Chapter 56: Bone Soul Transformation
The light poured into his body, but it wasn't forging a new channel. Instead, it followed the familiar meridians, tracing the well-worn path that belonged to his Shield Bone Transformation.
Hikaru could feel his very skeleton begin to vibrate.
The sensation began as a deep thrum in his spine, a resonant hum that spread like a shockwave through his limbs, reaching the tips of his fingers and the ends of his toes. It felt as if something ancient and dormant was stirring within the marrow, awakening, growing, and evolving.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
A succession of sharp pops echoed in the quiet night, the sound of his joints realigning. It wasn't the familiar creak of skeletal movement, but something far more precise and unnatural, like the cold, clean locking of mechanical gears.
This was it… the re-fusion of shield and bone. The Bone Soul Transformation.
A torrent of understanding flooded his mind. He could now freely control the hardness, shape, and even the growth of his own bones. They could erupt from any point on his body or be molded into new forms entirely. At the same time, his skeletal density had tripled—his bones were now as resilient as a demonic tool.
Hikaru's eyes snapped open.
And then—
"!"
He nearly leaped out of his skin.
The first thing he saw was a pair of feet. They were clad in simple wooden clogs and spotless white tabi socks. His gaze traveled up past the hem of a vibrant red hakama and the edge of a pure white kosode.
Higher still.
A cold, beautiful face was looking down at him, her expression unreadable.
Hikaru's heart hammered against his ribs.
'!'
Does this woman walk without making a single sound?
Or had he been so engrossed in his transformation that he hadn't even noticed Kikyo's arrival?
"You…" Hikaru started to say, his voice still rough.
Kikyo spoke first, her own voice cutting through the night. "It changed."
Her jet-black eyes weren't looking at his face, but at his elbow, where a sliver of a bone spur had just protruded moments before.
"The Yao Qi on you," she clarified, her gaze returning to his. "It has changed. It's heavier, steadier… and more dangerous."
"I had a small breakthrough," Hikaru admitted, pushing himself to his feet and brushing the dirt from his clothes. He saw no reason to hide it. "I borrowed a bit of light from this big fellow."
He gestured to the massive Hiraikotsu lying nearby.
Kikyo's gaze flickered to the giant bone boomerang, then settled back on Hikaru.
He couldn't help but ask, a hint of accusation in his tone, "And just when did you get here?"
"A quarter of an hour ago," Kikyo replied, her voice perfectly calm. "I came to tell you it was time to rest, but then I saw your entire body begin to glow."
A faint, almost imperceptible curve touched her lips. "So, I watched for a while longer. As expected, you are very interesting."
Hikaru was speechless. "..."
This woman… she did it on purpose, didn't she? Why had he never noticed that the serene Kikyo possessed such a mischievous streak?
"So," Kikyo continued, her curiosity piqued, "what changes have occurred within your body?"
Her gaze fell to Hikaru's arm, where something seemed to be wriggling just beneath the skin, a subtle and unsettling movement.
Hikaru looked down at his own hand and focused his will.
A second later, a white bone spur once again emerged from the back of his hand. It didn't tear the skin; rather, it seemed to extrude itself smoothly from his pores, as smooth and natural as a plant sprouting from the earth. The spur was about three inches long with a wickedly sharp tip, glinting with a cold light under the moon.
Kikyo's expression shifted, her professional curiosity overriding any surprise. "This is…"
Hikaru focused his thoughts again.
The bone spur began to change. First, it thickened, swelling from the width of a chopstick to that of a man's thumb. Then, it began to curve, bending into a vicious hook. Finally, with another silent command, it thinned, elongated, and straightened, taking the form of a delicate, razor-fine needle.
The entire process took less than three breaths.
"Bone Soul Transformation," Hikaru said, retracting the bone needle back into his body. His skin was left perfectly smooth and intact, without a single mark. "An ability I just fused."
Kikyo fell silent, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions as she studied him.
"I have never seen a demon like this," she said softly. "To be able to fuse powers from different sources, to allow your existing transformations to continue evolving… Just what kind of existence are you?"
Hikaru opened his mouth, then closed it, hesitating.
Kikyo suddenly shook her head, waving off the need for an answer. She had only been thinking aloud. She knew everyone had their secrets, but her gaze still lingered on him, analytical and intense.
"What is your current level?" she asked.
"According to my own classification, I'm still at the Six Transformations," Hikaru answered honestly. "I haven't broken through to a Qualitative Transformation."
He clenched his fist, feeling the new power thrumming beneath his skin. "However… I am stronger than I was before."
Kikyo nodded slightly.
Six Transformations. By now, she had a rough understanding of Hikaru's personal system for classifying a demon's power. It was far more detailed and easier to identify than the broad human categories of small demon, ordinary demon, high-level demon, and Great Demon. As a priestess, Kikyo was always open to new knowledge and had quickly accepted his grading system.
She pressed further. "How much stronger?"
"At least…" Hikaru considered for a moment. "About forty to fifty percent?"
It wasn't an exaggeration. The improvement from the Bone Soul Transformation was complete.
First was defense. His bone hardness had increased several times over, making his skeleton more durable than ordinary steel.
Second was offense. He could now sprout bone spurs and blades from any part of his body. This meant his attacks were no longer limited to the Muramasa in his hand. Every inch of his body could become a lethal weapon. In terms of raw combat potential, he was now confident he could contend with a high-level demon at the seventh transformation. He might not be able to defeat one, but he was absolutely capable of defending himself.
Finally, and most, was the potential it represented.
"From what I can feel, the Six Transformations seems to be the limit of Physical Transformation for most demons," Hikaru explained. "But the content of those six transformations can be continuously enriched."
He tried to find an analogy she would understand. "It's like a room. The size of the room is fixed for now, but the things you can put inside it can keep increasing."
Kikyo's expression grew thoughtful. "You mean…"
"My foundation is now more solid than that of an ordinary demon at the same level," Hikaru nodded. "For the same Six Transformations, a typical demon might only have six abilities. But I can have more."
The young oni's eyes burned with a quiet intensity. "When the time comes for the qualitative change in the future… the 'attributes' I can carry with me will be far greater than those of any ordinary demon."
What was the essence of a Qualitative Transformation? It could be the mastery of mass, volume, and density. It could be the alteration of fundamental physical properties. It could even be the command over elemental attributes. The richer his foundation was at the Six Transformations, the more attributes he could potentially control when he finally made the leap.
Kikyo looked at him, silent for a long moment.
"You truly are special, Hikaru," she said at last.
"I'm just being cautious," he replied, bending down to pick up the Hiraikotsu.
The giant bone boomerang had lost its spiritual luster and now looked no different from an ordinary, albeit massive, weapon. But Hikaru knew its power was still there, dormant. It just needed time to recover, much like the Muramasa he carried.
"It's time to go back and rest, Kikyo," he said, his tone shifting back to business. "The ritual duel begins tomorrow."
Although Kikyo was confident she could defeat Tsubaki, they still had to be wary of any tricks the dark priestess might have hidden up her sleeve.
Kikyo nodded, not one for overconfidence.
But in the next second, the miko's head snapped up, her expression narrowing.
At the same instant, Hikaru's movements froze. His nose twitched, and he turned his head sharply, his gaze fixed on the rear mountain behind the Demon Slayer Village.
The night was deep, and the entire village was unnervingly quiet. A gentle breeze drifted through the trees, carrying the cool air of the mountains.
But it carried something else, too.
A thick, coppery scent.
The scent of blood. And a great deal of it.
Kikyo's serene gaze hardened into one of cold steel.
Hikaru's expression turned grim. "Something's happening."
He slung the Hiraikotsu onto his back, his hand already gripping the hilt of his blade. In a fluid motion, Kikyo's bow appeared in her hand.
The two of them exchanged a single, knowing glance.
Then, without another word, they became blurs of motion, rushing as one toward the source of the blood-soaked wind.
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