Baxter, Dante, and Iris

Two days after my awakening, the doctor gave me the okay to return to my classes. With the first semester over it was the beginning of a holiday break. Some students would take the time to go back to their homes but I planned on staying in Elendria to continue my training.

“I should probably ask Iris what she wants to do.”

I went to Iris’s door and knocked on it three times.

“Yo Iris! It’s me, Baxter! Got a sec?”

After another loud knock from me, the door opened by itself to reveal Iris sitting on her bed. And to my surprise, Dante Wolfgang was sitting right next to her.

“B-Baxter!”

Iris’s face turned red as she stood up quickly. Dante stayed where he was, turning to me and smiling softly.

“D-Dante?” I said aloud, my voice full of surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“O-oh!”

Iris turned to Dante and then turned back to me while trying to find her words.

“W-well…”

I didn’t understand Iris’s actions simultaneously and couldn’t think more of them as Dante got up and walked in front of me.

“Me and Iris were going over the idea of staying in the academy for the break, to continue our training.”

“What!?” I basically shouted while crossing my arms. “That’s a crazy coincidence! I was just about to ask if you were cool with that idea Iris!”

Iris continued to move her eyes between me and Dante as if she was a lost child. After stuttering some incoherent nonsense under her breath, Iris finally started to speak in an understandable language.

“Y-yeah! While you were healing I was training with Dante! We both thought it would be wonderful for you to join as well!”

“Really?” I turned to Dante. “You want to train with us? You don’t see us slowing you down?”

Dante replied, “I don’t see Iris slowing me down, but as for you…Baxter…I want to say you are an exceptional fighter...despite being a Null.”

“T…thanks?”

“If you two are free tomorrow, let’s start training in the yards. It might be cold so don’t forget to bring a coat.”

“Sure!”

“Y-yes!”

Iris gave Dante a thumbs-up as he waved goodbye and exited the room.

“I didn’t think Wolfegang would be interested in us…you good, Iris?”

“H-huh? I-I’m okay…”

“Really? Because it seemed as though you forgot how to speak English the moment I came in!”

“W-well…I was just nervous…”

“Why?”

“Because of…how it might have looked when you came in. You know with me and Dante in the room…alone…”

“Oh…oooooooh~!”

I let out a laugh and slapped Iris on the back.

“B-Baxter?”

“Iris, I would never think that! I know you would never cheat on me!”

“Y-yeah! I-I would never…”

I inched closer to my girlfriend and gave her a tight hug full of nothing but love.

“Stop being so dramatic. Want to head into the city tonight?”

“Are…are we going to see a movie?”

“The movie thing? Sure!”

After putting on some proper clothes me and Iris went out into Eleiweth. The date carried on until the sun set and we shared a kiss as the sky turned dark. And even after a while, we stayed in each other’s embrace until the cold winter air forced us to return to the indoors.

I believe…that was the last time me and Iris had a date together. After that…well…you’ll see.

***

The winter holidays of Elendria Academy were quite generous. Starting on the day of Christmas Eve and ending right on the twelfth of January, students had exactly nineteen days of vacation. While some students took the chance to go back to their homes, I chose to stay behind and focus on training. And with good luck on my side, the majority of the students left for the holiday so I didn’t have to deal with any annoying bastards making fun of me for a while.

And also, I wasn’t going to spend my training alone. Accompanying me was my girlfriend Iris Brimstone and a new person, Dante Wolfegang.

Now, I didn’t know much about Dante other than the fact that he is one of the top four, is a member of the student council, and is the heir to the Head of the Wolfegang which is a very influential family in Eleiweth. I knew nothing about Dante as a person and while we did not engage in conversation that much I was able to study him and get a basic understanding of what kind of guy he was.

Dante was different from the usual nobles I encountered. He doesn’t loudly throw around his family name for clout. He is quiet and mostly keeps to himself. Due to his handsome looks a bunch of girls fawn over him but he seems to have no interest in any of them. As for his work in the student council, he is very diligent and takes no shortcuts in getting his work done.

He is intelligent and elegant. The exact term of what a prince is.

In the prospect of power between me and Iris, he is the strongest. Whenever we trained together would always end our sessions with a dual. Whenever Dante would fight he would always come out the victory, mostly. Against me, he washes the floor with me, but with Iris, he has to put in a little more effort. There were moments in the fight where I thought the flames of Iris were close to melting the icicles of Dante, but the noble was able to conjure even more magical power to counter the heat without even saying an incantation. And his skills with the sword were superior to any of the students in our year. I could barely keep with up the movements of his swings and his defense was nearly impregnable.

The only person I could see defeating Dante was Annie. That was how powerful he was.

But what I found the most interesting about Dante Wolfegang was his goal— the reason why he wanted to become a Holy Knight. While me and Iris reason was out of passion for the heroes of the past we admire, Dante’s was driven by something almost similar but with more urgency engraved in it.

After Dante defeated me in a dual by slamming an ice ball into my ribs, he decided that it would be a good time to open up to us. He showcased his blue long sword which was dubbed The Abelladorn— A powerful blade of diamond infused with the power from the spirits of frost.

According to Dante, Abelladorn was over a thousand years old and was wielded by his ancestor who was a knight who fought in the war against the demons.

“Lea Wolfegang was his name,” Dante said. “He was not anyone special at the time. Simply a young lad who depended on his family’s money but he was drafted to become a soldier for the Kingdom of Eleiweth. In the great battlefield, he demonstrated determination and never backed down against the mighty foe.”

“What became of him?” Iris asked.

Dante hummed took out Abelladorn caressed his hand softly on the blade. The sun’s light shining down on it.

“On one of the last major battles of the war, Lea did not make it back home. He was taken down by a black arrow that struck him right through the heart. The villain responsible was said to be one of the Demon Generals that served the Demon King directly— Aggir The Archer From the Seventh.”

“Aggir!?” Iris gasped. “I heard of that name mentioned a few times! They are said to be one of the strongest demons— almost as strong as the Demon King himself! Yet…no one has ever actually seen what Aggir looks like.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned. “You’re saying that no one knows what type of demon Aggir was?”

Dante shook his head.

“Aggir was known as the Archer. They never physically appeared on the battlefield. The talented archer from Hell fired their arrows from afar— striking down many of their opponents. Their arrows were faster than the speed of light and they were too small to see.”

“Too small?”

“Look.”

Dante dug into his pocket and took out a golden missile that was the size of a finger. Me and Iris inched in closer to the supposed projectile that slayed Dante’s ancestor— amazed by how tiny it was.

“Even though it is small the power of Aggir’s bow fired it at a ridiculous speed. Matched with the force it was released with, this small “arrow” had the power to drill through the flesh of a person. Lea’s chest was left with only a small hole where his heart used to be and before he breathed his last he cursed Aggir and swore vengeance.”

Dante placed the bullet back in his pocket and held up Adelladorn to the sky. A blue and blinding light came off of the blade as the young noble raised it higher.

“And so, Lea’s sword was passed on to his son. And from his son to his daughter. Each with the same declaration, that one day Aggir will be slain and Lea will be avenged!”

“Aggir is still alive? It’s been thousands of years! You sure that demon didn't just die off or that they weren’t killed during the war?”

“I’m certain they still live. The concept of time does not matter to demons, they can live for centuries like elves. And I have a feeling that Aggir retreated to the Dark Lands after the Demon King was sealed away…”

“Since they were as strong as the Demon King maybe they rule over the Dark Lands now!” Iris stated. “Maybe they’re the new Demon Lord and want to try and invade Ocaleveth!”

“If Aggir wants to invade Ocaleveth then wants to take them so long?” I replied while crossing my arms. “It’s been a thousand years and not even a single demon has should up in the main lands of Ocaleveth since!”

“Demons are relatively weak and Ira, the Demon King, was able to rally them to a cause,” Dante answered. “After he was sealed away their morale was crushed. Even if Aggir rose to power I doubt he would have had the same type of leadership strength…”

“…but you still think they’re out there?”

“Yes! And I will be the one to kill them!”

“I’ll…I’ll help you!”

Iris stepped forward and boldly declared with a loud voice that made the birds fly out of the trees. Me and Dante looked over at the scarlet-haired girl with raised eyebrows.

“I mean…”

Being embarrassed by our stares, Iris sheepishly stepped back and turned red in the face. She scratched the back of her head while still trying to relay her thoughts out loud.

“It’s a noble quest and it may be hard to accomplish alone. I think the aid of another Holy Knight will help bear fruit for your efforts…”

Dante smiled and clasped Iris’s hand gently.

“The Knight of Flames and Frost. Destroying the Hellish Creatures of the Dark Lands. What a grand title for a tale that would be passed down for generations! I would love to have you fight by my side, Iris Brimstone!”

Iris blushed and sheepishly looked away.

“S-stop it…”

“Um…guys?”

Feeling awkwardly left out I raised my hand and loudly proclaimed my existence to the two other knights in the yard.

“O-oh! And of course, Baxter will be there with us…”

“Would he? Does he not fear the Home of the Demons?”

“Never seen a demon in my life so I ain’t scared!”

I chuckled as took out my katana.

“I swear on my sword that any name that gets in my—no…our way will be sliced to ribbons!”

“I see…thank you…”

After that story, I felt as if Dante became closer to the rest of us, and even after the holidays had ended and school was back in session, the three of us still made it a habit to meet by the yard and train. I honestly looked forward to that. Getting stronger with people who I saw as my partners, there was no other joy for someone like me who was desperate to become a Holy Knight.

We would do routine exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, or jogs. They were never treated as a competition but if they were I would be the winner! In a contest of energy and resilience, I outmatched Dante and Iris— leaving them in the dust!

“Come you two~!”

I would mock them as I ran ahead during our jogs. Both of them were sweating, panting, and lagging behind.

“B-Baxter…y-you jerk!”

Iris would grumble as she struggled to keep moving her feet.

“This isn’t a-a race!”

Dante, who was the furthest behind had completely stopped and then would lean on a nearby tree.

“H-he certainly has a lot of energy…”

And then at the end, we would duel each other. As you can guess, whenever I fought Dante or Iris it would always end in a loss. Even when I dive into the Spirit World I could never cut their magic.

It was the same strange sequence that happened when I tried to slice Annie’s mana— instead of a legion of fish, Iris, and Dante’s mana was a singular massive creature that circled them. Dante’s was a white koi fish with only one eye at the center of the forehead and Iris’s was a white jawless fish with red fiery designs and only three yellow glowing eyes on the right side of it.

The koi fish left off a wind that I could never push against and the jawless fish moved way too fast that my sword couldn’t catch it.

I found it frustrating and struggled to understand how to beat them and in the end, neither of the two of them could figure out what I was trying to do. To them, it seemed as if I was just vanishing for a second and reappearing. Their answer to such a mystery was that I was just moving incredibly fast.

“How can I…”

If there was a critique of our meet-ups it would be the constant feeling of weakness. As I looked at Iris and Dante, it seemed as if they were on top of massive pillars that were soaring to the heavens, while was slowly climbing those pillars with my bare hands. I was working hard, but it was still frustrating.

But that frustration was my strength. To get better. To get stronger.