head suddenly lost all form and fell on her tunic, already thoroughly soaked. Saki already felt defeated before it began.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kallias turned away from Saki and walked out a measured distance. When he reached the point he wanted he stopped and faced her once more. Several meters stood between. "Now that we know each other, we can begin." He made a dismissive gesture signaling the water imprisoning Saki to fall away.

Saki blinked a little surprised at how it all turned out. She hated giving into Kallias, but it freed her. 'Time to end this!' Saki immediately disappeared blowing out water with each step until she appeared suddenly. Her body was face down in the water sliding away from Kallias, already past him.

Familiarity with the situation, Saki slammed her hands down to both bring her to a stop and push herself up. It did not happen before she carved herself through the grass and coated herself in dirt and grass chunks. "Damnit…"

Kallias looked a little disappointed with Saki. "You've already did that before. Did you really think I'd be naïve enough to think you wouldn't do it again? You've already made your outlook on fighting pretty clear. However, I want more from this than just something wrapped up in a few minutes." He motioned with his hands calling her back into his field. "I've been without anything to do since I've been dumped out here. I want something I can enjoy."

Narrowing her eyes, Saki stared at Kallias and the water that covered all of the ground around him. It taunted her. 'I could finish this quickly if it wasn't for that water!' Her eyes flipped over to check on Yuki in the distance. Her mind quickly focused on him. 'I have to get back to him! I can't let him…'

"I wouldn't be getting distracted. Your fight is with me, not him."

His words hit a surprising cord in Saki. The thought made her eyes widened suddenly in realization. 'I don't have to stay here! I'm not in his field…' Tilting her head back at Kallias, she gave him a small bit of a grin. "I never agreed to fight you. I just have to put an end to this pointless battle." Saki disappeared after she finished with Yuki as her target.

It was barely even a second before Saki fell on her back. She pulled her head up to look around at what happened to her. 'What just happened?! I hit something…' Back on her feet in moments, Saki approached the area where she flew back from. A ripple appeared in the air. It caused the entire view to become distorted. "What is this?!"

"I'm not a novice MP like you might be used to dealing with," called Kallias.

Saki turned her head to look back at him. She did not understand it, but assumed it was him. However, when she looked he had no moved a step. 'How can he be doing anything when his field ends all the way over there?!'

"Even at this distance, I can see that you're confused." He took a step forward and the rippling moved along with him. The distortion in the air shifted in concert. "Figured it out?"

She immediately understood, but did not know how it was possible. The questions spun her around to look at his field needing to know if she was crazy. Nothing changed about it. The puddle ran only a few meters out, while grass filled the rest of the area out to the distortion. Saki rammed her fist into the invisible surface. It bounced her hand back, leaving the knuckles red.

Large ripples erupted from where she punched creating even greater distortions. The view outside was utterly unreadable. Saki turned around realizing too well that she was trapped inside. "Damn…" She started cautiously walking towards Kallias. "Your water doesn't go all the way out there. How is that even possible?"

Smirking a little, he had his final confirmation. 'It's disturbing, but it's the only answer.' He kept his focus on Saki, noting that she slowly continued to approach him. She no longer tried her previous tactic. "I never said my field was as large as the water. You shouldn't be making assumptions, especially about something you don't understand."

"I understand enough to know what you're doing is strange."

"You clearly don't understand enough, or you would already know what I'm doing. But I guess not being a MP explains a lot." Kallias continued to keep an eye on Saki as she entered the water once more. He sent out traps for her, but her feet avoided them. 'Not falling for it again? Good, it'd be even more boring if you did. The fact that you're different already makes this very interesting. I'm glad I came…'

It only took a little effort for Saki kept watch on the water. She already knew his previous trick enough to keep an eye out for her. Knowing it was coming made it very easy for her to evade (that and not blindly charging forward). "Being one of you or not, I've been around the power enough to see it work. You're clearly doing something different."

Switching things up, the water changed shape and direction. It lashed out for her, but Saki dodged it still. "Then they haven't shown you everything we can do with our power yet. It's a pretty simply technique. I'm reluctant to call it an advance technique, so let's call it an intermediate technique. Anyone with training can do it." Suddenly the water raced out from his feet like a backed up sewer drain. It bubbled up and poured out into a small wave.

The wave washed over Saki's feet up to her ankles and continued to the edge of the visible field. It then continued on rather than stopping. Saki's eye widened a little to find that his field did not end. His field kept going out to the wall before it cut off. 'It's more than three times bigger than before!' Her eyes focused back on Kallias.

"There's a lot you don't know about us. You shouldn't be underestimating us, just because you're different. Would you show your full strength from the very start? The same is with our fields. We don't always show the full size of our field. Against someone like you, you can't even tell where it begins and ends since you don't have a field to see the distortions."

Saki ground her teeth together. She hated admitting how little she truly understood about them. 'He's been playing me since the beginning!' Still several meters away from Kallias, she came to a stop. Her arms shook and her face hardened. Things had to change for her. She raised her fist and slammed it into the shallow water.

Water blasted up into the air as though a comet struck the earth from the heavens. The tide wave from her punch sent water up high enough to remove her completely from Kallias' sight. When the water rushed back down, Saki was missing. Kallias' eyes widened a touch as he looked around for signs of her. It saw nothing and suddenly looked up to see Saki coming down from the air with a fist aimed at him only a few centimeters away.

Saki ground her teeth together. She hated admitting how little she truly understood about them. 'He's been playing me since the beginning!' Still several meters away from Kallias, she came to a stop. Her arms shook and her face hardened. Things had to change for her. She raised her fist and slammed it into the shallow water.

Water blasted up into the air as though a comet struck the earth from the heavens. The tide wave from her punch sent water up high enough to remove her completely from Kallias' sight. When the water rushed back down, Saki was missing. Kallias' eyes widened a touch as he looked around for signs of her. It saw nothing and suddenly looked up to see Saki coming down from the air with a fist aimed at him only a few centimeters away.

'I've got him!' Saki thought to herself, with excitement building up. Her mind flashed back to Yuki. 'I can get back him now!' In the last stretch, Saki caught signs of Kallias' expression changing. The flicker of surprise gave way to a thin smirk. She suddenly felt a heavy dread over her. The feeling told her to stop, but she was already committed.

A wall of water pooled over the air blocking Saki's fist in the last centimeter. The impact left a little mist to spray Kallias' face. He made no reaction to almost being hit. His smirking face and his expression looked bored again. Through the clear water, Kallias stared up at Saki with the last of her momentum draining. "You're disappointing me, Miss Furukawa. I already expected you to attempt that. This is not going to be very interesting if you keep being so straightforward about this."

"Damn," she muttered under her breath. Her feet landed back in the water, sending a cool chill through her legs. It went mostly ignored by her. Water already hung on her arms and soaked her tunic. Little could be done anymore about it.

Focusing her sights on Kallias, Saki tried to find a new plan. 'He keeps anticipating me. I can't do anything to get through that water of his!' The water surrounding Kallias dripped back down into the pool. Once more, he appeared open to her attacks, but she already knew better. He thwarted her attempts repeatedly with almost no effort. 'What do I do? I've only fought two like him before and I was normal then. Ayumi and Yuki were there with me. I'm so used to ending fights quickly…'

Dragging his foot through the water, Kallias spun around a full cycle. It kicked up water that rose past his knees. Continuing up, the water quickly no longer followed normal physics. A loose ring of water turned about him at shoulder height. "I've been letting you do everything so far. How about a change of pace?" Suddenly, he raised his arm and flicked a finger at Saki.

A small orb of water pulled free from the ring and sped across the field. The distance between them was barely a meter. It gave Saki almost no time to react, but it was still more than enough time for her. She saw it coming meaning she could easily dodge. Saki only took a step to the side, but seemed like she popped out of existence and reappeared in the same second only step away. The orb sped on past Saki quickly disappearing out of sight.

She wondered when he might start his offensive, but she wished he waited longer. 'He's not going to let me figure out something…' Another pellet of water shot at Saki. She dodged it even easier than before, knowing what to expect from him.

"Very nice. This'll definitely be more interesting now, if you can keep that up."

Saki glared at Kallias, hearing the excitement in his voice. "I'm not here for your entertainment!" She charged at him in anger tired of his face. Unfortunately, water came up and wrapped around her wrist bringing her to a sudden halt. The force ripped through her arm pulling at her joints from her momentum. Saki winced from the pain, an unfamiliar feeling for her since she gained her power.

Kallias motioned with his finger. "I thought I told you that straightforward tactics were boring." After scolding her with his finger, he lowered it to point directly at her. "This is much more interesting." Three orbs formed from the water at his direction. They shot out from the ring at the tied down Saki.