I Get A Shock (Another One?!)

He charged.

I dodged.

Simple, right?

Not quite.

He grinned and charged. Time seemed to slow down as he closed in on me. I tried to dance out of his way to his left, but I completely misjudged his speed. I flew ten, twenty meters, and somehow managed to slow myself down using Usra. I rolled on the ground to lessen the impact, and came up standing.

He was charging in for another attack.

Not happening again, doofus.

I summoned an earth wall in front of him. He crashed into it and broke his nose. Before he could regenerate, I began my work.

I ran up to him and shot a fireball in his face. Then I danced to his left and lopped his arm off with my sword. I jumped up onto his head and dived towards his torso. I stabbed my sword right through his collarbone, straight into his heart.

He stiffened, let out a roar of pain, and exploded into dust.

His horn fell down, and so did I - I got gored by his horn when I removed my armor to move quickly.

I simply raised my hand, and healed myself. My familiars went around searching for trails of the demons.

That, Matet said, was dangerous.

Gee, thanks for the encouragement, I replied scathingly.

Alicia ran up to me. She was followed by the girl in gold armor.

"Ex - " Alicia started to say, but she was interrupted by the girl in gold armor throwing herself at me.

"Brother!" She sobbed into my arms.

I was so startled, I let my guard down.

"Aoi?" Ii asked tentatively.

She sobbed harder and nodded.

I was so happy, I went weak. But then...

"I'm happy you're alive, but...weren't you supposed to be done in by an assassin?"

She laughed weakly. "That was a lie. The Demonoid assassin did come, but he couldn't kill anyone else. I made that up so the Demons would think the biggest threat to them at the time had been wiped out."

"You're thinking surprisingly like a tactician."

"I did have the best strategist in the world as my brother."

"True enough."

I turned to answer Alicia's question.

"I wasn't born in this world. I was brought here by the Gods, just like them. Only my classmates always teased me, bullied me, and so on and so forth. So I split from them and adventured on my own. I then followed a few bandits, and raided their lair for some weapons. I do that every time my weapons break.

"I then went deeper yet into the Forest Dungeon, and came upon a wide clearing. I then saw Matet. I immediately took to him, and he to me. He slowly started helping me learn how to fight. I practiced every moment. Neither he nor I needed to sleep, so my power kept growing exponentially.

"I came up to town frequently and learned everything I could related to the history of this world in various disguises. I spent three years in this manner. i then found the Usra armor - "

Alicia's eyes widened in shock.

" - and while it recorded my signatures for each state, it brought me up to the surface. And after that you know everything."

Silence greeted this.

"But," Alicia started, "how did - "

"If it's about my father and how I knew my lineage, my father always told me about his home, which at the time I thought was the name of an obscure village."

More silence.

And then, suddenly, I could hear hooves striking the ground and neighs in the distance.

"Matet," I said calmly. "Obstruct and Identify."

It was something we had practiced before. He would take my pets and surround the approaching people, and then block the people himself and identify them. He would then send a telepathical message to me.

He bounded away.

"What happened?" My sister asked.

I stroked her hair. "You'll know soon enough."

She pouted.

Alicia asked me the same thing, and I gave her the same answer. She also pouted.

I felt a buzzing in the back of my head, and I let Matet open a channel for communication.

It's humans.

I felt him talking with the humans.

Looks like they're the King and Queen of the Forest Kingdom. Your grandparents.

Oh. Let them on. Actually, escort them. We have seven on your two, twelve on your eight, six on your ten and thirteen on your four.

I was giving him the numbers and directions of a few bandits who had cropped up.

Right. I was a little bit disheartened at not being able to fight the Demon Champion. Those others were hardly a challenge.

Well, let loose. Don't kill them, I'll find out their hideout later on.

Sure, I'll try.

That's ominous.

Who cares?

I do.

Spoilsport.

Now I'm the bad guy?

Yeah.

Oh, great. Now get on with it.

Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.

I turned to face my sister and Alicia. "Our grandparents - the King and Queen of the Forest Kingdom are on their way," I told Aoi.

"What?" Alicia exclaimed.

Just then, screams rent the air, and claws-on-sword noises could be heard.

"And that's Matet taking care of the bandits."

"Yikes," Aoi said. "Sounds painful."

She still clung onto my hand.

"Remember this - never get on Matet's bad side."

"Not likely to forget in a hurry."

After a few minutes, we heard the trundling of carriages.

My Grandparents came out of one of those. I knelt, and signaled all those around to do the same.

"My King and Queen," I said.

They looked at me and immediately recognized me.

"Rise, my grandson, Prince of the Forest Kingdom."

I rose.

They hugged me, and I embraced them back.

"You're forgetting the princess," I said.

"Princess?"

"My sister."

I gestured to her, and she looked a bit meek as she came forward.

"Why, our granddaughter is so pretty!" My grandmother exclaimed.

"She could capture the heart of most princes easily!" said grandfather.

I smiled to myself. I would dare them to try flirting with my sister. She would bite their heads off.

"Oh," gramps said, "I want to ask you a question. What is your mother's name?"

"Maya."

"Oh. Then I have news for you."

"What is it?"

"You are also heir to the throne of the Mountain Kingdom."

"W-w-w-what?" I spluttered.

"Not only that, you have a fiancé."

"A-a-are you for real? W-who is it?"

As soon as I asked this question, Alice turned a deep shade of pink.

"M-me," she said.