The Kingdom of Scavia #10

It was now the mages’ turn to show off their abilities. Luckily for them, with Olivia’s constant complaints, no fights will be held; and instead, it would be a demonstration for each of them.

Akiro couldn’t care less however, considering he already passed out and reawakened a handful of times. He laid back on the chair, leaning back and winced, the strain of the whole debacle taking a toll on his body. To make it worse, the pain-numbing concoction he was served was only partially working and the same went with the health-restoring potion.

For some reason his body was not entirely absorbing the drinks like it should be; but comparable to Ayama and others, he was well-off. The other, more-intensive injuries had to be taken care of in the medical bay.

“That was a mighty fine showing, young man.” The queen praised the hero recuperating beside her on the chair he used earlier. “With your willpower alone did you overcome such a disadvantage. I’m really impressed.”
Akiro straightened himself, the pain slowly subsiding, “Thank you for your kind words, your majesty.” He said, “I may have acted like I was invincible, but it was all a bluff. This really hurts, Yamazaki-san got me real good.”

The queen only smiled a little more, “All the more so,” She chuckled, “Not many men can keep such a straight face with broken ribs and collapsed innards. The pain must have been immense, considering you forced yourself to move like that.”

“Yes it was.” Akiro coughed a blush away, “Stephen’s a lucky guy. His wife is really pretty.”

“Well, anywho–” Queen Kaguya smiled, “Compared to your impressive performance, magic like these must not interest you, no? I myself am more interested in fights like those.”

“I’m not sure myself.” Akiro raised a curious eyebrow, “Magic itself is quite neat, in my personal opinion.”

Kaguya only hummed, “Maybe so, but for a swordswoman such as I, not so much.”

“She’s a swordswoman?” Akiro nodded, internally surprised, “That's understandable.”

The mages of the class then carried on with presenting their magic prowesses. Many went all out with their most powerful spells, while others were more creative with how they presented their abilities. For example, Takumi, the Ice Mage, summoned a large blob of water without chanting– an already incredible feat, but what came next was even more shocking.

“[ Ice Magic / Crystallization ]: Familiar - Guardian Knights!”

whoosh!

The temperature of the air dropped considerably, the blob of water splashing down on the ground, erupting with a dense fog that covered the view. And when the cloud settled, three large statues of ice stood proudly.

King Stephen was shocked at the amount of detail. “Impressive! These statues are well-made!” he praised.

“That’s not all, your majesty!” Takumi grinned, “They can fight too! Battle formations!”

The three knights sprang into action, waving their swords and raising them to a guarded stance, positioned all around the Ice Mage. Takumi smiled proudly, taking it even a step farther, and with the motions of his fingers like a puppeteer, the soldiers began to move, counter attacking and defending against imaginary opponents.

“He’s controlling three different golems at the same time.” Akiro smiled in amazement, “That control is insane!”

“I have never heard of this spell before, Takumi.” King Stephen hummed, seeing Olivia equally surprised, “Is this perhaps your own?”

“Yes, your majesty, it is mine.” Takumi bowed, “Although it still has its rough edges, like the consumption of magic power– the tradeoff of sturdy creations is well worth it.”

“What else can you do with it?” The king curiously asked, leaning closer.

The Ice-magician smirked. “As long as I have the magic power, I can create anything within the creativity of my mind.”

“I’m a little curious now, how do you do it?”

“Simply put, your highness—” Takumi started to explain.

“With that, Takumi can make up for the lacking numbers of his party. His magic power is something else.” Akiro reached for a glass of water to lubricate his parched throat, the result of laughing so hard, only to drop the glass cup. His enhanced senses rang with the sharp whistling of winds.

"An attack!!"

Crash!

Without skipping a beat, he dashed forward onto the table, pushing off a few of the dishes, causing them to crash. His senses were screaming, making his vision pulse with red outlines.

Akiro drew his katana, his scythe taking too much time to use.

Clang! Clank! Ping!

Metal collided with mithril., making loud noises. The sounds of arrows being blocked echo throughout the patio, with Akiro balancing on top of the golden candlestick located in the center of the table while holding his scythe.

“What is the meaning of this!” Stephen shot up from his chair, the soldiers rushing over to protect him, forming a wall with their own bodies.

Using the scythe's broad blade to protect the royal family while on the other hand the fourth arrow was sliced by the sword.

"It's an attack! Protect the Royal family!--Ack-" Akiro yelled loudly, watching as the sentries posted on the other side of the door burst through “M-My injuries–”

Kaiser rushed over to the monarchs "Your Highness!" He called out, raising his shield over his head. "Are you alright!?"

Whisssh!

“That’s dangerous!” Akiro gasped, an overwhelming amount of force heading through his way. The assassin darted to the side, diving out of the way. “Incoming!”

Whoosh–

The single arrow pierced through the air and through the two soldiers, and they fell backward, spattering blood; and the arrow exploded. The arrow soared through the air, landing with a great implosion of magic power.

Boom!

In the advent of the attack, only a crater was left, the loyal soldiers who blocked turned into red mist. "No!" Queen Himiko gasped, holding her daughter close. She was thankful that only Sume was there, with Otome in the medical bay.

Akiro on the other hand was sweating, his hand slightly shaking. "What was that?! I could barely see it-- was it a skill?! It tore through elite soldiers like they were made of tofu." He thought. "Escort the Royal Family in! I'll draw their attacks!"

Kaiser nodded, before slowly shifting his shield, making sure the Royal Family was under its protection. "We'll proceed slowly, make sure to hide behind the shield."

Whisssh! Whisssh! Whisssh!

Clang! Clank! Ping!

"Hurry! I can't deflect them all!" Akiro called out desperately, luckily, Ayamna had successfully escorted the Royal Family into the building, under the protection of their soldiers. “That skill definietely has a cooldown! We needto escort the family out, and fast!”

"They're safe!" Kaiser reported, yelling from the entrance, “C’mon! Everybody evacuate!”

Whisssh! Whisssh! Whisssh!

Clang! Clank! Ping!

Whisssh! Whisssh! Whisssh!

Clang! Clank! Ping!

“Damn it!” Akiro frowned, “There’s no end to this! We’re sitting ducks!”

The assassin looked behind him, his peers running for their lives as the soldiers were defending them. Akiro was doing well in deflecting the arrows that came toward him, and the royal family behind him, but what about the soldiers? They were just meat shields, and they were dropping like flies.

“Fuck!” Akiro yelled, “Damn it! I’ll have to counter-attack, maybe then at least there’ll be fewer deaths!”

“Akiro! Don’t do anything stupid—” Kaiser sensed Akiro’s intention from his posture alone, and he pleaded from behind cover, but it was too late, the assassin already gone. “Damnit!”

The townscape was in full view of Akiro, as he ran across the Castle's rooftops. The sky was pitch black, the stars glimmering and flying across it. The city underneath was full of life and the buildings and lanterns were illuminating the streets.

Luckily from the angle of the attack, they were on the rooftops of the adjacent towers, so Akiro did not take long to find the perpetrator.

He looked at the town as he dashed, but couldn’t enjoy it. "If I was not chasing the assassin that could've killed the royal family, I would be enjoying the view right about now-- movement!"

For some reason, his vision grew sharper despite the dark night. The suspect had quite an attractive figure, a slim waist, and bountiful curves; she was wearing a black outfit comparable to Akiro's formal clothes.

That was the conclusion Akiro came to after the first prior observation. On her hip was a strangely-shaped bow, which was longer than any longbow he had seen before; and beside it was an empty quiver.

She only noticed his presence when he was close enough to act.

"A woman, She’s probably out of arrows! That’s good news." Akiro noted, gripping the scythe tightly. He then throws the scythe pointing to the upper-left of the running suspect. "Physics class, don't fail me now!"

Due to the weight of the blade offsetting the balance, the inertia played a pivotal role, curving the scythe’s trajectory.

Shing!

And the scythe lands in front of the suspect, blocking her path. The mysterious attacker halted sharply, her feet grinding against the roof tiles. She turned back to see Akiro standing ten meters away from her position, only then was he able to apprciate her beauty.

"Whoa... what beautiful blonde hair," Akiro muttered. "Shit! get your eyes on the game! She's an Assassin!" He berated himself mentally, before focusing his gaze on her. "Who sent you!?"

In response, she stayed silent, drawing her bow, taking the last of her arrows. "..."

“Fuck, she wasn’t out of arrows.” Akiro frowned. " Appraisal ]"

[ Name: ??? / Age: 96 / Race: Elf / Job: Archer / Sub-Job: Assassin ] [ Lvl. 97 ]

[ ATK:760 / STR– [ Disguise ] Skill Rank-A is prohibiting you from appraising any further. ]

[ Disguise ] Rank-A is prohibiting you from appraising any further. ]