Hell has frozen over! Another update so soon afterwards XD It does feel great to make regular updates to a story. Though I should probably make an update to FB rewrite soon. Just been in a Nightshade mood.

See you at the bottom.

Chapter 11

Graduation Time

It had been a few days since the duel with Diaz. Fortunately, he hadn't said a word to me, which I was perfectly fine with. A few people had heard him bad mouthing me though, saying that I should've used the steel sword instead of the Night Shadow Blade. Should've thought of that before being so cocky.

Meanwhile, I had another problem to deal with. Lord Grant's graduation present.

It was expected of Primary Trainee's to give their Elite Disciple a gift upon their graduation. The only issue is that I had no idea what to give him. He liked his drink, and he liked battle. But drink wouldn't last and battle was something we did every day.

It was the last day of rest before graduation. I wandered the streets of Centoria, looking in shop windows and on market stalls. There were some rather nice swords on display, but they couldn't match Lord Grant's family sword. I sighed as I walked past a glasswork shop called Clear as Day. The shining glass in the window was shaped into many different objects, such as ornaments, bottles and chandeliers.

Despite having no desire to have one of these fancy bits of furniture, I couldn't help but stare at one of the bottles. It seemed to be made of crystal with the way it was shaped, almost like a diamond. I looked at the text on the wall and saw they did custom pieces for a higher price. A weird thought passed through my head.

It was perfect for Lord Grant.

I went inside, a bell ringing as I opened the door. "Welcome!" A cheery middle-aged man stood behind the counter, beaming at me. "Ah, a trainee from the academy? Come on in, feel free to browse."

The inside of the shop was even more interesting. The amount of things this man had made using just glass was incredible. I was drawn to a pair of birds that were hanging from a small tree.

"Unfortunately, those aren't for sale." The man sighed. "Young boy ordered them a year ago, paid for them upfront. He never came back for them, so I keep them on display." He waved his hand towards the next shelf. "Those are all for sale however."

It was there where I spotted what I wanted. A glass sword sat on the upper shelf. I pushed myself onto my toes to reach it, bringing it down carefully. I took it over to the counter. "I was hoping for a custom piece similar to this."

"Ah, yes, graduation is coming up isn't it?" The man nodded. "So what do you need?"

"A hollow version of this sword with some kind of stand. Just a bit smaller than this, and a hole in the pommel to place a cork in." I hoped that description was enough.

The man nodded, picking up the glass sword and holding it tip down. "Like a bottle yes?" I nodded. "The stand and cross guard would have to be solid so all the liquid can come out. So maybe a thicker blade to compensate." He nodded. "I can certainly make this. It'll be ready by this evening."

"How much?"

"1,000 Shia."

I gulped, realising how expensive it was. Maybe I can get a bottle from Lord Grant's room to fill it. I shrugged, reaching into my pocket and counting out the ten golden coins. My coin bag was feeling rather light now.

"I'll have it delivered to your academy. What's your name?"

"Light"

"Alright then. Thank you for your business."

I walked outside and wandered the streets for a bit, no direction in mind. With Lord Grant's graduation present out of the way, I had little to do. Days of rest prevented training, so I couldn't go to a secluded area to train. Eventually I found myself on a hill under the shade of a tree, wondering how I had even gotten there.

I sat under the shade and unsheathed my sword, cleaning the blade using my jacket sleeve. The blade still remained as perfect as it was when I got it, not a single scratch on it. I opened the Stacia Window on the blade, finding the blade's Life was full. I swear when I got you, you were damaged somewhat. I shook my head, checking my own Stacia Window. My own Object Control Authority was now at 43, another increase since the last time I checked. It was strange how quickly this seemed to go up just from swinging my blade around and duelling.

I closed both windows and lay down, raising my arms behind me so I could rest my head. Small rays of light filtered through the leaves. It was peaceful up here.

I woke up with a start, the lightning crackling above me. This is the third lightning storm this year… I pulled my jacket over my head as the rain began to pour. I ran towards the academy, taking small breaks from the rain. I got back in my dorm, shaking the rainwater from my jacket and putting it on the back of a chair to let it dry.

Everyone else seemed to be out still, so I took the time to write in my journal. I saw the entry about Myne and I smiled sadly at it. Turning over the page, I had one detailing my meal with Kimiko and Lilith. The next was my duel with Diaz. It hit me how much had actually happened in the last few weeks. My entries before those ones were mainly about my training, slowly getting shorter as I lost interest in writing about it.

A knock on the door grabbed my attention. I went over and opened it, seeing a student standing there with a paper bag. "Package from Clear as Day?"

I nodded. "Thank you." I took the package from them. I debated for a moment before passing them two silver coins. They looked delighted, running down the corridor. And I wonder why I have no money. I chuckled to myself before heading back inside, placing the package on the desk.

The old man certainly did a great job. The ornament was about a metre in height. The base was solid glass, looking like a pile of rocks. In the centre of the pile, a sword was sticking out. In the pommel sat a cork ready. What was really surprising was the inside of the sword was already filled with a red liquid. Hayamono berries judging by the smell. Inside the package was a note.

'I took the curtesy of filling the bottle for you. Hope the Elite Disciple enjoys.'

I wondered why it was overpriced. I wrapped the ornament up again, placing it in a drawer where my clothes were kept to keep it safe.

Damn, in two days, it'll be a long time until I see Lord Grant and Lilith again.

Sure enough, that day came soon.

On the final day before the tournament, there was no cleaning in the Swordscraft Academy, as students got ready to travel to Norlangarth's Sword Mastery Academy for the final exams. Not all students went, but you were kind of forced if you were a Primary Trainee to support your Elite Disciple.

I packed the glass ornament ready and tried to restore some order to my hair, very unsuccessfully. I pulled on my jacket and headed outside to find Lord Grant waiting for me. "Come on my boy, we've got a tournament to get to!"

We got into a carriage that was waiting by the gates. To my surprise, Lord Grant wasn't the overly cheery self he usually was. Instead, he was dead serious. And sober. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him drink for a few days.

Almost like he knew I had noticed this, he grinned at me. "Can't be drunk today. I need to be in top form." He patted his family sword. "After all, I need to do my family proud, and you too my boy."

I smiled. "You don't have to make me proud sir. It was an honour being taught by you."

He let out a bellowing laugh. "Save that for the goodbye." He looked out the window. "I wonder how I'll do against Jade. She's skilled, but I'm sure I can beat her if I tried. It's just that I don't really want to. Being beaten in this is kind of the sign to give up in the Unification Tournament." He shrugged. "But I guess if she beat me here and then I beat her in the Tournament, that would crush her more. And besides, friends don't mean anything in a fight! You and little Kimiko know that all too well."

I nodded. "Don't hold back sir."

"Well now that you've told me not to, then I have no choice."

A minute of silence passed before the carriage stopped. Lord Grant got out and stretched his arms. I stepped out to see the Sword Mastery Academy. "Not going to lie, I was expecting it to be at least a bit different from our academy."

"It's got a garden around the back where students can grow flowers."

"That's…that's not much of a difference." I shook my head.

The Sword Mastery Academy looked extremely similar to the Swordscraft Academy. The main addition was the massive hall attached to the side where the tournament was taking place. Other students were walking around the grounds, some of them looking at Lord Grant with confusion and awe. The only difference in their uniform was instead of a small rapier design on the neckpiece, there was a sword pointing downwards.

"Right then my boy, you should head to the training hall. I need to stretch my legs." For the first time ever, I could see the nervous excitement getting to him.

I bowed. "I'll see you later sir." I headed towards the hall.

As soon as I got to the entrance, a hand went in front of me. A stern looking woman with dark brown hair put out a hand. "Norlangarth rules state that no swords are carried unless being used for training or duels."

A pit grew in my stomach. "Ah, okay…" I unbuckled the sheaths on my belt, hesitating before passing the Night Shadow Blade and Myne's Sword to her. She held the purple sword in both hands, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Name?"

"Light."

"Find me afterwards and I'll give you them back." She let me past.

It felt weird not having my blades on my waist, but if it was against their school rules, then I couldn't complain. The academies already were strange, how they worked separately all the time except this time of year.

I walked up the steps to the seats above the hall. The seats went all the way around the hall in a stair pattern, giving everyone a clear view of the middle, which was a simple wooden floor.

I moved around until I found a spot that was away from everyone else. A few minutes, I was joined by Kimiko looking fed up. "God, talk about a drama queen. 'What if I trip and make myself look like an idiot?' Honestly."

I laughed. "In a year, that'll be you."

"At least I'm confident enough to know I won't trip over my own feet." She rolled her eyes. "Look on the bright side though, at least you won't be able to knock someone flying down there."

"Oh haha."

Someone came out and replaced a board that was hanging on the wall with a brand new one, with the names of the Elite Disciples on it. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw Lord Grant and Lilith's names were on opposite sides of the board, which meant they wouldn't meet until the final three.

Due to having twelve Elite Disciples, the finale worked differently than you might expect for us. The final three would battle each other in a normal two-person duel. Should one Disciple win both battles, they graduate top. Otherwise, it went down to time. Kimiko once complained that we should've had sixteen Disciples, and once upon a time that was the case, but apparently that made it too easy for people to become a Disciple.

Soon enough though, the first match was started. I leaned back, ready to watch. Kimiko rested her head on her lap. "Tell me when Lilith is duelling."

"Will do."

Maybe I should've brought something to eat…

Rather slow chapter this time, because next one is going to be rather action packed as you finally get to see Lord Grant at his best. Remember that he's ranked 4th when he's drunk? Well, now he's sober. And he has a reason to win. Poor Lilith XD Can't wait to get that duel done.

Reviews:

blackbutterfly1313: Thanks again. Glad last chapter was an improvement. The duel was supposed to feel short, like a lot of the fights in Alicization. The Loafian style is about wearing your opponent down through the power behind the strike, which is hopefully what came across in that fight. And it wasn't actually Light remembering something. It's not a memory. Just a little tease for you ;)

Right, up next I want to do a chapter of FB rewrite. So it won't be as fast this time. But hope you all enjoyed. Thanks for reading.

And as always, until next time, Stay Cool.