4th chapter is finally here. (Whew) easier said than done like people say. I was planning to make this chapter about 2000-3000 words long, but I guess I was wrong.
Anyway, enjoy this chapter :)
Tristanian Academy of Magic – Earth Magic Class
The magic class which taught lessons about earth magic and its variants was filled with students. All students who were present had their books opened on their desks. Some of them were taking notes, and some of them were listening or maybe just ogling a certain red haired beauty. On the chalkboard was an image of a pentagram which explained the level of magic in a spell. The teacher who was giving them an explanation was a woman who appeared to be in her 40's and had brown purplish hair. She wore a purple wizard hat and a long sleeved purple cloak over her black dress.
Sora, who had been given a special permission by the teacher to join the class thanks to his master, could only stare in boredom at her explanation. Currently, the Keybearer was sitting next to Louise who had been taking notes. Occasionally, she glanced at her familiar and found him either tapping his fingers or sleeping on the desk. Of course as an act to discipline him, Louise had to elbow him which earned her an annoyed look from Sora that she simply ignored.
To the right of where Louise and Sora were sitting, Kirche had been staring at Sora with interest as she rested her chin on her hand. Ever since Louise had summoned and branded the spiky boy as her familiar and despite her mockery of the pink haired girl, Kirche actually had taken a liking to him, especially his unusual gravity-defying brown hair, his sky-blue eyes, and observing his handsome face as he slept. The features were more than qualified enough to label Sora as her new target to seduce and probably steal from Louise…
'Hmmm… I wonder if I could get to know that cutie better without that Zero…' thought the red haired girl before she heard the teacher speak again.
"As everyone is already aware, magic consists of four major aspects: fire, water, earth, wind, and the lost element of "void" making five elements in total."
"Among them, the earth element involves important magic that governs the creation of all matter." The teacher continued before turning to Louise who seemed paying her attention to something else (which was none other than her familiar, Sora) rather than her lesson, "(Ahem!) Did you understand all of that, Miss Valliere?"
Immediately all of the students with the exception of Tabitha snickered at her misfortune as the mentioned girl stood up, "Ah… yes, Miss Chevreuse!"
"Then please explain the basic magic of the earth element." asked the teacher which made Louise feel nervous a bit. Sora could only give her an understanding look. He remembered very well when he got caught sleeping during math class by his teacher at school. As punishment, the teacher had made him solve an algebra formula which he obviously didn't know the answer to which caused other students to laugh at him until the class period ended.
To his surprise, Louise could answer the teacher without any problem at all…
"Umm… the basic magic of the earth element is "transmutation". Creation of metals, raising buildings, cutting stone, harvesting crops… all magic related to life is of earth." explained the pink haired girl. Feeling satisfied with her answer, Chevreuse then gave her a nod.
'Whoa… she's really good…' thought the Keybearer with a bit of admiration.
"Very good. The four elements can also be combined to create stronger and more diverse effects." explained the teacher again, "Our levels as mages are determined by how many we can combine."
After she finished speaking, Chevreuse then looked around and asked, "Now, can someone other than Miss Valliere please explain what those levels are?"
The blond haired girl, Montmorency, raised her hand and then stood up to answer. "If you can combine two, it's a line. Three makes a triangle. And four makes a square."
"Very good. But, I assume most of you can use only one-"
"Miss Chevreuse, pardon my interruption." Kirche suddenly cut her off as she stood up, "But there's a person who can't even use one element here."
At her words, all eyes were then directed to Louise who was unfazed by one of her rival's attempts to humiliate her in front of the teacher again. Sora on the other hand could only look at the other students in confusion, especially the girl who just said that. What did she mean that Louise couldn't even use one element? She was a mage just like them, wasn't she?
Chevreuse sighed at how one of her students had interrupted her only for a petty thing. Despite Kirche's more mature appearance compared to the other students, she didn't act like it most of the time. Immediately the teacher cleared her throat, getting all the students' attention again before she took out three pebbles from her cloak and put them on the table.
"Now for a little demonstration, I'll cast a transmutation spell on these rocks. Observe!" She then pointed her wand at the pebbles and began chanting. The pebbles on the table then started glowing, and in a flash of light, they had gained a deep gold luster.
"I-is that real gold!?" Kirche asked, amazed with the transformation that their teacher just performed.
"No. While it does appear so, it's actually brass, an alloy of iron and zinc." answered Chevreuse simply which made the red haired girl sigh in disappointment. "Those who are able to transmute gold can harness 4 elements. We call them 'square mages'. And while I don't mean to sound boastful, I myself am a 'triangle' mage. Hence, I am able to transmute brass."
"That's totally showing off…" Kirche muttered.
"Let's have someone else give it a try." The teacher then looked at Louise again, "Miss Valliere, please transmute this rock in front of me."
Most students only looked at the pink haired mage with skeptical expressions while some of them began feeling nervous to the point where they broke out into a cold sweat, expecting the situation to end with the inevitable result: explosions. One of the students named Malicorne turned to Chevreuse and raised his hand.
"Uh… u-um, teacher?"
"Yes?"
"Um, I suggest you don't pick her." said the chubby boy with a hint of fear, followed by synchronous nods from the male students around him.
Kirche was totally alarmed by Chevreuse's choice as she slammed her hands on her desk and stood up, "Professor! Please don't make her do it! Louise is-"
"My, Miss Zerbst. You were going to say that she's "Louise the Zero" again, aren't you?" the teacher interrupted the redhead before she could even finish her sentence. "This is hardly difficult. She should be more than capable." The teacher then looked at Louise again, "Now then, Miss Valliere. Don't worry about making mistakes. Please come forward!"
As Louise stood up and walked towards the table, every student began to murmur something and prepared to duck under the table in anticipation of what would happen next. Tabitha, the girl with glasses only stood up from her desk and left the classroom quietly while not taking her eyes off from her book. Kirche took this opportunity to sneak over and hide under Louise's desk so she could get close to her new target, Sora.
Said Keybearer had no idea why the students were taking cover as Louise made her way to the table. Why were they hiding like there was going to be an earthquake or something? Furthermore, he wondered why they often called Louise the 'Zero'. Noticing that Kirche was hiding under Louise's desk, Sora bent down a bit and moved his head closer to the buxom girl.
"Say… why is everyone calling her Louise the Zero?" The Keybearer asked in a low voice, almost whispering.
Kirche smiled a bit due to being noticed by Sora as she replied, "You'll understand soon…" She then turned to Sora who still had a 'I don't understand what you just said' look on his face while tapping her lower lip seductively at the Keybearer. "By the way, I don't think I have your name yet, Louise's familiar. What's your name?"
"It's Sora." he answered casually.
"Sora hmm? That's a unique name indeed…" commented the redhead before she introduced herself. "The name's Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst, but you can call me Kirche. I hope we get along well." She finished with a wink.
'Gee, what's with that long name? Even Louise's full name was long enough that I couldn't remember it all.' thought Sora. The Keybearer then felt Kirche's hand in his and the next moment he was brought under the desk together with her. Many male students who saw Sora, otherwise known as 'the plebeian', beside their school idol immediately gave him death glares with an intense level of jealously which unfortunately were unnoticed by the Keybearer. However, he could sense that somehow the atmosphere around the classroom had become heavier for some reason.
"Hey, Kirche. Why are we hiding like this?" asked Sora again, "Is Louise going to do something dangerous?"
"Watch and you'll understand why she's called a Zero."
"Huh?" Having no idea what she meant, Sora just scratched his head in confusion before looking at Louise as if nothing dangerous would happen. But, he was dead wrong. When Louise began to chant the same spell as Chevreuse did, the pebbles started to glow in a bright light. However, unlike what their teacher had demonstrated before, the magical light in the stones grew by the second which then became unstable much to the students' fears, and…
*KA-BOOM!*
A simple task to transmute the pebbles had resulted in chaos. There was an explosion… a very big one which had blown up the entire classroom. When the smoke started fading away, revealing the sorry state of the room, many desks and chairs had been blown away, the chalkboard had fallen from its hanger, and some unlucky students who got hit by the blast were unconscious. But the most unlucky victim of this incident was none other than their teacher, Chevreuse. The woman was lying unconscious near Louise who just stood there with her wand still pointed at the now ruined table where the pebbles had been. Although she was completely unharmed from her own explosion, her uniform was completely tattered and she had a blank look on her face.
However, the most shocked with the entire mess was Sora who along with Kirche was miraculously untouched by the explosion. He was staring at the pink haired girl with eyes wide and mouth gaping in disbelief. The sheer power of the explosion she created might be about 25% of the power of his Mega Flare and it was more than enough to knock out a small group of Shadow Heartless. Had he not been hiding under the desk, maybe the Keybearer would have ended up like the unlucky students or their teacher…
"Looks like I made a little mistake..." Louise said at the fiasco she had made as she turned away and took out a napkin from her pocket to wipe her face.
"H-how is this 'little'?" said Malicorne weakly from his desk.
"Get a grip on reality and just give up already!" Another student shouted angrily.
"That's why you're "Louise the Zero"!"
"Your percentage of success is ZERO!" shouted the blond haired guy, Guiche, with the same anger while emphasizing the word 'zero'.
After hearing the protests and shouts from the angry students, Sora finally understood why Louise was nicknamed Louise the Zero by her classmates. She couldn't cast magic properly and her attempts always resulted in an explosion. He couldn't help but feel pity to Louise. Sure, she had treated him harshly to the point that she had pushed him away when his patience ran out, but this incident had given the Keybearer a different viewpoint about her. He didn't see her as a bratty girl with a high and mighty attitude, but someone who clearly needed help with her magic.
Oh, if only Merlin the wizard was here right now…
"Now do you understand why she's called a Zero?" Kirche asked beside Sora as she stood up and then left the classroom followed by the other students including the ones who had now regained consciousness, leaving only Louise, Sora, and the unconscious Chevreuse there.
Even though Louise still had a tough and hard expression on her face despite the insults she got from her classmates, deep down inside her heart, she was very angry. Angry at herself as she could never perform magic right for once in her life with the exception of summoning her familiar. She wanted to cry, to express her disappointment over her failure again, again, and again, but her pride as a noble of the Valliere family restrained her from doing so.
Lowering her head, the pink haired girl then felt something on her shoulder which was none other than her familiar's hand. She turned to look at Sora who was giving a sympathetic look with a small smile on his face in an effort to console her.
"Hey, maybe… we should get back too."
…
Later, outside the school
With another incident that had ended with Chevreuse's inability to teach for a while, the class had been cancelled until the next day. Both Louise and Sora had been called to the headmaster's office to explain what had happened. Luckily for the pink haired girl, since the incident had happened because Chevreuse had asked her to do it in the first place despite being warned, Louise was free from being forced to clean up the mess. However, if this kind of incident kept happening in the future, the headmaster feared that Louise eventually would be expelled because of her incompetence in magic. And should that happen, the headmaster would have a word or maybe two with her mother which was the last thing he wanted.
Right now, Sora was lying outside again in the same spot as before…
"(Sigh) Now I understand why she is called 'Zero'." Sora said to himself. After escorting Louise back to her room, she immediately closed the door without even saying a word and locked herself inside, leaving Sora alone despite his effort to comfort her over her failure. He couldn't blame the pinkette though. Also, knowing her depressed state and her short temper, he thought it would be best to give her time at least until she finally calmed down, although he was unsure how long it would take. After thirty minutes had passed and he was still trying to get a nap, the Keybearer then heard something… from his stomach…
*Grooowll~*
"Gee, I'm already hungry again? No wonder I couldn't get to sleep." tapping his grumbling belly, Sora then reached his pocket and removed a blue bottle filled with glowing liquid from inside and pulled off the cap. However, just when he opened his mouth and was about to drink its contents, he suddenly remembered something. 'Wait! If I keep drinking this only to fill my stomach, there won't be any more when I need it after the battle.' With that concern, the Keybearer plugged up the potion and stored it inside his pocket again before he stood up, deciding to find some real food, "I guess I'll have to get my food somewhere else then."
…
Tristanian Academy of Magic - Kitchen
"Sorry for troubling you like this, Siesta." Sora apologized to the maid as the latter put his meal on the table which consisted of a bowl of stew, two pieces of bread, and a glass of milk. When Sora was trying to find something to eat in the kitchen since the dining hall was empty, he found Siesta there preparing the cakes on the carts for the nobles' desserts. Just when he was about to ask if he could get something to eat, his stomach suddenly grumbled again much to his embarrassment. The maid giggled in amusement at his misfortune and then pulled out the leftovers of the nobles' lunch.
"It's okay, Sora." She answered while sitting in an empty chair across from him, "But I wonder, why didn't Miss Valliere give you any food? I mean, you're her familiar right?"
"Well, about Louise, she's…" Sora then explained to Siesta how Louise had failed again in her magic which had blown up an entire classroom, resulting in her wanting to be left alone in her room. The maid however listened to his story as if this wasn't something new for her, in fact even the other maids and the cooking staff already knew about Louise and her problem with magic.
"So that's what happened. I wonder if there's some way to help her in gaining control of her magic…" he said sadly before taking another bite of his bread, "You seem taking this pretty well, Siesta."
"Well… to be honest, Sora, when I got my job here, it was in the same year when Ms. Valliere entered this school." replied Siesta, "You could say that her problem with magic which always causes explosions isn't something new for everyone here…"
"Whoa… that must be very hard for her…" commented Sora sadly. Deciding to lighten the mood, the Keybearer dropped the subject about Louise and then asked her something else.
"Say, Siesta. If you're working here, then does that mean you're also a mage just like Louise?"
"W-what? No, I am not." Siesta answered, waving her hands in denial, "I'm just a commoner, so I can't use magic."
At her answer, Sora looked at the maid with a hint of confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"Only the nobles and royalty can use magic. The ones who can't use magic are commoners like us. You didn't know that?" now it was Siesta's turn to give the Keybearer the same confused look. How couldn't he know that only the nobles and aristocrats could use magic while commoners and plebeians couldn't? It was common knowledge to everyone in Tristain… well, everyone except one…
Sora almost got choked on his food. He almost forgot that he wasn't from this world, so he didn't know how the system in this world worked. A world where magic was exclusive to the nobles and not the commoners? To be honest, he didn't like that kind of idea a bit since that sounded unfair for the latter. What if some of them decided to abuse their magic against commoners?
But right now, the maid in front of him was waiting for his answer…
"Uhhh… I'm not from here. I come from somewhere really far away." Sora answered nervously, trying to conceal his origins. He couldn't let her know that he was from another world which was completely different than this one. That would violate the world order rule where a world shouldn't know the existence of other worlds in the universe.
Thankfully, Siesta seemed to believe him as the maid gave him a nod in understanding.
Sora's face then turned serious after he remembered again how the system in this world seemed unfair to him. "But… only nobles can use magic? What if there's a noble who wanted to do bad things with his power to you… I mean us?" asked the Keybearer.
But Siesta only smiled a bit and then answered, "Well, we don't have any power to fight back, but there are other nobles who look after people like us. The headmaster and other teachers have been treating us kindly here."
Now Sora felt relieved with her answer which made the maid giggle again at his reaction. Glancing at the now empty plate, bowl, and cup, the Keybearer stood up from his chair and spoke again.
"By the way, thanks for the food. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"
Siesta thought about his request for a moment before she glanced at the cart beside her. An idea then came to her as she answered him.
"How about helping me serve the cakes over there to the students?"
'I've did something similar with putting up those posters in Twilight Town. This shouldn't be too hard.' thought Sora before accepting her request with a nod. "Sure."
…
Tristanian Academy of Magic – Headmaster's Office
After a rather awkward scene that Colbert saw when he entered the room (The headmaster's green haired secretary was angrily stomping his back after Colbert opened the door) things had finally calmed down in the office with the addition of many bumps and bruises on the headmaster due of his actions. The headmaster himself was an old man with a long white hair and beard which was almost as long as Merlin's. He wore long black robes that reached his feet and there was a smoking pipe in his left hand.
His secretary was a woman who appeared to be in her twenties. She had long stylized green hair and wore a pair of glasses, along with a purple cloak and a rather tight long sleeved dress that showed her attractive figure in addition to exposing her thighs. She also wore a pair of leather boots.
Putting the book on the headmaster's desk, Colbert then spoke first, "Osmond, it's about this."
"Hmmm… this is the 'Familiars of the Founder Brimir' isn't it?" The old wizard named Osmond asked as he took the book and read some pages, "Are you still going around digging up old literature like this?"
"Yes, but what I want for you to see is this…" Colbert then gave him the note which had a copy of Sora's runes printed on it.
The headmaster read the note carefully and then compared it to the page in the book. His expression suddenly shifted to shock which made his secretary flinch and turn to the old mage.
"I'm sorry Miss Longueville, but could you excuse us for a moment?" Osmond asked his secretary as he looked at her, "I would like to discuss this further in private."
"Yes sir." replied Longueville before she headed out and then closed the door quietly, leaving the two alone in the room.
…
Tristanian Academy of Magic – Alviss Dining Hall
Serving the cakes wasn't that hard for Sora despite this being his first time doing it. Just give a piece of cake to every noble that you see and voila, it's done. Sora had to admit, compared to fighting the Heartless, this was more relaxing and fun since he could also get to know the school layout better. After giving about thirteen pieces of cake to the students, both Sora and Siesta proceeded to the main hall and served more of them. Most students who received the desserts either thanked the two, didn't care, or wondered about who the commoner was beside the maid since his clothes were quite unique. When they were almost done with the job…
"Lord Guiche! Please tell me!" shouted a girl. The Keybearer turned around to find the source of voice only to see Guiche, Montmorency, and a female student wearing a brown cloak having an argument.
"Why are you lying?!" Montmorency also shouted.
"This is a misunderstanding, ladies." Guiche flamboyantly replied in his defense while waving his rose, "Why…why do you speak of such sad things?"
"You've been making moves on this first year. Haven't you?" The blonde haired girl asked him again.
"Now, now Montmorency," replied Guiche, "I was not flirting with hrt."
As the blond haired boy kept evading the accusations from both girls, he didn't realize that something had fallen from his pocket and landed near Sora's feet.
"Huh? What's this?" Upon closer inspection, the Keybearer realized that it was a stack of letters. But not normal letters, they were love letters because the envelopes were rose-printed. 'I better give these back to him and continue my job.' He thought as he picked up the letters and approached the blonde haired guy.
"S-Sora! Wait!" Siesta tried to call him, worried that he might cause trouble with the nobles. But it was too late, Sora was already behind Guiche.
"Hey, there." called Sora to Guiche as he patted his shoulder. The blond haired playboy turned around and immediately slapped his hand for his lack of respect for referring to a noble casually like that.
"Mind your place, you servant!" Guiche replied arrogantly as he looked at Sora with a superior look. "What business do you have with me, Guiche de Gramont?"
Having enough with the boy's snobby attitude, the Keybearer shot him a glare. "Nothing! I just want to return this and continue my job!" He then shoved the love letters into Guiche's chest which then fell to the floor before he turned back to the cart. The girls couldn't believe what they had just seen, growing furious and disappointed as well. Guiche had been not only making moves on just one girl, in fact it seemed to be many more! The boy's expression turned into a mix of horror and panic as he saw the looks and murderous auras being emitted by the two girls in front of him.
"YOU TWO-TIMING JERK!" Both girls angrily shouted and slapped Guiche as hard as they could before leaving him lying on the ground with two red handprints on his face. The students who saw it laughed at Guiche's misfortune for getting busted by his girlfriend and the first year student.
"You got dumped, Guiche."
"Well, you totally deserved that."
"That's your fault anyway for being a playboy."
Sora chuckled a bit, feeling satisfied with what happened to the blond haired idiot. He turned around and then left the crowd who was still laughing at Guiche. But when he looked at Siesta, the maid seemed to be scared by what had happened. Her hands were covering her mouth as she turned to Sora with a fearful expression on her face.
"Hey Siesta, what's wrong?" asked Sora.
"You there…" Guiche boomed while picking himself up from the floor, "To act so rude to a noble as myself and for breaking the hearts of two maidens. How are you going to take responsibility?"
"Say what?!" Sora then turned around to face the noble again and pointed his finger. "You were the one who made them cry in the first place! I just merely returned your stuff!"
Worried about her friend's safety, Siesta pulled Sora's hand and then pleaded, "Sora, hurry up and apologize! If you anger a noble, it will cause serious trouble!"
"And as far as I know I just returned his stupid love letters back." Sora replied, "It was his own fault that he got caught by those girls."
Guiche looked at the Keybearer with one eyebrow raised before he finally recognized him. "Hey, wait a minute… Aren't you the commoner that Zero summoned as her familiar? Looks like I have to teach you a lesson on how to properly behave in front of a noble." The blond haired mage then pointed his rose wand at Sora, "I challenge you for a duel!"
Siesta gasped at Guiche's declaration of a duel to Sora as her body began shaking in fear. When a noble challenged a commoner to a duel, it would obviously become a one-sided battle and nothing more than a show to show a mage's superiority over the commoners.
However, what the maid didn't know was that Guiche didn't challenge a mere commoner, but a Keyblade-wielding warrior who had tons of experiences in both physical and magical combat. In fact, a mage like Guiche wasn't even close to a challenge for Sora.
A small smirk appeared on the Keybearer's face. At least he could do something other than listening to Guiche's ramblings and maybe teach the playboy a thing or two. Full of confidence, the Keybearer crossed his arms at the mage.
"It's been a while since I fought someone as annoying as you. Fine then! When and where?"
"In Vestri Court, thirty minutes from now!" replied Guiche. He then walked away from the crowd around them and then looked back at Sora, "You better not run away, commoner."
"T-this is bad! I better tell Miss Valliere." worried with how the situation had turned out, Siesta ran as fast as she could to find Louise.
…
Tristanian Academy of Magic – Headmaster's Office
The scene in the dining hall had not escaped Colbert and the headmaster's eyes since they saw everything through a magic mirror. From what they just had seen, one could tell that Guiche was trying to make Sora a scapegoat to save his pride as a noble from the humiliation that he suffered. Worried with how the situation would develop, Colbert turned to the headmaster.
"A commoner against a mage is clearly a one-sided battle! We have to stop them, headmaster Osmond!"
"There's no need to." The headmaster calmly replied, "If the commoner that Miss Valliere summoned really is the legendary 'Gandalfr'… then this is a good opportunity to confirm that, isn't it?"
"But…!"
"It'll be quite worth watching…" Osmond said as he leaned back in his chair, smoking his pipe while Colbert just sighed.
…
Tristanian Academy of Magic – Vestri Court
After asking a random student (who was none other than Malicorne) where the Vestri Court was, Sora walked towards the empty vast field which he guessed was the Vestri Court since Guiche was already there waiting for him with a confident smile and his rose wand in hand. However, just before he continued on, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed his arm.. Turning around, the Keybearer saw both Siesta and Louise who had angry yet worried looks on their faces.
"That maid told me everything! Just what do you think you're doing, familiar?!" She asked, almost shouting at Sora, "Apologize to Guiche, now!"
But instead of following her orders, Sora pulled her hands off and replied, "For what? For something that I didn't do?! He started it in the first place and then challenged me for that!"
"You just don't get it do you?! There's no way a commoner like you could win against a mage!" She said again, hoping it would change his mind. Although this rebellious commoner that she got had only given her nothing but trouble so far, as his master, it was also her responsibility to take good care of her familiar.
Sora sighed. It looked like Louise didn't know yet what he was capable of. Leaning down to her level, he then grabbed Louise's shoulder and looked her directly in the eyes with a stern expression. Louise was startled by her familiar's sudden act. Her face now was really close to his and both their eyes stared into each other. She could even feel the heat on her cheeks which started turning red.
The pink haired girl would never want to admit it, but she found her familiar's eyes quite charming.
"W-wha-"
"Listen, Louise!" Sora sternly cut her off, still not taking his eyes off from hers, "If I don't give that Blondie a lesson, he'll keep acting high and mighty around everyone! And besides…" He then released the pinkette and stood tall, displaying his usual friendly yet cocky grin, "Who said that I couldn't use magic, hmmm?"
"E-Eeehh!?" Louise was totally shocked after hearing that last part. Did she just hear him right? Did her familiar just say that he COULD use magic? The pink haired mage stood there frozen, eyes open wide with her mouth agape, still trying to process what the Keybearer just said. She didn't even notice that Siesta was already beside her, looking at her current state with slight worry.
"Um, Miss Valliere. Are you okay?" asked the maid before looking at the Keybearer, wondering what Sora had said that made Louise like this.
"First of all, I commend the fact that you didn't run away and instead came here!" Guiche declared, raising her rose wand and pointed it at Sora who only sighed at his flamboyant attitude.
"Hey, can't we just get this started already? I'm already tired with this." replied Sora with a bored expression as he crossed his arms. Again there was laughter from the other students.
"W-what did you say?!" The mage stuttered in disbelief. Did this commoner really want to get beaten up so badly that he didn't even care about his dramatic speech before the duel? Feeling insulted by Sora's interruption, Guiche then raised his wand. "Fine, then! Perhaps I should shut your insolent mouth forever with this, commoner!"
As Guiche waved his wand, a rose petal fell and created a column of light on the ground. When the light had vanished, there was an armored figure which resembled an armored woman in front of the blond haired mage. "My runic name is Guiche the Bronze. Therefore, this Bronze Valkyrie shall be-"
However, just before he could finish his words, suddenly there was numerous slashing sounds coming from the Bronze Valkyrie. Surprised, Guiche blinked once at his Valkyrie only to find a crack which suddenly appeared on its chest before it spread over its entire body and then the Valkyrie crumbled into pieces. Many students who saw it gasped in shock from what they thought to be sheer skill on the part of the commoner, except one thing…
It wasn't Sora who did that because he had this look that clearly said 'what the hell just happened' and he hadn't even summoned his Keyblade yet.
"M-my Valkyrie…" Guiche couldn't believe what he had just seen. His bronze Valkyrie, one of his finest earth magic creations had been easily ripped apart before he could even finish his speech! Angry from what he thought Sora did to his Valkyrie, he pointed his wand at the Keybearer. "You! Just what did you do to my Valkyrie, you bastard?!"
"What are you talking about?! I haven't done anything yet!" countered Sora.
Just when Guiche was about to retort back, three purple dark flames suddenly appeared from the remnants of the Valkyrie which caught the attention of everyone present including Sora. From the flames, a sword with a blue blade and yellow handle appeared from the Valkyrie's remnants followed by the flames merging themselves into a mass of black energy which then began to take the form of a muscular humanoid creature with glowing yellow eyes. The creature itself had black skin which was almost as black as the night and a heart shaped hole on its chest. On its head was a pair of horns that formed the outline of a curled heart in its midsection, and there were two bat-like wings on its back. It also had a feather wing on each of its forearms and a tail which had a crescent-shaped blade on the end.
This was one of the pureblood Heartless: The Invisible.
"Founder Brimir! What is that creature?!"
"I-is that a demon?!"
"Guiche! Just run away and leave that commoner! That demon is too dangerous for you!"
Almost every student there either ran away in panic and fear at the sight of the Heartless or warned Guiche to just leave Sora alone and run away too. However, the former was frozen in shock as he watched the Heartless began to grab its sword and pull it from the ground.
Guiche's heart began to beat faster when the creature of darkness suddenly turned its head towards him, staring directly into his eyes with its glowing yellow orbs. The mage's body started shaking uncontrollably in fear while holding his wand firmly as the Invisible slowly approached him.
Cold sweat began running on the earth mage's face and skin. He wanted to move, he wanted to run away from this creature. But, despite the other students' shouts and yells to make him move and his own will, he was so scared that his body didn't even want to listen to him. When the Invisible finally stood tall before the blond haired mage, the Heartless then raised his sword, ready to take away his life and steal his heart.
"Ah… ah… ah…" feeling like all his strength had been drained away, Guiche finally fell on his butt. All he could do was close his eyes fearfully, expecting the worst to happen…
*CLANG!*
"Never thought that I would fight one of these guys here." said a familiar voice. Guiche then slowly opened his eyes again only to see Sora standing in front of him holding back the creature's sword with a strange giant key in his hands. After struggling for a moment, Sora diverted the Invisible's attack and then jumped to strike its chest with a mighty vertical blow, destroying the Heartless and its sword in a burst of light.
As he gracefully landed on the ground, Sora then looked at Guiche who was still processing what just happened, "You okay, Guiche?"
"Y-yes." answered the mage with a stutter and a dumbfounded look. Did the commoner he challenged just save him and defeat that demon? Also, where did the giant key come from? Those were the questions he had on his mind as he slowly got up.
"D-did you just see that?"
"That plebeian just defeated that demon in one hit? How!?"
"What is that thing in his hand? Is that a giant key?"
Many students began conversing among themselves about what or who Louise the Zero's familiar was. Even Louise who had recovered from her shock earlier now had the same thought as them as she looked at her familiar in wonder. She then remembered what Sora had said before…
"Who said that I couldn't use magic, hmmm?"
Was this what he meant when he said that? But what kind of magic created a weapon out of thin air? That wasn't an earth transmutation spell either because Sora just made the weapon appear in a flash of light in his hand without even chanting or using a wand!
'Just who is my familiar actually?'
But her train of thought was interrupted by the screams of random students. Looking at the source of the cries, Louise's eyes widened in shock and fear when she saw many Heartless in the form of Darkballs, Invisibles, and Wizards suddenly appear around Sora and Guiche. All the students who were present began screaming and trying to flee to find somewhere safe in the chaos.
Almost everyone there was in a state of panic except one…
Holding his Kingdom Key tighter, Sora grinned. "Finally, some stress relief!" said the Keyblade wielder with a voice full of excitement before he marched towards the army of Heartless.
Finally a Heartless... well I mean the Heartless make the appearance here by interrupting the duel! How Louise will handle the truth behind her familiar? And will Sora ever be freed from his familiar duty or keep bearing with it at the risk involving Louise against Xehanort's 13 Seeker of Darkness?
Find out in the next chapter, and don't forget to review :)