I recently corrected the headmaster's name from Ottman to Osmond when I checked the
Chapter 3: Herald of the Spartan
Headmaster's Office
Headmaster Osmond is currently sitting behind his desk and rather bored with his situation. His secretary is currently out of the office much to his perverted dismay.
He then sigh and look out of the massive window behind him. He enjoyed the view of the mountain scape when heard the door opens. He turns around and found Miss Longueville entering the office.
"Ah, Miss Longueville. What took you so long?"
"Sorry headmaster but I am here to report that a duel is about to start?"
That catches the attention of the headmaster and sighed
"Who, in Brimir's name, started it?" He stroked his long gray beard.
Miss Longueville sigh before answering.
"It's Guiche de Gramont."
"The third son of Marshal Gramont?" He raised an eyebrow. "Well his father was a womanizer, I will not be surprised if his son has it. Who's the unlucky victim?"
"It's Miss Valliere's familiar known as Saito."
"The armored familiar? Hmmm..."
He then have the image of the familiar, something is not right with him. Some kind of power is emanating from his body, he then decides to allow it and see the duel for himself.
"Tell the treasury to place 700 gold from my account on Miss Valliere's familiar. It's been a long time since something interesting happened here."
Miss Longueville sighs before exiting the office. Headmaster Osmond then faces a large mirror before casting a spell on it. The mirror's image then displays the scene at Vestri Court.
Vestri Court
A crowd of students encircle the would-be arena. The students are cheering mostly for Guiche who is really enjoying the attention.
"Do your best, Guiche!" a girl shouted.
Guiche smiled at that when some students begin to part way for the armored familiar. With heavy steps, he reaches a position in front of Guiche and stands before him with arms crossed. Guiche snarled at that before taunting him.
"Glad you came, commoner." He said with great confidence. "I thought you've already fled with that hulking armor of yours."
"Tsk. I hope you're ready, Mister Guiche. From what I've seen, you've just sign a death warrant. For that, I'll take it easy."
The other students chuckled a bit from the familiar's threat. Guiche merely smirked and readied his rose wand.
"Very well." He released a rose petal that then touched the ground. A female armored being then rose from the ground and armed with a lance. "Here your opponent, a bronze golem Valkyrie."
"For my name is the Bronze Guiche, an Earth mage. I hope you're ready, commoner."
Saito studied the golem and isn't fazed by its appearance. Since he is in world where magic reigns, he really expected something to pop-out from nowhere. To the eyes of the Spartan, the golem is nothing but a tin can.
"Bring it." Saito then gestured his forefinger from his right hand to take the first shot.
Guiche smirked.
"You're dead, commoner."
He then ordered the golem to attack. The golem then blitzed towards Saito, who still remained in his position and posture. The golem then launched a punch straight into Saito's armored abdomen.
The attack connects with a loud metallic thud and much to everyone's surprise the punch didn't make the familiar move.
"What the-"
"He didn't even move!"
In Saito's HUD, the punch registers only a few pounds of force which is WAY too low to even dent his armor. He smirks at it before depolarizing his face visor.
The visor of the armored familiar depolarizes and reveals the face of Saito, not even in pain and is smirking.
"Is that the best you can do?" He raised an eyebrow. "What a pity."
Louise is quite surprised from what she saw. Her familiar didn't even move and accepted the golem's punch but nothing happened.
"What is he? He just survived a punch from a golem which is enough to incapacitate a commoner."
Guiche didn't like what he saw and ordered the golem to attack again. The golem obliged and launched a series of punches throughout the familiar's body.
From here, Tabitha looks up from her book and watches the duel. She silently becomes interested in the familiar's capabilities.
Punch after punch, the familiar didn't even move and his face doesn't show anything that indicates that he is in pain. The armor which is further protected by the energy shielding merely absorb the weak attacks. The crowd is in awe with the familiar's strength.
After a while, the golem's fists warped with the damage that is recoiled back to it but still continue with the attack. Guiche then ordered the golem to use its lance.
The golem thrusts its lance towards the familiar. But to everyone's shock, one of Saito's hands catches the lance and grips it in place. The golem tries to free its weapon but to no avail. With that, Saito looks at Guiche straight in the eye and smirks.
"My turn."
As quick as a cobra, he kicks the Valkyrie and sends it flying. The golem passes by Guiche and hits the stone wall behind him. The golem is nothing but shattered pieces embedded into the wall. Everyone, more so with Guiche and Louise, is surprised by the quick and powerful kick of the familiar.
"Impossible!"
"He just kicked the golem and sent it to the wall!"
"How strong is he?"
Above the sky, a large cloud is slowly covering the sun and darkens the Vestri Court.
"Now you will know what a Spartan is."
He grabs a bladeless handle from his waist and raises it before his chest. And to everyone's shock, two blades of energy appears from it. Some of them scream from the sight as they have never seen such weapon.
Unknown to him, the runes hidden under his armor glows brightly and grants Saito further strength and abilities.
With the light gray background lighting of the court along with the glimmer of the energy sword in addition to the hulking armor of the familiar.
A demon has revealed himself and is now ready to slay its prey.
Everyone is now in fear and some of them are trembling as the sight before them is nothing more outstanding than anything they encounter, even Headmaster Ottman is outstanded, but if anyone of them is truly feeling fear is no other than Guiche de Gramont.
"W-wha-what is he?" Guiche stuttered.
Guiche is visibly shaking and sweating profusely. He then summons three golems and quickly orders them to attack.
The golems converge onto the Spartan with their swords but before they are able to connect. In a blur, he slices the golems into pieces as their parts with heating edges hit the ground.
Saito then lowers his energy sword and allows it to touch the grass floor which burns the grass leaves. He then slowly approaches Guiche position who then erratically summons more golem against him. With every step he take, he merely backslap every golem in his way as his gauntlet shimmer in gold light, which is visibly seen with the darker setting, and continues to approach him.
Some of the golems, some of them were backslapped earlier and left behind, attack the Spartan from behind. Guiche then thought that victory is his when the swords hit the Spartan at the back. But to his shock along with everyone else, the Spartan's energy shielding shimmer in gold and blocks the attacks.
Then like a whirlwind, he quickly turns and sends the golems flying in every direction with energy sword. The golems hit the ground now useless as Spartans continues his approach.
Guiche's knees limp as the Spartan gets closer and hit the ground on his bottom. When the Spartan stops in front of him, he looks up to see the emotionless eyes of the Spartan as the energy sword is then pointed to his neck. He can feel the heat emitting from the energy blades as his sweat continues to flow down his face.
Everyone went silent including Louise as they wait for the Spartan's next move.
"Do you still wish to continue this so-called duel of yours? or shall I end it now with your life?" Saito said with a stern and emotionless tone.
"I-I..." Guiche continued to tremble. "I forfeit."
With that answer, the energy blades disappeared and Saito offered his other hand. Guiche looked at it and haven't been able to get the point due to his fear.
"Take my hand, Guiche. Let me help you up." Saito said kindly.
Guiche looks at his eyes and sees that he is sincere. He accepts his hand and allows the Spartan to pull him up. The sun returns to brighten the court as Guiche is able to stand up straight.
The crowd burst into cheers as the duel has officially ended. Guiche is then able to breathe normally.
"Thank you for sparing my life."
"I have no intention to kill you in the first place considering you don't even know who you are fighting against. I was just teaching you a lesson."
Montmorency then approaches Guiche and is really concern about him. Saito then leave the vicinity to give the two some privacy.
"Alright people. Show is over." Saito said as he clapped his hands.
He is about to leave the Vestri court when Louise approaches him.
"YOU IDIOT! You made worried back there!" Louise then cried.
"Your worries are not needed, Miss Louise. I just taught Mister Guiche over there some lessons."
"What kind of weapon did you just used earlier? I've never seen anything like it! And what's with your armor? It glows when it got hit?"
Louise looks at the handle at Saito's waist. She then eyes the other weapons with greater respect (or fear) as they are very dangerous.
"Let's leave at that. And may I excuse myself. I need to scout the academy further. I'll be back by dinner time."
He then leaves Louise's side and returns to his scouting routine.
Headmaster's Office
The headmaster is quite surprised with what he just witnessed.
The familiar possessed incredible weapons that even surpassed the enchanted swords made in Halkeginia.
"Miss Valliere has summoned something that can't possibly exist. What other powers does this familiar have?"
At another location, Miss Longueville also witnessed the duel. She is quite surprised with the familiar's level of strength and power.
Later
Saito has finished scouting the academy and has found quite a lot of vantage points he can utilize. He then decided to check on the Warthog again to see if he misses anything.
As he approaches the shed, he notices a small group of student beside the shed where the Warthog is parked. He then activates the active camouflage and quickly approaches the group.
"Woah. That must be a powerful musket." A blue haired boy commented.
"You mean the weapon used by the musketeers? It doesn't look like one." a brown haired girl replied as she looked at the M41.
"Hey there is an opening here. I wonder what's inside them?" the blue haired boy noticed.
The student then tries to open compartment, which is sealed with an electronic lock.
"Hey hey. Don't open it. You don't want to upset Louise's familiar by stealing from him." a black haired boy reminded him.
They then heard heavy footsteps behind them which caused everyone to freeze in their position. They slowly look behind them and saw the armored familiar giving them the spartan look.
"I-I-I'll b-be... Taking my leave" the blue haired boy stuttered as he quickly jumped off the warthog and ran.
He is quickly followed by everyone else as Saito watched them ran.
With his enhanced sight, he didn't see anyone of them carrying anything from the warthog which is the reason he didn't stop them from running.
He then checks the compartment at the back of the warthog under the M41. There are large cases of ammunition for the M41, smaller cases filled with standard 7.62x51 mm Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) rounds which he can use for his MA5C and MAK5, cases of Soellkraft 8 Gauge Shells, some frags, HE grenades, flash bangs, an underslung shotgun attachment, knife attachment and flashlight attachment. There is also a pair of M6G Magnum Sidearms along with magazines for it.
He then notices a large case. He checks the serial name and grins. The serial reads "M6 G/GNR" also known as the Spartan Laser.
"Well I'll be. A M6 Grindel/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle." He opens the case. "And complete with PP-16979/AM-Sh recharger. I can use the warthog's generator to recharge this weapon. I wonder if can modify one of the chargers to recharge the energy sword and the plasma pistols."
He then check the other supplies and is satisfied with his findings. He then picks up the M6 then shoulders it and activates the system. He runs a diagnostics and found nothing wrong with the weapon. He then shuts it down and places it back into the case.
He then installs the underslung shotgun and takes out a magazine of FMJ rounds and shotgun shells. He took out some frags and places it into the compartments of his suit. He replaces on of the Plasma pistols with the M6G. He then returns the cases along with the other Plasma Pistol back into the compartment and seals it.
He then leaves the vicinity. As he walks around the courtyard, his stomach grumbles due to the small amount of food he ate during breakfast.
"Oh damn. Now I have to wait until dinner to eat." He groaned as he cradled his stomach.
He then meets up with Siesta who then notices his dilemma.
At the staff kitchen
Saito is eating a bowl of hot stew provided by the kitchen staff. He is wearing an ear piece and a small microphone on his face. They are connected to the speakers of his suit. This way he can continue to speak with them and also understand them.
The ktichen staff along with Siesta are very happy with Saito's presence especially the cook.
"You grace us with your presence, Our Sword. You sure taught that noble a lesson." the cooked proudly said. But he kept himself from embracing Saito out of respect to his abilities.
"You don't need to, Sir. I just did what I have to do." Saito replied.
"You're amazing! I've never seen such weapons. Are you sure you're not a noble?" Siesta asked.
"I assure you. I am no noble or any part of the aristocrats, Siesta."
He then finishes his meal.
"Thank you for the meal. And compliments to the chef." He said to the head chef.
"You're welcome here anytime you want." The chef grinned.
"I'll be taking my leave. Thank you for your generosity." Saito bowed a little in respect.
He then left the kitchen with the staff looking at him.
Later Evening
He is at the garden, only wearing shorts, and is taking a bath by the fountain. His armor is placed nearby for him to wear later, along with a towel to dry himself. He then contemplates the events that happened earlier.
He was bombarded with questions by some very curious and excited students. Then there is Kirche trying to flirt with him.
He then sighed before having a last splash of water. It was cold but tolerable and there is his Mark V to warm him up. He then heard someone ranting and is getting closer. But to his ears, it is as clear as crystal.
"SAITO! WHERE ARE YOU! DINNER IS ABOUT TO START! GEEZ!" Louise shouted.
Louise then comes closer to the fountain until she saw Saito's half-naked body. Her face suddenly flushed crimson and fumes with a mix of anger and embarrassment.
"SAITO! GET SOME CLOTHES ON!"
"I'm almost done. I'll be there at the dining hall." Saito replied blankly.
Louise quickly leaves the vicinity out of embarrassment. Saito then dries himself with the towel before putting on his armor.
The process took over five minutes to put on the armor and sealing it. He then headed towards the dining hall for dinner.
Dining Hall
At the dining hall, the students are eating another feast after a prayer to their Founder Brimir.
Saito is sitting on the floor, due to the fact that the chair can't withstand the weight of his armor, and before him is a small lavish meal with a piece of roast steak, a piece of croquet, stew and a chicken breast.
He is seated beside Louise without his helmet but has the ear piece and mic from earlier. He silently eats his meal along with the other students. The other students are silently glancing at his direction but he didn't mind.
After the meal, they all returned to their respective rooms without too much incident.
Headmaster's Office
Headmaster Osmond is currently in his office idling. He is also thinking about Louise's familiar, he now know as "Saito", and its capabilities. His train of thought is disturbed when Prof. Colbert enters the office.
"Headmaster, I have great news."
"This is not like your other great news now, right?"
"This is different. Take a look at this." Prof. Colbert presented the book about Brimir.
"It's another literature I take it."
"No. Take a look at this." He opens a page where a rune of Gandalfr is. "Here is rune of Miss Valliere's familiar." He presents the sketch of Saito's runes beside the page.
Headmaster Osmond quickly recognizes it as his eyes bulges. He then looks at her secretary's direction.
"Miss Longueville, please excuse us for a moment."
"Yes, headmaster."
Miss Longueville then leaves through the door. Headmaster Osmond makes sure that she has left the vicinity before proceeding.
"Alright, Mr. Colbert. Explain this to me slowly and clearly."
Louise's Room
"Oh yeah I remember." Louise placed the bottom of her fist on her open palm.
"What did you remember?" Saito asked.
Saito is currently maintaining his MA5C as his other weapons are placed before him.
"I remembered a spell where one can immediately understand and speak another person's language." She then gleefully smiled.
"That way you can understand me and everyone else even without that suit of yours."
Saito thought about it, rather quickly due to his augmentations, and quickly reaches an agreement. The idea does sound better, at least in the event he doesn't have his armor or translator, he will be able to talk and listen to anyone in this world.
"Alight let's give it a try." He stood up.
"You better remove your helmet. That armor of yours may block the spell especially from what I have witnessed earlier." She then shivered from the image of Saito holding his energy sword.
"I see." He then removed his helmet and allowed Louise to start the spell.
Louise then chants a small spell before casting it. But unknown to Saito, Louise's spell casting is explosive and is unprepared for it. So once the spell is cast, a large explosion erupts from the Louise's wand. Both of them are covered is soothe.
"I failed again." Louise sighed as she bent down.
"Even though I didn't expect how explosive your spell is, it did the trick."
Louise quickly straightens up as soon as she heard Saito speak.
"Yey! It worked!" She gleefully said as she jumps up and down.
Saito wipes off the soothe off his face before checking the condition of his weapons. All of them are still in good shape and complete which is to Saito's relief.
"Remind me when you're casting a spell again. So I can prepare myself."
Louise then glares at Saito before recovering and yawns. She then moves to her cabinet and changes into her pajamas. Saito quickly looks away and continues maintaining his MA5C. After that Louise moves to her bed and puts out the light from the lamp with her wand.
"Good night, Saito."
"Good night."
Louise then settles in and quickly sleeps soundly. Saito then places aside his weapons and takes out a holo-still from his breast pocket. He then looks at it, as clear as daylight due to his augmentations, and focuses on the figures. The image portrays the three-dimensional image of him and his parents. As he looks at it, small trickle of tears flows out from his eyes as he felt the pain of loss.
"I will find a way to get back. I will finish this war that they have started. I will. Make them pay. For every pain. They have sent to me."
Next Day
Early Morning
Saito is the first to wake up from his seating position on the floor. The sun hasn't risen yet but the twilight is present outside the window. He removes his armor and wear the clothes that he borrowed from the kitchen staff last night. There is a large shirt, a pair of baggy pants and a pair of boots.
The clothes barely covers his muscular figure but it is good enough. He's going to need a new set of clothes that he can use. The other clothes that were lent to him are too loose for him.
He silently exits the room and heads towards the academy grounds. He didn't pass by anyone especially at this time. He then reaches the academy grounds and found a good spot.
He warms himself up with a few stretching positions to flex his muscles. He then proceeds to performing over 600 sit-ups which is then followed by over 600 push-ups. For a UNSC marine that is a heavy exercise, but for a Spartan like him that is a light exercise.
Up in the dorms, Kirche watches him from afar and admires the Spartan, whatever that means. She then concocts a plan to lure Saito to her.
Later
The sun is about to rise from the mountain line. Saito is done with his exercise and has taken a wash from the fountain. He climbs up the stairs and reaches the floor, from there he is greeted by no other than Kirche nearly half-naked.
Kirche is only wearing a rather small top and thin underwear. Saito's cheeks starts heating up as they slightly blush red.
This is also the first time Kirche see Saito out of his armor. He almost look like an ordinary commoner except for his beefy arms, broad shoulders, strong-looking chest and his abs.
"Ohayo~~. What are you doing so early in the morning?" Kirche asked seductively.
Saito regains his composure and look at Kirche blankly.
"Just a work out, Miss Kirche. And if you excuse me, I still have to get my armor and wake up Louise later."
Saito passes by Kirche and enters Louise's room.
"Tough guy. I like that kind of man. You'll be mine Saito."
The day starts out without having too much incident. That is until the time for Louise's Earth class where they discuss about the levels of magic which includes dot, line, triangle, square and pentagon. That is the time when Kirche say about Louise's zero magic capability. From there, the whole class laugh as Louise stays silent. Saito merely looks on and let it pass by.
"Poor girl. A mage with no magic level." Saito thought.
After class
Louise and Saito are currently walking down a hallway without speaking with each other. Saito then decides to have a heart-to-heart talk with Louise.
"Don't let them get to you, Miss Louise."
"What do you know? And why do you care?" Louise replied with irritation.
"I'm just saying not to let them push you like that. You do have magic because if you didn't, I won't be here."
"True but it is not enough. I can't do anything with magic. I can't even cast a spell without exploding." Louise's hands then clenched tightly. "And what do you know! You're already born with powers that is far more powerful than anyone here in the academy while I can't do a thing despite being born a noble!"
She faces Saito with tears flowing out of her eyes.
"I am not born with these powers." Saito told Louise which caught her attention.
"What do you mean you're not born with powers?"
"I was chosen to be a Spartan along with the others. We are chosen to be defenders of humanity and fight for our existence."
"Fight for existence? What's going on with your world?" Louise is now curious with her familiar's history as he looked more in pain than her.
Saito stops walking and decides to tell her part of the Human-Covenant War and about the Spartans without revealing the secrets of the UNSC. He picks his words carefully before answering her.
"We are at war with a more technologically-advanced space faring group of races called the Covenant. We didn't do anything against them but the dimmed our existence as filth and a heresy to their religion. They then send their forces to exterminate our race. That is the time when the decades of hell started as our race is slowly pushed to extinction."
"We, the Spartans, are chosen to be given incredible superhuman abilities and help fight the Covenant. We are capable of fighting legions of enemy forces and ultimately crush them as we defend our brethren and our worlds. But even after all that, our ships are defeated and allows the Covenant to rain hellish fires that burn our world to ashes. We are fighting a losing war."
Louise's eyes bulge as she heard those words. Her familiar's people are accused of unprovoked heresy and are on the verge of extinction as their worlds burn to ashes. She then felt sympathy towards her familiar, he is suffering more than she does.
"I'm sorry that I brought it up." Louise apologized.
"It's alright. Just remember, Miss Louise. Your powers may have been used incorrectly which caused it to have an explosive result. But it still proves you have powers, you just need to find the correct affinity."
Louise smiles at that, she is glad that she has Saito to support her. They continue to walk down the hallway with Louise's newly enlightened spirits.