Dragon Champion Familiar of Zero
A/N: I don't own the concept of Dragon Champion, the author codenamed Freedom Guard does, I thought up the idea for this story and gave him the suggestion, he suggested that I'd write it, I told him that it's his concept and I wouldn't do it without his permission and he unexpectedly gave it to me on a silver platter like he was a waiter who said I made an order I didn't make. I also don't own 'Familiar of Zero'.
I also want to work on my other fan fictions, such as 'Kamen Shinobi Naruto', 'Dvau Loka Avatar', and my other Other World crossover fan fictions, but please read and review them too.
Ch. 2: Dragon Champion and Level Zero Mage
After effortlessly defeating Guiche in their duel, Saito sits down on his woven straw mat on the balcony Louise's room while the mage in question who summoned him is having tea served by Siesta.
He asks his new partner and weapon, 'So, did you transfigure the straw I was sleeping on into a straw mat, Holy Talon?' 'I did,' replies the sword 'after reading up on your native country and your world when you took hold of me, I came across such information of your native country that would suit you better than the simple pile of straw Lady Louise has given you. But you should really thank Ms. Siesta the maid for the bread, water, pillow, and blanket for it was her who gave you those. Believe me, I've seen her come in last night.'
Louise asks them "How is it that I can hear you two communicate inside my head?" "It's called telepathy:" replies Saito "the ability to communicate and perceive through thought rather than the common five senses."
'Apparently, Lady Louise' speaks Holy Talon to her 'when you were forming your world's form of master-familiar contract with my master, you've absorbed some of the Dragon Fire energy while I was in the slow process of analyzing him and transforming him; hence your new appearance, the transmogrification of your belongings along with him, and your telepathic link with us both.'
After a moment of silence, Louise shrugs "Makes sense."
Not understanding why Louise is talking like that, Siesta asks "Excuse me, Ms. Valliere, but why are you talking to yourself like that?"
Saito says to the maid, "Remember when I told you that my sword, Holy Talon, is alive?" Seeing the maid nod in response, he answers "It can communicate with some people through thought." "Oh!" replies Siesta in understanding.
Louise ponders a bit before asking, "You said you never had magic in the world you originate, except in fictional stories for sake of fun, is that completely true?" "Yes" nods Saito "although I guess there are just some who claim to have magical powers but we don't have any proof." "So until now you were never capable of using magic." "Not until I retrieved Holy Talon from what we've seen so far. And his power is evidently in a completely different style from yours. Also technically I didn't use any magic in the duel with Guiche." "That's true."
Siesta immediately perks up at Saito's frank confession; he didn't use one spell of either source against Guiche even, meaning a commoner like her did indeed stand up to a noble and win, even though he is both transformed and wielding a powerful magical weapon. This all is in her opinion is good news to her.
The door opens to reveal a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties wearing rectangular glasses over her eyes; she is probably a teacher judging by her attire. Knowing her, Louise gets up "Yes, Ms. Longueville?" "Ms. Valliere," says the glasses-wearing teacher "the headmaster and Pr. Colbert wish the presence of you and your familiar."
"Oh boy" sighs Saito.
—
At the headmaster's office, after gazing at the transformed Louise for a few minutes, Osmond gets down to business and says to Saito "We'd like to examine your sword, Holy Talon, thoroughly, young man. We've spent some of our time researching about that sword and found absolutely nothing and we thought maybe you could help."
As Saito is about to respond, his Holy Talon suggests 'Have this discussion with Lord Faldren, master, in a secluded part of the forest.'
Hearing this, Louise speaks for her familiar "Headmaster, Holy Talon just request that the four of us should meet with its creator and lord, Faldren, in the forest."
The two older men's widen their eyes in surprise and look at each other. Then they shrug so they can agree and look at this mystery, and if there was one thing the two professors of magic like… apart from sexy women (Osmond) and working with strange subjects with basic known functions and principals (Colbert), it is mysteries.
—
In the middle of the forest, with no one else in sight to spy on them or to accompany save for their horses, not even the headmaster's secretary, Ms. Longueville.
Of course, one other person is spying on the scene purely out of curiosity: Siesta.
"So," speaks up Pr. Colbert "where will we find this Faldren, Ms. Valliere?" Louise replies "I have a feeling that we don't have to; my familiar's learning a spell from his sword to bring him here. Since he's still a beginner Dragon Champion himself, with his sword he can only summon a manifestation of its high-ranking master and creator, Faldren, so we can speak to him."
Pr. Colbert is getting excited, pulling out his notepad "This is getting so interesting!"
Saito places the sword on the ground and speaks in a dialect not recognized by the two older men.
"I wonder what he's saying" frowns Pr. Colbert lightly as he writes down the pronunciations of each word of the incantation he's hearing from Saito. Louise's eyes widen as she says to her teacher "I can understand the tongue perfectly, and it's scary still to me."
Saito then calls out "FALDREN! COME FORTH AND SPEAK YOUR LORE!"
The sword suddenly glows deep white and a blast of energy is unleashed in a heartbeat, which nearly blinds Osmond, Pr. Colbert, Saito, and Louise, forcing them to cover their eyes. The four all feel the shockwave first, this feeling is followed by many mages in the area, and the neighboring non-magic folk are caught off guard as well as they all look for the source of the sudden energy wave.
When the light fades, the four look and gasp as they see the sword is still glowing but they are for the moment not concerned with the glowing sword, but rather more concerned by the thing that just appeared before them—
They are in the presence of a colossal dragon, but not just any dragon: a dragon lord.
'By the Founder, that's the biggest dragon I have ever seen!' gasps Pr. Colbert.
'I have never seen one like it in either the records nor my entire life!' gasps Osmond.
Louise, fearing for her life, begins praying at the first sight of the great dragon.
Saito is staring at the magnificent entity before him.
From within the underbrush she's hiding within, Siesta, fearing for her life as much as Louise is, begins praying at the first sight of the great dragon.
The five look at the creature that's as tall as a three-story building and is covered in shimmering golden scales that glow gently in the suns and the scales are rimmed with silver edges. Save for its head, wings, and tail, it has four limbs that each has five toes with razor sharp metallic like claws each, though one claw in the right fore limb is missing. There is a beast-like elegance and beauty about the creature and it has wings that have folded down, it has a long tail with several bony plates on it that taper into a spearhead-like tail tip and a long made of golden hair with silver mixed into it runs from the base of the tail tip to the back of the head, which is on a long gracefully shaped neck. The head is like that of a reptile and there is a giant glowing diamond on the forehead on the creature and a pair of four horns on either side that flow backwards. The dragon creature curls its lips upward to reveal rows of very sharp teeth and its deep rainbow-like reptilian eyes were directed solely at Saito.
The teacher and headmaster have no idea what sort of dragon this is, so they quickly take battle-ready stances with their staffs in front of the two youths. Osmond says to them, "Get behind us, Ms. Valliere, Saito!"
The dragon then opens its mouth and amazingly enough, it speaks, and in a royal tone that demands respect and attention yet in a patient and calm manner "Peace elder and sir, I mean you and the young ones no harm. There is no need for violence."
"Did that dragon just speak?" asks an amazed Pr. Colbert.
"That dragon just spoke," says Osmond in awe.
"Amazing!" smiles Saito in awe.
"He talked!" blinks Louise, stunned out of her mind.
Siesta is in awe of the dragon lord who just talked to them.
"Who are you?" asks Osmond, deciding a political approach would be wise as it looks like an intelligent creature.
"I?" asks the dragon, "Forgive me, I guess I forgot my manners since it has been a while since I was manifested, however I would like to see the wielder of Holy Talon… step forward, wielder."
Saito complies with the dragon lord's wish.
The dragon looks to Louise, "You too, young maiden."
Louise steps up to the dragon until she's at the side of Saito.
They don't know why, but the great dragon's voice holds no threat, anger, or malice, and they step away from the older mages, despite the misgivings the men had. As soon as they're before the creature, it moves forward and Saito now finds himself and Louise staring at the creature face to face, they both feel great fear and anxiety, hoping that neither would show and get them into trouble with the dragon.
After a few moments, the creature moves back and grins, "You, young man, are not exactly what I expected to be the new wielder of Holy Talon. A young man transported from his native world where science is dominant and creatures like dragons and magic are considered myth or make belief into another where it's all real instead. Regardless, the sword is wise and foresighted when it came to choosing wielders, even those who appear ordinary. Surprisingly, the young girl who summoned you as a familiar according to her world's common style of magic has also gained a bit of our magical energy of Dragon Fire, when you marked each other."
"Wow" blinks Louise, surprised at the information the dragon shared with them. Saito gapes "Whoa!"
"As to who I am," speaks the great dragon "I am Faldren… Dragon Lord of the Holy Dragons and chief creator of Holy Talon. Though in this case I am only a manifestation and therefore I cannot last long in the material plane. I see that you have questions, you may ask them now if you both wish and I will answer them to the best of my ability."
"Holy Dragons?" gasps Pr. Colbert, writing everything down. Osmond speaks "I would guess that would mean you're a powerful race of dragons from a different world from ours or young Saito's that are on the side of all that is good."
"You would guess correctly, elder" nods Faldren, "Our races of dragon are being born of the earth and magic of the world. We serve as living reservoirs of magic and energy and as such, we have long life spans, thus we can learn and retain memories at a very large capacity. I have lived for over 25,000 of your human years now and I am the oldest of my race, and as such, I have learned many tongues apart from my native Draconian tongue, I have also learned much in terms of art, history, warfare, combat and more."
"25,000 years?" gasps Pr. Colbert in surprise "Then your kind and these powers surpass even Brimir the Founder, he who brought magic to our world only 6,000 years ago!"
"You would be correct, sir" nods Faldren.
Louise asks, "Uh… Faldren sir?"
Turning to her, the mighty dragon lord asks "Yes, child?"
"Do you…" she stops as she lets out an audible nervous gulp "well… eat… other beings… like me?"
Appalled at the thought, Faldren says "Oh! Good gracious, no!"
Siesta, in her hiding place, and Louise sigh in relief.
Faldren continues "I find the idea of eating mortal beings such as yourself distasteful, and a grievous sin, though I partake in feasting with humans such as yourself in my human disguise. I must admit that your race is quite creative when it comes to feasts."
"You can turn into a human?" gasps Saito in surprise.
"Of course I can take the appearance and form of a human of any age, young wielder" replies Faldren "For you see, many of my kin have such a talent and we use it well when the needs suit us, apart from our powers and abilities. We Holy Dragons love justice, compassion, mercy, life, knowledge, and more and we preserve peace as best we can, and that is why I am here to talk, not to fight. However that does not mean we are weak creatures and we can fight as fiercely and deadly as any fighter."
Louise smirks in confidence, "Seeing how Saito here fought that flirt Guiche until he yielded in their duel, I shouldn't be surprised."
Osmond sighs, "It's good to know that this power would be used just to herald peace instead of war. The palace council of our country would want to use it and I can't have that."
"I understand humankind's inner conflict of war and peace within their nature," nods Faldren to the elder "for that I empathize with you."
"Are there others like you, great dragon lord Faldren?" asks Pr. Colbert, still documenting.
"Yes, sir," nods Faldren "I rule several large flights of Holy Dragons along with my own brood, but we are not the only dragons who exist in our realm, nor our world."
Remembering the Yin and Yang concept from back home, a comprehending Saito asks "There's a equally powerful race of dark dragons from your world that are evil, ungodly, and sacrilegious who desire war and chaos?"
"Yes, wielder" nods Faldren to the Dragon Champion "the other race of dragons from my world are not the same as my brood and my flights, for they follow the path of evil and darkness. We call them the Chaos Dragons. Our respective realms have a very long and difficult history, if you wish I will tell you as much as I can, and then I will explain to you what is Holy Talon."
"We do wish to hear," nod and bow the four.
The Dragon Lord then spins a tale before the four and tells them the history of their kind and their wars with their dark brethren—
"We have been at war with our dark kin for millennia and for a good reason, while my kin and I rule the realms we live in with peace, justice, knowledge, freedom, hope, compassion, mercy, and duty, the Chaos Dragons and their leader Chorvax, who like me is the oldest and wisest of his kin, rule their realms through slavery, corruption, hatred, greed, malice, anger, death, destruction, power, hunger, and evil. They have twisted the minds and hearts of their mortal followers who fear and worship them. They see mortals as pawns, food, and toys to play with to amuse themselves and not worthy of being treated any better.
"They sought to do the same to those under our protection and we have fought back in kind and many of our kin and theirs have died in these battles that tore the lands and remade them as well, mortals under our respective realms also fought each other as well. The battles lasted for generations upon generations and we were tired of the countless slaughters and the battles that were fought between us Holy Dragon, them, and our respective followers. As such I called for a cease-fire and spoke to Chorvax in the borderlands.
"There we realized that there would be no true compromise even though I had convinced him that while he would revel in the slaughter and death, he would soon wipe out all of his followers and what sort of empire would he rule if all were dead? While we knew that even without our presence, mortals would continue to fight one another, we no longer wished to fight and rip the lands to shreds. So we all found an alternative.
"I gathered my kin and with one of my talons and one of my scales, and our combined powers, wills and magic we created a sword of immense power and poured into it portions of our magic, essences, martial and physical prowess, and our beliefs and philosophies. By the end of four of your human years since then we created the sword and I blessed it with my blood and fire. I placed the sword in our most sacred place and mortals who wished to seek it out with pure hearts, souls, and minds were able to wield it. The sword itself was alive and it was true judge on who would wield it.
"In time, we gave each successful wielder the title of Dragon Champion, and as you might have guessed, that sword was given a name by those who couldn't speak the Draconian tongue… Holy Talon, the Holy Dragon Sword."
Everyone looks at Saito's sword again in awe and amazement that living sword of holy power had chosen young Saito, an ordinary boy from a different world, to wield it.
"How did Holy Talon end up in the path when I came across it when Louise here summoned me here?" asks Saito.
Faldren answers "A vortex of spells occurred when both of our respective and most recent Dragon Champions struck a final blow to the other sucked both their swords away from our world and in the middle of mystical space, waiting for new champions to hold them."
Pr. Colbert asks "When you said 'swords', did you mean that Chorvax created a similar weapon to yours at the same time?"
"He did," nods Faldren, "during the same amount of time, he and his kin gathered and combined their own powers, wills, and magic with one of his fangs and one of his scales as they poured into it portions of their mystic powers, their beliefs, their martial and physical prowess, and more to create a sword of terrible power, which is called in your common tongue… the Death Fang. When they were finished, they placed it in their most sacred place."
Everyone grimaces at the thought of Death Fang, and the possibility of it coming to their world.
"What can the Holy Talon do?" asks Osmond "What is it capable of?"
Faldren explains, "Holy Talon is a living weapon as you already know… due to our combined mystical powers and it being part of my body and imbued with my blood, fire, and magic, it cannot be chipped, damaged, or broken by any mortal means or weapons. No forge known to mortals can break it and it can cleave and slice any other metal like it was nothing but mere clay or cloth, and any form of armor can be easily cut with one swipe. As it is filled with magic, which is quite different in nature and application from your world's standards of magic that you're used to, it can cast spells and mystical forces that can overpower most if not all foes, magic can be used to heal, attack, summon, defend, and conjure. It is also able to absorb the essences without harm from each Dragon Champion that has wielded it in the past."
"I'm the first Dragon Champion from my world," gasps Saito in realization "but yet at the same time the first one to set foot here on this world."
"Correct, wielder" nods Faldren "for in the world from where it was forged, many warriors of various powers and skills have wielded Holy Talon in battle. When called upon, these essences can fill the current wielder with the power, skill, and knowledge of all previous Dragon Champions who fought with the Holy Talon in hand. It also has powers to call forth Holy Dragon allies of various powers, when you call them, the Dragons you summon will aid you in whatever venture you wish and will fight with you in battle."
Louise looks at Saito in amazement, "You could've countered Guiche's bronze golems with great warriors who fought many battles!" "Hey, it was a matter between two men! I chose to fight by myself and stuck with it by choice!" frowns Saito.
Faldren smiles at Saito and Louise's antics and so did Osmond and Pr. Colbert, as the mages are getting used to the Dragon's presence. Siesta is in awe of the events, Saito now has a serious edge over normal mages and the nobles of this world and that would be painful to deal with.
Faldren speaks to them again, "However wielder, I must caution you on several important matters concerning your ownership of Holy Talon, just because you are the wielder, doesn't mean you have free reign with the weapon."
Turning to the mighty creator of Holy Talon, Saito says with a bow "I promise never to use it for selfish reasons, Lord Faldren. I am sorry for using it in a duel between a young noble of this world, it was just that he was trying to get retribution for me exposing him as the two-timer he was to two girls he was with."
"So I saw from Holy Talon's memories of said duel," nods Faldren "he, like many aristocrats of this world, was getting arrogant and naïve with their status because they could use magic. For you to duel him to instill some humility into him and to chastise him so he could learn temperance was all worth it."
"Wow…" gaps Louise.
Looking at Louise, Faldren says "And you, child, should be careful; the title of 'dog' or anything else like that toward the wielder of Holy Talon is an insult most undeserving. The wielder who indirectly empowered your body is not an animal you can control or discipline for wrongdoings, he is a sentient living being of the same species as you. To address in such a way to the chosen wielder of Death Fang maybe, but to the Holy Talon's wielder, never. In the world I originate, to be able to use magic never a matter of social standing; in many realms even the lowliest peasant could be a very powerful mage."
Feeling smaller and meeker than she ever felt before in her entire life, Louise says "I was just following the existing state of affairs regarding social and political issues of my world, concerning the roles of aristocrats to plebeians and masters to their familiars. I guess said arrogance you've mentioned and the overindulgence is unfitting, I guess I've been treating him like a useless nonhuman slave too, and also we had no knowledge of you before now when Holy Talon arrived. For that… I'm… sorry."
Faldren nods calmly "Since you are a young woman good in heart who has yet to see with her own eyes the other possibilities and not accustomed to them, you are forgiven. The right of magical aristocracy of your world is yours as is your right for the wielder of Holy Talon to be your familiar, but not your servant; I feel that his title as Dragon Champion itself should overrule the social ranking completely, making you his first follower. The result of both makes you both a pair of destined partners of equal status for the same cause."
Saito and Louise look at each other in amazement; originally they were at each other's throats because of the status quo of this world concerning magic-using aristocracy and non-magic peasants and master-familiar relationships, now under Faldren's word they are equals.
"By the way…" asks Saito "what happened to me and Louise anyway?"
Faldren grins once more, as he already knows just what sort of topic Saito is about to bring up "You speak of the sudden physical changes of you both? Are they not to your liking? I had thought that a young, strapping lad like you and a wonderful young lady like her would appreciate them. They will certainly help in getting attention from the opposite gender, and if both of you are lucky… in more ways than one."
Louise smiles with pride, "Well, this certainly gives me an advantage over a certain classmate of mine who looked down on me and called me 'Zero' for a long time."
Saito blushes bright red at that, and Osmond coughs a bit as he admits that with those new looks of theirs, Saito and Louise still give even other cute girls and handsome lads like Guiche each a run for their money. Pr. Colbert writes on a separate sheet of paper of other possibilities to Louise and Saito's physical changes.
Faldren laughs gently and speaks "However, your physical changes are not merely for aesthetical purposes, wielder and follower. In order for the wielder to be able to utilize the full power of Holy Talon, his body had to adapt and change in order to handle the physical, martial, and mystical requirements of the powers of the Holy Talon. Normally such changes are subtle, but since he is of the schoolchild variety in his world's version, they are now more pronounced. When she unconsciously absorbed the energies when she marked him, her body also adapted at the same time with him. Their respective physical changes will remain with them until they reach adulthood, which is not too far away from now. The physical changes will also help the wielder in utilizing the essences of the previous Dragon Champions that he may summon to aid him, and also your dragon allies as well, though he will still need to train to master the higher level essences and spells. The changes in his magic-using follower is not limited to physical means as well, a reserve of my Dragon Fire is within her, granting her the ability to wield all sorts of magic from my world, to achieve that she too has to train in the knowledge of magic spells from past Dragon Champions and from the knowledge of Holy Talon. But as I have said before the wielder does not have free reign with the weapon."
"What do you mean by that?" asks the four.
Faldren replies, "As it is a weapon of justice and is alive, it has the gift of sensing the auras of those around it, and it could read hearts, souls, minds, and natures the same way you would read a book. As such it will not wound or kill those who have committed no crimes, those who are innocent of any wrong doing, those who are of pure hearts, natures, and souls, and those who are good in heart, nature, and soul. As such the weapon will not be used to kill or murder innocent lives, no matter how much the wielder may force it, it may cut armor and clothes, but never the flesh of the innocent and pure. If the wielder becomes corrupted, then the Holy Talon will disown the owner and fade away to be found by another, of course it will kill those who are evil instantly. Another limitation is the fact that its powers, while immense are not limitless, when the magic of the sword is drained in a great fashion, it will take time to recharge it's reserves, that also goes for the essences of the Dragon Champions who reside in the sword. Once that happens, depending on the drain, the Holy Talon will not be able to create spells, or summon at all. It will retain its martial and physical qualities but its mystical powers will take time.
"You might noted that some of the people couldn't lift the sword when you handed it to them, that is a built-in defense for the Holy Talon, as well as a worthiness enchantment, if the ones who hold it are of pure and uncorrupted hearts of good, but not chosen by it, the weapon will become too heavy to lift no matter how strong they may be… however, the reaction of Holy Talon to those of evil natures who try to take is another matter."
Showing interest as he writes in his notepad, Pr. Colbert asks "Why?" "Let's just say it is a far from pleasant experience when they attempt to hold the sword," smirks Faldren.
Saito admits "I somehow sensed that Guiche may be a playboy, but he still loves his girlfriend, Montmorency; I wouldn't take his life for something as low as two-timing."
"Before moving on to this Death Fang, what about the items we both possessed that were changed by that Magic Fire this morning, including my clothes?" asks Louise.
"Apparently," replies Faldren "the sword saw fit to improve your belongings in the room to fit with several standards in the foreseeable future for you two and the future of this world. Your garments and undergarments, young maiden, for example couldn't fit anymore and the Magic Fire was attracted to your reserve of it implanted in you as you ran around your room in surprise, therefore changing everything it touched. It also transformed the belongings on you, champion, in your knapsack, including your interesting mechanical book into a more powerful version of its former self after much personal study."
"Well, that's convenient" scoffs Saito. Louise shrugs, "I guess."
The dragon continues, "As for Death Fang, it possesses the same level of power as Holy Talon, but is imbued with dark and unholy energies and is corruption incarnate wielding dark magic and evil energy, Like Holy Talon, it too can contain and release the essence of the previous Dragon Champions who wielded in generations passed, allowing the current wielder to have the powers, skills, and abilities of those who used it before. But it is filled with hatred, malice, greed, corruption, anger, bloodlust, the desire to kill, subjugate, and dominate all life.
"Death Fang therefore does not make distinctions on its victims, it will kill anyone, regardless if they are good, evil, or innocent, all it does is obey the order of it's wielder to kill without mercy. And as such its wielder revels in death, bloodshed and warfare… becoming a merciless berserker.
"As I said earlier, years before, the last Dragon Champions who wielded both Holy Talon and Death Fang fought in Dragon's Basin, a large rocky valley and in the end of the battle the swords were sent far away by a maelstrom of magic and judging by the fact you wield the Holy Talon… then both swords are now here in your world. If that is the case, then you must be ready, wielder… for there will come a time that one from this world will meet the needs of Death Fang and when that happens, the Chaos Dragon Champion will arise and seek you out… when it does happen, you must be ready, and so should the others."
Louise gasps in horror… now she's really done it; if she hadn't chose to become a mage, then Saito would've remained in his home world and such a epic war would not come to her world. Now that she had summoned him and now that he possesses Holy Talon, Death Fang may awaken soon and then eventually a war will soon erupt and everyone else from her world will be caught in the middle… all because she's involved in the summoning of it. She can rub off her schoolmates calling her 'Zero' because of her ineptitude at using magic, but now she's fearing to face her entire world blaming her for summoning that its inhabitants couldn't even dare to comprehend, conceive, quantify, clarify, calibrate, confront, or compromise with.
Louise falls to the ground, "Oh great Brimir… what have I done?"
Everyone looks to the distraught noble as she cries.
"I shouldn't have become a mage!" cries Louise "My spells are always big flops, I've got no affinity to any elements in the ways of magic of my world, I'm a loser even for an noble, and when I sought to summon a great familiar to prove to everyone that I'm not a 'Zero' instead I summoned a harbinger of war from another world with a weirdo chosen by fate as my familiar and a champion of justice! I've got no place anymore!"
Pr. Colbert is about to say otherwise when Faldren speaks to her "Don't say that, young maiden. You may not have summoned a familiar you would've preferred and you may have as well led Death Fang here with your familiar summoning spell unintentionally, but you do have redeeming qualities that you have not yet discovered."
Saito had gulped when he earlier realized that there's such another sword in existence here on this world now and that if it was ever found and chose a wielder, then everything was going to change and certainly not for the better. But he quickly decided that he is not going to back down, he would never allow it.
"Faldren's right, Louise!" says Saito.
Everyone looks at Saito.
"I may have been a commoner by your world's standards originally, but even if I hadn't found Holy Talon I would've still confronted Guiche and still fought him in the duel under my own power to humble him! I may not have the etiquette you'd like but even other aristocrats looked you down and I cannot stand for that! The rules you had in mind set for all this may be very unpleasant in my opinion but I would still not stand it and make my own path through it all! I may not have as many redeeming skills as you would expect, but I am going to do everything I can at my best! Holy Talon asked me if there was something worth protecting I would give my life to protect it, I would and now I have your world to help! So far I may have seen you as an annoying bratty noble… but your summoning of me must be for a very good reason."
Turning to Faldren, Saito states out loud "So don't you worry about a thing, Faldren! I will be ready! Whoever finds Death Fang will soon know they will be facing me; Saito Hiraga, familiar of Louise Francoise Le Blanc De Le Valliere and the new Holy Dragon Champion!"
Louise feels her doubts fade away as she smiles. Pr. Colbert and Osmond smile and nod, acknowledging their hopes and support to Saito. From her hiding spot, Siesta smiles, enchanted by the dedication Saito's got to defend what's truly right, like a knight from out of a fairy tale.
Faldren smiles as he looks at the young man, "You have spirit… now only time will tell if you have what it takes to face your new destiny as Dragon Champion… now I must leave, my time in the material plane is at an end… if you need my help, and I am up to it, then call on me when you can."
With that, the Dragon Lord glows once more and in the same way he arrived, he leaves the four standing there. Saito and Louise blink and then the chosen Champion walks over to Holy Talon and reaches out and grasps its handle and took out the sword as Osmond walks over and pats his hand on Saito's shoulder.
He says to the two, "It seems you both have a long road ahead of you, and I think you should be getting ready."
Saito nods, "I will be more than ready, sir." "I guess I can apply this Holy Dragon magic in my studies back in school as a substitute for that of our world" nods Louise.
Pr. Colbert also speaks up, "Also, if we find out that the slightest possibility that you, Ms. Valliere, may have an affinity to at least element of our world's magic, we'll get it straight to you." "Thank you, Pr. Colbert" smiles Louise lightly.
"Let's head back to the academy," says Osmond "but please do not mention this meeting to any of your classmates for now… until you enough trust in them well enough to do this again. I doubt they or anyone at the palace are ready to meet a Dragon Lord, and neither was I for sure."
They then move on back to the academy after Saito sheathes his sword.
Unknown to them… Siesta who had witnessed everything leaves her hiding place she had and now quickly rushes back, trying to look innocent, but her mind is in fact reeling from what she had learned. She also tries to contain herself and focus on the task at hand as she decides to get back to her job at the academy.
—
Later that afternoon, Pr. Colbert finds someone at the locked door to the treasury.
"Who's there?" demands Pr. Colbert "What are you doing here? Show yourself!"
The person he finds before it is Ms. Longueville turning toward him.
"Ms. Longueville!" gasps Pr. Colbert "Why are you here?"
"Ah, Pr. Colbert" says Ms. Longueville "I just thought I'd come and catalogue the treasury. But I forgot about borrowing the key from Old Osmond." She then turns to leave, "I guess I was a bit careless. Now if you'll excuse me—"
Pr. Colbert catches up with her, "Ah, just a moment, please!"
Catching her attention, she turns to him asking "Is something the matter?" "No," replies Pr. Colbert "I thought… would it be alright if you would have dinner with me?"
"Sure" smiles the headmaster's secretary "It would be my pleasure."
"Really?" blushes Pr. Colbert, showing his slight attraction to her.
On their way to dinner…
"Hey, Pr. Colbert" speaks up Ms. Longueville "Do you know of the 'Staff of Destruction'?"
"Yes," nods the professor "I've seen the item itself before; it's one of the most unusual things I've ever seen and strangely shaped as well. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to explain it to the best of my knowledge."
"Oh, I see" nods Ms. Longueville "even so, the treasury itself is quite brilliant, isn't it?" "That's right," proudly nods Pr. Colbert "we have square-class mages that have designed all kinds of deterrent magic. But I think there may be one weakness to it."
"Oh really?" asks a curious Ms. Longueville, "I thought that the treasury would be impenetrable. What kind of weakness would that be?" "Well," shrugs Pr. Colbert "I think that it's vulnerable to great physical force, you would need the strength of an army to break into it."
Ms. Longueville is silent for a bit, then she asks "What about the young man? You know; Ms. Valliere's sword-wielding familiar?" "Not much on the boy or his sword I'm afraid," says Pr. Colbert, intending to keep the secret "I'm afraid nobody will know the limits or the capabilities it has until we see them for ourselves."
Silence taking her over again, Ms. Longueville sighs in a bit of silent disappointment.
"But before that," smiles Pr. Colbert "let's enjoy a full course of the world's delicacies, shall we? The school's cook knows me quite well, so we can have anything made for us!" Perking up now, Ms. Longueville giggles a bit "Oh, that would be inconsiderate! I'm perfectly fine with the daily menu!" "Oh really?" chuckles a bashful professor.
—
Louise is personally trying to get used to the fact that Saito's risen from the status of peasantry thanks to his more important duty as Holy Dragon Champion, while at the same time Saito understands that he's now responsible for the safety of all that is good within his reach ever since he had been christened Dragon Champion while getting used to the fact that Louise's role of being his first guardian follower of equal status and rank now.
Siesta walks up to him and asks Louise "Would it be alright if I speak to your familiar, Ms. Valliere?" "You have permission, Ms. Siesta" sighs Louise, closing the door behind her.
Turning to Saito, Siesta bows apologizing "I so very sorry!" Saito blinks and asks "For what, Siesta?"
Siesta explains herself, "Earlier today… I couldn't do anything… except run for help… thinking you couldn't win against a noble. Instead of placing my faith in you, I got scared and was about to run away to get help. Because the way things are for my world… when commoners who could not use magic… I thought you couldn't win against a noble. B-But, suddenly I'm not scared anymore. Because… you won, I was inspired! Sure, it may've been your newly acquired magical sword of justice that's supported your will but you've given me the belief and feeling that I can do anything, all thanks to you! So, I'm going to try my hardest too!"
Saito is surprised by her confession, "S-Si-Siesta…"
Hearing someone clearing her throat, the two turn to find Louise coming out her door.
"I'm going to have dinner in the dining hall," she says clearly "do what you want including feeding yourself. But whatever else you want to do, let it be within reason." Then she walks softly to the dining hall.
Blinking in surprise first, Saito says "Okay."
—
In the kitchen, Saito is eating heartily like it was Thanksgiving, for the leftovers from the dinner this night comes after blue ribbon-worthy stew made by Siesta for him. As luck would have it, she managed to save two more slices of cake for him. She's much pleased to have one of them when he gives the second slice to her.
"Man!" smiles Saito "save for this, those nobles don't know what they're missed."
The middle-aged and big but jolly head cook, Marteau, guffaws in delight "Glad to hear that you enjoy it! Eat up, Our Sword!"
"Huh?" blinks Saito "'Our Sword'?"
Marteau explains "When you stood up to the nobles without flinching, you've shown a strength and an illuminating aura that touched us to our very cores! You've brought out proof that even to those stuck-up mages a power that will give us moral strength to make us not sway. Even the known nobles could not hold a candle to the power you have yourself."
The other commoner servants nod proudly in agreement.
"Why not the 'Champion of the Peasantry' or something like that?" asks Saito.
"Well," shrugs Marteau, not losing his smile "we have that as a nickname more than a title, but I guess that would be a more formal title."
Saito says before resuming eating, "Good point."
"Also," continues the heavyset head chef "your modesty outshines your pride, making you not stuck-up like the other nobles!"
Holding a purloined bottle of wine, another member of the cooking staff walks up to Saito and she asks him "We've heard from Siesta that your sword couldn't be held by any one of the nobles. May I examine it?"
Saito shrugs in response, unsheathing Holy Talon and placing it gently on the ground.
One by one, each other commoner in the kitchen tries his or her luck in lifting the holy dragon sword only to find it impossible to even budge it by even one millimeter.
"Whoa!" exclaims Marteau, being the last of those who tried their hands in lifting the sword, as he massages his hands proudly "and we can tell you must be very strong, even if this sword would be an example. It's also amazing that someone like us commoners can even be chosen by such powerful magical items like your sword!"
Gulping another amount of his food down, Saito surmises "I take it someone got curious and went to see what the private discussion between Pr. Colbert, Old Osmond, Louise, and I was about and followed us because he or she wanted to listen and saw the very creator of Holy Talon explain everything to us and told you about it."
Siesta gasps in response, Saito somehow deduced that someone has eavesdropped on their private conversation.
"I'm sorry—" starts a guilty Siesta, but Saito takes hold of her hand silencing her and shakes his head with a smile "It's alright; I feel that there are some worlds that have follow the phrase 'doesn't follow the way things are on this world', including the world I originate and my sword's. Besides, I have complete trust in you."
Surprised at first, Siesta smiles with content "Thank you, Saito."
"That goes for everyone here in the kitchen too" smiles Saito, confiding his similar trust in them, bringing them even brighter spirits than their prior enlightenment.
Finishing his meal, Saito says to them "Let me tell you of the legend of Hercules, the mighty hero of Greece, and his 12 labours…"
—
In the noble's dining hall, Louise is still mulling over the sudden changes in her life. She, at first, wanted to make her mark in history on her world, now that she summoned a familiar with a weapon that chose him that allows him to surpass every known standard of her world, as well as draw in an excessively deadly force that will eventually awaken and introduce terrors that existed before to even anything magical was introduced to her world by Brimir the Founder. Saito was an ordinary person before all this, he could've rejected the sword due to his defiant attitude toward her earlier but now things are different and she couldn't risk involving any innocents suffer any such horror and she doesn't know who would accept such a burden Saito now bears on his shoulders with Holy Talon, despite being broadened.
Then she gets an image of what he may look without his transformed sweatshirt in her head, it is then followed by the urge to sniff for any alluring musky scent around his neck, and then—
Shaking her head back to her senses, she asks herself internally 'What in the Founder's name am I thinking? Zerbst is the loose one, not me!' then she immediately compares herself to Kirche, grabbing her newly expanded assets 'At least I've got something about these new changes that beat everything she's got, thanks to Holy Talon.'
Then her thoughts return to the more important changes in her life and the future of the world.
"How's Saito?" asks Kirche, coming up to her with Tabitha. Still slightly troubled about Death Fang's fated coming in the future, Louise sighs and half-truthfully replies to her "He's just fine, we just made some amazing discoveries about his sword and our transformations. I did have half a mind to punish him for doing something reckless, but something else came up."
"Punish!" exclaims Kirche in shock "As a man, Saito was standing up not only for himself, but also for you."
"What about the fact that Guiche went so far as to refuse accepting an apology?" asks Louise, trying to be like everything's still in the status quo regardless, "My swordsman familiar even had the nerve to use a nobleman's action and conduct about duels without any regards for his life. His rebellious attitude is still going to drag me down with him!"
Tabitha stoically says, "Otherworldly… and foreign." "I bet Tabitha's right;" says Kirche "he's not from our world and neither is his sword obviously. Think about it: I've heard from the fourth year students that the professors were startled by the level of power he wielded both at his duel with Guiche and the moment you summoned him, he got them wince in concern and no one we know here can command or lift that sword of his. Plus if you were dragged from a home you were familiar with to someplace new and told to do against your will, wouldn't you act the same way? I mean being told what that someone wants you to do for her or him would not be a healthy start of a relationship or win friends. Not to mention all of the sudden changes in your life and to your body, you may have some difficulties compromising with them."
Louise keeps silent at the news, knowing she learned it firsthand but is at the same time surprised that Kirche could be wise in details to point out. She may be rivals with the busty redhead, but she is surprised with her few points of wisdom she shows from time to time.
Louise then sees a bouquet of red roses coming in her direction, she uses both hands catch it and then see Guiche is the one giving them to her. "G-Guiche…" she starts "what's with this bouquet?"
Guiche, feeling very humble and shy, answers her "Please pass them on to Sir Saito, Ms. Valliere, they're for him."
"That familiar of yours humbled him greatly" says Montmorency, walking to her on-off boyfriend's side "even though he's a noble, he feels to have found a sense of friendship with that powerful swordsman. Isn't it perfect since neither of them had friends before in their lives?"
Embarrassed, Guiche wails "MONTMORENCY!"
'Friends?' thinks Louise 'that's right; because of me, I've separated him from his home in a world where magic is make-believe to his people, tearing him from his normal life and forcing him into upholding such a sacred and divine duty, and who knows if Dragern's war that will extend to our world would come to his world if I hadn't dragged those two things here. I'm still a harbinger that will need to atone for the biggest disaster I ever done in my life. Plus, I don't think any of my classmates can believe the truth, much less handle it.'
Then she turns her eyes to her room, thinking about other things about the possible things to happen. Usually with her, should anything great would make her feel proud and expect only the advantages in her point of view of the future, but now she's thinking of all the consequences and dangers that could lie ahead.
—
Later that evening, Saito is walking with Siesta finishing the stories he's telling her on his way back to Louise's room since he's got no other residence to rest in.
Siesta walks off, with her spirits heightened and inspired, leaving Saito to wait at Louise's door as he didn't have the key to open it.
Saito asks his sword, "Did you insert all that information of the legends of Hercules and Momotarou from my home world into my head, Holy Talon?" 'Remember that Dragon Fire incident throughout Louise's room this morning?' speaks his sword 'I may have transformed your mechanical book, or laptop computer as you call it, in your rucksack into a more powerful version which can give you all the means to connect with your home world.' "Oh! So in doing so, you've placed a few of my world's folk hero stories from my world in my head in a precise fashion" concludes Saito.
'Exactly.'
As soon as he reaches Louise's door, he notices the alligator-sized flame-tailed salamander named Flame looking at him. The mystical reptile/fire elemental blinks at him as it notices him.
"Uh…" says Saito, unsure why Flame is taking up a small portion of the hall "Can I help you… Flame, is it?"
Flame croaks before lunging at the newly christened Holy Dragon Champion quite rapidly and knocks him to the ground. Grunting as he pushes himself up, Saito asks "What's up with you, big fella?"
Flame clamps his mouth on Saito's collar as he drags Saito down the hall quickly.
Saito asks his sword telepathically, 'Why aren't you weighing me down like you did with the others who tried to lift you?' 'It doesn't count if he's the one carrying you while I'm carried by you. I'm sorry, master' answers Holy Talon.
'Doesn't count?'
Flame continues to drag Saito down the hall and then through an open door and into a dark room. Saito then notices that the room is lit with only a few candles, setting a somewhat intimate atmosphere. Flame lets go of Saito's collar and goes to a corner in the room to watch the proceedings. Saito stands up to get his bearings, but then he sees Kirche sitting in her bed, looking back at him.
"What a woman…" gasps Saito quietly.
Kirche is in silky purple lingerie that leaves nothing to the imagination but makes her intent obvious. It looks like a sheer nightgown that reaches to mid-thigh, but it's open at the front to reveal her purple panties and is only tied enough to keep her breasts from bouncing free.
'Okay, I'm finding my promise to Faldren kind of hard to keep right now' gulps Saito, knowing Kirche's intent.
"Good boy, Flame," says Kirche to her familiar who released Saito, petting it like a good pet dog. Saito stands up and dusts off his clothes and tries to keep his eyes above her neck level, trying to ignore his manhood. Controlling his hormones is a hard task compared to his college exams. She looks at Saito and seductively says "Welcome to my lovely room, Dragon Champion Saito Hiraga."
"Uh… thanks" replies Saito sheepishly "So… why have you brought me here?"
Saito's not stupid, since it seems pretty obvious to him; a girl doesn't bring a boy to her room and dress as provocatively as Kirche had with the simple intent of having a simple chat or doing homework. Still, he hopes to distract her enough with talking to see just how seriously she's going to take this, and maybe get some advice from his holy sword concerning the situation thrust upon him.
Saito quickly discovers she is going to be taking the situation very seriously. Kirche immediately presses herself against his chest, making sure he can feel every curve and bounce of her breasts. "Isn't it obvious? I'm in love~" purrs Kirche. She wraps her arms behind his neck, hoisting herself to bring her luscious lips leveled with his ear as she seductively whispers into it "My runic name is The Ardent. Like a torch, I am quick to ignite and burn brightly." She trembles against Saito as she brings her lips dangerously close to his, seeing how her feet can no longer feel the ground, "Seeing those magical flames you project in the Vestri Court and everything they touched having life burst around it, it resonated so deeply inside of me. It instantly transformed me from Kirche The Ardent into Kirche The Passionate," she whispers, drawing closer to him.
Saito gulps nervously, "I take it you also want to catch onto the same fire I've got?" "Mmm-hmm" nods Kirche. "What were your previous thoughts when you first saw of me and how do you know of the entitlement I've been given?" Her eyes widen in surprise in response "I didn't make that up just now?" "Every chosen wielder of the Holy Talon, which I'm carrying, bares the title of Dragon Champion," admits Saito.
Letting go of him and looking thoughtful, she thinks out loud "Hmm… a magical artifact of great power connect to a higher power connected to dragons who chooses its wielder and dubs the subject the current champion… that would explain the massive dragon-shaped burst of energy we've seen upon your summoning and the intense magical fire you gave off." Then she smiles seductively, and says "Oh, I've just got to have you" as she wraps her arms around his waist while pressing herself against his chest, with him being about half a head taller than her, he's feeling her ample bosom being pressed against the top of his abdominal muscles.
'Kami-sama, she's hot!' sighs Saito, with his male hormones reacting 'Here's a hot, tanned, and busty redhead literally throwing herself at me and even if it was only for one night I am sorely tempted to let her do what she wants to do with me. When would I honestly ever get this kind of chance again?' Saito's hands grasp her hips almost automatically as she had drawn herself closer, anticipating the kiss she was aiming for…
Saito's own conscience and hesitation takes over, 'No! I should not do this; what if by giving into the sin of lust I would also lose my right as Champion?'
"I'm sorry," apologizes Saito gently, surprising Kirche as he explains to her "I don't think I should be doing this" her mouth is left gaping in surprise, as they look at each other eye-to-eye "It's not that I'm not flattered or find you unappealing, it's just that we've just met, Kirche-san, and I find this a tad too soon for me."
Losing all feeling of embarrassment and shock, Kirche giggles excitedly "Then let's get to know each other…" then she uses a freed arm to heave and pronounce her big bosom to him "intimately."
Then suddenly, they hear someone calling from Kirche's window, utterly ruining the moment she was going for between them "Kirche! You weren't at our meeting place when you said you would be! Who the heck is this guy?-!"
They both blink and turn to her window and spot a male student with short spiked brown hair with sideburns floating outside. He is looking pretty upset at the newcomer in Kirche's room, although he's not seeing Saito's face.
"Oh! Sticks!" gasps Kirche, seemingly remembering something. Smiling weakly, she speaks up to him, "We'll meet two hours from now." "But that isn't what you said before!" cries the student named Sticks.
Saito steps into Sticks' view, much to the male student's sudden sense of alarm, "Who the heck is that?"
Kirche rolls her eyes and produces her wand from inside her nightgown. She waves it slightly before the flame on one of the candles shoots out and takes the form of a snake and collides with Sticks' forehead and sent him tumbling down to the ground, which is three floors down.
Saito felt kind of sympathetic for the poor guy, but not enough to muster completely. Sticks' acknowledgement of his welfare is assured when he says, "I'm okay! My flight spell broke my fall! I didn't know you were with Louise's powerful familiar instead."
"Wow," blinks Kirche "I guess I shouldn't have done that if he saw you if I knew it was going to happen." "You think?" remarks Saito sarcastically.
Getting to the point, Saito asks "If you don't have a boyfriend, then who the heck was that guy? Friend of yours?" "Yes" nods Kirche. Saito groans, "It was a rhetorical question."
"Kirche!"
They turn and spot another person floating at the window, this one with glasses and chin-length blond hair. He spots Saito, remembers his duel with Guiche and chuckles sheepishly "Maybe some other night since you're busy with him?" Seeing it easy and less harmful, Kirche nods in response, having the young male fly away for the night.
"Another friend?" asks Saito rhetorically.
"Yes," Kirche nodded, turning her attention back to Saito "Now let us not waste any more time. It is only you and me and that is how it is going to stay."
"Oh really?" frowns Saito, getting suspicious.
He then hears Holy Talon snicker at the antics, 'We never said anything about never having lovers or families. I've had masters in the past who were lecherous or even promiscuous ones like Lady Kirche there. There were even a few masters of mine that had multiple wives.'
'On second thought,' thinks Saito 'my promise to Lord Faldren is starting to look tougher to break than I thought it would be.'
"KIRCHE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?-! YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND!"
Both of them turn back to the window, this time finding three more boys crowding at the ledge trying to get the redhead's attention. They are torn between gazing longingly at her and shooting dark looks at Saito.
"Manica! Ajax! Gimli! Um…" Kirche is getting annoyed with herself for forgetting the flings she had set out for before Saito, she really wants to have a sexual escapade with him even before his sudden transformation from youthful adult cute to drop-dead gorgeous and perfectly built, but with all these interferences, she's losing ideas for a good excuse so she could ditch her past fling-mates and get with her planned fornication with Saito.
The boys fly off in fear at the sight of Saito, who is looking much less interested in physical pleasure at the moment, in her room with her.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" groans Saito "Looks like it turns out that nobility isn't as great as it's cracked up to be."
"Now," says Kirche, readjusting herself "where were—" she trails off, noticing Saito is leaving for the door in a huff "Hey! Where are you going?"
He stops in his tracks for a second and replies "Back to Louise's room, since I've got nowhere else to go; she may as well get worried about me or get the wrong idea. Now that I see from Guiche's playboy behavior and your ridiculous quest for a perfect bedmate as an example of aristocracy in this world, I say that I have had enough of this."
Kirche stiffens in shock at the brush-off he's giving her, like an arrow struck her from behind, remembering his duel with Guiche was started because the skirt-chaser was flirting with so many women their age, now he's comparing her fooling around to his womanizing, only worse.
Flame quickly moves between Saito and the door, croaking to him "Please don't be harsh on her!"
"You can talk?" blinks Saito in surprise.
'Actually,' says Holy Talon to its master 'as a Dragon Champion, you've been given a mystical ability to comprehend the languages of dragons far and wide, even those remotely familiar like Flame the salamander, master. It's really rare to achieve it so quickly in most cases.'
Amazed, Saito looks to the salamander and chats with it.
Snapping out of her shock, Kirche notices Saito speaking a different language with her own familiar and her loyal lizard appears to comprehend every strange syllable like it was a second language to him.
He stands up and turns left, facing a wall, while mentally communicating with his weapon and partner—
Saito asks the holy weapon, 'What should I do, Holy Talon?' 'I will transfer knowledge of such matters into your head to calm her heart and help you make peace with her, master' answers the holy dragon sword made by Faldren.
Saito closes his eyes almost meditatively as he allows the minuscule amount of selected knowledge from several past Holy Dragon Champions that Holy Talon allowed go into his mind.
Finally opening his eyes, Saito turns to Kirche and steps toward her until he's about a complete pace away from her.
Saito looks into Kirche's amazed eyes as he speaks to her, "I appreciate the affection you show, but after seeing your dates by the window, it's just that we're too different from each other: you were born an aristocrat, living your life in peace and in the status quo while ignorant of the possibilities outside of your personal little universe, while I on the other hand was a regular guy in my world living quietly looking for something better in life and unaware of magic's existence until I was summoned here and received my sword, the Holy Talon, along the way. In a way, fate has selected me to carry it for a purpose."
'Now it is time let her down, master' whispers Holy Talon mentally 'gently.'
Saito wraps his arms around her waist softly, taking her by surprise some more.
Then, like a pair of ballroom dancers, they spin about until both are in the moonlight pouring in through the window. Saito keeps my back to the light while he stares down at her, with one hand holding hers while another is wrapped around her waist. She is then feeling further surprised, but that quickly turns into a saucy smile of anticipation, she thinks she has him, at least a little.
His sword and partner has taught him that if normal speech wouldn't seem to get through to someone like her, then perhaps something of a more romantic era would get through to her.
Within his moonlight shadow gazing down at her, Saito says to her "You truly deserve your new runic entitlement, o Kirche the Passionate, in a variety of ways."
"Oh yes…" sighs an enchanted Kirche breathlessly, "but the flames you're feeding are more grand than I first anticipated… you have me."
Saito then picks her up, having her toes dance in the air, and trails his fingers through her hair as he whispers into her ear "But… the fire you've displayed earlier worries me. With all those flings that arrived earlier, I'm worried that eventually if you were just saying it to just treat me as more coal to your beautiful flames. I have seen five poor fellow men who were victims of the flames of your passion."
Kirche's eyes widen at that, then she says to him "Please don't worry, Darling…" she then rubs her body against his sensually as she tries to find the right words, but she then gets lost as she looks deep into his eyes again only to once more have them capture her first, hook, line and sinker.
The notorious amorous redhead of Tristain's academy of magic is now feeling something igniting deep in her heart as it pounds powerfully within her breast.
Saito slowly lets her feet touch the ground again, some of the silvery green flames of Dragon Fire from before temporarily bursts through from Holy Talon in its sheath, plus some extra pops up from Saito's hands. He pets Flame with one flaming hand and uses one to take a free hand from Kirche and kiss it.
"I bid you good night, Kirche the Passionate" smiles Saito, finally leaving her room.
Kirche, surprised at the chivalry Saito's shown her coupled with her feeling actual love for someone aside from lust, lands in her bed while clutching her palpitating with one hand, then she turns to look at the small flickers of the mysterious Dragon Fire seep into her hand without harming it.
"Oh, Dragon Champion…" sighs Kirche, feeling actual pure love "you have stolen my heart."
—
Saito returns to Louise's room, and then looks in it to find Louise in her bed, still contemplating about her rather interesting day.
Noticing him, she asks him "I suppose you were taken away by Kirche temporarily. Is that true?"
"She did want to bed me," admits Saito "I was sorely tempted to give in to her advances, but I resisted and later discovered that she has flings so many times that she would forget her schedules. Surprisingly, I've seen five of them and they went away when they saw me, remembering my duel with Guiche today."
"I'm not surprised," scoffs Louise "who would want to mess with someone who would most likely trudge quickly through any spell they'd cast with barely any effect and then deliver a bone-breaking punch to the nose? Now everyone acknowledges that you're not from around here and will defy any aristocrat who would be against what you believe in, especially me on a bad day."
Saito sighs out, "I've also learned quickly from Holy Talon that Dragon Champions are allowed to have families and lovers, nothing wrong with it. Just so long as they don't give into the dark side of lust." "I should hope so," says Louise.
Then Louise asks him "Do you miss your home?" "Yeah," nods Saito.
Saito looks into his backpack and pulls out a strange book-shaped mostly plastic device, then he whispers to himself "I wonder if this used to be my laptop computer."
Louise then says, "You need another sword." "Excuse me?" asks Saito.
She explains "Holy Talon is too strong for ordinary weapons, it would just cut through them at the first moment in a fair duel. For more honorable opponents, wouldn't you want to give them a better chance?"
'Lady Louise raises a valid point, master' agrees Holy Talon.
Saito nods, "Okay, Louise. When do we get it?"
"On the day after tomorrow," says Louise "I've got classes tomorrow and it's the Day of the Void the day after it, we would have time off on it." "Oh, like the weekend breaks back in my world!" smiles Saito.
Then she asks "Is it possible for Holy Talon to instill knowledge of certain spells into another's head? Just in case if I mess up with another spell tomorrow?" 'Just go to sleep, Lady Louise, and you will know the basic spells from Dragern' replies Holy Talon.
—
On the next day, the day before the Day of the Void break, Saito is following Louise while examining his newly transmogrified portable computer. All the onlookers they get back off or greet them politely without teasing either of them.
In an earth magic class, down at the bottom of the podium-like room, class is in session. The teacher is a somewhat older woman who wears what a regular person from Saito's world would consider as stereotypical witch attire; she's wearing a simple black dress with a purple cloak over it held with a simple tie. Over her whitening brown hair, which is tied in a bun, she's also wearing a purple witch's brimmed hat. Her name is Professor Ginerva Chevreuse, and her runic name is 'the Red Clay'.
Saito, sitting next to Louise, observes the 40-something-year-old teacher perform a spell of alchemic transmutation of a sizable but simple rock on her desk into a lump of brass, which some classmate of Louise's mistakes for gold until the professor corrects him, saying that only square class mages in earth magic can truly turn a rock into gold.
She even explains, "The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals, raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."
Saito and Louise overhear Holy Talon mention to them, 'With some practice one master could turn mountains into perfect diamonds and boulder-sized lumps entirely made of gold, but they would eventually return to normal. Because the order of nature must be maintained.'
"Miss Valiere!" calls Pr. Chevreuse, changing the brass lump back into a stone "would you be so kind to demonstrate a transmutation spell? I'm sure you can turn this stone into glass."
'She must be a newly hired professor,' states Saito 'otherwise she would've been informed about certain problems and special news concerning some particular students.' 'Not now, Saito' thinks Louise toward him, trying telepathy 'I'm going to try my luck in this and if the spell I'm familiar with doesn't work, I'll try the Dragernian spell I've learned from Holy Talon.'
As Louise stands up to head to the front of the class, Kirche stands up and waves her arm to get the teacher's attention, "Uh, Prof. Chevreuse! You really shouldn't make Louise do this! She's—!"
"If I hear anyone call her a 'zero' again, I will stuff their mouths with clay," the aged woman replies sharply, holding her wand threateningly "This is hardly a difficult spell so even if Ms. Valliere has difficulty in casting I really doubt she would face a challenge in this." She then turned to see Louise standing at her seat. "If you please then, Ms. Valliere?"
"Okay, I can do this…" whispers Louise to herself as she walks to the front of the classroom and up to the rock. She takes her out her wand and points it at the rock. Saito watches as magic began to glow from her wand as she put it through the motions, and chants the incantation in the tongue familiar to the natives of her world.
'Didn't Lady Louise admit she was inept in the known spells of her world?' asks Holy Talon 'According to her memory, the blunders she makes causes explosions instead of the proper effects of most of the simpler or more mundane spells?'
Saito takes heed of it and draws his sword the second he spots a dangerous glow coming from the stone she's directing her magic toward.
Seeing the glow from the stone she's casting a spell on, Louise panics 'Oh no! The transmutation spell native to my world's magic is happening too fast!' Then she sees Saito stopping next to her, with Holy Talon drawn.
"Dragon Scale Containment!" calls out Saito.
Energy forms around the glowing stone in the shape of hexagonal scales, like that of a dragon's own scale pattern, the glowing shield surrounded the stone in a complete spherical form.
BOOM!
The muffled sound of an explosion is heard, earning the surprise of Louise's classmates.
The stone contained is revealed to be reduced to 3 sizable shards as the containment spell Saito cast on it disperses.
The class then murmurs possibilities of Saito being an aristocrat and a mage like them, possibly trained to be an elite knight or something like that.
Louise sighs in disappointment, 'I guess my ability to use magic, while hastened and augmented, is still inept. Thanks for the containment, though.' 'Try again, but with the Dragernian version!' encourages Saito.
Louise sighs and looks to the professor, "Let me try again, please?" "Are you sure?" asks Pr. Chevreuse. Louise nods in response.
Louise puts her wand away and places her hand up to the three rock shards. A different form of magic began to glow from her hand as she put it through the motions, chanting an incantation in a language completely unfamiliar with everyone else in the classroom, save for Saito and Holy Talon.
Narrowing an eye, Kirche asks Tabitha "Is this still the same Louise the Zero we remember?"
As Louise finishes the incantation, she says in the native language "Bring forth balls of glass and metal worthy of the current champion of Faldren from these fragments, bearer of all earthen materials."
Then the stone shards crackle in energy then within every 5 seconds they double in size.
"Oops!" gulps Louise "I guess I overdid the spell."
"What kind of spell is that?" asks Pr. Chevreuse "And what in the Founder's name is that language?"
As the stones grow into a size to match that of a car each, they fell off the professor's desk and continue to grow much to the other students' newfound fright.
As soon as the stone shards stop growing when they are each the size of small fighter planes, they start rumbling.
"They're gonna blow!" calls out one of Louise's classmates. A female student shrieks "Take cover!"
Everyone ducks to the floorboards and cover their heads to brace for the danger.
The three enlarged rocks then harmlessly crumble to dust, revealing three sizable lumps of an almost iridescent silvery metal and 6 perfect balls of glass within each enlarged stone fragment and then the dust flow into one place, reforming into the original rock shards.
'The metal lumps are pure Orchaelium,' says an amazed Holy Talon 'an ancient but powerful metal, very rare and very precious that's normally found only on Dragern. It goes by many names, but the most common one for it is 'Light Iron'. It is light as cloth, usually three times harder than steel, and as tough as a dragon's scales. Though not of the same caliber, it resembles the material of myself.'
Louise telepathically interjects 'But I was trying to transmute the shards into something else; not have them produce a lifetime supply of powerful metal! I've messed it up!'
'While that is true,' replies the Holy Dragon Sword 'you've displayed a rather genuinely rare and extraordinary gift, Lady Louise: though you did put too much energy in the spell, you successfully produced something outside of your knowledge and created it in existence by using a few fragments of the earth element as a medium. Not very many can achieve such a feat.'
Everyone climbs up from cover and witness the achievement Louise performed.
An impressed Pr. Chevreuse applauds "Magnificent, Ms. Valliere!"
The astounded audience absentmindedly applaud softly to her.
"This is going to be a tiring back-up session," sighs Louise quietly. Saito nods "I agree."
To Be Continued…
The Magic Braches of Faldren's Side of Dragern: the branches speak for themselves—
*Body: this is a branch dedicated to improving the body in several ways, like and unlike Life magic as it does not heal in the truest sense, but unlocks the hidden power in the caster's body.
*Divine: it contains spells that combine all the named branches and is considered the hardest of all to use and it is also the most taxing, as combining several branches is considered difficult by most if not all standards.
*Focus: deals with realms of vision, both in the world of flesh and the world of magic, and even time and space.
*Life: this branch of magic deals with healing magic. The use of the green-silver flame is the first step example, but there are spells in this category that are truly powerful but are also very taxing and must be used only in truly dire situation.
*Mind: this is the same as Body, but deals with the mental attributes and talents of its master.
*Nature: this magic delves into nature itself, the very essence of the living world and works with Life Magic; it can summon nature allies such as animals or spirits, commanding the branches of the natural world to aid and shield others or to imbue certain gifts temporarily into others.
*Summoning: is obviously for summoning powerful allies, from groups of spirit soldiers to an entire spirit army, along with other Dragon allies.
*Transmutation/Enchanting: this is a branch that can create one thing from another, and or can imbue something or if needed. Someone with a level of power in this, in time, will be his or hers to use.