Rise of the Spiritualist: Entry Eight

Rise of the Spiritualist: Entry Eight

Rise of the Spiritualist: The Personal Accounts from the Events of Shiro-Ryu High School from the Memories of Leonardo Yarafen Krilangi

Eighth Entry.

We were at least an hour safely away from Lereshrana when we stopped moving and took a brief rest. We found a clearing in the forest near the city, and we resolved to take a few minutes to catch our breath before continuing on towards home. Evelyn went back into the trees to scout the area ahead, while I stayed behind and rested. While I recuperated from the last hour's walk, I had time to think about how Evelyn had found me. She did indeed look the same as she always had, but something was strange about our meeting; I could not tell exactly what it was, but something about our brief conversation on the outskirts of the city ruins made me suspicious. I began to repeat her words in my head, and suddenly, a single, glaring inconsistency became clearly visible to me. I let out a long sigh and shut my eyes, waiting for Evelyn to return.

She returned from her reconnaissance about fifteen minutes after venturing into the wood, and she sat down next to me, relieved. She ran her fingers through her hair, and I anxiously shifted a short distance away from her.

"It doesn't look like we were being followed...And our path should be clear all the way home."

"Say, Evelyn...What happened when you first arrived at Lereshrana?"

"Huh? Well, I made contact with the village â€" with Carlo, that is â€" and went into the caves below the ruins. There were some monsters down there, but I was able to slip past them."

"Was there anything there?"

"I thought so at first, but I was careful to check every passage down there. No one's been in those caves in ages. I called Carlo, and it seemed good enough for him."

"Not for me," I said, standing up. "Father told me that he'd sent you to Lereshrana in order to kill Forte."

"Who's Forte?"

There it was: the proof that something was very, very wrong with this situation. I turned to face Evelyn and glared down at her menacingly.

"Your mark was a necromantic battle mage called Forte! He was in Lereshrana, and you were sent to assassinate him!! That was Carlo's mission for you!!"

Evelyn fell silent, bowing her head in dismay. I grabbed her by the scruff of her black uniform, hoisted her to her feet and slammed her into a nearby tree trunk, growling from the back of my throat.

"Who are you?! You're not Evelyn!! The real Evelyn wouldn't betray the warrior monks!! You...You're a doppelganger, aren't you?!"

The false Evelyn started to chuckle to herself.

"You've a good eye, boy...Not many people can see through my guise."

The doppelganger leaped out of my grasp and over my head, landing on the opposite end of the clearing. Its form shimmered for a moment and then dissolved as it morphed into a perfect copy of my father.

"But no matter how hard you try, there are some people that you just can't kill! All I have to do is find that one person, and I'll use their body to have my way with you!!"

"A clever plan, doppelganger-"

"Please, call me by my name! I am called Maxwell, brought to this plane by Master Forte!!"

"Like I said, Maxwell, it's a clever strategy...but it's hard to use illusions of the eye when your opponent cannot see!!"

"I beg your pardon?"

I put one hand across my face and shouted, "NAGNOMA (advanced shadow manipulation)!!" A veil of darkness instantly spread across my face, effectively blinding me. Still, the doppelganger's warped voice was more than enough to locate him. I dashed forward and threw a punch; though he evidently dodged my attack, I did make some contact with his leg as he jumped out of the way. His breathing gave away his position, and I quickly turned to face him.

"Heh...You may be able to fool the eyes, but you're awfully slow. This shouldn't take long at all. JIKRAMA!!"

I put one hand to the earth, and a massive tremor shook the forest. I heard Maxwell's footsteps stagger as he lost his balance, and I put more power into my chakra. Several thick vines shot from the earth and wrapped around his legs, binding him in place. I rushed forward, charging up another chakra in the process. As he struggled with the constricting vines, he had little time to react when I released the energy of the Gimnohima chakra upon him. A blast of light shot through him, perforating the dense foliage of the forest. The vines released his legs, and he fell dead to the floor of the clearing. Leaving his body behind, I used Raikishu (Bolt Rider, transportation skill) to quickly blaze my way back through the forest and into the ruined city of Lereshrana once again.