Slash

The sound of swords colliding filled the open area of the courtyard. Subaru and Reinhard had been training for the past hour, and Subaru was exhausted.

Subaru has been living with Reinhard for the past week, and his relationship with his has greatly improved. For the past three days, Subaru has been sword training and parkour training with Reinhard. He had explained to him about the Divine Protection of Teaching, and that's why Subaru was catching on so fast.

He was also being taught to read and write by some teachers the Van Astrea family hired for him. Subaru's goal was to become a royal knight and work alongside Reinhard.

Although he wished to see Lady Emilia, he wanted to become powerful first, to be able to impress her.

Reinhard passed Subaru his water canteen, and he drank the remaining few drops of it. "I think we should call it a day, Subaru." Reinhard said with a smile. Not that Subaru would know it, but Reinhard has been smiling a lot more since his arrival. Reinhard only had Felix and Julius as friends, but neither of them were as close to him as Subaru.

He was unsure if it was because Subaru didn't know he was a monster or if because Subaru was living with him, but he preferred to keep things the way they are. He tried to keep Subaru from discovering that he's a monster.

It was at this moment that Roswaal flew into the courtyard, sticking the landing perfectly.

And by perfectly I mean, setting the grass on fire. But other than that, it was perfect.

"Subaruuuuu, it is time for magic trainiiiing."

This fucker can fly ?!

That also has been going on for the past three days. Roswaal said he'd visit once a week, but since Subaru was a beginner he decided to do two lessons on the first week.

The first time, it was just him teaching Subaru to control the flow of mana, and to visualise things faster and clearer.

This time was different.

…

Running.

Subaru hasn't ran like this since 6th grade. And the constant bombardment of fireballs around him terrified him. For the tenth time since coming here, he feared for his life. It was thanks to the spirits around him that he was able to evade the incoming attacks.

Oh, right. This was Roswaal's idea of magic training. He was currently chasing him down and raining fireballs down onto Subaru, who was running for his life and continuously dodging left and right to not get burned alive.

He realised he was rapidly running out of stamina, the exhaustion from his earlier training didn't help either. He had to do something and fast. There was one thing he knew he could do.

After discovering his affinity was shadow magic, he inquired Reinhard if he knew of any shadow spells. But since it was so rare, Reinhard only knew of Shamac, a blinding spell.

Subaru decided what he wanted to do. He jumped and evaded one last fireball before halting and standing his ground. He saw Roswaal approaching him at an alarming speed and preparing a fireball. He starting running towards Roswaal who seemed a bit caught off guard but flew towards him nonetheless.

Subaru jumped into the air and in that split second he contacted the spirits once more.

Hey spirits! Been a while huh. I'm gonna need your help here, let's draw some mana in the air! I'm gonna cast a nice shamac, I won't scramble my gate into a magic infused omelette this time.

He felt the mana entering his body, coursing through his veins. It was a very pleasant feeling, like accomplishing something good, or drinking water at 3 am. He controlled the mana and pushed it through his gate.

"SHAMAC!" He yelled.

A cloud of smoke surrounded Roswaal, who stopped sending fireballs and slowed down to a halt.

"That was a good spell Subaru, great form, fast casting. If I wasn't a powerful magician that would have worked." Roswaal spoke as the smoke cleared. "We should call it here, you did well. I have matters to attend to. See you lateeeeer, Subaru-kuuuuun.~" And with that, he shot of into the air and flew away at alarming speeds.

Subaru watched him leave and then looked around him. "Right... How do I get back?" He asked no one in particular.

A ground dragon ran up behind him and came to a halt. "Ah... Right."

…

Subaru got back to the Van Astrea mansion and opened the big entrance doors. He noticed Reinhard along with Felix in the lobby. Reinhard's face adopted a smile when he saw him enter.

"Ah, Subaru, how was training?" He asked. If he was faking it, it was very convincing.

"It was alright, thank you Reinhard. Felix! How are you." Subaru asked.

Over the week, he has seen Felix once or twice, and they have grown a bit closer. Or at least Subaru thinks they have, he can't read minds so he can never be sure. He also made the startling discovery that Felix is in fact a dude. Damn, that really ruined one of my fetishes.

"I'm okay, thank you Subaru-kyun~." Felix winked.

"So, what are you doing here?" Subaru asked, not wanting to sound rude.

"I asked him to come here. I was worried that with magic training you'd wound your gate again, so I asked Felix to make sure it's in shape." Reinhard replied in Felix's stead.

Subaru nodded slowly. "I see, I see."

One embarrassing shirt lift, back massage and gate inspection later, Felix noted that Subaru's gate has in fact been damaged.

"Subaru-kyun, you need to be careful with your gate. It is rather fragile and it looks like spell casting damages it quite easily." Felix voiced his concerns. It's the first time he's seen a gate be so damaged after what Subaru explained as one spell being used. Then again, it's also the first time he's seen someone with such a high spirit affinity.

"So.. I should refrain from using magic?" Subaru asked. If that's the case, then that kinda sucks. What's the point in having so much mana IF I CAN'T FRIGGIN USE IT.

"Well, Subaru, if you contract with a spirit you can use their gate to not damage yourself." Reinhard suggested.

"I guess I could do that." Subaru agreed.

This must be the third time someone has told me to contract with a spirit. If that isn't a clear hint at my current quest then that must be it...

….

…

I need to stop thinking like that. I've noticed that there isn't a demon lord or anything here. I've been informed of the royal selections, and the candidates. There's a witch cult but they're not too active currently. This isn't a game Subaru. These are real people and you care for them.

Thinking that way is careless and will get you killed. And I can't just load from a checkpoint like in video games... Or can I?... No that would go against the whole point of me not having game features.

Anyway. I'm starving.

They ate dinner..

…

Subaru lays down in his bed. It's some time early in the morning. He woke up a few minutes ago needing to pee, but the bed was just so comfy.

"Ah... Screw it."

He got up and made his way out into the hallway, the floor was cold against his bare feet and the air nipped at his face. Walking down the halls, he could hear rustling but he just assumed someone else was awake.

He found the bathroom and relieved himself, then walked back out. Of course he washed his hands before doing so. The rest of the world may not know about the germ theory but he certainly does.

DODGE TO THE LEFT.

The words were crammed into his mind and he swiftly complied. The spirits have saved him on countless occasions so he trusted their judgement.

Once he evaded, he saw a hooded man fly past him with a sharp knife.

He would've ended me in one go if I didn't do-

Behind you.

Subaru rolled forward and twisted around. He noticed that there were six of them total. They keep charging at him, but thanks to his training from Reinhard and the spirits he's able to dodge them, if not barely.

But he gets tired, it's 3 am, he's stiff and it's six against one.

One blade stabs into his shoulder, he lets out a yelp but is interrupted by a blade tearing into his chest.

He falls to the ground, and his vision blurs.

I'm... I am going to die here aren't I... But... I have so much to do. Please.. Let me live.

Three different coloured orbs appeared in front of him, he noticed that they were brighter than normal spirits.

Hello, my name is Una.

He flinched, he didn't realise spirits could talk fluently. It had a rather feminine tone to it, so he assumed Una was female.

Hi, my name is Subaru. Are you the angel that'll take me to heaven? He asked in his thoughts.

No, but we are Quasi-spirits. We won't take you to heaven but we'd like to do the opposite.

I see.. So which one of you is Una?

The yellow one circled around in the air a little.

I see.

My name is Feu, I'm a fire spirit. The red one circled in the air. It had a masculine voice.

I'm Ve, a wind spirit. The remaining green spirit circled in the air. It had a feminine voice.

Oh right, yes I'm an earth spirit. We would like to form a contract with you.

Contract? Oh so I can use you as gates?

Use us is a bit of a violent way to put it, but yes. In exchange for our gates, you protect us. Feu stated.

We're all decades old, we've grown rather bored of just floating around. When we saw you back in the loot house we were amazed at your affinity. Ve continued.

So we decided to follow you here. Your usage of Shamac during that fight with the clown was impressive. If you contract with us we follow the following rules. Una follows.

Number one : We are under your command and will cast any spell you ask us to.

Number two : You supply us with mana and keep us alive

Subaru nodded internally. Then I accept the contract.

He couldn't see their faces, if they even had one, but he could feel the excitement radiate from them. It suddenly occurred to him that the hooded men haven't moved an inch.

Hey, why are they staying still?

We cast a spell on you that accelerates your thinking, it costs us a lot of mana though, and we can only maintain it for another thirty seconds or so. Feu replies.

I see... Hey Una, can you heal wounds? Subaru knew that healing magic was water magic, but it would make sense if earth magic could too.

I cannot think of any healing spells I can use that works on humans. I can heal plants but that's by accelerating their growth rate.

Interesting. Una, this is gonna sound weird but as soon as this spell ends, I need you to accelerate the cells on the outside of my body. They'll heal faster and will stop the bleeding. I can worry about internal damage later. Feu, Ve, are you familiar with the Goa and Fula spells?

Of course. Ve and Feu replied in unison.

I'd like you two to cast them at the same time at my command. I'm going to cast Gola, which is a mix of Fula and Goa. Let me do the visualising, just push my mana through your gates.

Alright.

Ve!

Yes?

Get ready to cast Fura.

Yes Subaru.

Time started to speed up again as the spell effects wore off. Una immediately started sealing the wounds, although painfully, as Subaru was currently feeling the pain of the wounds one hundred and twenty times more than he should. Luckily, it was over in half a second, as scabs had already formed. He shot up to his feet.

He glared at the men who were now in one group, and raised his hand towards them. As they all ran towards him at the same time, he drew mana from the air. Although unsure on how he did it, he somehow found a way to supply his spirits with mana.

He poured the mana into Ve's gate and visualised a strong gust of wind extending from his hand.

"FURA" He yelled.

Subaru had read a little into magic, although his understanding on the language was limited, he read with Reinhard by his side. At the time he was hoping to find out more on Shadow magic but didn't find a single thing. However a few spells stuck into his mind : Fura, a wind gust spell, and Fula, a wind blade spell.

The hooded men flew backwards, it also caused vases to fall off the table and paintings to tear off the wall. I really hope I don't need to pay for that.

He shook the thought away and prepared for the next spell. He poured the mana into both Ve and Feu this time, and visualised a series of spinning flaming bladed shooting from his finger tips.

The air around him felt staler and staler, and his surroundings became colder. In the split second between the visualisation and casting he had an epiphany.

So that's how fire magic works? I'm draining heat from nearby molecules to then focus it onto one point. I guess that's what lights the flame, then maybe mana is used as the fuel? Me visualising pouring oxygen into the flames doesn't make it more powerful like it usually does in most isekai manga.

In either case, let's cast the spell. Ve, Feu, I hope you're ready for this.

"EL GOLA!" He shouts. It echoed throughout the hallways as several flaming blades of wind flung from his fingertips. They lit up the hallway and for a second he could see the attackers. Black robes, red outlines and symbol? Is this the Witch Cult? Ah man, I was warned about them. Why do I have to be attacked by them now?

The blades of fire hit the cultists, tearing their limbs off and then setting them on fire. It was clear to him that they had not expected this and the element of surprise is the 7th and most powerful magical element. It was the one to kill them after all.

He saw them groan and melt to the ground, one he was certain they were dead, he raised his arms in the air and let out a victory "FUCK YES".

Ve! Una! Feu! That was so awesome! Man you guys are so cool!

If they had faces, they would be blushing.

The sound of swords clashing and a blur of red hair snapped him back to reality. He turned around and saw Reinhard holding a sword which currently had a witch cultist impaled on it. Ah, I need to watch my flank. Thank god its over... Hey speaking of over, I'm kinda tired right now...

"Subaru! Are you alright?" Reinhard yelled as he walked closer to Subaru and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Not to worry Reinhard, although I currently have a lot of internal bleeding and the only thing keeping me conscious is probably the adrenaline." Subaru grinned and gave him a thumbs up. I really need to see a doctor. It burns.

Reinhard's mouth fell agape, before picking Subaru up and running to the infirmary. Because of course, every rich man's mansion had an infirmary. Although it was the middle of the night, the doctor was awake and ready to heal Subaru on command.

They placed him on a medical and the doctor started healing Subaru instantly.

"So, doctor, what medical college did you graduate from?" Subaru asked, trying to lighten the mood.

The doctor was concentrated on healing him however, and he replied seriously. "I don't know what medical college is, but I have several years of experience of healing men on the battlefield. I've never let a man die on my bed in my twenty year career."

Subaru nodded, not really knowing what to do with the information. But his movements seemed to frustrate the doctor. "Please stop moving, Sir, I need you to keep still so I can heal your injuries better."

Subaru clicked his tongue in response, and the doctor seemed to understand its meaning.

Reinhard glanced at Subaru's body, in which the upper half had been stripped to allow easier access to the wounds. He was confused however, at the lack of exterior damaging. But he noticed scarring where the wounds were internally.

"Subaru, why don't you have any exterior damaging?" Reinhard asked.

"Ah, I was curious about that too, but I assumed he had some accelerated healing process." The doctor admitted.

"Well... As I was bleeding out on the floor, some spirits approached me and formed a contract with me." Subaru confessed.

Reinhard was impressed. "Wait, did you say spirits? More than one?"

"Yes. Three quasi-spirits, Una, an earth spirit, Feu, a fire spirit, and Ve, a wind spirit." Subaru explained.

"Right, but how does this explain your healing?"

"I asked Una to accelerate the cell production of my skin cells and my blood clotting cells to seal the wounds. I knew it wouldn't heal them completely but it stopped the bleeding so I didn't have to worry about blood loss." Subaru stated.

The doctor's eyes widen. "You know a lot about human anatomy, and for you to be able to know it would work means you must have experience with this sort of stuff. Are you also a doctor? Is this why you asked what my experience and background was?"

Subaru laughed sheepishly. "Nah, where I come from most of this knowledge is universal. I kinda guessed about the healing part on a limb and it worked. Guess I'm just lucky." He wanted to rub the back of his head but the doctor healing him prevented him from doing so.

Reinhard blinked a few times. It was obvious he had greatly underestimated Subaru. It was obvious that Subaru is a genius. Of course! It explains why his hands are so soft and why he has so little stamina. He is a scientist. That's why!

From the sounds of it, his home nation sounds technologically advanced too. Reinhard smiled once more, Subaru was an enigma and although every answer only created more questions, it only painted him in a greater light.

Then a second wave of thoughts hit him. Someone as great as Subaru shouldn't be around Reinhard. He's a monster, someone who doesn't deserve friends in the first place.

….

….

….

But he can just enjoy the moment right now can't he? Maybe he can just stay a little longer before Subaru realised he's a monster. Although from how high his intellect may be, it may not be for long.

Reinhard glanced back at Subaru who had now fallen asleep. In a panic he glanced at the doctor with distress evident on his expression.

"Don't worry, he's just tired. Let him sleep."

HMMM THE PLOT THICKENS... This chapter is kinda shorter than I wanted it to be but next one is longer. Laters!