Another Day Older, Deeper in Debt [Rita/Lukas]

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Of course not. The pain was lesser than it was moments ago, but still Lukas' body ached, his bitching silent; although at the forefront of his mind. Pulling himself to height, he turned away from Rita to pace the space for a moment, ignoring her gesture. Eyes darted across the ruined structure they inhabited, memory flashing softly. The lingering reishi felt new against his skin, only realizing it now.

"How blind was I?" self doubt encroached in a whisper. His left arm reached forward, particles dragging against fingertips. Lukas wasn't sure what the woman wanted in the moment, everything in his body feeling new despite the pain. The Geisterklinge he manifested felt stronger, whole in a way he hadn't ever considered. But there was a feeling he couldn't shake, a pit in his gut. The spukender he had fired here. Somehow, that felt like part of it. His impatience quickly overtook the introspection, Lukas' sanrei bound arm shooting to his side, cross facing the woman.

A hand opened, greeted by the air. A pillar of reishi as it closed, flickering wisps condensing and erupting altogether. A bastard, hilt and all. Its core coursed with energy, an ever flowing mass.

"I think I get it." Lukas turned, lit by the glow of his blade. "It's all one spirit weapon. There was never a sword and it's brother. The cannon is the blade, and the blade is the cannon." The reishi was heavy in his palm as the point lowered, pointed towards Rita. His gaze stayed unwavering, blue reflecting against silver. Drawing his arm back, he took a step.

And thrust.

The sword's tip giving way, the energy held within roaring outwards in a hail of arrows.

Evolution was a beautiful sight in the eye of Rita. Given the link between the two at the moment, she sensed the discovery process of developing an ability to new and unknown heights. It brought a damn grin to her face, knowing that her power could birth such a moment. So, if he was making his own strides to improve, Rita should also do her own part, eh?

"Fuck it...let's go"

Talking to herself at the moment, the woman psyched herself up to deal with such a hellish onslaught from the Quincy. Gritting her teeth, Rita activated her Source Aura to summon her own flurry of energized attacks at him. These constructs came in the way of bullets. Equal to the arrows shot off at the woman, these energy shells rang out to neutralize some of the arrows in the best-case scenario. However, given the male was the stronger of the pair, even if only slightly, that difference made an impact.

Rita started to jump upwards to avoid them, but one of them struck her right arm, and she winced out in pain. Not sure if this arrow would explode or not, Rita hollered out in pain as she ripped it out of her body; letting blood squirt out of her arm before her eyes brightened with teal light and a flurry of 13 energized beams akin to balas rang from above down on Lukas.

If all went according to plan, Rita would be sorting out her pain, launching aerial assaults, and figuring out the best way to navigate as she used his powers. But, instead, she needed to stay in this for as long as she could, just as much as him. As this whole circumstance was a challenge, and challenges are where a soul grows to insane levels.

Spoiler:

(ability used in spoiler)

THE CITY OF LIGHT
The arrow barrage was faster than he expected, a confused blink as the tip reformed. That hit? The flowing energy that formed the center of his blade noticeably depleted from the attack, a concordant of will-o-wisps remained. Reishi still freely flowed through Lukas' arm as he swiveled the blade, becoming somewhat aware of his limitations. So what, I can only fire that once? Probably need to recharge it.

Somewhat lost in thought was not the best place to be, it turned out. Rita leaping into the air was far from what he expected, and with a lack of focus her volley of energy would be more than effective - if his sword did not rise to meet it. The edge dissolved as Lukas focused reishi into the opposite side, the bolts of her attack slamming into it with considerable force. Holding the sword tightly, the blade reformed around the energy, rebounding it within the confines of its edge. Several still landed around him, but the majority aimed at him had been caught.

"Maybe not." he commented on his own thought, silver gaze following the woman as the sword stabbed forward again, binding the energy into another flurry of arrows. Their color tainted, the power would be that of Rita's, not his own. His arm was already growing numb from the recoil, realization that ran through his skull more than compensating. The flow of reishi is so much less constrained. Like a running river. Standing still, he'd wait for her to continue before replying with more attacks.

At this rate, he had no idea what he was capable of.

So far long-range attacks had been one hell of a strain on the two of them from what Rita observed in their critical states. She could still feel her body burning over with pain as her vision briefly began seeing doubles. Still, after spitting out some more blood from her mouth, the woman's eyes narrowed in on Lukas and decided to just go on the offensive once more as this wasn't a battle she was trying to win, but rather, a battle meant to force their training to produce results for him.

baring that in mind, even with the strain on her body, Rita let out an exhale of breath and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The distance between the two was broken and all of her energy seemed shifted into her limbs. In this way, she sought to utilize her inner energy, momentum and strength to deliver a resounding strike to his spine.

Not giving much time for him to register that, the woman figured he'd attack, so she started to move around at break-neck speeds to face him once more and begin to deliver any hit she could across his chest, arms, kidneys or flank. She avoided anything with the face, however, as she didn't want any dirty blows.

Heart-beating, sweating and body screaming with energy; an aura of teal energy bled around the woman as she didn't know what he had in store and made sure to have some type of armor with her power to make sure that even if he attacked it would be lessened somewhat.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Lukas' gaze didn't track the woman as she moved, still entrapped by retaliating her attack. His sword arm was stiff as he moved, spinning against the fatigue still radiating in his legs. Smooth, natural with forming the weapon. It felt so stiff, so rigid before. After all, it had been a tool until now. Something created for killing. While he didn't quite understand what it had become, the difference he felt continued to grow as Rita attacked him.

"You should dodge this." Lukas' voice was unexpectedly calm, accepting, even.

The woman's blows arrived in fierce repetition, Lukas taking the majority head on. Whatever damage they inflicted felt like nothing compared to the pain he had been given prior - reawakening his soreness as he drew the sword back again. Thrusting forward with a step, a punch connected with his jaw, head swiveling sideways with a spurt of blood. But it would not stop him.

The weapon that approached Rita would fade into nothing if it reached her armor. Pressing ever forward, it would reappear behind her defensive measures. Geisterstich was a primitive technique, Ausführen having been his ace in the hole. Now it transcended, instinctual. A blade capable of bypassing defense, so long as he could still cover the distance. Unseen to his own gaze, as he'd try to wrench his head back into place.

Not being one to push her luck, Rita dove everything into her legs to get the hell out of dodge. Although worse for wear, the woman figured she'd have enough stamina and energy to jump back upwards as he drew his blade. The physical augmentations to her body had to hold up as she gritted her teeth at the pain of pushing her body into such a pained state. It felt as if her muscles were bleeding out, consumed by the fires of the underworld itself.

So, she'd let out a loud hissing noise regardless of whether she could dodge that attack in time. And due to how much strain was pushed on trying to avoid getting into contact with it, the woman didn't feel like she had much time to think of a good offense. Since, for her, it was as if she gave an all-or-nothing sprint, and her breath needed time to catch up.

Hence, for the moment, she'd linger in the air. If she got attacked during this time, she would have to figure out a way to catch her breath again. She needed a second to recover, but she knew in battles that weren't a luxury, so she decided to kick the air and produce a dense shockwave of energy around them meant to send debris over the building. In this way, a sonic boom would roar out, possibly hurting both of their eardrums under the pressure and causing more internal and external damage to their body of Lukas.

'Fuck, my body feels like shit.'

All Rita could think of was that single thought as her eyes grew worn down with dark circles under them.

Using her ability to this extent to evolve Lukas while fighting him was taking a heavy toll. If she hadn't used this ability? Sure, she could think more on her feet and be less sloppy than this; but the woman felt her limitations drawing up. So, for her, this was a training exercise in stamina, endurance of pain, and pressing the limits of her capacity to deal with difficult combat under challenging conditions.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Rita dodged backwards, avoiding Lukas' forward stab. Silver eyes glanced past her as his head turned back in place, tracing the spiritual pressure still hanging in the air around them. Tongue tracing loosely in his mouth, the man stepped forward nonchalantly; sword lowering as he did.

"How much longer can you keep going like this?" Lukas commented, a glob of blood mixed with spittle flying sideways. "Got a good punch, but I'm thinking this," his sword pointed back upwards, the empty core slowly filling again with reishi, "took more out of you than it did me."

His gaze settled on the woman, brow furrowing. The fatigue from the pain and coursing energy was setting in on him, too. Fortunately, he had the high of discovery - and rebirth of his powers - keeping him afloat. Surprisingly, Lukas had enough empathy to recognize that Rita didn't. Still, she acted - a shockwave sending dust upwards.

"Shit, even that." the man bitched, ears ringing as his step faltered backwards. "If you want me to work for you, I can't keep fightin' ya. You'd end up dead." With an ear clutched, his spirit weapon once again raised to chest height. "Or is that what you want?"

Rita levitated downward and chuckled at herself. Perhaps it was best to call it here, huh? These powers took a toll on her, but she knew she had to keep improving to control them better and keep them from wearing her down so much. It was an amazing ability to have, yet the woman still saw a long road ahead of herself to perfect it, train it and make it better.

Still, none of that would happen if she dropped dead. So, with a nod, she spoke.

"Eh, guess I shouldn't play the superhero. Yeah, we can call this shit here."

In a tired voice, she huffed and puffed before, like glass shattering, the teal around her dissipated and the same followed for the lights around them in this building. Falling to one knee, the woman kept breathing quickly before catching herself and feeling the sweat ooze from her body before she decided to sit on her butt and recover for a moment.

It felt like her lungs were tired, her muscles became strained, her head had been pounding, and a myriad of other aches and pains became alit in the woman's body. Yet it was an improvement from the past as she didn't feel like passing out or anything. She was getting a better feel for her power, and it's why she smirked and clenched her fist.

"I'm pretty sure your body seems stabilized at this point. I think you should take it easy yourself for a few days, and you should be good to go."

Now looking up to Luakls, her eyes lingered before she spoke again.

"We know our bodies the best. So tell me: what is your body telling you is the way forward?"

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Relief flushed the man's shoulders, muscle relaxing as his arms dropped. The sword - Geisterklinge wouldn't do any more, it needed a new name - dissapeared as the edge faded away, reishi returning to Lukas' hand. Clenching and unclenching his fist, the flow of energy stung as he slumped downwards, taking a seat on a pile of rubble.

"Good. I'm goddamn tired of being useless." the man remarked, pain racing through his legs now that he had finally sat down. The joints in his left arm also began to scream, a noticeable wince as his gaze turned skywards, a slow breath following.

What is my body telling me? The actions had all been instinctual. Nothing beyond motions that came naturally, extensions of the self. With time, that'd change, and he'd grow more accustomed. But now? Changed from a tool. Closer to...

"I'm not sure." Lukas looked back down, matching Rita's gaze with his own. "Figure I can worry about that after I get some sleep." Kicking that particular can down the road, the man groaned as he stood, extending an arm towards the woman.

"Can't remember the last time I had a good night's sleep."

"I think we both need to rest and sleep now."

Wincing with one eye, Rita took his hand, and just getting up felt like pins and needles burning down her back. Groaning, she rubbed her neck, relieved it was over for now. But, unfortunately, there was nothing more she could do in her current state, so she had her teal stare linger on Lukas before continuing.

"Well, regardless of what your body is telling you, from an outsider's point of view, I can definitely tell your body is on the path of evolution, and something was triggered in you. It's up to you from here to determine where that progression leads to."

With a nod, Rita looked around them and figured it was for the best they could get out of there for now.

"If anything happens in between then, I believe you know how to contact me. But, before I pass out, I'm going to head back to my own place and catch myself."

There was a black vehicle with tinted windows that had pulled up to the abandoned warehouse they were in. It was one of Rita's bodyguards and employees. Given her shitty health, it was natural to want some muscle as she was planning to head back to one of her facilities, rest, recover and get treatment. But before she did, she'd glance at Lukas one more time.

"We'll be in touch regardless, though."