Disclaimer: Well... I think you know the drills.
The next chapter is out, and my apology first for the quality and the length of this chapter. It might not live up to your expectations.
Anyway, to the reviews:
To Guest: If that's the case, why are you here? Pack your things and leave, I won't force you to stay.
To adislt: V DIDN'T confirm it to be Void, but he has some suspicions. Also, Temen-ni-gru, Order of the Sword, Qliphoth etc. and you asked if V is strange to magic or not? Kinda out of place, you know.
To the others: The fight happens in this fight but... I'm sure you will be disappointed, so read the EN to understand why it happened.
With that out of the way, let's go into the main story!
'...Where am I?'
The petite mage opens her eyes, to see herself in a white area, with mirror-like cracks hovering over her head. Having nothing but her nightgown, she turns back and forth, preparing for anything...
Then, she hears a whispering sound in the air. She turns to the direction, to see V standing on a boulder of sort. However, when she takes a closer look... that boulder has legs and arms... and a head of a monster, with a human-like figure. She then sees V raising his cane up, and...
'Wake up, V! It's morning!'
With Griffon acting as his alarm, V slowly opens his eyes. Then he feels something soft under his back. "Ah right..." He has borrowed one of the blanks from the maids last night, so that he didn't hurt his back while sleeping on the floor. "Guess it's not a dream..."
Sitting up, he looks around the room he's currently in. Slightly smaller than the mercenary's main room, having the walls made of stone, a tall shelf with books, a small desk with a mirror and a table filled with some make-ups for girls... he turns directly to his right, to see a big bed, with his 'mistress' sleeping in it.
"Why did I... right..." He then remembers the conversation before he walked through that portal. Picking the cane on his left, he starts pushing himself off the ground. "How long did I have such a good sleep?"
'Probably never?'
"Maybe..." He then picks the blanket and puts it elsewhere, then starts calling up Tabitha: "Hey, Tabitha. Wake up."
"..." Wordlessly, the girl sits up, her blue eyes looking straight into his. "... Morning."
'Geez, how emotionless she is. What could kill for her to show anything other than that bored face?'
'You saw that on my face...'
'No. Your face showed how uncaring you were. This girl is on higher level.'
"Morning to you as well. You have classes today, yes?"
"...Yes. In an hour."
"So, breakfast would be..."
"In the dining hall. Wait." Tabitha puts the blanket aside, steps out of her bed and heads into the bathroom. During that, V pulls out the chair and sits on it, then gets his book out and starts reading before they head out.
"Saito. You have a goodnight?"
The 'human' summoned greets the other human summoned just as the former heads into the place with the mages greeting each other.
"Not really. Never before would I have to sleep on a haystack."
"Hm. It sounds rough."
"That, or sharing the bed with her. I'm not getting arrested the first day here."
"*Chuckle* Pretty sure people don't mind as you're her 'familiar'." The two seat next to their mistresses, as they wait for the food.
"To us, it is. Anyway, we're supposed to follow them everywhere? Really?"
"Most of the times. For protection."
"Hey! You're not allowed to sit on the chairs!" One chubby mage walks to them with his finger pointing at Saito and V. "Those are for Nobles only!"
Saito is a bit annoyed. However, he reminds himself of where he's currently in, so he tries his best to 'politely' talk back: "My apology. Then, where could we familiars..."
"They're sitting here." Louise interrupts. "We allow them."
The mage looks at the pinkette in surprise, then laughs: "Really, Zero? You're so happy with that small success of yours, that you just threw away your pride as a Noble like that?" Which follows by his friends behind.
That earns a subtle glare from V. 'Human are pathetic in anywhere...'
Tabitha shares the same feeling, as she grabs her staff and puts one head in front of the chubby student, stopping him from laughing. "Noisy. Out."
Twitching his right eye, he swats the staff away, but then earns the stab point of V's cane right below his chin, threatening to hit him any second. "I suggest you get back to your seat and finish your meal, it's getting cold." Not willing to risk his life, the chubby mage slowly backs away, then walks back to his seat with his sweat rolling out of his forehead.
"Thanks for that, you guys." Saito thanks. "Though, that makes me feel a bit bad..."
"Don't worry, you're unfamiliar with this kind of world. Now, shouldn't keep our appetite from its desire, should we?"
'That felt like when that woman blasted her rocket right to her feet...Even Shadow agrees...'
Griffon comments in V's mind, as the group of six (Kirche and her familiar joined in, without permission) walks towards the schoolyard. They just got out from Louise's detention, and that's to clean the room after the mess she caused. Normally it would only be her and Saito, however, the rest insisted to stay back and help her. And that's something everyone else would expect...
"Now I'm sure we know why V is summoned by Tabitha now." Saito suddenly says up, earning the others' nods of approval.
The scene is simple: Both of said people are sitting in their respective chairs, while having a cane/staff next to them, and their hands are holding a book while they're reading, uncaring of the people around them.
And both of them do not react at Saito's remark.
Kirche just giggles and hugs the wind mage, causing the massive bosom to lay on her head. "I think you two would be a cute couple. Try to understand each other more, okay?"
Now that causes V to look up from his book and says: "That would take a while, miss Zerbst. But, it's up to miss Tabitha to do it, or not."
Saito then notices something dropping out of a student's pocket. "Something dropped out of his pocket. I will get it for him."
"Yeah... wait whom?" A second later, Louise turns to see who Saito is trying to help... "...Nothing too problematic, I hope..."
AAAAAAAAAAND that leads to...
"Well, I have to commend you for not running away." Guiche mockingly remarks while twirling his wand/rose. "Though, I didn't expect Tabitha's familiar to help you as well..."
"Considering who you are..." Still looking at his book, V answers: "And Saito's limited knowledge, he didn't really know how you fight. I do, so this is just a little help."
"That doesn't really matter much..." Guiche smirks, then drops two rose petals to call out two metal golems. "My runic name is 'The Bronze', Guiche the Bronze, and your real opponents will be my Valkyries!"
"... Now I know why you told me to bring my sword." Holding the wooden sword in his hand, Saito takes a defense stance to wait for the golems' moves.
Putting the book back into his coat, V holds his cane like a sword in front of him. Then, he taunts Guiche: "Mister Gramont, I hope you're not going to cry like a baby after being defeated by us so-called 'commoners'."
The mage snorts. "Like I am going to lose to you. Valkyries, attack!"
The moment the golems charge forward, the two roll/sidestep to avoid the punches, then they use their weapons to deal a few hits to the armor, but other than making clanging sounds, no real damage has been done. The two quickly try to dodge punches and kicks from the golems, knowing that they're not winning this fight with their current strength. They take a small window of dodging to try and rush towards Guiche, however, the mage has already called out four more Valkyries, stopping them from going forward.
The crowd starts cheering for Guiche, thinking that he's definitely going to win. The ones who don't share the same statement are the commoners, the familiars' mistresses, and their friend.
"These idiots..." Louise curses herself for not stopping them earlier, if she could then this won't happen.
"I'm starting to worry for them now." Kirche bites her nails in frustration. "I already told V about those armors, and he still went in."
"..." Tabitha, for once, actually believes that Guiche is going to lose. That dream of hers. She saw V managing to defeat that monstrous and lay the killing blow. He might be weak on the surface, but inside...
... About two minutes of trying to dodge and hit back...
The Valkyries manage to land a strike on each of the boy's chest, sending the two to the ground and making them lose their grips on the weapons. Guiche smirks and holds the rose next to his face. "Now you see why you commoners can't fight against us Nobles. We have the power in our hands."
V holds his chest while feeling the pain slowly subduing. 'That hurts... but no more than when I was hit by the demons, or when I was fading away...' He then turns to Saito and asks: "You okay?"
"Hurt... but still alive..." Trying to push himself up, the Japanese boy's fingers curl up as the pain slowly creeps up to his mind.
"Lay down, Saito. I will finish this." Grabbing his cane, V stands up and leans on his cane.
Guiche taunts: "Two of you can't even fight against my Valkyries, why do you think you can fight me alone?"
Using his left hand to cover his face, V slowly chuckles, and bursts out laughing, causing the cheers from the other students to stop, and Guiche's smile to drop down just a bit. Then, V says: "Maybe I can't. But my friends certainly can."
The first thing he does, is to point the handle of the cane to the ground. Then, a blob of dark material starts rising up from the ground. And to everyone's surprise, it morphs into a black panther, with red eyes, white scelera and red lines pulsing through its body. Then, it roars up and jumps towards with its right front claw morphing into a bigger one, easily cutting through a Valkyrie and turning it into a pile of scraps. Shadow then extends his tail, spins and throws all nearby Valkyries out of the summoner. Aiming towards one, its whole body then changes into some kind of deadly maws and maims down the armor, completely destroying it.
Not letting the flow stop, V holds up his left arm, and the tattoos start smoking up, and Griffon appears on his arm. Finally able to be out, the big hawk immediately charges towards a Valkyrie and slams it into the air, then creates an electric sphere that melts down the armor while blasting it out of the bird. Then, aiming at the rest of the armor, Griffon charges up and sends out five columns of thunder, burning every Valkyrie on the field. During all the attacks he screams with all his might and taunts however he likes it.
Done with their works, the panther and the hawk returns to V's side, as the human looks at Guiche's face in light amusement. Then, he teleports himself right in front of the mage, surprising the playboy as he falls to the ground, and V points his cane towards the scared face. "Power in your hands? Please, I have seen greater power than yours, and your attacks are... how to say it? Ah, pathetic." V stops a bit, then continues: "Now, if you yield, we can pretend this fight never occurred. If not, well... One less playboy for this world."
And the answer is...
"Does it still hurt, Saito?" Louise asks worriedly. He might not be her familiar, technically, but that doesn't stop her from concerning about his health.
"I'm fine... just a little punch..." In reality, it stink quite badly. But, at least his bones are not broken.
"... You?"
"I have dealt with worse." Continue with usual route. With his free hand now scratching Shadow's head, which is laying next to him.
"HEY! Don't breathe while you're near me! My wings are precious!"
"*Screech*"
"Now, you two try to get along. V, why didn't you tell us you're a Noble?"
"First, I am not. Second, Nobles are earned, not given. I have no qualities to achieve such high reputation."
Kirche sarcastically says: "No qualities, you say? The fact you could stand up against Guiche would achieve something already."
"No encouragement." Tabitha knocks on the fire mage's head lightly with her staff, making the other girl pout at her.
"Still, it's surprising that they are demons..." Saito also starts scratching Shadow's ears, making the panther pour like a house cat.
"Most of the summoned would lose a part of their dangerous sides."
"Hey, I didn't change at all!"
"Your color? Your size?"
"GRR! DON'T MAKE ME TURN..."
"Mister V, a word please?" Colbert interrupts Griffon's words, and the whole group turns to him.
"...I hope it's not about the fight?" V asks, pretending to be a bit scared about it.
"It is. But don't worry, we don't blame you. We just want to talk about something else."
"...Sure." Closing his book, V stands up and follows Colbert after saying his goodbye to the others...
"Mister V, please sit down." Old Osmond asks the summoner. When V is in his chair, and Colbert stands behind him, the Headmaster starts speaking: "Mister V, I assure you we don't accuse you of anything about that fight. The boy brought the troubles to himself."
V puts both his hands on his cane and taps patiently before asking: "At least you don't have a big ego. So what do you want to talk about?"
The Headmaster and the other professor look at each other, then nod in unison. And the Headmaster asks: "Do you know anything about Sparda?"
The tapping stops immediately when he hears the name. "... No wonder... you didn't act too surprised when you heard about demons, professor Colbert."
"Yes. But, I'm a bit surprised that you know. Most of the people have forgotten that demons existed."
"Existed?"
"In our world..." Old Osmond explained. "Records of the Dark Knight Sparda are rare. However, all of them pointed out one fact that he was the one sealing the demons away. Meaning himself as well. And also he was responsible to kill our Founder, Brimir."
"... Sparda never liked the idea of killing a human... was this Brimir a human?"
"He was... or at least, based on the records. In one of his own notebooks, he also addressed as one, so I think it's the truth."
"... So, why did you bring the name up? I mean, you could just ask..."
"Your rune, sir. Your familiar rune." Colbert answers. "It's one of Sparda's known symbols. Which gave us a question: How are you related to him to have it?"
A little silence... Then V chuckles. "I was... my former self, to be exact, is related. I am just his remnant." Tapping again, he asks back: "So other than that, what do you want to know?"
Old Osmond: "Do you, by any chances, plan to hurt our students?"
"... I have told you why I accepted the summoning. No other motives, for now."
The two professors look at each other again... then Old Osmond drops the seriousness: "Thank you. You can leave now."
"One more thing before I forgot." V then remembers one curious fact. "About miss Valliere... what's her affinity?"
Colbert shakes his head: "Sorry, we can't even sure. Her spells..."
"Do you think she's using the wrong ones?" V smirks. "Those you teach, they're just common spells. What if she could only use the 'other types'?" Now that gains the two's interest. However, V starts to leave. "Keep it to yourself. It's your business."
... When the door's closed, Old Osmond completely turns to Colbert. "Could he be..."
"The chance is very high, sir. However, we could be wrong. We would keep a careful watch on him."
"...About miss Valliere..."
"We can ask one of the loyalties. One that miss Valliere trusts the most."
"... ask it in secret. We don't want this to spread out of public."
"Don't worry, sir. We will do what it needs."
Chapter 3 end!
Sorry for the short fight. I really was planning the fight to be like when Nero and V teamed up to fight against that squad of Angelo. However... if a rusty sword could cut the Valkyries down with ease, then there's no way I could somehow make the fight stylish anywhere possible without making everything OOC. SO, to put it simple about the fight... it was in Heaven or Hell mode for V.
Also, sorry for not able to get out of 'Sparda was here' cliche. Though... I won't spoil, so I will stop here.
I think that's enough. See you all again in the future!
