Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfiction. Hope you have been enjoying the read so far.

Anyway, enjoy this one.

Chapter Cover: Aesyr lying upon her back with both hands behind her head, as Shinji was seating beside her with his sword in between them.

Chapter Ten

The Commanders of Minotaur

The two stared at the man across them and Shinji had his hand on his blade as he stood there, gritting his teeth. He wasn't planning on running into one of the Commanders so early in the attack. The foot soldiers were one thing but for one of the Commanders themselves to show up, it was starting to make things really hard really quickly.

"Shinji, who is this guy?" Aesyr asked.

"He is another of the Commanders," the young man answered his hand on his blade, "Saul Marz."

The man, Saul, had a light smile upon his lips as he stared at them.

"Dragon Knight Shinji," he said, "You have been a thorn in Minotaur's side for quite some time now. How fortunate it is for us that you will come here in our home. Maybe then the Dragon Knights will fully be extinct with your defeat."

Shinji glared at him.

"Where is she Saul?" he growled.

The Commander tilted his head lightly almost like he didn't understand what he was talking about, but then, a light appeared within his gaze.

"Oh…you mean the girl from Hyades Village?" he asked, "Well, I am in not liberty to say, and all that you need to know is that she is safe, at least for the moment."

Aesyr narrowed her eyes lightly.

"That girl is there," she said simply.

Shinji glanced at Aesyr in shock at what she said.

"You're certain?" he asked her.

The silver haired girl gave a nod.

"I have been keeping my nose open for any familiar scents that I could pick up," she said, "Since Yael is from the village, I thought she'd have similar scent to the people there and I was right. I can pick up a familiar scent that I smelled back in the village…probably from her clothing."

Shinji could feel something like relief rising through him.

So she is here, he thought.

"I'll handle this guy," Aesyr told him stepping forward, "You go and find that girl and then get out here."

Shinji looked at the dark-skinned girl. Aesyr had an unusually serious expression upon her face as she was focused ahead. He knew she was strong given that she was able to defeat Karmer all by herself and overpower the Commander back then. There was this power around Aesyr that was waking up as the silver glow danced around her body like flames.

He has never seen fire magic like this before.

"Then I'll leave it to you," he said.

Saul narrowed his eyes.

"Do you really think I'll let any of you pass me," he said removing his hand from behind his back, "None of you will make it past me."

"We'll see about that," Shinji said as he charged forward.

As he moved, he saw Saul getting ready to fight against him but then, a shadow passed in front of him as his vision was filled with a tattered cloak that Aesyr usually wear upon her form and then the young woman launched a punch forward meeting Saul head on, giving him all the time to slip past the two fighting wizards and down the hallway.

Be careful Aesyr, this guy…he is not like Karmer at all…he is far more dangerous…

Aesyr had her punch slamming into the young man's hand who pared the attack with the back of his palm. He stared up at her as the magic swirled around both of them, thought he had a light frown upon his face as he stared at her.

"You used yourself as a bait so that your friend might have a chance at passing me," he said, "Either you're really that naïve to think the two of you can win or are you just that confident in your power."

He pushed her off and Aesyr jumped back landing on the ground in a light crouch, but then suddenly dashed forward aiming at her opponent with a kick. The man, Saul, then raised his hand his palm facing forward as he unleashed a blast of magic right into her causing her to yell out in pain as she was blown backward from the attack and rolling upon the ground.

Aesyr let out a groan of pain as she shook her head lightly to get rid of the dizziness that had befallen her. She pulled herself back upon her feet as Saul was now approaching forward toward her.

"I'll leave him to Azil then," he said, "You…I don't know who you are but something tell me you're going to be a dangerous adversary in the future if we allow you to leave here."

Aesyr stared at him for a few moments before she detached the tattered cloak she was wearing and throwing it backward into the ground. She stayed in the sleeveless shirt she has on and the shorts that she wore with the combat boots. Aesyr cracked her knuckles as she stared at him.

"Bring it on," she said narrowing her eyes at him.

Saul let out a small smirk.

Aesyr's hand glowed with magic as she launched herself forward once more. She launched a fist forward aiming straight for Saul who instantly moved to parry the attack causing her to smile lightly as her fist made contact with the back of his hand once more.

"Silver Dragon, Explosive Fist," she said.

She felt the magic react around her however, Saul didn't even budge from where he stood. Aesyr can feel her eyes widen lightly at what was happening in front of her. The man narrowed his eyes lightly at her.

"Was that suppose to do something?" he asked.

My attack…failed? She thought shocked.

Saul launched his palm forward once more causing a massive blast of magic to slam into Aesyr's side, the girl yelling out in pain as she was blown to the side by the attack that was launched at her. She rolled upon the ground once more as she fell, completely blindsided by the attack Saul had sent at her.

Saul spun his hand again.

"If that's all you can do then you are weak," he said.

Aesyr let out a growl as she glared at him.

He made my attack disappear somehow…, she thought, Just what is his secret?

The young woman stood up again facing her enemy.

"That took me by surprise," she said, "I guess you Commanders aren't just for show after all."

The Karmer guy was pretty strong too, given his Barrier-type magic, she thought.

Aesyr took her stance once more.

I'm going to have to keep my eyes open within this battle and figure out his technique.

With Shinji

The young man had left the floor which Aesyr was facing the Commander, Saul all by herself. He wasn't too worried about her after all, he had seen her take down one of them by herself. Now, he just has to focus on what he needed to do so that he could save Yael from whatever Minotaur had planned to do with her.

He reached another hallway coming to a stop, huffing lightly as he placed a hand toward where his wound was, the one he had gotten from fighting against Karmer. Wincing lightly, the young man took a deep breath to calm himself down before refocusing his attention away from it.

It isn't hurting as bad as before, he thought, As expected of Helen. She really is a great healer.

The young man straightened himself up again before rushing down the hallway.

Aesyr said that she was in the area nearby…let's hope I'll be able to find her before Minotaur can…

Shinji suddenly drew his sword as his sense picked up on a presence nearby. The young man instantly stopped running turning his attention around himself as he held his blade at the ready.

"Well….well, well," a voice spoke out, "What do we have here?"

This voice…Shinji thought glancing around himself, Where is it coming from?

"I must admit," the voice continued seemingly coming around everywhere at once, "I never expected it to be you Dragon Knight Shinji. I always thought that you were smarter than that, but then again, you people were sworn to the Royal family, weren't you? Sworn to give up your lives to save the royal bloodline…like it was an honorable thing to do?"

Shinji grit his teeth.

"What the hell do you know?" he asked, "What do you know about honor? All you are is someone that prey upon the weak and defenseless calling yourself strong because of it?"

"I think the facts speaks for itself don't you think?" the voice answered, "After all, you Dragon Knights are extinct, the guardians of the Kingdom of Atlasia. Wasn't that the name your kind was so proud to bear?"

Shinji glanced around himself.

"As long as I still exist," he said, "Their honor will never disappear. Dragon Knights are still the guardians of this Kingdom and I will defend it to my last breath….even if I am the last one."

Suddenly his vision was completely covered in darkness.

What the hell…I can't see?

"Then allow me to help you get there," the voice answered once more.

A fist slammed straight into Shinji's stomach, straight into the part of his wound causing him to yell out in pain at the attack. The pain surged and twisted as he fell down upon his knees. He can already feel blood leaking from where the wound was, as he placed a hand upon it.

"I saw you favor that side earlier," the voice spoke out, "It seems someone is a bad patient."

He slammed a kick into his side, causing it to throb painfully as Shinji let out gasp of pain, slamming his forehead into the ground so that it could stop him from screaming out. Shinji tightened his grip upon the handle of his blade.

"Sword Magic, Sirius Light."

The blast of magic blew out form the sword as it cleared the darkness form his eyes with the entire hallway filling up with the light magic that grew from his blade. Across him, he saw a man standing there with his hand raised as if to shield his eyes from the light that was coming from the sword.

I see you, Shinji thought.

"Sword Magic, Pentagram Blades."

He slashed through the man causing him to yell out as the attack got through him. Shinji was huffing lightly at the attack he just did, turning his attention toward his enemy noticing that he was still standing despite the powerful attack he just did against him.

"Eh…eh," he said turning toward him with wounds upon his body, "I must admit, you are quite clever. Using Light magic against my shadow magic."

Shinji get his sword at the ready.

"I have done quite a bit of research about the type of magic all of the Commanders use," he said, "While I may not have gained much, however, you are the one of the most famous Commanders of Minotaur because of the magic you use, Azil Bruzzer, the Shadow Wizard."

The man laughed.

"As I thought you really are a crafty one," he said, "Maybe this battle will actually be fun…unlike before…now, SHADOW WORLD."

The entire area Shinji was in was suddenly turning into completely blackness as the shadows that were around them was becoming thicker than the night itself. It was like it was pressing down on everything growing, stronger and stronger and they were aiming straight toward him. Shinji's sword glowed yet again as the Light magic from before shone around the sword as he yelled launching the attack forward once more as light and shadow clashed causing the hallway to shake with the amount of power that was being used at the moment with the young man gritting his teeth at how strong Azil was.

With a yell, he slashed right through the shadow which dissipated from in front of him but Azil was already gone causing him to blink in surprise and then a hit came from behind him sending him stumbling forward at the hit and then he turned toward it finding Azil there, half of his body almost look like it was one with the shadows as his hand launched blast of it straight at him, forcing him to dodge it backward.

"It's your bad luck you decide to come here at night," he said with large grin, "Here in the darkness, I am as powerful as one of the Fallen Gods. You are nothing but a pest I need to get rid off."

Shinji glared up at the enemy in front of him as he held on his blade.

"Then I will have to put you down before I get to go to Yael," he said.

With Aesyr

The girl jumped backward as she avoided a blast aiming straight toward her. She was staring to read the movement of her opponent and understanding how he used his magic. The area around them was staring to get destroyed as she narrowed her eyes at him with both of her arms raised on either side of her face.

"You last way longer than the last person I fought against," Saul spoke out with a light smirk upon his lips, "I must admit, you are a strong one."

Aesyr frowned lightly as her magic swirled around her hands and then she dashed forward once more. Saul was ready for her as the young man raised his palm once more at the ready as she came with a series of quick punches aiming straight for him but all of them were blocked and Aesyr can see that he was blocking all of her attacks with the back of his palms, and each time her fist made contact, she felt the magic weaken more and more until she jumped away once more avoiding a blast of attack that Saul had launched at her.

"Oh…," Saul said, "What's the matter? Are you running away?"

"I think I just figured out how you can block me so easily," she said, "You use some type of Palm magic didn't you?"

Saul blinked.

"Oh?"

"With the back of your hands you can negate magic energy," Aesyr said, "Which is why my exploding Fist didn't send you flying like it did that other guy."

Saul smiled lightly.

"You're quite perceptive girl," he said, "But even knowing what type of magic I use, it doesn't guarantee you victory in this battle."

She grinned lightly.

"Do you really think so?" she asked him.

Magic power swirled around her body as the silver scales started to appear around her arms in face. Saul's eyes widened lightly at what was happening in front of him. Aesyr tightened her hands into fist before she dashed straight at him and throwing a powerful punch right at Saul who had to use both of the back of his palms to block the powerful attack that came at him and even that wasn't enough for he was sending flying backward slamming straight into the wall of the room at the other end of where they were.

"Silver Dragon, Hard Fist," she said.

"Try blocking that."

An flaming triumph to turn the tides...

Next Time: The Name of the Blade

Jacques0 out.

R&R