Chapter 4:
Shadows of the Marquis
THE DAY AFTER HUMMELS attacked us, we attended the auctions as planned, especially after Velmeria asked us to resume our normal activities. Whatever Aschtner was planning, Bayreeds decided that keeping a low profile was the best way to throw him off.
Besides, we had magicites to bid on.
First up is a Goblin King magicite.
“Hm.”
Participants were given the names of the magicites that would go on sale, but their skills remained a mystery. skills were quite useless to the ordinary buyer, and they were difficult to understand. Even with Heavensight, I could only see what kind of monster the magicite came from. Maybe there was a skill that in turn allowed you to see what skills a magicite had, but I had never heard of it. That would be really useful if we came across it, though.
Our target was C-Threat magicite, from humanoid monsters in particular. Humanoids were skilled with their hands and possessed many skills, thanks to their ability to train. From what I’d seen, goblins, orcs, daemons, and other such humanoids were among their number. Their humanoid form also made it easy for Fran to make use of them. I really wanted the daemon magicite, the final item in the afternoon session. However, the number of potential buyers it attracted guaranteed a bidding war.
Not that we were strapped for cash after the Beastman Nation awarded us with twenty million gauld. Still, we didn’t want to pay ten times the initial price for it. We might get away with getting the stink eye from our fellow bidders, but an astronomical bid could raise Marquis Aschtner’s suspicions.
“Shall we?”
“Hm.”
You listen to everything Kodart says, okay, Fran?
I will.
We weren’t alone today. A representative from the Adventurers’ Guild was with us so Fran wouldn’t stand out. People were bound to do a background check on a little girl buying up all the magicite by herself. To avoid that, Erianthe suggested hiring an adventurer who was familiar with the auction house.
Kodart was an E-Rank adventurer who had Identify and who was an auctioneer in his previous career. He had long admired adventurers, so when he finally had enough money to buy himself a set of armor that wouldn’t get him killed in the field, he signed up at the guild and never looked back. He was thirty-five years old—no spring chicken, but it was quite impressive when you considered that he made it to Rank E at his age. He was late in blooming, but he had bloomed, indeed. He mostly took on minor extermination quests and odd jobs in the capital, and had a great deal of fun carrying them out. He had nothing but respect for Fran, whom he considered a powerful adventurer despite her age.
With such a glowing endorsement from Erianthe, we had no choice but to accept his employment.
“Will this be everything you want to bid on?” Kodart asked.
“Yeah,” Fran said.
Though they sat next to each other, Kodart would be doing the bidding. We made a list of all the magicite we wanted to bid upon. Kodart recommended the highest price to bid for each item, so all we had to do was follow his lead. In the event the price went over the limit, Fran would use a Wind spell to whisper a new price limit into Kodart’s ear if she really wanted the item.
If we wanted anything else, we would bid on it ourselves. It would be weird not to bid on anything during an auction event. According to the catalogue, one auction had magicite whose skills were unidentifiable even by experts. That was what I was aiming for.
“Will you be sitting in the VIP seats?”
“Hm.”
Food and drink were allowed in the VIP seats, which were sure to decrease Fran’s boredom. Kodart took his VIP seat, as well.
Usually, an auction agent would be paid the percentage difference between the maximum bid and the winning bid, but Kodart offered us his services for cheap. In exchange, he asked Fran to practice with him. We had our training session together first thing this morning.
To be honest, your thirties wasn’t the best time to begin an adventuring career. But Kodart had more than enough guts and perseverance to make up for it. Today, Fran showed him how to practice weapon arts and the proper way to use them. For the most part, she just had him block her attacks, but that was enough to make him happy. He was deeply moved by the fact that such a high-level adventurer would take the time to train him. Fran blocked him and knocked him on his back many times, but he got up each time with a huge smile on his face. Practice would take this late bloomer far.
“All right, then,” Kodart said. “Leave the rest to me.”
“Hm.”
One hour passed.
“We’ve successfully bid on the Goblin King magicite.”
“Munch, munch.”
“Next on the list is the daemon magicite. That’s the final item of the afternoon session.”
“Munch, munch.”
Fran had an onigiri in each hand as she listened to Kodart. It was filled with shipbreaker tuna mayonnaise and embellished with kelp-like seaweed. I told her that she couldn’t have anything in the auction house that had too intense an aroma; that left onigiri and sandwiches.
Anyway, I didn’t think the Goblin King magicite would end up costing so much. The auctioneer had begun the auction by saying, “Magicite that came from a Goblin King. This king of goblins possessed Life Magic, and his regenerative capabilities gave adventurers a hard time!” I was immediately sold on the magicite and told Kodart that he could use whatever funds we had to claim it. The final bid came down to two million gauld—over four times the starting bid.
We had the magicite collectors to thank for the price inflation. Collectors existed, even in this world. They were looking for rare magicite to add to their collection—the prettier the better.
Magicite came in all shapes and sizes, usually irregular forms. While magicite that looked like beautifully cut gems did exist, these were the exceptions to the rule. They couldn’t be cut—not if you wanted to keep the full force of their mana. And magicite was pretty worthless if it didn’t deliver on the mana.
Beautiful magicite were scarce. Beautiful and powerful magicite were scarcer still. And with scarcity came price inflation.
You would think that power wouldn’t matter to collectors who were just going to put them on display anyway, but you would be wrong. Power had its own attraction, and people would pay big bucks for beautiful power. The Goblin King magicite was one such powerful beauty.
Kodart explained that because of how auctions worked, the final price of the magicite couldn’t be determined by rank alone. It wasn’t uncommon for E-Threat magicite to be sold at a higher price than D-Threat magicite, for example. The whole thing reminded me how difficult auctions could get.
I wonder how much the daemon magicite’s going to end up at.
At this point, I could only worry and pray.
Besides, it wasn’t as if the daemon magicite was the only thing I wanted. There was still the final part of the morning auctions, Carry-on and Unidentifiables. There was bound to be interesting magicite here.
“Next up, we have a mysterious magicite which defies identification! The seller is an adventurer who recovered it from a bandit’s hideout. They have no idea what monster it came from!”
The magicite was small, but regular enough to pass for a gemstone. Its price was guaranteed to inflate.
“Starting bid at ten thousand!” the auctioneer declared. The auction floor went wild immediately as one bidding card rose after another. Bidders didn’t even know what they were bidding for, but they bid just in case. I, on the other hand, knew exactly what it was and knew that I had to get my hands on it.
Fran! That one! I need it! We have to get it!
Hm.
I asked Fran to make the bid. I thought I saw her squint her eyes but that was probably just my imagination. Anyway, we had to keep our eyes on the magicite!
The bidding war continued for three minutes until we won the mysterious magicite at a price of 120,000 gauld.
Got it.
Oh, thank you so much, Fran! Heh heh heh! That was a Corrupt Goblin General we just got!
Hm…
I wonder what skills it has. What do you think? I can’t wait to dive in!
Mmm…
The magicite was from an elite goblin. A Corrupt Goblin. A Corrupt Goblin General, at that. I guess the Malice was too powerful for it to be Identified. No one could have guessed what it was. Good thing I had Heavensight. Fiend magicite wasn’t going to do much to feed the mystery soul inside of me, but the prospect of a Goblin General’s skills was too good to pass up.
Kodart successfully bid on seven out of the eight magicite we wanted. We failed to get the Cait Sith magicite. It was a C-Threat fairy monster and its magicite was beautiful and colorful, in addition to possessing unique skills. The offers blew past ten times the starting bid in a few minutes.
We spent over ten million gauld, but we got our daemon magicite in the end and were very grateful to Kodart.
We left the auction house and headed to the inn.
Come on, we have to go back to the inn so we can start cracking open some magicite!
“Hm.”
Yahoo!
I was excited. Fiend magicite aside, we got three C-Threats, with our cheapest purchase being a D-Threat. The daemon magicite was from a B-Threat daemon count; the same kind we defeated all the way back in Alessa.
I couldn’t wait to get absorbing these babies!
Come on, Fran! Faster!
Okay.
Ma-gi-cite! Ma-gi-cite!
You’re having so much fun, Teacher.
Suddenly, I felt a presence approach us from behind. I immediately switched gears, but then relaxed myself. Whoever it was wasn’t a threat. They didn’t bother concealing their aura and anyone could hear them running. The weakest of adventurers would at least make a token attempt. They had to be civilians.
“Wait!” a middle-aged man called out to Fran. He was dressed fashionably, although his gut jiggled as he ran. The man could definitely do with more exercise.
“M-may I have a minute of your time? I’ll make it worth your while!”
“Hm?” Fran pointed to herself and tilted her head.
“Yes, you!” the man said, smiling. “I’m here to make you an offer you can’t refuse!”
Teacher?
Well, I guess we can hear him out.
As much as I would love to just teleport to the inn right now!
“You have one minute.”
“Wonderful!” the man said. “Step right in.” He motioned her to a carriage. He was well-prepared for someone who was clearly an idiot. He must have thought Fran a mere child. Someone didn’t run a background check on her. What could he want? Make it worth her while? An offer she couldn’t refuse? This was definitely a scam.
I Identified him, and he didn’t seem like a bad person by his stats, but he was a noble. A baron, to be exact.
“What’s your name?”
“Huh? Oh, where are my manners? My name is Beckelt.” The man bowed. He omitted his surname, which made him all the more suspicious.
“What do you want?”
“It might take some time to explain…”
“Better get started, then.” Fran wasn’t about to get into a carriage with a stranger.
“But, you see…”
“I gave you a minute,” Fran said, turning away. “And you’re out of time.”
“W-wait! You’ll regret it if you leave!”
“…Are you threatening me?”
“N-no, I would never! I just need to talk to you! Hey, get out here!” the man shouted at the people inside the carriage. Two men stepped out and surrounded Fran. They had clearly been waiting in the carriage to threaten Fran, maybe even attack her if it came to it.
They stood around her, exposing the swords on their hips with angry faces. It was so well choreographed that I thought they must do this for a living. It certainly would’ve scared ordinary civilians. But beneath the mean glares, the built bodies, and the threatening weaponry lay performance skills which were greater than their weapon skills. An average Bayreeds guard could’ve taken both of them to the cleaners.
Obviously Fran wasn’t fazed by these fake adventurers. “Well? What is it?”
“Huh? Umm…” Beckelt was confused by the failure of his intimidation. He also remembered his reason for calling out to Fran in the first place. “You see, my lord wants to have the sword on your back.”
“Your lord? What’s his name?”
“I cannot say,” Beckelt said. “But he is willing to pay fifty million gauld for your sword.”
“You mean this sword?”
“It’s a great deal, isn’t it? Now can I please have it?” Beckelt extended his hand, the thought of refusal never crossing his mind. Fifty million was a lot of money. It was enough money for the common man to live the rest of his life with. Only problem was that I didn’t think the common man would be stupid enough to expect fifty million gauld from such an obvious fraud.
He was pretty much making a fool of himself at this point. Did she really look that broke? Still, fifty million gauld was a pretty penny. But I didn’t think Fran would ever sell me.
I mean, she wouldn’t, would she?
“Sword’s not for sale,” Fran said.
See! I told you!
“What was that?”
“I said, it’s not for sale.”
Beckelt laughed, “Oh, you jest!”
“I’m not joking.”
“Fifty million gauld,” Beckelt said in shock. “Don’t you think that’s more than a fair trade? You won’t have to work another day in your life. You can quit being an adventurer!”
He really didn’t know who Fran was. He could’ve handled this a lot better if he had even a cursory knowledge of the Black Lightning Princess.
Fran lost all interest in Beckelt and started walking away. She knew he wasn’t worth talking to.
But of course, the two brutes from earlier stood in her path.
“Hold it right there.”
“You’re being a little rude, don’t you think?”
They grinned as they attempted to muscle Fran into the carriage.
“Gah…!”
“Hurk…!”
Their attempt failed. I choked their necks with Telekinesis and lifted them off the ground. The image was quite spectacular. Two burly men being held up by an invisible force was the stuff movies were made of. Their feet flapped over the ground as they were helpless against my Telekinesis. It didn’t last long. They soon lost consciousness.
“Wh-what did you do to them?!” Beckelt shouted.
“I didn’t do anything,” Fran said. She glared at him with a look that said You’re next.
“F-fine!” Beckelt was sweating now. “Sixty million! That should be enough!”
“I wouldn’t sell it for the world.”
“A hundred million! What do you say?!”
Essence of Falsehood notified me that he was lying. Actually, even sixty million had been a lie.
I thought about letting Fran sell me so I could identify his master, but thought better of it. That demon sword was still at large. Besides, they might have special tools to seal away my powers. I had Seal Immunity, but that didn’t mean that Seal Immunity was impenetrable by itself. The gamble was too dangerous to make.
“Are you deaf?” Fran said. “I said, it’s not for sale. Not for any amount of money.”
“W-wait!”
Fran walked away, but Beckelt pursued her. Her attitude seemed to have offended him more than anything else.
“Y-you little runt… I said I’m willing to take that piece of junk off you! You commoners should happily take whatever money you’re given! Now give me that sword before I take it from you by force!”
He quickly showed his true colors. Very unfortunate.
“Hey.”
Beckelt yelped. “Wh-what are you doing…!”
“Did you call Teacher a piece of junk?”
“Eeeeek!”
“Take him from me by force? You?”
Beckelt’s threats hit a very sensitive spot. Fran loved me, undeserving as I was. It was here that Beckelt saw his chances of taking me to his master in one piece drop to nil.
“Are you here to steal Teacher?” Fran said, activating Menace. She was set on breaking his spirit now, and her deep anger enabled her to focus her rage on Beckelt.
I think this was the first time she had full control of the skill. I thought her excess anger would spread like an inferno, but instead it was focused like a blowtorch.
“Aaa… Aaaah…”
A dark spot began spreading in Beckelt’s pants. He must have wet himself. Fran approached him, but she could step in a puddle of pee if she wasn’t careful.
“Hmph.”
“Yaaaagh!”
She extended her hand like she was going to help him get up. Fran didn’t wait for Beckelt. She grabbed his hand and shook it. But I knew it was no ordinary handshake.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Fran squeezed his hand with all her strength, and Beckelt’s hand crumpled under the force like a rubber glove. He screamed, and his mouth began to foam. He couldn’t process such immense pain and fear at the same time.
She let go and allowed him to fall on his rear. She healed his broken hand to erase all evidence. The only thing that was left now was a fat, middle-aged noble who screamed like a baby when a little girl shook his hand. We had attracted a crowd of onlookers by now, and everyone who saw him looked disgusted at the presumed pervert.
Most of the onlookers were merchants and nobles. His social life was probably over.
What do we do with him? I asked Fran.
Ask him who he’s working for.
And how do you plan on doing that?
Beat him up, of course.
I figured she’d say that. Still, I thought it was best that we didn’t rough him up any more. Beckelt was still nobility, and dealing with the repercussions would be a pain in the rear. I thought we should let him be, but then again…
Ugh, this was so annoying! I just wanted to get back to our inn in peace!
Someone else approached us as we considered Beckelt’s fate. His aura was so faint that he had to announce himself to us.
“Black Lightning Princess, let us take care of this man,” Frederick said.
“But…”
Fran hesitated. She was ready to literally beat the information out of Beckelt, but she also didn’t want to waste her time with him. Frederick and the others were probably good at interrogating people. In fact, times like this were precisely why the count assigned us our observer-slash-bodyguard.
No, Fran. You should definitely let Frederick handle this one.
Really?
Yeah!
“All right,” Fran said. “He’s all yours.”
“Rest assured,” Frederick replied. “We’ll find out who he’s working for.”
Beckelt was in good hands. Frederick couldn’t have come at a better time.
Well, now that that’s settled. Back to the inn!
Teacher.
What?
Did you just hand him over to Frederick because you wanted to get to the inn sooner?
Uhh. No. No, of course not.
…Let’s head back.
That’s right! Our magicite waits! Yee-haw!
I thought I saw the ghost of exasperation on Fran’s face. I thought I saw it multiple times today, but I must be imagining things.
In the end, we were able to return to the inn without a hitch.
All right… Do you know what time it is? Yes you do!
“Yep.”
Well then, Fran. If you would line up the magicite for me, please?
“…Hm.”
Fran stared at me. Judgmentally, might I add. Still, she lined up the magicite all the same.
Time to eat!
“…”
Ha ha ha! Oooh, I feel the mana coming! It feels amazing. I can’t get enough! Aaaaah…! This is bliss.
“…You sure are enjoying yourself, Teacher.”
“…Woof.”
Jet was also staring at me judgmentally. But why?
Oooooh!
“…Hm.”
“…Woof.”
Yippee!
Ten minutes had passed since I started cracking magicite.
Uhh… I’m really sorry.
“What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Arf.”
Then why are you looking at me like I did?!
“No reason…”
“Ruff…”
All right. Maybe I got a teensy bit overexcited, but there’s no reason for them to stare at me like that!
I might have lost some of my dignity as a parental figure, but I made up for it with a lot of skills and magicite points. I got 1,420 points in total with eleven skills, two of them Unique.
Not that any of them was enough to stop Fran and Jet’s judgmental stares.
Still, there were some interesting skills among the new pack. At the top of the list was Life Magic. Together with Thunder, Sand, Steel, Wood, and Frost magicks, we now had all six compound elements. As expected, Fran got a new title for it: Elemental Master. The title was considered a must-have for mages. It increased the bearer’s ability to control mana and process spells. I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the buff, but the title would be a great help for Fran whenever she used magic. She also unlocked the class High Mage, which I gathered to be the elite form of Mage.
Other skills included Singing, Dancing, Woodworking, and Carpentry. These crafting skills were useful, but not for us. On the more useful side of regular skills was Decay Immunity, Weight Inflation, Undead Exorcism, and Zoology. As for Uniques, there was Predator and Cannibalize.
As its name suggested, Decay Immunity made one immune to decay-inducing attacks. Organics would be immune to rot, while inanimate objects would be immune to corrosion. It was a handy skill for both me and Fran. Weight Inflation was the advanced form of Increase Weight. It could increase the weight of one’s body, along with the equipment on it. That should allow for some hefty attacks. Undead Exorcism killed weak undead and hobbled stronger ones. It was something like a cleansing spell. Zoology was exactly what its name suggested. No loss there, I suppose.
Predator was the skill that interested me most. It allowed you to gain EXP by eating. Jet had it, and he made it look pretty useful so far. It was one of those skills which was simple but helpful.
And then there was Cannibalize, Theraclede’s signature skill. I had mixed feelings about that one. If you killed a member of the same race, you gained a portion of their power. Theraclede owed his tremendous increase in strength to this skill. He got stronger with every Fiend he killed.
But how would that apply to me? Did I need to kill Godswords and Intelligent Weapons? How do you go about killing weapons, anyway? Does simply breaking them count? Fran wasn’t about to go out and kill Black Cats either, so this skill probably wouldn’t get used much. I left it equipped, anyway. Maybe I would get lucky with an activation.
On a whim, we tried Cannibalize out with some run-of-the-mill enchanted weapons. We bought them from a nearby store and destroyed them. All we had to show for our experiment was a pile of expensive scrap metal and a lighter wallet.
I acquired various other skills, but all of them ended up being fused into their advanced forms. I ended up with fewer skills in the end, but that was better for my processing power. I was still getting used to going for quality over quantity.
We tried out our new skills in the hotel garden. Night fell before long. Count Bayreeds had said he would find Garrus within a day. I was keen to see if he made good on his deal.
“Teacher.”
Looks like they’re here.
We felt familiar auras enter the premises. Their auras were obvious to us, as if announcing their arrival. They slipped through the inn and arrived at the garden. Fran set up a Wind spell around the bench she was sitting in to soundproof it, and motioned for Velmeria and Frederick to sit down.
“You cast spells as if it’s second nature,” Velmeria said, impressed. “Not to mention the fact that you need a referral to even stay at this inn.”
“Hm,” Fran nodded. “Erianthe arranged it for me.”
“The Guildmaster? Are you close with her?”
“We’re okay, I guess.”
“O-oh, I see.”
Velmeria was as formal as ever. Maybe she wasn’t used to talking to Fran, who tended to say the wildest things with little to no expression.
Velmeria cleared her throat. “Let’s get down to business. I have several things to report.”
“Hm.”
“First of all, we’ve looked into the magic sword that you saw.”
Velmeria and the others got right on the hunt for the magic sword. It did control and kill one of their own, after all. I guess they spent the whole day looking into it after we parted ways last night.
“The people you helped saw it, of course.”
“Hm.”
If you were attacked by a flying sword, you wouldn’t forget about it any time soon.
“Unfortunately, we do not know its current whereabouts. Witnesses say that it flew over the residential district and disappeared.” Velmeria sighed. “It was too fast to track down.”
And here I thought a sword flying through the sky with mana propulsion would be easy enough to spot.
She continued. “Because the sword is likely to be an Undead Sword, we looked for adventurers who might use one. Unfortunately, there are none.”
“Too bad,” Fran said.
“We decided to look for information on the sword itself, but this too proved difficult. We know that Marquis Aschtner has been collecting enchanted swords for years now, so we thought we might find something out if we looked into his purchasing history…but we couldn’t find any connections to the sword.”
They had no leads, it seemed.
“Now, regarding the man who approached you today. His name is Beckelt Guus. He works for Aschtner.”
Aschtner just kept coming up. Did he use buying me as a pretense to get to Fran?
“Apparently, the marquis ordered him to get your sword by any means necessary. He told him that the sword had the crest of a wolf on it and that it belonged to a Black Cat swordsman…”
No, he was after the sword—me.
The order was so vague, though. If news about Fran looking for Garrus had reached the marquis’ ears, he would’ve been more specific. He would’ve told Beckelt to steal the sword of Fran the adventurer so that she wouldn’t be able to fight.
“We don’t know whether the marquis knows who you are. There is a possibility that he only knows you insofar as you possess the sword that he wants.”
It sounded like Marquis Aschtner had given that order as a collector, rather than as Garrus’ kidnapper.
“We’re still looking into the matter, and we’ll inform you of any new developments,” Velmeria said.
“All right.”
I was beginning to think Aschtner was behind everything that was wrong with the world.
Velmeria continued, “Finally, we have reports of Garrus’ whereabouts.”
“Hm!”
“We followed up the lead you gave us. Garrus was, in fact, last seen at Count Olmes’ villa.”
Velmeria furled her eyebrows. I had a feeling that was all she’d found out.
“One of our agents saw him, so the report is solid. However…”
“However?”
“One of our spies infiltrated the villa disguised as a gardener, but Garrus was nowhere on the estate. We don’t know whether he’s been moved to a new location.”
There was a good chance he was locked up in a hidden room or some underground cellar. Bayreeds’ agent happened to see Garrus on the first floor of the villa’s hall.
“He was last sighted yesterday.”
“All right,” Fran nodded.
Velmeria continued, a hint of panic in her voice. “Count Bayreeds is doing everything he can to investigate Count Olmes’ villa. Please refrain from doing anything drastic!”
She could sense Fran’s battle spirit rising and was definitely worried that she might charge through Olmes’ front door. Velmeria was right to worry, because that was exactly what Fran wanted to do. I would’ve stopped her, of course. We were still up against nobility, and they had enough power to brand us as criminals on mere suspicion. The only way we could avoid that was to ship Garrus to another continent, and we had no intention of going through that. We still needed to figure out how to save him.
“We won’t be able to get a warrant to investigate Marquis Aschtner’s estate, but Count Olmes is a different matter. I promise you that we’ll look into it over the next few days. In the meantime, we ask for your patience,” Velmeria pleaded.
Let’s do what she says, Fran. It’ll be easier to help Garrus if they figure out his exact location.
“Hm. Okay.”
“Thank you,” Velmeria sighed.
Fran didn’t look completely satisfied with the deal, but being patient was our best bet right now. Still, her battle spirit wasn’t something she could switch off, and it became intense enough for Frederick to notice.
“Velmeria, may I suggest a training session with the Black Lightning Princess?” he asked.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“There is much you can learn from sparring with someone stronger. You should know; you sparred with Steelclaw. And besides, I’m sure the princess would love a bit of physical activity.”
“Hm!” Fran nodded. She got up from the bench and unsheathed me. She was all for Frederick’s suggestion. She immediately turned to Velmeria in her excitement and said, “Come on, Velmeria.”
“…Very well,” Velmeria nodded. She picked up on what Frederick was trying to tell her. It would be better for them if she helped release the pressure valve on Fran’s battle spirit right now.
She wasn’t opposed to it. In fact, she looked like she was looking forward to it. I guess she was one of those people who wouldn’t say no to a fight.
They stopped smiling and walked to the center of the garden.
“You don’t want to ready your weapon?” Fran asked.
“No,” Velmeria said. “This is my ready stance.”
“All right.”
At first glance, it looked like Velmeria would fight Fran bare-handed like a martial artist. While she did have Martial Arts Mastery, her Dagger Mastery, Hidden Weapons Mastery, and Throw levels were much higher. Combined with Hush and Conceal Presence, she had the perfect loadout for an assassin. I had a feeling she was going to fight Fran with her hidden weapons today.
I didn’t tell Fran about any of this, of course. I didn’t want to ruin her fun, and it would make for a great learning experience. How quickly would Fran be able to adjust to Velmeria’s combat style?
Frederick covered the arena with darkness, concealing the two combatants from the outside world. The match could now begin.
Velmeria made the first move, and she was right to do so. She was light on her feet, and had no reason to wait for Fran to initiate. She could probably take down someone much stronger than her with her first strike, if she landed a fatal blow with her hidden weapons.
I didn’t have the Hidden Weapons Mastery skill, but I could spot Velmeria’s weapon of choice: a throwable arrowhead hidden up her sleeve. She did a good job suppressing her murderous intent, and there was no warning when the arrowhead came.
But her motions felt a bit rushed. Velmeria was far too worried that Fran would get the drop on her. While this tactic would have thrown the average C-Rank off guard, Fran was unfazed by it. At this distance, she easily reacted to the weapon. She tilted her head and the arrow whizzed by her. She rushed toward Velmeria and delivered a kick to her solar plexus.
“Tch.”
“Hurk…!”
“Wow.”
Oooh.
Velmeria managed to reduce the impact of Fran’s kick by jumping back. The kick still clipped her, but it wasn’t enough to incapacitate her. Velmeria knew the fundamentals of combat. She would go far with more experience. She was also mentally tough. Fran might have been holding back, but the kick would’ve been enough to make a weaker fighter yield.
Velmeria drew her daggers. “I’m not going down so easily!”
“Hrm!”
She threw a smokescreen and a net over Fran before charging in again. She was serious now. Fran blew the smoke and net away with a Wind spell, but Velmeria was already at her side by the time the smoke cleared. I pegged her as a one-hit killing assassin earlier, but she was actually quite skilled with her daggers. She was a tricky sort of fighter, utilizing her light weight to offset their lack of damage. She spun like a top, daggers in hand, to attack Fran at her weak spot.
I see. She can turn the tide of battle with a single blow, as long as she can land it.
Velmeria’s style allowed her to win against stronger opponents. Retreat was the preferred option, but quickly ending the battle was second best.
However, she was still lacking in actual experience, and it showed. Her attack was too obvious, and Fran quickly read the trajectory of her spin. She deflected the daggers’ attack with my blade, and knocked them away from Velmeria with a kick and a punch.
It didn’t dissuade Velmeria from going back in for more. Beneath her tangled blue ponytail, her eyes burned with the desire to win. Her mind was definitely trained just as well as her body.
Frederick silently watched the girl with gentle eyes. I had a feeling that he was her teacher. He stood there like a loving brother or father. He kept watching her until Velmeria could no longer stand and the match was over. When the two returned to his side, his stone-faced expression returned.
“You need more training.”
“You’re right,” Velmeria said. “I didn’t think she would be able to defend against all of my hidden weapons.”
I didn’t know exactly how things stood between these two. Frederick wasn’t shy about criticizing the daughter of Count Bayreeds, despite him being her subordinate. They were both drake halflings, so I figured there must be something going on there. I wasn’t about to get involved in the messy world of nobles and their families, but Fran failed to grasp the nuance of the situation.
“Is there something going on between you two? You’re both drake halflings.”
Fran asked the question like she was talking about the weather while sipping her juice. But Velmeria gave her an answer. I guess it wasn’t as big a secret as I feared.
“It’s difficult to explain, but the simplest way to say it is that Frederick is my bodyguard. He used to be my mother’s bodyguard, but when Father took me away, he came with us to this country.”
“Your mom’s not here then?”
“No. You met my father the other day—Count Bayreeds. He met my mother when he was deployed to Goldicia.”
Goldicia was the continent which was overwhelmed by a gigantic monster. I think the drakes had an empire there, too.
“My mother was his handler while he was there.”
Count Bayreeds had relations with Velmeria’s mother, and so she was born. But the count’s deployment soon came to an end, and he took Velmeria with him to Granzell. He was already a man with family, but incidents like these were of no consequence to nobility.
“So she’s still in Goldicia?”
“Yes. My mother’s duties prevent her from leaving.”
“Do you miss her?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t really remember her, so I can’t say I miss her terribly.” She shrugged. “But I would like to see her again, if I ever get the chance.”
She didn’t think too much of having been taken away from her mother at such a young age. Frederick, on the other hand, turned away to hide his sadness at the girl who didn’t know her own mother.
Night fell on the day Fran sparred with Velmeria.
“Teacher!”
“Woof!”
Fran and Jet jumped out of their luxurious hotel bed.
Tch! Fran, barrier!
“Hm!”
Fran threw a barrier around herself, and Jet hid in the shadows as I prepared to teleport us away from there.
KABOOM!
We were more than ten meters above the garden, watching as the inn we were staying in exploded. It looked like it was caused by a Flame spell. The spell was powerful enough to engulf us with its heat if we hadn’t been protected by a barrier.
This is insane! There are people inside!
“Teacher, I can feel it!”
I know! I can feel it, too. It’s that damn sword!
The cause of the explosion stood at the center of the garden. The man’s expression was lifeless, and in his right hand was the broken sword. The sight was all too familiar, and the sense of disgust returned. The hateful aura could only belong to the demon sword.
Are Velmeria and Frederick okay…?
“I don’t know.”
Velmeria and Frederick were staying in the room next to ours, but we couldn’t feel their auras. I didn’t know whether they were concealing themselves from the enemy or if they were dead. I could only hope it was the former.
Jet, go see if they’re all right!
“Woof!”
We would keep our assailants occupied in the meantime. Our allies and the inn would be destroyed if we let them keep blasting their spells.
The man stared at us with his lifeless eyes.
“We’ll destroy that sword this time!”
We should do something to prevent that thing from escaping again…
The sword would be able to fly away if it needed to flee. Great Wall seemed like a good option, but the garden was too small to accommodate it. Creating a dome around the arena would leave us with so little space that we wouldn’t be able to fight the sword, but it would easily break through the Great Wall if I made it too thin. I thought of surrounding the whole inn with the spell, but then the people inside wouldn’t be able to get away. We would just have to guard against the sword’s escape.
Don’t let it get away, Fran!
“Hm! I know!”
Fran descended upon the demon sword and its host. They fired a Flame spell, and we retaliated with a Flame spell of our own.
“Awaken!”
Fran accelerated through the air and brought me down upon the demon sword. Any ordinary sword would’ve broken from the sheer impact, but the man withstood the attack. It was as if he was as resilient as the sword!
I Identified him, and his Advanced Sword Mastery was at 5—much higher than Hummels’. He had an array of high-level skills as well as powerful ones like Brute Force, Enhanced Strength, and Fast Regeneration. Just like Hummels, he was under the Fanatic and Unleashed Potential statuses.
I noticed some slight differences. Hummels had Regeneration, Muscular Hypertrophy and Martial Arts Mastery when he was under Unleashed Potential. Meanwhile, the man in front of us—Gordon—did not. Regeneration might have been combined to make Fast Regeneration, but he didn’t have the other two. Was the sword not responsible for those three skills? Maybe Unleashed Potential only awakened Hummels’ latent abilities.
Either way, destroying the sword was still our main goal.
We need to try and capture Gordon alive, if possible.
“Hm.”
If we could wake him from his stupor, we could ask him if he was sent by Marquis Aschtner.
He should be able to take a beating with Fast Regeneration, but…
He was on a timer as long as he was under Unleashed Potential. His life force was burning up as we spoke. We needed to destroy the sword and get him back to normal.
“Haaa!”
Gordon was silent as Fran aimed for his wrists. The plan was to separate him from the sword and blast it to kingdom come. Gordon attacked recklessly, aided by Fast Regeneration, but Fran proved to be the better swordsman. She slowed down, and then surprised him with a faster attack. Gordon couldn’t keep up with her pace and he was slowly losing his defenses. Fran grazed past the demon sword and struck his wrist, but Gordon managed to react in time.
However, instead of avoiding her attack, he threw himself in harm’s way to protect the sword.
“Urk!”
I was plunged deep into Gordon’s belly. He let go of his sword and grabbed my hilt with both hands. Brute Force and Enhanced Strength made him quite the challenger. I tried pulling myself out of him, but Gordon was holding on so tightly that I couldn’t escape. I could cut my way out, but then I would risk killing him.
“Get your dirty hands off Teacher!”
Gordon remained silent as Fran kicked his ribs. I could hear his bones cracking, but he remained silent and implacable. Meanwhile, the demon sword activated its Mana Thruster to blow Fran away from me.
Fran!
She gasped, “Teacher!”
Good, she was still in one piece. But now Gordon was doing something we didn’t expect. He turned away to make his escape.
This guy was after me all along…!
“Hold it!”
Fran gave chase, but I saw the demon sword rising behind her. It was going to cut her in half!
Not happening!
I used Telekinesis to tangle Gordon’s legs. Now that he was kneeling, I blew his other leg out from under him with a Wind spell. I could just as easily teleport out of him, but I didn’t want to risk him getting away and losing our only lead. I contemplated letting Fran handle the demon sword by herself while I locked Gordon down.
But I don’t think she can go up against that thing bare-handed…
As I hesitated, the sword accelerated toward Fran at breakneck speed. She only managed to deflect it by concentrating her barrier in one spot. Such an obvious attack wouldn’t work against Fran, no matter how fast. Her hands were wounded, but she managed to throw off the sword’s trajectory.
Then came a shrill noise.
Obey me!
It was a voice. It was artificial, like it had been synthesized with a machine, and it rang loudly in our heads. One of Fran’s resistance skills activated. Previously, I hadn’t give much thought to my skill activation, but after training to sense the flow of mana, I now understood which among them had activated: Mental Status Resistance and Insubordination.
Fran, are you all right?!
“Hm? What was that voice?”
She sounded okay. A quick scan showed that she was under no status ailments. The sword had tried to take control of us just now. If Hummels and Gordon were anything to go by, it definitely had the ability to control people. There was a good chance that it was more effective if it managed to cut its target. I managed to hear the voice because of my connection with Fran.
Obey me!
“Shut up.”
Fran, don’t get cut by it! I think it has the power to control people!
“All right.”
The sword rattled—shivered—on the ground. To me, it looked like it was stunned that it failed to control Fran. Either way, I had to return to Fran’s side, and fast. Her resistance skill had saved her this time, but I didn’t want to bank on her getting lucky again.
I cast a powerful Land spell on Gordon, and vines made of rock bound him to the ground. He wouldn’t be able to break his way out of this one. Satisfied with the results, I teleported myself to Fran.
I’m back.
“Teacher!”
You okay?
“Hm!”
Fran hugged me when I returned to her. The few seconds I was taken from her must have hurt her to her core.
“You’re going to pay for that…!” she growled. I hadn’t seen her this angry in a long time.
The sword looked like it was hesitating. It didn’t know whether to fight or flee. Fran directed her killing intent at the sword, and I could swear it was afraid of her.
“Flashing Thunderclap!”
She brought me down on the blade at lightning speed, but the sword flew away.
It’s making a break for it!
But not quite. It was firing spells now, but not at Fran. It was trying to free Gordon from his rock prison. It shot seemingly at random, but it would be enough to weaken Gordon’s bonds. The sword made a beeline for him. The demon sword probably needed a host to fight, and it couldn’t continue the battle on its own for much longer.
Oh, no you don’t!
“Haaa!”
We tripped Gordon up with a Wind spell, and then teleported to attack the sword once more. I was going to seal its movements with Telekinesis so Fran could finish it off with a Sword King Art. But then…
It read our Teleport!
The sword accelerated away, and was no longer within our range. It must have remarkable detection abilities. Now Gordon charged at us, weaponless. What was he doing? He didn’t have Martial Arts Mastery or Punch Mastery. The best he could hope for was to slam into Fran with brute force. He was still pretty fast, so the damage he could do would be significant.
Meanwhile, Fran and I were hesitating. We didn’t want to attack him, especially when he only had a sliver of life left. Kill him, and we would lose our best lead so far. Fran jumped back, and Gordon leapt after her.
Then, a dull sound came from Gordon’s body before it exploded from the inside. The demon sword had moved behind Gordon’s back and ran him through. The sword’s mana blade was now hammer-shaped, and it slammed right into Gordon’s body. Fast Regeneration wouldn’t be able to help him now that his body was in pieces. The sight infuriated me.
What kind of a sword is this?! This thing killed its own user!
What the sword did had tainted the pride and dignity of swords everywhere, and I was outraged.
The sword attacked us through the smokescreen of Gordon’s blood and guts. Its mana blade had transformed into smaller branching blades to attack Fran. Wary of its mind-control abilities, we kept our distance from it. None of its attacks landed. In fact, it was as if the sword was expecting us to back off. It took advantage of the opening, flying past us and away from the inn.
We played into its hands!
“Is it running away?”
No!
The sword was hurtling right toward Velmeria and Frederick.
“Run!”
“Urgh!”
“Velmeria!”
Jet had managed to save them both. They were watching us fight, holding their breath to conceal their presence. But the sword managed to sniff them out. Velmeria managed to hear Fran’s warning, but she couldn’t react in time. Frederick had to push her out of the sword’s way at the last second. The sword cut a deep gash into his arm.
“Gaaah!”
“Frederick!” Velmeria shouted. “Are you all right?!”
“I-I’m fine!” he said. “But this horrible voice… If you want me to obey you, make me!”
The sword was looking for a new host. Fortunately, Frederick’s Mental Status Resistance miraculously prevented him from being mind-controlled. But Velmeria didn’t have such a skill, and we needed to end this fight before it attacked her.
We’re going in!
“Hm!”
Fran closed her eyes to focus her energy while I teleported in front of the demon sword. The sword reacted by blasting Fran with Mana Thruster, but I knew it was going to see us coming. I used Dimension Shift to make the attack miss. The sword seemed surprised when it saw its attack go right through Fran, but she remained calm. She knew I would take care of her, leaving her free to focus on her moves.
She opened her eyes, and brought me down from above.
“Sword King Arts… Skycutter!”
YAAAAAAAAGH!
The demon sword let out a shrill cry when Fran managed to chip a piece off of its broken blade. We definitely managed to hurt it, but the surge of revolting mana remained. And so did the sword’s core…
I was about to shout “Again!” but something stopped my voice.
Urgh…!
“Teacher?”
Aaaaah!
I could only scream as a rush of power flowed through me. Cutting the sword had activated Cannibalize. The power was so great that I felt it would either overwhelm me or make me lose control. The mana of the demon sword entered me, and my revulsion was so intense that I couldn’t think of anything else. It was like having a mixture of sewage, rotting fish, and pus course through your body. If I still had a body, I’d be rolling on the ground trying to hold my lunch in.
Uuuuuurgh!
“Teacher!”
The sword saw that Fran was no longer attacking it, and it took that as its cue to escape.
“Jet, after it!”
“Woof!”
Urrrgh!
Three minutes later…
Sorry about that, Fran… I’m fine now.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
The demon sword escaped while I was writhing in pain. We could only hope that Jet could track where it was going.
I didn’t know why Cannibalize triggered. I thought it only activated when you killed a member of your own race. As an inanimate object, I wasn’t alive. Did that mean that it would immediately activate when whatever I’m consuming was already lifeless to begin with? Was it because we managed to break a fragment from the sword? And how was the sword still moving after I hit it with Cannibalize? Wasn’t it supposed to be dead? I had so many questions.
Either way, I was going to have to unequip Cannibalize before our next encounter. It might prove fatal next time. I didn’t want to be assaulted by that feeling again. Still, I got stronger, and the sword was weakened when I drained its power. Maybe I should keep using Cannibalize and put up with the revulsion. Decisions, decisions…
“Are you all right, Fran?” Velmeria asked.
“Hm?”
“You suddenly stopped fighting just now…”
“That sword has the ability to control minds,” Frederick said. “Were you affected by it?”
The two of them looked quite worried about Fran. Earlier, Velmeria had administered a healing potion to Frederick, but he was still wincing. Even with Mental Status Resistance, he knew that he’d barely managed to avoid falling victim to the demon sword’s Command skill. He also knew that he and Velmeria wouldn’t stand a chance against Fran if the thing took control of her. He watched Fran with cautious eyes, prepared to throw himself over Velmeria to protect her.
“I’m fine. I have resistance skills.”
“I see,” Frederick sighed.
“That’s good to hear,” Velmeria said. Their relief was palpable.
We dusted ourselves off and went to help anyone who was left in the inn. The fire caused by the explosion was still spreading, and we had to do something before it got any worse. We left the fire-extinguishing business to Velmeria because of her affinity with Water Magic. Meanwhile, the rest of us went to look for anyone left behind.
Surprisingly, there weren’t that many who were injured or incapacitated. This was a five-star inn, and it didn’t have many guests to begin with. As for the guests, most of them were high C-Rank adventurers, and they had either fled at the first sign of trouble, or were killed by the explosion.
There were a few rich civilians, sure, but they were rich enough to hire bodyguards who could escort them safely from the premises. In the end, the only person who needed help was one of the employees who had failed to get out in time. We healed the young man’s wounds and escorted him from the burning building.
We should go back to the garden.
“Hm.”
It was only a matter of time before the city guard came to the scene. The state of Gordon’s body was odd enough to warrant further investigation, and we might end up being suspected of murder.
We need to grab Gordon’s body before that happens.
“Hm.”
Frederick was already inspecting the corpse by the time we reached the garden. Gordon’s head was still intact in spite of his obliterated body. We couldn’t conduct a thorough inspection here, but his head might be enough of a lead.
“Figure anything out?” Fran asked.
“Kind of,” Frederick said.
“Kind of” wasn’t great, but it was way better than nothing. Frederick had only been looking at the body for a few minutes, too.
Fran pressed him. “Go on.”
“First, the man’s identity. This is Gordon, one of Count Bayreeds’ men.”
“Just like Hummels?”
“Yes. And he went missing while on a spying mission, just like Hummels.”
Frederick recognized his colleague and grieved for him. But a look of suspicion crept over his face.
“However…” he started.
“However?”
“Unlike Hummels, Gordon was not part of a combat unit. He mostly did observation missions. He was still trained like the rest of us, but he shouldn’t have been that strong. I find it incredible that he could’ve gone toe to toe with you in such a short period of time.”
“The sword put him under Unleashed Potential.”
“I see. That answers that question,” Frederick mused. Unleashed Potential would increase what few stats Gordon had. Something was still bothering him, though. “He fought with a sword, yes?”
“Hm.”
“The thing is,” Frederick said, “Gordon was a spear user. His swordsmanship was subpar.”
Unleash Potential maximized whatever latent abilities a person had. Regeneration and Muscular Hypertrophy could count as more advanced forms of physical enhancement skills. In Hummels’ case, Unleash Potential only awakened those latent skills.
But how could it have specifically improved Gordon’s Sword Mastery? It wasn’t that powerful to begin with, but the fact that it changed into Advanced Sword Mastery was disconcerting. Meanwhile, his Spear Mastery (the more powerful skill of the two) had remained the same.
“The same could be said for his Flame Magic. Gordon was a novice in Earth Magic. He had never cast a Fire spell in his life.”
“But he used Flame Magic.”
“So I saw.”
Advanced Sword Mastery and Flame Magic weren’t skills you could get for free. Not unless you had powers like me, at least.
“The sword again?”
“I don’t know. A sword that controls its user and gives him entirely new skills…” Frederick paused. “Does it even exist? The Undead Sword is the closest thing I know of that can do this kind of thing.”
But Frederick knew the sword was not an Undead Sword. The fact that I Cannibalized it only made things clearer. There was a good chance that we were dealing with some kind of Intelligent Weapon. Otherwise Cannibalize wouldn’t have triggered.
“I heard a voice when it cut me,” Fran said.
“Me too. ‘Obey me’, right?”
“Hm. That sword has a mind of its own.”
Frederick’s eyes widened. “Are you suggesting that it’s an Intelligent Weapon?! That would explain the voice…”
Intelligent Weapons were the stuff of legends, and Fran was suggesting that a legend had become reality and burned down the inn tonight. Frederick was understandably shocked.
“I didn’t think any existed outside of Goldicia…”
“What do you mean?”
“There is an Intelligent Sword in Goldicia.”
Frederick explained that the sword belonging to Trismegistus, hero of the Tragedy of Goldicia, was said to possess a will of its own. It was a painstaking process, but the genius alchemist managed to craft the weapon after combining all of his knowledge. He was cursed by the gods to walk the earth with no company other than his sword, unable to die until he destroyed his own creation, the Abyss Eater.
Could Trismegistus have created me? He wasn’t a Godsmith, but maybe he made his intelligent sword out of a discarded Godsword. He was the genius alchemist who almost brought about the end of the world, after all.
Goldicia…
A land of ruin ruled by monsters. Would we have to go there someday?
Fran and Frederick continued their investigation as I mused to myself.
“I found something else that might help,” Fran said. “A piece of the sword.”
Fran presented Frederick with a fragment of the demon sword’s blade. The sickening aura around it had weakened considerably since it was no longer attached to the sword. It should help reveal its identity.
This material… It looks like what I’m made of.
I could somewhat tell what it was made of thanks to my Blacksmith skill. If nothing else, I knew it wasn’t made of ordinary iron. I didn’t know exactly what metal it was made of, but the material seemed to resemble that of my own blade: orichalcos, a metal that could only be utilized by Godsmiths. The standard Blacksmith skill couldn’t tell what it was—even Garrus didn’t know what I was made of when he looked at me—but I spotted a lot of similarities between the blade and my own.
And now things got complicated.
There was a chance that the demon sword actually was a Godsword. It was a lot weaker compared to Gaia—Urslars’ Godsword—but maybe it was an unfinished Godsword. No wonder Cannibalize activated. The sword was likely to be an Intelligent Weapon crafted by a Godsmith. The chances of Trismegistus making it were low.
“Would you mind if I kept it for a while so I can look into it further?”
Teacher?
“I’ll be sure to return it to you after we’re done, Fran,” Frederick smiled. “You won this fair and square, after all.”
I didn’t mind. It wasn’t like we would have much luck investigating on our own.
Go for it.
“Hm. All right.”
Jet returned as Fran and Frederick continued talking over Gordon’s body.
“Woof!”
“Jet,” Fran said, welcoming him. “Any news?”
“Arf!” Jet barked confidently. He must have managed to track the sword down to its hideout.
“Let me guess,” Fran said. “The Aschtner estate?”
“Woof!”
Jet nodded enthusiastically. Fran had thrown the marquis’ name out on a whim, but she’d guessed right.
“Are you sure?”
“Woof!”
Jet was trying his best to convince her that he was telling the truth. The sword must have really escaped to Marquis Aschtner’s mansion. The sword covered its tracks last time by concealing its presence in the residential district, but apparently it went straight home tonight. Maybe the damage it sustained from Fran’s Sword King Art was too great. Especially after I Cannibalized some of its power, too.
Speaking of which, I gained fifty points of durability and mana from Cannibalize. It wasn’t much, but I could become really strong if I managed to absorb all of the sword’s energy. If I could resist the urge to throw up every time, that is.
“Did the wolf manage to track down the sword?”
“Hm. It’s at Marquis Aschtner’s mansion.”
“You’re sure of this?”
“Hm. We can trust Jet.”
“Grrrr!”
Jet was growling at Frederick. He had whined sweetly to Fran earlier as if to say “Please, you have to believe me,” but his tone with Frederick was closer to “What? You callin’ me a liar?” He looked intimidating despite being dog-sized, but Frederick wasn’t fazed.
“Stop glaring,” Fran said, slapping Jet’s head. Jet whined as if to say “But he started it!” She ignored him and continued the conversation. “I’m going to Aschtner’s mansion.”
“Wait, hold on.”
Jet whined again.
“We have to be careful. Without damning evidence, entering the marquis’ abode will only lead to the case against him being closed. It might take years before we get another chance.”
“Hrm…”
“Arf!”
Jet snarled at Frederick, as if to say “Did you just say Boss had a bad idea?”
“Jet.”
“Ruff!”
Fran slapped him upside the head again. Jet took his eyes off Frederick, as if to say “You got lucky. You win this round.” I didn’t know why he was acting like a two-bit street punk tonight.
In any case, we had to move—another attack could occur at any moment. We decided to head to Count Bayreeds’ hideout in the noble district. We waited for Velmeria to finish putting out the fire before moving out. We caught her up on the current situation—how the sword was last seen disappearing into the Aschtner mansion.
Velmeria nodded. “I knew he would be related to all this. Just another reason to investigate the marquis.”
Frederick stopped her. “That’s assuming the direwolf isn’t mistaken. We still need hard evidence.”
“Grrr!”
Jet growled at Frederick again—I didn’t know what had gotten into him tonight. He was usually friendly, but Frederick seemed to rub him the wrong way.
Was it because they were so alike? They had similar skills and capabilities, and I wondered if Jet considered Frederick his competition. He was a wolf, after all, and he wouldn’t take kindly to someone who threatened his position in the pack.
Similarity breeds contempt…
Was this the reason I felt repulsed by the demon sword? It was a powerful enchanted weapon which could operate on its own will. It gave a share of its powers to its user, exponentially increasing their strength. None of this information was set in stone, but by the looks of it, there was a very good chance we were up against an Intelligent Weapon like myself.
We were very much alike. Disgustingly so.
I was angry at what the sword did. Hummels died because of prolonged exposure to Unleashed Potential. And that was something that could very well happen to me and Fran. I was like that sword, insofar as we both had the potential to kill our users. It was a tough pill to swallow, but the resemblance was there.
Hmm.
What’s wrong?
I was just thinking… I’m a lot like that demon sword.
No, you’re not.
It’s not about how we look, I said. We have similar powers.
For better or worse, we were very much alike.
Fran heavily disagreed with me on this. No, you’re not! That thing killed its user!
Sure, it killed Gordon, but you could end up the same way if you stay in Unleashed Potential for too long. It’s a matter of stopping at the right time.
And that’s why you’re not the same! That thing did nothing to stop its user from dying. You would never let that happen to me.
…You mean that?
Hm! That sword’s bad news. You’re a good sword.
I didn’t think there was much of a difference between me and the demon sword. But I did care for my user’s well-being. That meant the world to Fran, and if she said we were different, then we were different. Her words cleared up my hesitation. I was pretty easy to please.
Thanks, Fran.
“Hm!”
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