Chapter 37: Sword Princess; Looming Darkness

The battle of Tokyo.

It was the event that shook the world. It revealed the existence of the supernatural in the world. Everything that was supposed to be hidden unraveled itself. A historic battle that defined the future of our world.

Deconstructing my spell, I saw Lili heaving deep breaths. Her entire body is tense. The hand holding the spear is trembling as well.

"Teacher..?"

"That was an illusion."

Of course, it all happened. I am simply keeping it a secret.

"An illusion of what a battlefield could have been."

"Battlefield…"

This should be enough to quell her blind optimism to the dungeon. A weak person will struggle to survive even against weaker curses in that fight. What's more, they have to deal with the aftermath of the strong fighting.

That was the main point of this lesson: for Lili to know her position with her current strength. It also doubled as combat training. As she is, her growth speed is very slow. Life-threatening battles such as that one could be the only solution to it. Then again, it is an illusion. It's better to lose her life there than in real life.

"I hope you know when to fight or retreat at times."

"I will!"

I saw how she retreated from the unknown opponent. It was a good decision. She faced the curse when there aren't viable options left.

I just hope…

I hope she would not get affected too much by her emotions. I saw this flaw in myself after the two close encounters I had.

I became too confident with my experiences. I thought I am higher than my foes since I faced something stronger than them. I fought dragons and special-grade curses that left afterimages in my eyes. I lost in some and triumphed in some.

I am arrogant enough to think something weaker than those would not kill me. In the first place, that already happened in some iterations. I could only say that my childishness is still there.

In the end, those future experiences did not happen to me, but to a different version of the future. I need to properly apply these experiences as I fight.

'Living normally for a week helped.'

Just as I imparted Lili my knowledge, I reflected on my actions during the process.

"Your skills are enough to dive until the ninth floor. Just keep ten of those weights while diving. That way…"

I gave her tips on prowling. I passed through the entire upper floors until the twenty-seventh floor. It is better than relying on nothing. As a result, the lessons took longer to conclude.

Psssh-!

Tap-!

The door that leads to below opened. A series of footsteps followed.

'Who..?'

Instinctively, I held [Sora]'s grip.

'A strong person.'

I looked at the source of the disturbance. I saw a familiar sight.

Long flowing golden hair.

Clear golden eyes.

A doll-like face that rivaled the appearance of gods.

A rapier tied to her armor's waist.

I am stunned by her appearance for a moment. She is extremely beautiful.

"Kenki…"

Aiz Wallenstein. The youngest level five in Orario's history. She sped through levels one to five in six years.

"I never expected someone to use this place."

Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I got the guards' permission to do so."

"...Guards?"

Why do I feel like something's wrong with her question?

"I talked with the ones responsible in this area. I got their permission to use this place as a training ground until 8 AM."

While our training usually lasted until 7 AM, it is not bad to have extra allowances.

"You talked to the guards?"

"Wh—" A certain realization flew past me. "You didn't?"

"Why would I?"

"..."

I do not know if this is her confidence or something else. There's the Loki Familia that backs her, anyways. There won't be problems even if she got found here.

"We are going."

"Wait." Her gaze met mine. "Sirius."

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

I looked back at Lili as she nodded at my words.

"It's not that… Its…"

Kenki placed her hand on her chin as she went into deep thought. Seeing her contemplating look, an image overlapped with hers.

'...No way.'

In my previous iterations up to now, I kept meeting a certain girl in Britain. She's an airhead and acts similarly to what Kenki does. She lacks the common sense required for living. Their only difference was their eye color and their vibe. I knew her since the third iteration. Though, I never approached her actively in real-life.

After all...

Never mind.

"Let's fight."

"Excuse me?"

I am surprised at her sudden declaration.

"I will be limiting my strength. Don't worry."

She deflected my previous words back at me.

'How come she wants to fight in our first official meeting?'

From her eyes, I am sure she recognized me—not as Sirius but as the armored man who went against Goliath. She has means I do not know.

"Let's see…"

I examined my current state. I am fresh out of the dungeon two hours ago, but I have recovered sufficiently. It helped that my new skill, [Proof of Combat], increases my recovery rate.

"Sure."

With my approval, she held her sheathed the blade and went into a stance.

"Wait. Let's use these instead."

I unstrapped the weapon case on my shoulder.

Click-!

Click-!

Upon opening, there are many types of weapons present. Swords, spears, daggers, blades… I picked out two inconspicuous swords before throwing one of them at her.

"This is…"

"Training swords."

I placed [Sora] on the case before closing it again. I placed it on a wall as I instructed Lili to 'create' some distance between us.

"Durandal..?"

"Yeah."

Unlike my other works, these two [Dull Swords] do not have any enhancements, sharpness, or spells. It is made for the sole purpose of training, thus its durability was what I took in mind.

I didn't expect it to grant them the [Durandal] attribute. It is supposedly rare. For reference, only Tsubaki-nee, Hephaestus-sama, and Brontes-san could make it within our familia.

"We should start."

"You're right."

Wallenstein-san made a charging position while I chose a defensive one.

'Huh..?'

Swoosh-!

She moved swiftly. With her holding back, I could vaguely see her silhouette.

Fortunately, she chose the most simple way to attack. She attacked in a straight line. All I need to do is to redirect it.

Clang-!

I parried her sword by sliding it against mine. It sent her gathered force to my side. Her attack was weaker than Valletta's consdiering how she didn't 'use' her full strength.

'An opening!'

I swung the [Dull Blade] towards her.

Sou-!

Only to hit nothing but air. Her speed momentarily became like a blur.

"Instincts?"

Just before a deciding blow, her body instinctively acted and used her full strength. That was how it was during the first spars with Rethusa-san.

"Again. I won't use my full strength."

"Alright."

Just like before, she charged straight at me. However, she changed her move this time.

Sou-!

Sou-!

Sou-!

She aimed at my right as she struck consecutive blows. She locked my position with the help of the narrow space.

Clang-!

Clang-!

Clang-!

Each strike made my hand slightly numb. I could tell that she was clumsily controlling her power.

'She's not accustomed to this fight.' I thought. "Firmus."

My body was strengthened by the spell. It allowed me to catch up to her strength which is slowly being unrestrained.

Clang-!

Clang-!

My deflection technique made things easier. Controlling the entire body to protect it from impact is something I am extremely accustomed to. I also protected my balance from breaking.

When her power reached a certain threshold, I cast [Double Robustness].

Clang-!

This time, I held the sword in reverse grip. My hoodie clung to my body due to sweat.

"Feel free to use your strength, Wallenstein-san."

"Huh? But—"

"You might not notice. But, you're already exerting power far surpassing your first strike."

"?!"

Her eyes widened. She stared at me silently.

"You're… right." Her ears turned red slightly due to embarrassment. "However, you could not—"

"I am still standing."

My words answered her concerns.

"I see."

Wordlessly, she readied for another strike. I did the same by preparing a magic technique. The sword returned to a normal grip.

"Come."

*****

One step.

Two steps.

It is the most optimal range for Nobu's intuition. Predicting beyond that step raises the variables.

Clang-!

Clang-!

At this moment, he could no longer follow Aiz Wallenstein's attacks with his eyesight. He had to rely on his intuition, just as how he did during the fight against Valletta.

Unsurprisingly, it turned one-sided. Nobu desperately defended his body while Aiz inflicted sword strikes from all directions.

The former was forced to use some of his small-scale spells to make it even. He was also forced to use [Triple Robustness] and [Heart Sword] for support and short-verse magic spells for distractions.

Bam-!

Seven projectiles headed in Aiz's direction. Still, it lacked enough damage to cause concern. She tanked everything with her physical body alone.

Everything was going into her side until—

Cut-!

The split-second distraction the spell caused masked Nobu's real intention. His feints are also superimposed on it. As a result—

Cut-!

He landed a hit on her cheek. It didn't cause a cut but it still left a trace of redness.

Aiz backed off a second later.

"How..?"

Her reaction time, speed, and physical body far outclassed Nobu. It is not wrong to say she holds every single advantage in this 'fight'.

Nevertheless, she overlooked one thing.

"You let down your guard."

"!!"

Nobu repeated the same action of throwing 'unexpected' spells more than twelve times. It was enough for confident foes to have a lapse in their judgement. They will think everything will go that way, only to be surprised by an attack.

Repetitive blows lead to a split-second opportunity.

Clang-!

The sword fell from his hand. His hands shook to the point he could not hold it properly.

"You won, Kenki."

"Teacher!"

Lili took a potion from a pouch and passed it onto him.

"Thank you." He said to the pallum.

"Would you mind… Huff… hearing my judgement?"

He suddenly asked the Sword Princess, to which she nodded.

"You are too fixated on ending this fight. When your decisive strikes did not work several times, your movements become more predictable."

It was a miracle he could last for five minutes against a monster like her. His experience bridged the gap between them.

"That, and it felt like you are not fighting against a human, but a monster."

In humanoid battles, it is a general rule to not make excessive moves. Sword duels are often finished within the span of ten seconds up to a minute if both were skilled.

Overthinking will lead to a mistake, and so will wrong combat styles.

Aiz kept striking him everywhere instead of focusing on a human's vital areas. It would have worked against some combatants, but those who are unfazed by pain are unaffected.

Aiz fell silent upon hearing his words.

'That black flame…'

She is aware of the black flame on her back. That burning hatred to eliminate all monsters. She wished for it since that day.

"Ya don't blindly charge, jou-chan."

"You need to properly use your power. That is what we call 'techniques'."

Two voices rang in her head. Nobu's words are strangely similar to them.

When she snapped out of it, he already stood up.

"How did you become strong?"

Aiz asked. She has a feeling he would even be stronger once his status catches up to hers. In terms of techniques, he is already comparable to the likes of Finn.

"Fight and survive." He replied. "That's the only thing I did."

The curtains to their first meeting falls.

*****

[Level 2]

[Strength: F302 → D532 Defense: G260 → E420 Dexterity: G219 → E474 Agility: G271 → E498 Magic: F360 → D570 Hacker: G]

<<Magic>>

[Orionids]

[Memoir Manifest]

<<Skills>>

[Miracle Maker]

[Child of Constellations (星座の子)]

[Proof of Combat (H)] (21% to be upgraded)

Letters and numbers made of light showed in my sight. It is my progress after a week. It will look ridiculous in the eyes of others. After all, I progressed more than 1,000 points.

(A/N: During Aiz's training with Ottar for an entire week, she gained 250-ish points.)

I only realized the ridiculousness of [Child of Constellations] as well as my cheat. Hypothetically, these two affected my growth the most.

"[Triple Robustness] is somewhere around level four?"

After the fight with Sword Princess, I had a reference as to where I currently lay. Using [Sirius] lands me somewhere at pseudo-level four while [Triple Robustness] outright pushes me to level four.

Considering the gaps between each level, this is absurd enough. I could barely deal with Grade 2 Sorcerers with [Triple Robustness] alone. Cursed Energy Enhancement is something scary for me who has a weak body.

As for Grade 1 Sorcerers, they are human artilleries. They become invincible with the cursed energy enhancement. The only way to kill them swiftly is to strike while they are unprepared.

"It's already afternoon?"

The fight with the Sword Princess—Aiz Wallenstein—exhausted me. It drained my stamina to the lowest. Thanks to [Proof of Combat], I could come home without collapsing.

I stood up from the bed. I organized everything before leaving.

"Right."

I took out a magic stone from the bracelet. It came from one of the hobgoblins.

'Absorb.'

The energy inside it is absorbed with a thought.

'One chance.'

A strange thought entered my mind.

"Finally."

The familiar sensation appeared once more. The cheat helped me prepare everything for the future.

It is back.

*****

"The 43rd floor..? Are you sure it—"

"It's fine. I have been permitted by the manager."

"Oh…"

Nobu is quite shocked. The book he is holding recorded the 43rd floor up to the 50th floor. Loki Familia is the only one that reached it. Giving such information to a newbie is very baffling.

Taking a quick look, he saw the general terrain on the lower floors.

"The environment is harsher."

"These floors are known to have a volcanic theme."

Unlike others, the advisor-student relationship between Nobu and Eina is different. Nobu still maintained a sufficient respect for a teacher, but their dynamic is more like researchers.

Nobu asks questions while Eina freely explains the lessons. The latter also gave out assignments in the form of 'opinions' instead of memorization.

"The surroundings affect its inhabitants… Fire-resistant monsters?"

"Correct. The terrain advantages monsters had on the middle floors are more evident here." Eina responded. "You understood that within a glance? Really…"

'He's making me feel like I am back in the past.'

Contrary to her expectations, Nobu picks up things easily. His mature bearing distinguished him from other hot-blooded adventurers.

Eina thought he was more like her—an honor student.

Upon their familiarity and adjustments, everything came to this point.

"You need to take the 39th floor in mind."

"39th floor..?"

"It's a safety point."

After the 18th floor, the next safety point—a floor where no monsters spawn—is the 39th floor.

"There are cases of adventurers falling into a hole made by a Lambton. It is unknown as to which floor it leads to. But, it is confirmed to be somewhere on the lower floors."

Knowing his talents, Eina did not prepare simple teaching materials. She scrolled through the guild's database and correlated many reports of the lower floors.

It connected many individual cases as well as formed newer findings. Even she was astonished by some of them.

"I see…"

It is for this reason that Nobu chose her as an advisor. She has access to detailed information about the dungeon.

"Well… Uhm… I'm glad I chose Eina-san as my advisor."

Startled, she reacted like this.

"W-where are you going with that?!"

"I realized that I never properly thanked you once."

In his words, he did not give her a thank-you present yet.

"There's no need for that! As long as…"

An adventurer suddenly came to Eina's mind. The first adventurer to be advised by her. A year ago, she returned as a corpse. The day before it happened, they are just talking with each other casually.

She had been greatly shocked by that sudden incident. Never had she known a friend could turn into a corpse the next day.

"—you return alive…"

"Hm?"

"Anyways. You are diving on the 21st floor already, no?"

"I am. I have already outgrown the monsters on the floor above."

As his advisor, Nobu could not hide much from her. He did hide his involvement on the 27th floor, however.

On the off chance she discovered it, she would be extremely angry at him.

"I know you've reached level two earlier than the official announcement. But, please be careful. The 21st floor is something explored by veteran level two."

Nobu revealed his level-up secret to gain more information from Eina. He was ready to 'seal' that memory if she showed signs of divulging it. Unexpectedly, she kept it a secret too. Once again, he was shocked by the trustworthiness of the people he met in Orario.

It made her one of the few people he trusts some of his secrets with—along with others from Hephaestus Familia and Artemis Familia.

"There might be Evilus remnants hiding in the dungeon, too."

"I thought they were cleared out already?"

"Reports came from Loki Familia. It stated that they are directly responsible for the 27th-floor nightmare."

Time swiftly passed. The end of their 'lessons' came.

"This is a gift."

He suddenly took out a box from his inner pockets and placed it on the desk. Nobu swiftly turned his head around to hide his embarrassment.

"I'm heading off."

He left the room before she could react.

"There's no need for this…"

Inwardly, she accepted it. She knew him enough. He would not take it back even if she returned it.

"A gift… It isn't bad to receive one."

Eina is beautiful. She has many admirers inside the gift. They all tried to give her 'gifts' like roses and jewelry. But, she never accepted them. Hence, this gift is the first one she received.

It is different from the others. It is a gift born out of her student's gratitude. Nevertheless…

"Nobu-san could act like that too?" She muttered. "How cute."

It inadvertently reminded her of a shy child.

*****

"Akasaka-san! Wait!"

Just as I made my way to the dungeon, I was intercepted by someone.

"You are… Apollo Familia?"

"Please don't go into the dungeon!"

Hearing her words confused me.

"Don't go! There will be danger to you… Huff… cannot escape from!"

"What… do you mean?"

I noticed we are garnering some attention.

"Let's move to a silent place."

"Uh?"

I held her hand until we reached an empty alley.

"What's going on?"

The girl's green pupils avoided my gaze. Still, she answered my question properly.

"You will encounter grave danger inside the dungeon."

"What kind of danger?"

"That… I do not know."

She grew extremely confusing. She should have stopped me from something she knew of, yet she doesn't know that danger?

A possibility crossed my mind.

"I… I am Cassandra. Apollo Familia." The girl introduced herself. "I receive some type of dream… A dream that shows the future."

I met the girl who could see through the future.

*****

A/N: I will talk about the future schedule of this fic. The daily updates will still continue. However, I already received the date on the start of college. With that said, I think I won't be able to keep the daily update thing due to the length and quality of these chapters (If someone wants to know, each chapter is not lower than 2.2k words). That's why it "might" change to one chapter per two days once I go to college. Of course, it won't happen for now. It would remain as a daily update during my vacation. I'm just giving everyone the heads up.

Anyways, feel free to support this fic on the patreon page (5$/7 advanced chaps and 10$/15 advanced chaps). That will definitely help for my college funds :p