Chapter 22: The Kreuz Legacies

I didn't expect his wide eyes at seeing my weapon for the first time. He gaped at it like a fish out of water before strangling out a word, "Wh...where did you get that?"

I tilted my head at the sudden change of tone and subject, "It's a birthday present." I answered as if it was an obvious fact. Without shame, I lunged my sword to his gut but he deflected it easily while his brows still furrowed in a faraway thought and didn't take note of my attack with much trouble.

"It has the Kreuz Symbol," he pointed in flat tone.

"What about it?" I questioned. Swinging my sword to his side but he parried without looking away and almost thrown my sword away with that strike. That was when I realized a similar symbol on my sword hilt was on his.

Then it clicked to me. Kreuz...I know I've heard it somewhere, "Wait, you mean this thing is made by The Heart Kreuz herself?! I thought she sold clothing brand?"

The Swordsman jab toward my head and I dodged at the last second and nipped my ear. "Don't call it a thing, Kreuz's weapons is a work of art! You can't just call it a thing like any other backwater tools you get from your next door workshop, that's disrespectful."

Well, somebody's a crazed fan.

We traded blows as we sized up one another, I learned quickly from years of travelling that if you act like you know what you're doing you could get away most things with just a bluff. So him sizing me up is the only chance I'll have a fraction of a fraction of a chance winning against him.

"Wait, weapons? Alright, I'm confused, are we talking about the same Kreuz here?"

The swordsman narrowed his eyes and his slashes became faster and it took my poker face not to show I was having a hard time keeping up. "So she is in your country, but in my home country she was famed to be the greatest blacksmith, the fact she was a woman made her name spread wide and far...until she disappeared alongside her works." His attacks became more subdued as he wistfully recalled the past and I press further about her from the reaction I gain, "I've been searching for her for more than a decade and got turned to a slave along the way." a mirthless chuckle sounded from him, "What an irony that at the cost if my freedom I was finally able to find clues of her whereabouts."

"Uh huh, just how impressive of a blacksmith is she if it makes you so desperate to meet her?"

Before I knew it, the Swordsman had managed to back me up to the Giant tree bark. He raised his sword before I duck and rolled to the side. His sword was on me again but it met with my blade against his instead of my neck. Is my smile too shaky? Because I sure hope it doesn't.

"Her masterpieces is famous that many rumor surrounded her works which is mostly true. Like how she made the Eye of Hibiscus managed to burn through whatever the wielder saw. The Hammer of Fir that summons lightning and storm to its user, and he even made this-" he showcased his own sword that looks like...well...a normal sword obviously but seeing as it cut down a Giant Tree like it was nothing. I should be more wary of it, "-is her last work before she left. It's called the Abyss Sword and if I remembered correctly, yours was the one she used a peculiar metal she found and was called the Rave in honor of her passing best friend."

It was hard for me not to freeze so I could gaped at him because Holy Luther King! Malcolm must have either know a really good weapon brokers or has some good connection under his sleeve. Either way, I'm impressed.

And Rave? Seriously? I have a sword named Rave? You're really doing this to me Universe?

Clearing that train of thought away, I focused back on the man on front. We carried on on our duel. He was letting me pushing him back, I knew, but I took whatever handicapped being given. Being wary for any traps he could sprung, but if he was as strong as Courage figured him to be than he most like deal things an upfront attack rather than a trick of the sleeves. "You sure know a lot about her and her weapons, you're not some kind of fanatic are you?" I questioned between strikes.

"Off course not," he said as he managed to make a small cut to my wrist, just a scratch, but I had to retreat, just behind a boulder. He reappeared on the opposite side of it and we crossed sword once more. Climbing up the stepping stone that led us dueling on the boulder, "I'm her brother." he suddenly stated.

The proclamation got me in surprised that he managed to wound me across my chest and pushed me off the boulder. My reflex kicked in and I managed to stumble, got my balance back with one hand and send him an icy glare.

"You did that on purpose, did you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked. Tone innocent, but a bright smile flashed on his face. He jumped down and began to pushed me to the forest. Planning to use the trees to outmaneuvered him, I sneaked behind a tree and flashed out from the other side. He predicted it and parried me in swift movement of his wrist. I stumbled, but got my balance and resume like nothing happened.

It might have been just me but I might have caught the look of impressed crossed his face. He would then made continuous movement with erratic rhythm to his form that kept changing at every turn. Sometimes he would cross swords with me while keeping his distance or would suddenly came at me in close quarter, or that he would change from stabbing to slashing motion and never with the same form as if he's bragging the many style he learned.

I was confused at first why he hadn't use his sword's unique ability, yet he was smiling while he dueled with me until the penny drop on me. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Apologies if I do and had offended you. It's not everyday you get to have a more than a decent swordsman, and from one as young as you. Why, if you have a more than decent teacher you'll be a match for me after around at least 12-no, 7 years of practice."

Seeing he began to pick up the pace, I aimed to slow him down by questioning further about Heart Kreuz. What kind of person she was? What was her favorite food? Did she has a pet peeves? He answered every question more than eagerly that I was convinced he had an incurable syndrome called the Sister-Complex, he couldn't stop talking about her without that proud and boastful tone he couldn't seem to help himself. How unfortunate.

"Oh she's not a very emotional person to anything other than her swordsmith. She would often be in her moods when making a new weapon which was worse than a girl on her period. One day she would praise her own genius mind and her talented hand and the next day she would hit her head and calling herself an idiot, a mistake, etc. However, one thing that stays constant is that we both love each other and we both dreamed to be the best. Her in swordsmith and me in swordsmanship. We would be an unstoppable team."

His swinging sword stopped and I used that chance to sneaked into his guard and strike my sword to his chest but in a flashed his sword had blocked mine. "Then it happened," he continued with his misty eyes looking anywhere but me, as if looking to a faraway memory. "It devastated her and she up and leave without me. I couldn't leave her on her own so I sought out to find her while polishing my swordsmanship. I've been to the Stella, Desierto, and even as far as Bellum and learned whatever my mind and body could absorb that help me grow into what I am today."

We were edging closer to a much larger boulders until it was surrounding us. I threw myself into one of the rocks, rebounded and attack with speed and force that surprised him and finally drawing my first blood.

It was only a small cut to his cheek, but the scar only made his smile grew wider. "I answered your curious mind," he said, his sword at the ready once more before he lunged, "Now it's my turn to ask. Who are you?"

I parried his attack while I answered, "Nobody of importance. Shouldn't we be fighting? I'm pretty sure there's usually not this much talking in a fight."

The Swordsman shrugged. "We are both not one to follow custom. You have much room to grow but you fight as someone who survived life threatening hurdles than simple teaching. You followed us without hesitation or back up to go against a mysterious group of criminal. So I must ask again. Who are you?"

"Just a person who picked up a thing or two in his travel."

"I must know!" he screamed.

"Get used to disappointment," I countered.

"Oh off course" he grumbled, "I'm already used to it sadly. Disappointment and me are great friends. We always unexpectedly meet." My eyes unknowingly shifted to his collar and resist the urge to ask what led him to what he was today.

"Well you're here now, in Fiore. Shouldn't you be able to find her more easily?"

"And show her how I become nothing more than a dog who had to wag is tail to his master when told so? I could never live up the shame." His blows and attack is like corresponding to his emotion. The more riled up he was the more wild and faster his attacks became while in his subdued tone, he would be sharper but lack speed. "I must confess searching for her has been a tiring and almost fruitless venture." he continued like his perfect sword fighting is nothing to him, "Even now that I've become a slave that I find clues of her whereabouts here, in Fiore. How cruel of irony that I must forsake my freedom to find where she is."

My mind raced back to the face of a smiling princess Hisui as she bid me farewell. The face of an innocent 13 year old girl being caught up in a plan because of her birth and status and he's talking about cruel irony? I couldn't help but scoffed at him, "And the lives of others I see," I pointed out coldly.

The Swordsman just shrugged again and his nonchalant attitude made my grip tighter and fury blaze within my eyes."It is what it is being a slave," he said, "had I not did what I did I would have died."

"Then you should have died honorably instead of living a coward's way."

The Swordsman scowled at my words, his skills beginning to move in erratic, "Do not proclaimed that you know the pain I suffered! I spent too long, too close to get what I want for it to be taken away because of fate!"

"So you're saying that meeting her is worth the lives that you've stolen? The lives that you've killed? If you want my opinion, I'm glad Heart hasn't had the chance to meet you. I may not know her much but if she saw what you become and what you had done, she'd be disgusted."

I know what you're thinking. Pissing a World Class Swordsman might have not been the best among my ideas. However, sometimes my mouth won't shut when it needs to and sometimes, some things needed to be said. So I was prepared for the anger flushing his face, his eyes became murderous, and his movement became faster that it almost became a blur to my trained eyes. What I didn't expect was the turning of dials of his hilt and the sword became entangled with flames that lick against my sword. He then whispered with a deep emotionless tone the name of his attack spell.

"Lamiendo la llama."

"Oh shi-"

The flame shoot out like swirling spring that the blast heat managed to threw me away that I was going to have my back hit a tree bark if I hadn't moved so my feet would land let me land sideways. I managed to back away at the last minute so the fullblast only stings...well...for normal people they would go to intensive care unit but I'm a mage, I've been through worse. Still though, oooooowww.

I landed roughly down and didn't have the spare time to catch my breath before my senses alert me of another incoming attacks and had to boost my leg with ethernano to jumped through the trees but that was a miscalculated error in my part. The wind blade attacks cut through the trees and I was in the middle of falling along with the tree.

Oh and that wasn't the end.

He lit the tree on fire.

Hahaha, that's a new way of saying I'm toast.

I should remind you I'm only laughing inside my mind and in reality I'm spouting every kind of curse I know without the historical name involved.

I jumped out into the air and risked getting hit with his next attack, which was a giant icicle threaten to impaled me. Not a barbarian my ass! This guy is trying to kill me!

Feeling that I had enough holding back, my sword transformed into a whip and with it took hold of a nearby branch that helped pull him out of the way. That Bastard predicted that too and jumped inhumanely high with his sword ready to stab me.

While things looked like I was falling from the pan and into a fire, I also saw this as a chance. I might get hurt or worse from this, but no pain no gain right?

"Napoleon shit."

The metal whip turned to a double edge sword in my hand and let the weight and momentum pushed him down, my other hand stretched for him but miss by a few millimeters when he managed to pushed me away and had me rolling on the ground.

The Swordsman shifted in midair and he landed on the ground, his rapier made to stab the ground and a brown magic circle enveloped his hilt.

"Ola de Espigas"

At the call of his spell, the plain straight ground began to jot out spikes in waves, one that was bigger and dangerous looking as it gets nearer to his side. Using whatever random shits that pop inside my head, my Rave crawled down from my arm, my legs, and at the sole of my shoe and made some springs that help me jumped over the waves of spikes. Even so, it was still inches away from piercing my face while I was parkouring through the air. Now that was one was literally a hair's breadth away from getting my eyes poke out.

Mid air, I had the springs turned to a chain-sickle on my hand and threw the chain with pinpoint accuracy to his head. I wasn't surprised that he managed to easily sidestepped away, sailing past him and hitting the tree behind him. Using it as leverage, I pulled myself in close, sailing past him as well, and landed just beside him and with quick shifting, my Rave transformed into a pair of short swords. Whirling my body around to strike from behind but both blades were blocked by the Abyss Sword without him as much glancing behind him.

Well sucks for him, you think I don't know my weapons? I turned my pair of swords into a nunchaku and with a twist of my hand, coiled the sword with the chains and pulled the sword away from him.

Or...that should have what happened had not the Motherf*cking Swordsman had not clad his blade with a whirlwind of wind that ending up pushing me away in a terrible gust of wind. My back hit the boulder and had the wind sucked out of me but managed to put on a slight grimace on my face instead of showing the burn pain hit my lungs combined with my bruised back.

"You just botched a perfectly good plan of mine!" I croaked out, sounding like a five year old who's upset that his favorite toy is broken.

The Swordsman rolled his eyes, "Sorry, not sorry that I botched your plan to kill me."

"I wasn't going to kill you...maim you maybe but not kill."

I yelped when this time,he casted a lightning spell that shoot out of his rapier and burned the tips of my curled hair. Our duel continued, blade flashed and clink against one another, flashes of magic circle and several form of weapons and tools you wouldn't think belong to a magic sword fight like a shovel or a frying pan, but hey...my head is full of weird things. No one can deny that. However, it was clear The Swordsman's way of pissing me off was to see the difference in level of our skill. To let me hit him with everything I got but ending up letting me fall to my knees and at his mercy with a sword below my jugular.

The end was worse though. I ended up having my back on the ground, Rave rolling few feet away, and his Abyss Sword pointing at my chest where my heart is beating incredibly fast. My bad wounds consisted of my left arm having third degree burn, countless of bleeding wounds from slashes of swords and sharp wind and ice, reminding me of my finger on the verge of frostbite, and the bruises...oh the bruises were everywhere. One particular on my left that's now making me hard to see with it,

"I thought killing was beneath you?" I managed to voice out, not hiding the exhaustion in my tone.

"Not beneath me, I don't kill when it's not necessary. You, however, just made things personal," he coldly told me.

"FYI, not taking any of it back," I said. Tasting the iron taste of my blood from the cut on my lip.

"I assume not which will be the cause of your downfall."

"Just a tinsy bit of a last word if you'd be so kind as to let me."

"...fine. But I allow one word only from you and that's as far as a mercy you'll get from me."

"Then hear me now as I'll say this…" a manic grin crept up on my face and said, "psych!"

The Swordsman looked confused before he felt his sword arm yanked and was surprised by the metallic bracelet latched onto his wrist. He tried to get it off, but that only increased its attachment so both his wrist are bound together and no matter how much he tried yanking it off, it was of no used. A Heart Kreuz masterpiece indeed.

I used that moment to lift yourself up and touched him, invoking the spell that I prepared before the battle started and he was teleported next to the fallen Giant Tree where a dagger of a specific Teleport Rune was written.

The Bastard Swordsman looked around to find nothing unusual about himself or his surrounding other than he was shifted from one point to another and smirk at me most likely thinking I did something but failed. I kept a cool face as he strut toward me but when he was only three feet away, he find himself back to where he started walking.

He paused. Looked around once more. Began walking again, this time at a much faster pace but the result stayed the same. Again, and again he tried, even from a different angle but he couldn't seem to get outside a certain boundary around the dagger that kept him looping to where he was.

Finally realizing how helpless he was, he glared at me and seethed, "What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just put you inside my rune. I called it Loop Teleport. Clever ain't it? One of my best work yet...well, technically not my best but it is my cleverest. You don't know how convenient catching bad guys was with this baby."

"...you risk dying and much pain just to put me in this spell of yours?"

"'Tis but a scratch!" I proclaimed with a grin, though I couldn't help the twitch of pain that hit my face and had to hide the groan building in my throat.

"...you're bleeding all over," he countered flatly.

"I've had worse and ain't that the truth."

The Swordsman shook his head in disbelieve at my nonchalant attitude to my wounds, "You never said you were a mage," he pointed out.

"Hey, you should have checked if I was a mage or not. I never said I was a swordsman."

"In the end, you tricked me. You've planned your winning since you crossed that tree."

"Yes and don't be embarrassed you got trick by a man decade younger than you. Tricking is kind of how I live my life most of the time."

"You talk about honor and yet you're just a trickster." he groused.

"Don't twist my words. I'm not the one who used his sword to kill the innocent." That shut him up real good. I sighed as I look as the man that must have been once a proud man that lived up to people's expectation, and life beat his ego down good. However, if I learn anything in Fairy Tail universe, in both the life I watched and the life I lived is that everyone deserve a second chance.

But before I could say anything inspirational worthy of Fairy Tail or Naruto he spoke first, "You are right."

I blinked, confused I ask "I'm what?"

"You're right. Heart would be disgusted of me. Yet I couldn't let her go. Tell me this Young Man. What's a person to do when you the only thing that's giving you a reason to live is the only thing that keeps you waking up the next day, keeping you from slitting your own wrist and fought for survival was lost? What's a man to do then?"

I was about to answer but he cut me off again.

"The answer is nothing," he answered himself as if it was the most obvious answer. "When a man lost all even his reason to live than he could only wait for death to claim him. Either by himself or by fate."

I wanted to refute him but he then cut me off, again! His pity talk is starting to annoy me.

"Please have mercy on me and kill me without much pain. I know my sin only deserve me to be mercilessly killed with all the pain of a thousand deaths. Even so, I still beg of you, with my life in your hand, spare me the pain of death since I already spent too long living in pain."

"SHUT YOUR YAPING KING TUT'S MOUTH UP FOR A SECOND AND STOP CUTTING ME OFF!" I cried with a hard kick at the back of his head. "Listen up and listen carefully you raging suicidal bastard. You seem have this idea that your life is on my hand then I'll make it plain and simple for you. LIVE!" I emphasize the word with a roar, "If you had killed a hundred then save a thousand more, if you have a hurt a thousand then heal a million more, make sure the death you've caused is worth the death you've prevented so never choose a death until your pay is due!" I rage at him.

Once I said all I have to say I felt myself panting from how much worked up I was and the Swordsman stared blankly at me before dropping his head, "I wish I could do that, but with the way that I am, how am I going to live the way you said?"

I slapped my own face and lowly wiped it off with exasperation, clearly this guy still doesn't get it. "Then for fuck's sake ASK FOR HELP!"

If possible he looked even more confused, "Wha…"

"God, you stubborn people are always the troublesome one. If you need help, then just ask and maybe some people with a heart would do so even if they are a random stranger. The world isn't full of selfish cruel bastard like your 'Master'. You want out of this life? Say the word and I'll do it, but I have to be 100% sure that you want it. Say the words Swordsman. That's all you need to do for me and I'll offer it."

The Swordsman remained stoned while gaping at the young man in front of him. His speechlessness was overwhelmed by the sheer emotion of his gratitude and disbelief. Years of seeing the cruelness of people made him numb from human compassion so hearing his words and seeing his sincere emerald eyes, I was like a messiah to him.

Finally with teary eyes that he blinked away, he shoved his head to the ground and beg him with a sob, "Please…" he choked out, "Please...help….me…."

His face was still buried into the ground so he didn't see the wide grin plastered on me. I stretched out my hand and the Rave crawled from his hands and legs back to my legs and up to my arms as a familiar bracelet. The Swordsman looked surprised at being freed but I ignore in placed to rushed ahead.

"Wait!" I stopped, and turned to glance behind me, "My name is Spade. Spade Kreuz. What's your name?"

I thought about his question and I thought I should give him a reason not to doubt me, "Roy Jurenelle, but some people call me The Captain."

I didn't see it as I left from his viewpoint, but Spade laid his body to the ground. Looked up to the sky with a smile of his face. A smile full of life that he had long since forgotten to do that he had fought off the rumored Legendary Captain.

The Miracle Worker. Savior from Darkness, The One who Tricks Death, but his most famous title of all;

The Rune Master.

AN: BOOM, TITLE DROP!