51 Opening Up (2/2)
Instead I was just thrown into a mission and went out on the mission there and then. I only know one or two martial skills but they are not really worth mentioning.”
Maka sank deep into thought and then said, ”There are a couple of moves I can teach you, the good thing about martial skills in the Gutu Empire is that they are more like templates, they just show you movement and its for you to fill them up with your preferred element. There is no one martial skill that is designed for one specific element.
Taku nodded and the two of them proceeded to walk away from their camp site. As they walked Taku could only steal glances towards Maka. The last month or so had been heavenly, or at least for him it was half. There were moments were he thought he was going to man up and confess to her and even moments were he thought he was going to be bold but ultimately he had done nothing.
He had tried to encourage himself on multiple occasions, even going as far as to tell himself that he had goals that covered the heavens but no matter how hard he tried, he could only just talk about basic stuff with Maka.
The only thing that he truly had to show for was that after all they had been through these past months they seemed slightly closer. Part of him really wanted to get out of this place but part of him also wanted to stay because he knew that outside of this Maka was a very busy girl.
It was complete silence for an hour, Maka didn't mind but it was slightly awkward for Taku. The atmosphere was slightly suffocating to him, he had no idea what to say or what to do so they just walked up stream silently. Taku was itching to say something, anything, but again he just couldn't find the balls to say anything.
Just as he thought that all was lost, Maka spoke, ”There was a battle I was fought, I think I was fifteen, it was the first battle I had fought in which Saru wasn't by my side and without my master by my side to be honest I felt rather confident but as the battle started I felt lost. I had no idea what to do, because back then I knew that if I made a mistake then Saru would be there to save me at some point, so I panicked, I made a couple of bad decisions and I ended up getting injured.
Worst of all it took me a full twenty minutes for me to even gain an upper hand after that. It was slightly embarrassing actually. I felt as though my whole world was crushing down on me as I was being attacked, it felt weird that's why I hate being lost.”
Taku was dazed for a moment he didn't expect Maka to just start talking; he gazed up at the sun and sank deep into thought. He was actually quite shocked because it only took her twenty minutes for her to actually calm down and gain an advantage.
He on the other hand was always nervous in battle, even though he always tried to calm himself down and he looked calm on the surface but when the battle begun he was still nervous, he just did a really good job of hiding it.
After sighing he finally replied, ”When I first came into this world-” Taku suddenly stopped as he said this, he had realised that he had let something slip. Maka just stared at him weirdly. 'First came to this world?' she thought.
He cleared his throat and said instead, ”When I first entered the world of cultivation, I didn't know what to expect to be honest, on one hand I knew that there would be gruesome battles and that there would be moments that I would come close to death.
All I wanted was to live my life peacefully; this is the only moment or at least one of the few moments that I can openly share about me being lost. I didn't know what to do and then I met Saru and he told me about the condition of my soul. I didn't want to die yet but I decided to take up his offer blindly which I did. I didn't know what the future held for me but I guess this made me slightly excited because I felt as though I was actually living and not just breathing. Part of me still had some reservations about cultivating and all that but after the last few months I feel as though it has become such a large part of my life and I don't think it's something I can walk away from anymore.”
Taku then turned his head and smiled to Maka, he had left out a couple of words, if he didn't cultivate, if he didn't get stronger, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get a girl like her so he had to. On one hand he had the motivation of trying not to die because of his souls and ultimately trying to figure out why the old Taku ended up in the state he was in.
He had gotten a few clues like his flame being similar to that of the royal family but he had quickly dismissed the notion because he didn't feel as if it was plausible because what would someone from the royal family be doing in an orphanage in a small village.
Maka smiled when Taku was done and said, ”I actually wasn't scared, like I said before I need power to do what I want to do, to do what I have to do. If I'm not powerful enough then I won't be able to do and to do what I have to do.”
Even though Maka was smiling Taku could still feel the depression and the loneliness coming from her and he wasn't too sure what to say. He was itching to ask what she was looking for, what she was hoping to find by getting more powerful but he thought it would be rude just to blantaly ask so he shut his mouth.
Maka at this moment spoke again, ”Actually what I am looking for is not at all that hard to find but I have to reach a certain power level for me to get all the answers that I want because at my current level there are only a few things that I can find out.”