Originally, refining spells was a bit like solving a puzzle.
A puzzle with thousands of different outcomes, where you don't know what the pieces even do, and the only way to really tell if you're doing something right is to finish the whole damn thing and just try it. If it explodes, you did something wrong. If it doesn't, well you still might have done something wrong.
It was a bit hard to tell at the time.
Nowadays though -with my Alteration level ballooning- more and more understanding of the runic languages and symbology used in this system of spellwork was being forced into my mind. That knowledge was letting me actually understand the puzzle itself, obviously making this shit a bit easier.
Hell, there was a good shot I'd be able to start manipulating the spells to my own ends someday soon, or just straight up invent new ones.
Of course, most of my ideas on that end were variations on how to use magic to improve my swordplay. And that might sound a bit rigid given how open ended this system of magic was turning out to be, but honestly, that's just how it seems to work best.
In the game, direct magical damage falls off pretty hard towards the end game due to its fixed damage values and its inability to benefit from stacking the buffs of Alchemy, Enchanting and Smithing. And even for me in the real world, Destruction barely feels viable. Not in comparison to what I could do with a sword and a fraction of the effort at least.
But that's not where Magic shines.
It's a force multiplier, not just literally like in the case of Burden, but also figuratively in the form of more devious manoeuvres. With my casting speed opening up, suddenly using Sparks -not to actually do damage- but simply disrupt or stun my opponent is more than viable. Dabbling into Illusion magic could easily achieve similar results; momentary openings that I can exploit ruthlessly in the middle of combat.
Destruction magic -while I haven't gotten there yet- doesn't feel as limited as it is in game. And while I can't be one-hundred percent certain, I'm fairly sure there's forms of terrain altering magic in that school.
And there is no bigger fuck you to a martial artist than suddenly removing their footing in the middle of a fight. For anyone who exerts power through their body, our footing is our lives. It's how we move, it's the bedrock from which we generate the majority of our force, take that away and all you have is a surprised foe swinging around mass they can't leverage.
It's why I want the spell Levitate so badly.
The higher I go up in level, the more inevitable it'll be that I encounter a monster or adventurer who'll exploit this exact principle, and fuck that, I'll just fly. Plus y'know, more and better leverage for more force, which is the theme of magic at this point.
Magic exists to feed the Sword, and there is no higher calling than that.
Sadly though, there is a slight downside to all this progress though.
Idly spinning my sword through the head of the latest monster to slip by my flagging student, I stilled the blade and stared down its length in the light of the feeding obelisk that dominated the pantry we were spawn-camping. At a glance I could recognise just how many of the engravings I'd stopped using over the past few days, and while I could ignore them while casting, that was attention not spent elsewhere.
In other words, it's time had already come and I probably needed to reforge the sword I'd used for all of three days. One that was a particular pain in the ass to forge at that. And this time, I'd probably be adding even more Mythril, meaning an even harder engraving process.
Maybe I could get Tsubaki to help again? Though I did ignore her cries for help last I saw her, so she might be a little peeved there…
In other words, I'd need to bribe her.
"If you had to bribe someone, what would you give them?" I asked contemplatively, opening my eyes to see Judith still fighting desperately -and honestly rather sloppily- against the incoming Ants of the ninth floor. Though that sloppiness was understandable given that she really hadn't taken to being awake for days on end well.
She also didn't seem to even register my question which probably meant she was reaching the end of her wick. Which was a great sign for her Falna, not so much for her state of being.
In light of that I couldn't help but feel a minor sense of worry.
Wordlessly, I chambered my sword and focused on three of the freshest human-sized ants to join the fight against my student. They couldn't even react before the trio of thrusts cleared the thirty or so odd metres between us and their heads simply ceased to exist.
With their numbers thinned, Judith seemed to perk up as I stood down and focused on her, pushing aside other concerns. While I had been keeping an eye on her with my intent, I wanted to at least do her the courtesy of watching her as she tried her best to overcome her limits; whether she was aware that was what she was doing or not.
She clearly recognised the best odds she'd had in a while and seemed intent on exploiting them, becoming more animated than I'd seen her in a while.
Whatever state she was in, she was defaulting back to her old training, throwing her full weight behind every uniform strike as she started to roar wordlessly. Tearing into what remained of the pack of ants and being torn into in turn.
I suppose old habits are hard to beat and all that.
Though to her credit, the wounds didn't even seem to phase her. If anything they seemed to drive her forward, her tempo building as she launched herself at them again and again. The bastard sword I'd made for her tearing vicious, bloody arcs right through the hardened carapaces of the so-called rookie killers.
It was perhaps the exact opposite of my own careful, reactive swordplay, yet I couldn't help but find it interesting in its own right. Both the sword and the girl behind it, as she seemed to burn her will for one last act of defiance.
And well, given her current state, there was a chance she was convinced that this was actually a true final stand. I could literally feel her desperation and fury after all, her intent flaring to life after spending so long just smouldering away.
I was almost a touch jealous in a way, finding good moments where you can fight with your life on the line were getting rarer for me, much less moments where I can do it under someone else's protection. Yet that was what being an Adventurer was all about; to throw yourself into danger and put it all on the line for the sake of overcoming yourself.
To become better than who you were mere moments before.
But outside of the occasional, situational safety net like Ais, I didn't really have anyone to let me do that. I had to make my choices knowing that I couldn't just throw myself to certain death to see how long I could last. Judith in contrast had been wavering on the edge of life and death for a fair bit now, struggling desperately to spawn camp the ants' feeding room with single minded determination.
No rest, no breaks, just good ol' unrelenting violence.
She could do that because I was here to catch her whenever she fell. It wasn't the worst deal for me, I had plenty of things that I could train just sitting here, but I couldn't help but wonder how quickly I could rise with someone to watch over me like that.
I really am such a good teacher.
And well, I suppose just watching someone else put it all on the line was nice enough. Any Adventurer worth their salt shouldn't be able to help getting fired up witnessing it.
So I seared it into my memory as my first student struggled on. My eyes unfalteringly taking in every moment she struggled, my fingers twitching on the hilt of my sword every time she stumbled, and my perception of the world slowing every time she took on a fresh wound.
Always ready to intervene.
Yet despite looking right at her, I didn't so much as see the moment Judith finally gave up the ghost as felt it, felt the spluttering flame that was her presence gutter and then shimmer down beneath the dark waves of dormant will that made up the world below Orario.
The reason? She passed out standing upright, her full weight pressed into the hilt of the sword now stuck in the skull of her final opponent.
Her final strike had been entirely unconscious.
Stepping up beside her, I caught her around the midriff as she finally fell, letting her down gently and coaxing a healing potion down her throat. A trick I'd learnt from Raul, a surprisingly useful one as it turned out for someone in my line of work.
Three days.
She'd managed to stay awake for three days of constant fighting.
She'd fallen plenty during that time, but always got back up. Rising to and even exceeding some of my expectations, especially after it'd become clear that stamina potions had knock on effect on those who, well, weren't me. Effects like hallucinations, headaches, and apparently her 'mind' almost slipping away to use her own vernacular.
From the outside I could see just how hard it was for her to stay in the fight, which only made it more impressive whenever she'd pull herself back to her feet. Stubborn determination and sketchy potions overcoming limits and pushing what it meant to be human.
In short, I was proud of her.
Even if she was probably going to whine about this when she woke up later.
"…Get some rest, you've earned it." I told her gently, closing her unseeing eyes as I hoisted her up into my arms.
I'd just need to find someone else to pull bribery ideas from.
-
The sun was setting by the time I made it surface side, a much longer process as it turns out when you're trying not to jostle your passenger and your arms are mostly trapped carrying them. But make it back I did, stepping out of the gloom to a city bathed in sunset red under the curious gazes of fellow Adventurers.
Some of which even seemed to recognise me, my name and likeness apparently having spread. Though whether that was from the Arena, stories about me saving people in the dungeon or from the new level up announcement that the guild had just put out, I couldn't really know.
Regardless, I returned the friendly greetings of some adventurers I didn't recognise and made my way into the city proper. But even amidst civilians however there were people slowing as they noticed me, recognition in their eyes.
While I'd normally bask in said attention, with Judith in my arms I had to slip away into familiar alleyways, wary of her being jostled in the crowd. And eventually I emerged out into the ruined district.
Home.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't even know why this district was ruined until very recently. In order to fit in, one of the first things you need to do is not question the common sense of the area you're in. People who are from here already know the answer to most questions you have, and depending on how common that knowledge is, it can be pretty suspicious to question it.
So naturally if I come across something I don't know, most of the time I just ignore it, or at most ask Hestia about it later. The problem is though, if you train yourself not to question things then that often becomes a habit. And you find yourself subconsciously not asking basic questions like, 'who the fuck blew up all the buildings around where I live?'
The answer by the way is Evilus, because of course it is.
I only found that out because I ran into one of Loki's pickup girls for my potions and she went on a full blown nervous rant about it while staring at the building across from our church. By building I mean the pile of rubble we'd since cleared to make room for the contractors we'd hired for the new building Hestia wanted.
Apparently the area was cursed because of said Evilus attack, with reports of people going missing and strange sounds coming from the area, hence the Loki girl's nervousness.
Though depending on the timeframe that could've just been because of us.
The kids have a habit of stalking anyone that comes into the area, and I have a habit of taking out criminals that try to temporarily set up shop here. So we kind of have 'strange sounds' and 'disappearances' covered, and I haven't seen any ghosts.
Walking between the massive, wartorn buildings that had long started to give in to nature, I found myself stopping short of Hestia's church. Eyes locked on the strange sight of a familiar foxgirl napping against the wall of our home.
Weird.
Cute, but weird.
Just walking up to her was enough to get her to stir, red eyes cutely blinking up at me through the fading light of the sun as she let out a big yawn.
"Morning?" I greeted.
"Evening." She corrected sleepily.
"Were you waiting for me?"
She hummed in agreement. "I wished to speak with you, unfortunately you were out and your Goddess seemed unsure as to when you'd be back." No surprise there considering I'd just spent three days straight in the dungeon.
"She seemed worried." My fellow Captain tacked on absently.
"Well, sorry for the wait."
"It's fine, I was simply image training." She said simply as she stood up.
"Image training?" She was obviously sleeping.
"Yes." I blinked as the question went right over her head, and then blinked again as her gaze slipped from me to the sky.
"…Four hours." She concluded with satisfaction, bobbing her head happily, long foxy ears swaying with the motion. "Good training."
"Well, glad you had fun, do you mind if I…?" I nodded down to where Judith was still napping in my arms. Miyabi and I had been talking quietly so she hadn't stirred, but it was still fairly rude to just talk over someone's sleeping body.
Also she'd started snoring and I felt like Judith would throw a fit in embarrassment if I let too many people see her like this.
"Oh." Miyabi blinked down at the girl in my arms, red eyes taking in the copious amount of bloodstains that coated Judith's form. "Of course, resting after training is the bes- important."
Smiling at the slip up, I stepped around her into the church, again noticing the absence of the kids. They were almost certainly at the Hostess of Fertility, a place I was studiously avoiding in order to not give Freya a clear line of sight on me. But with all the waves I'd been making, it was getting less and less likely that she hadn't noticed me anyway.
I should just be bold and go visit them anyway… and prepare Freya countermeasures. Her mind control bullshit works based on charm, on how attractive she is, so what happens if I cast an illusion on myself that distorted my vision?
Like a make everyone ugly spell…?
I'd need to invest pretty heavily into illusion in that case, but it should be doable. And worth it considering the alternative was getting mind raped by a memetic threat who works as a waitress a couple blocks away from my house. Freya was slow to act in Bell's case, if I have attracted her attention, that time should be more than enough.
Yeah, next perk point, I'll get started on the Illusion branch, even if the base spells aren't really worth it. I hate living under restrictions, so if I want to visit the brats then I'll fucking do so, even if I have to overcome a primordial entity of seduction to do it.
"I wasn't expecting you to live in a place like this." At Miyabi's comment, I blinked back down to reality.
"Familia circumstances, my Goddess mooched off her friend for a little too long." I shook my head as I led her to a small, spiral staircase at the back of the church.
"Oh, I too remember those days." She said almost fondly, a faint smile curling her lips.
"You were Skadi's first?" I asked as I took the first steps down.
"Indeed." She puffed up slightly. "It was hard work to lay the foundations of our Familia, but greatly rewarding. Teaching the importance of training to the girls was quite the challenge, though it seems that your own student doesn't have such issues."
"She's definitely got drive…" I smiled, stepping out into Hestia's little home. Only to find my Goddess pointing at me, a goldfish-like expression on her face.
"EL-!" I cleared the distance between us before she could scream the next syllable, pressing a finger to her lips before she could almost certainly scream something about me being in the dungeon for three days.
"We have a guest." I spoke quickly.
"F-Fine. But we're talking about this later mister, and I-I'm imposing a curfew!" She huffed, trying to look authoritative. Her eyes then flashing down to Judith where they immediately filled with worry.
"We can talk, but no curfew." I poked her with finality, deflating Hestia as Miyabi emerged from the staircase.
The foxgirl looked around the cosy room with a rapidly softening gaze, the sheer homeliness of a place the Goddess of the Hearth called home probably speaking to her like it did me the first time I laid eyes on it.
"Apologies for intruding." She said upon recovering, bowing slightly. "You have a lovely home."
"Thank you!" Hestia perked up her mood one-eighty'ing as she rushed over to Miyabi and captured the foxgirl's hand. "You should've come in earlier, I saw you sleeping outside and-"
"-I was image training." Miyabi corrected quickly, a hint of a blush on her cheeks.
"Image training…?" I tuned out the rest of the conversation as I set Judith down on the only bed in Hestia's room. Hestia could decide what to do about her bloody clothes and armour, in the meantime I busied myself with checking her vitals, making sure I hadn't missed anything during my field check before feeding her another potion just to be sure.
I would have used Restoration magic, but in this world Adventurers are typically limited by the three spell limit of their Falna. Anyone seen using more than three spells naturally raises a lot of eyebrows, and well, that was the kind of attention I was pushing off as long as I could.
When I get to the point of being able to bully countries into submission, that's when I'd stop caring about all this opsec.
"Is she alright?" My Goddess whispered as she sat down beside me, our guest trailing behind politely.
"She's fine, just let her sleep for like… half a day?"
"Mou…" Hestia whined. "It's bad enough that you do it to yourself, but you shouldn't push people this hard."
"She kept standing up and asking for more." I respected that drive, and I wouldn't do her the dishonour of forcefully stopping her out of pity. Especially not in a world where this kind of thing equated to permanent increases to your overall abilities.
I'd be a hypocrite if I faulted anyone for falling in love with that particular dopamine rush.
"That doesn't mean you need to- Ugh." She cut herself off in frustration. "Battle junkies, why do I always get the battle junkies!" She whined, yet still sat down besides the redhead, as she began stroking the girl's cheek. "And why is there so much blood…"
"Potions." Lots of potions, though my answer didn't help Hestia.
"Was it at least worth it…?" She asked slowly.
"…Effort always is." She didn't respond to that, so I just silently watched the Goddess tend to her new child for a moment before realising I didn't actually know why Miyabi was here.
Thankfully she seemed to understand my questioning gaze.
"I came to ask if you wished to spar, I felt it would also be good training." She said pleasantly, before a moment of realisation seemed to come over her. "…And to pass on this letter from Lye, it seems she didn't know how to reach you." She finished awkwardly, as if she almost forgot about it.
Taking the letter, I found it was a less a letter and more just a single line invitation
My room, tomorrow at eight, don't be late.
Smiling at the little doddle of a cat in the corner, I folded the letter away into a pocket I kept under my chestplate as Hestia looked up to give me the deadest of deadpan looks.
"If you don't mind passing on a message, please tell her I'll be there. As for a spar, yeah I'm down." I hadn't seen much of Miyabi fighting, but she did demonstrate what I'd guesstimate as high level two stats in that warehouse. And based on how clean her movements were, I'd also estimate her to be somewhere above Athena's Vice-Captain in terms of skill.
Miyabi smiled at that, nodding as her hand clenched around her sword sheath in anticipation.
"Mou… another one?" Hestia suddenly whined.
A glance found that her gaze was on Miyabi and it wasn't hard to conclude where her thoughts were going, though I personally couldn't see it. My fellow Captain seemed far more focused on matters of the sword than matters of romance after all.
An attitude I could wholeheartedly respect.
So instead I distracted Hestia with a light tap to the head. "Don't update people's Falnas while they're sleeping."
"E-Eh!" She stuttered. "I wasn't going to!"
"Sure, sure." I agreed sarcastically, nodding to Miyabi as I stood.
"I wasn't!" Hestia protested. "Elric!" But her protests fell on deaf ears as me and Miyabi trooped swiftly out of the room with an air of anticipation about us.
We found ourselves standing across from each other in the middle of the street, the last gasp of the setting sun painting the sky pink above us, hands on hilts. And in that tension I could feel something I couldn't before, a certain… maliciousness that hung around her sword.
"Your sword…" I trailed off as her eyes widened.
"I thought as much watching you fight the other day, but your senses are incredibly sharp." She said, staring at me contemplatively. "You needn't worry, the spirit inside is sealed."
I raised an eyebrow at that, the implications of that were… strange. There were magical swords in Danmachi certainly, but what she was directly implying was a cursed sword.
"Interesting." She smiled bitterly at that, but nonetheless drew the sword. And as she did its very essence swelled with bloodlust, its intent burning up the space between us with a fierce hatred.
If humans were willful flames reaching towards the heavens to my senses, then this was akin to a predator of that same fire. A dark, cloying presence that seemed intent on devouring the will of the one holding it, held back only by the chains that bound it to the blade and that very will.
It didn't feel natural, worse it seemed almost self-destructive just to hold it. Yet Miyabi wielded it with conviction, as if it were a solemn duty.
Did wielding it somehow keep it suppressed?
I refrained from prying and instead focused on the curse itself as I drew my blades. I couldn't exactly interfere with whatever was going on with her without massively overstepping social boundaries, but I could at least draw its ire from Miyabi to me for a spell.
And as my own bloodlust focused on it, it seemed to turn its own gaze back to me, the malevolent will inside seething with contempt for my challenge.
Mission accomplished I suppose.
The foxgirl looked surprised as her eyes tracked from her blade back to me, but ultimately smiled as she settled back into her stance.
"Your move." I offered.
"Appreciated." She replied, before almost disappearing towards me.
Reflexively, my Dexterity kicked in, the Falna slowing the world around me and resolving her movement into something I could respond to. She darted in low and to the left, a faux draw slash leaving her side as she closed in, building up momentum as it tore through the air towards my side.
Blocking it wasn't hard, her strength was indeed substantial, but compared to my previous opponents it was clear that it wasn't her focus. No, her focus became clear as her blade slid off mine and she sidestepped my sword edge as it tore at her in response. Her sword pulling itself around to cleave at my other side.
An agility fighter huh?
My dagger locked it this time, but again her sword slid off, seemingly uncaring as my sword chased her, ducking and weaving through my own strikes as she picked up momentum. Her sword coming at me from all angles as she seemed to almost dance between my counters.
Flowing around me, she exploited the movement speed gap between us, abusing it to come at me wherever and however she could. Her almost rotating slashes only ever briefly sparking against my blades before she would be gone again.
Subconsciously I found myself retreating under her attacks, only to then chase her back as she retreated, our steps syncing like I was being pulled into her dance as we exchanged brief blows with enough force to shatter the stone beneath our feet.
Yet despite everything I couldn't help but feel like something was missing from her style, and as our eyes met between showers of sparks, it was clear that she was feeling it from my sword too.
To resolve that, I decided to go first.
Burden.
Her eyes widened just before the blow hit, her movement suddenly changing as she shifted to flow with the strike instead of continuing her motion. That reactiveness likely saved her momentum, letting her spin with the blow, stepping around to swing from a new angle.
And while spins weren't normally done in swordplay for a reason, showing your back to your opponent and losing track of what they were doing was typically a death sentence in a fight, her motion was so quick and efficient that I really couldn't find fault in it.
That said, the slash itself was still very predictable, so imposing my burdened sword in its path was child's play. And as the sparks flew at their clash, I grinned down at her and gave her a cheeky poke with my knife.
And in return, she showed me what was missing from her blade.
Sharp, perilously cold frost bloomed to life on my dagger as she warded off my stab, icy blue flames coating her blade as she withdrew to seize me up.
The ice fire… icy fire? Frost flames? Whatever the contradiction against nature was called it seemed to almost pulse with Miyabi's will, leaving me to conclude that it was a reactive enchant type magic. As in she could control it at will within certain limitations, making it perhaps one of the more dangerous types of magic around.
The same type of magic that made Ais Wallenstein so feared.
"Scared?" She inquired softly, looking a touch smug, her foxy ears twitching happily.
"Terrified." I japed, letting my own flames spiral out of my dagger, parting the ice coating it.
Her eyes widened at the sight, as the kaleidoscopic flames spread to my sword, the multicolour hue lighting up the area as the light of the sun continued to fade.
Normally I'd try to hide them, but honestly? I was having too much fun to give a shit right now.
At an unseen signal we both darted for each other, resuming our clash in a flurry of blows as our respective flames tore at each other, trying and failing to gain purchase on one another even as first blood went to her and second to me.
I think we both got a little lost in each other's swords, as at a certain point Hestia just seemed to appear off to the side, her eyes almost glowing in the multicoloured radiance of her flames in my hands. I really should've noticed her approach, but at the same time, I couldn't afford to be anywhere else but this fight.
We fought through the sunset, our flames warding off the darkness as it encroached, casting strange shadows spiralling across the ruins around us. And through it all was her and her sword, matching me blow for blow even as the minutes wore on.
I'd faced two people physically stronger than her and only one faster… yet they both fell short of her. Fell short of her skill, of her talent and even the drive -the sheer will- I could feel resonating between us with every clash.
She was the most talented fighter I'd ever faced, and I couldn't feel anything but joy as we finally slid to a mutual stop.
If I'd known there was someone like this in Skadi's Familia, I would have just asked for a spar instead of a bow.
"…You're on the cusp of levelling up." I stated as the dust settled, it wasn't a question because I could feel her desire to go further, to be more in her sword.
She was just looking for an opportunity.
"Of course." She said with a tired smile even as she continued to softly pant, the long fight having worked her to exhaustion. And to be fair even I was feeling it after using Hestia's flames for so long; the unnatural feeling of tiredness that came with mana exhaustion dulling part of my mind.
Despite that I grinned back, and gave her an offer I knew she wouldn't refuse. "I've been invited to the Loki expedition, wanna sneak in with me?"
"What a terrible idea…" She tried, yet her smile didn't fade as she withdrew her sword, sheathing it and doing something to suppress the curse within.
"Well, they'll definitely find out, but it's a lot easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission." I explained cheekily, as I flourished my own blades to slide them home on my left hip.
"Truthfully, I'd be overjoyed to come with you, but -given that I have a Familia to run myself- I'll be needing details before I can agree." She hedged, obligation warring with desire in her eyes. "Also I wish for your reason for inviting me."
"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, after all, I was pretty sure she could feel my desire to fight her.
"I wish to hear it from you."
I chuckled. "I want to fight you again, the stronger you are the better."
"And if I beat you?" She led on.
"You won't, but all the better if you do."
Every fight to the limit was something to be cherished, to be overcome; and I'd just been talking about how jealous I was of Judith as well.
"Arrogant." She returned with a soft laugh. "But that is how warriors should be, to contemplate defeat is to invite it after all." She went on contemplatively, eyes softening as she seemed to come to a conclusion. "Thank you. If you'll have me, I'd happily come along, my training has needed something like this for a while now."
I smiled as she bowed. "No thanks needed, I need to tweak the Loki lots' noses every now and then anyway."
-
Elric is collecting sword autists like pokemon cards, at this rate Orario will be overrun with them.
Thanks for reading people, I'd normally wish you a great day but I'm feeling unexpectedly spiteful today, so I'll only wish you a good one instead. Oh also, the next three chapters are up on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/OneFallLeaf.
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Glossary
Cursed Blades
Cursed Blades in canon are often fairly simple weapons that have increased parameters in return for some kind of cost to their wielders. Generally this comes in the form of some kind of vitality drain, while in return the blade itself will be hard to heal from, poisonous in some way and can inflict some manner of debuff, often stat based.
In Miyabi's case, her sword Tailless is a bit special. The sword has its own will, one that is kept suppressed by the sheath she keeps it in. Left on its own, it will eventually break free and forcefully draw in and take over a new wielder. It is for this reason generations of the Hoshimi family have taken it upon themselves to wield the sword and endure its torment, preventing it from falling into the wrong hands.