The Dream Shifter

Chapter 257

A tearing sound came from her upper arm as the invisible attack ate into her ninja garb. It ran shallow and only barely caught a taste of her skin. Chiharu glanced down to see the paper-thin cut develop on her skin. She narrowed her eyes down across the camp to understand what he did. It was still a mystery to her.

"Chiharu! Are you alright?"

She pushed Fumiko back, as her concern turned overbearing. "I'm fine. This'll be simple if that's all he's got." Her hand retrieved a kunai from her clothes preparing for a counterstrike.

The older man did not seem affected by Chiharu's confidence or shrugging off his attack. "Don't underestimate me from one attack. I'm only getting started." A ripple came from his feet. His clothes transformed to a trench coat and the ground surface suddenly warped. It no longer appeared to be a solid making Chiharu sink a little and then rise. Everything was in a constant state of flux. "Try to keep your balance in my field!"

Chiharu found the uneven ground turning worse. Her left foot slid down as her right remained. She jumped away to more level terrain before she completely fell over. Unfortunately, level in the field meant very little. When she reached her desired spot, it was already changing. She slid down the steep angle before it caught her. 'Damn…I can't even get solid footing for more than a second…'

Riding out the unstable ground, Chiharu glanced over at her opponent. The middle-aged man was unaffected by the field. She expected it to be the case or he was used to maneuvering in it. In her current situation, he clearly had the advantage against her. 'This would be over in an instant if I could reach him. He's just a normal human.' Chiharu could see so many openings for her, but the shifting ground never stopped. She had to adapt to her new environment.

"Having some difficulty?" he commented to Chiharu. He took some casual steps forward without appearing overly aggressive. The intent remained clear even if he seemed relaxed. A flick of his finger unleashed a disruption in the air. It chipped away at the raised earth as Chiharu carelessly dodged. "It's unsettling to see someone as young as you caught up in this. This is no place for you."

Making use of cover, Chiharu threw off a kunai at the man. "I'm not interested in your words." However, she misjudged the changing elevation of the ground and her aim went too high. 'I thought I accounted for it…there has to be a pattern…'

Fumiko felt a little ill watching the changing ground. She tried to exit, but the strength in her legs failed her. 'I need to do something to help Chiharu, but he's neutralized my magic… I've only got my physical attributes, but with this field…' A trapped feeling ran over top of Fumiko. No exit and uselessness plagued her.

Chiharu scanned the area looking at the shadows. Her powers ran through her calculations. 'Everything is changing so much… I can't rely on any accuracy with the shadows… I need a plan.'

He continued a slowly paced stroll towards Chiharu. Every so often, he sent out attacks as though not intending to hit anything. Regardless, the distance between them shrank by the minute. "I'm guessing you're like your friend and the reports. You have some ability, which doesn't seem to be like our own. You think your special because of it and don't think about your age. Youth is a precious thing to waste."

The talking annoyed Chiharu, but she could do nothing to stop him. Her mind tried to absorb everything around her, but the pattern to the field continued to elude her. Everything she crammed into her mind made it feel like she would explode soon. "I've got no interest in an opponent that only likes to hear his own voice." She worked around the endlessly rolling earth trying to increase their distant. His progress did not escape her mind. 'I finally get an opponent and he just talks and uses annoying powers.'

A bit of laughter escaped the man's lips. "Well when you get to my age all you can do is talk. You might want to listen. Your elders tend to know a thing or two."

"I doubt you have anything interesting."

Detecting the change in position of Chiharu, he changed his direction of movement. 'She's doing a good job keeping out of sight even in the changing surface. That takes some skill. Such skill is troubling…in someone still so young.' He knew nothing of Chiharu other than what he read from her movements, words and actions. It still gave him a lot to work with and he did not like the feeling it gave him. 'Why is someone so young so skilled? What world did she come from and grow up in to become like this?'

Keeping things tense, his hands motioned through the air displacing again cutting edges. He had to keep things moving until he could make his move. "I don't know about that. I have several things that might interest you."

Chiharu felt the ground suddenly react strangely. 'Is it getting rougher? Is he doing something?' Any patterns or sense of the flow she had shattered with the change. It unbalanced her even more than normal and left her completely exposed. While almost completely on her back and staring meters away from the old man, Chiharu threw out a kunai to keep him off her. Her aim improved since the last time and it actually had a chance against him.

However, he motioned with a single finger cutting the kunai down before it came in reach of him. The cutting air continued on towards Chiharu. She rolled away and got back on her feet to recover her stance. The ground kept altering faster than before making it difficult for her to hold her position. 'This must be his doing…'

She felt the use of her shadow lose any chance of working. The only options left to her were what she could achieve through physical abilities. Yet she questioned her success with the field. Her eyes darted around trying to read the situation again. Chiharu caught sight of him closer than before to her. She made the risky move of exposing her position.

Standing up, she balanced off the uneven ground long enough to give her a moving start. She could not manage her full speed, but it was still enough for her to move faster than a human eye could perceive. Unfortunately, she miscalculated the landing as the terrain moved in her path. 'Damn!' Reflexes only saved her from a complete exposed opening. However, she still left a signal to her position.

Several cutting blades went through the air at Chiharu. She bent over backwards taking advantage of the terrain to improve her range of dodging. The attacks went over her and disappeared at the edge of his field. Chiharu pulled herself back up to glare at the old man. "Aside from a fight, I don't think you have anything that interests me."

The man came to a stop after hearing her words. "A fight, that saddens me to hear that."

"I don't care about how you feel. I'm only interested in fighting strong opponents."

"That's a rather narrow view of the world for someone so young."

Listening to the fight from a distance, Fumiko kept with the two of them. She had concerns about Chiharu in the fight. Fumiko knew she could handle herself in a fight, but the man kept talking to her. It bothered her that Chiharu kept talking back. 'She's normally very quiet and talks to no one unless it is important. Why is she continuing to talk to him? Is something wrong?'

"Enough about my age! It's meaningless!"

"But you're just a child. You should be at home and learning. Not out here fighting."

Chiharu had enough of his prattle. His last words were enough to break her free from the defensive strategy she played. Her feet juggled the terrible balance to stand before him. "I'm no child!" She used her speed to push her forward at her target. Her appearance shifted into a blur that momentarily surfaced during the need to adjust to the terrain. Removing her tanto from its sheath at her back, Chiharu let the blade arc through the air closing the distance between them.

Her blade suddenly stopped short of its target. The man's hand held her forearm preventing her from finishing her s***h. "Only a child charges off emotions. I see no adult." He finished his words by lifting Chiharu off the ground and throwing her across his field.

Cast carelessly aside, Chiharu bounced on a couple of blunt rises in the ground before she caught herself and landed on her feet. She hardly had a moment to react, but surprise filled her face finally catching up. 'What did he do?'

Fumiko could hardly believe what she saw. Shock covered her face as well. 'I could understand if he had special abilities or did something to block her, but barehanded? How is that possible?!'