The Sword Regalia
"It's time. For round TWO, Mr. Samurai..."
She didn't look bummed out at all from her magic being useless against him in their fight after he erected that space of his.
Any fire magic she used now would be for nothing, or so we thought.
Tessa started to recite an incantation, and we instantly knew that it was about to go down real hard.
This is because magic gets stronger the more emphasis you add to it. A magic spell with only the name of the magic is much weaker than one with an incantation and one with both an incantation and a magic circle.
Not only is it weak, but it is also less potent the less emphasis you add to it.
This is because the more emphasis you add to the spell, the more mana it consumes.
However, it is more efficient to use one without any emphasis for fast activation. It is also a skill to use magic without any of the extra stuff; not everyone can do it.
And if her magic was already powerful without incantations and magic circles, imagine the kind of damage it would cause if they had the incantation and magic circle.
"Flames that live in me and are the will of my soul. I give you form, and thus you shall burn my foe..."
Her incantation was easy and fluent, and the language was human too.
Her body began to glow bright red, and the aura around her was so intense that even the surroundings were rumbling under the pressure.
She grinned slightly and happily, and Mercy just nonchalantly waited.
But that's not what was odd about this second round. Death's Mercy, for the first time, smiled.
It was a faint smile. A short smile.
A smile to show concealed enjoyment in the battle.
And with that, he gripped his sword tight.
"So, you can extinguish my flames? Let's see you try and extinguish this!"
A normal guardian spirit would have charged her mid-chant to stop whatever attack she was preparing, because the ultimate goal of this battle was to protect its master.
But this was not the case.
He even remained still to see how these flames she was chanting about would fare against his vacuum space.
"Come to me, Blue Flames."
She raised her palms, and in them flickered blue flames, contradicting her red aura.
We watched as she slowly walked towards Mercy. My squabble with Asahi now seemed meaningless.
As she was walking, she swiped her hand, and the blue flames in her hand shot towards Mercy.
It was like a shockwave of pure flames approaching him like a lateral tornado of blue flames, incinerating everything in its path. Even the air was burned along with some of the walls on the sides.
Mercy jumped out of the way and into the air. That was a good choice because as soon as the flames got close, he sensed that the barrier space he had created to counter her first attack was not gonna work against these flames.
We even jumped out of the way of the flames. Not even Asahi, who had protected himself with a barrier, stood still.
The magic passed and, in its wake, left nothing but burned-down walls and magma from said walls. Even some flames were still flickering on the walls that were burned.
"That was close," I said in a scared voice.
"Such tremendous magical power. Even my barrier couldn't block that."
Asahi followed with the praise.
She stopped walking and stared at the flying samurai in the sky.
Another attack came his way while he was still in the air, a place where there's no footing to dodge the spell.
When we thought he was going to get scotched to ash, he teleported behind her, but she didn't seem phased by such a move.
She remained calm. In fact, she didn't even look back. She only moved her eyeballs to the corner of her eyes as if it was enough to see him from behind.
When he raised his sword to strike, a wall of the same flame blocked his way, causing him to step back.
If he had continued, he would have suffered severe damage.
The moment he stepped back, that's when she turned around, and they both looked at each other with joy in their eyes.
They smiled like they were enjoying themselves in the battle.
"Let's end this with the next attack. Death's Mercy."
For the first time, she didn't call him Mr. Samurai. She actually called him by his name, or call sign.
Like usual, he remained silent. He gripped his sword with both hands and got into a sword technique stance. One that utilizes lunging for maximum power and speed.
This was his way of agreeing with her.
"What are they doing now?"
I asked myself. We looked at them, preparing for their final attacks.
And they really were planning to end it with the next attack.
Mana converged and concentrated in two spots. This was not because they were releasing mana themselves. No, they were absorbing mana from the surroundings in obscene amounts.
Tessa glowed crimson red as she absorbed the pure flame manacules from the air to fuel her next attack. And Mercy was not absorbing the mana or manacules from the surroundings, they would not be compatible with his elements.
"I'm not feeling so good..."
My voice was becoming wobbly and breaking a little. The strength I had before was leaving me fast, and I could no longer remain stable on my feet.
"Ryu, what's wrong?!"
He tried to catch me as I fell to the ground.
It turns out, Mercy was actually absorbing mana from me. He was absorbing it much faster than I could replenish it, and thus, it left me feeling sick.
He had forgotten that in this battle, his goal was to protect me, and instead, he immersed himself in the battle itself.
He was in the zone, one could say.
I was losing my balance fast, but I had no way to stop him. My voice was so weak that even Asahi, who was close, would only hear me if I whispered to him.
"Blue chaos!"
"Haaa!
Tessa said the name of her spell, and Mercy just lunged and growled.
This was going to be it, the attack that would decide the winner of this match, and with Death's Mercy being a fletchling of a guardian spirit, he was consuming my mana to compensate for the difference in their battle strength.
We observed in awe and bated breath as they approached each other with killer intent.
Even as wobbly as I was, I still had enough strength to watch. It was my duty to watch this battle to the end. Seeing, I was the master of the spirit doing battle on my behalf.
(That's enough. Hold yourself, Tessa... And you, samurai, you are hurting your master.)
A voice that sounded familiar rang out from the surrounding places.
Strong, manly, and tired, just like I heard it the first time.
It was Zeraff's voice that we all heard.
When we heard his voice, the battle came to a halt instantly. Tessa stopped her magic, and Death's Mercy also stopped his lunge.
We were surprised to hear his voice, except for Tessa, that is. She seemed more composed when hearing that voice. While we were glancing around to see where the voice was coming from, in a panic.
She stopped her magic and fixed herself. She even took a big breath.
"Seems our fun must come to an end."
She was a little sad to say that, seeing as she was smiling during the battle.
Her retraction of bloodlust made my guardian spirit also relax and feel at ease. He sheathed his katana and also stopped absorbing my mana.
Although what he had absorbed cannot be returned.
I slowly regained my strength and was now able to stand.
"What is your name, kid?"
Tessa walked and stopped in front of us. I was still sluggish when she asked for my name the second time with a satisfied expression.
Now she seemed friendly towards me, unlike before.
Her attitude even surprised me.
"My name is Krai Letos."
"Hmm? So it's not Ryu?"
"...Well, not exactly, but please call me Krai Letos."
"Okay, Krai, I'm Tessa, and like you mistakenly addressed me, I am not a dryad but a dryot. You'll soon see that there's a difference between us, and not just in our appearance."
She's a woman, she's in a kimono, and she changes mannerisms like candy.
Sometimes she even reminds me of master Reina.
Maybe that's why I acted the way I did with her.
"Come on, I'll show you the way."
She said and started walking in the direction she came from. Death's Mercy was walking beside me from just behind, and Asahi was walking beside me with a puzzled look on his face.
We entered what seemed like a cave, and it was gigantic.
While we walked, Asahi soon broke out of his puzzled look and asked.
"Why'd you lie to her back?"
He whispered like he didn't want Tessa and Death's Mercy to hear.
He even got close to me.
And I stared at him with confusion. I never lied ever since we met Tessa, and now he was asking about it.
"What are you talking about?"
I raised one eyebrow at him, and my voice wasn't a whisper like his. I was speaking normally but softly.
"Why'd you tell her an alias name?... Tessa will kill you for sure this time if she finds out you lied ."
He continued.
And I finally understood what he was talking about.
"Oh! That wasn't an alias. It's my real name."
"What do you mean?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you when we get back, but the short of it is, Krai Letos is my name in this world."
"..."
He remained silent.
My words left him speechless and wondering what the story could be, but that was not the right time to tell him about the name he didn't know.
Now we had to focus on the matter at hand.
We continued walking until we got to an even gigantic opening than the hallway of the cave.
For a cave, the place was well-lit. Not too bright, and not too dark either. There wasn't anything to suggest that they were using light. It was almost as if the cave was mimicking the outside light, and since the outside was still morning, the light was easy on the eyes.
But the ruins were in a mist, so we left the morning light when we were in the forest. It might even be noon at this time.
"Wow."
I murmured.
The cave wasn't anything special, except for the fact that it was hollow and big. There were even bright red crystals in almost the entire interior of the hollowed cave.
They were randomly distributed, but they almost filled the cave's interior, making it hard to tell.
And inside in the middle was the dragon, Zeraff.
"Welcome to the Nether Cave. Where our lord resides."
She stood close to Zeraff, who stood on his hind legs, almost reaching the top of the cave.
Asahi, Death's Mercy, and I stood just after the entrance of the hollowed space. No one bowed this time.
"So, how does he fare?"
Zeraff spoke, asking Tessa.
"I don't know if he is the person you're looking for, but if he has the will to command a powerful guardian spirit like him, he might as well be."
She looked at us with a proud smile on her face, a satisfied expression that said, I accept you.
But she then shifted her gaze to look up at Zeraff.
"But it's the sword that will make the final decision."
"Indeed."
He lifted his massive arm and pointed at us.
"You with the spirit, what is your name, child?"
"Oh me... My name is Krai, Krai Letos."
I responded without fail and with a calm disposition, unlike the first time I beheld him.
"I mean, your real name."
"Uhm, that is my real name."
It's true. My real name is Krai Letos, the name I was given by a cherished person when I got to this world.
However, Zeraff looked at me as if he hoped I would correct myself, but I wasn't going to. Krai Letos is my real name.
"Ryu..?"
Asahi spoke softly to me as if edging me to change. He called me by my past name, a name that I very well know is the one Zeraff is looking to hear.
But I didn't tell him.
I may have regained my memories, but my past name must remain that - the past, and I was not about to discard the gesture Miss Mary showed me when I was lost.
I cannot allow myself to spit on her kindness like that, even for a dragon I am afraid of, I would choose offending him over Miss Mary.
"I see... Step forward, Krai Letos."
I walk towards Zeraff and Tessa, who look eager to welcome me.
As I approached them, Zeraff stepped aside, moving his massive body to the side, revealing something out of place in the cave. Something more grand than anything there.
I walked and finally came to a stop in front of a stand that was half the height of an average man, but to me, it was as high as my chest.
I watched in awe because on the stand was a katana, but it wasn't just any katana; this one was shining bright red with gold spots all over the scabbard.
It sparkled as it stood there on the stand. It was the most grandiose thing I've ever seen.
"Pick up the sword."
"Uhm, okay."
I didn't question why I must pick the sword up, because something about it made me want to pick it up. I'm not a nerd for swords, but it drew me to it like it was my duty to touch it.
I slowly reach out my hand for the sword.
Although I was engrossed in picking up the katana, I could feel that all eyes were on me. Even the silence and tension in the room could be cut with a knife.
Expectations were high, but for what, I didn't know. I could feel their emotions radiating from them. They were intense.
"Now, will the sword accept you or not?"
His words were strange, like saying this sword had a will of its own. A will that must choose or reject me for some reason. As to what I was being accepted for, I had no idea.
Those were the last words I heard Zeraff say before my mind was broken and my body became heavy.
