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Year 16 AL, Welcome to San Ilia Part Two: Heart of a Hero
Luka's attack was, predictably, countered as soon as it came within reach of Granberia. His thrust, while quick, was not swift enough to go past the Dragonkin's guard.
Granberia knocked Angel Halo off-course with a swipe from her sword, causing Luka's attack to get launched into a marble pillar. The young Hero was able to stop himself with a quick stomp to the ground, but he felt his arms ripple from the impact of Angel Halo cutting into the pillar. A grunt came from Luka's mouth as the impact shot through him, but he was quick to whip around and face the Heavenly Knight once more.
The Dragonkin held her sword up but did not move to strike, curiously enough. "Blood Fissure Thunder Thrust..." Granberia mused, "...Quite the move for someone like you to pull off, and you seem quite comfortable using it as well."
The purple-haired boy didn't stop to think about the comment, moving to take advantage of his opponent's momentary pause. Luka swung Angel Halo from right to left, aiming towards Granberia's exposed left side. The Dragonkin showed no effort when she pulled back, easily moving out of his attack's way. Then, Granberia stuck out a foot behind herself, stopping herself from colliding with the wall.
Luka watched on as the Heavenly Knight suddenly kicked herself off of the wall, sending herself shooting towards him at full force!
With a yelp, the young Hero rolled out of the way of Granberia's thrust. A sickeningly loud crack resounded through the hall and once looking back, Luka found that the Dragonkin had sunk her sword right into the marble walls of the castle! The purple-haired boy shuddered at the display of power but moved to stand as his opponent wrenched her sword out of the wall, scattering bits of rock everywhere as she did.
Granberia was quick to go back on offense, turning and charging toward Luka once more. The purple-haired boy jumped to the left to evade a wild swipe, then found himself being forced to dart right once she aimed another slash at him right after. Having to hop towards the entrance brought him closer to the steadily growing fire behind him, and Luka could feel its heat licking at his back now.
With no other option left lest he desire to be driven into the fire, Luka let out a yell as he fought back against Monster's attack, quickly returning the favor by sending a low swipe towards the Dragonkin's legs. Surprisingly, Granberia leaped into the air, catching the purple-haired boy off guard.
Luka let out a startled yelp as the Heavenly Knight was able to quickly lift her sword up over her head - barely missing the chandeliers above - and send it back down towards him with a vicious howl! The young Hero dove back, hearing the large iron sword shatter the ground he was just standing over. Luka quickly rose to his feet, just in time to see that Granberia was starting to pull her weapon from the ground.
This was his chance!
"Demon Decapitation!"
This call caused one of Granberia's fin-like ears to twitch and her suddenly very irate yellow eyes raised from the ground to meet his gaze. Luka was caught off-guard as the Dragonkin abandoned her weapon, instead moving to reach out and grab him! The purple-haired boy was shocked as Granberia grabbed his sword arm with her right hand and gripped his collar with the other, effectively stopping him mid-attack.
"U-U-Uh..." Luka stuttered out, feeling a bead of sweat start to fall down his face.
Granberia pulled him close, her eyes boring into his, "Not. This. Time." She hissed out through gritted teeth, causing the young Hero to eye the scar he had left on her once again. Obviously, it was still somewhat of a sore spot. Suddenly, the Heavenly Knight whirled around, letting go of Luka mid-spin and sending him back up the hall and deeper into the castle.
Luka flailed as he tumbled towards the other end of the hall, sliding to a stop meters away from where he left Kitsu. The young Hero heard a low gasp as he was halfway off the ground and looked over his shoulder to see Two-Tailed Kitsune herself peering from around the wall.
"Wh-Why are you still here!?" Luka hissed, not understanding why Kitsu hadn't left yet. "I told you to get somewhere safe, didn't I!?" The silver-furred fox - who was still wearing his nightshirt for some reason? - flinched at his words but did not move. Luka opened his mouth again to tell her off, but he heard the sounds of struggling coming from Granberia's side of the hall.
The young Hero turned around to find one of the guards from the group Granberia had been dealing with before getting back up to fight again. Luka had almost forgotten about the down group of men, but apparently him fighting Granberia one on one had inspired them to join once again.
The first man tried to hold his own, but his sword was quickly flung from his hands, and he was sent back down with an ugly-looking kick to the chest. "Commendable courage, but it means nothing if you don't have the strength to back it up!" Granberia lambasted, holding her sword up again as some of the others started to rise as well.
"WAIT!" Luka yelled, rising to his feet. His yell actually caused them to stop, creating a brief pause in the fight. "D-Don't waste your time here, j-just go make sure everyone else in San Ilia are safe!" He called to the guards.
Now, Luka already knew that Granberia wasn't interested in pursuing the rest of the populace, for she had already stated this, but he needed an excuse to get the guards out before they got themselves hurt. As noble as the gesture would be, it wasn't worth it, especially if Luka was the Heavenly Knight's only target. One of the men looked at Luka disbelievingly and tried to argue, "B-But Hero, if we worked together, we could at least-"
"-No!" Luka yelled back, already to his feet and moving towards the group. "This fight is between me and her..." The young Hero searched his brain for an excuse to get them out of there, begrudgingly resorting to having to lie. "...A-After all, she probably has other Monsters with her, and they could be assaulting other parts of San Ilia right as we speak! So just get out of here, and make sure the civilians are safe!"
Reluctantly, the guards backed away from the bemused Granberia, leaving the Heavenly Knight of Fire behind and moving to rush past the purple-haired boy. After a few more seconds, the men were gone.
Once again, it was just Luka and Granberia left in the smoke-filled hallway, both Hero and Monster watching each other closely. The purple-haired boy's eyes were filled with firm resolution, while the Dragonkin's gaze was fierce with just a touch of curiosity. "I already told you that I wasn't here to attack San Ilia and I can promise you that I've come alone as well..." Granberia started, taking a few steps towards the boy. "...So why is it that you didn't take advantage of that?"
Truly - as little as it would've helped - Luka could've allowed those men to stay and fight if nothing but to help give him an opening. However, that simply wasn't how the young Hero was.
"I wasn't going to just stand there and let them throw themselves at you like that." Luka said, slowly and shakily shuffling forward to meet Granberia in the middle of the hallway. "I'd rather put my life on the line and lose, then let someone else take the fall because it could help me win."
Granberia hesitated for just a moment, stopping to look Luka over again. "So you'll use your strength to protect the weak, even if it leads to your failure as a Hero?" The purple-haired boy nodded without hesitation, "I'd be a disgrace to allow for anything else."
Another silence grew between the two, leaving the still-raging fire now behind Granberia and the ever-growing smoke climbing the walls to be the only noise heard. Luka used the short break to wipe away some of the sweat from his brow, intent on keeping his eyesight clear just in case the Dragonkin decided to attack once again.
The Heavenly Knight of Fire, however, seemed more pensive now than anything else. She held her sword aloft quite a bit lower than she would usually, and it seemed as though she wasn't too intent on charging him again just yet. "That's an admirable trait to have, especially for one as young as you..." She trailed off, rising to full height again. "...However, do you have the power to give your words purpose!?"
Luka didn't say anything, steeling himself for the onslaught that was sure to come. Granberia slid a foot forward, evidentially not caring to await an answer. "Prove to me that you're the warrior you claim to be!" The Dragonkin yelled, suddenly dashing forwards letting her sword drag across the ground, sparks of flame igniting the blade just like the first time they met.
Granberia's unanticipated move caused Luka to flinch, the sheer ferocity causing him to pause. Quickly, the purple-haired boy's mind raced to think of something, anything, he could do to stop the oncoming Heavenly Knight. Certainly, he wouldn't be able to parry the attack and considering how her eyes were locked on him, Luka wasn't confident that he could dodge her, either...
...Unless he didn't dodge at all.
The idea was so dumb, so completely suicidal that Luka almost slapped himself for thinking it. However, it could work, if only because the Heavenly Knight wouldn't be expecting it. Hopefully.
Luka stood completely still as Granberia practically flew down the hallway at a speed he'd never be able to outrun, waiting with sword in hand until just the right moment. If he did it too early, the Dragonkin would have too much time to react. If he did it too late, and she'd probably be able to dash right under his Shield...
...And getting that close to Granberia would surely be a very, very bad thing.
Finally, Luka seized his moment as the Heavenly Knight was just a few meters away and dropped Angel Halo onto the floor! Granberia's face broke into confusion at the act, missing as Luka lifted his hands and folded them in front of himself.
"Shield of Heaven!"
Luka's cry was quickly followed by a massive surge of energy, and the familiar protective dome surrounded him just seconds before his opponent was upon him. On instinct, Granberia swung forward either way and her massive flame-engulfed sword collided harshly against Luka's shield.
The impact shuddered the very air inside of the white barrier, rattling Luka's whole body with the shockwave. Evidently, the same could be said for Granberia, as the Dragonkin actually had to stumble backward from the sensation. The young Hero quickly dropped to pick up Angel Halo, his pale-blue eyes searching for something high to grab onto.
The purple-haired boy finally found a crevice near the top of a nearby pillar that appeared to have just enough space for him to grip. With no better option, Luka sprinted to his right, jumping as high as he could and gripping the edge tightly. Luka was quickly panicked at how painful and awkward the act was, having to shift around some before springing off the column towards the still-rattled Granberia.
"Demon Skull Beheading!"
Unfortunately, Luka's delayed jump combined with his cry beforehand gave the Heavenly Knight of Fire ample time to start countering, easily raising her sword up to deflect the young Hero's oncoming attack. Her iron sword met Angel Halo head-on and the Dragonkin swatted the attack away, causing Luka to do an unintended backflip as he lost grip of his weapon.
Luka landed on the ground belly-first, crying out in pain as he felt his ribs take the brunt of the fall. Pain shot through the core of his body and Luka idly wondered if he had broken one of his ribs on the fall. Angel Halo clattered somewhere far behind him and the young Hero cursed, knowing that he had just made an egregious mistake.
The purple-haired boy nervously glanced up, nearly wishing that he hadn't once he found that Granberia's glowing yellow eyes were looking down at him. Luka winced as he took a sharp breath, not even bothering to get up at this point as he was sure that the Heavenly Knight was due to cut him down at any moment.
However, killing the boy was not on her mind at the moment.
"So, Demon Skull Beheading is a part of your arsenal as well? And then that other technique, I've never even seen before..." Granberia said out loud, not exactly looking for a reply as she mused over what Luka had just attempted to do. "...As clumsy as that attempt at a trap had been, it was much more impressive than I've seen from any Human."
Not just that, but it was far more elaborate than many sword-bearing Monsters she had sparred with as well. If he had been a bit faster and more coordinated, it may have actually been able to land the attack. And while it wouldn't have had her beat, it certainly would've kept him in the fight for much longer. With that, the Heavenly Knight of Fire made up her mind on what to do with the fallen boy.
"You've caught my interest, Hero." Granberia smirked, "For that, I'll let you live to fight another day. But that means that you'd better be stronger the next time we meet, or you'll regret it." Luka looked on - completely dumbfounded and horrified - as the Dragonkin spun around, her long purple cape billowing behind her as she strode off towards the fire still burning at the entrance of San Ilia.
Granberia paused, glancing over her shoulder once last time. "And don't go getting yourself killed before our next fight, I'm looking forward to crossing swords with you when you've gotten better." Luka felt an awful chill run through his spine, watching on in uncertainty as the Heavenly Knight disappeared in the cloud of smoke and fire.
Luka was lost, not understanding how he was still alive right now. He had been sure that, upon defeating him for a second time, Granberia would kill him. However, not only had the Dragonkin not killed him, but she also wanted Luka to get stronger for another rematch!? The young Hero couldn't even wrap his mind around the concept.
The purple-haired boy slowly dropped his head onto the floor, letting out an exhausted breath as he did. Luka slowly pushed himself up, flinching at the sharp pain coming from his ribs. He scooted across the marble floor, moving to lean back first against the wall. Luka was able to get a few seconds of reprieve before a familiar face in Kitsu came running to him.
Luka's white nightwear swished below her knees as she dragged Luka's traveling bag right behind her, and the Kitsune dropped the strap of his traveling bag once she drew close enough, dashing to the young Hero with a mixture of concern and relief swimming in her red eyes. "Y-You aren't dead!" She exclaimed, rushing Luka and surprising him with a tight hug.
A bit too tight of a hug, as the purple-haired boy felt his injured ribs cry out in protest. However, he couldn't find it in him to push her away, even with the pain coming from the contact.
"Y-Yeah, I'm s-still alive." Luka remarked, relief finally coming to him now as he truly began to realize that he had actually survived two encounters with the Heavenly Knight of Fire. "Here, they were fighting right down this hall!" The yell spurred Kitsu to yelp, hurriedly letting go of Luka as the sounds of armor jangling filled the air. The Young Hero watched as Kitsu all but dove into his traveling bag, disappearing from sight just as a large group of guards came from the other side of the hallway.
The legion of men was spearheaded by the red-cape-wearing Captain Luka had met before, and the man's eyes widened once he saw Luka sitting in the hall by himself. "Young Hero!" He called out, running towards the purple-haired boy as he started to rise from the ground. "You were able to beat Granberia back, Luka?" The man asked, helping Luka to his feet.
"W-Well-" Luka winced upon feeling the pain in his ribs once more, "-S-Something like that, I suppose." He replied uneasily. Luka's non-answer seemed to suffice, and the man nodded. "That's a relief, we never could've beaten a Heavenly Knight by ourselves!" The man exclaimed in earnest, "All of San Ilia is in your debt. Please, feel free to stay and rest while we deal with the damages."
"Th-Thank you, sir." Luka said as he nodded, watching as the men rushed past, using the wall behind him to prop himself up. The young Hero turned to move towards his traveling bag, wincing a bit as his soreness grew worse. Luka stopped, nearly kicking himself once he remembered that he ought to just Meditate the pain away.
The young Hero lifted his hands up in front of his chest, folding them together and closing his eyes. Luka felt his magic swirl in his chest, the sensation bringing relief to his sore ribs until the pain went away completely. 'There we go, all better.' Luka thought before opening his eyes, jolting a bit in surprise as he found Alice standing right before disguised Lamia looked rather pensive and just a touch bothered.
"To let you go like that for a second time." Alice mused, "Granberia might actually like you."
Luka froze, his face falling into mortification, "D-D-Don't..." The young Hero said sternly, "...Say that." The mere idea of such a thing was perhaps one of the most terrifying things he could ever imagine. Being hunted down by the Dragonkin because he was strong was bad enough, but if she actually liked him now on top of that?
He didn't even want to entertain the thought.
Luka reached down for his traveling bag, which Kitsu had apparently already zipped up by herself after jumping into, and then moved further to retrieve Angel Halo.
Alice shrugged, "All I'm saying is that while Granberia doesn't mindlessly kill people, she also doesn't allow opponents to walk away after being challenged. So, her doing that for you twice is telling of something." The purple-haired boy shook his head while reaching down for his sword, "I-I don't care, I don't want to th-think about that p-possibility for even a s-second longer!"
Luka placed Angel Halo onto his back just as Alice stepped in front of him. The young Hero gave his traveling partner a questioning look as he spotted the brown burlap sack she held lazily in one hand. "What's that?" He asked, gesturing to the item in question.
Alice quickly hid the bag behind her back, "Nothing. Now, it's time that I make sure you are properly educated on how to use the elements in battle." The young Hero perked up, having forgotten about the concept due to his harrowing encounter with Granberia. "Y-You mean like what the King was talking about?"
Alice gave the purple-haired boy a long stare before replying, "No, I mean what I was talking about. Follow me." The disguised Lamia whirled around, spurring Luka to jog after her.
"Now, like I said before, Humans have much more trouble harnessing the elements than Monsters do. Being able to use just one by yourself would take many long and boring years of studying and training." Alice said. Luka's face fell at this, "It would take y-years just to master one element?" He asked, not quite liking how that sounded. He wasn't an impatient person, but he also couldn't hold off saving the World for literal years.
Alice nodded, "Yep, but thankfully for you," The disguised Lamia said as a smug smile grew on her face, "I'm such a great guide, that I know a way for you to master all four." Luka glanced up at his traveling partner in earnest as she began leading him down the hall leading to the Library, "You do?"
Alice gave him another nod, "Yes. What you need to do is find the Four Spirits and receive their blessings." The young Hero beside her gave the disguised Lamia a questioning look, "What are the Four Spirits?"
Instead of answering, Alice pointed ahead to the staircase marked "Library" which now appeared to be vacant. "Your answer will be in there." She said, causing Luka to peer ahead as she continued. "As much as I don't care for this place, its Library should hold some knowledge of the Four Spirits."
Luka tilted his head at this, "How do you know that?" He asked innocently enough. Strangely enough, Alice bristled at the question. "There's a lot of stuff I just know, don't question it!" The young Hero wisely decided to let the matter drop as they came to the stone staircase, "Alright, do you happen to know the book's name?" The purple-haired boy asked as he started descending the steps.
"If memory serves me right," Alice began, her voice reverberating off the stone walls of the staircase. "It should be called Four Animists and Their Sources." Luka hummed, making sure to remember the name well. He didn't feel as though having to keep asking for the book's title would endear himself very much to the disguised Lamia.
The Prophet and the Monster Lord swiftly reached the bottom of the staircase, stepping into the underground Library of San Ilia. The two took a glance around the place, Luka in particular having a look of awe as he surveyed it.
The Library was quite large, larger than any Luka had been in before - though that wasn't very many, to be fair - and its bookshelves were enormous. Each one had to be twice his height! 'It even has a second floor...' He thought in wonder. However, the thought very quickly soured. '...As nice as that is, it's going to make finding this one book awfully difficult.'
Luka bit his lip, not even sure where to begin. As he mulled this over, Alice sniffed the air. A curious hum came from her mouth, "Hmmm, that's odd. I wouldn't have expected Monsters to be in this place." Luka looked up to his traveling partner in shock, "There's Monsters here? How is that possible?" He asked.
After all, Granberia had explicitly stated that she had come alone. So, if there were Monsters here, they'd had to have been here before the Heavenly Knight had appeared. But how could they be here, inside the castle of San Ilia? Luka's pale-blue eyes scanned the bookshelves, but he couldn't find any signs of movement anywhere.
"They aren't going to be just standing out in the open, you know." Alice pitched in, having seen the young Hero's wary gaze. "In a place as anti-Monster as this they'd be in disguise, like that Mimic from before. Just keep your guard up and you should be fine." Luka gave a shaky nod before stepping deeper inside the Library.
The purple-haired boy stopped between the first two bookcases, looking between the two with a close eye. Unfortunately, however, the bookshelves themselves were not marked in any way to categorize them. 'Are they even alphabetized?'
Luka thought as he strode up to one of the aisles of books, dragging a finger across their spines as he read the titles to himself. 'Proper Ways to Pray: Perfecting your Poise. Nope, that's not it...' The young Hero moved on, trailing his hand along the books as he went. '...Way to Heaven: The Guide to the Ilias Faith. Not it either...' The young Hero kept going, already starting to feel as though this method of searching wasn't working.
'...Monster Girl Encyclo- WHAT!?' Luka nearly tripped over himself as he grabbed for the book, all but ripping it off the shelf. "Wh-Wh-Why is this h-here!?" Luka hissed, unable to believe that he had come upon this smut book a second time.
"Why is what here?" Alice asked, looking over at the stuttering boy. Luka gasped, whirling around and chucking the book up onto the second floor of the Library before turning back to face Alice, "N-N-Nothing! J-Just found something in the wrong spot!" He explained uneasily, unable to meet Alice's perturbed gaze.
The disguised Lamia slowly glanced up to where he had thrown the book, "And up there is where it belongs?" Alice asked, eyeing the second floor disbelievingly before looking back down to him.
Luka just gave a vigorous nod. "Y-Yep! That's all th-that was, everything's fine now!" Alice didn't seem too convinced but was too hungry to question it. "Whatever, just be quick about finding the right book." With that, the disguised Lamia walked off, leaving Luka behind to look for said book. The young Hero sighed, looking back to the bookcases in dejection.
'There had to be a better way of going about this...' Luka thought while glancing around at the rest of the Library. '...Looking through all of this will take way too long-' Luka stopped himself in his tracks, nearly having to kick himself. 'Every Library has a catalog; I should just find that, and it should show me where the book will be!'
Luka wandered the Library a bit before finding the main desk, books lying discarded on the counter. 'These must've been dropped in the mayhem of Granberia's attack.' He mused while rounding over to the other side of the desk. Before him were rows of file cabinet-like drawers, each of them being labeled by a letter. The purple-haired boy quickly found the "F" drawer and yanked it open.
"Let's see hear..." Luka whispered to himself, fingering through the papers until reaching the later "F's" of the papers. Finally, he found it. "Four Animists and Their Sources, Bookcase Thirty-Five, Floor Two!" With a nod, the young Hero pushed the drawer closed and rose to start towards the staircase leading up to the second floor.
As the purple-haired boy started climbing the steps, his nose scrunched up as he smelled the familiar scent of something burning. 'That fire Granberia started must still be burning at the castle's entrance. I hope they aren't having too much trouble putting that out.' Luka thought in worry, using the railing of the stairs to help pull himself up as he went. Finally, Luka arrived at the second floor.
"Alright, where are you, number Thirty-Five?" Luka pondered as he glanced around the top floor of the Library. Eventually, he was able to find the bookshelf in question. However, there was a small issue.
That being the fact that Luka is small.
"Are you kidding me?" The purple-haired boy lamented, being able to spot "Four Animists and Their Sources sitting on the very top shelf above him. Far out of reach.
Luka glanced around, searching for a stepstool - or perhaps even a sturdy table - to stand on. To his dismay though, there was nothing around to help him. 'One would think that they'd have a chair somewhere at least, so that you sit down and read.' Luka thought in annoyance. Eventually, he decided that he needed some help, and since Alice had gone off somewhere to do who-knows-what, that only left one other person.
The young Hero carefully removed his traveling bag, setting it down on the ground and unzipping it. "Hey, Kitsu, can you help me for a moment, please?" After a moment of shuffling, Luka heard a stuttered reply, "O-Okay." The young Hero stepped back and looked away, only turning back once he was completely sure that the Two-Tailed Kitsune was out of his traveling bag. Luka turned back to the shorter Monster and he...
...Had to pause, for the silver-furred fox had not removed his nightshirt yet.
"Eh, Kitsu?" Luka began, his words causing her to look away from his questioning gaze. "Um, why, are you still wearing my clothes?"
Kitsu nervously raised a hand to her forehead, lightly messing with the hairpin Luka had gifted her. "U-Uh, well because i-it sme-" The Kitsune quickly cut herself off, nearly having admitted that she was wearing the nightshirt because it smelled like the purple-haired boy, "-It's soft, that's why. It's soft!" Luka gave the silver-furred fox a very long and very doubtful look before just deciding to let it go for now, feeling as though it wasn't worth looking into at the moment.
"Okaaaaay..." Luka trailed off, lifting a hand to point at the Four Animists book. "...Anyways, if you can help me get that book, I'd really appreciate it." Kitsu followed the purple-haired boy's hand, seeing the item in question as Luka continued to explain. "I figured that you could just stand on my shoulders to reach it."
The Two-Tailed Kitsune's eyes grew twice their size, "Y-You w-want me t-to get on your sh-sh-shoulders!?" She asked, acting as though Luka had told her to go challenge Alice to a fistfight. Luka slowly shook his head up and down, "Yes," He replied with a straight face, "That is what I said. Is that a problem?"
Kitsu squirmed beneath the older boy's questioning eyes, his request apparently being very distressing to her. "O-O-Okay." The Kitsune finally said, though she still seemed very troubled. With another nod, Luka walked over to the bookcase and turned around. The purple-haired boy braced himself against the bookcase, placing both of his hands on his knees with his palms facing up. "Ready when you are." Luka said, glancing up at Kitsu expectantly.
The silver-furred fox - who was visibly shaking now - stepped up to the purple-haired boy, tentatively raising a sandaled foot and placing it on Luka's awaiting hands. With even more trepidation, Kitsu placed both hands on his shoulders. "Alright," Luka began, "Here we go!" With a low grunt, the young Hero lifted the Kitsune upwards, and she yelped as she tried to balance herself on top of him.
Luka suddenly became aware of the fact that the burning smell he had noticed before seemed to grow stronger. 'That's a bit worrying, is the fire spreading that bad up there?' He thought as Kitsu was able to finally get both feet onto his shoulders. 'I hope not, I can't imagine that fixing the damage already done would be easy, let alone any collateral that may happen.'
The purple-haired boy raised his hands up, gently griping Kitsu's ankles to help the silver-furred fox stabilize herself. However, this had something of the opposite effect, as Kitsu jolted intensely upon feeling his touch. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall." Luka declared as he stood up straight.
Kitsu gulped, feeling her stomach knotting up once again; for the silver-furred fox was less worried about falling and more worried about the potential of the purple-haired boy below her looking up. The mere idea was very worrying - but also somewhat thrilling? - so she quickly moved to grab the book Luka had asked for before such a thing could happen.
However, even with their combined height, the book was still just a touch out of reach.
"C-Can you stand just a bit taller?" Kitsu said, only the very tip of her fingers able to reach the bottom of the spine. Luka shuffled a bit to find stable footing before pushing up with his toes. The odd-looking pair began to sway dangerously, causing the Kitsune to latch onto the bookshelf tightly. In her nervousness, the Kitsune's tails started to swish around beneath the nightshirt. In doing so, her tails started to brush against Luka's face.
Luka scrunched up his nose, trying not to squirm as Kitsu inadvertently began tickling his face.
Now, Luka hadn't started to look up on purpose, but the movement of Kitsune's tails naturally brought his gaze upwards for nothing more than the fact that they were interesting to watch move. However, as his gaze rose, the purple-haired boy noticed something out of the corner of his eye and his pale-blue eyes widened in alarm.
For Kitsu was not wearing her black shorts.
The silver-furred fox was still wearing the light-pink kimono top - thankfully - but her legs were now bare, revealing a pair of light-pink panties.
Thump-Thump
Luka quickly brought his pale-blue eyes down, now staunchly keeping his gaze facing forward. 'Why. Is she not. Wearing pants!?' The young Hero thought in alarm, having great trouble in digesting this new-found revelation. Meanwhile, Kitsu had the book about a third of the way out from the bookshelf, having trouble doing so since it seemed as though it had been crammed into the collection of books.
"A-Almost got it!" The Two-Tailed Kitsune exclaimed while teetering precariously on Luka's shoulders. The purple-haired boy was unable to muster a response, his face burning now due to both the strain of keeping his feet stable and from the panty shot he had just been unwittingly provided.
Fortunately, things went on without further hitch and Kitsu was able to pull Four Animists and Their Sources from its place on the bookshelf and hopped off of Luka's shoulders to land in front of him. The silver-furred fox lifted her red-eyed gaze from the book while holding it out to him, "H-Here you-" Kitsu stopped, upon noticing Luka's bright-red face.
"K-Kitsu," The young Hero began lowly, "W-Where are your pants?"
The Two-Tailed Kitsune froze, her face slowly heating up in the same way Luka's was. "E-Eh, w-well, it was getting h-hot so..." Kitsu stammered, the book she was still holding out to him trembling in her grip. Luka watched as the silver-furred fox continued to shuffle from foot to foot, idly wondering what exactly "it" was before quickly discarding the thought.
"Nevermind," Luka said as he reached out and took the book from Kitsu's awaiting hands, leaving her to wring Luka's nightshirt anxiously. "Now, let's see what we have here." The young Hero said, holding Four Animists and Their Sources up in his hands. The book seemed to be ancient, the faded-brown leather cover being torn and scuffed in various areas. The title read out in wide golden letters, the font itself being somewhat plain for a book of its nature.
At the back of his mind, Luka wondered how long this book had even been here. With how dilapidated it was, it appeared as though it hadn't even been touched in years. The purple-haired boy opened up the book, coming to the Table of Contents:
Four Animists and Their Sources
Section 1: History of the Four Animists
Section 2: Sylph, the Spirit of Wind
Section 3: Gnome, the Spirit of Earth
Section 4: Undine, the Spirit of Water
Section 5: Salamander, the Spirit of Fire
Section 6: Theories
Section 7: Conclusions
Luka let out a low hum, now very interested in what else the book had to say. The young Hero moved to flip to the next page but something surprising happened; once he went from the Table of Contents to the first page of Section 1, the book suddenly jumped out of his hands whilst flipping open by itself!
Both Luka and Kitsu yelped in alarm as the book landed on the ground once opening to page seventeen, said page ripping out of the book and beginning to grow as it floated into the air. Suddenly, the faded parchment started growing vines, which started to wrap around itself. Then, a rift opened in the middle of the paper, and the naked torso of a woman came out from it.
The purple-haired boy and his Kitsune friend watched as skulls started to come out from the same rift, large dull snake tails coming from their bottoms to hang below the odd Monster. The Monster's dark eyes peered at Luka with a serious gaze, "By orders of the Monster Lord herself, I will not allow Humans to read this book." She stated, her green vines curling up dangerously around her.
"Wh-What!?" Luka exclaimed, "Wh-Why would the Monster Lord-" The young Hero's question was cut off before it could fully be asked, the Monster's green vines shooting out towards him with surprising speed!
A bewildered "Gah!" came from Luka's lips as he quickly backpedaled, grabbing for Angel Halo as he tried to put some distance between himself and this bizarre Monster. However, a few of the prickly vines were able to latch onto his hands, keeping the young Hero from reaching Angel Halo. "Now," The book-Monster said with a flutter of her stand wing-like ears, "Prepare to become a permanent resident of my own personal domain."
Luka grimaced, pulling against the Monster's wrenching of his arms, feeling the vines start to cut into his wrists. A brief tug-of-war occurred between the two, neither of them able to overpower the other. Eventually, the book-Monster scowled at the purple-haired boy. "Struggle all you want; it will do you no good." The Monster said, unaware of the Two-Tailed Kitsune sneaking up behind her with Four Animists and Their Sources in hand.
"Paralysis Pacifi-GEHH!"
The end of the book-Monster's attack was cut off by the sudden thwack of a book on the back of her head, courtesy of the now retreating Kitsu. The vines fell away from Luka's hands, allowing him to reach around and grab Angel Halo. With a grunt, Luka held out his sword and aimed it towards the floating Monster.
"Thunder Thrust!"
Luka charged forward, easily stabbing through his opponent. With a scream, the Monster was quickly sealed and turned into a very small black book that landed on the floor before him. The young Hero let out a small hum, 'Huh, that was easier than I thought it would be.' He thought as Kitsu hesitantly came walking back with Four Animists still in hand.
The purple-haired boy bent over to pick up the small book the Monster had turned into, "Is this her sealed form?" Luka wondered out loud as he opened the book up to see what could be on the inside. However, the single page on the inside only read this: Please do not discard me.
Luka frowned, feeling just a touch bit bad now after reading the rather sad message inside.
"Ah, so that's where the scent of Monster was coming from." Alice remarked, having just appeared from behind a nearby bookcase. Luka and Kitsu turned to face the disguised Lamia, whose golden eyes immediately locked onto the latter of the two as she noticed the Kitsune wearing Luka's nightshirt.
"Why the Hell is she wearing that!?" Alice asked, not at all liking the sight of the boy's nightshirt being on the silver-furred fox. Kitsu flinched at the aggressive question, visibly shriveling beneath the disguised Lamia's intense stare. Quickly, Luka stepped between the two while raising his hands, "Nevermind that, let's just get out of here now that we have the book."
Luka turned towards Kitsu and reached out, spurring the silver-furred fox to quickly hand over the book. However, Alice was quick to chime in again. "I wouldn't get too comfortable with it yet; I still smell Monster on it." The young Hero turned his pale-blue eyes down to the book in worry. "Really? I guess the Monster Lord must really not want anyone reading this, then."
Alice's face turned puzzled by Luka's unknown reference to her, "What do you mean?" She asked, now very interested in what the purple-haired boy was saying. Luka glanced up at her again, "Yeah, the Monster inside had said that she was ordered by the Monster Lord to keep Humans from reading this book." He answered, causing his traveling partner to pause.
"Why would..." Alice mused for a few seconds before a realization struck her embarrassingly late. This realization being that the Monster Lord had ordered Monsters to safeguard this book. Which is something Alice should've known, since she was the Monster Lord. "...O-Oh, yes. It does make sense; after all, she wouldn't want Humans using the information to become strong enough to face her."
Luka didn't seem so sure, "I guess so, but wouldn't it be easier to just burn the book or something?" Alice was quick to respond, "Well I, erm-" The disguised Lamia gave out a loud and exaggerated cough, "-The Monster Lord wouldn't want to destroy such a thing. Especially when the text here is so old and invaluable. Obviously." Luka felt a twinge of doubt come into his mind about his traveling partner's intuition, but did not question it.
"Anyways," Alice quickly continued, "My impeccable sense of smell tells me that there are two more Monsters left inside this book. So..." The disguised Lamia began slowly shuffling away. "...Good luck with that."
With that, Luka and Kitsu were left alone once again. The young Hero sniffed, the burning smell seeming to have intensified some. He glanced around, noticing that a little bit of smoke had actually begun to fill the room! 'I might want to get through these next two quick, it looks light those men might actually need help out there if the smoke is reaching this far into the castle!'
Strangely enough, the smoke also started to smell vaguely like potatoes?
"Alright, let's get this over with, then." Luka said, beginning to flip through the book to find the next two Monsters. He was able to catch glimpses of texts and illustrations as he flipped through the ancient book, but the young Hero ignored his gnawing curiosity to stop and read to get through the whole ordeal quicker.
Eventually, Four Animists and Their Sources flew from his hands once again. This time, instead of just a single page coming out, an entirely new book came out and opened while on top of the old one. To Luka and Kitsu's alarm, the new book started to grow as a figure rose from the pages. The Monster in question was almost as odd-looking as the one before her and seemed somewhat demure as she stood waist-up from the large book.
The pale Monster seemed to be clothed in what appeared to be baby-blue pajamas and a matching baby-blue nightcap that covered her blonde hair. The only other peculiar detail - besides living in a book - was her long ram-like horns that stuck nearly straight out from above her ears.
The Monster raised a hand from the book she was holding to adjust her exceptionally small reading glasses, peering over them to look between Luka and Kitsu. "Ah, so you two were trying to read this book?" The Monster asked, coming off a lot more inquisitive than the last Monster that Luka had encountered.
The young Hero nodded, "Yes, would you mind in just letting me read it? Please?" Luka asked, hoping that this Monster could listen to reason. "It'd be just for a quick second!" He quickly added hopefully.
Unfortunately, the Monster shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Four Animists and Their Sources has been put on the blackest of blacklists, you see. Although, I have a lot of other books we can read together." The Monster lifted up the book she was holding, shaking it excitedly, "Th-This one I find particularly enthralling, we should read it together!"
Luka quickly scanned over the title, nearly finding himself being brought to the brink of hysterics as he recognized the name. 'Why is it that this book won't leave me alone!?' Luka thought in horror as he stared at the letters emblazoned upon it:
Monster Girl Encyclopedia Vol. I
The book-Monster happily turned the smut novel around and opened it, skimming through the pages without acknowledging Luka's terrified expression. Meanwhile, Kitsu looked lost as her red eyes bounced between the two. "What's wrong, Luka? Wh-What's the book about?"
Luka quickly whirled around, his face burning with embarrassment. "D-Don't ask questions y-you aren't prepared to handle the answers t-to!" The young Hero exclaimed, causing the silver-furred fox to recoil in shock. "Wh-Why? Is it that awful?" She asked, spurring the book-Monster to chime in.
"Awfully titillating, I would say." She mused, "Here, I'll show you, there should be a Kitsune section in here..." The book-Monster said, flipping through the pages earnestly. However, Luka quickly jumped forward and - perhaps a bit too aggressively - snatched the book from the Monster's hands.
"H-Hey!" She exclaimed, watching as Luka rushed away. Much like he did just a few minutes ago, the young Hero chucked the book away, its impact being heard a few seconds later. When the young Hero whirled back around, a bit surprised to see that the book-Monster had a much darker expression on her face.
"You shouldn't have done that..." She began, the parchment of her book starting waver as if a breeze was blowing through them. "...I was trying to be friendly, but now you've forced my hand." Luka and Kitsu both stared in surprise as a very large light-purple hand rose from behind the Monster, its size dwarfing everyone there.
"Oh boy." Luka breathed, suddenly feeling very regretful as the hand clenched up into a fist, aiming right for him.
Gonna cut it off here for now, as this will be the second part of a three-parter actually. After this, Luka will get the book he's looking for, be out of San Ilia, and get back on the right track, sort of.
More of an all-over-the-place type of chapter, thanks to Luka's second encounter with Granberia and Kitsu's increasingly questionable decision-making. I do hope the fights and the character-interaction are still entertaining. In particular, I really wanted the battle with Granberia to be easy to visualize but do let me know if there's anything left to be desired.
F14M3RZ: I'm not sure if the Goddess sword was important or not, but either way I just figured it would be better off left alone. That, and I personally enjoyed having Alice burn "Goddess-given Wisdom" out of spite.
I will say your overall ascertain about Heinrich is correct. His childhood, out of all the four, is undoubtedly the worst. When I said I was taking liberties since so much is unknown about him, I meant it. Because unlike Luka, Heinrich didn't have any supernatural powers to use to save himself the last second...
Guest: I will say, Black Alice actually had no hand in anything that happened to Heinrich in the past. His trauma happened long before he ever met her. However, the dynamic you mentioned of the spider and the butterfly is one to take note of.