Author's Notes: Phew, Finally done. Heck, I was not able to write this chapter because of the repeated college paper works thrown at me and my mother, being a troll, keeps on messing up with my internet connection making it impossible for me to upload this. I was like machine gunned by papers and no food/water in two weeks straight. I've compensated the long wait with a long chapter. Anyways, this is the new chapter. Derf's going to appear here but he'll be having a twist. Please R&R so I can see if I overlooked anything. Enjoy reading Chapter 8!


==========Chapter 8: Low-intensity Weapon Acquired==========

Cherub and Siesta finally made it back to the academy without being noticed. They came back just in time the sun set in from the horizon.

"Thanks Sir Cherub", Siesta said as she hopped down from Cherub's palm to the ground. It was only a half a foot high making it safe for Siesta to jump down.

Cherub watched as Siesta hurried towards the dorms where the Academy's servants rest every night.

As soon as Siesta is completely out of its/his sight, Cherub switched to his second form, which is his human form, and started walking towards Louise's room.

At Louise's room…

Louise is still sleeping and she seems to be faintly murmuring something. It turns out that Louise has a dream but, from the looks of it, it doesn't sound good.

In Louise's dream, Louise watched as thousands of metal constructs that she now knows as Armored Cores invade Tristain. The Royal Army is giving everything it got but to no avail. Square-class Mage Knights are already casting their spells and the Griffin Knights are engaging the metal birds that Cherub had shown to her. However, it was to no avail. The Mage Knights' attacks proved futile as they were unable to even make a scratch on any of the ACs including the lightweight ACs which are supposed to be thinly armored. It was like a fly crashing into a thick wall. The Griffin Knights, on the other hand, can't land a hit on any of the so-called fighter jets who just effortlessly dodge all the spells that they fire using fancy air maneuvers. To any spectator, the fancy maneuvers of the metal birds are very impressive. However… on the battlefield, it isn't a good idea. Not much later, the Armored Cores reduced the Mage Knights to nothing but piles of shredded meat using their strange rapid firing muskets and the bullets simply tore through the elemental shields that the Mage Knights casted in an effort to defend themselves. The fighter jets just blasted the hell out of the Griffin Knights until they were nothing but a bloody mist raining down from the sky. Louise could hear the screams of the death and dying as the metallic monstrosities slaughter anything on sight. As the one-sided carnage went on, Louise saw a red colored AC with oversized wings that let out a stream of unknown energy flying towards the Palace from the sky and saw an emblem of the number 9 bolded in black paint imposed on a circle on the AC's right shoulder. Suddenly, the red AC stopped and then its wings pointed upwards. Louise then saw eight white metallic sticks similar from what Cherub had shown to her flew out of the wings and is heading straight towards the Palace. To Louise's horror, the moment the white metallic sticks hit the Palace's walls, a deafening and blinding explosion erupted. When Louise looked again, only fear and shock were evident on her face. The Palace was gone and only an enormous blasted crater is seen where the Palace stood. The red AC responsible for it all simply hovered above the now ruins of the Palace watching the ground burn with its malevolent looking eyes.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!", Louise screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Master wake up! Master wake up!", a male voice said.

The male's voice made Louise wake up. She was still recovering from her dream or, more proper to say, nightmare.

When she looked up to see who woke her up, it was Cherub… in his human form. Moreover, she is staring at it/him face to face.

"Kkyaaahhh!", Louise screamed as she fell off the other side of her bed.

Well… that's to be expected. For any girl, seeing a handsome guy waking them up in the morning is kind of a dream come true.

"C-Cherub why are you here?!", a blushing Louise screamed.

"Master you told me to wake you up at dawn", Cherub flatly replied.

After hearing Cherub's explanation, it all blew up in Louise mind: she is the reason why Cherub woke her up early in the morning as she remembered that she ordered it/him last night.

"F-Fine, help me prepare", Louise said.

However, just as Louise thought about it, she suddenly remembered something.

"Just stay outside Cherub, I can handle myself", Louise suddenly said.

Cherub didn't know what's up with Louise considering her clumsy stance in the morning but decided to comply nevertheless.

"Understood", Cherub said and immediately left Louise's room.

Once Cherub is already out of her room, Louise let out a deep sigh. For unknown reasons, Louise feels her heart pounding and, when she looked at the mirror, her face is red.

"N-No way!", Louise yelled, "There's no way that I'm falling for a golem! No! No! NOOOO!"

Cherub stared at the front door and heard Louise's grumblings from outside thanks to its/his extremely sensitive audio receptors which can detect the weakest sound and noises. Clearly, the sounds that Louise is making inside her room don't sound of somebody in danger but, somehow, it/he oddly wants to know the reason for it even though it doesn't concern it/him in any matter.

Suddenly, Cherub detected three heat signatures behind him.

"Ara, it's you Cherub", Kirche said with a playful tone in her voice.

Cherub turned around to see Kirche, Tabitha, and Kirche's familiar.

"Is there anything that you want from me?", Cherub asked.

Kirche closed in with Cherub until she managed to get skin contact with it/him.

"Nothing, I just want to hang with you", Kirche replied with a playful tone.

Currently, Kirche's assets are already pressing against Cherub in an attempt to sway it/him to her. Unfortunately, it will not work on it/him.

Flame, Kirche's familiar, started croaking upon seeing its master having skin contact with Cherub. Tabitha just watched the entire scene.

Being a machine, Cherub doesn't know about the concept and nature of sexual pleasure. After all, he isn't human and can't experience it. It/he is made of metal… not of flesh.

"Do you feel the heat darling?", Kirche said.

"What heat?", Cherub asked, "You body temperature is at its normal level."

"What a kill joy", Kirche said, "I was hoping that… I can have some fun with you."

Before Cherub can reply, Louise's voice suddenly rang out of the corridor.

"Zerbst! Don't do anything stupid with my familiar!", Louise said with a red face.

"Oh what a pity", Kirche replied, "Your familiar has exceeded far my expectations. I wonder how you summoned something like him. He's a masterpiece compared to you."

Kirche stressed the word "masterpiece" which infuriated Louise.

"I summoned a powerful and majestic familiar and that is all that matters!", Louise said angrily, "Cherub, come with me."

"Understood", Cherub said as he left Kirche to follow Louise.

Kirche watched at the leaving master and familiar pair.

"Geez, he didn't budged in", Kirche said as he eyed Cherub intently, "Oh well, I got plenty of time to sway him to me. I'm not called Kirche the Ardent for nothing."

Tabitha, on the other hand, just stood quietly from Kirche's side. However, she is as interested in Cherub like Kirche although in a different manner.

Back at Louise and Cherub…

The two are walking the corridor and, unknown to them, they are getting several glares from the students.

"Psst, who's that guy?", a female student asked, "He's handsome."

"I'm not sure but I think that's Zero's golem familiar", another female student said.

"What? You mean that talking metal golem that almost killed Guiche?", the first female student asked another question.

"Yes, he's too powerful even for a square-class mage's golem", the second female student replied.

"And I believe he can even assume human form based on what I heard", the second female voice added.

"That's… totally cool", the first female student said, "I considered golems to be not worth it but I now take it back all."

More chattering and whispers followed and Louise knew that she and her familiar is the center of it all. Honestly, she liked it. This is the first time that people talked about her accomplishment of summoning such a powerful familiar although she didn't actually liked the way her familiar attempted to kill one of her peers just to "impress". It's also quite refreshing that the center of such talks is not Kirche this time as she's already completely fed up with that.

"Cherub, just stay with me", Louise said.

To her surprise, she didn't hear Cherub speak its/his usual 'Understood' line now. Puzzled, she looked back only to see Cherub blocked by several female students all wearing brown capes clearly stating that they are first year students. One of them looks familiar.

"Sir… please receive this", a female first year student said while blushing and handing over to Cherub something.

Before Cherub can speak, it/he heard Louise's voice.

"Cherub, what are you doing?!", Louise yelled.

"They suddenly blocked my path and started talking to me", Cherub replied, "Which leaves me with no choice but to talk with them. You are not to worry master as I confirmed that they are not armed with any weapons."

"I'm not talking about that, just follow me to the classroom!", Louise said.

"Understood", Cherub said as the basket of fruits that he is holding that came from the first year student suddenly disappeared.

The spectacle shocked everyone watching.

"Sir, what happened to the basket?", one of the first year female students surrounding it/him asked.

Cherub gazed at the female student that asked him with his clear golden eyes before answering. Of course, the first year female student blushed and looked away because of it.

"I can store matter within space generated by disrupting the space and reality continuum", Cherub explained, "Since the matter in question is stored in a separate dimension, it would not weigh me down in any way although I am not really affected by such weight load as I am a machine. Simply put, I distort reality and use the space created by it to store items of my choosing and the space created is infinite which means I can carry items as much as I want. Overall, I can store objects with impunity as long as they are inorganic materials."

Louise and everyone that heard Cherub's explanation were surprised to hear it. It sounded like magic yet it didn't fell into any of the elements including Void. What kind of magic is this?

"Is there any kind of limitation to it?", Louise asked.

"There is no limit to it", Cherub answered, "Although just storing items using this method can become very complicated if you did not sort things properly. Furthermore, I cannot store any organic item with a complex and enormous organic cell structure like humans, animals, and plants. However, the flesh in the fruits has a small mass and lesser cell composition compared to the aforementioned organic beings which allows me to store them. As long as organic items are small enough, they can be stored and brought out in a moment's notice."

Louise as well as everyone that heard the explanation has a hard time digesting the new information that Cherub disclosed.

Even though it is unheard of, it is an impressive ability.

Seeing its/his matter drooling, Cherub took the chance to ask for the name of the first year female student that gave it/him the object that he just stored in its/his Advanced Matter Storage System.

"What is your name human?", Cherub asked.

The girl was taken aback for a moment before answering.

"U-uhm… I'm Katie De Castries", the first year student now known as Katie replied, "It's an honor to meet you Sir Cherub."

"Understood", Cherub replied, "Also, you are not to worry about Mr. Guiche's well being. His structural integrity isn't damaged on our duel yesterday."

"I-I don't care for him anymore", Katie replied and shook her head.

After a few more moments, Louise is finally able to get her act together and ordered Cherub.

"Alright, now let's go to the classroom", Louise ordered Cherub.

"Understood", came Cherub's reply.

From beyond the crowd, Kirche and Tabitha also heard Cherub's explanation.

"Wow, darling can pull off that kind of feat", Kirche exclaimed.

Tabitha just said one word "Unreal".

At the classroom…

Louise sat in her chair in the classroom waiting for the teacher to arrive.

As the wait continues, more chattering and whispers filled the air.

As Louise expected, it's the same as outside. With Cherub's capabilities, it's no wonder that she's now the center of attention considering that she's Cherub's master.

Suddenly, footsteps are heard from outside the room. The students took it as a cue that a teacher is now coming in. As the footsteps came into a halt, the door opened revealing Ms. Chevreuse.

Truth to be told, Mrs. Chevreuse is still weak thanks to the explosion Louise casted the other day. Either way, she resolved to teach for today.

"Alright class, take your seats", Mrs. Chevreuse said.

It didn't take a moment before Mrs. Chevreuse noticed Cherub who is just standing beside Louise which made her curious.

"Hmm… Is that your familiar Ms. Valliere?", Mrs. Chevreuse asked referring to Cherub.

"Yes", Louise said, "He is currently in his human form so he can fit in here. I'm going to test out his abilities later."

"G-Good", Mrs. Chevreuse stated worriedly.

The class then began. All throughout the class session, the female students' gazes are all around Cherub. Of course, the male students appear to be hostile to Cherub considering all the attention it/he is getting compared to them. Even Guiche is a bit annoyed although he couldn't do anything about it. He almost died yesterday and he isn't insane enough to risk his neck the second time around so he chose to just behave quietly at the moment.

Although feeling a bit uncomfortable because of the stares that her familiar is getting, Louise just dismissed it. After all, it is just natural for any impressive familiar to receive a lot of attention.

The class ended after an hour.

Louise and Cherub immediately left the classroom.

"Oh right", Louise said as she turned towards Cherub, "You need a sword so I'm going to buy you one in town."

Cherub frowned at the statement.

"Master, all of my weaponry is more than enough to bring any enemy down", Cherub said.

"That's the point!", Louise exclaimed, "Your weapons are all so powerful that you can accidentally wreck things up! You need a weapon that's just enough to disable people not kill them."

Cherub nodded at Louise's statement considering the logic of her argument.

Meanwhile, at Kirche and Tabitha…

"Geez, I'm bored", Kirche said.

They have just lost track of Louise and Cherub after classes. Right now, she is pondering on where the two could be. She and Tabitha are walking at the corridor when she saw something familiar through the windows that piqued her interest.

From the window, Kirche saw Louise and Cherub in its/his original form and they seem to be talking something in the court yard.

At the court yard…

"Are you serious that you can fly Cherub?", Louise asked.

"Yes, Ms. Siesta has already experienced a flight with me last night", Cherub replied.

"Last night?", Louise asked.

"Yes, that is when you gave me permission to look around the Academy before you slept", Cherub answered.

Louise just stared at it/him.

"Fine", Louise said, "Just ensure, you don't let me fall off."

Cherub then extended its/his palm in front of Louise telling her to hop on. With no other choice, Louise just complied with what Cherub wants her to do.

As soon as Louise is already in its/his palm, Cherub slowly ascended into the air and flew off.

"W-Were really flying!", Louise exclaimed.

"Be careful master, you might fall off", Cherub said.

Back at Kirche and Tabitha…

"Darling can also fly?!", Kirche said in disbelief although she can't deny it seeing what just Cherub did.

A playful smile then wrote itself in Kirche's face.

"Just wait darling, the Ardent is coming to you", Kirche said to herself.

Tabitha, who also saw what Cherub did, just closed her book and said nothing.

"Hey Tabitha, let's follow them", Kirche said as she tried to convince her friend.

Tabitha didn't answered but she gave a nod.

"Then its good", Kirche said.

Back at Louise and Cherub…

"You can fly this high and fast?!", Louise asked.

"Yes, but I can still fly higher than this", Cherub replied, "However, I would not be able to ensure your safety as the human body will not be able to adapt to the sudden drop of oxygen supply instantly at higher altitudes."

Louise didn't know what the last part is supposed to mean but just saying that her familiar can fly like this and still do better amazes her. Dragons are no match to this in terms of how high it can get while Wind dragons would not be able to catch up with Cherub in terms of speed.

A few moments later, Cherub finally spotted the city of Tristania and told its/his master about it.

"Master, I can already see the city. I am decreasing my altitude so we can descend safely", Cherub said.

Louise is not able to realize that Cherub told her about landing. She's still tranced on her imagination regarding Cherub's abilities. It was only when Cherub's feet clasped on the ground that made Louise snap out of her thoughts.

"We are here master", Cherub said as it/he switched to its/his human form.

"H-Huh?", was Louise's only reply.

When she regained her focus, she just saw Cherub carrying her bridal-style.

"P-Put me down!", Louise said with a red face while swinging her arms back and forth.

Cherub immediately complied and put Louise down on the ground gently.

"Y-You should be grateful that I'm doing this for you", Louise said although she's not facing Cherub, "Just follow me."

Cherub complied and followed Louise into the city.

The two searched around the town looking for a store. There are many stores in Tristania but Louise immediately lost interest in them.

"Why is there no store that have what I want?", Louise complained, "Cherub, this city is large so do you know if I missed a store or two?"

"Yes", Cherub replied, "There's a store not far from here that sells swords and other solid steel weaponry."

"How do you know that?", Louise asked.

"This city is just a quarter of the cities that I have seen in my world and each city in my world supports an estimated human population of at least 8 million people alone at the minimum", Cherub explained, "Considering the size of this city, I can detect all buildings and other targets in my radar."

"WHAT?! Is that even possible? !", Louise asked incredulously.

"Yes, with better technologies and equipment, it is possible to support the aforementioned population size", Cherub added.

"A-Anyway, let's just head to that weapons store that you said", Louise said.

Cherub nodded and the two started walking.

From afar, two familiar figures watched the leaving pair.

"Fufu, looks like I found both of them", Kirche said, "Still, I wonder how did they managed to get here this fast. Anyway, let's follow them Tabitha."

Tabitha who was with her nodded although she left her wind dragon familiar, Sylphid, as she won't fit in the city.

Back at Louise and Cherub…

The two are now inside the weapons store that Cherub said.

True to its name, the weapon store is filled with weapons on every corner of the room. Not an inch of the walls are free of weapons except the windows.

"Greetings", the store owner said, "Do you want to purchase wands for yourself?"

The store owner is referring to Louise.

"I'm looking for a sword for my familiar", Louise asked.

"A sword huh?", the store owner said staring at Cherub.

"Well, I got an assortment of swords for him so choose at your discretion", the store owner said.

"Well Cherub, you are free to search for whatever sword you want", Louise said to Cherub.

"Understood", Cherub replied.

Cherub looked around the store in search of a sword. It/he meticulously gazed each sword scanning the molecular structure of their alloys to see if they are durable enough. As it/he searched, the molecular readings of the alloys of every sword it/he see is technically the same with the only difference being the type of material used in the alloy itself.

Suddenly, Cherub heard a voice.

"Hey, searching for a sword pal?", a voice said.

Cherub looked around and saw that the voice is coming from beneath a pile of swords nestled in a barrel.

It/he approached the barrel and grabbed what it/he thinks caused the voice. It turns out that it/he grabbed an old rusty sword. While old, the sword itself is long enough to be treated as such and not a short sword which is just at least twice longer than a knife.

"Finally, somebody pulled me out from that ton of metal scraps!", the sword talked and it seems to have a mouth because of a metal piece located on the pommel of the sword going up and down whenever the voice is heard.

"Derflinger! Don't scare the customers!", the store owner said angrily.

"A talking sword?! Where did that come from?!", Louise asked.

Cherub scanned the sword now called as Derflinger. Results turned out but not the same as the other swords. The results showed an energy surge within the sword although the energy itself cannot be identified due to the lack of information within Cherub's databanks to compare with. The results also did not show any Artificial Intelligence embedded on the sword despite the fact that it could talk and even have a personality of its own. The metal constituting the blade is made of an unknown alloy. The final piece of the results shows how well built the molecular structure of the alloy that make up the strange blade that it is capable of surviving huge amounts of pressure that can make several swords break due to wear.

Aside from the results, Cherub noticed the runes on his left hand glowing and he detected a surge of energy flowing in it/him.

"I'll take this blade", Cherub stated.

"W-What?! You're taking that rubbish?!", Louise yelled.

"Hey girl don't call me rubbish! The name's Derflinger but you can call me Derf", the sword now known as Derflinger said.

Cherub turned to the store owner and asked him.

"Where did you get this sword?", Cherub asked.

"Oh, I got it during a cheap antique auction. A fellow sword smith invited me on an auction of antiquated weapons last year and that's where I get that", the store owner answered.

"Understood", Cherub replied.

"That will be just 20 ecu if you are buying it", the store owner said.

"F-Fine", Louise said.

Louise just bought the rusty sword for Cherub as she doesn't have any choice. For one, she's a mage that doesn't have any expertise in discerning the quality of swords. And two, she's lacking in money and she thinks that the other swords in the shop will be of higher price than what she have in her wallet.

The two then left the shop. Outside, Louise's eyebrows twitched.

"K-Kirche?!", Louise yelled, "What are you doing here?!"

"You really think you can escape from the Ardent are you?!", Kirche replied.

"Fair enough! We're already going back!", Louise replied.

Kirche noticed the rusty sword that Cherub have so she gave it/him a present.

"Here's a present for you Cherub", Kirche said as she handed to Cherub a fancy-looking golden sword.

"H-hey what are you doing?!", Louise asked angrily.

"I'm just giving Cherub a real sword compared to you", Kirche simply said.

Louise and Kirche have an argument while Tabitha just stood there doing nothing. While all of that is happening, Cherub took the moment to scan the sword that Kirche gave it/her.

The results showed that the blade itself is made of gold and the molecular structure of the metal constituting the blade suggests a slightly more durable sword compared to the ones inside the shop. However, it lacks one trait that made Cherub choose Derflinger.

Cherub lowered the blade and drew Derflinger.

"Partner, what's up?", Derflinger asked.

"Can you conduct energy into you?", Cherub asked.

"Yes, what about it?", Derflinger replied.

Without a word, Derflinger felt in itself an unknown energy flow through it from Cherub.

"Ah… Partner, I feel revitalized", Derflinger said, "It's been several millennia since the last time I felt this power."

Suddenly, the rust covering Derflinger disappeared and out came a shiny sword. What used to be a rusty brown sword in Cherub's hand suddenly turned into well-polished brand new sword ready for battle.

"W-What happened?!", Louise stuttered on seeing the event transpired.

"How did that happened?", Kirche interjected.

Tabitha just closed her book and waited for Cherub to explain.

"The blade itself appears to be an efficient conductor of energy which is what most swords lack including the blade given by Ms. Kirche", Cherub explained as a beam of energy similar to the MLB-TWILIGHT erupted from Derflinger increasing the range of its reach.

Louise jaw dropped at what she saw. She intended to give Cherub a weapon of lesser power so it/he won't kill anybody by accident but she just made things worse.

"Darling, you're so cool!", Kirche exclaimed.

Tabitha just eyed the now-energy infused Derflinger with watchful eyes. Now, she has more reason to keep an eye over Cherub.

"Wow, partner I've never expected that you can pull this off!", Derfliner stated, "Man, waiting in that pile of scraps is worth it after all!"

"Hmm… it is starting to grow dark", Kirche said, "I think we should go back to the Academy before it gets really dark out here."

Louise had no choice but to agree with Kirche. She and Cherub are already going back to the Academy anyways.

"Cherub let's head back", Louise said.

"Understood", Cherub said as it/he deactivated the energy flowing into Derflinger causing the sword to revert back to its original size although the rust that used to cover the sword is permanently gone.

With all things settled, the four headed straight back to the Academy with Kirche and Tabitha riding on Sylphid while Louise rode on Cherub who reverted to its/his original form to fly much to Kirche and Tabitha's surprise again. Derflinger is stored in the Advanced Matter Storage System by Cherub because the sword itself is made of metal.

-CHAPTER 8 END-


PS: Katie's surname of De Castries is taken from the House of Castries. For those who don't know who Katie is, she is the girl that Guiche tried to hit on much to Montmorency's chagrin. Stay tuned for the next chapter.

PS: Try guessing who is the AC described in Louise's dream. Any Armored Core fan knows who this AC is.