Mosaic City, located along China's coast, is quite large city sometimes called the Crossroads Between Nations due to its diverse population. While it was once a large tourist spot, the city was placed under a blockade as the military appeared claiming there was a radiation leak. The true hazard, however, is much more sinister.
A new area as far as he knew, yet the signs of constant use around the place told the new Persona user that this place would have probably been often used by the other Persona Users and Normals who knew what was actually happening in the city. Vice grunted as he pushed off a cart from the path in front of him and wondered if he should have contacted some of the others first to see if they had some kind of navigation system for this place.
It was dark as fuck, and the stench of the place may not have been as bad as the sewers but christ if it didn't make it hard to breathe. Not to mention the closed and tight hall ways gave the red eyed asian quite a hard time manoeuvring around, He tried his dam nest to ignore the creeping paranoia at the back of his head due to the well kept secret for his dislike of cramped spaces. A small breath as the teenager bounded the corner, his trusty weaponry by his side and hands with a packet of medicine left inside his back pocket, the young man was as prepared as he could be.
It was a different feeling still. He'd already been totting around the ability to use a persona and the whole getting used to was a rather novel experience. Everything just seemed to be so much sharper as compared to before, where the fog around him used to be so opaque and looking around was overly difficult if he didn't pay enough attention to the smallest thing…now? Now it was like everything turned into a translucent type instead and though he still needed to give attention to things, the increased ability when it came to sensing the shadows all around him was a massive boon.
No more getting surprised cause some shadow decided to wait over at a corner and in his blind side.
To prove that, Vice had been the first one to make contact with the enemy. His senses had warned him much earlier than before and thus the young man had a lot more lee way for readying his attack. The figure nearby had just been about to turn around fully when a couple of lead bullets had already made contact with it's exposed back. It screamed out loud while Vice had already began to turn move back to increase the distance between them.
The shattering of glass came the same time as a wave of darkness erupted from the floor and washed over the former normal. The attack had made contact with Vice and as he braced himself for the impact, the young man was slightly disappointed when the attack didn't leave much of anything on him. The tough armour he had been wearing and coupled with his Persona's natural resistance against Mudo type attacks had allowed the attack to simply glance over him.
The Persona, however, had other plans. Skipping over the idea of using his own dark type spell to counter his opponents, Vice had simply commanded Arondight to charge on forward with his massive sword gleaming. The Cleave connected and once more the shadow had writhed from the attack. It was so empowering, so much different from not having a persona. His attacks were actually hurting it so much more visibly and the damage he was taking was naturally less than before.
Again, Vice called forth upon his Persona. The hulking giant armour of darkness roared again, his sword gleaming as Vice once more forced the power rolling in him forward. Instead of doing anything offensive, the shadow created some kind of green glow over itself and suddenly, the battle had been tipped at the opponent's favour again. Annoying as it was, Vice wasn't going to let up on his attacks. The next series of steps had him going toe to toe with the freak, his swords glinting in the dull light available and leaving marks on his opponent.
The Relic, having enough of this punishment, called upon some kind of barrier technique. When Vice's sword had made contact with it, he could immediately feel the return of his slash attacks on his body. Unfortunately for the opponent, he had resisted this type of attack as well. Grinning, the red eyed user charged forward again and dug his swords in the opponent. Screaming in pain, Vice knocked the thing over with a vicious kick before Arondight appeared once more. The gleaming sword charged forward and bisected the shadow.
Somehow, it was still alive.
Walking towards it, his steps deliberate, the freak had been breathing it's last. In a last ditch effort, the abomination had once more called upon its powers of darkness to try and overpower its killer. Vice simply grinned as the attack washed over him. He was shoved back a bit but the attack was just a bit more painful than superficial. A blast of lead and an explosion of lead had more or less ended this encounter.
Vice ignored the splattering of ichor that accompanied the death of the shadow beneath his feet. The pool that it devolved into…was nothing that could be considered eye catching and in such dim lighting, Vice could have easily mistaken it for a puddle of water. The user just nodded at the decaying form as he raised the back of his hand and wiped the remains off of his face.
The synchronicity between him and his Persona was getting better. The whole process of summoning him, Arondight Vice reminded himself, was becoming easier every time. He doubted that it was because he was some kind of genius at the subject and was most probably some kind of reward for having thrown himself into harm's way willingly for the past month or so. It took significantly longer than most of the user's he's known about but at least, the young man could proudly say that he could go toe to toe with them now.
A sigh escaped his lips this time as he totted the revolver in his hand and the sword in his other. He was beginning to get introspective again and that just wouldn't do. It would be best to go back home now and take care of any other shadow that would appear on the way back to the city. He was going to need much more practice if he wanted to improve at a faster rate--he had already spent too much time dawdling just by idly being here.
The rock that had accompanied him not too long ago once more found itself being kicked forward and forward along with Vice. He was in a hurry, yes, but everything was a training exercise and all that.