*Crack-Crunch
A sound of bone breaking could be heard coming from the alleyway. Multiple corpses with black attire lied down on the ground lifeless and covered in blood. Besides the blood that are scattered everywhere, multiple weapons were also found in that scene, most likely to be the weapons used by the corpses to defend themselves. Among them, stood a white haired boy currently pinning one of the remaining survivor with the same black attire to the wall. The man in black griped his right hand that has been broken as he shivered in fear, the white haired boy stared menacingly onto his eyes with a devilish grin formed on his face.
"Wh..what do you want you monster! " Says the man who's currently stalling time before his death. As the clouds in the sky began to move, a faint light illuminated the white haired boy's face, revealing it to be non other than Accelerator.
"Monster? I suppose I might be in your eyes, though you call me a monster but it was you people who attacked me first, I merely acted in self defense." He then leaned closer to the man, causing him to swallow his spit.
"And as for what I want, Isn't it simple? I wan't answers. You've been spying on the duke through his wife for a long time now huh you bunch of sick perverts. For what purpose I am not sure of but to bring out dark magicians just to ambush his daughter, isn't that going a bit over kill? Not to mention you decided to spy on me too, do you realize just what a horrible mistake you made the moment you decided to spy on me? " Accelerator glared at the man, the intense pressure he's feeling right now made him nauseous that he could throw up from the intense pressure alone.
"Now tell me, who are you working for..."
"I...I wont tell!"
"Is that so? well then, Maybe I should give you a little push" says Accelerator as he dug his finger deep inside the man's opened wound.
"AAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!" The man screamed in agony as he felt his muscles being torn apart little by little from the inside.
"GAHAHA that's what I'm talking about! For a guy, you let out quite a good scream. Don't worry no one can hear you here, I made sure not to let any sound vibrations to slip out of this alleyway. Feel free to scream all you want while I tare you little by little hehehe "
"HURRKKHH... GODD! PLEASE... M..MAKE IT STOOOP... THE PAIN... AAAARRRGGGHH!" the man screamed even louder as more of his muscles were ripped apart.
"You can stop this suffering you know? Just tell me who you're working for..."
"I...I... Ie.. leann... iea..aAckk!" Suddenly the man stopped mid sentence as blood started to pour out of his mouth. Just like everyone else, his tongue has been cut by what it is unknown. Accelerator clicked his tongue once again.
"You too huh, well it's fine if you can't tell me. You can still here me right? as long as you're alive, whoever holds control of you probably can also hear whatever it is I am saying right now, listen closely to what I have to say for you. Never.. ever! come close to me again or I swear I will find you, now burn this image to your eyes and deep into your brain so you'll know what's coming for you"
*Splat Accelerator reversed the blood flow of the man, causing gallons of blood to spurt out of his pores, instantly killing the man.
"Now then, I should probably re group with those girls... knowing them, they might even forgot about delivering the message to the Viscount. I had my fun for today, been a while since I made such magnificent show if i do say so myself, heheheh"
And so, Accelerator walked out of the alleyway without even a single drop of blood on him, even though he's as white as a canvas. He left the pile of corpses for someone else to deal with while he looks for the address of the Viscounts estate. After a long search, he managed to find the place and coincidentally, the girls had just arrived right in front of the Viscount's estate as well. Upon arrival, Accelerator was greeted by Elze.
"Ooh A-kun there you are! Took you long enough, what were you doing?"
"What I had to do is none of your bussiness so cut it with the small talk already"
"Geez you're as cold as ever, what an Ice king..." That last sentence quite annoyed him because he felt offended.
"Ice ... Whatever" but he decided to not continue it any further.
"what took you girls so long? I was out for a while so i thought you'd be done already by now"
"Ah... that, it turnes out that finding this address was a little harder than we thought ahaha, we got lost a couple of times"
"Even though this is a Viscount's estate, it shouldn't be that hard to find you know" Says Accelerator as he glanced to the shopping bags that could be faintly seen hidden inside the cart.
"Let's not waste anymore time and enter already..." Accelerator sighed as he walked first into the estate with the girls following suite.
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The Viscount's was a bit different than the duke's estate, having just come from the duke's estate, the viscount's seemed much more snug, comparatively. Still, there was no mistaking that it was quite a grand place. The place felt quite old, or rather, rich with history.
When The group gave Zanac's name to the gatekeeper, he said he would arrange for the viscount to meet them soon. Before long they were led into the building, where a butler led them to the parlor room.
Compared to the parlor in the duke's home, the place was a bit lower tiered, but details aren't important. They were all waiting there when out came a red-haired hero of a man. The man looked strong. one could tell even through his clothes that his muscular form was well trained. Even his eyes were sharp, surveying Accelerator and the girls like a falcon pinpointing its prey.
"My name is Carlossa Galune Swordrick. Are you the messengers that Zanac sent?"
"Yes, we're here to deliver this letter to you upon his request. We were also asked to receive a response from you to take back with us." Accelerator handed him the tube containing Zanac's letter. The viscount took it and removed the wax seal with a knife before reading the contents.
"Wait here a moment. I shall write a reply." After he spoke, the viscount left the room. As he left, a maid entered the room and made tea, but Accelerator casually declined and asked if he could get a black coffee instead. The maid nods and went back to make his request.
"Don't you know how to hold back a little? This is the Viscounts estate!" Elze couldn't help but felt quite annoyed at his carefree behavior, but Accelerator just shrugs his shoulder in response.
"Why should I care? It's free service and I'm not the kind of person who would accept what I don't like"
"Sorry to have kept you waiting" The Viscount had returned with a sealed letter in hand.
"Alright, please give this to Zanac. Also, hold on a moment. Before you go..." as the viscount handed the letter, his gaze drifted over to Yae.
"I've been wondering since I first laid eyes on you... Have we... No, I don't think we've ever met before. Still... What is your name?" The viscount tilted his head as if he were trying to remember something. Yae looked straight at him and gave him her name.
"My name is Kokonoe Yae; Daughter of Kokonoe Jubei."
"...Kokonoe... Oh, Kokonoe! I see. So you're Jubei's daughter!" The viscount slapped his knee, let out a broad smile, and gave Yae a once-over with a happy expression on his face.
"Yep. There's no mistaking it. You're the spitting image of Nanae. I'm just glad you take your looks from your mother and not your old man!" The viscount laughed as though he had suddenly been put in a great mood, and Yae simply smiled without a word.
Accelerator was a bit confused, he decided ask Linze who was currently standing beside him.
"Oi, does she know this guy?"
"Ah? Um.. yes, Yae mentioned on our way here that the Viscount we were to visit was the same one that she wanted to meet in her journey. What a coincidence isn't it? hehe"
Linze explained it thoroughly with a little smile as she tried to be more friendly with Accelerator like her sister does. Accelerator on the other hand, completely ignored her.
"Whatever, I'm going to enjoy my coffee" seemingly uninterested of the development, Accelerator decides to distance himself while enjoying the coffee the maid had just brought him. Linze felt a little discouraged by his cold response.
"Uhm... so how do you know Yae...?" Elze decided to ask to ease the atmosphere.
"Hmm? Oh, right. You see, her father, Jubei, used to be an instructor of swordplay for the Swordrick family. Back when I was still a sniveling brat, he really put me through the wringer. It was a real challenge, I tell you. Hard to believe that was twenty years ago now."
"My father always talks about how, among the swordsmen he trained, none were nearly as wise or talented as you, Viscount-dono."
"Ohoho? I'm pleased to hear that! Even if it's mere flattery, it's heartwarming to know that my old teacher speaks so well of me." The viscount smiled happily, true to his words. But Yae continued talking to him with a serious expression on her face.
"He also told me that should I ever get the chance to meet you, I should request your advice in matters of swordplay, he did."
"Oho..." The viscount narrowed his eyes, apparently enthused by Yae's words.
Huh? What's with this change in the atmosphere all of a sudden...?"
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The viscount's garden had a dojo in it.
Upon entering, Accelerator was surprised to see the dojo . After all, it looked exactly like a Japanese kendo dojo. A polished wooden floor, several wooden swords hanging on the wall, complete with an actual home shrine.
"This building was planned by Mr. Jubei, and it was built by my father. It was designed to have an Eashen aesthetic, as you might be able to tell."
"It reminds me of the dojo back home... It makes me feel nostalgic, it does."
This eashen styled place really does resemble japan a lot, though not much of these things can be found in academy city, it still doesn't fail to amaze me.
"Choose the wooden sword that suits you best. They're lined up by the size of their grip." After changing into his training attire, the viscount fixed his sash and took hold of a wooden sword. Yae, on the other hand, took a few swords and tried swinging each of them several times before deciding which one suited her best. Shortly after that, she stood face-to-face with the man.
"Are any of you familiar with Healing magic?"
".W..we know one or two spells." Linze replied by raising her hand while also looking at Accelerator.
What're you looking over here for?
"Then there'll be no need to hold back. Come at me with all you have." When he said that, Accelerator and the girls went to sit down at the edge of the dojo so they wouldn't get in the way of their fight.
Elze took on the role of the referee and took her place between the fighters.
After confirming they were fully ready, she signaled the start.
"Now then... begin!"
As Elze's voice rang throughout the dojo, Yae dashed toward the viscount with the speed of a bullet. He stopped the first strike head-on and neatly parried each of the numerous attacks that followed.
Yae momentarily backed away and attempted to adjust her breathing. However, despite the golden opportunity, the viscount didn't attack her. Instead, he just watched her movements.
Facing one another, they closed in on each other as if drawing an inward spiral. Little by little, the distance between them shrunk until it reached a point that summoned another exchange of wooden swords, beginning another vicious chain of blows.
However, Yae was the only one actually attacking. The viscount merely parried, evaded, and deflected, not showing any sign of going on the offensive.
Everyone was in awe when seeing Yae giving her all she got, except for Accelerator, he was pretty busy with his own thoughts.
What the heck am I doing here... I have no interest in seeing sword fights to begin with, this won't benefit me even the slightest yet here I am. Well, the refreshing feeling of seeing traditional japanese sights that I can hardly find in Academy City isn't so bad.
Meanwhile, as the two fighters engaged in a staring contest, the Viscount had thought up of something.
"I see... So that's how it is." He shifted his sword into a lower position. Yae fixed her aim and breathed as her shoulders moved up and down in quick succession. It was apparent that she was running out of stamina.
"Your swordsmanship is proper. I would even go as far to call it exemplary, as I don't see even a single wasted movement. It's just like how Jubei taught me."
"Is there a problem with that, is there?"
"Not in the least. However... you don't have anything beyond that level."
"Wha—?!" The viscount shifted his sword into an overhead position and displayed his first act of aggression.
"En garde!" He took a step forward, quickly leaped and closed the distance between him and Yae. Everyone was surprised by this, even Accelerator was, but he seemed to be surprised not by the Viscount's speed but rather...something else.
"Hmm... why is he doing that?"
The Viscount held his sword above his head and quickly swung it down toward Yae's head. Yae responded by positioning her sword above herself.
However... the very next moment, she fell to the floor with a highly unsatisfying sound. Everyone could hear her moan as she held on to one of her sides.
"E-Enough!" Elze proclaimed the end of the match. If this was a real battle, Yae would have been neatly split in half.
"Guh..."
"Please, refrain from moving too much. I probably broke some of your ribs. If you give them the chance, they may pierce your lungs. You there! Come and heal her."
"Ah, right."
As Yae writhed in pain, Linze rushed in and placed her hand on her side and cast a Healing spell. Sooner than later, likely due to the fading pain, her expression turned calm.
"I'm fine now, I am..." After thanking Linze, Yae stood up and gave the viscount a sincere bow.
"I am grateful for your guidance I am, Master ."
"Your swordsmanship has no real dark side to it. You mix feints and actual attacks, charge and back away when needed... It's both fierce and open-ended. However, a proper manner of the sword like yours doesn't break the limits of dojo training. Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. After all, true strength differs person by person." The viscount's sharp eyes pierced Yae.
"What do you seek from your blade?" She offered no answer to his words. Instead, she just looked up at her wooden sword.
"That is the first thing you must learn. Then, you will find your true path. And when you do, feel free to come back to me." With those words as his last, the viscount was about to leave the dojo, but then he suddenly turned towards Accelerator.
"You, who are you?" The viscount asked.
"Ah? whats it to you?"
"Just answer me, are you a Yae's traveling companion. Yes or no?"
"Geez I don't get why you started to question me all of a sudden but if it's a yes or no question, then technically yes"
"Technically huh..." The viscount then became silent for a few seconds before he started opening his mouth once again.
"Your eyes... I hate those kind of eyes the most! I don't trust you one bit, as a friend of Jubei I can't simply let his daughter roam freely with a scum like you. I can tell what a person is just by seeing how they fight, so allow me to have a match with you."
"Scum? me? Wow you sure have the guts to say that I'm impressed! Most people who challenged me usually ends up without an arm or a leg afterwards, but if you still persist on doing so then bring it on.." Accelerator says as he placed his hand in his pockets and a grins at the viscount.
"Pick any sword you want, I don't care even if you use real swords instead of wooden ones"
"Oh? How kind of you letting me have the upper hand. Unfortunately I wont be needing that, these hands should be more than enough to rip you to shreds"
"Very well then.."
Knowing where this is going, the girls had a bad feeling of what's to come. They certainly know that accelerator isn't a person to show mercy.
"Um.. A-kun, could you please refrain on going overboard?" Elze tried to talk to him but doesn't look like accelerator was listening.
The air around the dojo had already began to tense up. The Viscount and Accelerator were submerged in a staring contest for a few seconds until, the viscount moved quickly. His speed was so fast that it's as if he had instantly appeared right in front of Accelerator. Viscount had swung his sword, aiming for Accelerator's head but the moment it almost made contact, Accelerator had dodged the attack perfectly. The viscount doesn't waste his time, he kept the momentum in his sword going by rotating his body so that the next swing will land on Accelerator but he dodged it again. The process continued several times more, they were so fast that it was quite hard for the girls to catch up.
The girls were clearly in awe, especially Yae.
"Elze-dono! Is Accelerator-dono always able to move like that?"
"Eh? I'm not sure, I never saw him move much since every attack aimed at him would always be sent back to the attacker, I never knew he's this capable even without that weird magic barrier he always puts up"
'That's because I really am not capable of such a feat. It's true that I've always just abused my reflection to end most fights quicker, but this is a different situation. And it's not like I'm actually dodging any of this guy's attacks, my physical feat is nowhere near this guy. This is just a little trick that I have developed for a while now but had yet to test it in a real battle due to it's many gap holes.'
'By modifying the nature of my reflection, I created an algorithm in which whatever harmful Vectors that came in contact with my reflection field would become a trigger to move my body to it's opposite direction, similar to that of a magnet that is repelling each other. As for how my body isn't being sprained in the process, that requires a bit more complex explanation that I'm too lazy to monologue about.'
'In short, there was something off with his previous attack that I wanted to see for myself. Obviously it would be too easy to just reflect his attack and end the fight there, so this is the least I can do to keep the battle going a little longer, that way he might use that attack once more. Plus, this is a great opportunity to test out this new Algorithm of reflection, I can work out some errors if glitches on my calculations were to occur in the process, though it seems most likely to happen since I have never made an error with my calculations. Now then Viscount, show me what you got!'
As the Viscount kept on slashing his wooden sword viciously towards Accelerator, he easily dodged every attack that was thrown at him. One slash after another, none of his attacks could land a hit on the boy even though it looks as if he could've done a clean hit multiple times already.
"Hmm.. looks like beating you might not be as easy as I thought" Says the viscount as he glared at Accelerator
"Really now? Looks like beating you isn't gonna be all that difficult tho" Accelerator glared back while laughing sarcastically.
The viscount then ceased his attacks and stepped back. Accelerator merely stands in a single spot as he observes his opponent. The viscount seems to be adjusting his breath, his stance then changed into a familiar stance that Accelerator had seen before. Seeing this, accelerator grins
'Ah.. yes, that's the spirit. This is what I've been waiting for, come!'
In an instant, the viscount closed in on him with blinding speed. His aim was towards Accelerators head, his stance was firm, as if he was going to slice a mountain. But then, instead of moving to the sides, Accelerator instead bent his back at a ninety degree angle. The viscount was shocked, his illusionary attack was seen right through. His previous vertical slash turned out to be a horizontal attack that was aimed at Accelerators sides but it was seen right through.
"I...Impossible! even if you anticipated it, such perfect timing of dodge on an attack you couldnt see is just..." The viscount was still in disbelief, Accelerator then went back to his previous stance and grinned.
"Dissapointed, are you? " Accelerator leaned forward, grabbing onto the viscounts Yukata.
"The cat is up about your little trick. [Sword Shadow] was it? A sword technique to raise ones fighting spirit. There is no substance as it is an illusion. However, because it is made with a spirit there is a presence. Therefore you recognize the existence unintentionally. So you used the sword shadow above while the real sword was split to the side. I've read about it in a book once, didn't think I'd see it in real life so I should thank you, but now that I've seen through your tricks... the same shit wont work twice" The viscount went silent as Accelerators grip began to tense up.
"Let go of me you trash"
"Ah sure thing haha!" Accelerator let go of his grip and touched the viscount lightly, but the viscount was immediately launched backwards so fast that the walls were cracked upon impact.
"That's basically the lesson you were trying to tell her wasn't it? It's not to wait for the opponent to make an opening, but rather.. to make the opponent show an opening. What an overly cliched lesson..." Accelerator slowly walks to the viscount with every step echoing through the wooden floors. The viscount was recovering from the impact, he then went back into a fighting stance.
"Kghh.. so you've caught up on that as well, impressive. But don't get cocky because the fight is yet to be over"
"Don't bother, I'm not a kind hearted person as you already know it. If you want to keep going I wont hold back anymore"
"The moment you decided to hold back on me is the moment you dug your own grave!"
Once again the viscount dashed quickly towards accelerator, but this time he was even faster than before, the Viscount was no longer holding back. The floor he was previously stepping on was cracked from the viscounts self trajectory, that alone proved that he's going all out. His attack was accurately aimed towards Accelerators neck, but the moment it hits, the wooden sword broke. And not only that, the viscount could feel his wrist was also broken, it's as if his attack had backfired at him.
Seeing this, he immediately back stepped but was stopped midway as he felt like bumping onto something from behind. He turned and was surprised to see Accelerator already standing behind him.
"Too slow... trash"
The Viscount was preparing for a close ranged counter attack but couldn't do it in time as Accelerator was quicker, he lightly tapped on the Viscounts sides with the back of his hand.
*Crack!*
"AAARGHHH!"
A sound of bone cracking could be heard ringing throughout the dojo, the girls there winced upon hearing it. The viscount was sent flying a few meters back once again before landing and roll on the wooden floor, he tried to get back up but the intense pain he felt on his rib cage prevented him from doing so.
"Well? do you wanna still keep goi..."
"T-That's enough! Accelerator please stop!" Elze proclaimed the end of the match while trying to protect the viscount by blocking Accelerators path. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked at the badly injured Viscount.
"Hey! try not to move too much, I probably broke some of your ribs. If you give them the chance, they might pierce your lungs." Not finding anymore reason to be there, he turned his back and walked away from the injured Viscount, leaving the girls and the fallen sword master.
Both Linze and Yae immediately rushed towards the Viscount, Linze quickly casted her healing magic while Yae tried to check on the Viscounts condition.
"Master, are you alright?" The Viscount was silent for a few moment as he was deep in thought, he then smilled and sighed as he watches accelerators back disappear from the distance.
"Looks like I underestmated him, and I think I also misjudged him"
"What do you mean?" The viscount let out a wry smile and looked at Yae.
"I have met various people and I can tell their personality just by fighting them. From what i can tell.. that boy, though he might not look like it he is capable indeed. Behind that awful personality of his, he is a sharp and careful thinking person, perhaps even more. I'm sure you will learn a lot from him, he seems to have lots of experience in life. No... I want you to follow him, then you might learn a thing or two"
With that being said, after treating the Viscounts wounds and having both Elze and Linze sincerely apologizing in Accelerators stead for what he did. They said their goodbyes and went back to their cart to find Accelerator who was already waiting in there, or rather... sleeping on the cart. Now that they have finished their duties here, it was time for them to go back. All that's left was Yae, the twins was about to part ways since their journey were to end there. But Yae thought back on what the Viscount said to her.
"Follow him, you might just learn a thing or two"
After thinking about it for a few times, she had decided that she will join the girls and Accelerators party. Both Elze and Linze welcomed her with joy of course, they even formed a group hug. Though Accelerator knew nothing about this, he soon went on an outburst once he wokes up finding Yae sitting besides him. It was then decided that Yae will join their party in one condition, as long as Accelerator doesn't have to pay for her meals.
"Accelerator-dono.." not having anything to do, Yae decided to begin a conversation Accelerator
"Just Accelerator, what is it?"
"I.. I wanted to thank you for today" Hearing this made Accelerator lift an eyebrow, why would she need to thank her for anything
"Ah? for beating up your old mans friend?"
"No no! ...rather, for opening my eyes today, you were amazing back there. To think that you who isn't even a swordsman could figure out what my master was intending to say to me. I alone wouldn't have figured out the lesson myself. I now see why my blade has no shadow, and it's thanks to you that I was able to see how he performed his attack once again. For that I am deeply grateful to you, really I am" Hearing this Accelerator clikced his tongue and looked away.
"Ah so that's it, don't say it like its that big of a deal. It was simply just me kicking your weak masters ass, nothing more nothing less" Hearing his response, Yae smiled and was reminded about her masters words once again.
"Behind that awful personality of his, he is an accurate and careful thinking person, perhaps even more."
"Ah! One more thing Accelerator!"
"Huh? What now?"
"Please allow me to be your disciple, the way you were able to move and anticipate Masters attacks like that, not even I could've done it. Please let me be your disciple and teach me your ways!"
"Absolutely not!" Accelerator shouted leaving the two twins both laughing at him. He was annoyed indeed and felt that the days later on is just going to be more troublesome, he sighed at that thought of it.