The Mabataki clan is one of the most infamous ones.
A clan of Assassins.
A clan that grew in the blood of its victims.
Its members are known as the fastest assassins in the world, and it's all thanks to a technique passed down from father to son through every generation; this technique allows one to change one's speed at will and on the spot.
Let's explain it a little better, shall we?
Imagine you have a car, a really fast car, so fast that it can go from 0 to 100 mph in a matter of seconds...exactly, of seconds...even if your car is really fast, it still needs time to reach 100 mph, and it also needs time to slow down back to 0...but with the technique of the Mabataki's clan, you completely ignore this factor.
You could move at 100 mph or be completely still in the same moment if you wish, with this technique.
Of course tho, to use this technique to the best, you also have to hone your body to sustain the stress of it, mixed with the training of killing someone.
Once you have achieved both these requirements, you will be one of the fastest and best assassins in the whole world.
But Mamoru...Mamoru was different...born into one of the most common families of this clan, he was the only one of his clan who didn't inherit this technique, and as such, he grew up alone as an outcast.
But you can rest assured, it won't be the same usual "outcast hated and bullied by the clan" story, first of all, because he was quite the actual though guy, even when he was a kid...he never lost a fight back when he was young, not even when he had to fight more bullies at once, and second, because he had a doting mother who loved him, and that was enough for him.
She was a truly beautiful woman, soft-looking on the outside, but extremely strong and confident on the inside.
She raised Mamoru all alone, the best she could.
And Mamoru loved her with all he had.
With her, he didn't care what happened to him.
He didn't care if the bullies managed to make him bleed(also because he would have made them bleed 3 times over). He didn't care if the others left him alone; he didn't care when he wasn't chosen as one of the possible heirs of the head of the clan.
As long as his mother was there for him, his life was perfect.
And so, the day he lost her because of an Illness, was also the day he cried the most he ever did.
On the day of the heir's choosing, he entered the Arena without being invited, and so, the head of that moment ordered all the 180 heirs to kick him out of the Arena, and in the case, to even use force.
Little did they know was the fact that Mamoru wouldn't have lost that time either. Yes, maybe he didn't have their same technique, but he was still the Mamoru that his mother loved so much.
That day, all the 180 heirs were defeated by Mamoru alone, and from that fight, he didn't even come out with a single scratch.
After that, he then left the clan, and didn't want anything to do with them anymore...he only kept his surname, Mabataki, because it was the same as his mother's.
...
...
...
Yes, 180 assassins indeed, he had fought and defeated back in his teens, and from then, he had grown even more in prowess.
180 assassins and over 400 missions accomplished.
And Yet.
Why couldn't he overhelm this guy?
Mamoru and Mujin were fighting at immense speed, easily reaching and exceeding the subsonic realm, not that it was a big deal for any of them.
Mamoru's blades moved so fast that they looked like some silver-coloured lines in the air.
The trees around them were either uprooted or sliced to the ground as they kept fighting.
Kaelen returned inside the house and looked from afar. He didn't want to, but he knew too well that he would have been just a burden to Mujin if he stood outside, where any attack could have reached him at any moment.
As Mamoru kept fighting, he started to think.
"I need to go faster." He thought, and so he did.
They both reached the Transonic speed, now around their bodies, their very own vapor cones appeared as their movements cut the air.
The whole forest block was now starting to receive damage, and yet they were still holding their own against each other.
The ground as well, was starting to get damaged as well.
And yet that wasn't enough.
Not For Mamoru.
His eyebrows narrowed even more.
"I need to go faster," he repeated to himself, now in a harsher way.
And so, both Mujin and Mamoru reached the supersonic speed, moving at over Mach 2.
Whole Forest Blocks started to get flattened, the ground started to get completely changed, and the Atmosphere as well started to change for both of them.
Each movement, each swing, each leap...everything left a sonic boom behind them.
They even increased their speed, reaching near Mach 5 speed, but it was still not enough.
Mamoru clenched his teeth.
"I need to go even faster." This time, he didn't even bother to try to let his own thoughts into his mind.
And so he did.
Both of them now surpassed even Mach 10, reaching hypersonic speeds.
The whole forest got flattened.
The ground was changed forever.
The Atmosphere was filled with shock layers, Shock waves so strong that they compressed the air itself.
The air around their bodies changed yet again, turning into a sort of Plasma "cape" because of the compression of the air.
And yet it wasn't enough.
Mamoru stopped as he landed on the ground while breathing heavily; his body was bruised, and he was holding his blades firmly.
Mujin stopped as well as he stood in front of Mamoru. He was breathing heavily as well, and he had a smirk on his face.
"Well, I'll be damned, I'm having a lot of fun at the moment."
Mamoru clenched his teeth and looked at Mujin.
"Tsk, I have to admit that you are the first one who pushed me to such an extent in a really long time...but now, enough with games...I didn't want to use this technique because I was starving, and it burns a lot of my energy...but I guess...I have no other choice, do I now?"
He said, taking a deep breath.
The air around them started to shift, and Mujin could clearly sense and feel that.
But he wasn't scared.
Not at all.
"very well then..." Said Mujin "...Bring it o-".
...
He couldn't move anymore...he couldn't speak, he couldn't move...he couldn't even blink.
Mujin was completely frozen, yet he was aware.
That was Mamoru's technique.
Kaelen finally looked out from the house, which, incredibly, remained untouched by the battle.
And as he did so, Mamoru disappeared without leaving anything behind him.
A moment later, he appeared behind Mujin, his blades unsheathed, and the moment later, countless wounds appeared on Mujin's body before Mujin could move again.
From the wounds, a copious amount of blood started to spray out as Mujin coughed some blood as well.
That was all thanks to Mamoru's technique.
Kaelen's eyes went wide with concern.
"MUJIN!" He yelled as he looked at his savior, wounded like that.
But Mujin raised a hand.
"Tis but a scratch," Said Mujin while chuckling before turning towards Mamoru. "So, you finally decided to use this technique, uh? I must admit, it was as impressive as I thought."
But Mamoru now returned with his tired glare.
"So you know about my technique as well? I'm not impressed anymore, to be honest. Just tell me, who are you? a sort of stalker? You seem to know far too much about me," Asked Mamoru.
"Let's say I have my sources," Answered Mujin, looking at Mamoru in the eyes.
"Very well...take them with you in your grave," Said Mamoru as he got into a stance of someone ready to slice everything in its path.
Kaelen looked in silence at the scene.
And Mujin...well...he had a smile on his face, and was relaxed as he then felt his body unable to move again.
Then, He saw Mamoru disappear again.
But this time, Mujin, while looking like between cement, still moved, throwing an extremely fast fist in front of himself. Mamoru reappeared some meters behind him mid-air before landing back and rolling on the ground some meters before finally stopping.
He looked at Mujin as he had some blood running down his nose, and his breath was heavy, and he was holding his side.
"You...how did you?" He started.
"You can control Friction, don't you?" Said Mujin "...well, for how much it can be useful, you still need time to use your technique...so, when you leap forward at max speed without friction, you also leap without control...I know, most enemies can't do anything against this because you make the friction around them become so strong that you basically freeze them in place...but I'm not most enemies, and you will need more than that to sto-"
"Your arm is on fire," Said Mamoru.
Mujin looked down at his arm, which was indeed now on fire.
"Indeed," Said Mujin with a calm voice before his eyes went wide and he looked back at his arm. "FIIIIIREEEEEEEEE!" he screamed as he started to blow his arm to turn it off, uselessly, of course.
But thank God there was Kaelen, who rushed to Mujin and used an extinguisher to turn off the flames.
Mujin took a deep breath.
"Thank you, I thought I was going to die," He said while placing a hand on Kaelen.
Meanwhile, Kaelen was looking at him with a confused glare. After all, he was hearing the same guy who just destroyed the whole forest around them.
Mamoru clenched his teeth again as he tried to stand up.
"You think this changes anything?" Said Mamoru, "It doesn't matter, I will accomplish my mission no matter what...even if I have to..."
But he was interrupted by a massive growling sound...coming from his own stomach.
"shit" Exclaimed Mamoru as he placed a hand on his stomach while he blushed out of embarrassment.
Mujin and Kaelen looked at him in silence for some seconds.
"We have some Udons if you are hungry," said Mujin as Kaelen turned towards him to protest.
Mamoru's face turned into that of a little kid who had just seen a mountain of candies as he looked at them in a hopeful way.
"Udons?" Asked Mamoru.