Side Story 12: Three-way duel.

Side Story 12: Three-way duel.

Rising Phoenix Slash!

Crap!

A sword covered in searing flames came at me like a flying bird, slicing through the air as it launched itself into my face. I, Tatsuya Nagata, only narrowly dodged it purely because the girl who swung her sword at me was yelling the name of her attack with euphoria.

Nice dodge, Tatsuya, but how about this? Swift Cut!

Understanding that she would leave herself vulnerable with that attack, the girl called out a System approved sword ability, enabling her to deftly move her body to block all my options for a counterattack.

The swinging of her black ponytail with red tints seemed like a flowing fire as it merged with her body's movements. A relentless assault began, forcing me to stay on the defensive and dodge, otherwise, her flame sword would probably have turned my skin black like coal.

Usually, in medieval combat, a spear would have the reach advantage over a sword, but that fact will become irrelevant once the sword manages to touch my face. I was caught off-guard by her and my reaction speed was not fast enough for me to launch a counterattack.

Eventually, I was able to detect an opening in her rampage, but I didnt know how to capitalize on it without getting hurt in retaliation. A more seasoned spearman wouldve been able to think of an attack but all I could do was block her sword and swing the shaft of my spear like a staff to stop her assault.

Fucking hell, Kohaku. You couldve killed me there! I shouted at the girl with the flame sword.

Ehehe, I did get a bit too enthusiasticbut you made it out of there without a scratch! Kohaku, the girl with the black hair and red tints, responded with a carefree smile.

While we were having this conversation, I could hear voices coming from the side. Spectators of our fight were hurling complaints at us, back seating, and calling us out for our mistakes.

Kohaku-chan! You cant continue screaming all of that chunni stuff! You're giving yourself away! the brown-haired Kazumi shouted.

Kohaku-san, thats not even a proper sword ability, so please stop it! You could have beaten Tatsuya if you hadnt done that! spectacles-wearing Nishio called out.

Holy fuck, Tatsuya, you suck so much! You have a spear and youre taller than her but you cant keep her out of your reach?! Argh, this is what I have to work with annoying bastard Daichi Mikami yelled, criticizing me for one mistake.

Tch, it really wasnt my fault here!

Hehe, sorry guys. Ill get a bit more serious, fire off, wind on! Kohaku called out, dissipating the flames on her sword before touching it to invoke a veil of wind to cover her sword. While that was already pretty impressive, my eyes were more attracted to the brightly shining green rune.

After we lost that little challenge to Tamae-san's party "The Magical Biscuits", Yorshka brought their party to a dwarven friend of hers where they got some sweet weapon upgrades. And yes, you heard it right, those guys got to meet a dwarf. They were retelling that meeting so enthusiastically that it sounded a bit like boasting, which made me a bit jealous.

Anyway, after three months of hard work, a package arrived at the church with Yorshka's name on it. Opening it up, she revealed that the weapons that the other party ordered have finally arrived.

This was around a week ago, and Kohaku here is brandishing her personal weapon right now.

Kotodama

A sword made from the magical alloy Eoriant. Sturdy and able to absorb mana from its user, it can sustain its form even under the wear and tear from magical auras. Rune slots are engraved into this sword allows the user to wield elemental attacks

Skill

[Elemental Attack Up Lv. 5]

[Mana Efficiency Lv. 5]

[Mana Conductor Lv. 4]

[Sword Mastery Lv. 3]

[Decreased Weight Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 3]

[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 3]

[Minds Eye Lv. 1]

[Durability Loss Reduction Lv. 5]

Currently, the sword has three runes etched on it: wind, fire, and water. Ive heard from Yorshka that you needed a skill called [Runesmith] to etch more into it, which could range from ice, thunder, and many more that could combine with each other and create wild creations.L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

Kohaku, seeing as she had the unique skill [Dwarven Runeslayer], was naturally proficient with using the runes, to great effect. Her chunnibiyou soul(8th class syndrome/Naruto phase) had been flaring up ever since she got it and shes been calling out cringe-worthy attacks names like Rising Phoenix Slash, amongst others.

Well, who am I to stop her fun-wahhhh?!

While I was looking at her fidgeting with her sword, another blade came at me, interrupting my daydreaming and forcing me to block it with my spears shaft again.

Oi, Tatsuya, stop looking at girls when you havent beaten me yet, a guy who was completely covered from head to toe with armor said.

Still struggling to push his sword away, I could only mumble a few words, Fuck you, Kyouya!

Since we started it, weve been keeping up with each other pretty well but ever since Kohaku got her new sword, shes been mostly wiping us out with it. The power of her rune sword is a real menace with how flexible it can be.

Some would call me dumb for sending Kyouya out instead of Kohaku but ganging up on her every single match would turn out boring. Ive defeated her with Kyouyas help before, but I honestly want to see if I can do it on my own.

Yeah, its dumb, I know, but I want to see if I can really do it. Im competitive, its my nerd spirit. Spear vs. magical sword, lets go.

You ready, Kohaku? I asked her.

Water off, fire on, Kohaku said in response, posing like an anime character. Let us end this battle in a dance of fire, Tatsuya!

Cute

With her sword in hand, she was making a pretty cool pose while I kept the normal stance that I learned from my combat instructors. Steadfast stance, relaxed but firm grip, andpointy side always in the direction of the enemy.

Lets go! Flash Spiral! I shouted.

Yeah! Swift Cut! she reciprocated my war cry.

Charging into each other with our respective attacks, we engaged in an all-out rumble. Flaming swings came from Kohaku as she tried her best to get close to me, rotating from wind to water and then back to fire, but I managed to keep my reach advantage this time.

Compared to before, she wasnt able to catch me off-guard so maintaining the basics was easier this time, but Kohaku was making it hard for me to keep this up. She was fast, just like me, but unlike me, her sword could extend its reach by concentrating the mana aura around its tip.

While dueling with Kyouya would feel like a down-to-earth medieval combat between a sword and spearwith the occasional power moves; this fight that I was having with Kohaku was fantastical, exactly how you would imagine a fight in a world with magic would work out.

Its just too bad that I wasnt able to shoot one of two spells myself.

However, it seems my perseverance worked out, managing my Stamina and my weapons durability while having Kohaku use her up. From the SP that I received from leveling up, I decided against buying [Identify] for now, concentrating on gaining more stat growth skills and combat-related ones.

While changing Jobs led to skills increasing, you actually have to reach the skill requirements first. By gaining a variety of skills and then leveling them up, Ill focus on gaining more jobs to promote everything into quality.

[Identify] would give me intel on Kohakus current stats, but I needed stuff like [Prediction], [Danger Sense], [Accuracy Correction], and [Probability Correction] to fight better. Winning fights and fulfilling Quests were the only ways I could gain levels, but I could only survive by being more proficient in combat.

Fighting in that dungeon made me realized that this shit that the church is forcing us into, stopping the demonkins, was fucked up. No, its even more fucked up now that I know how it feels to kill.

Taking the life from somebody, even a monster, made me feel nauseous but what it truly gave me was a real value of what life was. What if I was one of those kobolds and some arrogant kid walks up to me just to kill me for experience? Sure, we kill animals to eat and I understand that, butdude, its just so complicated!

How can these people even do this at all? I dont know if Im being a pussy here or not but how can anybody even feasible kill another person just like that. Argh, I dont know. Im so confused about all of these.

I know I have to fight to go back home but I dont want to know what its like to push my spear into another human or even a demonkin. The church explained to me that they looked like tall humans with large horns, long claws, and sharp, pointy fangs. I dont even know if I should trust the churchs description now. Ive never fully trusted them.

Kill or be killed. Can I end another humans life at a-waaaaaah?!

Waaaaaah?! I yelped, interrupting my monologue. Urghwhat thefuck?

My head hurts and all I could see was the blue sky, which means that I am on the ground? WaitIm pretty sure that the fight was even, with neither side having a real advantage over the other.

While trying to remember what happened, a girls face began blocking the beautiful sky that I was looking at, Tatsuya? What happened there? Were you daydreaming while we were fighting or how was I able to knock you down so easily? Oh wait, let me help you up first, here.

Grabbing her hand, she helped pull me up, Uh, yeah. Sorry, about that. I, uh, shouldnt have done that.

Not a problem, really, Kohaku said with a nod. However, you do know that Im goofing around with those weird catchphrases, right? My way to calm myself down during fights and souh, you know. Dont do that in a real fight.

Hearing that made me scratch my chin, a bit embarrassed at myself from hearing that from her, Yeah, t-that wont happen. Sorry, if that worri-

Holy fucking shit, Tatsuya?! How the fuck did you lose that?! before I could end my sentence my attention was directed at Daichi who was wildly shouting on the side. My [Identify] showed me that her Mana and Stamina were getting drained like crazy. She wasnt pacing herself at all! You had it, you idiot! You could have fucking won! Oh myfuck! Why am I stuck in this shitty party? Why are we always losingsigh.

Daichi looked absolutely defeated, slouching on a nearby bench as if his soul left him, however, considering why; I couldnt help but smile wryly. Ever since we teamed up with Kohakus party, weve been having challenges and so on just to keep each other competitive.

Seeing how strong their personally made weapons were, I think hes still salty about it. He hates losing and its even worse when he loses despite not being able to do anythingjust like now.

At least, there wasnt anything on the line otherwise he would throw a fireball at me.

As Kyouya, Kohaku, and I were getting a lecture from Yorshka about our mistakes, Elrick and Asaka entered the practice field.

Oh, good morning Asaka-san and Sir Elrick, where were youduring training, Tamae-san went to greet them but quickly lost most of her enthusiasm. Did something happen?

Sighyeah. Something very fucking sick, Asaka answered with a pale face.

That was when Yorshka stopped her lecture and went over to the equally pale Elrick, intending to get an answer from him, Elrick, whats wrong? Waitdont tell me weve got a job.

Affirmative, Lady Yorshka, Elrick then turned towards us, taking a deep breath before telling us the news. The knight order has recently received reports of a massive bandit camp located on our border to the kingdom of Artorias. The church has ordered us knights to judge the threat in Aurenas name and to bring back order.

Elrick stopped, taking another breath to calm himself down, The church has also ordered to make this the first official church quest for the Heroes. Party Misfits and The Magical Biscuit, you are to join the Knights of Aurena and use this chance as your entrance onto the worlds stage.

Crap.