Author's Note: Thank you, LuinFanel who helped me with this chapter. If you have not read their work please consider checking out their works: Los Dioses del Armor and Semillas de Bluanfah. (unsure if they are on fanficnet or just Archive of my own) I assure you the first is a spicy and worth wild read, while the second follows all of the family goodness of the biggest family of Gremlins this world has ever seen. So enjoy!
Ferdinand 6th year Royal Academy
I ducked under the blade that came sweeping for my neck. My spear followed through to the natural opening my opponent had created. Nothing but air. If I hadn't been in a practice battle, I might have been more frustrated by the number of occasions my blade sliced nothing but air. At this rate I was starting to get used to it and beginning the next swing before the previous even finished. My opponent was just that slippery. And irritating. Very irritating to be more accurate.
Lady Minerva moved with her usual practiced ease. It had been a while since we had practiced and Rauffen had been really set on it after Heisshitze suggested it. Now that I think about it, the last time we dueled was just before her sister broke off her engagement with me. A small bit of bitterness welled up at that. Was it too much to ask for that I escape my personal hell with the few people who are loyal to me? I had no love for Lady Magdalena, so I didn't begrudge her the Dark God of her heart's choosing. But did she really need to discard all vestiges of civility? It wasn't like any of that mess was my fault or my choice.
"Distracted, Little Flower?" Her glaive came swinging for my knees at bone breaking speed. I hadn't decided if I was happy, she had gone back to calling me that name or not.
I scoffed at her surface level provocation. The Dunkelfelger apprentices cheered with extreme vigor as I did an unnecessarily showy back flip to avoid her attack. Added bonus, it was a very blatant way to say her attacks were too slow. Anyone else would have been incensed by my open disrespect. Unfortunately, my opponent just chuckled as if this was a delightful game.
"Hmm," I responded carelessly. "I was just wondering who was Ordoschnell, there are certainly a far larger number of spectators than usual." It was true, there were even people with different color cloaks mixed into the sea of blue.
Her gaze automatically scanned the people watching out practice duel. Suspicion lit those silver eyes under her magic tool. Now it was my turn to take advantage of her distraction. I aimed a flurry of strikes at her sides. It forced her to take a couple steps back. Any blows she chose to block would chip away at her stamina at greater pace. Thanks to my massive levels of mana, I could continuously use enhancement magic. This meant I was hitting her easily twice as much force as usual.
Now if she would just trip!
"You seem frustrated, Little Flower. Something wrong?" She didn't even have the grace to look at me for that question. Instead, her gaze was still looking at the on lookers. She was searching for something, someone.
"I'm dealing with a fool, it's to be expected." I grouched.
She snorted a laugh. "Even your insults have lost their bite. (* Something's really bugging you. *)"
I was starting to get annoyed with how often she spoke little phrases in that language around me. The swearing I could generally tell from her tone, but these comments always left me a bit on edge. I got the generally feeling they were either crude, had a poor translation, or something she said without thought. None of which boded well for me. Well, at least I could take comfort in the fact she was sweating from effort. In truth, I was not much better off. I had only just started the weight training that Peter had let slip. Justus had managed to catch a glimpse of the schematics from Peter's notes. The Dunkelfelger scholar had even mentioned that this was how Minerva trained even during her written classes and when she was on duty in the dorm. This training involved ring like enhancement tools attached to one's wrists, ankles, and a belt. They could be adjusted to feel heavier, and would be adjusted up every twelve weeks. I was seeing improvement, but I was still starting far later than my opponent to show concrete results.
The downside to this method should be fairly obvious. Those first few days of weight increase were notably more difficult. Today happened to be one of those days. In order to test myself I hadn't bothered to turn them off either. I just barely side stepped the butt of Minerva's glaive. She was openly grinning like fool despite being so out of breath.
"Time!" called Rauffen. His voice boomed over the noise of the spectators. All the students watching cheered. I could only scowl, what was so great about this match that they had to make so much noise? I glowered at them, which had almost no effect. Only the first years backed off, and even then, it was only marginally.
Minerva was still scanning the crowd under her hood, and mostly ignoring the girls who were asking her questions. Her attendant came over with a water skin. As the Dunkelfelger princess drank she was still searching the crowd. A frown on her face. Then her gaze caught something behind me and her eyes narrowed. I turned to see what she saw. Peter was carefully moving through the crowd. He had on light mana armor under his scholar robes and openly wore the circlet tool I had created. His hair was tied back in a high tail. He also had his monocle secured over his eyes. The young man looked determined.
Minerva sighed. "So, it's time."
I glanced back at her. She looked equally determined and... excited?
"Lina, my wyvern armor, and my rings." She took one last gulp of water before handing it back to her attendant. Evelina handed her lady six palm sized golden rings and a pale white feystone. She immediately slid the rings onto the metal piece just below her glaive's blade. I stepped out of Peter's path to allow him to enter the ring I had just exited. I caught a glimpse of a tool up his sleeve. This was well-planned, I thought about how Rauffen had been especially pushy and people had lingered well after the usual practice. With this many witnesses neither Peter nor Minerva would be able to hold back. How much planning had Peter done for this?
Minerva dropped her hood as Peter approached. He spoked clear enough for everyone to hear him. "Lady Minerva, I challenge you for the right to be your Dark God." The boys all shouted their approval, and roared with delight, slapping each other on the back. Heisshitze came up beside me, grinning ear to ear.
"Now this will be exciting!"
So, Peter had managed to get this fool to help. Now I only wondered if the scholar had tricked the knight apprentice or had been open about his plan. Either way it was likely a mistake in Heisshitze's part. Unless this is what Minerva wanted. That could go either way.
Minerva smirked "I accept your challenge, Peter." Evelina brought forth a recording magic tool and fed it mana. I wondered how long she had been holding onto that, as Peter would normally be the one to place them. Once it was open, the attendant stepped out of the ring. Minerva waited until her attendant was out of the ring before speaking loud enough for all to hear. "By right of challenge, I ask that the rules be such that whoever leaves the ring first or submits, loses. There will be no time limit, use of schtappes, magic tools, and potions are allowed. This will be your first attempt of three to ask for this kind of duel. Do you accept?"
"I will not need the other two." The knights roared their approval, nearly causing me to wince at the sound. There also might have been a sigh a or two from some of the ladies watching. Must these fools be so loud and open?
Minerva gave the gathered crowd a quieting look. Her lip pulled up in a partial curl. Then she addressed Rauffen. "Pr. Rauffen, will you witness?"
The older knight grinned as if she had offered him the greatest opportunity. "Of course."
"Then by witness of magic tool, by academy professor, and our countrymen, may the match begin." She slapped the white feystone to her chest, causing the strange white armor to cover her head-to-toe.
Before her armor had fully covered her, Peter summoned his schtappe as twin dueling knives. He moved with a speed that well exceeded anything I had seen from him to date. There was a quick flash of gold from the bottom of his boots. Frustratingly, that was all I could see. It was probably some kind of magic tool with heavy influence of Steiferise.
Minerva twisted the pole of her glaive, knocking the first blade away from her. Then she twisted it to slam the butt of the weapons into Peter's other form arm. She put enough force into the blow to send her scholar stumbling back to the edge of the circle. He rolled himself back onto his feet, still well within the boundaries. Only, Peter now held a leather pouch in the first hand that Minerva had smacked away. He grinned wickedly and tossed the bag to Heisshitze.
The Dunkelfelger princess moved to snatch it back mid-flight, but once again Peter sprinted in close. This forced Minerva to abandon the bag to fend off the incoming attack. Peter's schtappe blade screeched when it skated across her armor. Not enough to break through right away, but it was clear that; with time, he would be able to break through her armor. I wondered how much he had compressed to be capable of that.
Heisshitze opened the pouch and tipped it just enough to show me the contents. Inside were half a dozen potions. I couldn't help the smirk that crept across my face. That scholar had quite the sticky fingers, and it was much more gratify to not be on the receiving end of said sticky fingers. Or; I amended, to not have my people being on the receiving end. In the time I glanced down, Minerva managed to get the blade of her weapon pointed at Peter. The scholar was smirking and bleeding from a cut running along his jaw. If I were the betting type, I would bet Peter had allowed such a wound to occur. His next moves would be to go for her magic tool.
The rings on Minerva's glaive gave off a faint glow as she feinted left. Watching them made my head ache and dizzy. Not unlike when she had dueled with her scarf.
"(* Illusions, my Snap Dragon? *)" He clicked his tongue in a mocking way. For a second it looked like Peter had moved through Minerva's weapon and slapped her side with the flat part of his blade. There was a faint pulse from the weapon. That caused Minerva to instantly retreat. What was that? "(* Wish it was a bare hand, beautiful? *)"
Minerva froze up briefly at Peter's words. If I didn't know better, I'd say she looked flushed under that ridiculous helm of hers. She immediately swung her glaive down with excessive force. Almost like she had miscalculated her strength in the moment. Peter dodged with the blessings of Steiferise. When the blade impacted the ground with a resounding boom that I could feel through my boots, sand was sent spraying with enough force that my own wards stirred. It seemed Peter had really angered her. Her blade swiftly transitioned to a side slice aimed at Peter's left leg. The scholar was shockingly light on his feet. Even Minerva was surprised. I wondered if that tool on his boots was a relatively new creation or just one that he had kept up Verbergen's sleeve for just such an occasion as this.
The longer we watched, the faster Peter seemed to become. It was bothering me. Watching the Dunkelfelger princess closely I could say for certain that she wasn't in top form; not after our duel. That had been part of Peter's plan from the beginning, but even that didn't account for how slow she was moving. Actually, Minerva had largely been keeping to one spot. Her style had always been flowing movements. She was still holding her own and keeping Peter at bay. He was only occasionally grazing her with those strange pulsing attacks.
Then I noticed her breathing was heavier than usual. I couldn't be certain thanks to her helm, but she was likely also sweating heavily. My gaze dropped to her feet. When she stepped back on her right foot after another pulsing glancing blow from Peter, I noticed her foot sank far deeper into the sand than would be normal for someone of her weight. Almost as if Minerva was heavier than she should be. I felt my lips pull into an evil smirk. So, that's what it was. How long had Peter been slowly increasing the weight of her magic tools? At least since the end of our match. Her blows had felt heavier and she had been getting tired far quirkier than normal.
It took several more strikes before Minerva caught on. She growled, "(* You little shit *)" Then she aimed the butt of her weapon at her own ankle. Peter threw a weapon at her facing forcing her to abort her attack in favor of dodging the unknown. Powder exploded near her face, but most of it scattered across the sand uselessly. Several knights groaned in disappointment, but Peter was still smiling.
Her glaive blade dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Minerva was bent over as if the weapon weighed many times what it should have. She glared daggers at her scholar who was moving in for another attack. Minerva refused to let go of her weapon. Instead, she snorted, "(* Fuck this! *)" The moment Peter was within striking distance, white claws raked across his chest. The cloth shredded easily, revealing his light feystone underneath. That armor also came away severely gouged. His lady didn't come away unscathed either. A long scratch was etched into her helm.
Minerva hefted her weapon and pointed it directly at Peter's chest. I fought the urge to chuckle; Peter was just wasting her mana at this point. This would be a battle of attrition. One that was now squarely in Peter's favor. I had zero doubts the tools he was using were all preloaded with mana for the express purpose of conserving it in this fight. Now, that Minerva was being forced to use physical enhancement magic for even the most basic of movements, she was just throwing away mana and her stamina reserves.
Several knights behind us snickered. One commented, "Seems like the dragon princess has finally met her match."
Beside me Heisshitze stirred in defense of his lady. "And what does it say about us knights, that it took a scholar; who has largely avoided seeking Angriff's blessing, to do so?"
I glanced over my shoulder at them. They at least had the grace to look mildly abashed, but the other young caught my glance and smirked, "What about you lord Ferdinand? Think someone so blessed by Angriff as yourself could beat our princess."
Of course I could. I scoffed, "Why would I waste my resources on a venture that would have no benefit to myself?" The fool could only gape at me. I noticed Heisshitze had a complicated expression. Justus had to cough into his hand to hide his laughter. Why, by all the gods, did these fools want to beat themselves bloody over a wild woman who'd be more work than her status was worth? Yet, somehow, it seemed I was the odd one in this conversation.
The clanging of metal drew our attention back. Every time Minerva made any attempt to remove the magical weights, Peter took the open invitation to move in closer with one of those pulsing attacks, and a cheeky comment in that language of theirs.
"(* I'll be happy to help you out of all that armor and everything else. Then we can see how long it takes for you to cry my name so loud even the Gods will blush. *)" Because of the glaive length. Minerva was having a hard time keeping Peter away. Which made me wonder why she didn't drop it and fight bare handed. She certainly could.
Minerva hissed, "(* Here?! Really? *)"
"(* Here? Heavens no. I don't share. *)"
The Dunkelfelger princess made a strangled noise. Peter looked far too smug for his continued health and well-being. I had to wonder if Peter might have lost his mind. Even I don't insult that wild woman this much because doing so risked chaos. Small jabs here and there she allowed, but push too far and you'd get shoved back into your place.
"(* What's wrong with my plan? I see no flaws, and we both know it is to your taste. You certainly have a hard time keeping your hands to yourself when the opportunity arises. Besides, I have had a long to think about and plan for this, and I plan to take my time to reflect each year of waiting. *)"
"Do you think Peter is using that language to threaten her?" A Dunkelfelger fourth year asked. Not impossible, I thought to myself, Peter was as much a wild card as his lady, but he was loyal to her.
"What are you talking about? He's obviously using this as a chance to insult her freely. He can't reveal it to anyone, and neither can she if she wants to keep it a secret." Replied a fifth year. I considered the chances, but thought that was unlikely. Other people yes, he'd do so in a heartbeat. But Minerva? No.
"Are you sure? Seems like he's teasing her." That was a first year. What? Perhaps the tone was teasing, but I doubted the words themselves were.
The other two laughed him. "One does not tease the dragon lady. She teases you. That woman has nerves of metal. No shame." I had to agree with these fools there. After seeing the princess drunk, I would say there was no way she understood the meaning of the word, shame.
Then the fourth year put forth, "Maybe he's unloading about all he has to deal with as her only scholar." Entirely possible, and highly likely. Though he'd pay for it later.
The first asked, "If he is insulting her, why doesn't she react like this when Lord Ferdinand insults her?" I could feel several pairs of eyes on my back. I didn't move, and pretended not to have heard their musings. Yet I could not help, but wince internally. Every curse I could think of, I flung the wild woman's way. A sharp shattering sound brought all of our attention back to the fight at hand.
Glass littered the sand, and one of Peter's knives had traces of blood on them. My guess is that he dug the weapon just deep enough to draw blood to make it plausible that Minerva could misstep. And with her magic tool broken she likely would be blind. It looks like the fight would wrap up shortly.
Minerva managed to sneak in a blow of her own when Peter broke her magic tool. His wrist was now bent at a slight ankle that it should not have been. What will you do now Peter, I wondered. Blocking with that wound would be incredibly painful, especially since Minerva was using enhancement magic. Even without her vision, she was still able to track Peter fairly well. Both by sound; despite the noise of the crowd, and most likely mana sensing. He circled her warily, While Minerva's head continued to track him around the ring. Then I noticed the scholar was subtly dropping small magic tools as he stalked. It wasn't until he had gone a full circle that he triggered the most recently dropped tool. It pulsed with a gust air and what I guessed was mana. Another Peter appeared and charged. Minerva turned towards the oncoming attack. Then the other tools followed suit and she was surrounded. There was no way she could be certain which was the real Peter or what they were capable of. So, she raised her blade and swung it around in a swift sideways arching swing. It passed harmlessly through the illusion Peters, while the real Peter slid under the attack and slammed into his lady's ankles.
Minerva had just enough time to plant the butt of the weapon into the sand. It still wasn't enough to keep her legs from going out from beneath her. Though it did prevent her from completely eating sand. Once she was down to his level, Peter produced a small device from his sleeve, tapping one of his earrings with his other hand while holding the device close to Minerva's head. Was he going to kill her? Few attacks at that close range wouldn't be fatal even when toned down. The next moment a painfully high-pitched sound erupted from the tool. Even the audience; myself included, were forced to clap their hands over their ears. Pain exploded into my head and raked across my mind. It continued to echo long after the tool was silent. If it had been that bad on the non-receiving end, I wonder how bad the Dunkelfelger princess was. I was forced to take a potion which finally got the ringing to cease.
When I looked back, blood was dripping from under Minerva's helm. Her ears would likely need more care than a potion could provide. The inner structure of one's ears was incredibly delicate. And… I watched as Minerva struggled to her feet. She swayed and staggered like a drunk. It was deeply interconnected to one's ability to stay balanced. Minerva tipped forward after over-correcting too far forward. Which was not helped by the weight that Peter had been increasing to a likely inordinate degree. Peter snatched her up, looking both triumphant and regretful.
"Looks like this is my win, my lady." Pain twisted his expression. We noticed it the same time, ice was creeping up his arms from where he was making contact with the back of Minerva's armor. He snorted, "Not enough." Then he promptly walked to the edge of the ring. "Catherine! Catch!" Peter tossed his lady into the arms of her wine-red haired guard knight. The knight lurched under the sudden weight, but was able to seamlessly move to cradle her lady and shield her from prying eyes. Giving her coworker a glare as she did.
Everyone stared in stunned silence as Peter picked up his Lady's glaive. Then everyone was screaming as Rauffen announced Peter's victory. The Dunkelfelger boys rushed to congratulate him. The scholar shrugged off their praise with a polite smile and a few words. Then he began collecting all of the little tools he had dropped. Unfortunate, I had hoped in the chaos that he would forget about those.
Heisshitze and I waited until the crowd started to disperse. Peter promised his peers that they could celebrate when he returned to the dorm. The knights instantly started discussing what they should do to celebrate, who would provide what. Slowly but surely, the training ground emptied. The fool still hadn't dealt with the ice that was coating his arms or his busted wrist.
"Messy." I told him when he came over to us.
He snorted, clearly not taking my words to heart. "You try fighting her cleanly."
I most certainly would not do something so stupid or useless. "I do not think that would be appropriate seeing as she in now officially your fiancé."
"(* Excuses, excuses. *)" I got the distinct feeling I was being mocked.
I smiled. "Let me see your wrist, since your too foolish to leave it and you'll probably only make it worse." My noble smile didn't faze him, even though I was certain he knew I was displeased with him, he still offered up the wounded limb as if it were completely natural. I made sure setting the bone was painful, so that way the lesson would stick that he needed to be more cautious. I then removed the ice. The skin underneath was red and blistered. "Drink a potion, fool."
"(* Yes, father. *)" I glared at him and he smiled back guilelessly and hummed thoughtfully. "You are too kind. Lord Ferdinand."
I scoffed thinking he was joking, but his expression became deathly serious. Peter took a potion from his belt, drank it down, and seemed to consider his next words with great care.
"This world has a way of grinding that away from people." He hesitated. "I hope it doesn't succeed." She doesn't succeed, he meant. I could hear it. "This world is better for your kindness." Peter was always an odd one. Sometimes he seemed taken with flights of fancy, but this? His words were too careful, too pointed. There was something he wanted to say, but couldn't.
"Stop being foolish. I am not kind."
After a beat of silence Peter added. "Don't worry about Minerva. Her jureve will set her right just a couple days before graduation." He really shouldn't be sharing this information so blatantly with me.
"That means she'll need to make another."
"Yes, perhaps we can gather those ingredients in the time before graduation, since I'm sure you still would like to do more gathering as well." Dangerous, but it couldn't really be helped. We were a week out from leaving the academy and going our separate ways. As if reading my thoughts, Peter grinned. "I am a man of my word, what I promised will be yours after graduation."
I glanced at Heisshitze, but the bigger boy didn't seem to understand. After a sigh I figured it was best not to draw attention to it. Then my cloak flared and warmed in warning, someone looking at me had ill intentions. Casting a glance around I caught sight of tail end of a coal black braid ducking behind a building. I would send Heidemarie to investigate.