Chapter 8: Dreams

As the three of them walked through the town, a spring breeze blew through, reminding them that some warm weather was finally returning. Nic and Aria were walking hand in hand, enjoying their time together out in the city of Sanum.

They had just gotten through a set of Sanum Magic University Midterms and had a day off to relax. Nic himself had come quite a far way, passing most of his tests this time, compared to the complete failures he had on the entrance exams. To celebrate, Aria had invited him out to spend the day together in the city.

“Come on, the shop’s just over here!”

Walking a few mer in front of the two was an unusually jubilant woman. Her long black hair was swaying back and forth as she walked. The beanie covered head bobbed up and down with each step taken.

After hearing how Nic had done, Yuuki appeared before the two of them just as they had been leaving the campus. Apparently, she had a gift for Nic for doing so well.

“Just what kind of shop are we going to, Yuuki?”

Both Nic and Aria were completely in the dark as to what this gift was. It was some sort of surprise, but for both of them, the real surprise was how far out the shop was. Both had planned to stay somewhat near the campus while spending the day together, but now they found themselves near the base of the mountain.

“Oh, you know, it's the kinda shop where…” Yuuki kept her voice low as she avoided answering the question. She seemed to want to keep it a secret until they got there in person.

After turning a corner, the architecture around them changed in an instant. Nic had never seen this style of building before. They had far more angled roofs and everything seemed to be made out of different types of wood with very little stone. Of course, there was still stone, just not as much as most other buildings in the city.

The people around them also changed. Humans became far and few between as Demi-Humans became the dominant people on the street. On top of that, they were all wearing foreign clothes. They were longer, made of fabric, and had many different designs embroidered on them.

Being a human wearing normal clothes, Nic was starting to feel uncomfortable as they walked through. From the way that Aria got closer to him, he had a feeling that she was feeling the same uncomfortableness as him.

A large, open air building came up on their right. A large chimney was spewing out ash above it as a large fire burned near the back of the open air area. A sign hung out front with an anvil emblazoned on it.

It was a blacksmith.

And it was where Yuuki stopped and turned to face the two of them.

“The blacksmith here is an old acquaintance of mine. Nic, since you have grown a bunch as a Swordsman, and have passed most of your tests this time around, I went ahead and ordered a longsword to be custom-made for you!”

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

Both Aria and Nic stood there stupefied, mouths agape and staring at Yuuki. Sure, Nic had gotten better with a wooden sword, but he had never even touched a full longsword, let alone swung it around. Nic never thought that he would be given one as a gift.

“And to top it off, It’s gonna be a Magic Weapon!”

Nic looked at Aria, who in turn was looking at him. Neither of them had heard of Magic Weapons before, so they were looking to each other for an explanation. When it became clear that neither knew what they were, they both looked at Yuuki.

“Oh, Mrs. Ito. So you’re the one causing the ruckus out here?” A tall, slender man walked out from behind a curtain. His short brown hair was currently ruffled up and one could see dirt on it. His face, while showing signs of having been immaculately cleaned at some point that day, was covered in soot. Nice clothes sat beneath a very dirty apron that held multiple smithing tools through loops on its sides. A small dog-like tail could be seen swishing back and forth behind him. “If Mrs. Ito is here, then you must be Mr. Healstry. It is a pleasure to meet you. I’m Sora, the owner of this establishment.”

“Uh, hello there Sora…?” Nic held out a hand to shake his, but when the fair-skinned Sora held up two grime-covered hands as if to warn Nic, he rescinded his hand. Instead, he turned to look at Yuuki. “So why are we here?”

“Were you not listening to me at all!? We’re here because I ordered you a custom magic longsword!”

“Ah yes, Mrs. Ito, I have the weapon ready in the back if you want to see it.”

“Ooohhh Yes! Yes yes yes!”

Nic was unable to get a word in as Yuuki seemingly jumped for joy at the thought of getting to look at the sword. The blacksmith and the sword fanatic walked through the same curtain that Sora had walked out of before.

Dropping his shoulders in defeat, Nic led Aria into the back as well.

“So what even is a Magic Weapon?”

Yuuki and Sora turned to look at Nic as he asked the question. In Sora’s hands was a beautifully crafted longsword. No part of it was extravagant, but every part was beautifully crafted in just the right way. At the center of the crossguard, where the blade and hilt met, was an opaque jewel.

“Have you never-”

“Let me handle the explanation, Mrs. Ito.” Sora cut Yuuki off with a gentle hand gesture before focusing on Nic. “Let’s start with the basics. You know what weapons are, correct?”

Nic nodded. Of course, he knew what weapons were. Who didn’t know what weapons were?

“Well Magic weapons, as the name implies, are weapons that channel magic through them. Once a magic weapon is crafted, as long as someone can sense the flow of magic, whether or not they are able to cast magic themselves, they can activate the magic imbued in the magic weapon as an attack.”

It really was that simple. Magic weapons were simply weapons that could channel magic if prompted by the wielder.

“But Nic is already a Mage as well. He can use magic. What benefit is there in him using a magic weapon over weaving his magic in with a regular weapon?”

Aria was the one who brought up the question and based on her fervor it seemed like something that had been bothering her since she first heard the term.

“Good question, Mrs…?”

“Aria Towsend”

“Mrs. Towsend! Good question indeed. For one, if he was to use a magic weapon that has a different magic than his own, then that would open up more possibilities in combat. But, if the weapon is made using his magic, then he will experience what I like to call a ‘magic feedback loop’.”

Another new term had been thrown at Nic and Aria, both of whom grew an even more confused face. Their reactions caught a chuckle from Sora before he continued.

“Basically if Mr. Healstry here were to use a magic weapon infused with his own magic, then they would complement each other. Mr. Healstry’s magic would be supplementing the swords, raising their power. And then the sword's magic would supplement Mr. Healstry, raising his magic. It’s a beneficial ability that raises one’s magical abilities.”

An all-encompassing way to boost someone's magical abilities. How this wasn’t public knowledge defied Nic’s brain. Something as simple as using it to learn a weapon, which could be something as small as a tiny dagger or knife, to get a boost in magical abilities sounded too good to be true.

“Why don’t more mages use this? It seems like too good of something to pass up!”

Aria voiced Nic’s internal thoughts for him. Her face had changed from one of confusion to one of excitement. Even if she was considered one of the top magic users at the University, something of this power was still enticing to her.

“Well, there are a few problems that stop it from being widespread. First, the ability to make magic weapons is usually found only in those that can consider themselves master smiths. Your ordinary smith would have an intense struggle to make one, and even then it would most likely result in a failure. And second, the magic infusion process must be done during the forging of the sword. This results in most magic weapons being ordered by someone who already knows about them, thereby limiting the pool of people trying to order them. No matter how popular a smith might be, if their customers don’t know about magic swords, then they won’t be willing to buy them, especially once they see the price tags most smiths give them.”

Yuuki popped her head in front of Sora as he finished talking. She raised both hands expectantly and gave the two of them the biggest smile she could.

“Don’t worry about the cost. Sora here is making it to get rid of a debt he owes me, and I’ll pay the rest!”

Nic walked next to Yuuki and looked down at the table she and Sora had been standing next to. Sitting on a small pedestal was the sword that Sora had been holding. Or more accurately, a completely identical sword as Sora was still holding the other one. From what he saw, both swords seemed to be fully forged. If that was the case, why hadn’t they been brought there sooner if the magic had to be imbued during the forging process?

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these swords look completely finished. How are they supposed to be magic weapons?”

Nic looked from the sword to Yuuki and finally to Sora. Sora had a mischievous smile on his face. Raising the sword in his hand, he brought the hilt up to his face and gently reached in and plucked the opaque jewel from where it had been sitting. He placed the sword back down on a raised part of the table before holding the gem out in his hand.

Looking down at the identical blade, Nic reached out and put his finger on the opaque jewel embedded in that one. Or at least, what he thought had been embedded.

As soon as he put his finger on the jewel it started moving. It was just as loose as the one in the sword Sora had been holding. Nic gently plucked it out as well and held it in his hand.

“These jewels still need to be set in the sword's hilt. Me putting these in still counts as forging the weapon.”

“It does?”

Sora nodded. A small hammer, barely the size of Sora’s hand, appeared in said hand. He placed the jewel back inside the socket it would be fixed into.

“Oh, I should also mention. Lesser and Greater spirits can’t imbue their magic into magical weapons. So make sure any magic that you do use is Born Magic.”

Nic shot a quick glance at Aria, who in turn nervously looked at Yuuki before looking back to Nic. The only born magic that Nic knew currently was his ability to absorb Irradiation. If Yuuki were to see that, it was unknown just how she would react.

Nic himself turned to look at Yuuki. When he did, she gazed at him quizzically.

“Is something up, Nic?”

“Ummm, yea. I hate to ask this Yuuki, but could you wait outside during this?”

Yuuki looked shocked but mostly hurt, at Nic’s request.

“What? Why!? Aren’t you just gonna use your wind magic?”

A small green blob appeared in front of Yuuki’s eyes. She leaped back in surprise, landing on one of the tables. Nic thought he heard a pained cry come from behind him, but was too focused on Yuuki to look at Sora.

“Hey, buddy, come on. You don’t show yourself very often, how was she supposed to know about you.” Nic sighed as the blob floated itself over to Nic’s shoulder and plopped itself down. “Yuuki, this is the Lesser Wind Spirit that I have a contract with. As Sora just said, magic from a contract with a lesser spirit can’t be used for magical weapons.”

Yuuki pointed a shaking finger at the blob on his shoulder.

“You never told me it was spirit magic!” Nic wasn’t so sure that what she had said was true. He thought he had mentioned it at least once in passing. “Do you even have Born Magic to do this with then? Why don’t we just have Aria use her magic then?”

Yuuki threw out the suggestion that Nic and Aria had both been hoping for. This way, Nic wouldn’t have to use his own magic in front of Yuuki. But of course, his relief only spelled doom for him.

“I mean, I do have Born Magic, but this works better. Mine isn’t something to be used on offense.”

The second he uttered those words, Nic stiffened. He could feel daggers being forced into his back by Sora staring at him. At the same time, Yuuki had this look on her face like she was asking him what he was on.

“Ah! I’ll do it! Don’t worry, just like this right?!”

Aria quickly rushed to Nic’s side and faced Sora. She reached out and put a finger on the jewel in the sword he was next to.

Before Sora could answer her question, the room whipped into a frenzy as a strong wind, centered on Aria’s finger, began. Papers, a few chairs, and other bits and bobs sitting on the tables were lifted in the air and slammed into one of the walls in the second it took for Aria to gain control of the wind.

Once it was centered on the jewel, the jewel itself began to turn colors. What was once a clear opaque gem was turning into one vibrant green in color. It was so vibrant, that everyone in the room simply stood in awe for a bit.

“Y-Yes, just like that. Keep it there for a minute.”

Sora, ever the professional smith, was the first to start moving again. He quickly took his small hammer and began plinking away at the metal holdings for the jewel. It took nearly a full minute for any noticeable change to occur. The green glow of the jewel quickly spread, covering the entire sword in a transparent green coat. After another minute, the transparent layer was absorbed into the sword.

Sora’s plinking stopped. He swiped the sweat from his head as he stood up. He put down the hammer and picked up the sword. Turning away from the group in front of him, he gave it a light swing.

Nothing happened. It was just a normal sword swing. After which, Sora checked the area around the jewel intensely before swinging it again. This time, the cabinet sitting at the end of the room was split in two a second after the sword was swung. Both Aria and Nic stared at the damaged cabinet in awe as Sora grabbed a sheath for the sword and handed it to Nic.

“Here you go, one magic weapon just for you, Mr. Healstry.”

Nic gingerly picked up the now-sheathed sword. It was heavier than the wooden swords, but surprisingly not that much heavier. One side of the sheath had a small attachment that would normally be used to attach it at the waist. However, currently, it was attached to a much longer leather belt.

“What’s this for?”

“Ah, that. I just added it on so that you can simply put the swords on your back as you head back to the University.”

“Swords…?”

Sora gave Nic an evil grin as he spread his arms out over the identical sword still on the table. Nic quickly looked at Yuuki who simply shook her head in confusion. Just like him, she wasn’t sure what Sora was talking about.

“Well, I have a perfectly good sword here that I had made in case the magical implementation of the first one went wrong. And you said that you had born magic as well. I would love to see what this one is like. In return, I’ll give you this sword for free.”

Nic’s runny mouth was coming back to bite him in the ass. His heart was beating faster as he tried to think of a good way to turn down the offer.

He nervously looked towards Aria with his eyes, only to find her sighing as she held her head in one of her hands. She reached over and grabbed one of Yuuki’s hands before pulling her away.

“Come on, Yuuki! I think we should give them some space, yea.”

“Whaaaat?! But I want to see Nic’s born magic!”

“Look, he gets nervous using it around others, just let it be. You can see it later… maybe…”

Pulling the fighting swordswoman away, Aria gave Nic a final wink to let him know that it would be okay for him to use it. Seeing that, Nic shrank inwards. He didn’t want Sora to see him use his magic either.

“Nervous in front of a crowd, huh? Never would have pegged you as someone who had a fear like that Mr. Healstry.”

Sora gave him a smile as he talked. If looks could kill, Nic was sure that the smile would at least seriously harm him if he wasn’t careful.

“It’s not that… I just, look I’ll do what you want, but you can’t say anything about my magic or what the jewel looks like afterward. As long as you are fine with that, we can continue.”

Sora nodded.

Nic let out a long breath. He reached out and put a single finger on the gemstone. He closed his eyes and reached out. He knew what it was like to absorb Irradiation from another being. He remembered how he had done it before. So he reached out and pulled. Anything in front of him.

“That’s it. Just continue doing that for a bit.”

Plink. Plink. Plink. Sora’s tiny hammer started repeatedly hitting the metal casing, bringing it in around the jewel. If Nic just focused on that, he would be fine.

“That’s… an interesting color…”

Plink. Plink. Plink. Nic was unsure of how long it had been. It felt like ages, but Nic was sure it had only been maybe a minute in terms of time.

“Alright, we’re done.”

The Plinking stopped as Sora spoke up. Nic opened his eyes and looked down at the jewel beneath his finger. What had once been a slightly opaque, clear crystal was now pitch black. It was even hard to see the shape of the Jewel. If the rest of the blade wasn’t relatively lighter colors, Nic would have mistaken the jewel for nothingness.

“You know, I have never once seenmagic that is just black. What kind of magic do you have?”

Nic wasn’t surprised by the color himself. After all, Irradiation appears as black when it is visible. But to see it this black was astounding.

“You don’t want to know… Or well, more accurately, if you learn, then it’s already too late for you.”

Nic gave Sora a grave warning as he took the now-sheathed second sword from the smith. With both in hand, he swung them both over a shoulder before motioning to the flap that acted as a door for the building.

“Shall we go meet Yuuki and Aria?”

Sora nodded and quickly cleaned up his work area. Or at least the immediate area they were in. Some of the places would need a dedicated cleaning time later.

“I still need to get the payment for the one sword from Mrs. Ito. Follow me, Mr. Healstry.”

Sitting outside of the blacksmith were the two women, waiting on them. When they saw Nic and Sora come out, they rushed over. Aria quickly took place at Nic’s side and looked up at him. Her gaze was asking whether everything was alright.

Nic simply nodded and grabbed her hand. His heart was pounding a million times a minute. He needed to calm down, and her warm hand was the quickest way for him to do it. Aria seemingly understood what Nic was doing as she squeezed his hand lightly. The pressure helped soothe Nic’s heart even more.

Aria was waiting in the hallway connecting every dorm suite, including her own team's dorm. Nic and Yuuki had headed inside to put the two swords away. Aria wasn’t upset about Yuuki sidetracking their plans for the day, especially after seeing what it was for.

But the pain in her chest was eating away at her.

Seeing Nic try so hard the past seven months, all to cultivate in him coming out of a test period majorly passing had made her want to spoil him, even if just a bit.

But more than that, she wanted to be by his side. That was the true pain she felt. Even if it was selfish of her, she wanted a day with just the two of them. She wanted to feel the heat of his body next to hers. To feel the roughness of his hands that calmed her every time.

How many times had she told him how she felt? Too many times for him to not know.

She had even kissed him, albeit under extreme circumstances that caused Nic not to remember it.

“So, what’s the problem you’re having, oh mighty wind princess?”

A highly energetic, sarcasm-filled voice cut through Aria’s thoughts, snapping her back to reality. In front of her, a face cupped by short, light blonde hair and green eyes was staring up at her expectantly, with a bit of a quizzical look in their eyes.

“Uwah!? Ouch.”

Caught by surprise, Aria took a step back only to bang her head against the wall she had been standing next to. She rubbed the back of her head before looking at the woman in front of her. Standing a bit away was a Racoon clan Demi-human woman with long dark hair and purple eyes that glimmered like gemstones.

Both of them were wearing dresses that matched their eyes. Each dress matched the personality of the one wearing it. Sarah’s looked far easier to move around in while Kiara’s went for a more prim and proper elegant look.

“Sarah. Kiara. What are you doing here?”

“Well, we were on our way to a dinner reservation when we saw Nic being chased by Sarman. You didn’t seem to notice something as big as that so we came to make sure that everything was fine.”

Aria quickly looked around as she heard that Nic was being chased but didn’t see any sign of them.

“They went that way a minute or so ago.”

Kiara pointed to Aria’s right. Right on cue, a loud scream could be heard echoing down the hall before Nic appeared running past the intersection of hallways at the end. Following close behind him was Sarman who had already gotten out a flaming weapon and was trying to hit Nic for some reason.

Aria was about to start running down the hallway herself when Sarah jumped in front of her.

“Woah Woah Woah. Hold your horses and let the boys wear themselves out. Unless you two had somewhere you were going to be yourselves?”

“We were going to have dinner at a restaurant ourselves.”

When Aria told the two of them the name of the restaurant, a gleeful smile appeared on Sarah’s face. She bounded into the dorm room next to them, searching for Yuuki.

Sarah and Kiara just so happened to be going to the same restaurant. When Sarah reappeared, the two dragged Aria along with them.

“I told Yuuki to let Nic know to just come to the restaurant if he comes back here.”

“But why do I have to go with you two?”

Aria wanted to walk to dinner with Nic, not Sarah and Kiara. She didn’t hold anything against them, she just wanted to be with Nic that much.

“Oh, come’on. You had a scary face back there when you were thinking. I just wanna know what that was about.”

Aria averted her head. Why did she have to go through this conversation? Why did everyone have to get in the way of her spending time with Nic?

“Ah, it’s back! What’re you thinking right now?”

“Why… Why do I need to talk to you about this?”

At this point, the three of them had exited the building they were in and were now walking down the path to the university grounds entrance. The setting sun bathed them in its warm orange glow. Aria felt out of place standing next to the two dressed up women.

While she had tidied herself up and put a bit more effort into her look, it was nowhere near the same amount as those two.

“You know… I feel like Kiara and I know the rest of your team pretty well.”

“Huh? What’s that-”

Aria began to talk but was cut off by Sarah, who ignored her and continued to talk.

“Sarman and Master, we’ve known them for a few years now. Both of us know pretty much everything there is to know about them. What they like. What they dislike. Their dreams and aspirations, or lack thereof when it comes to a certain Spirit King. While we’ve known Nic for less time, we’ve spent a lot of time talking. He and I duel quite often as Master’s two pupils. And Nic and Kiara always meet me after the class that they share. We get to talk then as well. I think we both know him pretty well by now.”

You know nothing. That’s what Aria wanted to say. She knew Nic had kept his true name secret from everyone. Without knowing that, all they could know was the facade he put up on a daily basis.

“But you, Aria… We barely talk to you. Even if we’re in the same place, you only focus on Nic. You barely talk to others.”

Aria stopped in the middle of the street. Sarah and Kiara stopped as well and looked at each other, wondering why Aria had stopped.

“And…? If you’re so buddy-buddy with everyone else, why don’t you just ask them about me?”

Kiara sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingers before speaking up.

“We don’t want to ask the others. We want to hear it from your own mouth.”

“Why!? I don’t know anything about you! So why do you want to know about me?” Aria shouted at the two without meaning to. When she realized what she had done, she tried to instantly backtrack her words, only to find the two of them grinning as they stared at her. Kiara was the one that spoke up again.

“In that case, why don’t we let you know who we are!” She moved over and grabbed Sarah’s wrist and pulled her in close. “This is my amazing human fiance, Sarah.” She emphasized the fact that Sarah was a human.

“And this,” Sarah reached down and started petting the raccoon tail that wrapped around her waist. “Is my demi-human fiance, Kiara. The love of my life.”

“We were both born twenty-two years ago.”

Aria tried to speak up. A human and a demi-human had vastly different lifespans. For them to already be calling themselves engaged at this young age for Kiara would only spell pain in her future.

“You’re probably already thinking that something like this is bad for me right? After all, if we were lucky and stayed in Sanum, Sarah would maybe manage to live till one hundred. Meanwhile, I’ll easily live past two, no, three hundred years.”

It was exactly what Aria thought. Even if it was hypocritical of her to think that, seeing as how Nic would most likely die sooner from the natural Irradiation absorption he had.

“Don’t worry about that, Aria!” Sarah walked up to Aria and grabbed her hands, covering them with her own. “Once we leave the university, we plan on finding a way to extend a human’s life. Kiara will research it and I will be her beautiful bodyguard!”

“Your… dream…? That’s… is that even possible without turning you into a demi-human as well?”

Aria finally got a chance to say something. She was trying to comprehend everything she had just heard. It sounded silly, that dream. But somehow, hearing it made Aria feel like she knew everything she needed to about the two of them.

“Maybe. Maybe not. We won’t know until we try.”

“That’s who we are, Aria. That’s our dream. So? What’s yours? What is it that keeps you getting up every day?”

Her dream?

She had completed the only dream she knew of; coming back to Sanum. But was that really it? Did she have nothing else that she wanted to do? Was there no one else that she wanted to live for?

Her heart was shot with pain.

The answer really was simple. At least for her.

He was the answer. Her heart’s answer would always be him.

Of course, how many times had she told him how she felt?

She had even kissed him. Albeit under extreme circumstances. But it had been her first thought at that moment.

Ever since that day nearly three years ago when he had first come up to her, his role in her life had only grown. It filled up her life. It captured her heart.

But there were things that they had to do before she could simply let those feelings overtake her entirety.

“I… I simply want to be able to live in peace with Nic…”

It was really simple, her wish. So much so that she chuckled lightly to herself after voicing it.

Kiara and Sarah smiled at her as she told them the truth.

“In that case, aren’t you already there?”

Sarah was the one who asked the question. Aria wasn’t surprised that she thought that. After all, she only knew the facade that Nic put up.

Aria shook her head.

“It’s not as simple as that. Nic’s family… It comes with a lot of baggage. Until we deal with that baggage, we… well Nic can never truly live in peace.”

“His family? I see. He never talks about his family. I guess that’s the reason.” Sarah looked at Aria and gave her a smile. Aria could see a hint of sadness behind it but decided to not say anything.

As the two were standing there, Kiara patted Aria on the shoulder to get her attention. When Aria looked at her, she was directed to the building in front of them. Without her realizing it, the three of them had arrived at the restaurant already and had been doing all of this in front of it.

“With all of this out of the way, why don’t we go grab our tables?”

Kiara led the way inside with her offer. Sarah followed behind her while Aria brought up the rear. Kiara tried to get a table for four, but Aria stopped her pretty quickly.

She was closer to them for sure, but she still wanted to spend the rest of the night with Nic, alone.

He did appear only a few minutes later. Ragged and out of breath from being chased by Sarman across the dorm building.

Sunlight cascaded through the window that made up the arena’s roof, gently lighting up the wooden floor of the room. In the center of the room stood two people, a man, and a woman, facing each other. To their side was a rack containing two wooden swords, nicked multiple times with fractures throughout. The amount of use they had seen in the past six months was more than they had ever seen before that.

“Let’s start with a simple spar today Nic. Gotta test just how much you’ve been training these past two weeks since our last session.” The woman was the first one to speak between the two of them. Yuuki Ito, the master or teacher between the two. She has spent the past nine months teaching the young man in front of her how to fight with a sword. Like any other day where the two of them trained together, she was wearing simple pants, a loose-fitting white shirt, and her almost signature black beanie covering the top of her head.

“Um, ah! Can we actually, uh, try a spar with actual swords today?” Her student, Nic Verilo, spoke up as he raised his right hand to stop her. Like Yuuki, he was wearing regular pants, though he had a light jacket over his shirt. In his left hand, he had a sheathed sword which he slightly lifted as he asked his question.

“I don’t think that’s-”

“I know you never duel anyone with actual swords but please, can we spar with them today?” Nic took a step closer, cutting off Yuuki mid-sentence.

“Why do you want to spar with swords this much?” Her question was a whisper, barely audible even to Nic only a few feet away from her. He sighed and gave a small shrug as he took a step back.

“Look, I just want to get a feel for what it’s like using an actual sword. The weight is all different that’s gonna affect how I fight, isn’t it?” Nic unsheathed the sword as he was talking and lightly moved it around. The small gem on the hilt of the sword softly glowed green, revealing the weapon’s true nature as a Magic Weapon, capable of using magic-based attacks alongside cutting, slashing, and piercing.

It had been a few days since the two of them and Aria had gone to get the swords from Sora the smith.

Yuuki said nothing as she looked at him.

“If we are doing this, it will be a one hit duel, no fatal attack. Got it?”

Before Nic realized it, Yuuki was standing next to one of the arena’s walls. She slowly reached out and grabbed a long, slightly curved sword off of the wall. He looked at the sword but didn’t recognize what kind of sword it was or where it originated from.

“What kind of sword is that?”

“It’s a katana. They are a type of sword forged in my homeland. If we’re to battle with sharp blades, then I shall face you using this. Prepare yourself, Nic.” Yuuki pointed the sword at Nic as she stepped back into the arena proper.

No words needed to be said as Nic threw his sword’s sheath to the side and got ready for the fight. They now stood on opposite sides of the ring, on guard and waiting for the other to make the first strike. He stood with a standard mid-guard stance while she held a high stance that he had never seen before. Neither side moved as they watched their opponents.

Nic tried to slow his breathing into a steady rhythmic pace as he stood there. This was his first “real” battle with Yuuki. Every time before this had been with wooden swords, but this one was different, this time they had sharp blades. Even if it was a single-hit duel, that one hit would result in actual blood loss and not simple bruises.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Nic could hear his own heartbeat as it gradually sped up. His breathing plan had already been thwarted by his excitement for the duel.

Ba-dump ba-dump. Ba-dump ba-dump.

His heartbeat continued to get faster. Sweat began slowly trickling down his forehead, nearly distracting him with how slow it was moving.

Caw.

The moment that started the duel was a caw from a crow that flew above the roof of the arena. In the blink of an eye, Yuuki had the point of her katana on the floor of the arena. A second later, Nic began his rush toward her. However, something had wrapped itself around one of his legs, stopping him before he could even begin.

As Nic looked down at his trapped leg, he found a vine growing out of the floor and wrapping itself around his ankle. Quickly swinging his sword down, He cut off the vine. But it was too late. As he looked back towards Yuuki, she was already on top of him, swinging with her katana. Unable to do anything else, he flung himself backward and downwards to the floor.

The gambit worked and Nic barely dodged the cut, and after tumbling a few feet, he was immediately back up. This time his sword was ready and in front of him, barely blocking the next slash as it came in.

Yuuki was always holding back.

It took blocking a single hit for Nic to realize that one simple fact. Every time they had fought before, every spar, every duel, every single time she had held back significantly. Her true strength was far greater than what he had thought. The sound of metal clashing continued to ring out as the master and student clashed blades time and time again. Every block, parry, and riposte that he managed continued to weaken his arms. It wouldn’t be long until he would be unable to even hold his sword anymore. He had to go on the offensive. The only way to do that was to use his sword’s magic ability to hope for a hit.

Nic jumped back, creating a bit of distance between the two combatants. As he did, he slashed through the air three times. With each slash, his sword made a blade of condensed air that shot toward Yuuki. Invisible to a human’s naked eye, the attack should be unavoidable.

“Huh?!” In front of Nic’s eyes, with inhumane speed and feline-like agility, Yuuki dodged every single one of the wind blades.

Yuuki is the greatest swordswoman of the generation. A saying that Nic had heard daily for nearly the past year. He had always heard it. But now he knew what it truly meant. There was nothing he could do. The gap between them was simply too great. Nic's guard faltered, and the sword in his hands wavered. His hands were shaking as he thought about the gap between them.

“I-”
“Get a hold of yourself. You think you can just chicken out of an actual fight like that?” Nic’s head snapped up. There was a glint in Yuuki’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. She held her katana horizontally at her waist. A clear sign that she was going in for a horizontal strike. He sucked in his breath.

“This is my final strike Nic. Block it and you win the duel. Don’t and I win.” Nic heard her but couldn’t process what she was saying. There was no way that he could block the attack. There was no path to victory for him.

Looking at Yuuki again, Nic was about to simply give up when he noticed something that was so small, most people would see it as insignificant. She was going all out. But she had to focus on not killing him. Because of that, she lowered her guard in one area. In every fight she had been in that he had seen, Yuuki always guarded her head. But at this very moment, she wasn’t. Her katana was getting ready to strike his midsection. It was not in a place to deflect any ranged attacks against her head. Especially if she was already committed to an attack.

“I won’t give up ‘till the end, Yuuki. I promise you that.” Giving his statement, Nic readied himself. His sword was raised, the hilt parallel to his eyes. His right leg was back while his left leg was forward. Yuuki smiled as she readjusted her own stance.

Ten meters stood between them.

Yuuki was the first to move, launching herself at Nic.

7 meters.

Nic began to move his sword forward, twisting his body with it to give it more force.

5 meters.

Yuuki began to swing her sword. At the same moment, the jewel on the pommel of Nic’s sword radiated green. A small condensed bit of air, less than a centimeter in diameter, formed at the tip of his sword.

4 meters.

The condensed speck of air shot forward.

Nic fell to his knees, his sword clanging to the ground in front of him. He was so tired, he couldn’t even stand anymore. Yuuki fell backward hitting the ground in front of Nic, her sword still in her hand. Nic didn’t have a single cut on him. Yuuki had one. Her signature beanie had been blown off by the speck of air. In its place were two feline ears. The left one had a nick at its base, brand new and slowly trickling blood.
“I… I won!?”

Nic relaxed as he fell onto his butt. His chest heaved as he struggled to steady his breathing.

Not only was he shocked that he won, but he was shocked at what was on top of Yuuki’s head. And he wasn’t the only one.

“Nic!”

“Yuuki!”

Two female voices cut in as Kiara and Sarah rushed to Nic’s side. He wasn’t sure how long they had been watching, but he was glad to accept Sarah’s help standing up.

Kiara stood in front of them, staring at Yuuki with a stupefied expression on her face.

Yuuki, for her part, was dazedly patting her head, trying to figure out why she couldn’t feel the beanie she always wore. It took her a few minutes before she finally realized where it had gone. When she looked at the three of them in front of her, the two feline ears flattened, almost like it was in embarrassment.

Before any of them could say something, Yuuki leaped to her feet and ran out of the hall as fast as she possibly could.

“Yuuki!”

Kiara was the first one to run after her, calling out at the same time.

“Nic, can you stand on your own?”

Sarah, who had been propping Nic up asked him as she slowly stepped away from him. When he gave her a nod of his head, telling her he could, she fully stepped away and quickly moved towards the entrance to the hall.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll catch up!”

Nic called out to her, telling her to get going. If there was anyone who had a chance at catching up to Yuuki, it was Sarah and not Kiara.

After Sarah disappeared as well, Nic walked over to the sheath he had thrown on the ground before the duel. Picking it up, he slid his sword into it before slinging it over his back. After that, he walked over to an identically sheathed sword that had a pitch-black gem instead of a green one in it. He swung that one onto his back as well.

Looking around for the sheath to Yuuki’s blade, he saw that the training hall was empty. He didn’t think that she had had time to grab the sheath before she ran, but apparently, she did.

With nothing left in the room, Nic began his jog to try and find the other three. His legs were still burning from the duel, so a light jog was the best he could do. He was guided by the sounds of Kiara and Sarah yelling after Yuuki.

Eventually, he found Kiara leaning against a door to one of the university's many towers. She was breathing heavily as sweat covered her entire face. When Nic caught up to her, she pointed to the door leading to the tower.

“She’s… up there…”

Nic leaned in the door and looked up. There was a spiraling staircase leading to the top of the tower, nearly twenty mer high. Looking back at Kiara, Nic knew that she wouldn’t be able to make it all the way up by herself.

He grabbed her hand, causing her to yelp in surprise. Nic dragged her along with him. He was determined to have her there at the top as well. It took them a few minutes as Kiara had to pause and catch her breath at regular intervals but they finally made it to the top of the tower.

Sarah was waiting for them by the door, and took Kiara from Nic, letting her rest on one of her shoulders.

Standing in front of them, leaning up against the wall that marked the edge of the tower, was Yuuki. This tower was one of the highest points in all of Sanum. Because of how high it was, it was easy for the wind to pick up. Yuuki’s hair was flowing in the wind currently passing through.

Her feline ears perked up as she heard the door close, and the cat tail that had been swishing back and forth stopped in fear.

“Yuuki…?”

Nic took a step forward as he said her name. He heard her take a sharp breath in.

“...”