Chapter 6: The Spar
Nature is beautiful. Very beautiful. In my previous life, I would often pass my time relaxing on a tree, watching nature at work in forests and jungles. I like to see how the animals interact with each other, the birds singing in harmony, or just the trees swaying by the wind. It’s a very relaxing atmosphere to be in, and normally I’d enjoy taking a walk through a forest. If there wasn’t a raging man yelling at the large group of soldiers I was following.
“I told you all to keep walking you lazy mutts! This isn’t some sort of field trip to watch the damn wildlife scenery! We’re going to an expedition at a dungeon where we’ll be fighting for our damn lives! Quit laughing back there, you think this is a joke!? Maggots like you will die in an instant if you underestimate an [S-Ranked] dungeon! It doesn’t matter if you’re an [Immortal-Tier], you’re still freaking killable! Being [Immortal-Tier] doesn’t make you immortal you pieces of crap! Even a kid would know this!”
Currently, the entire expedition group is marching through a forest to get to a [Mana Field]. No, they’re not field made of mana or anything, it’s just a location with a higher density of mana than normal. They’re useful for spells that require large amounts of mana, because the mage can extract mana from these fields to complete the spell.
They’re randomly scattered throughout [Sykerion], all naturally made by the world itself. They can’t be created or destroyed, but they do have a limited storage. If someone manages to deplete the entire mana supply though, the [Mana Fields] can regenerate it’s mana automatically. It usually takes approximately a month or two to completely refill its storage, so many countries have created laws to prevent people from overusing these fields.
“Mr. Terimal is just as motivating as ever, it seems.” Jinada mutters aloud.
“Well, he isn’t going to retire anytime soon, not before he whips us all into [Royal Guard] material.” Morne whispers in response.
“...he’s scaring away the animals…” Cam must’ve been looking forward to seeing some, since her voice had a hint of sadness to it.
“We’ll get to see some on the way back, don’t worry. Otherwise, I’ll take you to the zoo, alright?” Cam’s eyes seem to light up upon hearing Jinada’s words.
“That isn’t fair! Let me go too!” Pyre says with dissatisfaction.
“...me as well.” Even Mira wanted to join? Were they that interested in the animals?
“I’m trying really hard to resist the urge to just kill you right now, Jinada.” Morne glares at him as he says this, clearly jealous.
“Why’s that? Is there something wrong with visiting the zoo as a group?” Jinada’s response attracts even more glares from the men around him. I didn’t see anything wrong with that either. Isn’t it fun when there’s more people?
“Nothing. Someone as dense as you wouldn’t understand anyway.”
“Say, what happened to Thoth? She hasn’t said anything for a while, and that blank expression on her face hasn’t changed since we started on this march.” Ah, Pyre actually noticed.
“Ah, it’s probably because of what happened earlier.” Jinada explains to her about the scene where he told Thoth only one quest was available for her. She went into some sort of extremely shocked state, and has been like that ever since we left the [Guild Office]. Fortunately, she was able to accept the only [A-Ranked] quest available for her, so at least she’ll be able get something out of this expedition. How she was able to access the pylon and receive the quest while in that state is a mystery I still can’t figure out myself.
“Hahahaha! Serves her right for failing her academic studies!” Tears can be seen in the corner of Pyre’s eyes as she laughs loudly.
“Hey! What the hell are you bastards talking about!? I hear laughter back there! I just said to shut the hell up and keep marching!” The angry man yells. Pyre immediately stops laughing, and continued marching as if nothing had happened.
For the remainder of the march, it was mostly silent with the occasional whispering among the soldiers, but nothing to warrant the raging man’s wrath. After about an hour of marching, we finally arrived at our destination. A wide, unique meadow was spread out in front of us, and tiny blue particles were spread throughout the air above it.
“...pretty.” I whisper to myself. Despite seeing [Mana Fields] before, none of them looked quite like this.
“Although I’ve seen it before, I still can’t get over how amazing this view looks.” Jinada voices his thoughts aloud, and based on the expressions of the others, they had the same thoughts as well.
“Okay, we’re going to start setting up the spell formation! Mages, start drawing that magic circle! I want that thing done in less than an hour! Marksmen, scout the area to make sure no civilians or possible monsters are roaming nearby! Guardians, accompany them so nothing happens! Warriors, stay here to make sure nothing happens to the mages!” The old man yells out orders to the soldiers, and they all immediately split up to complete the tasks they were given, including Jinada’s group.
“Has Thoth not broken out of her shock yet?” Evalot approaches us as the others spread to do their tasks, asking about Thoth’s condition. I shake my head in response to this.
“Have you tried getting her out of it? Why not try a light hit to break her out of it?” Evalot’s suggestion made sense to me, making me wonder why I didn’t think of it before.
I proceed to turn to Thoth and lazily swing my arm at her, letting out a weak slap. It did a bit more than I intended, though. Upon finishing the swing, the force of it sent her flying away; straight into a tree. Afterwards, her body falls limply onto the grass, and she remains still for a few seconds on the spot. I wasn’t that worried though, something like this wouldn’t even break a bone on her body.
“I said to hit her lightly, not to kill her, Aria!” Clearly shocked about what just happened,
“...she’s fine.” I reply to her calmly.
“No way she isn’t. The impact even caused the tree bark to shatter. We need to get a medic right awa–” Her words are interrupted when the still figure lying on the floor suddenly gets up and enters a fighting stance with her fists up.
“What happened!? Where am I!? Who’s the attacker!?” As expected, Thoth came out unharmed by the strike, energetic as ever.
“Not even a single bruise on her?”
“Some of us would definitely break bones from something like that, [Immortal-Tier] or not.”
“Why are the hotter chicks the stronger ones in this occupation?” The soldiers around us share their thoughts with each other, but I ignore them as I walk up to Thoth.
“...good morning.” She immediately turns to me upon hearing my casual greeting, surprised.
“Aria? What’s going on? When did we get in a forest? Were we knocked out and brought here or something!? Did you already kill the perpetrators!?” Thoth started spouting nonsense, confused about what’s happening.
“...preparing to enter dungeon.” I interrupt her rambling, stating the situation.
“What, we’re already going to enter the dungeon? I don’t even remember coming here!”
“Shock, whole trip.” I answer calmly.
“Seriously!? Oh wait…” She stops talking for a short while, most likely recalling the reason why. “Geh… for the first time ever, I regret sleeping through the written exams!”
‘Even if you didn’t, I doubt you studied enough to even pass,’ I wanted to say, but I didn’t. Instead, I just sigh to myself. I am a bit relieved that she didn’t become depressed about the inability to accept [S-Ranked] quests at the moment. I wouldn’t know how to cheer her up otherwise.
“Well, what’s done is done. How about a quick spar to warm up? Get out blood flowing before the expedition starts!”
“Wait, you were just sent flying with a single hit earlier, and you want to spar against her?” Evalot asks, shocked.
“Hm? You mean that light slap earlier? She didn’t use her full strength, so there aren’t any bruises on my skin, and all my bones are intact. I’m pretty much in top condition.” Thoth replies with a natural tone.
“I don’t think that fit the description of a ‘light slap’ in any way possible…” She mutters quietly.
“Oh? What’s all the commotion about here?” An aged voice with a calm tone speaks out. I turn to see an old man standing next to us with a smile. I wouldn’t have noticed he was there at all if he didn’t speak.
“Mr. Daedalus! No need to mind us, our guests just want to get a bit of exercise before the expedition.” For unknown reasons, Evalot attempts to steer him away from us. Of course, something like that wouldn’t even fool Thoth.
“Is that so? Then, would you two mind if I joined you in your ‘exercises’? These old bones of mine have not seen action in a while, it’d be nice to unwind some of my joints.” He asks with a polite tone.
“Oh~ a free for all? That sounds pretty fun. You sure you can keep up, old man?” Thoth happily accepts his request to join us, taunting him while doing so.
“No need for a free for all.. I would prefer for both of you to fight me at once.” Daedalus interrupts Thoth, making an extreme suggestion. He still had the same expression on his face, but for some reason, he becomes more intimidating.
“Mr. Daedalus, they’re only children, and they’ve only recently become [Mortal Tier]–”
“Sure.” I cut off Evalot’s words, who’s still trying to stop the spar. Based on how hard she’s trying to prevent him from fighting us, he must be one of the stronger warriors of this group. This might be an interesting challenge to take.
“Perfect. Then let us find another location to battle, I do not wish to interrupt the mages. Let us go, shall we?” Not waiting for a reply, he begins walking away into the forest.
“Feels like another boss fight, don’t you think, Aria?” I simply nod in reply to Thoth’s statement, before following him into the forest and away from the [Mana Field].
–––––––––––––––––
After leaving the [Mana Field], Daedalus lead us to a different location for our spar, which a lake that went deeper into the forest. Upon arrival, he told us to warm up before starting the fight. Neither of us listened though, and we each went to do our own things: I went to find a safe place to put down my giant case, while Thoth went to watch the fish in the river. After I found a suitable location, I returned to the lake, where I saw Evalot pleading to Daedalus.
“Mr. Daedalus, please reconsider this battle. There’s no designated combat zone for the [Duel System] to support us, what if someone inflicts a deadly wound?” The old man simply ignores her pleas, while continuing to do his stretches.
“You shouldn’t worry so much. Even if he manages to beat me, there’s no way Aria will lose.” Thoth calls out to her, keeping her eyes on the fishes.
“Do not overestimate yourselves. You both are much more capable than the average adventurers at your rank, but there are still others far stronger than you in the upper tiers!” It’s nice to know that Evalot considered us ‘above-average.’
“It’s nice to see young adventurers start off confidently. From what I’ve heard, you two were given A and S rank upon graduation. I can definitely see you two becoming great adventurers in the future, perhaps even surpassing me. But right now, neither of you should have the abilities…” As soon as the old advisor finished stretching, his figure spontaneously turning into a blur, before disappearing from where he was just warming up.
“...nor the experience to become one.” Before I knew it, he’s already making his first move, starting the duel.
Activating my [Enhanced Detection], I quickly notice that he wasn’t actually behind me, but above me. Reacting immediately, I turn with both arms raised, and barely blocked an axe kick from my opponent. The impact of the kick forced me back a bit, but I still held my ground. He jumps back after failing his initial surprise attack, but I’m forced remain on the defensive.
After landing a small distance away, Daedalus stomps on the grass below him. Several giant rocks emerge from the earth below the forest soil, and they all levitate in place. He begins to kick those large rocks towards me, turning them into giant projectiles with extreme velocity. I take a defensive stance with my arms up, as the rocks fly towards me at extreme speeds. For the first rock, I dodged it by moving to the left, feeling a little pressure from the amount of force put into it. The next two were pretty much side by side, and the gap in between was too small. In order to dodge it, I take a few steps before jumping as high as I can, the rocks barely grazing my shirt. I managed to dodge these two, only to met with another aimed right above them at my position.
Although I can’t move freely in the air physically, I utilize my magic by blasting a [Wind Bolt] below me. With an effect similar to a double jump, I manage to dodge the fourth rock without a scratch. Landing on my feet with a heavy thump, I look at the final projectile flying towards me. This one was considerably larger than the rest, and it’s velocity even more extreme. With no option to dodge, I raise my arm towards the giant projectile and fired an [Inferno Bolt], completely destroying it.
Suddenly, the old man emerges from the dust cloud left behind from the rock. Using the cover of the projectile, he closed the distance without me even noticing. I should’ve guessed that he would’ve pulled something like this; a common tactic used to catch opponents off guard. It was too late to react now, so I immediately enchant my body with [Stone Body], to try to absorb the incoming punch from him.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Surprisingly, rather than connecting the attack, Daedalus jumped away from me. In his place, several spears of shadow cover the ground where he stood. A large patch of darkness covers the ground behind him, and Thoth emerges through it with a spear made of shadows in her hand. Daedalus noticed her presence though, and quickly stepped to the side to dodge her first thrust.
Thoth doesn’t stop there, and continues to pressure him with a storm of attacks. Put under pressure by her, the old man is finally forced to be on defence. I take this chance to try and attack him while he’s distracted, sprinting towards open rear. When I closed the distance to approximately 10 meters, I make a wide leap towards him and pull my right arm back. As I fall, I start turning my body, ready to slam my opponent into the ground. Thoth noticed me from below, and tried to back away right before the impact.
Unfortunately, Daedalus’s reaction time was far beyond normal and he instantly rolled to the left upon seeing Thoth’s sudden retreat. I end up hitting only the forest floor, blasting away a huge portion of the soil under me. The recoil from the attack caused me to be immobile for a second, leaving me defenseless, but Thoth was there to back me up. She leaps over my crouching figure, and suppresses the old man again with a barrage of slashes and thrusts.
When I’m finally able to move again, I immediately stood up and stretch my arms forward in front of me. I make a grabbing motion, and my arms suddenly start disappearing into air, creating ripples in the space. A feeling similar to dipping my hand into a body of water, I reach into my [Spatial Pocket] and summon several balanced throwing knives. Pulling them out of the separate dimension, I whisper an enchantment to set their blades aflame. I haven’t mastered modern magic yet, so I can’t do voiceless incantations with them.
“Get down!” I say aloud to my ally, before throwing my knives in short intervals.
Without a second of delay, Thoth instantly crouched low, the flaming projectiles flying over her like bullets. Daedalus was able to dodge the first few, but they were too fast for him to evade completely. Two of the knives were able pierce him, one in the right thigh and the other in the right forearm. I can hear a sizzling sound coming from the wounds, due to the flaming knives cauterizing the area they pierced.
Thoth didn’t allow him to rest after the waves of knives, following up with a series of high speed thrusts with her spear. With impaired movements, Daedalus was able to dodge the first few strikes, but the knives slowed him too much. Thoth was able to hit his chest directly on with the back of her spear, sending him flying backwards. He spins wildly in the air, but somehow regains his sense of balance and lands on his feet away from us. This concluded the first exchange of attacks, with us being able to wound him.
“Hoh… I was wrong it seems…” Daedalus admits aloud. “Your combat abilities are as exceptional as I’ve heard, but your combat experience amazes me more. Neither of you are any less dangerous than an experienced war veteran, despite being so young.”
“Thanks for the compliments. We’ve seen our fair share of battles, but you don’t need to worry about that. So, do you want to keep going at it, or do you give up already?” Thoth asks with a taunting voice.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t gotten old enough to lose to brats like you yet.” Daedalus responds with a smirk.
“You’re not making a very convincing argument, with two knives inside of you and all.”
“If you think something like this can actually hurt me, then you’re gravely mistaken.” Right after saying that, he casually grabs the handle of the knife in his right forearm and pulls it out in one motion. The cut was only visible for a second, before the skin mends and fixes itself. He pulls out the knife in his thigh as well, which also heals in a single second.
“[Self Regeneration]...” I mutter quietly to Thoth.
“Yeah, pretty damn strong too it seems.” She whispers back.
“Well then, girls. Are you ready to start round two?”
––––––––––
“...I win?” I ask the two exhausted warriors on the ground in front of me.
“I haven’t had a workout like this in a while…” Daedalus says while leaning on a nearby tree.
“I shouldn’t have turned this into a free-for-all…” Thoth gasps out as she lays panting on the forest floor.
As soon as round two started, Thoth started it off by attacking me, before declaring it to be a free for all. For over half an hour, the three of us fought head to head without restraint, going at each other as if it was a real battle. In the end, I remained as the last warrior standing due to having the most stamina despite being the most active in the fight.
“Evalot, it seems like you had nothing to worry about. They’re much stronger than you described to me, and can clearly handle themselves in a fight. In fact, I think they’re even stronger than some of our own soldiers.” Daedalus says after catching his breath.
“I didn’t expect them to be so strong either. But despite being so tired now, you were holding back the entire time. You still didn’t pull out [Grymwire].” She states.
“Even if I wasn’t, I would probably fail to outlast Brynhildr. It’s always painful to fight a [Brawler] class over an extended period of time. They always have the most energy out of the fighting classes.” Daedalus makes a random statement that confused me. I don’t recall having that class.
“What’s... that... supposed to mean?” Thoth asks, still trying to catch her breath.
“[Brawlers] usually have passive abilities that makes their stamina endless. I can’t see how the girl would last longer than me otherwise, so she has to be one, am I wrong?”
“...yes?” I answer, curious about why he thought that. Both Evalot and Daedalus went quiet upon hearing this.
“...really?” Evalot asks to confirm.
“Yes.” I repeat myself for the second time.
In an instant, Daedalus pulled Evalot away and they both began whispering to each other. During this, Thoth finally regains the stamina to stand up again and comes to my side.
“You’re such a cheat existence.” She whispers to me so the other two don’t overhear.
“...didn’t ask for this.” I reply normally.
“Yeah, I know that much. But honestly, I’m kinda glad we’re on a second run at life. Gave us a chance to be friends, right?” I turn my head to see her looking up at me with a smile. It was really adorable to see, and before I realize it, I find myself rubbing her head.
“Again? Do you just like touching my hair, or are you trying to emphasize the fact that you’re taller than me and can casually do this?” Thoth says with an annoyed expression, but the tone in her voice couldn’t hide the fact that she enjoyed it.
After a few seconds, I see Daedalus approaching us in the corner of my eye and stopped rubbing her head.
“The preparations should be done for the teleportation spell, but before we head back, I’d like to ask both of you something.” He immediately says as he walks up to us. “The both of you, would you like to join–”
“”No.”” The both of us answered in sync.
Silence fills the air around us, the old adventurer in front of us staring at us as if he was analyzing what he just heard thoroughly. Behind him, I can see Evalot completely shocked at our immediate answer. She opens her mouth to say something, but Daedalus raised his hand to stop her.
“Very well then.” Without another word, he turns his back to us before walking down the path back to the field. Evalot looked at us with a worried expression on her face, before following Daedalus down the path.
“We should get going, I want to see how this teleportation spell works!” Thoth says with excitement, as if we didn’t just harshly reject the old man.
She sprints to catch up with the two while leaving me behind. I take my time to return, slowly walking through the forest and admiring the scenery, which I wasn’t able to do before. Of course, I went to get my case before heading back. No way I was ever going to forget this.
––––––––
Third Person POV:
[Etermony].
One of the many worlds separate from Sykerion, with their own unique race and technology. It is also known as the world of nature, due to the amount of forests and the massive variety of magic beasts spread throughout its surface. Here, the dominant race are called the [Wood Elves], whose appearances are very similar to human, but are distinguishable by their long, pointed ears.
Unlike most races, the [Wood Elves] have survived by living in harmony with nature, allowing them to have a natural affinity with elemental magic no matter what. Even though they’re able to use it freely, they hardly have any conflicts with other races, making them the most peaceful race compared to the rest. But being the most peaceful race doesn’t necessarily mean they’re weak.
In a massive, monsoon forest in the eastern parts of the world, the largest country of [Etermony] lies there, known as [Rurutia]. Ruled by a monarchy, they are one of the superpowers of the world, and are recognized as one of the most powerful forces in this dimension, compared to the other [Living Worlds]. Due to many elven youths seeking to join this powerful military, it is a country where warriors and adventurers gather together.
[Lune], one of the bigger cities of the country, often holds tournaments in a grand colosseum. Today is the final day of a major world tournament hosted by the Royal Family themselves. It is basically an event for them to scout out potential fighters to add to their ranks, as they are preparing for something unknown.
Outside the city, two strange figures were standing near the entrance. One was dressed in attire similar to a ninja, with a tantou hanging off the waist. The other wore heavy, plated armor similar to samurai, while wearing a horrific mask symbolizing the old [Death God] that the elves managed to defeat many millenniums ago. They were supposed to be the finalists in the [Two-on-Two] event, yet, they were leaving the city.
“I don’t think it was a good idea to skip the final battle.” The ninja says.
“Doesn’t matter. Neither looked like they could’ve lasted for a second, so it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get moving to the next city, I’m getting bored of this.” The samurai complains in response.
“If you want someone strong, then–”
“No. You’re just overpowered, and a cheat.”
“...yeah, I guess. Sometimes, I wonder why we’re both even here.”
“No use thinking about it. Besides, if it weren’t for you, I’d still be here in my original form and tearing everything apart. But no~ you had to come along and do something about it!”
“Considering you were wreaking far too much havoc, it was the necessary thing to do. Besides, the [World Gates] are open, right?”
“So what? That doesn’t benefit me in any…” The samurai suddenly freezes on the spot, becoming silent.
“...you okay?”
“You’re a genius!” The heavily armored figure suddenly yells, before laughing crazily.
“I don’t like the sound of your laughter…”
“That’s right! The [World Gates]! There’s bound to be stronger fighters in different worlds, right?!” The ninja sighs upon hearing the samurai’s words, knowing what’s coming next.
“[Pladis], the closest city with a [World Gate].”
“Thanks, Jin. Man, it’s awesome being friends with a [Former Hero]. Both smart and strong!”
“Don’t forget this [Hero] was the one who slayed you, Naia the [Death God].”
“You became old and died a few years later anyway. Doesn’t matter now, does it? Now let’s get going, shall we?” Sprinting in the direction of [Pladis], the samurai was clearly excited to find fighters from other worlds. The ninja sighs again, before reluctantly following behind.
----------------------------------------
11:00 PM, I return from a certain place alive. And upon returning, I shall release this before going to sleep and waking up again to start the next one. I know that I was gone again, breaking promises here and there, but I think I’m getting my grip back onto my life. Though some of you may need to re-read due to how long it took for this to come up, I’ll be a bit happy to see you guys picking this up again as I try to catch up with missing chapters. As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll try to reply to your comments when I can!
P.S. My editor quit due to me disappearing for so long without notifying him, Can’t blame him, my fault completely. So basically, there’s probably a ton of grammar mistakes.
Edit: Seems like he returned, and edited the chapter. Thanks Naoki~
Edited + the A.N. (Author Note)