In Search of Eternity Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

“And in glowing, silver writing, just above the cross guard was inscribed on the blade: ‘Whoever pulls this sword out of the stone is right-wise born the King of England.’” My voice was low, in full story-teller mode.

“That’s stupid.” A young, brash voice responded, “Why would a sword make you King? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Says the brat with a snake for legs. The little Lamia was curled around one of my legs her with Vampire and Goblin friends sitting either side of me as I spun my tale.

“It’s a magic sword, duh.” I responded, poking her in the side and making her giggle, squirming away from the pokes, “It doesn’t have to make sense. But if you really want to know, the sword reads the mind of people who touch it and will only be drawn by the fated candidate.”

“Wow!” The Goblin girl said from my right, “I never heard of such a cool magical sword before!”

“Shut up!” The Vampire shouted, “I want to hear more of the story!”

“Okay okay. Magical swords are a thing you know? The hero who beat you using one.” That caused a bunch of salty faces, but I continued regardless, “Anyway. Knights from all over the realm, Lords and mercenaries alike rode to Caliburn, to unsheathe the legendary blade and prove their worth to all.”

As I spun the tale of Prince Arthur, the kids stopped their fighting and started to listen raptly, mouths open in wonder at the twists and turns. They were an admittedly stellar audience, gasping and clapping at the right times. Soon, with impeccable timing, I heard the sounds of movement further into the cave just as I started the Search for Excalibur.

“But, that is a tale for another time.” That caused a chorus of groans and complaints, but I was unmoved, “Now now, lets all greet your friend and mine. Although, I will have to beat them both up if he lost.”

That got smiles back on their faces as I winked at them and put a finger over my lips in a shushing motion. Their giggles were what greeted their scaly dejected friend, who was following after an equally sullen Luka.

“Why the long face Luka? It can’t be that bad, surely.” I asked the boy, who merely huffed at the question.

“No, it’s fine but… I feel a bit disappointed, I guess?” That got a scoff from both myself and Alice, who had been sunning herself outside the cave.

“Do you want to die, you fool?” I shook my head at him, causing Alice to hum.

“Lothar is right Luka, if these ones were fully grown it would have been over in an instant.” She brought herself up, resting on her serpentine coils as she stared down imperiously at the gathered children, “As for you four…”

What followed was a lecture for the ages. Even I was left feeling somewhat contrite at the end of it.

---XXX---

The four depressed bandits were languidly trailing behind us, Alice’s mood worsened even further when she realised that they would be sharing in, therefore further dividing, our rations. Still, I always had a weak spot for cute thing’s looking sad, so I fell back slightly and whispered to them conspiratorially.

“Cheer up you four, I’ll continue my story after dinner. Luka will make a lot, don’t worry.” They brightened up at that.

The Dragon Girl was confused, however, “Story? What story?”

“Oh it’s great! There’s knights, and magic swords and castles and…!” The Vampire excitably started to explain to her, joined in by the suddenly enthusiastic Lamia and Goblin.

Job done, I walked back to the front of our little party, joining in step with Luka and Alice. Her first words when I returned caused the both of us to miss our next step.

“It’s quite attractive when a man is good with children, you know?” She sent a teasing smirk my way, causing a look of dread to flit over Luka’s face.

Begone, foul harlot. Thy fluffless tail shalt not tempt me.

I didn’t verbalize that, obviously. Dying was not how I enjoyed spending my time.

Instead, I replied far more neutrally, “As gratifying as that is to hear, I am afraid that I am not interested. My apologies, Alice.”

“It annoys me how you can say something like that so calmly.” Alice grumbled, “Not a hint of fear. What if I decided to take what I want by force, hmm? What then?”

“I would simply kill myself to deny you the satisfaction.” I glibly answered, “Thanks to your mind trick I found out I can do that without even a weapon, now. After that… well if you want to fuck a corpse that’s your business, at that point I would be a bit beyond caring.”

“Lothar…” Luka whispered, aghast at my words.

“You’re bluffing.” Alice immediately stated.

“Maybe. Want to test me and find out?” I stopped walking, causing the rest of us to stop as well and stared her in the eyes.

Said eyes narrowed, their slitted visage boring into me before she scoffed and resumed walking, causing our little convey to start moving again.

“Truly the weirdest human I have ever met.”

We walked in silence for a bit after that, even the children affected by the heavy atmosphere. Our peace was broken by a hesitant Luka.

“Lothar?” He asked, “This Monster Girl you love… is your loyalty to her really that important?”

“It is.” I responded, completely honestly, “You could even say my life depends on it.”

---XXX---

The night had arrived quickly, proving my words to the four kids correct. Luka had cooked up a veritable feast, aided by my hunting and fishing of the still strangely suicidal wildlife. Of course, just because we made a lot, did not mean there was any leftovers. The children had eaten their full, lulled to sleep by my story and their swollen bellies, but it seemed that Alice’s hunger was not so easily satiated.

Still, dinner was at least enough to cheer her up, seeing as she was happily watching my training with Luka. Speaking of, this kid was a complete freak of nature. Instead of mere days, it felt like he had been training for weeks. His rate of improvement was staggering, noticeable from even how he moved last night.

“Well, Luka.” I spoke, “You are learning really quickly.”

“I still can’t hit you, though.” He complained, rubbing his shin that I had just sniped for being too extended, “It’s like you’re an impassable wall. Just how good are you?”

“Better than you think, boy.” Alice answered for me, “He’s not even fighting you with his favoured style.”

“What?!” His head snapped to her, before turning back to me with wide eyes, “Is she right, Lothar?”

I sighed, bringing a hand up to scratch at my nose, “I won several tournaments back home but… Alice is correct, Luka. I’m not using my best style, the one I trained in the most. These swords aren’t good for it, that is the main reason. But also, I’m training you in the style that your weapon uses, so to train you in my own would be wasteful.”

“I see…” He looked down, “Still, you’re so much better than me and it’s not even in your best style… Man, I have such a long way to go, huh?”

Seeing how down he was, I threw him a bone, “You’ll get there. In fact, you will be even better than me, eventually.”

“Why do you say that?” He asked, confusion on his face, “How can you be so sure?”

“You’re improving faster than I did. Much faster. In a few weeks, provided you survive, you’ll probably have surpassed me in the long sword.” I told him honestly, estimating based on the improvement I had already seen from him.

“Thank you for your confidence.” He responded, resolve filling him as he straightened up, “I will not disappoint you.”

“All well and good.” Alice slithered her way between us, a sparring sword in her grasp, “But I wish to test something. Lothar, the swords obviously aren’t shaped correctly, but their lightness should still make them serviceable, correct? Show me your style.”

“I suppose I could. May I ask why?” I accepted, a bit confused about her reasoning for this.

“Curiosity.” Was her response, as she took up a fencer's stance, point presented directly towards me.

“Very well.” I took up my stance, the most basic in the Polish Fencing school.

Sword forwards, held in one hand, with the other hand resting on my hip. It looks like to even out the playing field, Alice would be using the training sword like a rapier, despite how much thicker and shorter the ‘blade’ was compared to one.

Tapping her sword with my own to signal my readiness, the spar began. As was common when facing a thrusting centric style, I was immediately put on the defensive, having to parry several sharp, well placed thrusts and probes. Careful not to over commit to any of my movements, I utilized a technique that I had learned from one of my instructors, a Destreza user.

Leaning back, putting my weight on the balls of my feet, I started to circle the Echidna, using my movements to disguise what I was doing. By tilting my body back so much, I was hiding my true reach and simultaneously drawing her further into my range, making up for the reach disadvantage of our styles.

The sweeping, continuous strikes were somewhat awkward due to the lack of curve of my weapon, but still the strikes weaved in between my parries towards her hand on her own weapon seemed to be causing some trouble for her, having never faces such a style before. Of course, I was well aware just how much she was holding back, seeing as I could still follow her movements. She was limiting herself to match my speed. Still, the second part of my technique soon had an opportunity to reveal itself.

She soon fell into the trap, pressing forward in an attempt to ward me off. Quickly, I shifted my weight forwards, swiping towards her as I near instantly gained almost a full arm’s length of distance to her causing her eyes to widen in surprise. Quicker than I could react to, she leaned backwards onto her coiled tail to dodge my attack, before thrusting upwards and pressing the point of her own sword to my throat.

Leaning back, I raised my hands, dropping the wooden sword, “My loss.”

“Wow! You moved so quickly Alice! That was amazing!” Luka called out, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“I was never going to beat her.” I responded to the boy, “She’s much stronger than either of us.”

“You did well. That trick you did with your footwork was impressive.” She spoke, brow furrowed in thought, “I didn’t realise what you did until you struck. What shape is the sword you usually use?”

“It’s a sabre. Like a scimitar, but thinner with a shallower curve.” I explained causing her to tilt her head in thought, before nodding.

“I see. Yes, I can see how that style you used works with that weapon. However, that trick seemed to be added on. Did you learn it separately?” Alice mused.

“Correct. I remember one of my instructors using it and incorporated it into my own footwork.” I responded, “Now that our fun is out of the way, don’t you want your time with Luka?”

“Oh, that’s right. Boya, come here. Your foot work should be good enough for the next technique…”

I watched as Alice turned to the little Hero, starting to instruct him in the Monster Sword arts, then looked down at the wooden sword in my hand. That’s right, Sabres were what I used more than anything but… If I ever saw one again, I would be very lucky. All the swords I have seen since coming here were early Medieval, none even had hand protection more than the basic cross guard.

I guess I better get used to using the Longsword, if I ever picked up a blade. For now, the Quarterstaff had been serving me quite well.

Turning my attention back to the instruction taking place, I put it out of my mind and observed carefully, ready to offer any advice that I could. It’s not often the Monster Lord shared her knowledge, after all.

---XXX---

The handing over of the Monster Children to the town went about as it did in the game, the villagers not able to bring themselves to harm such young girls, instead offering them the opportunity to work off their debt. The Monster Girls took the offer, glad to not have to camp out in the Cave where they practised their banditry from.

The only issue that showed up was our next destination. In the game, you went through the quests on the Continent in the order of their Level recommendation. The Bandits were first, to the North-West, then were the Harpies to the North-East. The forest, Enrika, was the last to the South-West. Of course, this not being a Game, Luka and Alice decided to travel to Enrika next ,as the Port was right next to the Harpy Village.

I was slightly leery, the elves of the Forest likely being tougher to deal with than the pacifistic Harpies, but their reasoning made sense. It wasn’t like I could leave, either. I needed to make sure that Tamamo was in the Cave before I made my way towards her. So, off to Enrika we went.

The way was fairly clear of Monsters, the usual rule of there being less monsters the more South you went holding true. That only held until we entered the Forest, of course. Our way was soon blocked by both a Dark Elf Fencer and Mage.

“Oya, meals just delivering themselves? How convenient!” The Mage called, licking her lips as she beheld the two of us, Alice having disappeared as soon as they neared.

“Would you let us through? We want to speak to the one who made this armour.” Luka rolled for diplomacy.

“None shall enter Enrika. We have sworn to protect it from all who try.” Critical Fail! The Fencer was pretty emphatic in her answer.

"Well that sucks Luka. Good luck though.” I nodded towards the boy, who sighed and took up the abomination that could barely be called a sword.

The Fencer wrinkled her nose at the sight, but turned towards me, “You would let a child fight in your place?”

“He’s a man grown, as weird as that sounds.” Was my response, keeping an eye on the Mage, who had been circling around us, “Besides, I have no way of fighting like he does.”

At that, the Mage gave an evil smile, “Oh, that means I can consume you and there is nothing you can do about it?”

“Let me clarify.” My voice hardened, “If you attack me, I might kill you. This is your only warning.”

The Fencer took my warning under advisement with a nod, but the Mage merely scoffed, “You think that will work? I won’t be scared off by some mean words. I’m oh so hungry.”

As she spoke, her left arm shivered and twisted, fusing with her cloak and shifting into a mass of roiling tentacles. I wrinkled my nose in response.

“Alice.” I called, seeing the fight was unavoidable, “If you have a problem with her dying, now is the time to tell me.”

There was no response, causing the Mage to grin as the Fencer engaged Luka, pushing him away from us, “Talking to the air now? Don’t worry, I promise it will be the most pleasurable thing you have ever felt.”

Taking up my quarterstaff, I dropped into guard, listening carefully for any response from the Monster Lord. When none came, I sighed. This Mage was one of the monsters who killed Luka when he lost to them, meaning that she was one hundred percent willing to murder. I wouldn’t just go off of that, of course, but her attitude and talk of ‘consuming’ did not dispute that theory.

Personally, I would have no qualms offing this murderous bitch. I needed Alice to have a positive opinion of me for now, so I would do my best to keep her alive.

However, should I misjudge and accidentality kill her, I would certainly not be that saddened by the occurrence.

“I did warn you.” Was my last remarks to her.

“Pfft, like I would be worried abou…” Her words were cut off by my sudden charge, her eyes widening as she attempted to catch me with her tentacle arm.

Too slow.

I twirled, dodging around the outstretched limb and pulling Dark Energy to myself, using it for a burst of speed as I locked my arms on either side of her remaining human one, staff clasped in my hand. Before she could move, I yanked and twisted, using my body as a fulcrum and the staff as a lever, throwing the Mage to the ground. The movement was too sudden, her body unable to keep up with my enhanced strength, and a sickening crack echoed throughout the clearing as her bones in her arm broke.

Her arm braking did nothing to lessen the force, however, so she still tumbled over me and rolled to her back on the floor, her broken arm painfully getting crushed beneath her. Her scream of pain was cut off before it truly got going, as I proceeded to slam the butt of my staff into her forehead, causing her head to bounce off the ground before coming to a rest. Her body lying motionless.

Kneeling next to the unconscious Monster, I put my fingers on her neck, feeling conflicted as I felt a weak pulse.

“That was brutal.” Alice spoke, appearing over the downed monster, looking over her with a complicated expression, “Thank you for not killing her.”

“I wanted to.” I admitted, still unsure of her truth sensing capabilities.

“I know. Why didn’t you? You were well within your rights.” She looked at me then, observing my response closely.

“You asked us not to. Even if you didn’t reply when I asked, I knew you would still be upset about it.” Was my response, which was true.

The Mage also helped in the Angelic Invasion later on, I half remembered. If she dies, the butterfly effect could come back to bite me.

“I see.” She whispered, a softness entering her gaze, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” I rejected, “She won't survive without medical attention and after the way she spoke to me, I’m sure as hell not carrying her.”

“You can’t be serious.” The softness fled her gaze as she deadpanned at me.

Unfortunately for her though, I was very serious about that indeed.