"Join…your camp?" The boy looked at the green-haired woman with hesitation in his eyes.
"Yes," the woman said. "Currently, the royal family of Lugunica has been wiped out by an epidemic, and I am one of 5 potential candidates to inherit the kingdom from them," she explained. "If you ally with me, I can use your knowledge and abilities to cement my win, and you'll be guaranteed a high rank in this land that you've unwillingly arrived in. So I ask you again, will you join my camp?"
Subaru looked hesitant. "I…understand that my knowledge of the modern world could and would be of great help and interest to you, but…" The boy looked away from the noble woman. "I don't know much about it myself, and I'd hate to burden you. I don't have any particularly useful skills or abilities, most definitely none relating to a feudalist system and period like this. I can't even use magic, so…"
The woman retracted her head and turned around, sighing. "I haven't the slightest idea as to why you lack confidence in yourself, but even if your knowledge is minuscule, even if your skills lie in a time period foreign to this one, you can surely gain new skills to compensate. After all, you weren't born with your current skill set, were you?"
"…Well, no…but do you really think I could be of use to you in an election like this?" Subaru was conflicted on what to do in this situation.
She turned around. "Subaru, the candidates haven't even been announced yet. We're still waiting on the 5th one, and even if she's revealed soon, the election is supposed to take place over a matter of years. In addition, even if you have no combat capabilities, the very fact that you have knowledge from another, far more advanced world is inarguably of great value to me regardless of how much you know. Just your day-to-day routine should be drastically different than ours, and if we could recreate even the most rudimentary of your world's conveniences, then we'd have a leg up in the competition. In addition, we'd be more than willing to train you, seeing as you've no experience in this somewhat harsh world. That much would just be common courtesy, after all."
"…" Subaru was still hesitant. He didn't have much faith in his abilities, nor did he think he could learn enough in time for any of it to be particularly useful to Crusch, but…He didn't have many options. He was alone here, and this woman was offering him salvation in exchange for his help.
Taking a breath, he answered. "Fine, then. I'm not sure I agree with your faith in me, but I also don't have any options here, so I'll do it."
She smiled. "Glad to have you aboard, Subaru-san." They shook hands before Crusch looked behind them. "I take it you know what you need to do, Wilhelm?"
"Yes, my lady," an aged voice answered her.
Subaru turned around and saw an elderly man in a servant outfit standing just outside the door. Evidently, he was listening in on their conversation.
"Good!" Crusch then turned to Subaru. "Our first lesson begins today, and" she pointed at the watch, "we're going to get you used to using your new forms."
"Huh?" Subaru was dumbstruck.
…..
"So, uh, how is this gonna work?" Subaru asked as he was standing in front of a sword-wielding old man whose name he learned was Wilhelm van Astrea.
"We'll simply be having Old Man Wil be teaching you how to fight, nya!" Felix answered from right behind him, startling the boy.
"Indeed. It's imperative that you learn to defend yourself…" He looked down at Subaru's wrist. "Not to mention, your ability to transform into foreign creatures could give you unfounded advantages in a fight here." He looked back up at the bewildered other-worlder. "I think the first thing to do is count how many forms you have, since you transformed into 2 by accident."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Subaru looked down at the watch and pressed the side button, Felix watching over his shoulder with great interest.
"Let's see, here…" Subaru began scrolling through the silhouettes, looking for the outline of the rock alien he first transformed into. "Ah, here it is!" Both he and Felix were waiting for the outline to repeat. "So, starting from him, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, ele-wait! I think they're repeating now. Let me count again."
So they both did, and the result was...
"Eight, nyine, ten, nyan!" Felix finished counting with Subaru, much to the amazement of everyone present. Ten completely foreign entities residing in that metia the boy had, all most likely having their own strengths and weaknesses! Truly, even if only 2 of them were useful in combat, both Wilhelm and Crusch believed that Subaru's lax attitude and ability to take things in stride would make him and his "transformations" a great addition to the camp.
"All right, let's get started!" Subaru slammed down the faceplate, and in a FWOOSH, was replaced with his very first alien.
"Hm, so this is a being made purely out of stone. I wonder…" Without warning, Wilhelm charged straight at Subaru, sword in hand. Having no training nor experience, Subaru put his hands up in an attempt to block the attack, when he heard a SHINK.
"…Huh?" Peeking out through his arms, Subaru saw that the blade Wilhelm had…was cut in two!
"WOAH!" To say the boy was shocked was an understatement…'I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE RIGHT THERE!' Looking around, Crusch and Felix were seemingly shocked by his durability as well.
"…Amazing…" Crusch said in a small voice. The knowledge that a soldier could be immune to swords and other weapons was certainly a great boon.
"WHAT THE HECK! I thought I was gonna die there, man!" Subaru, deciding to voice his thoughts, was definitely outraged at such a dangerous first attack…but he was also a little happy to bask in the amazement that the three seemed to have regarding him. "Buuuut….I'm totally fine!" he said with a smirk and...some sort of hand gesture that looked like he was pointing his thumb up? He was quite bizarre...
"Yes, I apologize," Wilhelm responded while sheathing his sword. "I merely wished to test your durability upon seeing what you were made of, but I understand the risk associated with such a stunt," he said while bowing.
"Eh, it's fine," Subaru said while rubbing his…cone head? "I was really more surprised than anything."
"If that's the case, then I suggest we keep going," Wilhelm said. "We've still no idea if there's a time limit to your transformations or if they're indefinite."
"Yeah, you're right."
So, they continued. Wilhelm got another sword and allowed Subaru to come at him and try to punch him. Subaru couldn't hit him, though, and that was starting to frustrate him a bit, as Wilhelm just kept dodging his strikes. Finally, the boy couldn't take it.
"YAAARGH!" Subaru screamed, and a rainbow of color ran along his body and up to his…stalactites? Stalagmites? Either way, rainbow-colored beams of energy shot out of his head and shoulders at the old man. He barely had time to raise his sword to defend himself, and the blade was forced out of his hand.
"Woah! Did you see that!?" Subaru turned and looked at the duo watching from the sidelines. "That was awesome!"
"Indeed," Crusch said with a hand on her chin. "Such an ability is incredible considering you can't use mana." Felix just nodded, evidently shell-shocked.
Wilhelm got up and urged him to continue, but before he could, the faceplate started blinking red.
*Beep*
*Beep*
*Boop*
*Flash*
There was a flash of red light, and Subaru was back to his normal self. Looking down at the watch, Subaru noticed that it was red instead of green.
"Uh, looks like the charge ran out! I think I'll have to wait to transform again." He looked at the duo. "How long was that?"
"Around ten minutes or so." It was Wilhelm who answered him. "I suggest we sit and see if it'll turn green again."
Subaru nodded.
As it happened, they only had to wait around five minutes for the watch to recharge, so Crusch had Subaru practice the multi-eyed alien this time.
"Hm, your many eyes gives you a great deal of leverage over your opponent," Wilhelm mused. "In that case!" Wilhelm started showcasing insane acrobatic ability that made him a blur. Subaru's many eyes were frantically searching around, but they couldn't track the butler.
Suddenly, Wilhelm reappeared right in front of Subaru. He proceeded to throw a punch right at him, but in another bout of panic, Subaru's eyes fired green beams of energy right at him. He didn't have time to dodge and got hit square in the chest.
"OOF!" Wilhelm fell to the ground, smoke coming from his chest. Luckily, before Subaru could panic, Felix ran over and began emitting a blue light from his palms, which seemed to heal the injury.
"Phew…" The cat boy looked up. "You can continue now." Subaru nodded in relief, and Wilhelm stepped back up. The man held a firm determination in his eyes, evidently fired up at the prospect of training the boy who had so many abilities.
…..
They kept at it for about 10 or so minutes, and while Subaru couldn't land a hit on him, he enjoyed the eye aliens abilities. He was so much more attentive now, and Wilhelm even complemented his accuracy with his lasers. Just as they were nearing the time limit, Wilhelm suddenly increased in speed, surprising Subaru.
"What are you-?"
"One must always expect their enemy to strike when their opponent is weakened!"
*BEEP*
The watch was flashing red as Wilhelm brought down his replacement sword.
*BEEP*
Subaru was again thrust into a panic scenario, and this time, the eyes around his chest started…merging into one?
*FWOOM*
Without warning, a giant eye sprouted from Subaru's chest and fired a zig-zagging beam of green energy. Wilhelm just barely dodged out of the way…
*BOOP*
…and they all watched as it hit a tree, only for ice to spread across it.
"…" They were all stunned at Subaru's abilities, the boy in question most of all.
But of course...he could never not have the last word.
"I'M AMAZING!" he shouted while jumping up in joy.
The third alien was much different from the other two. A blue velociraptor-like creature, Subaru immediately noticed how slow everything seemed. And there was a good reason for that: When Wilhelm tried attacking him, Subaru easily saw and reacted to his movements. It seemed this alien had super speed-he was so fast, in fact, that even Wilhelm couldn't keep track of him. He even landed some hits on the man, finally, although Wilhelm retaliated by grabbing his giant tail and slamming him to the ground, so he still had a lot to learn.
The fourth alien was also unique. It was an orange crab-like species that appeared to crease his intellect. It didn't have much offensive capabilities, but it did point out some problems in Wilhelm's stance. In addition, his intellect helped with another matter…
"Now then, it occurs to me that we've a conundrum," Subaru said.
"And what might that be?" Crusch asked.
"Well, I'm obviously not Natsuki Subaru, so what should I call these transformations?"
"Hm..." Subaru went silent, stroking his claw on his face. "I do believe I may have found an appropriate moniker for this particular form: In my world, many ancient cultures believed in various deities that governed particular aspects of the world. One such deity was a god of knowledge-Thoth!"
"I see." Crusch nodded at his explanation. "Your forms could very well be considered deities, coming from a different world entirely, so your naming scheme makes perfect sense. Have you decided on names for the others?"
Thoth looked back at her. "Gaia for the stone cyclops, Mercury for the speedster, and Argus for the eye guy!" As he finished his statement, his head…split in half, revealing his giant brain. And then electricity started cackling and shot out suddenly. Wilhelm tried to block it, but blocking electricity with metal isn't a good idea.
"GAH!" The old man was shocked-literally-and fell to the floor, but Felix fixed him right up.
"Hm, I believe there is no need to further explore this alien, and I've still five minutes remaining…Ah, but I do have a new hypothesis: When I touch the dial, I transform back into a human, but can I transform into another alien?" As he said this, he went to test his hypothesis and touched the dial that was located around what was likely his stomach area. There was a flash of light, and Thoth was gone…only to be replaced by a being that looked like it was made of stone armor and possessed electric-made appendages.
"Hm? Who is this guy?' Subaru looked up at Wilhelm, who held a determined gaze in his eyes. Without any words, Subaru knew exactly what the old man was thinking. "Well, only one way to find out!" They both grinned and went back to attacking each other.
…
This one might've been the most versatile out of the five. It was pretty durable and strong, but it had a truckload of abilities as well. Obviously, he could shoot the blue electricity-as well as hit the ground to send a shockwave directly at someone-but his arms were apparently really stretchy, which he discovered when they shot out and grabbed Wilhelm. He also discovered that he could fashion objects out of his lightning, like when he made a sword to contend with Wilhelm. But the last ability was also a panic move.
They had discovered that even when switching between aliens, the time limit still seemed to be ten minutes, which Wilhelm took advantage of when the faceplate started blinking red, just like before. But just as he was about to slash the boy with his sword, Subaru shot his arms forward and accidentally released a blue sphere of energy before closing his eyes and transforming back…But no strike ever came.
Slowly, Subaru opened his eyes.
"What the-!"
-And gazed upon Wilhelm, who appeared to be stuck in a cage made of his lightning.
"…" The old man just sat down, closed his eyes, and waited for his "sentence" to be over.
Subaru could only think of one thing to say at the sight of such an ability.
"…HEPHAESTUS ROCKS!"
The rest of the afternoon was spent discovering the abilities of the other five aliens, after Subaru changed back into Hephaestus to free Wilhelm.
"Alright, alien number 6!" Subaru slammed the faceplate down and, in a flash of green light, was replaced by…some fat, yellow thing wearing pants and a helmet covering his face.
"Hm? And what can this one do?" Wilhelm asked.
*CLINK*
Suddenly, and without warning, the helmet opened up like a door, revealing the creature's face that had previously been concealed by shadows.
"AH-AAAAGH!" Wilhelm screamed at the top of his lungs and fell to the ground, dropping his sword. He tried crawling back, but he quickly found himself with his back up against a tree. He hadn't moved his face; he was still staring at "Subaru."
"Wilhelm! Felix, see if he's hurt!" Crusch ordered her knight to attend to the elderly man before running over to the boy-turned-alien. "Subaru! What did you-?"
She stopped when she saw a glimpse of "his" face…and screamed. She had a sword on her hip, but she seemed to forget about anything that wasn't "Subaru."
"Crush-sama!" Felix turned to his master who had suddenly started screaming, but stopped when he, too, saw the creature's face. He started screaming like he was witnessing a demon as well.
"…" Subaru just felt around until he found the faceplate on a piece of…armor?..right below his helmet. In a flash of green light, he went from an alien back into a human. The three people that had been petrified by him then fainted.
"…Okay, are you all, uh, prepared?"
About two hours after the incident, Subaru's three…trainers had awoken. Subaru was scared at the prospect of transforming again, considering what his last alien did to his new…friends? Mentors? Leader and companions? That sounded more accurate, but regardless, the Human was scared, scared that he might scare the people that had given him a new life when he had nothing.
"Y-yes, we're all prepared," Crusch said. In reality, all three of them were terrified at what they saw, but they realized that they needed to know the full extent of Subaru's "metia," even if they…experienced mental trauma in the process. That much was obvious, and it was nothing compared to the loneliness that Subaru must be feeling. All alone in another world…Crusch was glad that he happened to land in her domain, for she didn't know the other candidates, and the other nations weren't as nice to foreigners. Well, Kararagi might treat him okay, but really, she was the best case scenario here. In addition to being a duchess with a mansion and a wide array of skills on her own, she had the kingdom's greatest healer and the Sword Demon under her employ. Even if Subaru proved to be incapable as a fighter, she had a feeling he'd be a good butler, at least…but that last alien made him seem more suited to be a bodyguard. Actually, all his aliens gave him advanced combat capabilities. Even Mercury and Thoth had great strengths-speed and intelligence were necessary traits in a fight. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to see…Medusa again. That was what Subaru called the ogre alien.
"Okay, then…Alien number 7!" Subaru slammed the faceplate down again, AND…
"…"
"Well, nya, this one is a lot more…plyeasant to look at," Felix said. Crusch and Wilhelm nodded in agreement.
For before them, was a small, green creature that looked…like a dwarf with big, round eyes. It was…plump, and had what seemed to be…skin marks on the back of it's…head?
"Huh, well, this one doesn't feel so bad," Subaru spoke up. His voice seemed rather…warbly. Looking at his small hands, he saw the faceplate on the back of his left. 'Convenient.'
"Alright! Let's see what this one can do! Come at me, Wilhelm!"
On cue, Wilhelm charged forward and delivered a downward strike at the creature. Subaru, however, couldn't react and was most certainly going to get sliced open, unless he had some sort of extreme durability like Gaia and Hephaestus…or he could roll out of the way and let the sword hit the ground. Thankfully, Wilhelm seemed to get that this one wasn't strong, and gave Subaru just enough time to dodge. The sword merely struck the dirt and grass where he'd just been.
…And now that he was taking a closer look at the steel blade, he noticed that it was looking…shiny…and...kind of tasty.
'Y'know, I haven't eaten today,' he thought. 'I've worked hard. I deserve a treat!'
"Subaru-dono?" "Subaru-kyun?" "Subaru-san?" All three members of the Crusch camp could only look in bewilderment at the scene of Subaru…looking at Wilhelm's sword. But before anyone could snap him back to his senses-
*CHOMP*
"Chew, chew…AUGH! NOT BAD!" Subaru had chomped onto Wilhelm's sword…and slurped it like it was a noodle.
"…" His three new allies, on the other hand, were…taking it as well as you'd expect. Of course, they figured that an alien life form would have different eating habits than them, but they never thought a creature would snack on a sword. Only the Great Demon Beast known as the Great Rabbit was fabled to do that-devouring everything in its path without mercy or hesitation. And even then, Crusch did not see such behavior from it when she encountered it several years ago.
"Oh?" Subaru looked down at his bloated stomach and noticed a light green orb-lighter than his dark green skin-forming in the center. He could also feel, almost instinctively, what to do with it.
"BLEGH!" Subaru quickly turned away and…vomited a green…something, that made a small explosion when it hit the ground.
"…I don't even know what to say anymore," Felix said. Neither of his companions could respond to him.
Subaru quickly turned back to his trainers. "Got anything else for me to eat?"
Crusch's staff was able to find a wide variety of items that had long since been discarded-broken tools, old furniture, etc-for Subaru to…eat. And eat he did, as it turned out that his "tongue" was actually four extremely long tongues that could stick to objects and pull them back into his mouth to be consumed. Anything he ate quickly filled up his stomach, with the larger objects making him grow massive. He could then vomit it back up as some sort of explosive retching attack. It was disgusting, but…it surely had its uses. Except for the fact that actual food tasted disgusting to him, which Subaru was very vocal about. He also came up with a name for this alien: Beelzebub, which was apparently a demon associated with the sin of gluttony. Really, parallel universe aliens were bizarre. But they were extremely powerful. The four of them could only anxiously await seeing what the remaining three could do.
After a quick break to eat a rather delicious meal made by the staff, the four of them went back to testing out Subaru's abilities.
"Okay, then! Alien number 8! Here we go!" Yet again, Subaru pressed down on the faceplate and transformed into a new alien.
"Meow, meow! This guy actually looks pryetty normal! He could probably pass for a regular Demi-human," Felix commented. "…It'd make my feminine disguise all the more believable."
Indeed, Subaru would most likely be mistaken for a Demi-human, for he'd turned into a giant cat or tiger alien, with white skin and bright orange fur. Though, his brows noticeably furrowed at Felix's comment.
"Eh!?" Subaru said, before suddenly shouting. "LISTEN HERE, FELIX ARGYLE, SUPPOSED BEST HEALER IN THIS GENERIC FANTASY KINGDOM! WHILE NATSUKI SUBARU IS FINE WITH BEING MISTAKEN FOR A DEMI-HUMAN AND THINKS IT WOULD BE REALLY FUNNY IF THAT HAPPENED, ESPECIALLY IF I BECOME FAMOUS AS A SHAPESHIFTING KNIGHT, NATSUKI SUBARU DOES NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, WANT TO BE THOUGHT OF AS SOMEONE FOOLED BY A TRAP!"
"…Yessir…" Felix said meekly, hiding behind Crusch.
Subaru then turned to Wilhelm, pointing a paw at him. "NOW THEN, I WAS PROMiSED THAT I'D GET TO TRAIN WITH WILHELM VAN ASTREA, THE OLD MAN KNOWN AS THE SWORD DEMON! ARE WE GONNA SIT HERE ALL DAY, OR AM I GONNA LEARN HOW TO FIGHT!?"
Said swordsman just looked at the tiger with a sense of comradery. The old man hadn't seen someone so passionate about fighting in so long, and Subaru had it in spades...It was like looking directly at a younger version of himself.
"Very well." Wilhelm drew his sword as Crusch and Felix backed away."Let us begin!"
The fight this time was actually the most balanced so far. Subaru was extremely agile and seemed to have great natural instincts in this form. Since they were fighting in an open area, there wasn't a lot of terrain for Wilhelm to evade from, so he resorted to a straight brawl with the boy.
"I must say, of all your aliens, this one seems the most suited for hand-to-hand combat," Wilhelm noted while trying to land a hit on Subaru. He was able to get a quick cut in while the boy was trying to evade him. "But you don't seem that suited for combat in general."
"Gah…LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN,' SWORD DEMON! NATSUKI SUBARU MAY NOT LIKE BEING UNABLE TO HOLD HIS OWN AGAINST A PRETTY COMPETENT SWORDSMAN-ESPECIALLY SOMEONE AT YOUR AGE-BUT NATSUKI SUBARU WILL LEARN TO MAKE ALL OF HIS ALIENS VIABLE FOR COMBAT, INCLUDING HIMSELF! IT'S THE MARK OF A TRUE MAN TO USE EVERYTHING TO WIN, SO DON"T GO UNDERESTIMATING NATSUKI SUBARU-NO, DON'T GO UNDERESTIMATING ARES, THE GOD OF WARRRRR!" While he was screaming, two dagger-like claws came out right above his hands, surprising the both of them.
Wilhelm smirked at seeing his taunt be so effective. Anger was a very powerful weapon, and this species seemed particularly in tune with it. If Subaru could learn to utilize all the assets he had in a fight…he might be able to give the current Sword Saint a run for his money.
Ares rushed forward on all fours; Wilhelm raised his sword to strike, thinking that Subaru was going for the simple brute force tactic. Not useless, but easily stopped…except he jumped at the last second. Wilhelm had no choice but to hold his sword in a vertical position, hoping to block his strike. But, at the last second, Ares shifted his position to that of an upright stance, forcing Wilhelm to bear the full brunt of his weight-which was quite a lot more than the average person-and bringing the old man to his knees. Ares then proceeded to do a small backflip and landed right in front of Wilhelm. Said butler tried to stand up and block, but he was quickly disarmed via a parry from Ares's claws. He was then promptly forced back by a swift but powerful kick to the stomach.
"Gasp…Wheeze…" The old man could hardly breathe, prompting Felix to intervene and stop the duel.
Ares was rather pleased with himself. "WELL, OLD MAN? YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STEP TO ME? DO YOU?"
Wilhelm merely nodded his head.
"GOOD! THEN CONSIDER THIS A WARNING!"
Felix cringed at such an aggressive display while Crusch just sighed from the sidelines. This was going to happen every time Ares showed up, wasn't;t it?
Fortunately, Subaru timed out right at that moment. Hopefully he'll be back to normal.
"Ahem…" Subaru looked away, kind of sheepishly. "Well, uh, seems we'll have to wait five minutes to try out the next guy, huh?"
"Oh-hyo…is Subaru-kyun feeling embarrassed from his recent outburst?" Felix teased. Subaru's face just went red, causing everyone to chuckle.
"It's quite alright, Subaru-dono," Wilhelm said before standing up. "I've been known to get so enthralled in bringing down my opponent that I often mock them as well."
"…" Subaru was silent, still recovering from Felix's earlier teasing, but his frown lessened, just a bit.
"Alright! This is the second-to-last alien! Let's see what he can do!" Subaru exclaimed before transforming yet again. This one was a being that appeared to be made out of hot red charcoal, but that wasn't the most noticeable feature on it. No, instead it would be the fact that there were crevices all around the body that appeared to be filled with magma…and so were the hands and feet. The head seemed to be a humanoid shape, but it was also covered in flames. Subaru looked like a humanoid volcano.
"EHHHHHH!?" The otherworldly trio were dumbfounded that such a creature could…well, exist naturally. It was made of fire! How does that even-how would he-what does he eat?
"Hm, actually? I think I have a pretty good idea about what this guy can do right off the bat," Subaru said, "Ready to go, Wilhelm?"
Wilhelm was so captivated by the flaming lifeform that he didn't respond right away. "…Yes."
"Oh yeah! Let's-a go!"
"Felix." Crusch leaned over to her knight and spoke slightly quietly. "Get ready to heal Wilhelm…and stop any fires from spreading."
Felix nodded in response. "I was already planning that, nyo way in Hell I wasn't going to."
"Okay! Helios practice spar-begin!" As soon as Subaru-or as he called this form, Helios-said that, he immediately shot a small fireball out of his hands at Wilhelm, who easily dodged it.
"Okay, getting the basics down. Let's see what else I can do here!" Subaru smiled, then proceeded to shoot a rapid-fire volley of small fireballs straight at Wilhelm, who dodged them effortlessly. But, this was expected.
"You seem more interested in practicing simple applications of your abilities as opposed to actually beating me," Wilhelm stated while dodging the volley of pyro-formed projectiles. "What ever happened to that rage and vigor from before!?"
The old man then ran straight for Helios, who decided to take his words to heart.
"You know what? Fine! If you want to see the full extent of my creativity and random alien prowess, then I'll show you what I can do on the spot! Just don't come complaining to me if you get hurt here!" Subaru moved to a strange position, as if he were going to jump, but his hands were still on the ground. Then-
*KABOOM*
Subaru channeled a blast of pure heat and used it to propel himself high into the sky, much to the amazement of Crusch and Felix and to the joy of Wilhelm, happy that the boy was getting creative in his use of his abilities. Then, he placed his hands into an…ahem…iconic position, and started chanting the name of a certain popular technique as he began condensing his flames into a super move.
"KA!"
The trio were confused about what the boy was doing, but they all prepared in case things got out of hand.
"ME!"
Wilhelm just kept his eyes locked on the boy.
"HA! ME!"
By now, he had his sword raised and was in quite the defensive position, ready to leap out of the way should the situation call for it.
"HA!"
On cue, Helios fired a beam made of pure fire straight at the ground. Wilhelm jumped out of the way, but the second the beam made contact with the ground, and explosion sent him hurling forward.
"HEH! How do you like that one, Gramps?!" Subaru asked as he landed back on the ground.
"Ugh…" Wilhelm struggled to raise his head. "So much power…You'd make a fine knight…" The old man then collapsed back to the ground.
In a flash, Subaru changed back to a human and ran right over to him.
"Hey, Wilhelm? WILHELM! Felix! Get over here!"
"R-right! I'm on it, nya!" Felix said as he rushed over to the Old Man's side. Crusch just watched from the sidelines, unable to assist in the healing process.
Eventually, Felix had to take him back inside to rest. Subaru was glad that Wilhelm was okay, but he still felt bad about almost killing him. He couldn't help but look at the watch on his wrist with some trepidation now-both Helios and Medusa seemed incompatible with people, which Subaru didn't like. Maybe it was foolish to expect literal aliens to all be useful, but he'd wanted to repay Crusch-sama for her generosity. The easiest way seemed like using his new alien transformations as a one-man army type of scenario, but he'd almost killed his new mentor. What did that say about him if he couldn't even adapt to a new situation like transforming? Magic existed here, so combat was probably way more dynamic than just a sword fight. Would he even be able to keep up? So far, only Ares seemed directly suited for a one-on-one fistfight. The others might not be capable of fighting here, so what would he do if he encountered someone stronger than him? Hephaestus might be able to restrain them, Mercury could probably outrun them, and Medusa…He shook his head at the thought. He'd seen what Medusa did to his allies. He didn't want to resort to scaring his enemies to death. Still, his combat options seemed limited. At best, Thoth could probably come up with a plan to beat him, but was outsmarting his opponents all he could do? He wouldn't deny the usefulness of such intellect, but he didn't want to have to hide and avoid enemies at all times.
'Maybe I'm not cut out to be some sort of hero. I tried being positive about it; I even tried thinking that it was destiny that I got this watch and was transported here, but maybe that was just an accident. I was hoping I could start over and be a famous hero, so that I could at least make the memory of Mom and Dad proud, but…'
"Subaru Natsuki!" Crusch interrupted his train of thought, startling the boy.
"Gah!" Looking around and seeing that it was only Crusch, his paranoia about being attacked dissipated. "Y-yes? What is it, Crusch-sama?"
"I understand that you're probably disoriented by the sudden change in your location. You've been forcibly pulled away from your old life and into a completely foreign environment. On top of that, the reason you're here is because of a device that is now stuck to your wrist and allows you to transform into other life forms that only bear passing traits to what you know. Not even yourself is recognizable here, and you're most likely upset that you've hurt Wilhelm."
"Gch!" Subaru grimaced and looked away, slightly upset that his flaws had been so easily identified by this admittedly gorgeous parallel world woman.
"You also seem like the type that feels shame showing any sort of weakness, and you've yet to immediately excel when fighting against an elderly man, so I doubt you'd identify yourself as 'strong,'" she continued, her judgement remaining spot-on. "But…you shouldn't lower your head."
"…Huh?" Subaru could only look at, dumbfounded, as she said something completely unexpected.
"When you lower your head, your path forward is blocked off, and despair becomes all the more enticing. Should you fall into despair, then the situation is truly hopeless. So…you simply shouldn't let that happen. Never purposefully cloud your own gaze, Subaru-kun!"
"…"Subaru's eyes widened at her words. She was completely right! He almost completely fell into despair at the prospect of hurting his mentor and not immediately excelling against him, but weren't those contradictory? If he wanted to excel in comparison to Wilhelm, then he needed to fight him. To win the fight, Wilhelm would have to be hurt enough to concede defeat. Subaru didn't want to permanently wound the old man, but they had access to the best healer in the kingdom. And besides, didn't his dad say to not fall into his shadow? If Subaru expected himself to excel at something, then that would go against one of the last things his father said to him…
'It hurts to think about how I may never see them again…I wasn't summoned by a cute girl or anything, so I doubt I can get back home, but…if that's the case, I'll just have to make the name Natsuki synonymous with a hard worker! That's the only way I can make up my sloth towards them…and here I was about to be even more slothful! Well, not today, world! I promise: In the name of my parents, I'll make the name Subaru Natsuki well-known across the land of Lagunica, famous for his impeccable wits and adaptability in a fight!'
Subaru looked back up, determination shining brightly in his eyes. "Thank you, Crusch-tan! You were right; I was falling into despair for a minute there, but you helped me realize that it's not about the now, but the next! I'll be sure to take your advice to heart-no, I'll be sure to make my parents proud!"
The verdant-haired woman smiled. "Good! Now then!" She raised the sword from her waist and pointed it at Subaru. "Let us continue!"
"…"
"…"
"…Eh?" Subaru was dumbfounded for the second time that day.
"What? Did you think that I was incapable of swordplay? I'll have you know that I'm quite adept at using a blade, even more so than my knight," Crusch said upon seeing the look on Subaru's face.
"She's right, nya!"
Both Subaru and Crusch turned their faces to see that Ferris had returned. He was also smiling at the pair with a teasing grin.
"But, Ferri-chan can't help but feel that he's failed at being Crusch-sama's feminine side, since she's so smitten with Subaru-kyun."
"N-NO, NO! IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT!" Subaru said while blushing and waving his arms around furiously. "She just gave me some good advice!"
"Indeed, Felix. There's nothing untoward going on between Subaru and I." She said that, but…her demeanor turned cold again, and her smile was gone. "Now then. After this last alien, what say we call it a day? It's getting late, after all." Indeed, the sky had turned dark at least an hour or two prior.
"Hm…Fine. But…there's no need to shy away from your feelings, my lady!"
"Eek!" Subaru squeaked out.
"Hmph!" Crusch just turned her head away from her knight, though if it were brighter out, one might see the smallest hint of red on her cheeks.
"A-alright! Final alien! Lucky number 10!" Subaru exclaimed, standing across from Crusch and Felix. He then pressed the dial down for the final time that day, to reveal-
"Nya! That one could also pass as a Demi-human! If you change the outfit," Felix said.
"Indeed, a reptilian Demi-human is pretty common in Lugunica," Crusch commented.
-The tenth alien was some sort of frog, turtle lifeform. It was a green creature with green eyes and gray eyebrows. He appeared to be wearing a mask and a blue, white, and black jumpsuit.
"Huh. Wonder what he can do?" Subaru said aloud. "Oh, do you guys see the faceplate?" Not feeling it anywhere along his body, Subaru asked his two new comrades if they saw his way to change forms.
Noticing that they shook their heads, Subaru was slightly confused as to where the faceplate would be, until his hands found their way to his back.
"Ah! Wait!" He turned around, showing off his covered back in the process. "Is it here?"
Indeed, the faceplate had grown to encompass his entire backside.
"Yes, it's on your back," Crusch responded.
"Alright, then! Let's fight!" Subaru immediately began charging at her, wanting to test his speed. To his surprise, he was incredibly fast in this form-though nowhere near the likes of Mercury. Crusch barely had enough time to react, opting to swing her sword in a vertical slash instead of trying any fancy movement. Her blade connected, but Subaru's momentum-combined with what was likely a higher durability than the average human-meant that Crusch was tackled straight to the ground.
"Gah!" Felix cried out, as he'd walked right beside Crusch the second she drew her sword, assuming that one of the two would simply force the other back, and not that Subaru would tackle Crusch and him to the ground.
"Sorry about that," Subaru said in a more jovial tone. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yes," Crusch groaned. "We're fine." Well, she was. Felix had passed out from the weight.
"Alright, sorry! Didn't expect to be so heavy!" Subaru said as he got back up.
"That's alright," she said while getting back up. "Your strategy worked pretty well, regardless."
"Heh, guess that's true, huh?" Subaru asked while rubbing his head.
"In any case, if there are no immediately apparent special abilities associated with this form, perhaps we'd best call it a night."
"I'd personally like to keep going, but I've no grounds to disagree with you here. Since this alien doesn't seem to have any other abilities, maybe it's best if we call it a night…Holy-I just realized! This is still my first day here!"
"…Yes? What about-ah, you mean that it feels like you've been with us much longer than you actually have been." Seeing Subaru nod, she continued. "In any case, you're right. It's been a long day, so we ought to get some sleep. You and Wilhelm will continue practice for about a week or so, until a very big and dangerous event comes that you can choose to partake in."
"Huh?" Subaru was curious about what she was referring to. A dangerous event was happening in a week? But she just denied him with a nod.
"We'll speak of it later. For now, you can sleep in the room you woke up in."
"…Alright. Oh!" Subaru quickly turned around. "I'm not sure if it'll work since you're not me, but will you try changing me back? If it fails, I can just run out the clock."
"Of course." Crusch went up to him and slapped the faceplate, expecting it to either change him back to human or do nothing at all, but neither of them could anticipate what actually happened.
*FLASH*
Instead of reverting Subaru back to normal, something completely unexpected occurred-
"…"
"Huh?" "Huh?"
"…Why?" Crusch asked, more to some unnamed deity than anyone present, because she simply could not fathom the complexity of alien life.
"Hey," Subaru said aloud to an as-of-yet unknown person. "Are you…me?"
"I think I should be asking that question, look-alike." The response came from a person that was identical to Natsuki Subaru, down to the outfit they were both wearing.
"Wait…DON'T TELL ME WE CAN REPLICATE!?" Both Subarus screamed in unison, startling Crusch…and Felix.
"Ugh…" he groaned, slowly starting to wake up. Noticing this, Crusch and the two Subarus ran over to him.
"Felix!" Crusch cried, having temporarily forgotten him in the chaos of their being two Subarus.
"Crush-sama? Where-?" His question was halted abruptly, when he noticed the presence of not one, but two of the alien that Subaru turned into, both looking at him in concern.
"Um, how many Subarus do you see, nya?" Felix asked.
Crusch just looked at him in a worried manner. "There's only one Natsuki Subaru, Felix. Are you still feeling unwell?"
"…Okay, then," Felix said before passing out once more. Crusch just giggled, while the Subarus snorted out loud.
Hey all! Sorry I've not uploaded in a while. My motivation was a bit shot, but I'll try not to take so long next time. Anyways, Subaru has now named half of his aliens, and the other half should appear in the next chapter. Also, I decided to name the aliens after different deities as opposed to the stars. i personally think it fits better.
Bye!
Edit: I've now revised this and chapter 5, fusing them together into one chapter 4. The new chapter 5 will be an interlude where Subaru and co visit the capital and meet the other candidates. No promises on when it comes out, though I might be able to write a lot over spring break in a few weeks, but regardless, I'll try and get it out by April. Also, I'm technically counting revisions to previous chapters as delivering 1 chapter (which fits the 1-2 chapter a month goal I set for myself recently), but I'll still try and deliver another chapter or 2 in the coming weeks.
Until next time!
-Crossoverist