This document beta'd and edited by The Evil Within
Chapter 8: Skillz to Pay the Billz
I will do this ONE thing that you ask of me, quest giver. Pray I find more menial tasks to accomplish or you will be hearing from me again and I assure you that my commentary on forums of public opinion will be most unkind.
-Johnny Awesome, World of Warcraft
"Seriously? Why couldn't we just stay at the inn! I know you have enough money for it!" Kazuma complained as they yet again set up their campsite just outside a town.
"Inns cost money. And you'd want to buy dinner, and then you'd start drinking, AND oggle the serving maids. We just don't have the funds for all of that in our budget!" Uraraka said primly as she brushed down her horse.
"Of course I'd want a drink and hot dinner!" Kazuma ranted as he stacked wood for the fire. "We've had nothing but my rations and cold water to drink for a week! A room and a meal at that inn was 25 pfennig! There's 100 pfennig in one mark, and you've got 25 marks!"
"Twenty three and forty pfennig. We did have to buy some supplies so far, and that's put a drain on our funds," Uraraka corrected.
"So we could literally stay at an inn for three weeks! Hell, we could even splurge and buy ourselves a round of ale!" Kazuma argued.
"There is no need for such frivolities," Uraraka stated. "That's why I'm in charge of the money, and you are not."
Kazuma glared at Uraraka, then looked to Darkness and Tokoyami who were setting up tents. "What about you two? Don't you want to stay at an inn for the night? You know, get a bath for the first time in days, sleep in a real bed!"
"It would be nice not to have to sleep on the ground for once, Uraraka," Tokoyami said. "Plus, it would be easier for me to control Dark Shadow."
"Then we should not sleep at an inn!" Darkness exclaimed. "We need Dark Shadow to be strong, and rough!" Then she blushed and looked down. "But, um, I would not mind sleeping in a bed, and having a bath for once."
"Are you people crazy?! Money does not grow on trees!" Uraraka snapped.
"I mean, I bet I could earn some money. Or, you know, just steal it," Kazuma pointed out. "What do you say, play rock paper scissors for it? I'll even say I have to win three in a row against you. You win once, we sleep on the ground again."
"No, and that's final," Uraraka huffed. "We're not staying at an inn. You'd do something lewd, Darkness would start a fight just to get beat up a little, and Tokoyami would scare everyone because they think he looks like a monster. So we're sleeping out here, where it's peaceful and quiet!"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes. "You know, my fingers are getting real itchy. I might just feel a Steal coming on. Maybe I'll steal that money from you. Maybe I'll get some panties for my collection. Either way, I'll get what I want."
"Steal my panties again, and you'll wake up so high up off the earth that you'll die of oxygen deprivation," Uraraka firmly informed him.
"Fine! Have it your way! See if I make any rations for you though," Kazuma muttered.
He did, of course, end up giving Uraraka some bread rolls. After all, she had the jerky and dried fruit that she dolled out to go with their meal. She was adamant that they needed proper nutrition, but refused to buy one more item of food than absolutely necessary.
"Freakin' Scrooge," Kazuma complained.
"Scrooge?" Darkness asked.
Kazuma glanced at Tokoyami, who shrugged. "I have not heard the name either."
"What? Don't you guys celebrate Christmas in the future?" Kazuma demanded. He suddenly raised his voice, glaring at Uraraka, "Because someone's going to end up as a Christmas cake if they're not careful!"
"Boyfriends are expensive, and so are cakes. They are a waste of money," Uraraka told him.
"Unbe-friggin-lievable," Kazuma groused. He eyed Tokoyami and Darkness. "Want to play cards or something?"
"Pass. Even if we are not gambling anything, I see no reason to lose to you over and over," Tokoyami told Kazuma bluntly.
"You cheat!" Dark Shadow chirped.
"I don't cheat!" Kazuma argued. "My luck is just really high!"
"Well, we should at least train then," Darkness said, brushing off her clothes and standing. "Kazuma, care for a bout?"
"Why, you'll just stand there and get hit like usual," Kazuma complained, but he stood up anyway. "Fine, it's more fun than just sitting around waiting for the sun to set."
As usual, Darkness just charged in, sword raised, no subtlety at all. Kazuma lazily moved to the side to dodge, expecting Darkness's attack to be off by a mile. At the last second, his Evasion skill activated, and he moved just the barest fraction of an inch to the side, so that Darkness didn't cleave him in half, instead slicing his cloak.
"What the hell Darkness!?" Kazuma gasped, jerking away. "You almost killed me!"
"I-I am sorry, Kazuma! I thought-but my blows never land!" Darkness said, looking as shocked as Kazuma was.
"That's...weird," Kazuma agreed. He frowned, raising Chunchunmaru. "Guess I'll have to take this a bit more seriously."
He and Darkness fought back and forth for a while, and to Kazuma's shock he had to actually stay on his toes, dodging and parrying her attacks. She managed to block a few of his lazier blows as well, which was something new. When they stepped back from one another, panting, Kazuma cocked his head to one side. "Did you...I don't know, take the Two Handed Sword skill when I wasn't looking?"
"N-n-no, I didn't, I swear!" Darkness protested, flushing bright red.
Kazuma held up his hands. "Hey, it's cool, I'm actually pretty impressed. I mean, you were already practically indestructible, so branching out and getting a little offensive ability is nice."
"No, but, Kazuma, the strangest thing has been happening," Darkness said, holding her sword up and looking at it with an awed expression. "It's like...the more I use this sword, the better I seem to become with it. It's as if, by practicing with it, my skills are actually improving!"
"Weird," Kazuma said, using Chunchumaru to scratch at his side.
"Um, Darkness, that's sort of how practice works," Tokoyami said, looking bemused. "Why else would you drill with your sword each night?"
"Exercise, but mostly because I enjoy it," Darkness admitted. "It is a sort of game to me."
"You mean, you seriously never learned how to use that sword after hundreds of years?" Uraraka asked.
"No, I stopped earning experience and skill points when I died, and I had already invested all of them," Darkness explained. "I still practiced of course, but that was more to maintain my physical fitness. What I did pick up in the Divine Realm were all defensive related skills that improved my durability, though I don't know if they were from exercise."
"Yeah, I mean, I sort of never bothered because the stat increases you get from exercise taper off pretty quickly after a certain point. You can get a slight bonus but it's really not worth it for the effort you have to put in," Kazuma said with a shrug. He held up Chunchumaru, frowning. "I wonder...could I learn advanced sword techniques just by practicing over and over?"
"You only have the basic One Handed Sword skill, correct?" Darkness asked.
Kazuma nodded. "Yeah, Adventurers have to spend too many points to unlock more advanced martial skills. But I can use pretty much any weapon OK."
"You lived in that wacky world way too long, Kazuma," Uraraka sighed. "You forgot how reality works."
"I mean, that is how reality works, there anyway. It's just, I dunno, different logic? Honestly, it feels more like home now than Japan ever did," Kazuma admitted.
"Well, I guess I should practice with you too then. Wouldn't want to be the useless one in the party now would I?" Uraraka laughed, standing and drawing her own sword.
Later that night, Kazuma was sitting on a tree stump, whittling with his knife. There were a few hours left until dawn, and he had the last watch. Doing something with his hands helped keep him awake and alert as he used his skills to look for any approaching danger.
Kazuma was carving a small cat with little bat wings, smiling to himself. Chomuske had never really turned into a cute cat girl, but he still missed the little demon thing. He heard a noise behind him, but didn't look over, recognizing the sound of Darkness getting up. He figured she had to use a bush, until she walked over to him. Kazuma scooted over on the stump, making room for her.
"Something on your mind?" he asked, not looking up. Darkness couldn't see him anyway, not with the moon already set.
"Kazuma, I'm scared," Darkness said quietly as she sat next to him.
That got Kazuma's attention. Darkness had charged the Devil King with a smile on her face. She'd fought that insane loli vampire to the bitter end without a single look of despair. He looked up, carefully sheathing his knife and pocketing the half finished carving. "Yeah? What's up?"
"This world...it doesn't work like the one I'm used to," Kazuma," Darkness whispered. Kazuma could see her hugging herself, her legs drawn up protectively. Her eyes were big and wet, and she looked more like a lost child than a stalwart knight just then. "What if...what if I can't protect you all here?"
Kazuma reached out, putting an arm around Darkness' shoulders. She let out a soft sob, and rested her head on his shoulder. He patted her leg affectionately. "Hey, that, right there? That's pure muscle."
Darkness let out a half whimper, half laugh at that. "You brute!"
"No, no, listen. You're literally the strongest person I know. I mean that. And in case you don't remember, I know some literal deities. None of them are as tough as you. And remember when you charged right in to the Duke of Terror's den and saved Edgebird? And just the other day, when that bear attacked us and you literally tackled it while jumping off a galloping horse?"
"Yes," Darkness admitted. "I just...I don't know. Things are different here."
"What to know something? Something I never told anyone? Not even Megumin?" Kazuma asked.
Darkness nodded, shifting to sit back up, and smoothing her hair back down.
"For the first couple months after I died and came to your world the first time, I was TERRIFIED. Like, cry myself to sleep most nights scared. Oh, sure, I tried to act tough, especially since Aqua was there, but remember, I was a NEET. I almost never left my parents house, and I certainly never went anywhere new or strange. And yet, there I was. Sleeping in a stable, doing day labor, and there was this insane, stupid goddess sleeping next to me."
"You were truly so frightened? I never saw that in you," Darkness said, leaning in close to peer at Kazuma's face in the dim starlight. "You would cry, and moan, and even try to flee at times, but I never saw dread in you."
"Scariest time of my life," Kazuma confirmed. "I mean, sure, I'd TALKED about wanting to live in a video game world. But actually doing it? Scared the hell out of me."
Darkness turned, looking over to where Uraraka was softly snoring, and Tokoyami was lying with his head tucked under one arm, Dark Shadow wrapped around him like an ominous blanket. "What about them?"
"Uraraka cries herself to sleep most nights. She's quiet about it, but she does. I hear her whimpering and asking for her mom," Kazuma said quietly. "Tokoyami...well, he's got you. You really like him, don't you?"
Even without his night vision, Kazuma would have known that Darkness was blushing when she whispered, "I do. He is kind, but also so dangerous. Gentle, but also a brute. His is very strange, and yet... I think I am growing fond of him. I am still Darkness, the perverted, useless knight. However...I am not the Darkness I was. I still enjoy rough treatment, but...now I think I need something more. You showed me that a man could be crude and brutal, while still being sensitive and loving, Kazuma."
"Oh, gee, thanks. Talk about a backhanded compliment," Kazume deadpanned.
They sat together in the dark for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of insects and other nightlife. At last, Darkness sighed and stood. "Thank you, Kazuma. You are a good friend."
"Yeah. You too, Darkness. Oh, and Lalatina?"
"What?" she snapped, irritated at the use of her proper name as usual.
"I feel a lot safer, knowing you're here with me."
Her irritation melted, and began to smile warmly, nodding slowly back. "I do as well, strange as it may seem. You being here...It just feels...right, somehow."
"Yeah. Just missing one delusional mage and a useless goddess," Kazuma sighed, taking his knife and figurine out. "Get some rest. Sun's up in an hour. We should be in Hauptstadt by midday."
Breakfast was barley porridge conjured by Kazuma, which while filling was pretty damn boring. At least it was hopefully their last day of trail rations, no matter what Uraraka said.
The city of Hauptstadt was set astride a large river, with the center of the city built atop a large hill, with a massive fortress at the top. Great stone walls of dark granite encircled most of the city, though more recent buildings seemed to have sprung up outside the walls. Farmland surrounded the city; endless fields of grains, vegetables, and vast orchards that extended for miles around the city.
As Kazuma's party came out of the wooded foothills, he saw more and more travelers. At first it was simple merchants, alone with packbeasts, or caravans together with carts and guards, but as they entered the plains, they saw more and more weary, dejected souls carrying what little they owned on their back. They moved in family groups, or in ones and two's, people with sunken eyes and bearing seeping wounds. Some sat beside the road, clearly having gone as far as they could.
Kazuma tried to maintain a jovial attitude, joking and laughing with his companions, but his heart finally broke when he saw a woman with dull, empty eyes, carrying a baby in her arms and a toddler on her back, leaving bloody footprints behind her. That was too much, even if she was just an NPC.
"Hey, wait up a sec," Kazuma called, hopping off his horse. The woman flinched at his call, shying away from him.
"Don't want no trouble," she muttered. "Don't got nothin' left."
"Yeah I can tell. Here, you look hungry. Create Rations." Kazuma held out the flatbread he made to her, and the woman's eyes widened. She quickly grabbed it and took a greedy bite, then got her son off her back to offer him some.
"T-thank you," she sniffed.
"Yeah, hold still a moment. Lesser Heal. Here, let me see that blanket. Craft! I know it's not much, but these sandals will help you," Kazuma said, handing his creation back to her.
The woman gazed at Kazuma with wonder as her child happily devoured the flat bread. "Who are you, my lord?"
"Just a boring old low level Adventurer," Kazuma told her, smiling. "You gonna be OK?"
"I...yes. Thank you. Thank you so much," the woman wept.
"Mind telling me what happened to you?" Kazuma asked quietly. Darkness and the other had dismounted, and were also now sharing what little supplies they had with other refugees, who were now starting to crowd around them.
"They came out of nowhere," the woman told him. "Monsters. Hordes of them. They were beasts of all different kinds and shapes. I'd heard tell of such things, but...but the Kaiser and the nobles were supposed to have driven them off ages ago. We got the occasional dire boar or nightstalker true, but things were alright. Baron Von Metzer and his men...they were slaughtered. They started burning things, killing. They were led by a woman who ran with wolves, she tortured Father Klerus, and was demanding to know what he knew of some goddess. Not Psyche Dio, or one I'd ever heard of. Said she was a water goddess I think. Then, they just left. But it was all gone. My husband, our oldest daughter, all dead…"
"Water Goddess?" Kazuma asked, feeling a chill. "Not...not Aqua?"
"Could have been. I didn't get close enough to hear, thank Psyche Dio. We've been headed for the capitol ever since, hoping we'd be safe there," the woman explained.
"M'lord? M'lord, do you have more food?"
Kazuma turned to see a girl about his age, or rather, the age he thought of himself as. She'd have been cute if it wasn't for the bruises on her face and the burned smell on her. One arm was wrapped in a makeshift sling, the other holding the hand of a young boy
"Yeah. Here. Create Rations. Lesser Heal."
In the end, Kazuma had to use Drain Touch on Darkness three times to tap into her nearly limitless stamina to manage to feed even half the refugees that were now packing the roadway. Uraraka ended up passing out all of the stores of food she had, along with the medicine she'd bought to treat minor injuries. Tokoyami stayed off to the side with the horses, the refugees looking at him warily.
"What's this then?" a voice called, and Kazuma turned to see armored knights on horseback approaching. They'd stopped at a crossroads, and traffic was backed up in many directions now. "Move out of the road if you are wearied! There is food, shelter, and medicine, given by the Kaiser ahead! Make way for the wagons! You there, knight, what is the meaning of this?"
Darkness turned to the female knight who had reigned up close to her, a helmet with a jet black plum under one arm. "I am Lady Lalatin Ford Dustiness, Knight of the Goddess Eris and Champion of the Divine Realm," Darkness answered, the playfulness and perversion gone from her tone. She was a noblewoman to the hilt now, hand on her sword, back straight. "We have been sent by the goddess to cleanse the taint of the Lord of the Tomb from this land. These are my companions, his Grace Sato Kazuma the Devil King's bane, Ochako Uraraka of Japan, and Fumikage Tokoyami of the Dark Shadow."
"Hey. Sup," Kazuma said with a jaunty two fingered salute. He forced a smile on his face, despite how tired he felt. Even with those Drain Touches, his MP was low, and using his skills this much took a lot out of him.
"Then the rumors were true." The lady knight dismounted and knelt. "I am Ritterfuhrer Angela Von Rustang. We have had word of your coming from Baroness Von Galen. We were sent to look for you. Please, come with me. Do not fear however, these good folk shall be seen too; they are under the Kaiser's protection."
Upon seeing the rather lacking condition of Kazuma's party's mounts, Von Rustang ordered four of her knights to dismount, giving their much superior horses in exchange.
"Those horses were ours though," Uraraka muttered. "They can't be cheap."
"If you have need of mounts, Lady Uraraka, we shall provide, fear not," Von Rustang promised. "But now, time is of the essence. The enemy advances upon us even now, and we know not how to stop them. Come."
They rode off at a fast pace, making good time as the refugees and merchants moved aside for the column of knights to pass. They entered the city gates with only a minor pause while the guards checked documents, but the Baroness's letter and Von Rustang's insistence of its authenticity got them through quickly enough.
Inside of the city, the atmosphere was just as grim. Soldiers marched the streets in full armor, and the civilians looked harried. Refugees were seemingly everywhere there was space, taking up positions around street corners and alleys, and though the streets were clean, there was an aura of desperation and sickness to the air. Kazuma swallowed, feeling nervous again. Even in the darkest hour, Belzerg hadn't looked THIS bad. Not even when the Devil King's minions had practically been at the gates.
They made their way up to the citadel, where there was a more thorough inspection of documents.
"A divine hero? You look like a group of children. Only this Lady Dustiness looks old enough to serve in the Kaiser's army," the captain of the guard said, glaring at Kazuma.
"Yeah, well, I got one thing to say to that," Kazuma said. He raised one hand. "Create Water!"
The captain let out a gasp of surprise as the water splashed over him, which made Kazuma smirk, but the next thing he knew Darkness had shoved him behind her a dozen spears and swords were pointed at them.
"What sorcery is this?" the captain coughed. "This is the same sort of foul magic those invaders possess!"
"It is harmless, only good drinking water," Darkness snarled, her fingers twitching on her sword hilt. "My companion is weary from travel. He sought only to prove the credentials you doubted."
"Captain, are you well?" one of the soldiers asked.
The man wiped at his face, frowning. He sniffed some of the liquid on his fingers, then tasted it. "Hmm. It appears harmless. Call the priests, check them over. Their infiltrators have caused us enough harm."
"Geez, it was just a prank," Kazuma muttered as two men in robes approached with censors burning incense, chanting.
"I think they don't like jokes here very much," Uraraka said, her voice strained as she looked at the various weapons centimeters from her body.
"Harm one hair on any of their heads, and you shall pay for it in blood," Tokoyami vowed, Dark Shadow hissing menacingly as it blocked the weapons pointed towards him.
"This one has to be some sort of demon," one of the priests said, raising his sensor. Dark Shadow hissed at him, but the smoke wafted over the manifestation harmlessly.
"Demon he may be, but he is mine, and bound to me," Tokoyami informed the priest. "So long as I live, he fights only for justice."
"And bird seed!" Dark Shadow squawked.
"Er, they appear to be human, strange as it may sound, captain," the priest finally decided, after having chanted several spells and casting glowing lights to pass over Kazuma and his party. "Though, it is said these new foes have powerful anti-magic abilities."
"Oh come on, if we were evil or something we'd have cleaned the floor with you already!" Kazuma protested. "Those spears look like they're not even magical, just regular old iron and steel! Darkness' armor is adamantois, and so is her sword! They'd just bounce off her. And if I were really serious, I'd just use a bunch of magic and wreck you scrubs before you could do anything!"
"They were found passing out food and offering healing to refugees. I do not think them to be spies, or they would not have drawn so much attention to themselves," Von Rustang pointed out. "Their magic is strange though, to be sure. They do claim to be from the Divine Realm and the Holy Land of Japan."
"Well, perhaps," the captain admitted. He bowed stiffly. "Forgive me, my lords and ladies. These are… trying times."
Slowly, the weapons were lowered, and Kazuma and his party were allowed to enter into the fortress proper, if still under watch. More soldiers were drilling on the grounds, and there were dozens of messengers running back and forth, delivering news too and from the town.
"Geeze, what the hell happened here? You people have a war or something?" Kazuma wondered aloud, seeing yet another soldier nursing an injury as he stood vigil.
"Yes. And we are losing," Von Rustang said grimly.
They were led up the steps of the main keep and into a great hall that was filled with armored nobles, mages in robes, and priests in vestments. All were talking quietly, pointing at maps or pieces of parchment, or going about assigned tasks.
"Your weapons?" a final guard asked, holding out his hand as they crossed the threshold
Darkness looked at Kazuma, who shrugged. "What the hell. Not like you can disarm birdbrain anyway." He reluctantly handed over his sword, slingshot, and knife. He kept the dynamite. "Hey, don't lose that. Chunchunmaru is special to me, OK?"
The guard blinked, examining the weapon in his hand. "You claim this is Chunchunmaru?"
"Hey! Don't make fun of that! Someone very special to me named it, even if it does sound silly!" Kazuma snapped, glaring at the guard.
"Silly? Perhaps it is foolish to name your sword after the legendary Singing Blade of the Red Witch," the guard chuckled. "Go on, boy, you're not the first to give their blade an overly important name."
That made Kazuma pause in his prepared defense. "Wait, you know about Chunchunmaru?"
The guard rolled his eyes. "Of course, everyone knows the story of the legendary blade gifted to a mortal man by the Red Witch. The one said to have been wielded by a divine champion to defeat the Lindwurm of the north two hundred years ago."
"Wait, did she…" Kazuma considered, then groaned. "Oh my God. Megumin named a cheat item Chunchumaru and sent someone to this world, didn't she."
"She told me she did that on occasion," Darkness told Kazuma as she passed over her own sword. "Though usually she only consented to gift potential heroes with Explosion magic."
"She could have at least not named it after MY sword," Kazuma grumbled, causing the guards to eye him skeptically. "Fine, whatever, but just so you know, that's the original! And it didn't slay some dumb worm, it killed the Devil King!"
"You sure these are them, Ritterfuhrer?" another guard asked.
"I do not know. But they certainly have strange powers, so perhaps that is indeed the blade of legend. Guard it well, soldier. Come. The Kaiser awaits."
At the head of the main hall, an elderly man in a simple military uniform sat in a utilitarian looking throne as a group of advisors talked to him. He waved them away however as Kazuma approached. He nodded to the party, his expression worried, but tinged with hope. "Are these the ones, then?"
"Yeah, I'm Kazuma, this is Darkness, Uraraka, and Tokoyami," Kazuma said, not waiting for introductions. "I guess you're the Kaiser? Yeah, we're here to kill the Lord of the Tomb or whatever."
"Such bold words," the old man chuckled. "But I am no longer the kaiser. Merely his grandfather."
"What, you retire or something?" Kazuma demanded.
"Um, Kazuma, don't you remember?" Darkness whispered. "The Kaiser has to abdicate if he can no longer defend the realm with his blade. It was in our briefing!"
"Pfff, I always skip the quest dialogue," Kazuma said with a shrug.
"Then maybe you should shut up and let Darkness do the talking, since, you know, she's actually a noble instead of a NEET from Nagano," Uraraka said, poking Kazuma in his ribs.
Kazuma winced. He never should have let that slip. "Fine. Whatever."
"Um, please, forgive my friend's rudeness. He is not used to dealing with mortals after many long years in the Divine Realm," Darkness said, bowing slightly.
"I will forgive much, if you are indeed here to kill those devils their army," a brisk new voice declared, and Kazuma turned to see a young man in a well made but still simple military man striding towards them. As he passed, people inclined their heads to him.
"Ah, you are here," the retired Kaiser said, making to stand from the throne.
"No, stay where you are, grandfather. You have more need for a seat than I." The young man stopped in front of Kazuma's party, eyeing them critically. Then he clicked his heels together. "I am Kaiser Frederik Von Verantwortlicher."
"Aren't you a bit young to be a king or whatever?" Kazuma asked, folding his arms. The kid looked to be the same age as Uraraka and Tokoyami, no more than sixteen, with green eyes and light brown hair. He was good looking, Kazuma supposed, but he also looked like a total killjoy.
"I am. But as my father and elder sister died on the field a week past, it seems that I am now the leader of Königreich," Frederik answered icily.
Kazuma jerked, then blushed. "Oh. Er, sorry to hear that, um, your majesty."
"Kazuma?" Tokoyami said. "Please shut up."
Kazuma made a lip lock and throw away the key motion, smiling at Frederik, who seemed utterly unamused. "Come with me," he ordered, and turned and walked out of the main hall.
Kazuma glanced over at Darkness, who shook her head, her lips pursed in irritation. Probably at him. They followed after Frederik, a group of guards falling in with them. They were led through a few corridors to an open courtyard, where several robed mages were waiting.
"You claim to be sent by the gods to defeat this foe. Very well. Prove it," Frederik said, taking up a sword. He motioned to Darkness. "You seem to be a knight. Take up a blade and fight, show me your skill."
"Um, I am more of a shield," Darkness said, looking nervous.
"Eh, you can take him," Kazuma encouraged.
"No, let me," Uraraka said, stepping forward. "I got this, Darkness."
"You sure hot stuff?" Kazuma asked, frowning at Uraraka as she stepped forward.
"Yes," Uraraka said, grinning and spreading her arms wide. "It's my turn to show what I can do!"
"Then take up a blade," Frederik snapped.
"Don't need one. I'm not very good yet, it would just slow me down," Uraraka said.
"Hmph. Very well. If you lie, I shall kill you." With that, the Kaiser lunged forward, striking like a viper. Uraraka pivoted to the side, slapping the blade with one hand as she dodged.
The Kaiser flicked it after her, but his blow went high and wild, a look of confusion on his face for a moment as he stumbled, thrown off by the sudden change of weight. Uraraka simply tapped him with her fingers on the arm and stepped away.
"Hmph, a trick, but it will not...not…" Frederik looked baffled as he slowly floated up into the air. "What in the name of all the gods is this?"
"Anti-gravity. My quirk. All it takes is one touch, and you're helpless," Uraraka said, looking smug. "You wanna give up yet?"
"No," Frederik growled. He flailed about in the air for a minute or two, until he was red faced and panting, drifting up towards the sky. "Very well. I yield. I do not know this spell."
"Good. Can you get him, Tokoyami?"
"Easily." Dark Shadow shot up, grabbing Frederik and bringing him back to the ground.
"Release!" Uraraka said, touching her fingers together. She smiled happily. "Now do you believe us?"
"I am more inclined to," Frederik admitted, his earlier irritation gone in favor of a more thoughful expression. "Archmage Denker. Test their mage."
"Of course, your highness," a grey bearded man said, stepping forward.
"That's you, Kazuma," Uraraka said reluctantly.
"Yeah, yeah," Kazuma said with a sigh. "Hey Darkness? Little help?"
"Oh, of course," Darkness said, giving Kazuma her hand.
"Thanks. Drain Touch!" Kazuma sucked away for a full minute, until Darkness was flushing and obviously having to work to contain herself. "Right, that's enough, I'm good."
He sauntered out to the floor, where the Denker was stroking his beard, looking thoughtful. "Right, usual rules for a skill off?"
"I am not familiar with this, 'skill off,'" Denker said slowly. "How does it work?"
"Well, we don't want to, you know, kill anybody, so we just see who knows the most spells. First one to come up dry on a new one loses. No muss, no fuss," Kazuma said breezily, rolling up his sleeves and grinning.
"Hmm. A simple test, similar to the one for Archmagus," Denker mused. He nodded. "I accept. As host, I shall go first."
He waved his hands in the air, muttering under his breath, until a bolt of electricity crackled out of his fingertips, striking the ground.
"All that for Spark?" Kazuma asked, pointing one finger at the floor so that his own bolt discharged to about the same place Denker's had.
Denker's eyebrows shot up. "Hmm. Not as potent as mine I think, but to need so short an incantation...very well."
They went back and forth for a few minutes, Kazuma copying everything Denker managed. They flung about some fire, made a gust of wind, chilled the ground, caused a seed to sprout and grow quickly, and made phantom noises and lights.
"Getting tired, old man?" Kazuma taunted as Denker hesitated before his next spell.
"A moment," Denker panted. "I need food, and water. My reserves grow weak. I am not as young as I once was."
"I'll spot you," Kazuma said before a servant could hurry forward. He took out his canteen, upending it to show it was empty, then pointed a finger at the neck. "Create Water!"
Once it was full, he held out his other hand. "Create Rations!"
He handed one of the rice balls and the canteen over to a poleaxed Denker, then took a big bite out of his own. "You know, I like this. Nobody gets hurt, and we get snacks," Kazuma said around a mouthful.
Denker cautiously sipped the water, then bit into the rice ball. He chewed, then swallowed, shaking his head. He turned to Frederik. "Your majesty, I must concede this boy is an Archmagus of surpassing skill. Were these all the spells he knows, which I think unlikely given how easily he matched me, he would be one of the strongest in the entire reich, if not the world."
"So I see," Frederik said with a slow nod. He bowed stiffly to Kazuma. "I apologize. The death of my father, the former Kaiser, and my elder sister the heir...it has left me in a foul mood as of late."
"Hey, it's OK," Kazuma said with a shrug. He grimaced. "We saw the refugees. Things are getting pretty bad, huh?"
"If the gods themselves must send their greatest champions to aid us, they must be," Frederik agreed. "Please, we shall do whatever we can to aid you, heroes. My realm is at your disposal."
"Great," Kazuma said. Slowly, a goofy grin started to spread across his face. "Say, do you have mixed baths here?"