Seventh: Volume 2, page 24
A mixture of blood and muck splattered the area around us.
Despite its injuries, the orc seemed unmoved. The regeneration of its wounds began almost immediately.
The third head whistled. “Not bad,” he said. “Looks like you’re able to properly aim your blade at a small target. You definitely have good technique, if nothing else.”
My eyes narrowed.
You don’t have to make it sound like technique is the only thing I have, third head, I thought, stung.
“What next?” the second head asked, voice pensive. “Do you want to try blinding it with projectiles?”
The third head snapped his fingers in agreement. “That’s a great idea. You heard him, Lyle! Hop to it.”
“I know you guys get to take it easy in there,” I said sarcastically, “but do I look like I have that kind of leeway?!”
The orc raised its greatsword.
I jumped out of range of its swing, eyes focused on how the orc was handling its greatsword. With each swing, the orc’s weapon handling improved a small bit. It was getting used to its sword little by little, slowly mastering it.
I looked down at my sabers. They might be low-grade, mass-produced pieces, but they’d been brand new when I bought them. Now they were in tatters.
I’ll either have to buy better sabers next time, or switch to a different weapon.
Each time I hit the orc, the sensation that rattled up my blade was the same as if I had been trying to slice into a moving boulder. Cutting through such tough skin was obviously far beyond what these flimsy blades could handle.
“It’s almost like I’m fighting a rock...”
I started running toward the next baiting spot, drawing the orc along behind me.
As I moved, I used Map to check the distance to the edge of the forest; we’d already traveled a good distance up the path, and our exit point wasn’t too far. From the movements of the markers, it looked like Novem and the others were already outside and preparing for our arrival.
***
“Couldn’t we have chosen a path that was a bit easier to walk on?” I grumbled.
“You think there’s an easier path to walk in this forest?” the second head laughed. “They don’t even bother to maintain the place. It would’ve been the same no matter which path we chose, Lyle. If you traveled any other way you’d only have to deal with the big guy back there for even longer.”
He had a point, I could admit. Plus, fighting like this was hard on my mana and stamina.
I sighed. Maybe it really was best to take the shortest route.
“Now then, that should be good enough,” the third head told me. Apparently he’d been keeping track of time. “Let’s move on to the next point.”
I turned my back to the orc again, leading it up the path. It immediately started chasing me. It swung its greatsword, and I just barely managed to perceive the swing in time to dodge it using the second head’s Art.
To be honest, I was reaching my limit.
I went tearing down the path that I’d verified earlier with Pini. As I lured the orc on, I almost tripped and stumbled several times over various types of forest debris.
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I’m starting to feel completely pathetic.”
As I ran and ran, a feeling of self-hatred came over me. I hated that I was running away.
“Hey, don’t be so serious,” the third head said, chuckling. “It’s not like you don’t have a plan; you’re not just running away because you’re scared. This is an operation you’re staging to lure him out of the woods. You should be happy it’s going so well. We’ve only got one last stretch to go from here, and then we’ve done it.”
That cheered me up a bit. He was right—that mindset made things a lot easier.
I do want to figure out some measures I can take if I find myself in a circumstance like this again, though.
Finally, I arrived at where the other four were waiting for me.
I ran past the group of girls and continued down the path, Pini at my side.
“Good luck buying time!” I called over my shoulder.
“Just leave it to us!” Zelphy called back, raising a hand.
***
Novem stood in the open area outside of the forest, preparing her magic as she waited for Lyle and the others. She was completely convinced that Lyle’s plan would succeed.
It’s all right... she told herself, gripping her silver rarium staff with both hands and closing her eyes. Lord Lyle will make it here without fail. And with those two and Zelphy by his side... It will be all right.
Novem tried to convince herself that everything would work out, repeating the words “It’s all right” over and over again in her mind.
Zelphy has experience, she reminded herself. She won’t lose without putting up a fight. And he’s got Aria and Sophia as well. Aria’s Art is acceleration—she won’t lose to that adapted seed so easily. And Sophia has weight manipulation, she can even fight the orc head-on if necessary.
Novem soothed herself with these thoughts. She understood both girls’ Arts well enough to know just how valuable they were. Just as she knew the orc was an adapted seed...
Aria aside, it was a spot of good luck for us to come across Sophia, Novem thought. We can use her. It’ll be a nuisance if they get done in, so...
Novem broke from her thoughts and slowly opened her eyes.
She was surrounded by people from House Pagan and House Maini. All she had left to do was to invoke her spell. As her eyes adjusted, she heard the sounds of battle erupt from near the edge of the forest.
“Here they come...” she murmured.
Most of them must have survived. They wouldn’t be able to put up such an intense fight otherwise.
“Pini!” Lord Dale cried out.
It seemed Lord Dale’s friend had been the first one to breach the tree line.
Novem brandished her staff, falling into her magic-casting stance.
***
The four of us had made it to the edge of the forest; our exit was in sight.
Unfortunately, escaping wasn’t our ultimate objective.
Instead of running out into the clearing beyond the trees, the four of us were engaged in combat with the orc, who was, well...trying to wade its way back into the depths of the forest.
“You don’t get to go back after we got you to come this far!” Zelphy snarled.
The third head let out a thoughtful hum. “Did it figure out what we were doing?” he asked, sounding mildly surprised. “Well, maybe it just got a bad feeling.”
“You see them, now and then—the smart ones,” said the second head; it seemed he’d caught on to whatever the third head had been thinking. “There are clever goblins, so I’m sure there are clever orcs.”
“There’s no way these things know how to think!” the founder roared.
The fourth head started to say something to the founder, then paused and appeared to rephrase. “Well, if you think about it logically, there are humans who make their way through life without a single thought in their heads; if that’s possible, what’s to say there aren’t smart monsters?”
As the founder mulled over this statement, the fourth head redirected his attention to me. “Still, it could be that it’s trying to flee since you’ve weakened it considerably, Lyle.”
“If it manages to escape, all your hard work will have been for nothing,” the fifth head said in his usual, emotionless voice.
The sixth head didn’t seem particularly bothered by this potential failure. “If that happens, all it’ll mean is that a troublesome fiend is still making itself at home in these woods. Lord Medard’s benefactor will no doubt do something about it. Though it would make all we’ve gone through feel like a waste.”
The seventh head growled in irritation.
“Lyle’s prey is getting away!” he grumbled.
None of us had wanted our fight to end here. We wanted to bring our plan to fruition—that’s why we’d all surrounded the orc and continued to fight.
Aria held up her spear, circling around to cut off the orc’s escape path.
“You don’t get to leave!” she cried. “Not after all you put us through!”
“Get out there already!” Sophia snarled as she took a swing at the monster with her battle-axe.
The blade of Sophia’s axe dug deep into the orc’s arm, but it hadn’t gone far enough to sever it entirely.
The orc began to thrash, the violence of its motions lifting Sophia into the air before finally tearing her hands from the hilt of her axe.
Sophia let out an endearing little “Kyah!” as she was sent flying through the air.
I rushed over to where she was going to land and caught her in my arms.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled miserably.
“No worries,” I told her. “Just please stand down for now.”
In the distance, Sophia’s battle-axe fell to the ground, pushed from the orc’s wound by the monster’s regenerating flesh.
The monster reached out to pick it up, but Zelphy quickly blocked it.
“Not on my watch!” she cried. “That thing’s already hard enough to handle with that sword. We’re not giving it a new weapon.”
Should I use my trump card? I pondered as Zelphy held the orc at bay.
“I might be able to force out Limit Burst if I tried...” I mumbled consideringly.
Sophia grabbed my hand.
“Lyle,” she said, “please use my weapon.”
I looked at the battle-axe on the ground.
Now there’s a weapon that can match up against that orc variant...
I stabbed both of my sabers into the earth.
“I’ll take you up on that,” I told her.
I took off toward the axe, calling out the name of the founder’s Art as I ran.
“Limit Burst!”
Blue symbols etched in light surfaced over my body as I scooped up the fallen axe from where it lay on the ground. My strength had increased, along with my perception; it felt like the scenery around me had suddenly become more vivid.
I closed the gap between myself and the orc in an instant, swinging Sophia’s axe horizontally through the air.
The blow didn’t land; the orc blocked it with the body of its greatsword.
“Brute force...isn’t gonna cut it,” I breathed as I continued to fight.
Limit Burst had increased my physical strength. In a battle against an orc, this additional power would usually grant me the upper hand. Even against a foe as mighty as this variant, the battle was now slanted in my favor.
I swung the axe again, cleaving a nasty groove into the monster’s body from its belly to its chest.
But the wound...immediately closed up.
I kept fighting, inflicting wound after wound on the orc, before a realization finally came over me.
“I can’t push it back,” I mumbled to myself numbly.
Even with Limit Burst, I didn’t have the strength to push the orc into the clearing beyond the forest’s edge.
Sparks flew as Sophia’s battle-axe collided with the orc’s blade. The axe was sturdy, as befit an heirloom of House Laurie.
It might even be made of a type of rarium, like Novem’s silver staff, I thought.
Aria and Zelphy were blocking the orc’s path so it couldn’t escape back into the forest, but at this rate, I would reach the Art’s limit and collapse.
I... I need more power...
The scene the founder had shown me in the Jewel flashed through my mind. I could see him, clad in flames, heroic and fierce as he’d defeated the earth dragon.
If only I had that kind of strength...
The moment that thought entered my head, the symbols laying over my skin began to quiver. Something was happening in my body. It felt like something hot was about to explode out of me.
Why is this happening to me...?
For some reason, it felt as though I wasn’t that far from activating the third stage of the founder’s Art.
There was only one problem—I didn’t know its name.
“If I just knew its name, then...”
Then I can get it to work. All I need is that tiny little phrase.
***
From his place within the Jewel, the founder noticed a change come over Lyle.
“Lyle, you... You can already go that far without me teaching you at all?”
The founder hadn’t reached the third stage of his Art until he was in the prime of his life, not long before he’d fought the earth dragon. Yet at the age of fifteen, Lyle had almost invoked it as if it were nothing.
The founder could tell the boy was trying to forcefully draw the Art out of himself, even though he hadn’t taught that kid a thing about it. He opened his mouth, trying to tell Lyle his Art’s name, but then stopped as he noticed small grains of blue light beginning to break off from his body. The dazzling sight was reflected in the eyes of all the other past heads of House Walt.
“Dad...” the second head muttered.
“Ah, I see,” the founder said, looking at his right hand and clenching it. “So that’s what’s going on here. Guess I should have seen it coming. If that’s what our role is...then it should be obvious how it ends.”
The founder laughed as he scratched up his hair, but something about his laughter sounded lonesome as well. He hung his head and stood from his seat. Then he lifted his face and stared at the scenes of the outside world projected above the table.
“There were a few more things I wanted to teach him,” he said softly. “But, yeah. Anything I can teach him, you guys can teach better. This is as good a time as any for me to go.”
The founder had wanted to continue watching Lyle grow, but he knew what he was. What all of them were. The Jewel had revived the memories of its past wielders to teach Lyle their Arts. Not to transmit their knowledge or experience.
“Now that I think about it...there’s nothing more for me to say to him. Nothing more for me to teach him. Good grief,” the founder said as he folded his arms and watched Lyle fight the orc. “I’m so pathetic...”
“Any words you’d like us to pass on for you?” the third head asked.
The founder shook his head. “Not yet. I won’t allow myself to disappear yet. I’m a stubborn guy. It’s what the missus always praised me for. She was always saying that if someone actually managed to kill me, I’d never stay dead.”
The missus—that was what the founder called the woman who he’d married.
The fourth head adjusted his glasses with a slight chuckle. “What an...incredible compliment. I can’t even tell if she was praising you at all.”
“Oh, I have no doubt about that!” the founder chortled. “Anyways, what I’m trying to say is, I’ll tell him what I need to all by myself. Most importantly, I at least need to give him... Give Lyle my goodbyes.”
The founder raised up his burly arms and slammed them onto the round table. It was a strike great enough to rock the room itself; the eyes of each of the other historical heads widened at the impact.
The founder lowered his head to his six descendants. “Can you six take care of the rest? That kid’s my descendant, and he’s a good guy. He’s proof that even the blood of someone like me can be passed down for centuries.” The founder broke into a smile, momentarily distracted. “And to think I even got to see Miss Alice’s descendant...” He sighed then, becoming serious once more. “I know Lyle’s unreliable, but...please try and help him out a bit.”
“Y-You idiot!” the second head snapped, clenching his fist. “He’s our descendant too! Isn’t it bloody obvious? Don’t worry about something like that. It’s not like you.”
The founder tilted his head back and laughed up at the ceiling. “I’m counting on you. You’re all a whole lot more reliable than me. I’m just an idiot, ya see. The only thing I can really do for Lyle is entrust him to all of you.”
Now that the founder had settled into his resolve, his chair vanished from the round-table room. In its place, a greatsword manifested. It was a silver horse-slaying sword like the one the founder had used when he was alive.
“What’s this?” the founder asked, staring at the sword as he smiled. “Looks like I can leave him something after all.”
The founder had understood the moment he’d seen the sword. This was the weapon he would be leaving to Lyle.
At that moment, the founder turned to the ceiling and shouted, “Lyle, my Art is already yours! Say its name! Full Burst...that’s my final Art!”
Outside of the Jewel, Lyle’s head lifted. He’d heard the founder’s words.
Chapter 29: Lyle’s Growth
“Lyle, my Art is already yours!” the founder roared. “Say its name! Full Burst...that’s my final Art!”
He sounded terribly delighted for some reason, but I didn’t have the time to linger on his attitude—I needed to break through the stalemate I was in with the orc.
“Full...Burst!” I screamed, invoking the third stage of the founder’s Art.
The pale symbols covering my body shattered as blue flame gushed forth from inside of me. I could feel power surging up from the deepest depths of my being. The power burst inside of me like an explosion, and somehow I knew that the strength I possessed now was absolutely incomparable to what I had wielded before.
I grinned. “This’ll do it...”
I narrowed my eyes at the orc, taking one powerful step forward. I could feel the muscles in my arms swelling as I readjusted my grip on Sophia’s battle-axe.
Power bubbled up inside me, spilling out in waves.
“Sorry, but it’s over for you,” I told the orc.
I closed in on the monster, axe held aloft.
The orc fell into a defensive stance, bewildered by my new speed.
The Jewel gleamed blue light as I tore the axe through the air in a vertical slash, cleaving through the orc’s body—greatsword and all.
The orc’s face colored in shock as it staggered back, its wound beginning to regenerate immediately. The sword, however, seemed to repair itself more slowly—it would be some time before the monster could wield it again.
The orc seemed to realize something had changed about me. It turned, casting aside the splintered hilt of the greatsword in favor of fleeing into the forest.
