Chapter 41 - Onslaught

Tetsuo had attempted to tailor each weapon to what he knew the individuals preferences were when it came to fighting. Given how much more powerful unsealed weapons were, he assumed it would be best to pair that with a familiar element.

“Tetsuo boy, this axe feels incredible!” Veera shouted as he swung it into a soldier. Although the soldier blocked the strike with a shield, the activated axe was far heavier than it normally was. Veera’s innate strength made it easy for him to swing it around despite the weight, so the strike ended up splitting the soldier's shield in two. Veera kicked the soldier square in the chest, sending him flying backwards into one of the courtyard walls.

As their assault began, one of the guards who had been asleep near the alarm bell scrambled frantically to his feet, preparing to ring it. Alon had already anticipated this and swung his new Ficium longsword, now casting a long reaching arc of flames that engulfed the bell, melting it. He smirked confidently as he admired the output of his new sword. “It’s so beautiful. It needs a name…” Alon muttered to himself as he challenged two more soldiers that began to rush at him.

Tetsuo ran in and began singling out the soldiers he could. They seemed far more proficient than him so he focused on trying to deal with the ones that seemed alone. One charged at him, spear in tow, and thrust. He grabbed the spear with his gauntlet, and snapped the head clean off. The soldier threw the remaining wooden stick at him which Tetsuo easily swatted away. He rushed forwards to grab him, but was halted by a large icicle spear that had been thrown his way. He looked up and could see that there was a guard on the rooftop, using Ars to cast icicles from a safe distance.

“Tetsuo!” He turned and saw Bianca yelling to him holding the device he had made for her. She pointed it at the person on the rooftop. She yelled out to him, “It’s fine to use it now right?”

Tetsuo looked down disappointedly, while giving her a thumbs up. “Just remember! Aim for the arms and legs, body if you have to! It’ll crack bones so be careful!”

Before he could even finish, Bianca had already reached into the satchel and pulled out a small round stone, the size of a marble. She slid it inside the front of the device before pointing it at the soldier on the roof. She held the device with both hands, charging it with Ars. The sigils began to glow, beginning from the handle and slowly following through the length of the barrel. All the sigils became illuminated and a loud bang rang out from the gun, staggering Bianca, as the marble struck the shoulder of the soldier on the rooftop knocking them onto their back. The sigils faded away and smoke billowed from the tip of the gun. Bianca looked in wide-eyed wonder at Tetsuo with what she had just done. “I’ll uh… use less Ars for the next shots.”

“Please!” Tetsuo had felt disgusted making it, but its effectiveness couldn’t be denied. He had copied the sigil from the lantern he had and removed the limiter to create a small gas explosion inside the chamber, similar to how a regular gun would work. In a world where most long range combat is handled with Ars, the sight of a tiny high velocity stone travelling at instant speeds would have been foreign to most Alvanians. Regardless, Tetsuo looked forward to destroying it once the mission was complete. He believed close quarter combat was more dignified and respectable, and didn’t want Alvania to sacrifice that for the sake of ‘efficient’ combat.

Bianca seemed to have respected his wishes, using lighter shots to pellet and harass soldiers, while closing in for a finishing strike. Tetsuo watched as she shot a soldier in the leg, forcing him to kneel, and then delivered a swift roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him onto the ground. Tetsuo watched as she continued to tear through her opponents. Again, he began to wonder where he even got the idea that he needed to protect her.

As he was thinking, he noticed the downed soldier Veera had kicked into a wall attempting to make a run for the doors of the workshop. Tetsuo sprinted to intercept. One of the other defenders saw Tetsuo running, and swept his halberd at him. Tetsuo dove and slid underneath the swipe, before transitioning into a roll and leaping forwards at the fleeing soldier. He managed to grab the soldier's leg, and yanked him backwards, making him fall over. The soldier retaliated, kicking Tetsuo in the jaw, and making him lose his grip. As the man scampered up the stairs to the workshop, Tetsuo drew the Ficium dagger he had made and threw it at the fleeing soldier. The pommel of the dagger struck the soldier in the back of the head knocking them unconscious.

Tetsuo sighed and looked back at the rest of the courtyard. Alon and Bianca were standing over the halberdier from before, ready to finish them off. Their forces were depleted, and the courtyard lay littered with groaning soldiers, tattered tents, and weapons with no owners. Tetsuo walked over to the doors, stepping over the once fleeing soldier, to retrieve and sheath his dagger. The four of them rejoined and pushed open the doors, entering the workshop.

The entrance to the workshop was rather unassuming. It resembled the entrance of an office, having a welcome desk at the center where knights using the workshop would have to log their arrivals and departures. The area was more cluttered than usual, as rations and weaponry were piled up against the walls, likely for the soldiers to use. Behind the desk was a large corridor that had multiple work rooms, and a staircase that led upstairs.

“Ignore the staircase, and search the rooms ahead,” Tetsuo instructed. “When she’d leave during our sessions, she’d always go down from the second floor. Whatever we're looking for has to be on this floor.”

The four of them spread out, searching the rooms for any hints of anything unusual. Tetsuo rummaged through desks, piles of materials, and under carpets until Bianca called out from the room she had gone inside of, the one next to the stairs. “Come here, I found it!”

The three of them rushed over to join her. In her room, a large bookshelf had been pushed to the side, revealing a large section of the wall carved out. At the base, there seemed to be a hole that descended deep underground, with a rope ladder tied to the floor to assist with traversing down it.

Bianca snickered to herself. “How unoriginal.”

Tetsuo looked around at the others and took a deep breath. “You ready?”

The three of them nodded, and one by one they began descending into the hole.