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Chapter 512: The Path of Introspection

Kamiko had a smile on her face, she was enjoying the fact they were making what felt like real progress towards the end. The rat guards were an obvious step up, and defeating a few patrols was a good way for them to understand that things were escalating even if they didn\'t seem that way. Every rat guard they ran into, meant one less at the final area. It also made it more likely they were heading the right way. With those two confirming marks, Kamiko was confident they could find the threat behind this swarm.

Sue was more relaxed. Unlike the other two, she wasn\'t capable of keeping her mind so close to the edge of readiness for a long time. Sure she could jump forward and take care of the rat patrols, but it was a very delayed reaction. Heck, for her comfort the three were walking instead of running, mostly to make sure she could react in time to any incoming threats. Sue knew this, and was thankful for the concern, using it to relax herself, but be ready to activate the shield around Kamiko as quickly as possible. They were showing concern for her, and she would return the favour.

Kat though, had perhaps the most mixed thoughts about the entire thing. Unlike Kamiko who grew up expecting to be in combat at least semi regularly, and had a deep trust in their medical system, and Sue who now believed that Kat and Kamiko would willingly protect her in the face of fierce odds… Kat was having misgivings despite arguably being the safest of the three.

Her thoughts just couldn\'t get over the idea of how close to death her companions were. Even though in Kamiko\'s mind she was exceptionally safe for a mission like this, and in Sue\'s she had stalwart defenders, Kat didn\'t have the same confidence in them living and being repaired, and she had less of an idea about what they might face in the end. She was also lacking the key detail, that if they killed the thing in charge of the swarm, everything else would drop in an instant. Without that insight, Kat believed them to be marching towards an army general and then needing to fight there way back out again.

So, she stewed on the idea. She was on the wrong side of ready, with her muscles constantly tensing and untensing, her demonic energy swirling around at the ready and slowing her mind down if somebody so much as kicked a stone when they were walking not to even speak of the patrols Sue was taking out. Kat\'s body was taught, and she was on a hair trigger, waiting for the other shoe she couldn\'t quite see to drop. She was ready to tank any amount of damage for the other two, despite Kamiko\'s proficiency for weapons.

And that perhaps was the biggest thing Kat was missing. For all the sweetness Kamiko displayed, she\'d been trained in the use of her weapon for over a decade. She knew her big her striking range was. She knew how to fight opponents at and above her skill level. She knew how to block, how to parry, how to take acceptable damage. She wasn\'t as weak as a human, small strikes could heal before the day was out, even if during the fight would be too much for someone with regeneration.

Kat was missing the idea that Kamiko was READY for this kind of thing, and had been for a long time. Kat knew her as the friendly face that had really grown on her over the week. The one that cried with her sister. That loved her family, that didn\'t necessarily want to fight. Even the spars at Wrath, Kat didn\'t really see the other side of Kamiko.

For Kamiko was used to the game. She was sharp. She had the weapon skills to protect herself. And she\'d seen so much more combat than Kat could really comprehend. A few months of fighting was nothing to Kamiko, she had a more than a few years, especially if you counted training and not just live missions. Still, she was taking to arenas with weak beasts to test her resolve, to prove she was capable to fighting monsters at the very least, if not people. Kat hadn\'t seen it yet.

So, when the next set of guard rats appeared, a set of four this time, Kat jumped into the fray before Kamiko could take off. Kat went straight for the two nearest to her and tried to end things before they began with another strike to the head… sadly she telegraphed too much. Rat Guard One was able to see her coming from a mile away, and even if it couldn\'t keep up with her speed properly, it could still dodge.

One stepped forward, allowing Kat\'s hand to pass before its head at the same time it drove its right hand claws straight up and into Kat\'s stomach before quickly withdrawing them and stepping away. Kat stumbled from the impact but was unphased, continuing her assault on the rat to try and get it down as quickly as possible.

Tunnel visioning in the process. Rat Guard Two simply moved to the side and while Kat was trying to punch away at One, which was blocking and taking only moderate damage to its arms, Two managed to claw at Kat\'s side, causing two wide sets of gashes from its claws to appear on her side.

Kat\'s tail retaliated instinctively, plunging straight into Two\'s stomach, and doing more damage then Kat had managed to this point, causing a deep stab wound to open up in the rat and letting blood flow out of it around the matted remnants of its fur around the area. Before Kat could take any joy in that though, One slammed its head into her.

It was a decent tactic… against someone without horns. Kat\'s took the pitiful attempt to cause her to be stunned full force and allowing only minimal vibrations to be transmitted back to Kat and they were easily ignored.

The fight got blood after that. Kat\'s injuries healed yes, but the blood from them was sprayed around the area. At the same time, Two was weaking quickly, the strike to its stomach was no small puncture wound and it was losing blood fast, already unsteady on its feet. One was holding up better. Despite its failure of a headbutt, Kat didn\'t really know how to capitalise on something like that and had just continued punching away in what was now a predictable pattern for even the simple minded rat.

Luck was on her side though. The mix of blood on the floor was slippery and Two was already starting to become woozy. Its intended strike at Kat\'s head to at least distract her for One, failed miserably when its feet slipped out from under it, sending it falling to the side. It slid past Kat\'s face as the claw went towards One. Even though it no longer had any power behind it, that was enough to take One out of the fight once Kat followed through. Despite her lacking experience in finer combat, the sort of distraction Two provided was impossible to miss.

Kat swung a full powered strike into One\'s unguarded temple spraying blood around and ending it right then. This was followed up by a stomp down on Two\'s head, taking, what might have already been a dead rat, out of the fight for good. Kat turned then to help Kamiko but… she was done.

For Kamiko, this was a much easier fight. When she saw Kat jump in, she followed easily. Taking on two of these rats wasn\'t any real problem. She slashed at Rat Guard Three while keeping enough distance to prevent Rat Guard Four from easily following up. They both jumped into action when her attack connected. It wasn\'t a major blow, but it was already a start.

It was simple then, for Kamiko to dance between there wild strikes. They relied on instincts and lacking speed to try and get a blow on Kamiko but she simply used the sharp end of her naginata to displace there attacks and get in a few of her own. After only a few exchanges the rats were bleeding out and losing it, Kamiko managed to get the two of them down before turning to Kat.

She nearly went to help, but Kat was so entangled with her two opponents and moving rather erratically that Kamiko didn\'t want to risk it. So, she waited the few extra seconds Kat\'s fight lasted before smiling at her victorious friend.