Chapter 10: Second Sword Unleashed

Ferno was having no trouble at all with this guy, but he let the fight drag on; if he finished too early, he'd have to help Elisa, and he needed her to learn from this battle. Having real battle experience was good. Once Ferno felt it had been long enough, he made light work of his opponent. Dylan was waiting; he had been watching both fights, but chose not to interfere. "Apologies, my guys aren't exactly at your level just yet. A shame though, I'm sure they could've reached you in a few weeks." Ferno chuckled at that statement. Dylan suddenly raised his arm, forcing Ferno to draw his gun and fire. This had no effect thanks to his newly acquired second Ego; the laser he had fired rolled itself up into a ball in Dylan's palm as he grinned at Ferno. "You of all people should know when you're outmatched, with no real Ego, there's nothing you can do to me!" Dylan barked as the red ball of varlant energy melted into his body, allowing him to throw a punch, shooting a powerful blast towards Ferno. He was able to evade it and get in a few more low-power shots. "Just give up, Dylan. My apprentice is gonna take care of your remaining two guys, then it'll be just you." He said, pointing behind him with his knife. Dylan opened his mouth to say something, but stopped; they both did. A pulse of sinister Varlant energy rippled from where Elisa was fighting. He glanced back to see Dylan's two guys still standing, and his seemed to be...fine? When Ferno looked back at Dylan, he was a little shocked. The man stared wide-eyed at Elisa. He looked back at his apprentice fully, and then he noticed it. She was holding a blade, but Irakami was sitting in its sheath. Caland warned him about it, "...Shit."

Elisa, no, Elisa's body stood there, her hand gripped Irokomi. It had been so long since she used it that Elisa began stretching her arm. She swung the blade once, the force from the swing tore up the ground, whoops. That should be enough. The man Elisa had been fighting wasn't hesitant, despite that heavy wave of Varlant energy. His friends Ego was that it increased the strength of the buff depending on the opponent's strength. Elisa came close to this idea but fell short. A powerful charge of electricity surged through her body, followed by the ball, the man had whipped it with all his might, allowing it to pierce clean through Elisa's body. Her body staggered back as it passed through, and staggered forward when the man pulled it back to him. Blood dripped down from the wound; it seemed serious. The man stood triumphant, but this would be a short-lived victory. The wound closed itself, and Elisa's dull, dark purple eyes locked with the man, who was now hesitant. Hesitance eventually leads to fear, and fear leads to missteps. And Misstep he did.

He swung the ball chain at her. She held her sword out, using the momentum of the throw to get it to wrap around the blade, allowing her to break it. The man attempted to fry Elisa with a powerful discharge of electricity again, but it had no effect; she brushed herself off. Elisa raised her free hand and made a flicking gesture, putting her thumb over her middle finger and levelled it to the support's body, in that split second before she flicked, an orb of void energy condensed. This shot through the support, negating his Ego altogether as the lingering void ripped away at his body, he looked down at the hole in terror as blood dripped down his mouth. His friend watched in horror. "You damn psycho! Hunters don't get to kill people like that!" he yelled, backing away from her, right. Elisa was supposed to be one of those Hunters, all righteous and whatever. He had forgotten. Oh well, I doubt she'd mind... What, you didn't think Elisa was the one in control of this power? HAHA, no. For now, I, the original holder of this Divine Ego, wield it. But I've got to tell you, controlling this body was annoying; being confined to a sword for years was not optimal, it's made my senses all fuzzy. Everything feels stiff and weird. But hey, nothing like a good life-or-death situation to warm up. Elisa overshoots the target, but close enough for the sword swing to cleave through the guy's dome. All that was left was the boss. Elisa's body moved towards Dylan, ignoring Ferno. Dylan stepped back, afraid. "Y-you! He mentioned you! The Divi-" Before he could finish his sentence, I forced Elisa to swing, my blade pierced his head and brain in two, oh and some other stuff that was behind him, but that's whatever. His body dropped like the others as the void ate away. Elisa let out a sigh. It was fun while it lasted. There's a lot I'd like to share, but I'm sure he's already mad about me doing this. Oh well, back into the sheath I go.

Ferno was stunned. Now he understood why the Grandmaster kept an eye on her; Elisa's second Ego was dangerous. Just from those few attacks, the landscape had been decimated, along with her opponents, who unfortunately ended up dead. When she sheathed the blade, it seemed like a trance was broken; her balance broke, and she stumbled back. "What the hell happened?" She asked, rubbing her head, confused as to why she was no longer fighting. Ferno opened his mouth to respond, but closed it; he really had no clue what happened either. The best he could do was tell her what he had seen.

He dragged the corpse of Dylan back to the Blue Oni base and made sure none of the others tried taking over, but it seemed like all the heavy hitters had been killed in that fight. Once he returned to the mayor's office, he'd have to submit a request on behalf of the Mayor for temporary guards to ensure the recovery proceeds smoothly. "Thank you again, truly." The mayor cried when he heard the gang had been removed. He hugged Ferno, and he would've hugged Elisa if she hadn't pushed him away. On their way to the mayor's office, she told him that her second Ego was something she never used, so its power was a mystery to her as well, but her arms were aching, on top of the injuries she sustained during the fight. "You did well for your first quest. Get some rest. We head back to Yu'rein in a few days." He originally planned on dealing with the problem and then heading back, but it seems like he'll need to stay until the guards arrive. For now, he'd help the Mayor get things back on track. He sent Elisa to help the people while he stayed back to sort things out with the government workers.

By the time the guards arrived, along with some government officials, and to everyone's surprise, Elder Rel. Ferno bowed to the Elder as he laughed dismissively. "Ah, you must be the young Elisa, the Grandmaster has told me a lot about you." He smiled gently as he spoke. Elisa hadn't bowed, and Ferno would've scolded her for not having done so, that is, if it were a different elder. Elder Rel hated it when people bowed to him like he was an Emperor; it's the one time he ever displays anger. The way she was staring at him made him worry she would say something stupid, so he wouldn't give her the chance, just in case. "What brings you to Vernin, Elder?" The Elder had been wearing his official clothing, which meant he was most likely sent by the Emperor, which was odd. Vernin sat within the borders of another Empire, outside of Lu'rein's jurisdiction. " I am here on orders from Emperor Elaris. I am to mediate until things return to normal." He let out an exhausted sigh, " Youngsters these days, putting all this work on an old man," he said light-heartedly, chuckling. Before he left, he turned to Elisa, his expression remained gentle, "The path you walk is a treacherous one, young lady. You will be tested both physically and mentally, but always keep in mind...The one you seek is both close and yet so far." Ferno wasn't sure what he meant by it, but it seemed like Elisa did...somewhat.

After their encounter with the Elder, he and Elisa were officially free to leave. The government officials who had come from Lu'rein got here by car, and fortunately, they were allowed to take it back.

" Do you even know how to drive this thing?"

"Of course I do,"

"...Yeah, that makes sense." Elisa turned to look out the window, covering her mouth with her hand.

When they got back to the academy, Ferno handed Elisa something. "What's this?" Elisa asks him as he hands her a small pouch. "Your reward for the quest. What, you didn't think we'd be doing this for free?" He says, laughing, walking away. He lied, not fully. Quests normally have rewards attached. Yes, this one, when it was first posted, had a reward of 100 gold, but as things got worse, the reward was removed, which is the main reason it's never been accepted: no reward, no help. Ferno had prepared a reward bag ahead of time, 100 gold from his own pocket. He didn't mind; it was his students' first quest after all.