"So how would you like to do this?" I ask towards Clove in the silent arena. The crowd was watching closely. After my fight with Rou attention had been drawn to me. And now I stood against the Princess, the one expected to win this tournament. It seemed to all be going according to Clove's plan.

"I would say I want it finished quickly but my pride won't allow that. I want our swords to match at least once."

"Very well. It should be an interesting experience. I've never swung a sword before."

"You… Ah, I suppose that makes sense. Nothing about you would be normal."

To be clear the match has long started. For now, we are just chatting though. The crowd seems to be straining themselves to hear our conversation but we are likely speaking too low.

"Whenever you are ready then," I say to Clove lifting the blade and swinging it once to gauge how it reacts.

Swinging a sword is weird. It's heavier than you expect, it wants to slide from your hand. The grip is important but also wrist control it seems. Only about half the strike comes from the swing of the arm, the real damage comes from the wrist. The real control comes from the wrist.

Or that's my theory. Let's try.

Clove raises her own blade and points it towards me shutting one eye. She swings it and a burst of heat erupts from the tip pouring towards me. I dodge upwards but this seems to be in her plan. She swings the blade again unleashing another burst of flames.

So she has fire magic? This wasn't mentioned. Or no, perhaps it's a flame sword of some kind. In any case, can my sword even go against that? Well, let's try.

After blocking the flames with my wrists and only suffering minor damage, I land and quickly cut the distance between me and Clove.

She adjusts her stance to a defensive one and prepares to parry my blow.

Do I really have a chance here? She can predict my moves before I make them and her sword skills are superior. If I rely on sword alone I will probably be destroyed.

But I won't relent. I swing the sword roughly and it emits a shower of sparks when contacting Clove's motionless blade.

It really was a spectacular light show though, do swords normally spark that much?

"Oh, that's a big dent," I say, backing up a pace and glancing at the spot our swords met. A huge gash had been cut into my blade while hers appeared spotless.

This wasn't merely a difference in metal quality if I had to guess it's…

"You ought to be careful swinging a normal sword against a magic tool. You'll break it."

"So it's like that? Then I never had a chance with this sword to start with."

Clove glances around the ring as if avoiding eye contact.

"Well no matter," I continue holding the damaged blade in one hand and looking over it. "I'll just have to make proper use of it before it breaks."

She laughs but then instantly quiets when she notices the base of my blade. It was a deep red and the infection was spreading.

To be clear I still haven't mastered demonizing something but I can usually maintain it for a good few minutes before it shatters.   

I flex my leg, rocketing towards Clove with more speed than I have used before. We both swing our swords each hoping this would finish it.

Our swords met with a shower of sparks but this time the material isn't mine. Clove looks to the blade in disbelief and then towards mine again.

"Enough." She says stepping back and dropping her broken blade. She raises both hands and turns towards the box. "Now hurry up and get rid of that thing dummy."

"Oh, right." I force more mana into the blade fracturing it and turning it to splinters.

I suppose using demon powers in front of a crowd may be considered a bad idea. But I doubt anyone was watching that closely.

~ ~

The results, in the end, were interesting. My bracket ended with me, of course, going to the Finals. But the Prince bracket had an upset as well.

Aqua.

She beat El. And pretty handily too. She actually developed a technique after the first match. She would strike the ground knocking up a heavy cloud of rock and dust. I wasn't entirely aware what she did while in the darkness but if I had to guess it was her leg sweep, poke maneuver.

It was the only technique that had worked against me so I assume it is her 'go-to' attack. But it worked against El who was properly armed with her spear gun, I knew Aqua's level was higher than El's but I didn't expect their talent in fighting to be so different.

Anyways, as we were leaving the Tournament grounds that evening we were called out to by an interestingly dressed woman. I had seen the get-up before but it still distracted me in all the wrong ways.

It was a single piece of white cloth that wrapped around the neck draping loosely over the chest before tying together into a simple dress at the bottom. The healers moved around often so the clothes didn't always cover as it should.

Surely they must know?

"Excuse me." She said bowing deeply. "You are Cole Moedy correct?"

Oh, so 'this' is the priestess arc then? I judged too quickly last time.

"Yes, I am." I reluctantly decide after exploring my various options. None seemed better than the 'truth' so I went with it.

"If you wouldn't mind would you come to church with me. It won't take long and we will be able to heal any wounds you may have suffered."

"Captain didn't take wounds."

"Mhm, Mirna's right. And if he did I would heal them myself." Aqua says with a huff.

"So it is true then. You are able to perform healing magic. This only reinforces the need for you to come with me."

"But surely Cole is tired, Priestess. Would it not be better left for tomorrow?" Clove asks trying to prompt our return to the ship.

"It's surely as you say Princess, but I must insist. It's an invitation from the Pope herself. I would be remiss to make her wait."

"But even the Pope must be tired after such a long…"

"I'll meet her."

"Understood right this way please."

"Ah, sorry I didn't mean to decide that for you all," I say towards the reluctant crew. "If you are tired you can head back to the boat. I won't be long."

"No, I will stay with Captain," Aqua says adamantly.

"Me as well," El adds.

The rest of the group seem to agree so we follow the barebacked priestess towards the large church in the inner capital.

I understand their trepidations but I have a theory.  

"If you don't mind can you tell me about your religion? I apologize, but I am fairly unfamiliar with this country despite me currently calling it my home."

"Of course, that's my duty as a priestess. Our church was founded thousands of years ago. We follow the Spirit of Faith, she entrusted to us the words in the holy book. From her, we learn kindness, compassion, and loyalty. She teaches us not to follow blindly but to strive to advance. And our holy mother is a devote follower, she leads us as if the Spirit herself still walks."

"Oh? What kind of person is this pope? Has she had the position long?"

"Yes, although she appears not much older than I, she has been the holy mother as long as I can remember. And in all my memory she has never looked a day less radiant."

"Oh?!" I respond almost assured now of my guess. But really, it's like she's all but telling me she's the Spirit. Do these people really not realize their Pope is the very same person who wrote that holy book?

"Captain you don't think…"

"Quiet down Rou," Aqua says gripping her shoulder.

Rou, realizing she was the last to realize in the group looks down with reddened cheeks. The priestess, however, doesn't seem to notice the outburst so we continued into the church without delay.

After a long winding staircase and a few doors with intricate locks, we finally arrived at a large ornately carved door. The priestess knocks on the door twice and then patiently waits.

"Yes?" A small voice answers, opening the door and filling it with almost blinding beauty.

The pope, a woman who appeared in her early twenties wore a dress of similar cut to the priestess. However, she seemed to have no trouble occupying the fabric. Perhaps this dress was suited more for her than the slightly board shaped priestess beside me.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Then you are…" She glances at the priestess and ends her question. "Yes, sorry. please come in. Thank you, Priestess Iurha you may retire for the night. I apologize for keeping you."

"Not at all Your Holiness. Goodnight." The Priestess gracefully bows from beside me and—I swear it was on accident—I catch a glance past her fabric before quickly adjusting my glance to something less dangerous.

Ah, no not there either.

This Damien really had dangerous tastes. And her subordinates weren't bad either.

The Spirit of Faith extends a hand towards the room and my group steps inside before shutting the door firmly behind us. The 'Pope' then takes a small metal amulet from a shelf and presses a magic stone.

A small almost unnoticeable aura seems to permeate through the room for a moment before it ends as if it were a passing wind.

"Well then. Now we can talk. So you are the new one, huh? That's exciting and you're a good kid it seems. Ah, that's good, that's good."  

She talks in a quick excited voice. She almost seemed childish, had this person really lived over a thousand years?

"That would make you the 'Spirit of Faith'?"

"Bing Bing. Good. But my real name isn't that long winded you know. It's Zo."

"Zo?"

"Right, but that name doesn't sound right for a holy entity so I just followed the naming style of the rest of the girls. Oh? So does that mean you already know about all of us? You readily accepted that I wasn't just The Pope calling to meet the hero."

"Yeah, I've met with Aquarou."

"Ah, you have? I was totally ready to reveal the reason for the name of those two girls."

"Yeah, she beat you to it."

"Damn, well no matter. Did you know you're a demon? Ah, I suppose she would have said that part too. Well, in any case, it's wonderful to meet you. And you are already strong, so you need no protecting. It puts me at ease."

"Thanks, I appreciate your concern. But it's as you say, I need no protecting, and in due time the crew will be able to if need be."

"Mm, mm. It's as you say. They are strong. It was a wonderful tournament. I can't wait for the final match tomorrow."

"You saw?"

"Of course, although I couldn't leave the church so I used an old tool Minerva made for me."

"Minerva is the Spirit of Magic?" I had heard the name mentioned by Triff before. And then again when Aquarou was crying about her pupil glorifying another Spirit.

"Yes, she's a dear friend of mine. Or was, we don't see each other often anymore."

"I've heard similar stories from Aquarou. But I'm curious and I couldn't get it out of Aquarou. Why is there a rivalry there? And isn't Aquarou the more skilled magical tool maker, so then why is Minerva the one known for magical tools?"

"Hmm, well its simple really. Aquarou is a genius. Minerva is a realist. Aquarou's tools have a use once, but Minerva's are tools passed down for generations. Think about it do you have any tools from Aquarou?"

"Yes, we got a scale that…"

"And do you use it daily?"

"Well no but…"

"But the belt on Princess Clove's waist. That is surely used often. That was something Minerva threw together when she couldn't handle the heat the oven was emitting. And now look at it, it's a relic saved in the royal vault for hundreds of years."

"I think I see the problem between the two."

"Do you want to know what Aquarou did to fix the same problem?"

"I imagine it wasn't efficient."

"She made a tool that could generate a pie once a month, the only problem was it required an extremely rare 'blueberry affinity' magic stone."

"That seems very inefficient. Did you say blueberry affinity…"

Zo told me a few various stories laughing all the while. Again it took a few minutes but the girls began to get used to the fact they were standing in front of a god-like entity.

They chatted about various things. Aqua was interested in advanced healing magics, Clove wanted to know more about the hero's past, even El began asking about the identity of the world tree spirit.

Zo happily replied to their queries beaming with a huge grin. It seems she enjoyed any chance to talk about the past. She said she hadn't seen the others in a long time, I wonder how long?

"So you understand the issue Damien had? You're from the same world perhaps you feel the same way?"

"Mhm, Aquarou told me a lot about it. It's something I have to deal with I suppose."

"I see. So which of them will you choose? Have you decided already?" Zo asks eagerly looking around the room.

"What? No, I won't choose a single one. I will attempt what Damien thought was impossible."

"Why?" Zo asked with a cocked brow.

"What? Wouldn't you have preferred that? Don't you no longer see your friends because of Damien's selfishness?"

"Damien wasn't selfish!" Zo says indignantly. "He was firm in his belief that a relationship between more than two people would fail. And I trust his belief."

Ah, the Spirit of Faith, I see. So there were those on his side as well.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to speak poorly of him. I just believe it might be possible. Aquarou seemed adamant that I try."

"I see. Well, I don't understand it but if you believe, then what could I possibly say to change your mind." Zo reluctantly relents before adjusting her dress and continuing. "But that's not the reason I asked you here. You have to be more careful using demon powers in public. Take this."

She hands me a small silver amulet with intricate patterns and a wide flat magic stone in the center. It shimmered gold for a moment when I gripped it from her extended palm.

"What is this?" I ask inspecting the necklace.

"Try to strengthen something while wearing it." She hands me a small pencil from the desk prompting me to fill it with mana.

I follow her order and begin to fill the small lump of wood and charcoal with mana. It glows as usual but the color is no longer a blood-red. It's now a cool blue that seems to emit cold fog. "Oh, that is handy."

"With that, we won't get any more reports about you being a demon."

"Have you already?"

"Just a few. Someone from the king's personal guard came a few hours ago in fact."

"Dad?" Clove asked widening her eyes.

"But it's no problem. We explained that it was a rare type of holy magic and that we would be training you to control it better."

"Well thank you I suppose. I owe you one."

"No worries. But you have a long day tomorrow, I don't want to keep you longer than I must. Rou, Aqua, Mirna, El, Alice, Clove, it was a pleasure meeting you all."

"Likewise."

"It was my honor."

"Mirna's sleepy."

"That's right it's way past your bedtime!"

~ ~

"Captain." A voice says from the right. "About what Zo said…"

"I will follow Aquarou's advice for now. But I am now curious what the other members of Damien's party think, do they all have such differing views on the subject?"

"So you won't…" Rou asks hesitating to finish the question.

"No, I couldn't choose a single one of you even if I tried. Damien felt the same way. Thinking about it, I pity the fact that he tried."

"You talk as if you know him."

"I read a book he wrote. It wasn't good but it had some interesting thoughts."

"A book?" Rou asks

"Wait, That book? So it was you?!" Clove demands leaning up and pointing at me accusatorily.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry if I caused a panic. But, it really wasn't much help."

"Ugh, you are unbelievable sometimes Cole."

"Sorry?"

"Well never mind that," Rou says changing the subject. "Captain should sleep, a big match tomorrow. Captain vs sister, a fight to end all fights. Are you going to do something special for it?"

"I have nothing particular planned, How about you Aqua?"

"Triff made me something, but I was told to keep it a secret."

"I feel like I'm in danger."