Nota Del Autor:
This took a bit longer than expected, but I had to stop to eat at some point.

SeanHicks4: Tabitha going Yoda is a running gag.

Aelreth (Anonymous Review): Of course. However, it'd require her getting actual mastery of her element. Simply being capable of casting a spell doesn't mean you can invent a spell on the go. Basically, she'd have to invent Void Elemental Sagitta Magica. It requires better control of her vast power than she already has, since each individual arrow is less power than what she normally uses for pretty much anything, and she'd end up overcharging them.

Mitsukuri Tsukiyama: Thankless? Hey, if she manages to keep anyone from falling for The Springfield Charm, she should get a medal and a million bucks.

Darkest Void

Chapter 21: The Pimp-Off

"Did you sleep well last night?" Negi asked, a tinge of worry in his voice.

Louise wanted to sock him across the jaw. "I should be asking you the same thing. Lately, you seem to be getting one breakdown after another. I'm actually beginning to worry about your sanity." the pinkette said, folding her arms across her still nonexistent chest. Negi sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and tried his best to appear innocent, at that.

It didn't take long for him and Colbert to call it a night... after disassembling part of the Zero's engine. Luckily, Tabitha had left them a small booklet filled with the process they'd gone through and useful notes, most pertaining to their getting too excited in working on the damn thing, since they didn't have the correct tools they'd have to work with extra care. But even having to slow down would be acceptable.

If Negi and Colbert could reverse engineer an engine (is that tautological? I don't even know anymore.), then they'd probably kickstart an industrial revolution on the spot, putting Tristain as the most powerful country in the world in economical matters. That, and they'd skip the whole steam part and go straight to fossil fuels.

With Earth Mages around, extracting the fuel itself should be far less dangerous than it would be with mundane equipment, not to mention that it could be replicated through Alchemy once it was analyzed enough. With modern scientists, archmages and experienced alchemists working together, who knew what kinds of wonders could be created?

"I will be fine. Don't worry about me, master. Magia Erebea is a wonderful sink for my emotions." he said, waving her concerns off... after Louise had finished dressing. It'd taken him a while to say so. However, Negi had something to do and could not wait for Louise to finish getting herself ready. There was, after all, the need for one final exam. "I will wait for you in the courtyard, Louise."

The pinkette nodded, and continued brushing her hair. After a while of a boring sequence in which Louise did a teenaged girl's morning routine that I won't write mostly because I sincerely don't know what constitutes a woman's morning routine, she decided to move on and actually go to the courtyard, despite not being quite finished.

She would probably get the crap kicked out of her in a few minutes, so what was the hurry to try to look pretty, anyway? She just wished Negi wasn't vindictive about forcing him into a dress... again.

The girlfriends saying goodbye to their boyfriends was expected. After all, very few women wanted to join the army and even less were allowed in, but the sheer amount of people gathered in the main courtyard was unexpected. It seemed Guiche's speech had actually hit many more people than Louise had imagined it would. And she was certain that the majority of the first years was joining the army.

She pushed through the crowd until she got to her objective. A red head that poked above almost everyone else, mostly because of the spiky hairdo. Who it belonged to was quite clear. A pair of shorter blonds were right next to him. Before Louise could get there, Negi's fist found Guiche's.

"I wish I could join you, but if everything is committed to war, we will leave the country defenseless. There will be a token force remaining here." Negi explained. "Which I find myself among." He added, sighing. "Take care."

Both blonds nodded. "Yes, Master!" Guiche quickly added.

"Good boy." Montmorency commented, patting him in the head like a dog. Guiche didn't seem to mind it entirely, and Negi found himself having flashbacks to Kotaro and Natsumi's relationship... When they weren't bickering, at least. Natsumi was much less forceful than Montmorency. Actually, it was sort of a reverse of that.

It was kind of funny to him.

"... You know, I sort of expected you to give them one last lesson, you know." Louise said, shrugging. "Since they're going to war and all."

Negi smiled. "They do not need one last lesson. I have full confidence in your abilities and your capability to return alive." He said, turning to the blonds, who were pumped up by being declared Negi-approved. "Guiche, you have a talent for improvising on the run. Use it. Don't try two handed weapons or to dual wield, I haven't taught you how to do either of those properly. Montmorency, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid..."

"And don't use the whip... I still have nightmares about that one..." Guiche commented, fidgeting. "I still don't know where you learnt to use one." He added, turning to Montmorency, who looked pointedly at the second years' tower, but said nothing otherwise.

Louise began to whistle innocently.

"Okay, regardless, I recommend quicker spells. Sagitta Magica should be enough to knock out a grown man. Even in full plate armor." Negi finished. "And remember, use the contract to summon Guiche as needed."

"Well, asking that the male students join was to be expected. I didn't, however expect the army to enlist the females too." Louise pointed out, looking at Montmorency.

"I forced my way in. Do you think I'd let this moron out of my sight in the middle of a war? I wouldn't trust him in the middle of a market." Montmorency helpfully replied.

"Well, that explains it. I guess they wouldn't deny the willing the chance."

What they hadn't noticed, however, was that the male students had gathered in a circle around them, most of them actually glaring at Negi, looking like they wanted to say something, but couldn't quite form the words. A brave third year stepped forward. "S-Sir Negi... S-S-Stay a-away f-from our girlfriends!" He'd had to break into a scream to stop stuttering.

Negi tilted his head to the side in wonder. "Ah? What do you mean?" He asked, only now noticing that they were surrounded.

The third year relaxed considerably when he wasn't blown up for interrupting. Or something worse. "W-Well... You will be one of the few males remaining in the school, and..."

Negi laughed out loud at the idea. "Goodness. Do not worry about that. I am sure that Master would castrate me should I even want to do so. I am a gentleman." The redheaded young man said, smiling broadly. He missed the dreamy sigh that had been pretty much chorused amongst the present crowd.

"... You know, normally, I'd worry about you going about from female on female, but now I'm worrying about the complete opposite..." So are we all, Louise, so are we all.

"What's that?" Someone asked, seeing a twinkle in the sky.

Negi smiled at the incoming minuscule shape. He, just in case, mentally chanted a few physical and magical barriers, should he have to block anything. It struck him how he had come to be ready for battle at any time, but there would be time to worry about how he was going back to his warrior ways later.

It was a white dragon, bearing some sort of insignia in its head. Its rider was a young man with faded blond hair, who reminded Negi of Wales a great deal. Had to be the uniform he wore under the blue cloak.

He smirked and did his best to use every move that a ladies' man would use in his situation. Negi gave him a seven, would've been nine if he hadn't had a lack of originality. He did, however, succeed with the general public, making the female population go weak at the knees, and causing the crowd gathered around Negi, Guiche, Louise and Montmorency to turn to glare at him.

Negi's own eyes instantly locked on the young man's own. Heterochromia. One eye was red, the other was blue. Had the red one been green, then Negi would be worrying about it. As it was, it was just something that made him further stand out from the crowd.

"Wow. After spending so much time with you, the effect is quite diminished." Montmorency said, turning to Negi. "Does this happen often to you?"

"... More than you'd imagine... And with men too..." Louise spoke, glancing aside.

The handsome young man strode forward with calculated steps, making sure to remain as magnificent as he could. The sword tied to his waist followed the movement of his legs, and Negi found himself hoping he wouldn't be stupid enough to pull it. "I am Julio Chesaré, a transfer student sent in from Romalia. It is a pleasure to meet you." He had even shiny white teeth. Somehow, that was kind of anachronistic...

Negi nodded to himself, and turned to Guiche. "That's how you introduce yourself. Remember it."

Julio seemed a bit taken aback by that comment, but otherwise remained smiling.

It didn't take long for the students to calm down and depart, leaving a rather empty academy, populated only by females, Negi and Julio. And the teachers, of course. Bloody cowards they were. "You need to use extreme heat to alter this alloy." Colbert explained. Negi took notes, because it would be useful towards their work on the Zero later. After all, he'd begun with the intent to replace its parts with magically modified and empowered parts.

He could get ludicrously light weight and resistant metals through magic, which would make the Zero not only far more resistant, it'd also likely become faster as a result. He wondered how hard it'd be to create a turbine before dismissing the thought. He had no idea how those worked.

It seemed that Julio wasn't above taking notes himself, even if he refused to wear the uniform. What was that about being a cleric or something? Negi didn't really care. The only reason he was keeping an eye on him to begin with wasn't interest, it was mostly because this time, he wouldn't get blindsided by a suspiciously nice newcomer. If he tried to attack them from the inside...

Not-so-pretty thoughts swam through Negi's head.

Louise, meanwhile, was glad the eyes were taken off her familiar for all of two seconds, although all that had changed was that instead they went back and forth between him and Julio.

"Why would he come to a magic academy?" Of course, the first smart question had to be asked by Tabitha. Negi would have replied that simply being incapable of using magic doesn't mean that he shouldn't be allowed to learn about it, but he was busier taking notes.

"What's so bad about it? He's... very handsome..." Kirche commented.

"This is not going to end well." Louise said, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding as Julio focused on her for all of two seconds. She already had enough trouble by all the girls that were jealous about the fact that the ludicrously handsome Negi Springfield was her familiar and thus hovered around her most of the time, causing her to kick him out of class in several occasions (he kept distracting everyone with smart questions).

"You seem interested in him as well, Master." Negi said, splitting his concentration between the small notebook he was writing on and Louise's nerves. "I do admit that he is quite handsome, however, you should focus on your studies for the time being."

Louise wanted to reply, but several armed musketeers barging in tend to be quite distracting.

"Agnes?" Louise asked, seeing their captain leading them. "One has to wonder why she's the one who always comes..."

"She really needs to learn to trust in her subordinates and delegate tasks..." Negi said, and considering that the universe hadn't imploded from the sheer hypocrisy he had just displayed, it was just our luck that he'd learned the lesson after getting it pounded into him by his allies... multiple times and with several blunt implements.

"I want everybody in the main hall right now." Agnes spoke, placing her hands on her hips and actually showing that she did, indeed, look the part of a badass knight.

"W-Who are you?" Colbert asked, narrowing his eyes. He didn't think anybody would attack the academy.

"We are from Her Majesty's Musketeer squad." Agnes snapped at him. "In order to train the royal army, we will use the academy's grounds."

Her vice captain stepped forward. "Therefore, all lessons will be suspended beginning now." It was clear she took some perverse glee in announcing that part, though Negi couldn't understand why. After all, if they didn't get their lessons, they wouldn't learn, and if they didn't learn, they wouldn't be productive members of society... Maybe she'd had bad experiences in scho- wait, no, considering their society, he doubted they even had regular school.

Why hadn't he actually checked that part? And why the hell am I going off on a rant regarding this when there are more interesting things going on?

"To the conference hall. Now!" The vice captain roared.

Most girls began to get up, though Colbert quickly slammed his hands against his podium. "Sit down, students." The surprisingly commanding tone he took made everyone obey his order without a second thought. Negi was kind of jealous of having that kind of authority. If he'd had it, maybe he wouldn't have had to deal with statutory rape every day.

"Teacher, we are in war times." Agnes snapped, looking at him as if he were the biggest moron she had seen.

"And thus we need to continue our lessons! Fighting in a war is stupid." He said, his voice growing forceful. However, he was cut off by Agnes pulling her sword, and feeling the cold still rest against his throat. It was kind of refreshing actually, since the heat from the flame had been somewhat uncomfortable.

"Silence. I have always hated mages, particularly fire mages. Don't force my hand." She said, her eyes narrow, clear killing intent washing over the room.

"Agnes. Put that sword down."

The blond Musketeer's eyes widened, and she whirled around to stare at a man in an armored longcoat, who was smiling at her in a way that was quite clearly pleading her to drop the whole hostility thing.

"Attacking your own countrymen doesn't seem like a good idea during war times, does it?" Negi asked, taking a few steps forward.

She reluctantly sheathed her weapon. "Don't interfere with my mission." she commanded.

The vice captain looked shocked at Agnes actually complying, but then she took a look at who had asked her to do it, and all her doubts were cleared. She couldn't see herself saying no to such a handsome young man. "Weird, wasn't the captain a lesbian? I could have sworn..." One of the musketeers said, in a hushed tone that only her peers caught.

"Me too..."

Agnes felt a vein in her forehead throb, but ignored the whispers. She'd be particularly harsh on them on their training. What kind of idiot gossips in the middle of a mission?"

"Thank you." Colbert said.

"You are my friend." Negi said, smiling at him in a way that had all of Louise's classmates emitting a dreamy sigh.

It turned out that they were going to be trained in groups by the musketeers. An idea Negi could get behind, because everyone should know how to defend themselves in the case that the necessity ever arose, and since not everyone could be a talented mage that could get by the whole not knowing how to fight thing with sheer power, well, teaching them how to handle mundane weapons was only a natural step towards their being somewhat effective in battle.

It would also turn for utter hilarity for all girlfriends who their boyfriends wanted to protect, but the mechanics would end up the other way around. He was sure Chamo would've been proud, anyway.

"Excuse me... We are mages, sir. Is learning how to use mundane weapons really all that important?" one of the girls about to be trained asked, meekly. Of course, she wouldn't have the balls to stand up to the madwoman who'd pulled live steel against a teacher.

"Absolutely. Because for all of your magic, you can't do jack shit in combat." Agnes said. "Let us begin. Pair off and fight."

Negi watched the exercise with a smile on his face. A clear evaluation technique to divide them in levels from which she would then decide how to work. Different groups pertained to different areas their training would focus on, such as speed, power and agility. Well, since she wasn't training a single person, that seemed the best way to go about it.

Besides, it'd save him the trouble of having to teach Louise and Kirche hand to hand combat. It was clear that their (although minimal) grasp of body enhancement was clearly giving Louise an edge over her opponent, even if she was just as clumsy with her weapon as she was.

Kirche, however, seemed much more interested in going after the transfer student, Julio. And at the mention of the name, Negi, who had studied Latin and as a result the Roman empire (because let's face it, they are the most interesting part of ancient history), and his name was, quite clearly, a pun on Julius Caesar's. Someone thought it'd be funny, though it could be a coincidence...

His hand easily stopped the vice captain's wooden sword. "Yeah, no." He said, pushing the blade back with ease.

Agnes smirked. "Ah, I have a use for you..." She began, remembering a certain trio of knights who weren't performing their duties with the utmost of discipline. She yelled three names that Negi didn't pay attention to, focusing instead on how he'd have to put in some extra work on Louise since she seemed to be relying on superior physical prowess instead of actually trying to fight smart.

"Ah?" He said, as he saw the three musketeers that Agnes had brought with her lined up in front of him, while the Vice Captain was positively gleeful. He was tossed a wooden sword. "Let's see if you are as good as everyone says you are."

He could always just pull Derflinger from his back and end the fight instantly, but of course, he didn't. It'd be more interesting to do it on their terms.

It didn't take long for the pairs to stop fighting. Mostly because Negi smiled, took the sword and casually beat the everloving crap out of three musketeers. In all of thirty seconds. "Uh... sorry?" He offered, as he crouched over the three grounded musketeers, while he kept the blond cleric wannabe who mock-fought Louise in the corner of his left eye.

The moment his hand tried to go for the real blade...

"Well, you definitely are just as fast as the rumors go..." The Vice Captain spoke, a bit of surprise sneaking in. "... You three, get back up. Your performance was pitiful."

"I will personally attend to your training." Agnes said, her face set in a scowl. "You evidently don't need the training. Go do something else."

"Actually, I would prefer to remain. That was relying on sheer speed and power, and I am always looking to improve myself." He admitted. "Truth be told, I could use some improvement when handling one handed weapons."

"I am enough of a trainer for you, Partner." Derflinger said, its voice cutting through the short period of silence as Agnes pondered it.

"Yeah, in technique. However, Derflinger, I can't really spar with a living sword, can I?" the redhead replied. "I could use a strong opponent."

Julio walked up to him, a smile on his face. "Then, perhaps we could duel?" Even the tone of voice... yes, that was the minimum threshold for what he would train Guiche into being. Julio would be the baseline. "I do not like boasting, but I am a swordsman of considerable skill."

"Are you certain?" Negi asked, smiling.

"Oh, this will be good." Agnes commented, then she turned around. "All of you, get your ass moving!" She yelled, scaring the girls enough that they once again began fighting, most trying just to appease their new hardass teacher.

"Don't kill him." Louise said, her face deadpan as she did. She knew that if he actually wanted to win, Julio would've stood no chance, no matter how good he was.

"No magic. A duel between swordsmen." Negi said.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Julio replied, his hand going for his sword. "Tomorrow at first hour, then?"

"Of course."

Louise was actually beginning to think about what this entailed. What was it about the men in her life that seemed to drive them to violence? Well, she knew Negi actually liked fighting someone who actually could challenge him, even if it was while he held back, but... why did the new guy also turn out to be a battle maniac? Sure, she could thank him for the pointers when it came to fighting with a weapon...

"Wah! Lord Julio and Lord Negi will fight!"

And of course, the fangirls were ecstatic...

There was something more pressing to Negi than the duel, however, even if the darkness within him protested that crushing an opponent is always the more important part.

"Oi, Agnes." He said, catching the Musketeer Captain as she wandered through an empty courtyard. The lesson was over and her subordinates had already carried the implements to a proper deposit, and she was only going to follow them to their chosen rooms. Osmond had been very accommodating towards them.

"What do you want?" She asked, not turning around and, in fact, maintaining her stride. He had longer legs, surely he could keep up.

"How is Henrietta?" He asked, clear concern in his voice. This stopped her cold.

Agnes couldn't readily answer.

"... I see." He said, his voice dropping down several levels. He sounded so sad that Agnes had actually entertained the thought of hugging him, but she firmly quashed that thought. It wasn't as if it was hard. Lesbian power, methinks. "Still hasn't thought up a fitting punishment."

"If you keep going on about it, I might suggest one myself." Agnes quickly countered. "It could not be just concern for Her Majesty's condition that brought you here." She added. "Don't tell me your master ordered you to come ask."

He shook his head. "You are wrong. It is. I do not care about her because Louise ordered me to. We are friends, and I am worried about her." The redheaded magister spoke, taking a step back. "If you do meet her again before I do, tell her that no matter what happens, both myself and Louise will stand with her."

"I don't understand you, Negi Springfield." Agnes said, turning around to face him, revealing that she had her hands on her sword. "I do not understand how someone with as much power, ability and knowledge as you have could be so submissive. I have seen many kinds of mages, but never one quite as yourself." the blond woman said, not relaxing her grip on her weapon. "What is your game?"

Negi remained silent. He could answer. He could tell her that the runes in his fist forced obedience. But he'd be lying. The runes had no control over him anymore. "I promised that I would never allow anyone I love to get hurt again."

Agnes raised one eyebrow, but quickly returned to her scowl. "Tell me the truth."

"Have you ever realized, Agnes, that life is precious?" Negi asked, turning to stare at the distant sunset. "Have you ever sat down, thought about everything you had done, and realized that your life would be empty and not worth dealing with if it weren't for the people who stand with you in the worst and the best?" He continued.

Agnes remained silent, however, she did sit down in the soft grass when he himself let himself reach a more comfortable position. She knew that he was a mage like all others, or even worse, he was far more dangerous than all the other mages she'd ever met put together.

"I am immortal, Agnes. I may have lived only nineteen years, but during those nineteen years I reached maturity and stopped there, I have survived so many lethal wounds that I could probably write a book about them alone, and I have been completely obliterated at least twice. With time, almost everyone I love will grow old, wither and ultimately die, and I will be left alone for the rest of eternity, forever wandering onward."

"You are not making an argument towards me believing you honestly care about them." Agnes said, though she didn't look at him, and he didn't look at her, both could feel each other's expression. She wasn't particularly pleased with the talk. He had a nostalgic, sad smile on his face as he let a few seconds pass.

"Would you condemn me for wanting to prolong the time I can be with my beloved friends? Would you condemn me for the ultimately selfish act of protecting them?"

"You are a strange man." Agnes finished.

Negi chuckled. "The good kind of strange, I hope."

Agnes actually joined him for a round of laughter.

"... I kind of still want to fight you, though." Negi said, somehow dissonantly serene.

"This goes against a peaceful man's wishes. Why?" Agnes asked, her hand going towards the hilt of her favored sword again. She could draw it and behead him in one second, but seeing his reaction speed from when he blocked an attack he couldn't have possibly seen coming, she was certain he'd dodge it anyway.

It was a wonder how fast she could turn from relaxing in the grass to battle ready.

"I never said I was peaceful. To be quite honest, I need to get ready for the duel. Considering I haven't fought without enhancing myself in a very long time, I need to get used to a slower and weaker body." He justified.

"Bullshit. You just want to fight." She said, a smile in her face. It was a wonder, how someone who could be so sincere when he talked about caring about his friends would be so roundabout to say 'I want to fight you because I think you are strong'. It seemed he was in quite a bit of denial over that fact.

"... True enough, I guess..." he finally admitted, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Your familiar?" Kirche asked for confirmation. After all, she'd expected Louise to know where her darling would be. Well, Negi seemed to act on his own a lot for a familiar. "Oh, yeah, I remember seeing him and that Musketeer Captain that seemed oh so fond of us by the Vestri court." The redhead explained. "All hot and sweaty. I had to refrain from joining in myself, really."

With the psychopaths... and Tabitha...

Tabitha looked at her, then went back to her book. Louise's face went from anger to calm in about five seconds. She sighed. "They are fighting, aren't they?"

"How did you know?" Kirche asked, actually curious.

"I know my familiar." She said, deadpan.

Tabitha held out her hand, and, reluctantly, Kirche actually placed a small brown bag on it.

Back with those who should be using practice weapons yet are using live steel for some reason...

"Why aren't your runes activating?" Agnes asked, parrying a slash and letting the blade slide harmlessly to her right. "Shouldn't they activate the moment you lift a blade?" She asked. All of her intelligence on him said that his runes began glowing the moment he touched a weapon.

"They should, yes." Negi said, a smile in his face. "The explanation as to how I am keeping their power at bay includes a lengthy tirade on how my physiology works, and I don't think you want to hear that." They continued randomly trading attacks during the time Negi ranted. Their clashes seemed to be mostly initiated by Agnes, who always leaped into the offensive, leaving Negi to block most of her attacks and unable to counter.

"You are quite skilled." Agnes commented, sidestepping an overhead slash and trying to cut him in half. She had a clear advantage as Negi was holding back all of his magic, which meant he was reduced to a normal, if athletically fit, human's level. "However, if you don't attack to kill, you won't win."

"But if I do, I will kill you." He reminded her. "You're just taking advantage of the fact that you can't kill me." He added, as she hit his hands, which made him almost drop Derflinger, then she proceeded to run Negi through with her sword, eliciting a pained gasp.

"Can't say I'm not. This is cathartic." She admitted, removing the sword just in time to duck under a wide slash.

There is an interesting fact that should be said. When you swing a single-edged sword with the blunt side forward, there is a(n although minimal) difference in the wind resistance. Given Negi was fighting with a very heavy weapon one-handed and with his left hand, to boot, that difference was exacerbated, and Agnes had only capitalized on it as they fought.

Her own weapon was double edged, which meant that she could use some pretty strange movements Negi wasn't accustomed to. Namely, combination slashes that chained one after another that, to anyone, would've looked as if she was flailing randomly.

If she were, then they wouldn't have forced Negi onto the defensive. Well, that was just what he earned for picking a fight with a superior swordswoman. He actually had to commend her on the fact that she hadn't had to resort to the majority of her tricks to defeat him. Although when she did decide to go all out, he'd regretted asking her to almost immediately.

Groin attacks, insults, lies, anything she could use to distract and or inconvenience him was used. She was used to fighting opponents that were generally more powerful than she was, so it was a given she'd learned to counteract it by being as much of a dirty fighter as she could be.

She seemed to take some sick pleasure in inflicting violence to his groin, if the fact that she'd actually kicked him there more times than he could remember was anything to go by. He was just glad his... capacity... wasn't threatened. Regeneration is kinda cool some times, others, it just makes the world that much more painful.

"Then again, I could abuse the fact that I'm, you know, immortal." Then he dashed forward, the wound already closed. Normally, when you do that and the person counters with an attack at your unprotected cranium, you tend to stop the charge to back away. Given that Negi was, well, as immortal as they come, a silly thing like a lethal injury wouldn't stop him. Even if it left him blind from the right eye and with a blade stabbed on his right shoulder that poked out from his lower back, he still tackled Agnes to the ground and actually pressed Derflinger's blunt side to her neck.

"Well, you can do that." Agnes said, as blood dripped onto her face. "Then again, if you weren't, you'd be dead now. Several times over."

"Ow." Negi said, deadpan. "By the way, you are covered in blood. Ten new gold says that everyone assumes you went on a rampage and killed several students."

"I don't make bets I know I will lose." Agnes replied, as she felt Negi actually stand up, pulling Agnes' sword out of his right shoulder. It was kind of hard to move with it stuck there. It was just a wonder that Magia Erebea somehow regenerated his muscles around it, and then acted to return them back to their proper shape.

"Bummer." Negi said. "By the way... Why do you hate fire mages?"

She scoffed. "That is none of your business." She said, her voice growing downright icy as she did.

Negi shook his head. "If you want to tell me, I will listen. I won't force you to tell me." He said, standing up and dusting himself off. Then he took a card (that had a few drops of blood staining it) from the one safe pocket and held it up. "Adeat. Abeat." Two simple words that replaced his destroyed coat with a new version. Though Agnes didn't know how that worked.

Quite an interesting and nifty spell. Eliminated the need for having several uniforms. And laundry.

"Partner, you are actually better than I expected. Even without me guiding your movements."

"Yeah, I've had a lot of practice, though I'm not as good with one handed weapons as I'd hope to be." He admitted, sighing slightly.

"Why don't you use your right hand?" Agnes asked, getting up and wiping the blood off her face with her cape. It was getting annoying. "You are right handed, aren't you?"

Negi looked at her for a second, then he smiled. "My right hand is generally what I use to cast magic, and, well, I am intentionally trying to train my left hand. Two handed weapons were easier to learn, I will admit."

"Then use both hands." Agnes said, glaring at him. "It is clearly big enough for you to put both hands around it."

"But then I will be too stiff. I don't have enough space to alter my grip." He defended. "If when I try to move my hand across its length I slip, something disastrous could happen."

"Then grip gently and slide your hands across it with its own momentum."

"That is good advice. What about the lower body?"

"You need to move your legs harder and faster!"

"Like this?"

"No! Harder! Faster!"

Louise, by the time she did get to them, was already a tomato. What she considered ridiculous was that she was thinking about that when they were obviously talking about something completely different. Again, this was most likely both her familiar and Kirche's fault. Maybe it was a gene in all red haired people that made them into perverts who wanted to make other perverts.

Yeah, it had to be a virus that spread the perversity around...

Random And Useless Trivia You Don't Need To Know But Might Be Interesting:

The Time Squad recently caught Chao Lingshen. She became their new director after a two weeks long campaign involving giving meat buns away for free. She now runs the future with an iron fist, after renaming the Time Squad's main base El-Hazard, which has entered a golden era with no equal. However, she created the supercomputer FATE to do her job for her while she chills beachside with'er harem.

The Yukihiro Group's main competitor is the rising Kirijo Group, which saw a decline when their prior head, Takeharu Kirijo, died of unexplained and unexpected illness. His daughter, Mitsuru Kirijo, proved a much more capable head, however. Everyone knows that her husband is a womanizer who has cheated on her with at the very least four other women. And two robots. And a man. Yes, even herself. She doesn't mind.

The Kido Foundation recently uncovered a cache of golden, magical sets of armor while on an archeological hunt in an ancient complex of temples in greece long ago dubbed 'The Sanctuary To Athena', in the island of Athens. They were quickly confiscated by the International Solar System Development Agency and it has been proven that, with an air tank, they are efficient space suits. Nobody knows how that works. However, the owner of the Sagittarius armor was murdered in mysterious circumstances and a tournament will be held to appoint a replacement.

There has been a rise in Vigilantism due to the increasing amount of magical crime. Anti Vigilante Corps were created to combat them. Their leader, a man by the name of Nick Fury, bears a striking resemblance to a fellow by the name of Samuel L. Jackson. Much protest ensued after he was named, so he went and scared the crowds shitless. Then he proved that he does not stand snakes trying to hijack the plane he is riding on.

The Kold Empire has recently taken an interest in galactic conquest, but lack of manpower and an inability to obtain competent personnel that isn't batshit crazy has proven conquest impossible. This is mostly a problem because their leader, King Kold, seems to have a perchant for planetary destruction and ends up just killing everyone who doesn't adhere to his, often ludicrous, demands.

Recent archeological findings may be implying that history was not only written by the winners, it was generally written by men who couldn't accept the fact that a woman could be notorious. It is, therefore, a high possibility that several historical figures previously believed to have been male might be female. Documents found in a magically sealed chest deep within the ruins of the Golden Theater reveal that Emperor Nero Claudius was, in fact, a woman who liked to dress as a man.

There have been sights of enormous spaceships heading towards Earth. Their exact contents are unknown, but there are at the very least one hundred life forms detected in every one of them, in some more and in others less, however, all of these life forms register power levels higher than the average human being at the very least some twenty odd times. It pays to own a scouter, I tell you.