Trials - Chapter 8

Eric pulled out his phone and checked the time.

“The Headmistress is late,” Eric mumbled, checking around the field for her.

An hour ago, Kasmine had texted Eric and told him to go to the training fields to speak with her about something important, and that she would get there as soon as she could. It wasn’t the first time Kasmine hadn’t arrived on time after summoning him and Eric was sure that it wouldn’t be the last.

Well, what can you expect? Lucifer asked, materialising beside Eric. She is running both a school and the world’s most powerful military force at the same time. Of course she’d be late.

“I know, but if she was going to be this late, she could’ve let me know at least,” Eric muttered with a sigh.

Oh, is that her now?

Eric looked where Lucifer was and saw the Headmistress and another person slowly walking towards them.

The person behind her was dressed in ancient looking Samurai armour which was a light blue colour and he had several blades strapped to his body in beautifully decorated sheathes. He had two katana hanging from his hips, a large odachi sword strapped to his back which was so big it was almost scrapping along the floor. There was a belt fixed to his stomach as well which held four tanto along his lower back.

“Is it me or is that a little overkill?” Eric mused, smiling anxiously.

Lucifer chuckled. Don’t worry, I’m sure you definitely won’t have to fight against that.

Shit, I will!

Lucifer laughed louder than before.

“Ah, Eric, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” Kasmine said, curtsying a little. “Although, it seems you spent that time talking with Lucifer.”

I’m afraid he didn’t, Headmistress, Lucifer replied. He was merely venting his frustrations to me about being kept waiting.

“Hey!” Eric yelled. “He’s lying, Kas, I swear!”

Kasmine giggled and smiled softly. “I don’t mind. I did end up arriving late, so it’s only natural to be annoyed with me. Isn’t that right, Takahiro?”

“On the contrary, I feel it is rude to you, Headmistress,” Takahiro answered, standing at attention.

Kasmine let out a small sigh and rubbed her forehead. “This is why I like speaking to you, Eric, because everyone else around me is too stiff or too weird to talk to, or an ungodly combination of the two.”

Eric laughed nervously and Takahiro relaxed a little.

“Apologies, Headmistress, but I didn’t want to speak to you in a relaxed manner before a student,” Takahiro explained.

“It’s fine to do it around Eric, Taka,” Kasmine told him. “I know you take being a Samurai seriously, but you need to loosen up a little now and then.”

Takahiro stood at attention again. “I will try my best.”

“Hey. What did I just say?”

“Ah.”

Takahiro relaxed and looked at Eric. “I haven’t seen you before, have I?”

“Uh, no sir,” Eric replied. “I’m Eric Agrim, and my team and I are being taught by Mrs Yuuko.”

“Aria’s class, huh? You will learn a great deal from her as long as you take to heart what she tells you.”

“Yes, I will. So, Kas, why did you want to see me?”

“Headmistress, before that, might I ask why he’s calling you Kas?” Takahiro inquired.

“Ah, I told him to do that,” Kasmine nonchalantly said. “Don’t worry, he’s allowed to do it.”

Takahiro lowered his head a little and muttered, “I see.”

“Now then, Eric, I called you here today because I wanted you to train with Takahiro for a while to learn how to properly use a sword,” Kasmine explained.

“Huh? Seriously? Wait, another extra lesson?” Eric slumped his shoulders and sighed. “Seriously?”

Takahiro poked his head back up. “Another one, you say?”

“Yes,” Kasmine said. “Until he gains a better control of his Armour and his Weapon, you and Sapphire will be giving him extra lessons to help him train.” She glared at him. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, but might I ask, did he request these-?”

“Takahiro. Do you have any idea how much Eric Agrim needs this training above everyone else at the school?”

“I-”

“He’s in possession of one of the strongest, if not the strongest, of God Armours in the world and that makes him an automatic target for all sorts of people, both on our side and against us. Given the power that resides in his Armour, I made the decision that he needed to receive many more lessons so that he can quickly master it without having to use the more ‘forceful’ means. Upon hearing all of that, do you still have any objections?”

“…No, I do not.” He bowed to her. “I am very sorry, Headmistress.”

Kasmine’s gentle smile returned. “Good. Now, Eric, I know that this means that you’ll need to do a lot more work outside of work, but I believe that you will need to master your abilities sooner than anyone else in your year. Not only is your Armour incredibly powerful, but your God Weapon, Oblivion, is the strongest of all Weapons in the world. The ability to cut through other God Armours and cut through all other Weapons and attacks from any other Armour; its power has never been seen before and it’s one that can forever change the balance of the world’s power.

“Takahiro, our finest sword master here, will be teaching you the best techniques and strategies for your sword so that you can defeat others in a sword fight. Now, unfortunately, I’ll have to leave you two to it for the time being.”

“Seriously? After making me wait for so long?” Eric asked in disbelief.

“It’s not like I want to go back and do my work, you know,” Kasmine replied. “If I had a choice, I’d much rather stay here with you two, have a nice, friendly chat and watch you guys train, but being the Supreme Commander means I’ve got a lot of work to do.” She let out a weary sigh. “Honestly, you have no idea how boring it can get.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why did it sound like you were pitying me there? Well, whatever. I’ll take my leave now, so I’ll speak to you both another time. Have fun and try not to break anything expensive.”

Once Kasmine had left, Takahiro led Eric towards the main building and into a dojo room which was lined with swords and other types of medieval weaponry from all over the world, including naginatas and even an Aztec atlatl.

“Wow,” Eric said in awe, inspecting the weapons as he went around the room. “Whose weapons are these?”

“Mine,” Takahiro replied, taking off his blades and hanging them up with other Japanese weapons. “I know how to use each and every one of them and I spend a few hours a week maintaining all of them.”

“That’s amazing.” Eric stopped and closely examined a cutlass; there was a magic language Eric didn’t recognise written along the steel. “Are they all enchanted?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Takahiro walked over to Eric and took the cutlass of the rack. “This I bought ten years ago in a French auction for just under a hundred thousand pounds.”

“A hundred thousand?”

“It’s an antique blade that was used by one of the members of the Cult of Helsing during the Blood Moon War.” The runes glowed and the sword glowed bright blue. “This sword can be used to control water in the surrounding area, but only in the way that the blade is swung. Overall, it’s very situational but it’s a very good sword regardless.”

Takahiro put the sword back and took off his helmet, revealing a heavily scarred and war torn face. He had shaven black hair and eyebrows, a white eye and one that was missing with a thin scar running over it. His right cheek had a massive scar running down it and a another along his neck that had long since healed.

“Surprised?” Takahiro asked, placing his helmet on an armour stand.

“A little,” Eric said.

Takahiro smiled. “Do you find it disturbing?”

Eric shook his head. “No. It just shocked me how many times you’d been hurt as a Guardian was all and I know what it’s like to hide scars from other people.”

Takahiro didn’t push any further after immediately figuring out what he meant, and, instead said, “Eric, let’s get started. Now, change into your Armour and summon your Weapon.”

Eric transformed into his Armour, held out his hand and a pillar of molten rock emerged beneath it, breaking through the floor, a hilt sticking out of the top of it. Eric grasped it and ripped Oblivion from it and held it to Takahiro.

Takahiro lent forward and began to inspect it closely. “Hmm, I see,” He mumbled. “Western style, huh?”

Takahiro walked up to a wall that was covered in weapons from the Western half of the world, skimmed over a few of them and picked up a claymore which was about the same size as Eric’s sword.

Like the cutlass, it too was engraved with runes except Eric knew that they were Celtic ones.

“Now, Eric, attack me however you like with your sword,” Takahiro ordered.

“What? Right here and now?” Eric asked, unsure if it was wise to fight in such a room, even if it was quite large. “Are you sure?”

Takahiro nodded and moved into a fighting stance. “Obviously, don’t put any magical energy into it, otherwise this would make this exercise pointless.”

“Okay.”

Eric drew his sword back, gripped it with both hands and charged at Takahiro.

He swung at Takahiro, but Takahiro blocked it with his sword, pushed Eric’s to one side and then took out his legs, sending Eric onto his back. He then swung his sword and gently placed it against Eric’s neck.

“You’re already dead,” Takahiro said, before smiling and offering him a hand.

Eric took it and was pulled onto his feet. “I guess I didn’t do too well, huh?”

“It’s fine. I don’t imagine you’ve ever used a sword in battle before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, it’s fine. We can take it slow and build you up from the basics. Now, let’s start with how to hold the blade. With claymores, you usually hold it with both hands, the dominant one at the top close to the hilt and your weaker hand closer to the pommel. However, given your strength, you could probably use it with one hand.”

“So, should I use it with one hand or two?”

“Hmm, it depends on the situation to be honest. For now, I’ll teach you how to do it both ways.”

Takahiro showed Eric how to hold the blade with both one hand and with two. Then, he went into a side room and dragged a wooden dummy into the centre of the room, fixing it into the ground.

“Now, try swinging at the dummy,” Takahiro said. “Try slashing at it several times whilst holding the blade with both hands and then do it again with a single hand.”

“Okay,” Eric replied.

He walked over to the dummy and, gripping the sword with both hands, sliced at the dummy several times as hard as he could, leaving massive dents in the dummy and almost shattering it multiple times. Then, Eric held the sword with his right hand and repeated the same swings which, this time, smashed the dummy into pieces.

“Ah, sorry about that,” Eric said, bowing a little to him.

“It’s fine, it happens all the time,” Takahiro replied. “Still, given your raw power, it wouldn’t be strange for you to just rely on that to win your fights. After all, God Armours are incredibly powerful normally and, given your Armour’s potential and your God Weapon, it could be possible. However, I would strongly advise against that as it wouldn’t work against everyone. Now, try attacking me again and see if you can defeat me with just your Armour’s strength.”

Eric nodded, held his sword tightly and ran at Takahiro once more.

He sliced at the teacher’s head but Takahiro blocked the blade with his own and forced it to one side. He went for Eric’s legs again but Eric had expected as much and jumped over them. Eric then swung at Takahiro several times which he blocked. Eric stabbed at him but Takahiro parried the blade, disarmed Eric and then sliced at Eric’s neck, placing the blade right against it.

“If I had been another God Armour, even one weaker than you, chances are that you’d be dead,” Takahiro coldly stated as Oblivion fell onto the floor behind him. Takahiro stepped back, picked up Oblivion and threw it back to Eric. “One day, your power might be unmatched by any other in the world however, until that day, anyone with the same power level as you will beat you if they’re more skilled in combat. Now, come over here and I’ll show you a couple of good techniques for disarming and staggering your opponents.”

“Okay!” Eric cried.