A Stroke of Genius

Kingdom of Lugnica,

The Sanctuary,

Samuel POV,

In a field filled with crops, a silver haired teen could be seen carefully planting seeds and then using the equipment necessary to cover them up once more before watering them. True, this held no real purpose considering if the trials were completed this place would end up completely abandoned, the demi humans living here would leave the first chance they had.

Samuel wiped away the sweat from his forehead before looking at the setting Sun. The giant ball of fire slowly descending behind tall green trees was certainly a sight to behold. After being questioned about what had happened inside by Ryuzu he had taken to the farmland near the village and had been there till now. One other notable thing was a change in attire, the clothes he had arrived here in stank and the only thing close to modern culture he found was a black kimono and felt quite comfortable with it as well considering he had to wear these at formal occasions.

"Why waste your time with such activities?" Ryuzu asked, standing nearby, the boy had been working in the field for hours without taking a break now. Samuel glanced at her, "Helps me take my mind off things.." Earlier he had thought seeing all that and interacting with six witches wasn't as mentally taxing as he would expect but it turned out that that was a false assumption.

Samuel couldn't even think straight after the first few minutes.... so, he went for the one thing that would calm him down. Exercise... though, that proved to be more advantageous than he had initially thought considering he wasn't even tired yet, not even breathless. The effects of his newfound power had already begun showing themselves.

"I see... I do not understand." Ryuzu said looking straight at his face, wouldn't it be better to do something enjoyable if the aim was to take his mind off things? "I guess you can call me strange then." Samuel raised his hands helplessly, looking at the setting Sun. Beatrice had taken her leave a few minutes ago after strangely acting up..... she looked somewhat distressed and that made Samuel wary of whatever she had noticed.

Samuel rubbed his chin in thought, after putting a bit of thought into it, he had arrived at the conclusion that accepting Echidna's contract would be far more beneficial in both the short and the long run however, accepting it on her terms would be straight up stupid. She had more than shown her intellectual prowess and the direct aid she could offer by merging in a Divine Protection.... granted that she wasn't necessarily the one who gave it to him.

Yes, he would accept her contract, however, only and only if the contract was of his own terms. Other than that, who knows what she could cook up if allowed to run wild. There was a reason she was feared by even Sekhmet, the strongest of the witches of Sin.

On another note, Samuel was more than sure that with the way Echidna had been verbally claiming and declaring his superiority over Subaru Natsuki, she had pretty much painted a target on his back. A target for the witch cult, fanatics for a crazy yandere in love with a somewhat incompetent retard granted, he did change later on.

Samuel sighed, running a hand over his face to get rid of the slight grogginess that had overtaken him before standing to his feet and stretching his arms. Looking around at the previously empty field that now looked freshly tended to, Samuel smiled quite, proud of himself. Such a thing wasn't humanly possible but, seeing it did give him a certain feeling of accomplishment.

"That boy seems to dislike you." Ryuzu informed before closing her eyes and slightly lowering her head, "He is young and brash, I apologise."

Samuel was quick to wave his hand dismissing the matter entirely, "No need for that, I was looking for a sparring partner anyway. He might be able to let out his frustrations too." Samuel smiled at her, upon closer inspection, his mission here was to 'best' and not 'kill' either Elsa Granhiert or Garfiel Tinsel.

Beating in a friendly match would still be a victory and as such, should be able to satisfy the given conditions.

"You seem to not act your age." Ryuzu remarked turning around, "However, for a human to beat Garfiel is difficult." She said ushering Samuel to follow with her staff, Garfiel was possibly the strongest combatants in the Sanctuary and a Tiger Human hybrid with the ability to take on the visage of a mighty beast of nature as well as a Divine Protection..... Samuel did remember most of this himself and found himself fairly excited about the whole ordeal.

Soon they had arrived near the main village centre, the residents of the village could be seen talking to one another as they ate. The mood could be called cheery... if not for their individual states, reaffirming that this was a poor place.. Samuel sighed, "I'll...." He had to hurry this up, these people did nothing to deserve being forced to live like this and besides, he couldn't leave without finishing the trials either.

"You're a nauseatin' shit." An aggressive voice made Samuel facepalm, really? Baseless hostility? What the hell had he even done to wrong the kid? "Come on, I haven't done anything."

"You smell rotten."

"Oh for the love of."

"You smell dead inside."

"Now that's just rude." Samuel's shoulders slumped down, he wanted to know why the kid seemed to actually detest him. "Wanna spar? First to give?" Samuel smiled at him, the fastest and most efficient way to earn his respect was to beat the shit out of him.... not that that would be an easy task.

"You act like a wimp but, you're speakin my language." Garfiel grinned at him, showing his pointed teeth as he walked forward. "Says the one with mommy issues." Samuel shrugged, his was a harmless remark but made several veins pop out on Garfiel's forehead as his lips twitched.

Both 'teens' shook hands with 'smiles'... or not, seeing as Garfiel tightened his grip intending to make Samuel back down but it backfired and the silver haired teenager replied in kind by nearly squashing the hybrid's hand. "You son o-" Garfiel spun his left leg slamming it directly into Samuel's face ... However, he was quick to react and raised his hand grabbing the leg before pulling Garfiel completely off his feet and throwing him to the town centre.

How was this possible one might wonder? How was Samuel fighting against Garfiel despite being mostly human? The answer was simple, Garfiel fought by instinct, Samuel fought by martial arts. While there was certainly a disparity in strength, it wasn't that great either. (A/N: Only talking about Garfiel's human form.)

"You're not a wimp." Garfiel said standing to his feet, he was able to assess the combat power different people had by their mannerisms; however he couldn't do so here. For all intents and purposes, Samuel walked like he hadn't been in a fight his whole life.

"Why thank you." Samuel smiled, doing a small bow, not even slightly irked by being called a wimp. "But that's it." Garfiel stomped the ground and as soon as he did Samuel immediately jumped away. "What the hell was that?" He had felt some danger and jumped away but the ground he previously stood on was now all ruined.

The Divine Protection of Earth Spirits, so long as Garfiel's feet touched the ground he could manipulate the sediment under him as he wished.

Suddenly, an idea crossed Samuel's mind and he raised a hand, "Stop for a bit."

"Ha? You think an enemy's gonna stop just cause you asked?"

"Just stop for a bit will you?"

"...Alright." Garfiel folded his arms with an annoyed look on his face, having already accepted that the new arrival at the sanctuary was no nobody, no from that small exchange, he had judged that the person he faced was a skilled martial artist.

Samuel quickly opened his phone camera and setting it to record, threw it to Ryuzu who caught it with a hand before tilting her head in confusion. "Keep that pointed at the fight, the way you caught it...please?" Samuel smiled at her, he had a bit of an idea which could in theory, be a monetary endeavour.

"I suggest not fighting at all....." Ryuzu muttered out in a low voice, he was the one with the best chance at finishing the trials. What if Garfiel severely injured or worse, killed him?..... Seeing that neither of them were now paying attention to her, she relented and did what had been asked of her..... still though, why was this thing showing her what was happening in the front but smaller?.... What was that beeping red thing?..... What were those strange symbols?

"Alright Garfiel, let's go." Samuel swung his hands a few times as a bit of fabric flew away and opened both hands in a manner similar to claws, the fingertips hardened appearing more like claws than human fingers. One hand was placed near his ribs facing upwards, the other was held outwards, pointing at Garfiel.

A small crowd formed, entertainment was a rare thing in olden times and in a completely isolated place like the Sanctuary, the lack was more severe and as such, the few residents were quick to gather in hopes of seeing the fight.

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Share thoughts.

Anything you want me to put in the next gacha wheel I do?

On another note, Echidna's been suggesting a soul bound contract, the only type she can offer, to him.

Why do you think Beatrice went out looking for something?