Aiz's Love Awakens Chapter 31
While Bell was busy kicking the shit out of.. err, I mean persuading Asterius to see the value in teamwork, Emma was wishing she could curl up into a little ball and die due to the humiliation she was currently suffering. Of course, being stuck in the body cast, that was the last thing she could do making the whole experience much worse.
All she wanted to do was cover her now glowing face with her hands, but she still couldn't move. She could only stare up at the slightly cloudy sky as Hestia Familia pushed her bed through the streets of Orario.
It was finally time to have her body cast removed, so Emma was rather happy. She hadn't realised that it could not be done at the Hestia home. Naaza had been rather insistent, she would meet them at Dian Cecht's surgery and work with Airmid to remove the cast. The Dian Cecht surgery was probably the best in the whole world and despite Naaza and Airmid being business rivals, they put that aside whenever they got serious about a patient. Their petty rivalry did not matter compared to saving someone's life or restoring their health. Naaza had explained that she needed to use a special magic stone device in order to inspect Emma's bones and make sure they had repaired correctly. The device was room sized and incredibly expensive. It wasn't something that could be borrowed, so she had no choice but to suffer the humiliation of being pushed through the streets in her bed, being seen by the whole city in her body cast.
So Emma was currently mortified as Welf pushed her bed through the city, wireframe holding her limbs in place included. It was so humiliating! She could hear people whisper and comment as the Familia passed by. But all she could do was stare at the sky and hope it would be all over soon. She was slightly relieved not to be able to move her head, at least she couldn't see the people staring at her.
Bell and Aiz were on one of their deep training sessions with Ottar, Ryu had led the rest of the girls into the dungeon for a training day, so Haruhime, Mikoto and Lili were currently on the tenth floor, trying to persuade Haruhime that should take on an infant dragon by herself. Haruhime was still having issues with her self confidence, but even she had admitted to herself that she was becoming a competent fighter, especially since Bell had got serious about the Familia's training regime.
So that left Welf, Hestia and Primo to escort the poor crippled girl through the city.
Primo was twice as excited as she usually was. Primo was an energetic and bouncy girl, it was just her nature. But today she was really excited. Emma hadn't been able to move for six weeks. Primo had missed her best friend during her first trips to the dungeon. Despite coming home each day and cheerfully and bouncily telling the tales to bedridden Emma, she had missed her. She had been especially disappointed that Emma hadn't been there to witness her 'Firsts' in the dungeon. She'd been so proud of herself too! The magic stone from the infant dragon, her fist kill and her first use of magic was mounted on the mantel of the fireplace in her room. But Emma hadn't been present for her later journeys into the dungeon. She hadn't been there when Primo killed her first goblin, punching it's head off with her fist. She'd been so excited she wanted to run back to Emma and Hestia right there and then. This led to Bell making a rather awkward face at the time, she found out why later when she had been telling Emma and Hestia that evening and Hestia had burst into a fit of giggles, then told the story of how Bell, on his first day in the dungeon, had killed a goblin and was so proud of himself he had run all the way back to Hestia to tell her.
But Emma had missed all of it. So Primo was brimming over with excitement. She knew Emma wouldn't be able to enter the dungeon for a month or two, but the little things would be nice. Just being able to sit down together at breakfast and dinner was a small luxury, but Primo had missed it greatly.
Hestia just smiled gently at the elf girl as she bounced around Emma's bed in excitement, her twin tails bouncing with her joy. She hadn't shut up since they left the house, giddily recounting all the things the pair would do together once she could move again.
Welf rolled his eyes with a grin. Despite thinking Primo had too much of an ego, believing she was a genius and proudly declaring so all the time, the girls happiness and bouncy nature were infectious, she was fun to be around.
Emma smiled gently as she listened to Primo bounce around her despite the embarrassment, she would finally be able to move today and she couldn't wait.
She was really looking forward to taking a bath…
Deep in the mist of floor eleven.
Haruhime was apprehensive, but not nervous.
She had become reasonably confident in her combat skills over the last few months. She knew full well she could take an orc in a one on one fight. An infant dragon was the next challenge, the next step for her growth.
Haruhime had changed her adventurer outfit. Once Bell had started training her in combat, her normal red kimono had been discarded. Not only did it restrict her movements, totally unsuitable for combat, but it was a prostitutes kimono. The obi had been tied in a way that the whole outfit would fall off of her, if the knot was pulled the right way. Once Bell had pointed this out, Haruhime had suddenly understood what he was implying, in a subtle way. If a monster or even just a person accidentally pulled on the obi, she would be left naked in the dungeon.
She had gone to Mikoto for advice on what to wear in the dungeon. During training she wore a Karate gi, so she needed something new for the dungeon.
Working with Welf, Mikoto had designed a very similar battle kimono to her own. The only difference was a layer of mithril chain mail hidden below the cloth. Bell had been very insistent about getting the Familia to upgrade their armour.
Mikoto and Welf had also added chain mail under their usual outfits, neither looked different as a result, but had much better protection from the claws and teeth of the dungeon monsters.
Lili had changed her outfit quite dramatically from the tattered rags she used to wear. She wore a miniature version of Bell's Pyonkichi Mk-V, but with a small metal helmet that had a slightly silly large blue feather plum out of the top. Lili had explained that it would make her easier to see on the battlefield due to her small height.
She had also taken to using a nasty little spiked mace for when she was fighting on the front lines. On deeper floors, when she fell back to the commanders position, she still used her crossbow.
Only Ryu hadn't been persuaded by Bell to wear armour yet. She insisted she didn't need it being an agility fighter, but would consider it once the Familia had caught up a few levels and they all started challenging the deeper levels together.
Bell had gawked at Mikoto and Haruhime the first time he had seen them together in the same purple outfit. Haruhime's almost glowing bright golden hair contrasted with Mikoto's jet black so much so, that when standing next to each other Bell could only think of the ying-yang symbol.
Haruhime had also purchased a new magic staff. It was a combo weapon, both magic staff that contained magic crystals to amplify her magic. But it was also a quarter staff, very strong and sturdy, with mithril bound at the ends, for added durability.
Her hands tightened their grip on her staff as she stared through the mist at the infant dragon Ryu had tracked down.
Lili, taking command as usual had got the team to clear the floor before they engaged the dragon. This was going to be an immense challenge for Haruhime. Ryu needed to stick close, just in case. She was fast enough at level five that she would anticipate any potential lethal blow and be able to step in and prevent it. Mikoto would keep an eye out for any new monsters spawning. Lili as commander, would supervise the whole thing and shout tactics at Haruhime if it looked like she needed some assistance.
"Are you ready?" Lili asked quietly, her eyes sharp as she watched the dragon in the distance. The dragon hadn't noticed the adventurer team yet and was currently facing away from them.
This would normally give a stealthy team like them an advantage, they could get the drop on the creature and attack before it noticed them.
Haruhime however had another trick up her sleeve.
"Grow." She began to chant.
"You upon fortune good bestow it may. Ground the into and hammer the into."
Haruhime started chanting backwards. It was something that Primo had discovered one day when she and Primo had been receiving advanced magic lessons from Lefiya. As they discussed magic, Primo had asked what would happen if you reversed a chant and spoke it backwards. Lefiya had wrinkled her eyebrows at that, it was such an off the wall suggestion that she had never considered it before. She had found teaching Primo rather interesting. The girl was remarkably intelligent for her age and had a questioning and inquisitive mind. The magic demonstrations from Bell and Lefiya herself had destroyed all her beliefs in magic, forcing her to confront the power with open eyes. However, that had meant she had challenged Lefiya with odd questions as she explored the concepts in magic.
This had led to her suggestion of chanting backwards. The trio had given it a try.
After some experimentation, Lefiya had found what spells could work backwards and the effects were.
The results were… confusing.
Arc's ray did nothing. She didn't even feel the magic flow as she chanted, nor did her magic circle appear.
Fusillade Fallarica… Worked… Kind of. Lefiya found that the elemental nature of the spell switched, becoming the opposite. Instead of a fire spell, it became an ice spell like Riveria's.
She found chanting backwards changed depending on the nature of the magic. Arc's ray was a pure energy spell, so nothing happened. Elf ring was a utility spell, so again nothing happened.
Riveria's healing spell was a particular disaster. She'd tried out on Bell, what with him being a freaking tank now, however she quickly stopped the chant as the flesh on Bell's arm started to rot as if it was dead.
It had been quite distressing to see his arm instantly go black, the flesh splitting apart with necrosis.
Still, she found the concept worked. If she chanted backwards, the majority of spells would reverse their effects, depending on the nature of the spell of course.
But the most important result of all her research into Primo's seemingly innocent question had been the result of Haruhime's Uchide no Kozuchi. It could be used to debuff an enemy by a level.
And that's exactly what Haruhime was doing right now. As she was the only one in this fight and her level boosting did not work on herself it was the perfect opener for the fight. Debuff the dragon, weaken it and take it down as quickly as possible.
Her Goliath robe would protect her from its fire breath, her agility and training would mean she should be able to take it down.
But more importantly, Haruhime had something to prove. She wanted to stand by Bell's side, to support him always. But he was growing too fast, she needed to catch up.
"Grow." She said one last time and sent her magic towards the four meter tall beast.
A golden hammer rose up through the body of the dragon, before splitting apart and cascading away in a shower of golden magic particles.
Picturing Bell in her mind, Haruhime said quietly under her breath. "I must get stronger."
The dragon, confused as to why it was suddenly glowing gold, span around looking for targets, it's eyes quickly landing on the Renard girl standing before it.
It stomped it's feet a few times to try and intimidate her, before charging at her with a roar.
"GROOOOOOOOOOO!"
Haruhime stared it down as it charged her.
"Fear is the mind killer." She repeated Bell's favourite expression, calming herself despite the giant beast charging towards her, intent on ripping her limb from limb.
At the right moment, with a glint in her eye she leapt forward with a scream.
"AHHGGGHHHHHHHH!"
The fox girl roared as she begun the fight.
If it was possible for her old self to witness this, she wouldn't have believed it was her.
Deep in the dungeon somewhere in the thirty seventh floor, Bell, Aiz and Ottar were sitting quietly waiting for Asterius to wake up.
Not having much to do, Aiz and Ottar had sparred for a bit. Bell was far too tired after his fight with Asterius, so sat this round out. He might be the strongest adventurer in the city, but even Bell had his limits after going toe to toe with Asterius, he was utterly exhausted.
Currently, they were sitting around Bell's magic stone stove drinking green tea. Ottar and Aiz were chatting quietly, planning when they would next return. Bell had been quite pleased as he saw them talk, both his and Aiz's relationship with Ottar, had been steadily improving as they learnt to trust each other in the dungeon. Bell thought it was nice that Aiz and Ottar could sit and chat as friends now.
They were discussing how the three of them, that being Aiz, Ottar and Asterius would approach Balor, the next floor boss they intended to take on. Having witnessed Asterius's combat techniques a couple of times now, they were both confident that they could adapt around him, so they were currently discussion how to approach the fight.
As Bell had no intention of stepping in, he took five minutes to close his eyes and get some sleep.
Ottar's stats at level seven were maxed out now. Everything was ranked at S. The only stat that had actually grown over the past couple of months was magic, still the training sessions in the colosseum had been beneficial, he finally got all his stats to 999 but the most value he took from it was learning to fight with Bell and Aiz at his back. The trio's coordination was uncanny now.
Still the colosseum was not enough to push him to level up. Balor would have to be that stepping stone.
Aiz's stats had skyrocketed over the last few weeks. No way near the pace of Bell of course, but she was halfway through level six already, her agility stat hitting C grade already. It was the fastest she had every grown. Technically, she could level up already and only needed a significant event to give her that push, but she knew from Bell's example to delay the level up as long as possible and grow her base stats as high as she could before she passed that threshold.
So, as they waited for the giant bull to wake up, they sat and discussed their plans for the future.
It was a sight no one had ever expected to see in the dungeon.
So deep most adventures would never reach it… The thirty seventh floor. Five ring walls of death and destruction. Very few got this far down… at some point, just being able to reach this far overtook Familia loyalty. Sheer competence mattered at the lower depths. Those that got that far, understood that more than anyone else. Two of the most powerful people who might ever live and were in technically rival Familia's sat and talked.
Aiz Wallenstein, the sword princes sitting peacefully with Ottar, the King sipping green tea and discussing battle tactics like they were old friends.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Hestia and Primo both covered their ears, their twin tails bouncing expressively as they both winced at the high pitched screeching noise coming from the room where Emma was being operated on.
"Gods! What is that awful noise?" Hestia shouted under the din.
"It's like someone's torturing kittens!" Primo moaned.
"It's a magic stone powered cutting tool." Welf answered recognising the noise instantly.
"Must be a really small one. The one's I'm used to using are not that high pitched. I guess that's how they are getting the cast off of Emma."
Naaza had been very strict about protecting Emma's dignity. Hestia, Welf and Primo had been ushered out of the operating room and told to wait in the waiting area outside. Currently Naaza and Airmid were slowly cutting the plaster cast apart, with, as Welf had answered, a magic stone cutting tool. It was a small spinning blade and the perfect tool to cut through the plaster. Naaza worked very very carefully and methodically. She didn't want to slip and end up having the blade hit Emma's skin.
As a result, they all had to put up with the god awful screeching noise for the next hour as Naaza worked.
As Naaza worked, Airmid was setting up the magic stone projection table that she would use to check over Emma's bones one she was free of the cast. The instrument was extremely precise but needed careful calibrations each time it was used.
"Airmid." Naaza called out, trying to get the girls attention.
"Can it wait? I'm in the middle of some calibrations."
"Well, yes, but I'm done cutting the cast, we can remove it now."
Airmid held up a finger for a moment, asking her to wait as she adjusted one last dial on the device, before nodding to herself with a small smile.
"OK Emma." Naaza said as she and Airmid placed themselves at either side of Emma's bed.
"This shouldn't hurt, but because I was very careful not to cut you when cutting the plaster, it might take a few pulls before it splits apart. It might feel… odd, but you shouldn't feel any pain. Don't try and move once it's off though, we have to check your nerves first and as you have not moved in a long time, it might be a shock to your system if you try to do too much right away."
Emma went to nod to show her understanding only to sigh at the neck brace. Well, at least that would be off in a few moments.
"Ready Airmid?" Naaza asked as she grabbed her side of the body cast.
"Ready."
"On three then."
"One."
"Two.
"Three."
Both Airmid and Naaza pulled. Most of the cut from the magic stone tool had penetrated all the way through, splitting the plaster completely, but a few sections, especially near some more sensitive areas, Naaza had made sure not to cut completely through.
Still, despite the resistance both were level two adventures, far stronger than normal people.
The last remaining bits of plaster couldn't even put up a resistance to the two powerful women. The cast split apart with ease and the top half was discarded.
Emma now lay, stark naked, in the bottom half of the cast, but her limbs were free.
"Don't move yet." Airmid put her hand on Emma's chest to stop her from trying to get up.
"Toes first." Naaza said, moving to the end of the bed.
"Can you wiggle them?"
Emma tried.
WOW did that feel… strange? Odd? Emma couldn't explain it herself. Having not moved any part of her body for six weeks now, except her eyes and mouth, the sensation of wriggling her toes was very very odd.
Still, Naaza quickly smiled as she saw Emma wriggling the toes of her left foot.
"Right fingers next…"
It was a shame that Emma and Primo didn't get to watch Haruhime's fight with the infant dragon.
Both would have stood and stared in awe at the fox girl.
Haruhime had been preparing for this fight for a while, asking Bell about tactics and what approach she should use. She knew that an infant dragon had many weakness's. It took them around twenty seconds to recharge their fire breath attack. The stomach had no armour whatsoever and could be easily disembowelled. The chest had a vulnerable spot that glowed slightly, if a weapon could penetrate the armour, or with a blunt attack, damage the organ inside, the dragon would lose control of its fire breath and explode. It just took a precise or strong hit to the right spot. They moved slowly so could easily be overwhelmed by a fast attacker getting behind them. The thing to watch out for was the tail sweep, though that was easy to jump over if you saw it coming.
As Haruhime charged the now weakened monster, she remember what Bell had taught her and waited for the right moment.
As the dragon drew breath to breath down flame upon her she leapt up into the air and spun at the same time, so her back was facing the attack.
Timed perfectly, the bright orange flames struck her Goliath cloak, washing around her without causing any damage. She continued to fly backwards into the fire, waiting for the right moment to spin in the air again and push her attack.
She felt the flames fade and in that split second spun again in the air, whipping her quarterstaff around as hard as she could, smashing the mithril bound end into the dragons eye, splattering the organ all over the place as it exploded from the blunt force attack.
The dragon screamed in pain, totally disorientated for a second as the fox girl dropped to her feet.
The annoying little creature that had attacked it bounced backwards rapidly as it tried to stomp on her, shaking its head all the while due to the pain in it's eye.
Haruhime had anticipated this and had planned her escape route. She bounced back into a group of trees that were too large for the dragon to enter without forcing them apart with it's body, momentarily slowing it down allowing the golden haired renard to reposition herself as the half blind dragon smashed it's way through the forest.
Using the advantage of it's blind side, Haruhime slipped around the dragon, forcing it to turn as it could not see that side at all now. As the dragon thrashed through the trees, trying to turn quickly enough to keep up with the girl, Haruhime smirked. Bell's trap had worked just like he said. She followed his next bit of advice.
"One of the most vulnerable area's on an infant dragon is the joint where the tail meets the spine. If you land a hard enough blow, it smashes the nerves meaning the dragon can't use its tail. Not only will that stop it's tail sweep attack, it unbalances the dragon meaning their combat efficiency drops massively."
Exploiting the blind spot, Haruhime leapt up again, but this time she landed a sharp blow from her quarterstaff right on the tail joint, just like Bell had told her to do.
She wasn't strong enough to have the desired effect, but it did cause a secondary one, something Bell had forgotten to mention.
It was the same effect as when you bang your elbow and hit the nerve, except this was far far worse. This wasn't a numb arm. The dragon felt lightning shoot through the whole of its spine. From the tip of its tail, all the way through to the brain. The entire nerve lit up with pain, causing the dragon to scream once again.
The dragon had had enough at this point. Self preservation began to override it's instinct to kill and the command from its mother to destroy anything that entered the dungeon.
Scared of the little fox girl, who had taken it's eye and caused it more pain than it thought was possible, the dragon turned and began to flee.
"DON'T LET IT GET AWAY!" Lili screamed, her voice carried across the battlefield by her command call skill.
Mikoto and Ryu began chasing after the fox girl, who had begun to chase the fleeing dragon.
Bell's eyes snapped open.
Bell was still grateful that Aiz and subsequently Ryu had taught him how to sleep in the dungeon. It wasn't the same as sleeping at home in his bed. This technique was different. Somehow, he could both be asleep and aware of his surroundings at the same time. He didn't understand how it worked, but it was a skill that had saved his life, so he wasn't going to worry about it.
He had woken, because he felt Asterius begun to stir. The giant bull was returning to the world of the waking.
"Urrrgghhhh." The Minotaur moaned as he began to wake.
He sat up, clutching at his head as if he were in immense pain, before glancing around, seeing Bell, Aiz and Ottar sitting around him.
"How you feeling big guy?" Bell asked.
Asterius stared at him for a second. Why hadn't Bell finished him off? Why was he alive? And why was the boy sitting there with a smile on his face?
Asterius rubbed his forehead again. His head was pounding.
"My head hurts." He said after a second.
"And."
He rubbed at his jaw with his hand.
"And my jaw hurts."
"Well… I did hit you pretty hard." Bell said in reply, scratching the back of his head with a small chuckle.
"Here." Bell passed the giant bull a potion. And then passed him three more.
"Why?" The bull asked in confusion. This was Bell Cranel, the white rabbit, his rival. Why was he alive?
"Why what?" Bell asked, notably confused.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
Bell shook his head.
"I don't want to kill you Asterius. Being rivals…" Bell gave him an ironic smile. "Being rivals… It's been fun. It really has. But…" He glanced at Aiz for a second.
"Things have changed for me Asterius… since we last met."
He gave the bull a serious look.
"I have a new goal. One I want your help with."
The bull pointed at himself as if confused.
"Yes… Asterius… Things have changed, my goals have changed."
He looked over to Aiz with a big smile on his face.
"For one, I have found a mate." He said, nodding in Aiz's direction.
"That kinda means… I have a future to look forward too. I'd rather not be dead."
"The second…"
He paused for a moment.
"The three of us." He pointed at himself, Ottar and Aiz.
"We… And… hopefully you… are going to finish the last of the three great quests."
Asterius raised an eyebrow at this.
"I want you to help us kill the One eyed black dragon."
"Now push your foot back against my palm."
Emma pushed Naaza's palm with her left foot. Moving again had been agonising, it was like every limb had pins and needles, still after the initial shock the Falna kicked, her strength returning rapidly.
"Excellent Emma, your doing really well." Naaza said with a smile as she pushed Emma's leg back towards her.
"Yes, far better than we expected." Airmid agreed as she assessed the girl.
"Do you think you could try sitting up?"
Emma nodded, the simple action bring a smile to her face. She hadn't been able to nod for six weeks now. The sheer pleasure of being able to move was overwhelming.
"OK we'll help you…"
Airmid and Naaza grasped Emma gently by the arms.
"Ready? On three… One, two, three."
"Ahhh!" Emma gasped as she was pulled into a sitting position. Muscles that had not moved in weeks screamed at her as they woke up for the first time.
"Good. Right… We will let go now. Do you think you can stay sitting like that by yourself?"
"Yes." Emma replied
Both girls watched Emma for any signs of her not being able to support herself as they let go, but she was in far better condition than they had expected and could sit by herself fine.
"OK Let's get you dignified first. Can you lift your arms?" Airmid asked as she stood holding a hospital gown.
Emma nodded again and weakly raised her arms, allowing Airmid to slip the hospital gown over her shoulders.
"Good job Emma." Naaza's natural beside manner kicked in.
"Time to check the condition of your bones Emma. We don't want you walking yet, so Naaza and I will carry you over to the examination table."
"UUUUOOOORRRRROOOUU!"
The infant dragon screamed in terror as it thrashed it's way through the trees, desperately trying to escape the blond haired fox girl that was chasing it relentlessly.
The monster didn't stand a chance though. Even if it had been fast enough to get away from Haruhime, it had the rest of the girls of Hestia Familia chasing it as well.
Ryu had rapidly caught up, she leapt, clearing right over the beasts head, she back flipped, sheathing her wooden sword and drawing out her shorter metal ones. Holding them backwards like daggers, she used the momentum of her fall to plunge them into the front left foot of the dragon, pinning the limb to the ground, stopping the great beast from running away.
She jumped back from the pinned dragon, her face stoic, showing little emotion as usual.
"BACK TO YOU HARUHIME-SAN!"
"YES RYU-DONO!" Haruhime called back as she caught up to her target.
"Lili!" She called, getting the chestnut prum's attention.
Lili turned towards her with a raised eyebrow.
"Can I get a spear please commander?" Haruhime asked.
Lili was a bit surprised, she knew Haruhime had been practising with a bunch of different weapons, but hadn't seen her using a bladed weapon in the dungeon yet. Haruhime had stuck with her quarterstaff as her main weapon. Like everyone in Hestia Familia, she carried a short sword as a backup weapon. Again, something Bell had insisted on. It didn't matter a persons position in the team or if they were expected to fight. Everyone carried a backup short sword just in case.
But the moment Haruhime had asked for a spear, Lili understood what her intentions were.
"Going for the hotspot?"
Haruhime nodded as she threw her quarterstaff to Lili, catching the spear Lily had chucked at her.
"That's risky Haruhime… Are you sure?"
"Yes, if Ryu-dono stuns it first I should be able to pull it off."
Ryu nodded at this, pulling out her wooden sword.
"Ready?" Ryu asked as she watched Haruhime swing the spear a few times, expertly twirling it.
"Ready." Haruhime affirmed, a determined look on her face.
"Hup!" Ryu leapt forwards again, charging towards the dragon so quickly with her level four status, Haruhime had a hard time seeing what happened.
She did see the result though. Ryu had jumped and uppercut the dragon in the jaw with her sword. Haruhime saw the dragons head snap back as it was knocked for six, too stunned to do anything but shake its head.
"ARRRRRGGHHH!" The blonde renard screamed as she charged at the dragon, the spear thrust forwards in front of her.
Emma shivered as she lay on the dark obsidian table. It was really really cold.
Naaza had explained what it was, powered by magic stones and created by someone with the Mystery development ability the examination table allowed the projection of the internals of the body. Airmid used it for diagnosis of internal injuries, but it also helped her diagnose regular health problems with people, such as cirrhosis of the liver.
Airmid fiddled with a few dials on the side of the table for a few moments before saying.
"OK Let's see what we have…"
She pressed a button and instantly a pale blue representation of Emma's skeleton was floating above her. She couldn't help but move slightly in shock as it came into view, noticing that the skeleton moved as she did.
It was such an odd sight. She had seen skeleton's before, she after all come from a well to do family and had received a decent education as a child.
But to look at one's own skeleton was really an odd sight.
"What the?" Naaza said.
"Huh." Airmid replied with a frown.
"Is it calibrated correctly?" Naaza asked, not understanding quite what she was seeing.
Airmid gave her a frown, not appreciating Naaza's doubt, but double checked the settings.
"Yes, it's correct." She confirmed.
"I have never seen anything like this…" Naaza said quietly as she examined the projection of Emma's bones.
Emma started to get worried. Doctors shouldn't say things like "I have never seen anything like this…"
"What's wrong?" She asked out of concern.
"Well…" Airmid paused for a second in thought. "Well, not wrong as such. You have healed well. Excellently in fact… It's just…"
She trailed off. She needed to check something before she could answer Emma's question.
She looked at Naaza. "We should weigh her, that will confirm it."
"Well, with what we are looking at, I'm not worried about her trying to walk… Think you can stand Emma?"
Emma sighed with relief.
"You have no idea how much I want to stand on my own two feet."
"ARRRRGGGHHH!" Haruhime screamed as she plunged the spear into the glowing spot on the dragons chest. She expertly aimed the point of the blade to land between two scales, slipping past the armour allowing the spear point to plunge into the sensitive organ.
Knowing what would happen, she'd seen Bell punch them, she leapt backwards, spun and crouched covering herself with her Goliath robe.
KABOOOOOM!
An orange fireball exploded from the chest of the dragon, splitting the head from the body, which instantly dropped, exploding into black ash as it hit the floor.
The rest of the body stood for a second as the fireball lazily expanded across the area, engulfing the surrounding trees and Haruhime in flame.
Once again, Haruhime thanked Welf in her heart. He had been the one to create the Goliath robe for her. Not only had it saved her life many times already, such as the fight with Amphisbaenian, protecting her from the searing hot blue flames from that double headed dragon, it was also so effective in combat, it allowed her to do things like aggressively leap into dragon fire or take the risk of detonating the dragon.
Once she felt the heat die away, she stood and turned to check that the dragon was really dead.
She just caught the last few moments as the body disintegrated into ash and the magic stone dropped to the floor.
Smiling with pride, she uttered a small "Yes." and gave a tiny fist pump, satisfied with her victory.
She suddenly felt herself wrapped up in a hug as Mikoto wrapped her arms around her.
"Well done Haruhime-dono!" The samurai cried, beaming with pride for her childhood friend.
"Agreed. Very well done." Ryu gave her a nod.
Lili looked down on her team with pride. Bell was going to be very happy about this.
"Well… That certainly confirms it." Naaza said as she looked at the scales Emma was standing on.
Standing! She was actually standing! The way Naaza and Airmid had talked over the last few weeks as she healed made her think she would have to learn to walk again. She thought she would be bed ridden for weeks, having to practice every day like a child until she built her muscles back up again.
But her Falna had done it's best to keep her strong and she was quite surprised that, although she did feel weak, she could actually stand and walk. She wasn't a crippled mess. Those first few steps she had taken between the examination table and the scales had been utter bliss.
"Wow." Airmid said, but as usual she didn't show much emotion despite her apparent surprise.
"Sixteen stone… unbelievable."
"What do her notes say about her weight before the incident?"
"Eight stone… about right for a girl of her height."
Emma frowned.
"I weigh sixteen stone?"
"Yes." Naaza confirmed.
Emma furrowed her brow in confusion. She hadn't gotten any fatter in the last few weeks, her body was as slim and lithe as it had ever been.
How could she weigh twice as much as she did before?
"It's your bones." Airmid began to explain.
"When a bone is broken and healed, that healed part is much stronger than it was before. I have heard of a martial art from the far east called 'Myanmar Lethwei'. The practitioners… Well… the fighting style is bare knuckle. The human body is not designed to withstand fist fights. However, when bones are repeatedly severely fractured, the body strengthens the bones to adapt to the extraordinary environment. After repeatedly being broken and strengthened, the skeleton takes a different form from the average human body. It's a martial art to adapt humans to the environment."
"Essentially Emma, when you hit that wall, your bones were not just smashed to pieces, they were basically dust. You don't remember how many times we had to operate on you, you were asleep for the first week. We had to extract the dust and splinters that were your bones, mould them back into shape and hope that everything healed. If anything… you have healed too well. Your bones are so dense that they weigh eight stone themselves, doubling your body weight."
"But what does that mean?" Emma was confused. She had stronger bones now?
"Well Emma…" Naaza began to explain. "If what we saw on the examination table is true… your bones are effectively as strong as adamantium."
"Your a walking tank."
"So Asterius…"
It was several hours later. Once Asterius had healed himself with the potions Bell gave him he sat and listened to the young man.
Bell had done his best to explain everything that had happened since they last fought. Finding his mate, his heroic growth as a result of that, his goals for the future, their plans to take down the one eyed black dragon.
Once Bell had explained, that if Asterius really wanted one final fight, it would have to wait. Bell needed to achieve his goals. He had to defeat the dragon, rescue Aria, conquer the dungeon and he would need the Minotaur's help in order to do this.
"I can't be your rival any more." He said with a shake of his head.
"But I'd like to be your friend."
Bell reached out his hand.