Fair warning, I'm normally a linear kind of writer… these next four chapters are going to be pretty nonlinear, as they cover events that occurred in the two week timeskip with a bunch of the side characters (and in some cases, the Heroes).
The long short of it is that this amounts to filler for side characters, and there is generally no sense of when in the timeline the various scenes happen. If you guess between one week to three weeks after the return from the Otherworld, it'll probably be correct. Also, because Aksel and Maya were covered in the previous chapter, this one is going to be short. The next three... not so much.
And well, beyond that, I hope that you all continue to enjoy the story :).
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bow Party
The time spanning from the first week to the third week after the Hero's return from the Otherworld saw change continue to come to the Hero's Nation and its people. With the addition of an education system being rolled out, many of the town's residents were able to fill their time during the day with more than just fighting and training. The additional source of revenue with the Hero Blocks and those working on them would also help in many ways, after the initial hiccups were all dealt with.
But such changes as noted before weren't of primary concern. There were far more important things to cover right now.
Some of which included that aforementioned training with certain individuals.
"Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
"Feel the energy at your core. Picture it as a vast ocean, flowing to and thro in the center of your chest.
"Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out."
Granny walked between rows of pupils sitting cross-legged on mats. Some old, like Sebas, some young, like the kids Granny had picked out amongst the townspeople for their potential.
Around them, thick concrete walls blocked out all sound from the outside world. Making for a similar tranquil atmosphere one would only find at the peaks of the mountains.
The only sounds in the room were of Granny's voice, and everyone breathing.
Whether they were frontline fighters, mages, builders, cooks, farmers, and so on, it didn't matter. Life force in general had many useful applications. Granny would teach them how to harness it, then teach those with more talent further practical applications for combat or self defense, but otherwise, her pupils would learn to use life force in various ways to enhance their lives on their own.
"I fail to see why I need this, Elra." Sebas openly complained, though his voice did not sound that annoyed. He was probably just eager for another exchange of banter, which Granny was more than happy to partake in.
"Because you've taught yourself to enhance your limbs, and neglected how to enhance your whole body, you old goat." Granny snapped back. "Now, breathe in, breathe out.
"Take the rock on the ground before you, and imagine your energy snaking up your arms to it.
"It'll feel as though you're meeting a wall. Do not care about that. Release that energy from your body at all costs. Otherwise, you will be nothing but a failure in my dojo!"
Ah, yep. Definitely no kindness or sugarcoating here. Some of those freshly picked by Granny looked nervous at the change in her tone of voice. But those more used to her theatrics nodded along and focused on the pebbles they were holding.
Sebas succeeded first, obviously. Unlike previous times, however, where the rock would explode in his grasp. His finger sank into the stone, molding it like wet putty.
"Ohoho. Wouldn't you know! You can teach an old dog a new trick!" Granny grinned as she appeared beside him.
"Bah, maybe it does feel a little easier to control. Doesn't mean I won't say this wasn't a waste of time."
"Not to worry, dear Sebas. I think it'll be fine teaching you in the same way I did Rishia and Bow-dono, now." The old lady grinned maliciously.
Many of the newcomers all sweated nervously. It was likely that half, if not more, wouldn't attend the dojo again. Feeling as though they wouldn't have the aptitude to go through this. These were typically amongst those who were older.
The younger generation of newcomers, however, alongside those who'd stayed, continued with the exercise.
Of the newcomers, none succeeded by the time several hours had passed. Amongst those who had been trying for weeks, however, successes appeared in the form of rocks exploding in their hands, much like what'd happened with Sir Spear Hero.
In Atla's case, she went a step further than what Sebas had managed to accomplish. She'd managed to make her rock explode over a week ago, second only to Rishia in terms of progression, but today, she'd molded the rock in her hands into a perfect sphere.
"Oho! Is this that Ball technique I remember Spear-dono's girlfriend mentioning?!" Granny asked.
"Kind of." Atla gritted her teeth in annoyance. S'yne was not Moto's girlfriend yet! Hell would freeze over first before she allowed that to happen! "This is what it's supposed to look like. I haven't managed to replicate it yet."
"Keep your chin up young Atla. If you can do this, then I have no doubt you'll have it down in no time!" Granny encouraged the young tiger girl.
"Now, go outside and practice with Sebas against his Vorpal Fists. I'm sure he can help you with figuring out that defensive technique in no time!" Granny laughed.
"Hmmm, or if I learn it myself, I might just gain an edge over you in our next spar, Elrasla." Sebas stroked his chin, loving her idea for once.
"Of course, thank you, Granny-dono." Atla stood up, bowing her head respectfully in the old woman's direction, before leaving with the half dragonnewt butler.
Yep, Granny was harsh, but she was proud of the progress those under her were making.
As the others finished up and filed out over the next hour, Granny reminisced over old memories. Thinking back to a time centuries past when she'd been part of a dojo filled with individuals learning the ways of Hengen Muso…
Joking. Decades. Many decades. She hadn't hit a hundred yet. Though she was pretty close.
Jokes aside, it felt good seeing all this. The fighting style would last well beyond her death at this rate...
…
Eventually, there was only one other person in there. And Granny's face morphed into a frown.
"Any progress today, student Crystal?"
The silver-haired girl's face didn't change from the intense look of concentration she held. She didn't acknowledge Granny's words, and stayed focused intently on the pebble she was holding.
Granny, still frowning, looked over Bow-dono friend with glowing eyes. Seeing her life force and how it flowed through her body.
There was a thin, gold line traveling from the spearwoman's heart to her hand. She had established the connection from her chest to her limb. Granny could even faintly see the line of energy the girl was transferring into the rock.
Crystal had taken the lessons to heart. She was trying with everything she had to pass even this basic test.
…
After another moment of examination, Crystal's arm suddenly went slack, and she gasped as the rock fell from her hand, and her body drooped in exhaustion.
"H-How did I do this time, G-Granny-dono?" The girl asked.
Frowning even more deeply, the old mistress picked the pebble off the floor and examined the surface of it.
The lingering remains of life force slowly came off the surface of the rock. Where a small, miniscule indent, not even a millimeter deep, had been made.
"Same as yesterday… and the day before that… and the times before that." Granny sighed as she shook her head.
…
"G-Granny-dono, if I could just have another try-" Crystal started to stammer again.
"Student Crystal, when Spear-dono comes back from his Zeltoble trip, I want you to spar with him. Until then, I recommend going home and getting some rest." Granny spoke in an even tone, before she let out a sigh.
"Also, just so you're aware, this will be the last time I go over life force with you."
"W-What?! B-But I can still-" The girl tried to object.
Granny looked at her though, and the girl's sentence died on her lips.
The old woman was giving her a look of pity. She looked down at the rock in her hand and let out a sigh again. It was the same rock Crystal had been practicing with every lesson.
It wasn't progress she'd made in a day, but over weeks.
"Crystal." Granny dropped the titles. "Do you recall how I mentioned at the start that you had little talent for life force?"
"... I do… but I have gotten better, haven't I?" She asked weakly.
"You have gotten better." Granny agreed. "Even with as little talent as you have, you've managed to form a connection to yourself. You are able to move and manipulate the chi inside you. You have done and braved what many others would have given up on learning, and in a surprisingly short time too."
"Then why?" Crystal asked, sounding as though she was pleading.
"Come now. I don't think I have to answer something you're all too keenly aware of." The elderly woman shook her head.
…
…
Crystal grimaced. "I have more life force than when I started."
"You do not. You have the exact same amount as when I started teaching you, against my better judgment." Granny shook her head again, and the silver-haired girl shrank down even more.
"I decided to take you in out of respect to Bow-dono, Gods bless him wherever he is in our world. But the simple fact is this: it is impossible to acquire more life force energy than what you already have as a non hero.
"It doesn't matter how much you train. Your capacity for life force will never increase. Only your ability to make use of what you have will improve. Nothing more. Nothing less. There is nothing more I can do to help you connect to your chi."
"Is that why you've been training Aksel then?!" Crystal snapped. "Does he suddenly have more life force now because he's a Hero?!"
"Yes." Granny answered, much to Crystal's shock. "I don't completely understand why that's the case either. It was not an absurd increase compared to what he had before. But regardless, now that he is a Hero, he can benefit from my training far more than he could before."
"So what, these last few weeks trying to learn have been a waste of time since I haven't been chosen by a weapon?!" Crystal asked angrily.
"Do you consider it a waste of time just because you didn't immediately grow stronger from it?" The old woman responded with a question of her own.
"Were your times of contemplation during breathing exercises, learning more about yourself, connecting to yourself and understanding yourself a waste?
"Was that all meaningless since you can't use it to increase your stats by a few points?" Granny pressed on.
"Don't you understand Granny-dono!?" Crystal shouted. "Karn is still out there! His allies, their bosses, they're all still out there!
"And if me and the others don't get strong enough, we'll never be able to protect our world from them!
"We'll never be able to make them pay for everything they've done!"
…
…
…
The girl breathed in and out heavily after her outburst.
Granny said nothing, staring at the young adult before her for a moment with a frown.
...
Crystal continued to say nothing. Tears of frustration, anger, and sadness began to fall down her face, but Granny showed no visible reaction to any of it. No mention of laps or monster hunting or sparring or just… something, to give her some sense of purpose.
"I'm just so tired of being relegated to the background." Crystal choked out between sobs as she broke down further.
"I just want to be useful. I don't want to just stand around and do... nothing.
"But where I'm at now, I just… I don't...
"What can I do Granny-dono…?"
…
…
Finally, as the girl's voice petered out, Granny released a breath. "Oh, to be young. To remember when it was only the combat that mattered and nothing else."
Granny looked away, clasping her hands behind her back. "Yes, I was like that once."
"... Once? You still are now." Crystal said with narrowed eyes, wiping the remnants of tears from her face.
"For the sake of our world, and yes, for my own personal enjoyment, I have taken to the field of battle once again." Granny chuckled dryly, before her face fell flat again. "But if not for the danger of the Waves, the knowledge of my fighting style being essential to the Heroes of Legend and their companions... and because one of them helped to save my life, I would have taken Hengen Muso with me to the grave."
Crystal scowled. "Because it could be abused by others like me?" She asked snarkily.
"Yes." Granny answered, her voice as hard as stone as she answered the girl's inquiry truthfully.
…
…
Crystal's anger and frustration lessened. Confusion and perhaps, maybe regret appearing in their place.
"I… don't understand…"
Granny groaned. "When I said earlier that there was no way to increase your capacity for life force, I lied. There are ways to do so, but almost all of them are forbidden. The one way not forbidden is to be chosen by a Hero Weapon, but as I mentioned before, I don't understand why or how that works.
"But more than that, there was one person who spoke like you did just now. Only he wanted to stand out because he felt that he deserved to wield life force. Because he thought himself to be better than those above him, including his Father, the master of the Hengen Muso dojo back when it still existed."
Crystal wanted to open her mouth to protest, only to cut herself off and listen.
It wasn't often Granny talked about her past. And even history books on the event didn't have many details, as Granny generally refused to share them.
"Knowing what I do now, I wouldn't be surprised if that scumbag turned out to be a reincarnator too, like some of our enemies now." Granny shook her head. "He was always so full of himself. Acting as if the whole world was to be handed to him on a silver platter just because he was the son of somebody important.
"It'd be funny that he had so little talent for Hengen Muso, if it didn't prompt him to learn one of the school's forbidden techniques to boost his capacity at the cost of his lifespan.
"So many people died the day I returned to take up the mantle of successor. He'd slain almost every master before I arrived, including his Father...
"The sight of him, laughing amidst a sea of burning bodies.… spewing nonsense about how this was justice for all the wrongs they'd done to him…
"It still haunts me to this day."
…
Granny let out a sigh, then focused on the young spearwoman again. "Before that, I was like you. I thought that getting stronger, learning how to fight, to beat any opponent I met with my bare hands until they cried for mercy was all that mattered with life force, and with Hengen Muso.
"But the core of Hengen Muso is that it replicates the power and skills of Heroes via life force. This does not mean just attacks or magic or buffs or debuffs or whatever else you want to include under that umbrella. But every single power and ability that the weapons provide for their wielders, life force can be used to replicate it.
"... I can only wish I hadn't learned that lesson until it was too late. The medical applications, the job skill ability increases, almost all of that was lost that day because I didn't learn them. The bastard not only killed almost everyone, but burned down our dojo's library so that only he'd have that knowledge after he'd finished slaying everyone else."
Granny sighed. "I too have been young and foolish in my day…"
...
Granny shook her head. "Now that being said, I can tell you this: you will never be able to use your small talent in life force for combat purposes. Not like me or some of the others.
"You have too little for even basic buffing of stats. If you thought I taught you how to harness it so you could one day pull off attacks like my pupil Rishia, then you'll be sorely disappointed. She is amongst the few I've taught who'll ever be able to use hero skills with her chi. Many of the others will be lucky if they ever learn to buff their stats with the talent they have in a year's time, or outside stressful events like the Waves, in a lifetime.
"But just because that path is closed off for you, that doesn't mean you can't find another application for your chi amongst your talents. It's as I said, Hengen Muso gives the user access to 'all' abilities and upgrades the Hero Weapons have at their disposal. Not just combat ones. I get the sense that there are some amongst those that'd better fit you."
"... but what else can I use it for?" Crystal asked helplessly.
"You'll have to find that out on your own, I'm afraid." Granny, after finally flashing a small smile, poked the spearwoman in the middle of her chest, pushing her back. "You're so focused on how you can become strong. Is that the only thing you want to be known for?"
Granny began walking towards the exit of the soundproofed building. "I'd recommend finding that out for yourself soon. But allow me to give you one last bit of advice which might sound a bit uncharacteristic of me:
"Sometimes it's better to walk around a mountain, instead of trying to climb over it.
"As thrilling as the battlefield can be, there are many days where I wish I would have had the patience in my youth to find love, stay at home, and raise my son instead." The old woman then let out a barking laugh.
"Maybe then, my boy wouldn't have turned out to be such a disappointment, eh?"
"So the gist of it is that Granny doesn't want to train me in life force anymore."
"Drifa Shadow Blow!"
As Crystal finished explaining what had just happened, Rachel's spell slammed into her husband's shield in front of her. Pushing the catman back several feet as he held the protective piece of equipment in place.
"Nice one, Rae. I think I almost felt that one." Garfield smirked in wide eyed enjoyment.
"Don't tempt me, or you'll be feeling something else later tonight." Rachel's eyes narrowed.
"Ooooh, are you going to do the tentacle trick a-" As the catman was speaking, an aura of malice suddenly appeared around his wife, and he wisely cut off that train of thought. "Yep, just going to pretend I said nothing. Good luck with that girl chat of yours!" He then transformed into his panther therianthrope form, and made a dash for the nearby obstacle course to continue his training.
The woman rolled her eyes before Rachel turned to face her friend again, her expression shifting to a more somber one. "If it makes you feel any better, Granny told me I had as much talent for life force as you."
"Hmph, so we both have less than Maya and Aksel?" The silver-haired girl asked while crossing her arms.
"I've… never asked." Rachel sighed as she let the last of her Shadow Magic dissolve from her fingers. "I do know that Farrie and Tersia also share the same boat as us. Being a little bit more talented, but not enough to warrant further training like Eclair or Dou-Lon or especially Rishia. And, well, I haven't really seen Sadeena taking that much of an interest in training with Granny."
"But wouldn't you say for the most part that most everyone else in the Hero's Parties are learning from Granny in some shape or form?" Crystal asked, annoyance clear in her voice.
"... yes. I think that'd be correct." Rachel nodded her head, making the spearwoman grit her teeth in annoyance again.
It'd been several hours since Crystal had last seen Granny. The sun was lowering in the evening sky, and a crisp autumn breeze sent goosebumps traveling up her arms as she continued to alternate between a frustrated scowl and a disappointed frown.
Hell, she hadn't even had the courage to go by her parent's shop. Knowing the two wolf people would try their best to comfort her when she'd just wanted to vent. Even if she didn't hold anything against the old woman, she still had the right to be mad.
"... what a load of bull. Just like the rest of my life, I guess." Crystal muttered under her breath, though Rachel still heard it with her sharp ears.
"There's still Fitoria's Growth Revision you can undergo." The dark mage said. "It's not as though being cut off from life force is preventing us from growing stronger in other ways."
"Yeah? And do you think those other ways will ever make us as capable as Rishia?" Crystal snapped. "As capable as Aksel or Sadeena or S'yne or Raphtalia or any other party member of the Heroes for that matter?!
"I-" As she was about to continue ranting, Crystal stopped, and sighed to herself in frustration again as she pinched her nose between her fingers. "I don't- I just-"
"I don't know." Crystal balled her fists at her sides. More traitorous tears of frustration ran down her cheeks again. "I just don't know what to do anymore, Rachel!
"I want to be able to help out in more ways than just dealing with cannon fodder! I got left behind from the Otherworld trip because I wasn't even there for the Kyo fight! Itsuki abandoned us! I failed to do anything when Karn tried to kill me! I've been training my #$$ off and trying to imagine myself facing off against him again, but…!
"But… no matter how I picture it. I just… I can't do anything.
"Months ago, I would have said otherwise. But after the Spirit Tortoise... what the hell can we possibly do?"
"..."
Rachel breathed out a sigh. "Karn was the one who originally invited you to join Sir Itsuki's party, right?"
Crystal slowly nodded her head.
"... please correct me if I'm wrong. But are you also afraid he did that deliberately, because he could somehow tell that you would never amount to anything and become an actual threat to his plans?" Rachel continued.
"... … …"
Looking away, the silver-haired spearwoman nodded again.
"And now, having the benefit of hindsight, you're also pissed at him, since it's possible he deliberately hurt himself protecting you so you wouldn't join the Kyo fight. Hanging back so that you'd be prevented the option of going to the Otherworld to help out and grow stronger there like Aksel and Maya did."
…
...
...
Crystal's eyes widened, and a tense breath escaped her mouth. "I… never even thought about it like that, but now that you've said it, it makes so much sense." Her fists tightened at her sides again.
"Not really. Karn might have been a reincarnator and a traitor, but I doubt even he knew that Sirs Naofumi and the others would have had to chase Kyo back to his world. Much less, knew about everything else that'd happen..." The woman frowned as she trailed off.
She felt as if there was something she was missing from her words. But upon seeing Crystal's blank look, she decided to think about it more another time.
"Point is, I'm guessing what you want to do now is prove him wrong. Prove that you are capable of doing things, great things, even if he never believed that you could." Rachel finally concluded.
Crystal clenched the haft of her weapon. "Way to sum it up so eloquently. Too bad for me, I can't. Nothing I do-"
"Wrong." Rachel interrupted in a firm voice.
"Wrong?!" Crystal shouted in disbelief.
The pale mage crossed her arms under her chest. "Karn might have been the one to invite you. And he might be responsible for holding you back. But let me ask you this:
"What made you want to join Sir Itsuki's party in the first place?"
…
…
…
Rachel's frown relaxed into a straight line. "Didn't you tell us when you joined that you wanted to find your brother?"
"... is he even still alive out there?" Crystal sighed in resignation, her voice nearly breaking as her scowl and frown vanished, being replaced by a look of despair.
"I'll admit, at this point, odds aren't very good. Especially since Zeltoble's slave trade has collapsed." Rachel replied awkwardly.
"... hmph. Thanks for the confidence boost." Crystal turned away, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"You're welcome." Rachel sighed, before returning to a flat look again. "But what if he is still alive out there somewhere?
"Do you want to throw out the reason why you joined Sir Itsuki originally just because Karn was the one who connected you to us? Do you want to believe you can do nothing when there was a reason you joined us originally?"
…
"One more thing on that line of thought." Rachel put a hand on Crystal's shoulder. "Wasn't it thanks to your hard work that we discovered Karn was the traitor in the first place?
"If you'd gone to the Otherworld and helped out there… would we have realized who Karn actually was? Would we have continued to trust him, not realizing he was working for the other side?"
"... I don't know. I really don't…" Crystal sighed. "And… I'm sorry again that I didn't ask you for help with that."
Rachel smiled. "Would you want my help now? With finding your brother.
"As your party member, and as your friend, I'd love to help you get started on that."
"... is that what I should be doing?" Crystal asked hesitantly.
"We still have over three months to prepare for the Phoenix." Rachel said. "And after it and the Kirin will be the Waves again.
"I've done what I set out for with Sir Itsuki. And now I'm working to grow stronger so I can protect what I love from the enemies of our world.
"I don't doubt that in terms of mages, I'm never going to be one of the best. I'll definitely never stand a chance against some of our other friends. But there are things I know I can do now. Reincarnators, probably not. Some pesty racist noble bastard working your brother to the bone though? I think we'd be more than capable of handling that."
Crystal chuckled at her friend's choice of words.
"And... if you don't know what you want to do long term, then why not settle the reason why you joined in the first place?
"Afterward, you can decide what you want to do. Even if it means retiring like me to live the life you want while we let Aksel and the others take up the brunt of the work saving our world.
"Or, if you don't want to retire, you could take up another role in the Hero's Nation, like Elena. She isn't fighting for Sir Motoyasu these days, but she handles so much trade that we wouldn't have half the things we do have without her."
Crystal's chuckling turned into laughter. "You mean like soap?"
"Especially that." Rachel smiled a little bit.
"... I'll think about it… I will…" Crystal looked down at her hands again. "I do think it'd be easier to think if I found him… my brother.
"I just don't want to hold you or the others back."
"You won't." Rachel reassured.
...
...
"..." Crystal nodded after another moment of thought. "I'll see about talking to Mirellia or one of her advisers again if she's busy. From what I recall, Itsuki never finished looking through all the nobles under her."
"Would you be alright helping me with that?" Crystal asked her friend hopefully.
The mage smiled. "Of course."
…
…
As the two girls continued walking away, having a quiet discussion between themselves, a third girl standing in the background stopped listening. Her fingers slowly fiddling with the petals of the emerald gem flower in her hand.
Rishia said nothing. Her eyes had a far off look to them. But she didn't follow the two other friends she'd made in Itsuki's party.
Instead, she placed the Otherworld gem back in her hair, and continued with what she was doing, leaving the young pair alone to figure out their lot in life.
Author's Notes:
Again, pretty short chapter. Not to worry though, Sword Party has at least a good 13k words. Some characters just get more screentime than others, lol.
And that doesn't even compare to the future Spear Party chapter, which I've lost track of how many words it has at this point. But anyway, enough of me, you all still have one chap after this to read.
Till Next Time
Allen