Okay, now I can explain this.
I literally had the thought while I was at work, "What if Ais Wallenstein had a brother?"
From there, I imagined what he'd looked like. Obviously, he'd be similar, but at one point he looked like Kirito from SAO, and that wasn't flying with me. Then, I basically made a rule 63 Ais (means 'Lovely, Beautiful') whose name is Axton (means 'stone of the sword wielder'). Described in the chapter are the differences between them. (He probably looks like Eugeo if his eyes matched up, they don't by the way, but I wanted to get this idea out).
I also took a few liberties sprinkled throughout this one-shot/chapter. This will not be my main priority as Delicate Balance is what I have more things planned for.
For reference:
"Speaking"
Personal thoughts
*Ability/Spell*
...
"On your left!" a voice said as they dashed past a blonde-haired swordswoman, leaping into the air and performing something they liked to call 'Spiral Slash', and as the name implies, it requires the user to be airborne and they start spinning like a top. The Monster in front of the swordswoman turned into string cheese then disappeared into a pile of ashes.
When they landed, they retreated as another monster took its place. Performing a backflip, they landed, skidding back on the rough dirt path, right next to the swordswoman. "Did I do it right?"
The swordswoman nodded to the swordsman, "Yes, and that was-"
"Without magic, yes. Now, we should probably keep moving, I think the Captain wants us to focus," the swordsman responded. The two locked eyes before jumping straight back into the fray. In actuality, they were the middle guard as they dealt with monsters that slipped past the vanguard.
"Incoming Tiona, Bete!" the boy shouted, his sword at the ready in a reverse grip. The girl's rapier was drawn from her sheath that rested on her left hip.
"Bout time, you two! Were you smelling the flowers or something?!" Bete, a werewolf with ashen hair, ears, and of course, a tail said with a snarky attitude. A distinct blue tattoo rested on his left cheek. The wolf jumped off the ground, spinning in the air, before bringing his heel down on a monster's head, turning it into dust, leaving a purple crystal behind. "Could you be any slower?" he muttered to himself.
"Ahh, perfect!" The girl named Tiona said, wielding a massive double-edged sword. No, literally, it was a massive sword that had two identical blades connected by a small handle in the middle, and she was twirling it around like a marching band leader does a baton. She was an Amazoness, a race of women whose values rely on strength for mating. The wheat-skinned girl spun her weapon with practice ease, running straight at a monster.
This goat-looking monster, to be specific. They were called Fomoires, and they resided on the forty-ninth floor of Orario's Dungeon. With that blade of hers, she sliced down the monsters with ease.
There needs to be some explanation.
Currently, the Loki Familia of the Labyrinth City, Orario were dungeon diving on an expedition. Their goal, the fiftieth floor, so they were well on their way. The four of them aren't alone though, there was an entire group of their familia with them. Familias are groups of people who 'serve' under a God or Goddess. They are given what is called a 'Falna' giving the mortal a 'Status' with the potential to unlock abilities and skills to then fight in the Dungeon.
"One last push!" a child-like voice said, but despite their looks, they were more than capable. Standing on a small hilltop overviewing the battle stood Braver, Finn Deimne. His short stature gives off the appearance of a child, but he's older than almost all of the familia. His dungeon outfit is a yellow vest over a purple long-sleeved shirt and trousers. A spear nestled into his shoulder. "Bete, Tiona fall back. Ais, Axton, and Tione switch out! Lefiya, be ready on your spell! Riveria, if you would?" His skill, Command Howl, allows his voice to carry out over the battle and it scales depending on the battle.
"Certainly," a beautiful woman replied—jade-colored hair flowing down her back—holding a magic staff. This specific person was Riveria Ljos Alf, a High Elf, one of the demi-human races that exist on the planet. She is vice-captain and a high executive of Loki Familia. As a side note, Elves basically worship her because of her heritage to the Elven kingdom outside of Orario. Tione was Tiona's older sister, also an Amazoness and the major difference between them besides their hair length was how well-endowed they were.
Lefiya, in slight contrast to Riveria, was an Elf. As such, most elves look up to Riveria. People even say that Riveria is more beautiful than most deities, and some even believe that she rivals Ladies Freya and Ishtar in beauty. Most believe those people to be crazy anyway. Lefiya resided in the backline, supporting her familia members with magic. The elf was wearing a rosette pink cape on top of a white shirt and pink corset dress. A purple bow hangs at the collar. Her staff, named Forest Teardrop, held her latent magical energy.
As the frontline fighters switched out, there was a gap in their transition. The Fomoires on this floor travel in packs and therefore, a lot of them converge on a specific area. While they were switching out, Lefiya began to chant a spell, an incantation. At her feet, a dark cherry red magic circle appeared. When that appeared, words that felt like a rhyme began to flow from her mouth, "Proud warrior, snipers of the forest. Take up your bows before the advancing plunderers."
The Monsters heard this chant and slowly shifted their gaze to the elf who could wipe them out. Those that tried to move were cut down by Tione, but one slipped by. Bete and Tiona were busy with one of their own. Axton himself had two Fomoires on him, "Ais!"
The blonde-swordswoman understood what he was saying. She whispered something under her breath and a green glow surrounded her. She disengaged from the front line to chase down the loose goat.
"Answer the call of your brethren and ready your arrows. Tinge them with flame, the lamplight of the forest," Lefiya continued. However, when she opened her eyes, she saw the Fomoire's glowing bloodshot eyes, heading right for her. "R-Release them, the f-fire arrows of the- ah!" It raised its weapon and was about to slash, but-
Shing!
Someone else made it there first. Lefiya opened her eyes to see flowing blonde hair and the very impressive backside of one Ais Wallenstein, the Sword Princess. "Are you okay?" her soft-spoken voice reached the elf's ears.
Lefiya nodded before she raised her staff and continued to chant, thankfully not causing an Ignus Fatuus, "Release them, the fire arrows of the fairies. Falling like rain, burn away the savages."
*Fusillade Fallarica!*
At the end of her chant, a plethora of fire spawned in the sky. With a wave of her wand, she sent them forth to unleash hell on the Fomoires. "Everyone pull back!" Finn's voice carried over the floor. Tione and Axton sent themselves backward, Tione grabbed Tiona, and Axton snagging Bete, much to the latter's complaints.
The four of them reached where Ais and Lefiya were standing, watching the aftermath. Axton let out a whistle, "Look at that, and you were worried about messing it up."
"B-But I-"
"Ahep! I don't wanna hear it. We accomplished our job here, now let's go," Axton said, sheathing his sword on his back, taking Tione and Tiona Hiryute with him, who gestured for the other three to follow.
Bete, Ais, and Lefiya were the last three to fall in line as Finn shouted in front of a cave entrance that led to the next floor, "Great job, everyone. Now, onward to the fiftieth floor! We can rest there before we move on, is that respectable?"
Many shouts of approval roared from the expedition group.
Ah, there was something that was forgotten. A lot of somethings actually.
Now that the Loki Familia was sitting pretty on the fiftieth floor of the Dungeon, a proper introduction can be made. The blond-haired yellow-eyed swordsman was Axton Wallenstein, younger brother to Ais Wallenstein, by nine months exactly, down to the exact second. Creepy? Absolutely. Does anyone really care about that level of detail? Only the superstitious ones. As of now, they are both sixteen.
While both share the same colored hair—a difference in hair length, hers long, his short—the one immediate difference resides in their eyes. To be honest, they contrast his appearance entirely, but Axton's yellow-onyx-colored eyes are an oddity. His eyes, for example, inherited a mix of his father's darker eye color and his mother's golden eye color. They leaned slightly towards the golden side though. Ais herself inherited the golden eyes from her mother. In comparison, when they stood next to each other, Ais' eyes held a 'glow' per se.
As for the siblings, their nicknames, or aliases were well-known in Orario. He is known as the Sword Prince, in contrast to Ais' moniker of Sword Princess.
The Gods thought it hilarious that they were named as such, considering they came up with it at a quarterly event called Denatus, but the name holds merit. Both Ais and Axton have their own unique sword styles, from a time long ago. Together, because of the Gods, when they are spotted together, they are dubbed 'Sword Royalty'. Axton really wanted to hit the deity who came up with that. It irked him to no end. People thought we were together… just yuck. People have very demented minds.
Not to mention the number of people that tried to 'romance' them. For Ais, it was from both men and women alike from all races. She was that popular, having over a thousand people ask her only for her to reject them. For Axton, it was around half that. A lot of girls, especially members of the Amazon race, were fawning over him. He wouldn't survive if one of them got their hands on him. Surprisingly so, he had countless confessions of how he turned some men gay… he didn't have the proper time to react to that, but he did find out that those that confessed and came out have happy relationships.
Of course, he never spoke of their names, because Axton does care for their anonymity.
Now, as for clothing, Ais wore a white and black battle cloth, black arm covers, and long blue boots. She wears her armor over this which consisted of a head guard, breastplate, arm guards, hip guards, and knee guards. Axton wore slightly different armor, which covered his arms entirely, leaving only his elbow exposed for flexibility purposes. He also had knee guards that extended to his shins—just as flexible too—and apart from that, they bolstered similar armor. Beneath the armor were slightly baggy pants, multiple pockets, and a thin t-shirt. The females outnumber the males in the Loki Familia, and Axton was the immediate target for eye candy, much to his embarrassment.
Where another difference lies is in their choice of weaponry. Ais wielded a Rapier, named Desperate. This specific rapier was made with the unbreakable trait, Durandal. The blade itself was a block triangle in design before ending at a point, around one meder in length. The hilt was a beautiful design. At the bottom, was what looked like the head of a cane, then the hilt itself, and right where the blade meets the hilt was what resembled a jagged wave.
Axton wielded a longsword named Requiem. This longsword was double-edged, measuring out to around one and a quarter meders. Design-wise, it was in similar colors to Desperate, but there were splashes of black mixed in. The sheath itself resided over Axton's back. If it was at his hip, the blade would drag along the ground. This also had the Durandal trait. To remedy his long draw time, he carries a pair of high-quality daggers, just in case. They don't have a name, and he hasn't bothered to give them one.
However, that didn't mean the Durandal weapons were forever sharp. Through usage, it would need repairs. They weren't cheap either. Desperate cost ninety-nine million valis to craft. Requiem had cost one hundred and three million valis to craft. These were not inexpensive weapons, they were meant to last.
"Well done everyone. Now, we have a few items to acquire while we're down here. The Goibniu Familia requests that we bring them twenty Black Rhino horns to them, the magic stones we collect are ours, and if we get over twenty horns, then those can be claimed for personal use," Finn, the Pallum Captain, said before dismissing everyone.
He then called over three other people to give them another order. Axton didn't hear it, but he was now more worried about Ais. Axton has a long-running history to be considered the older brother, even as it was already established, he was nine months younger. Neither sibling knows what happened to their parents, but they have vague memories of them.
Those outside of the familia believe this as well, Axton definitely dotes on his older sister. He can't help it either. The number of times he had to sneak out of Twilight Manor, the Loki Familia home, just to get Ais out of the Dungeon was too many to count. Despite both of them being level five, and first-tier adventurers to boot, their stats have stagnated; plateaued if the term applies better. Getting back on track, Axton was carrying two plates of food, one for him, and one for Ais. His doting nature might seem annoying to most, but Ais never minds. In fact, she's grateful. She told him that once, reminding her that she doesn't have to rely solely upon herself.
When he finally saw her, she was walking towards Tione, Tiona, and looking even further, Axton saw Lefiya, sulking by a tree. She definitely still felt bad about what happened only hours prior. Lefiya Viridis was a level three mage—alias Thousand Elf because of a spell that allows her to use all Elven magic—who is being tutored and mentored by Riveria, alias Nine Hell.
Axton could hear the conversation from afar, "Come on Lefiya, you don't have to look so down!" Tiona said.
"But, I felt so useless when you had to come and protect me. Sure I got the chant off, but I still felt like I took too long. I need to be better..." the elf said as her head was resting on her knees, projecting her voice straight into the floor.
"Let's not worry about that now, your food's getting cold, Lefiya," Tiona said. Her alias was Amazon, and apparently, the Gods had a door named 'irony' because this was knocking center mass.
"Look, you did all you could, and besides the monster's attacks were pretty brutal this time anyway," Tione said, alias Jormungandr, crossing her arms; not exactly admonishing the elf, but telling her to not worry. "Now hurry up and eat, although as you can see, not even binge eating can make everyone grow bigger," Tione said, shooting an insult at her younger sister.
To which Tiona took exception to that, "What did you just say?"
"I'm so sorry. I totally messed up my incantation, hesitating... all because I was too scared of the monster rushing me," she whimpered as she curled up in a ball. "I'm a disgrace to the Loki Familia."
Axton took this chance to speak, ending up by Ais' side, holding out a bowl for her, which she took with careful hands. "We all know that's a lie, Lefiya."
Ais, however, spoke directly to the Amazon twins, "What's the matter?" She was momentarily distracted by the food and the look she received from her brother. She'd oblige him in a moment.
"Nothing seems to be working!" Tiona cried. "She'd much rather wallow in her own missserryy!" Tiona exclaimed, having been pushed out of the way by a suddenly energetic Lefiya.
The elf had sprung up from her balled-up position and was now standing in front of the aloof Sword Princess, "Miss Ais, I'm so appreciative for saving me back there. Thank you."
"Not a problem. Are you hurt?" Ais asked, her monotone voice did express concern, but that was all. Only Axton picked up on it though.
Then, Axton had to watch the cycle of seeing Lefiya hopelessly enamored with his sister. Lefiya continued to be self-deprecating, so Ais reached out and started petting her head with her free hand. Tears welled up in her eyes before Tiona, having recovered and suspiciously without a food bowl wrapped her arms around Ais' neck, "Watch it Ais, it's not nice to make your juniors cry."
Ais seemed confused, tilted her head, and spoke, "I didn't mean to."
"Then, why's she crying?"
The other blond-haired swordsman chimed in, "It's because Lefiya is infatuated with my sister, am I right?" His response was a glare from Lefiya, which softened as she turned back to Ais. "My point has been proven. Alright, I'm going to see if I can find Cruz, Line, and Raul. I think Fi-I mean the Captain," Axton corrected, feeling Tione's glare fixated on him now, "assigned them to watch the entrance to the fifty-first floor."
"Shall I go with you?" Ais asked, liking the time she spends with her brother.
"Nah, spend time with Lefiya. We can spar on the surface to make up for it," Axton replied, finishing his meal and turning on his heel. Ais gave a soft look to him, and to Axton, it meant a lot.
Sparring with Ais was their way of showing each other affection, as odd as it sounds. They speak with weapons more than people. Axton does more than Ais in the latter category, however. They always like refining their technique and skill. Even so, Axton needs to pick up hand-to-hand combat.
Back on track, getting Ais to express other emotions than apathy was like pulling shrapnel wounds out of an adventurer's stomach, and Axton immediately wanted to hurl. That was not the best imagery to bring up at a time like this, but the point has been made. Other than Riveria, he was the only other one to really get any semblance of emotion out of her.
Oftentimes, the two siblings are as close as they are different. Axton gives off a more relaxed-whenever-but-serious-when-needed vibe, while Ais is aloof almost one hundred percent of the time, but also serious one hundred percent of the time. Her relaxation is her sleeping, and even then it's not much.
Axton shudders to remember those times he had to carry her unconscious body on his back, weapon in hand, dripping blood all the while. He still wishes she would listen to reason, but all she wanted was to get stronger. Granted, Axton did too, but he'd rather naturally accumulate it rather than brute force it.
He entered the Loki Familia camp, bowl in hand, and greeted some of the members. As he passed by the executive tent, its flap open, he gave a sharp nod to the three inside before heading over to the cooking team. "Hey, Rakta, Narvi!" Axton greeted a Hume Bunny and Human, respectfully. Them being levels three and four means they were able to support everyone else. A lot of the members came down here, so Loki must be so alone, and bored… quite possibly drunk.
"Sword Prince, how was it?" Rakta asked, her cute bunny ears flopped slightly to one side as she asked about the meal.
Axton sighed, "You don't have to call me by my moniker, just 'Axton' is fine, please. To answer you, it was delicious. I managed to get Ais to at least take it, so progress..."
Rakta's auburn ears twitched, "You got her to take food?!"
"Jeez, say it louder why don't you?" Axton mumbled sarcastically. Ais usually had poor… self-respect… or was it… self-care! Ais has poor self-care when it comes to the Dungeon. She forgets to sleep—how one does that is astonishing—forgets to eat, and has to be reminded for proper hygiene. Is it obvious why Axton is considered the older brother?
Narvi smiled softly, her red eyes and hair were gentle to look at, "Did she enjoy it?"
Axton shrugged, "I don't know, but I just hope I don't have to harp on her for it. Seriously though, you two, along with everyone else, are awesome. Don't forget that." He almost walked away, but turned on his heel, "Did you see Raul, Line, and Cruz head this way?"
Rakta nodded, pointing to a cave just beyond the camp, "The Captain told them to watch the entrance."
"Thanks," Axton waved, jogging his way over to the three adventurers and fellow familia members. Midway there, he paused, a foreboding feeling crawling up his spine.
"What do you think is down there?" A level four human, Raul Nord said. His alias was High Novice, but he had latent leadership qualities that Finn was slowly trying to coax out of him. Appearance-wise, Raul has short, spiky black hair and brown eyes. He wears a long-sleeved black top, large brown gloves, a large belt with a pouch for items, light-colored pants, brown boots, and armor that protects his chest, shoulders, and legs. He keeps his sword in a black sheath on the left side of his waist.
A level two named Line Arshe, freshly-named Lokolite, stood next to him, "I don't know, but I really don't like standing here. Line had brown eyes and long black hair that she had braided in a tail. She wore a brown and white top, a brown skirt, dark leggings with a white band and light brown borders, a white headband, glasses, pale arm covers with light brown borders, white gloves, and a white belt with pouches.
"I think we'll find out when we head out tomorrow. I believe the Captain gave us a day to recuperate, so we shouldn't have much to worry about, but it's best if we stay on guard," a man named Cruz. He was level four like Raul. Cruz is a young man with gold eyes and medium-length light brown hair. He was a chienthrope, a type of demi-human who had dog ears and tails. He wears silver chest armor with shoulder pauldrons, long brown gloves with arm guards, a sleeveless blue top, black pants with knee protectors, and a gold collar around the neck area. He has a sheathed sword around his waist and wields a spear. Surprisingly enough, he doesn't have an alias.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Axton's voice carried over to the trio.
"Ah, Sword-"
"Axton, please," the boy demanded. "We're a familia, you don't need to call me Prince, okay?"
Line giggled, "Alright, if you say so… Prince."
He sighed, "Will I ever win?"
Cruz got right down to business, "Did the Captain send you here?"
The swordsman looked down the tunnel, his feeling refusing to go away, "No, but I think we should be cautious. This tunnel…" The aforementioned tunnel was dark heading down, multiple makeshift stone pillars supporting it, yet… "Move back, now!"
Axton drew Requiem from its sheath, holding it in one hand. He was about to speak again when a roar was heard and something was coming up the tunnel. Whatever it was, it certainly didn't have any plans on stopping.
Ais made sure to eat the food Axton gave her. Yet a part of her feels bad. He always worries about her, but she never worried about him. Wasn't that supposed to be her responsibility, to worry about her sibling? Not the other way around? Sure they're nine months apart in age, but she's still the older sister...
She continued to eat her food as she stared off into the distance of the fiftieth floor. In comparison, it was no different from the eighteenth, except for the rocky climate and deep cedar forest that expands as far as the floor goes. Natural rivers run through as well, which makes the mystery of the Dungeon that much more enticing. Ais flicked her eyes over to Lefiya, seated next to her, as the elf tried to speak but the words never came out.
Ais, once more, reached over to pet Lefiya's head getting the golden-yellow-haired elf to gasp, blush, but look directly at her. "Thanks again."
"No problem," Ais said simply. It really wasn't a problem, but Lefiya was making a bigger deal out of it than it should be. It's the job of the vanguard to cover the mages and it's the mages' job to support the vanguard. This is valuable experience for the level three elf.
That's when the first scream happened.
Ais switched to her Sword Princess persona, setting the food down, getting her boots on as fast as possible with Desperate in hand. She heard Axton shout, "Raul! Cruz, get him out of here. Line, move your butt!"
"I'm going!" Line shouted in response.
This made Ais want to get into the fight sooner. If her brother was fighting, the very least she could do was fight alongside him.
Someone must have alerted Finn but as Ais moved through the camp, she saw Raul, clutching his bloodied hand, smoke rising off his flesh. He was doing a great job of holding back his pain. Cruz was supporting him, and once he felt Ais's stare, he flicked his head back, motioning that he was still out there.
Finn, Riveria, and Gareth all emerged from their tent to get a grasp on the situation. Finn already shouted orders, "Defensive positions, I need all levels three and below supporting levels four and above. Mages, begin casting. Supporters, have potions on standby! Ais, Tione, Tiona, and Bete, go find Axton!"
That last order was easy as the boy himself slid into the camp, but he looked terrible, a glint in his eyes. "Cap! I don't know what kinds of monsters these are, I've never seen them before. But they spit some acidic fluid that burns worse than fire!" True to his word, Axton's armor was half burnt off, exposing the right side of his body. His clothes were half burnt, er, melted off his body. His own flesh was bright red, bordering on dark purple, but he still kept a grip on his weapon.
He didn't hear Finn's response as the aforementioned monster came barreling through the camp. The captain issued an order, "Proceed with caution. Any other information at first glance?"
"High physical resistance, but I haven't tried magic. Their shells are tough, but I'm able to cut through them. I think the acid can melt weapons. If Requiem wasn't a Durandal, I think I'd be weaponless. I killed one or two, but this was a whole pack of them!"
The monster looked like some deformed caterpillar with vibrant neon green bodies, then blue accents, then red and yellow tertiary colors. The blue cupped their chins and their bellies. It looked like some form of udders on their chests with red tips.
Axton even saw one swallow a Black Rhino whole and grimaced. Then another took the front, opened its 'eye', and started spitting a purple liquid everywhere. "Avoid that at all costs! It's like an all-consuming acid!" To further elaborate on his point, the grass that got acid on it burned up leaving the ground barren.
That acid was raining down on the camp, making members of the familia run and hide because they were probably too low leveled to even hurt them. This acid could prove fatal.
Tiona jumped up, swinging Urga around before stabbing one of these new monsters in the head. Raul tried to warn her, but it was already too late. Urga pierced the head of the monster, but it started spitting up some of that acid. Tiona quickly jumped back as more took their place.
Was something burning?
Tiona looked to her weapon to see it half gone, she threw it to the ground crying out that her precious Urga was melting before her eyes. Axton saw this and paled, he really didn't want to be right. Him saying that it could melt weapons was only a guess. Now, he really had to think of something.
Bete rushed in from the side, kicking himself off the ground, turning and landing a solid blow that rippled through the monster's body, sending it flying down the tunnel from which it came. A domino effect ensued. "Well don't just stand there, weaklings, make yourselves useful!"
"We'll have to take them out with magic. Axton hasn't tried using his yet, but it could work," a voice said. Tione and Tiona turned to look to see the executives. "You two, distract them long enough for the incantation."
The next few minutes could be surmised as this: Carnage.
Tione, Tiona, and Bete all did what they could, but they were slowly getting overwhelmed. Axton was taking out a couple of these monsters here and there. They were trying to swarm him. He wouldn't let that happen. One of the monsters tried to tackle him, but Axton swiftly moved out of the way, letting go of Requiem in the process, except for one thing. He used a small burst of magic to allow the weapon to glide seamlessly over his body, instead of the other way around. The sword danced with him, not he who danced with the sword. The blade gained a sharper edge as it sliced the monster in half, dropping a curious stone.
Holding his weapon in a reverse grip, he cut down another one before finally making it back to the camp's middle area, where everyone was.
Meanwhile, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth approached the battleground with a calculating look. "Finn, let Lefiya take this one."
"Oh?" The Pallum Captain was intrigued.
"All she needs is a sense of courage and experience. What better place than now?" Lefiya was currently applying a potion to Raul's mangled arm. The burning last for a second before she sighed. Riveria continued, "I'll take responsibility for her safety."
"Understood, proceeding forward is no longer an option. If this helps her improve, then it benefits all of us," Finn said. The entire wall of the floor had all of these green caterpillar-looking creatures crawling up the side.
She kneeled down to her charge. "Lefiya."
"Hm?"
"Chant the incantation, understand? You're in charge of disposing of the monsters," the mentor told her student.
Lefiya looked shocked for a singular moment, but it turned into determination. Perhaps this was an opportunity for redemption. At least, that's what Axton thought before he charged in again, not caring that he was injured.
The elf began to chant, getting into the mindset for it. A red magic circle appeared at her feet, and while she was chanting, one of them had snuck up on her. Pausing her incantation as she was struck with fear. The monster opened its eye and started spitting its acid.
""Lefiya!"" "Look out!"
But the acid never came.
Gareth stood in front of Lefiya, his humongous ax blocking the acidic stream, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't melting his weapon, yet. The force of the stream was slowly pushing Gareth back, bulging the muscles on the dwarf. With a quickstep, Gareth shoulder-checked the monster, sending it back into its comrades.
"Woah, the old man's still got it," Bete commented as he leaped away from another. "Damn, how many of these things are there?"
"Now's your chance, Lefiya. Time to finish your chant," Riveria encouraged. It was more of an order than a request.
The young mage tried to finish her chant, but the fear that gripped her heart crippled her ability to remember the words of the spell she needed. The magic circle faded from her feet and Lefiya cursed herself. Why did she have to be so useless? She closed her eyes in frustration.
Then, she smelled a fresh breeze. Opening her eyes, she saw the back of Ais Wallenstein. She had just gotten back from bathing. It was supposed to be relaxing, but her warrior instinct kicked in. she rushed back in the nick of time.
Axton let out a strained smile. The burning was slowly getting to him. Now that his sister was here, he felt a little more confident. Don't get him wrong, he's normally confident with everyone around him, but maybe it's because he worries about her so often that it's a placebo.
"Aw hell yeah, royalty is together again!" Bete exclaimed, showing up as well.
Tiona and Tione were in the thick of it and Axton was about to head back in when an order grappled his attention.
"Use your magic, you two!" Finn shouted.
The Wallenstein siblings traded gazes for a moment, drawing their respective weapons before they spoke in unison.
""Tempest.""
A mystifying green aura enveloped the siblings and their weapons before they dashed towards the fray once more.
The remainder of the camp felt a shiver run up their spine. Sword Royalty was on the field now. They didn't plan on leaving anything in their wake.
"Ariel," Riveria said as she watched the siblings deflect multiple streams of acid. "The only magic that those two can utilize is a wind enchantment." The two of them dodged and weaved around one another, killing one while leaping over each other to kill the next one before speeding off into the next one.
Ais would kill one with a pierce stab or slash, and Axton would follow up with a slash of his own. The wind enchantment on their weapons made their edges even sharper. Those two worked really well together. It was no wonder why they were considered the best swordsman and swordswoman in all of Orario.
...
If this was to catch on, then I'd be more inclined to take this further. I know it starts where Sword Orataria takes place, and I liked the way I wrote this, so I appreciate anyone who reads this.
Yes, both siblings have Ariel, it wouldn't make sense if one did and the other didn't. I couldn't give him another element as it obviously didn't make sense.
ALSO, BELL x AIS WILL HAPPEN, THAT IS JUST ENDGAME IDEAS. AXTON GOING TO BE THE BEST LITTLE BROTHER/WINGMAN EVER!
There will be moments for humor, but also Axton giving Bell hell. (To the guest who recently reviewed, I see you and I will discuss my reply when I post the next chapter because I see the validity in your claims)
Don't worry I see the rhyme and I hate myself for it...
Now, I ask for your opinion. Who should Axton try to pursue?
Regards,
Soul of Horus