Despite the pain that ran through her injured hand, the pain couldn't keep Elise from rushing back toward the dojo. Not even the exhaustion from her earlier battles, that had taken its toll upon her were enough to keep the girl from feeling the urgency of her situation. And rightly so, for when she arrived at the entrance of the dojo the sound of fighting came from within. She had just entered the courtyard when she spotted Akari and the first brother Gregory dealing with the same type of cloaked thugs she fought earlier. It seemed the battle was going in favor of the two of them, for several bodies laid unconscious across the courtyard, but their enemies had the advantage of numbers. One of them had just charged at Akari from behind, but Gregory turned around within the blink of an eye and pushed the palm of his hand forwards.

It was curious, but even if he didn't reach the opponent physically, the approaching thug suddenly was blown away against the wall by an invisible force! Was this the power of the first brother? However, there was no time to rest, for Elise spotted a second enemy trying to attack Gregory from above, having ran along the rooftops of a small building, but when he tried to jump Elise grabbed him by his ankle and pulled him down, the painful smack as he hit his head onto the hard stone leaving him unconscious.

"Elise! Glad to see you're alright!"

However, Elise's brief smile that came as the result of being reassured, soon faded away as she declared in a tone that clearly shown her concern.

"No time for pleasantries Akari, Where is Master Ryuujin?"

Gregory seemed to had noticed her worried tone, turning toward her to point toward the top of the dojo.

"He is fighting on the highest floor, it seems the invaders their leader is there."

At that statement the young woman's eyes widened in surprise. If they were already that far inside, then surely there was only one target!

"We got to hurry! They plan to kill Master Ryuujin!"

However, before anything could be said or done a group of enemies appeared from inside the dojo, clearly intending to block their advance. It made Elise growl in anger while declaring.

"No choice, we beat those guys and find the master!"

Her fellow students nodded in agreement, a brief look at the enemy numbers seemed to suggest they were about 5 enemy grunts, surely they wouldn't take too long for them to deal with! Still, her concern for her master, and the building up anger inside her seemed to had made Elise impatient, for she rushed straight at the enemy ranks! The gesture caused a brief gasp of surprise from Akari who soon followed after her, while Gregory's gaze locked firmly onto Elise's back, as if he was thinking carefully about something. Was 'it' about to happen?

Although the enemy had the advantage of numbers, it seemed to do little to intimidate Elise who charged straight toward the enemy. Perhaps it was the sheer aggressiveness in her charge that caught the cloaked grunts by surprise. In the end the Ryuujin no Budo was known for a more calm and refined way of fighting that relied more on defensive maneuvers and counter-attacking. But this girl... She seemed like a ferocious beast! With the nimbleness of a predator she made her jump, a violent punch coming at such a speed it knocked one of the grunts several steps backwards, but before the other four could retaliate they were grappled and tossed further along the stairs by Akari and Gregory, giving Elise the time to deal with her enemy.

The grunt seemed a bit experienced, at the very least she saw him using a proper combat stance, one that reminded her of... Wait, she seen those before in a distant memory! The placement of their feet, the way their arms were held...

"You... You're a marine?!"

Elise's angry shout was met with the first clash of their blows, the martial artist her attempt to punch at the man being negated by a swift dodge, but when he attempted to retaliate she stepped backwards swiftly, feeling a light shiver run across her spine.

Fear?

No, this wasn't just fear... the memory of how her loved ones among the slaves, of how her father and her friends had to suffer so much because of the marines and that dreaded slaver! This was clearly hatred!

Elise's eyes narrowed, a look that clearly shown she was out to kill as she lunged forwards. The first fist might had been dodged, her follow-up kick parried but then she saw an opportunity. The man tried desperately to retaliate, swinging his own fist, but with one of her hands grabbing his wrist, stopping the attack mid-way... the other had gone straight for the man's throat. It was a sudden grapple, but the moment she got a hold of it her fingers started to tighten dangerously around it, squeezing the air of of him.

A pained cry, almost like a whine came from the man as she choked him, his remaining arm flailing against her grip, but if there was one thing the Ryuujin no Budo was famous for then it was their iron-like grips!

"Who send you!"

The grunt's lips curved up into a smirk, seemingly aware of something when he spoke, his words hitting her even harder than the most poisoned dagger could.

"You should know already Elise... He wants his priced little slave back... That's right! Your master demands your return!"


She couldn't believe it... that man had died! She saw her aunt kill him right before her eyes! For a moment a look of terror and disbelief appeared in her eyes as her grip seemed to grow weaken.

"no...no...no..."

The feeble word was being whispered with a violent shake of her head, and yet as the grunt tried to regain his freedom she screamed out loud.

"I'M NOBODY'S SLAVE!"

The grip tightened to the point a sickening snap followed, and as she released the grip on the man's corpse she staggered backwards, hands reaching for her head.

"I'm not.... I'm not going back..."

Yet as a scream followed from her, a sudden slap in the girl's face made her snap back to reality, looking at the one responsible for it.

"Greg---"

The first brother and Akane had just finished dealing with their own enemies, a,d while Akane looked at her with a worried and sorrowful look Gregory looked at her with a stern seriousness.

"We don't have time for you to lose it Elise! Hurry up and show me your hand, we need to hurry and find the others."

Her hand... showing her left hand the girl noticed the result of her reckless attacks, the entire hand looked bruised, here and there the skin looking rather dark, yet as Gregory grasped a hold of it she couldn't help but let out a pained cry as he started to spread some sort of salve over it, soon wrapping some bandages over it.

"You need to be more careful Elise, at this rate your power will destroy your body before long..."

Yet as she received the lecture of the first brother the three of them were already heading further inside, hoping to find the others before it was too late!"

Unfortunately what awaited them further inside was worse than either had expected. The moment they reached the dojo it was clear something was wrong... the sound of fighting was only heard much further upstairs, and yet she could 'feel' that there was something dangerous nearby. And indeed, just like she had expected that danger had manifested in a surprising amount of enemy reinforcements. Ten in total seemed to be within the room... Five of them were near the middle, while five were closer to the back, seemingly surrounding something or someone.

"We don't have time for this..."

Yet to her surprise Elise found Gregory and Akane obstruct her way, both of them looking at the young woman with a look of confidence in their eyes.

"You should rest for a bit Elise! We'll handle those guys!"

Although Elise didn't want to admit it, her hand did hurt a lot, so some rest would have likely helped her a lot, especially since she didn't knew how many more enemies they would encounter before reaching Master Ryuujin. Nodding her head briefly the two seemed pleased with her decision as Elise moved sideways, trying to think of a good way to aid her friends. They were near the kitchen, but tossing food wouldn't do them much...

Akane had already initiated battle with two of the grunts, her nimble dodges and swift counter-hits surprising even Elise. That girl really knew how to move! It was almost like she was forcing her enemies into a waltz, dancing around each of their attacks as if it was something even a child could do, and as if the exhaustion wasn't enough, she seemed to be aiming her palm strikes to the vital points of her opponent's body, something that normally took a lot of focus! It was only a matter of moments till she had taken down the two of them!

Gregory at the other hand had a more powerful feeling to him, his counters literally sending the enemy reeling and staggering, and after one of them got hit cleanly in the chest he was send flying all the way to the other side of the room, crashing into the wall with a loud thud! Speaking about having some bull's strength!

Still, she could have sworn she only counted four out of the five... Realizing the remaining grunt was trying to sneak up behind Akane Elise's hand swiftly slid toward the table, the knife that was left there being grabbed by the handle as she violently thrust it into the man's back, an action that caused him to collapse onto the ground while Akane and Gregory looked at Elise with a look of disbelief in their eyes as the girl mused innocently.

"I didn't use my injured hand..."

Still, there were five more left to deal with, and at the very least those guys looked like the type she could handle with only one hand and her legs! As Akane and Gregory started to deal with the remaining grunts Elise tried to get past them, yet part of her wished afterwards she didn't... Because behind the grunts she spotted two of her fellow students. Tom and Tim, the youngest of the crew, not even proper teenagers were in the corner of the room. Poor Tom's body was bruised, several nasty injuries that clearly required medical attention, but Tim... His body looked like a tiger had its way with it, bruises, scars and a pool of blood, his own blood beneath it.

"E-lise..."

Tom's pained voice made her thoughts snap back to realize, rushing over to the boy as she asked in a worried tone.

"Tom! Who did this to you? Was it those bastards---"

Yet that look in Tom's eyes was different, despair and hatred mixed together as he raised a hand toward her, grasping a hold of her dogi to try to pull himself closer.

"I never liked you... or rather I was jealous of the potential master saw in you. But I was wrong, at least you were a true member of this family! At least you didn't betray us like Tsurugi did!"

Wait... what did he say...

"Tsurugi killed my brother!"

They were betrayed... by one of their own!

The moment the words had been spoken Elise's mind had drawn a blank. First mercenaries, seemingly associated with the slaver who had once claimed dominance over her had attacked the dojo, but now Tsurugi had betrayed them? What possible reason could the man have?!

"Akane, light the signal beacon for aid, we need reinforcements and a doctor..."


Akane nodded her head curtly in response, seemingly rushing out of the room while Gregory knelt beside the teenager. At a time like this Elise truly felt horrible at how powerless she was. However, she was even more shocked about the revelation of Tsurugi's betrayal! Why would he have committed such an act?

"Elise... he... he... he is after something. Something the master has! Please you must... stop him... for Tim's sake..."

Those words were already enough to provoke Elise, who turned her back at the boy and after taking a deep breath announced in a confident tone.

"I'll save the master, and avenge your brother!"

And ignoring the worried voice of Gregory she rushed up the stairs at the end of the room. She wasn't going to let this happen! This dojo had not just been a place for her to obtain power... but it was a connection to her mother! the only connection she had! After crossing the far end of the corridor and opening the door toward the rooftop Elise finally reached her destination. There on the rooftop they were, Master Ryuujin seemingly having just finished besting the leader of the invaders, but he had collapsed onto one of his knees, using his cane as a support.

"You look pathetic master Ryuujin..."


Tsurugi's venomous tone came from nearby, seemingly several paces before her in fact! He had been approaching the injured master, but before he could even reach him Elise had rushed straight toward the traitor, her right arm raised in a punching strike.

"I can easily hear you Cricket!"


The man spun around, his leg sweeping through the air, and moments later hit Elise cleanly in the face, sending her reeling sideways, trying to catch her balance.

"Bastard... HOW DARE YOU KILL ONE OF YOUR OWN?!"

Her rage taking control once more she attacked with the same savageness of a beast, her attempt to grapple the man met with a nasty headbutt, and only after several failed attempts she succeeded in grabbing a hold of him, tossing him sideways in the hope to make him tumble off the tall building. Unfortunately the man proved to be much more nimble, recovering mid-descend and as he landed on the ledge he raised a hand.

A flash of light came as Elise spotted several cloaked figures holding some type of weapon... a rifle?! Several of them were aimed at her, and when the sound of a bang followed Elise closed her eyes in fear.

Secret Technique: Guardian of the Dragon!"

Within the blink of an eye Master Ryuujin appeared before her, but something was... different about him. His cane was gone and he had grown in size, his muscles bulking as if he had become a giant, but obviously she knew the true reason: he was shielding her from the projectiles. After the volley was fired the master raised his arm upwards, a violent forwards thrust with the palm of his hand seemingly distorting the air and knocking the gunners off the other side of the wall that surrounded the dojo! Still, it was all too late... Tsurugi had already escaped, and while the beacon was lit and she could see a large crowd rushing toward the dojo, the damage had been inflicted.

Master Ryuujin's body started to shrink back to its normal size, slowly collapsing in her arms.

"Master!"

However, Master Ryuujin merely smiled weakly at her, a hand shifting into his robes as he pulled out a special looking scroll, whispering softly at her.

"Do not... let the darkness take you Elise. Your mother wouldn't have wanted this. This... scroll involves the teachings your mother left behind... Please... follow her path, rather than the path of darkne..."

And then as he drew his final breath, it became clear that Elise had lost yet another thing dear to her... In her sorrow all she could do was cry out, tears running down her cheeks while her heart was being fought over by sorrow and anger, neither able to claim true dominance over her feelings...