01.45 - Magic Knight in Another World

“Don’t think so,” Ryu said.

“Three on one?” the head Knightsmith asked in disbelief. “Not happening. Kid was just lucky so far. A story as old as time. I’ve seen enough upstarts in my life.”

“Wanna make a bet?” Ryu asked the head Knightsmith.

“Sure, if I can wager on the seniors,” the head Knightsmith said. “How much do you wanna bet?”

“How much do you have?” Ryu asked.

“Tse,” the head Knightsmith said. “I was serious, kiddo...”

“Mind if I borrow some of the equipment?” I asked, interrupting their little gamble.

“What do you want with our stuff?” the head Knightsmith asked. “Don’t you have a fight to focus on?”

“I’ll take that as a ‘Yes’,” I said as three screw drivers, and six wrenches began floating toward me, using the ‘Psy Blade’s ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’.

They hovered toward my direction, then formed a half circle around me, turning pitch black as I used the Alchemist Class’ ‘Decomposition’ and ‘Transmutation’ across their surface.

“What the hell did he just do?” the head Knightsmith asked.

“Ready if you are,” I said as I faced my seniors.

“Don’t you wanna draw your sword?” the third year asked.

“Nah, I am good,” I said. “We can start whenever.”

“Looks like we got a joker here,” the overall number three said as he unsheathed his blade.

The other two followed suit.

They stood there for a few seconds without anyone taking the initiative.

Then the second rank began a charge and the other two moved along.

I stood my ground, readied the transmuted screwdrivers and prepared to counter their blades with the wrenches, two for every sword.

Their attack came to a sudden halt once the wrenches made contact.

The stalemate didn’t last too long as I accelerated the screwdrivers and increased the tension in their blades, slowly but surely, by changing the wrenches position and rotation.

Finally, the first blade shattered.

So did the other two.

I, meanwhile, halted my assault with the screw drivers stopping right at their throats.

Game, set, match.

I floated the tools back where their owners had left them.

The three of them looked down on the fragments of their blades, splintered above the hilt.

“The hell was that?” the head Knightsmith asked.

“Never seen a ‘Psy Blade’ fight?” Ryu asked.

“Not like that, I haven’t,” the head Knightsmith said.

“But… that was an heirloom,” the second ranked stuttered.

I walked toward him and picked up the shattered pieces with ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’, floated them up to the broken parts of the hilt and used the Alchemist Class’ ‘Decomposition’ and ‘Transmutation’ to fuse the fissures back together.

“Huh?” He looked at me puzzled.

“Good as new,” I said and patted him on the shoulder. “If you want to pay me back, leave me alone till graduation. Also maybe get a spare, using an heirloom for duels is just a bad idea."

“So… How much did you say you have?” Ryu asked the head Knightsmith.

“Nice try, kiddo...” the head Knightsmith said.

“But you do understand my motivation?” Ryu asked.

“Well,” the head Knightsmith said. “Looks like we're gonna implement those modifications. Guess he might be able to make use of them afterall. At least I now know who I am betting on for the exhibition match at the end of the year.”

—

The rest of the school year came and went in a similar fashion.

At least the amount of duels went down as time went on.

The Custom Standard Knight modifications were implemented slowly but surely.

I wished that the changes to the workings of the underworld only had been progressing as smoothly. But one can’t have everything.

As the end of the year drew closer, there was a Standard Knight exhibition match scheduled for the last day of school.

A duel with one of the Elden Lord’s champions.

His opponent would either be a student, or, for lack of a sufficiently skilled individual, one of the instructors.

I had already decided to fill the role.

Everything that was left, after topping the current highscores and soundly humbling the rest of my age group, was to win a mini tournament against the top four of all the other years.

The mini tournament went as you can imagine.

My final student opponents folded soon enough, and the only remaining obstacle was the, as of yet also undefeated champion of the Elden Lord.

I had to remind myself not to underestimate my opponent, as my customized, not so standard, Standard Knight slowly left the hangar and stepped onto the battlefield.

It whirled up dust from the dry, sandy ground.

In front of me stood ‘Kidd Red Eyes’, a pitch black, custom unit, almost twice the size of my own Standard Knight, as if anchored to the ground, and packed to the brim with pricey enhancements.

Piloted by the Elden Lord’s champion Knight Rider, Michael David.