Arc 4: The Party

Chapter 16: The Next Step

"What do you mean?! They were wiped out?!" the fat noble demanded of the wizard that was under his command.

"I mean, the group that had been hired by yourself was completely erradicated. Apparently, a group of adventurers went there for a Drake extermination quest, and found their hideout....this included the A-Ranked Adventurers James, Zak, and Avo. Additionally....I hear that the two targets, Yuu and Lyo, went there as well and participated".

"Those damn brats....I was just going to kill Yuu, but it seems that other brat will need to die with him. Who knows what he could know".

The mage just kneeled quietly as he listened to his lord.

"FIne then...we will just have to deal with them in our own way. Tsk, but those damned royals are coming...unless..."

That was when the noble got an idea.

"...yes, if we use that, we could turn the royals against that brat. Then it wont matter if he lives or dies at that point".

And so, he began to hatch a scheme.

"Yo! You up!?" a white haired and red eyed boy energetically said as he barged into the room, ignoring the fact the door he went through used to be locked from the inside. And inside, Yuu and Lyo were dressed in just some simple clothes and not shoes. Lyo was restringing his bow, while Yuu looked deep in thought as he read a book.

Suddenly, a ball of water rose out of a vase and fired itself at Zak, hitting him right in the face.

"Yuu, thats rude! Ah, sorry...if I move right now, the bow string might snap or such" Lyo said as he was tuning the wire.

"Well, its also rude to barge into someone's room...also, I thought vampires are nocturnal. Why are you so energetic in the morning? And you are wearing short sleeves and shorts, when the day before you were clad head to toe in clock to block sunlight. What is with that?"

"Well...normally I dont drink blood, but if the person is a criminal or bandit I take some of theirs. Since they are scum, and dont need it. And if I drink blood, I can handle sunlight easily" he told them, as he stepped forward. "Anyways, come on, its a great day! So lets play outside! Like at the Guild Training Yard in the back!"

Yuu sighed, and looked at him.

"That sounds more like requesting a match then to play".

"Well, the area is durable, so we can get a bit serious for a change! Anyways, come on! Its a beautiful day, and its always great to move your body in weather like this!"

"He is right Yuu".

"...I am an indoor person".

Yuu wasn't lying, he really was.

"Come on, aren't we friends?"

"Annoying! We just worked together on a quest! That does not instantly make us friends!"

"Oh...wait, let me guess, you are just saying that because after getting one guy, you actually want to fill your adventurer party with beautiful and cute girls ri..."

Yuu suddenly extracted a lot more water, and turned it into icecles as he fired them seriously at Zak. Zak avoided it all though, smiling.

"You are annoying! I am not dumb like that!"

"Ehhh....well, it is true the short characteristic and that dont typically get combined...."

Yuu stood up from the desk, putting down the book while twitching. Lyo shivered as the air became frigid.

"You seriously want to die?"

"You think you can? Then lets 'play' and find out".

"Aren't you too old to play with children?"

"Aren't you too old to be this stubborn about playing outside?"

Yuu and Zak locked eyes, the two had clearly hit a nerve with each other. Lyo noticed that Zak really seemed to get worked up when Yuu mentioned his age.

"Lyo, be our referee!"

"Got it! To the guild!"

The Guild Training Yard. Located in the back of the guild, there were dozens of barriers around it to contain noise, damage, explosions, flashes of light, and anything else dreamed up. It was a place that was used regularly by adventurers, so the place was very well maintained.

Since a large scale quest was just completed though, a lot of the hardcore parities that often trained there were gone. So instead, younger and newer adventurers were there, and even other kids. It got a bit too dangerous if someone like James was using it.

However, that was when a few people came in that they either rarely or never saw before. Yuu and Lyo were just wearing their shoes, shorts, and T shirts, same with Zak. However, Zak also had his weapon out, activating it and materializing the blade the moment they were on the field. His snow white hair and crimson red eyes made him easy to figure out who he was.

As for Yuu, his cat ears and tail had fully manifested, and did not disappear again after his transformation the other day ran out. Normally, after such a big quest, an adventurer would take a day or two off. But in this case, they had come here. Furthermore, the leader of a Junior party of F and E Rank Adventurers noticed the tension between them.

"ANd now, we will begin the match between my best friend Yuu, and the challanger, Zak!"

Yuu suddenly revved up his mana, as it flowed all around him.

Zak also took a battle stance.

The other parties that could feel the danger, warned everyone else to give them distance. Even though Zak was fairly famous, they could see it was not hte time to call out to him.

And Yuu was so focused, he did not even get embarrassed when Lyo made that public declaration.

"And....BEGIN!"

Zak charged right in, at an inhumane speed. It was his enhancement magic, XL Burst.

Yuu however projected several barriers, focusing them on his hand as he seemed to grab the blade of the sword with a single hand while a magic array appeared in the other, pointed right at Zak.

"Crystalize!"

Suddenly, Crystals began to grow from the ground to try and imprison Zak, but Zak twisted his body around to break them as he dislodged his sword from Yuu's hand and brought it around once more.

"Blood Arts: Sanguine Rose!"

At the same time, blood emerged from his sword and blooded into a rose form, firing magical beams at Yuu as this happened. Yuu rushed around and gained some distaince, avoiding them as he dodged and weaved.

"Tempest Wing!"

Yuu released several birds made of magic, and they all began to fly at Zak mercilessly. Their wings appeared charged full of electricity, and they were translucent, but Zak could sense they were real enough to do serious damage.

"Sword Arts: Multi-Blade Strike!"

However, he seemed to cut down all the birds at once. He then rushed towards Yuu, intending to do some serious damage right from the start. Yuu however dragged his foot across the ground in front of him, and a massive rock wall burst up from the ground inbetween them. Zak leaped over it, but in his hands, Yuu had prepared another magic array.

"Tempest Shotgun!"

Suddenly magic pellets of wind, lightning, and water were all fired at him at close range.

"Seismic Spin!"

Zak spun himself in place, and created a whirlwind to divert the projectiles as he landed, bringing his sword into a swing against Yuu. Yuu ducked, and unleashed another Tempest Shotgun against Zak. Zak however used XL Burst and moved at high speeds again, seemingly disappearing and reappearing behind Yuu. However, Yuu hopped forward and went into a roll, swinging his body around as he sprung up.

"Snakes of Judgement!"

From his shadow, several black snakes appeared and went after Zak. He dodged some and cut through others, but the snakes lept into the shadows, and then popped up out of any other shadow in the area to attack him. It was a new spell Yuu had devised specifically to get around defenses and barriers, due to his experiences with that vampire from before.

However, Zak kept closing in and closing in. He got so close, Yuu had to clad himself in multiple barriers and grab the sword again, which cut through most of his barriers. Even more then last time. He unleashed a mana pulse to repel Zak, but Zak only budged a little. And Yuu could not retreat himself and allow the sword to regain kinetic motion, as that would result in it gaining a lot more power. If it gained motion, the power Zak was pouring into it would amplify it and cause serious damage. Only if Yuu kept it motionless right now could he avoid defeat from a powerful slash.

However, Yuu now had a minion he subjugated and bound to his will, and it emerged from the shadows behind Zak to attack him.

And yet, without even looking, Zak created a barrier behind him to block the demon's ambush, creating a spectral sword that seemed to act on its own to fight him off.

"I wont fall that easily!"

"You damned loudmouth! Fine, be that way!"

And with those words, magical energy began to focus itself around Yuu.

"I construct this tower of my magical power..."

Magical arrays constructed themselves all around Yuu as he chanted, layering upon each other as well as surrounding himself. A similar amount of magic arrays appeared above the battlefield itself, layering and stacking as if they were a tower built to the sky.

"...of the heavens and the earths, of all the worlds and everything inbetween..."

A chant was a type of casting method that had a lot of downsides, however it was also the method in which a spell would gain the most power. ANd as Zak could see the flow of mana, he realized whatever Yuu was doing was not good, and tried to dislodge the sword from the barrier's grip.

"...let all who stand before me tremble and kneel...."

The onlookers looked in shock and awe as the magical array construct grew and augmented itself, becoming like an elaborate three dimensional maze made of magic arrays. The flows of magic power became so dense that even those who lacked the aptitude for magic could see them as plain as day.

"...and let them know my dominion, my power, my rule. Cataclysm Catastrophe!"

And thus, a huge burst of energy fired from the top of the tower, going through the entire construct and slamming down right on Zak at full force, while barriers were errected to protect Yuu.

The shockwave made from the impact knocked down any adventurer and onlooker standing from their feet to their butts, and a huge cloud of smoke errupted at its epicenter around Zak. There was no doubt Yuu had gone all out in that instant, and that his victory was guarenteed.

And so the referee, Lyo....

"The winner is Zak!" he said to the audiance's suprise, before the smoke even cleared. Several voices complained on the spot that he just made that up to tease them, but then he cast a wind spell and blew the smoke away, revealing Yuu on the ground with a sword to his neck, and Zak was the one holding it. In addition, Yuu's clothes were discheveled, with both of his shoes having been knocked clean off his feet and were at the side of the arena.

The audiance only looked, stupified at the scene that occured before them.

"...as expected of a one thousand year old vampire, you had a dirty trick like that" Yuu complained, glaring at him. "But how did you know?"

"I guessed a bit, based on your personality, that this would work. Besides, the moment you get victory within your grasp, that is the moment you become careless. Well, everyone gets like that though".

Yuu reflected back to the other vampire they fought the day before. Indeed, the moment he thought his victory was certain, his guard dropped. Not a lot, but enough that the Vampire nearly got the upper hand on him.

Still though, that technique that he used....

"...its still super dirty" he commented on, as the crowd of onlookers came to see if they were okay. That was when they recognized Zak as an A-Ranked Adventurer, and others remembered it, and they also saw Yuu and realized he was the newcomer.

None of these people had been in the guild three years ago, so none of them knew of Yuu's reputation or what other adventurers did to him. But what they did see was that impressive magic, especially at the end there.

"That was incredible....that magic was so insane and powerful, but also so complex. I don't suppose I can ask what it does? It looked way too advanced for a simple magic cannon type spell".

The leader of a younger group, who had a staff and appeared to be a mage himself, said that. Yuu was happy to hear that the man was not able to decypher it. In truth, several of the magic arrays he created had no purpose at all other then to disguise the type of magic he used, and others were fake decoys all together. That said, the spell could be quite demanding...but even then, it still lost to Zak.

Zak had seen through the spell and prepared himself....but Yuu still thought the trick he used was dirty.

Lyo went and retrieved Yuu's shoes, bringing them back to Yuu so he could put them on. He was fairly certain he had socks as well, but it appears they might have gotten obliterated in that last fight. Well, he wasn't so delicate that he needed socks for shoes anyways.

And so after using some magic to fix up his already self repairing clothes, the group went inside hte Guild Hall for a drink. Inside, the receptionist was still there, but looked in shock as she saw Yuu. Yuu was not sure however if that look of shock was because of his cat ears and tail, or because he was still alive.

Either way they ordered some food and drink from the bar after sitting down at a table, done by Zak after getting some orders. Yuu put his hand over the drink, allowing light to float out for a bit, before he stopped and began to drink and eat.

"Seriously? I really doubt anyone will try such an obvious move".

"You should watch out for hte biscuit that was placed closest to me. A potion is inside that will make you trapped inside of a bathroom for the next two days".

Zak immediately eyed the biscuit, and paled.

"Only one?"

"I guess she doesn't have that much power in this guild yet" Yuu replied.

"Anyways, there is something I do want to say...well, several things. But Yuu, I think I know...I know why you are bad at using weapons. ANd it has to do with the flaw I mentioned earlier".

Yuu and Lyo quieted down, and listened intently.

"First off, I need to ask....you...are not used to feeling happy or satisfied, are you?"

Those words reverberated through Yuu's body, looking up at Zak as he waited for an answer. His heart skipped a beat, and a feeling of pain and dread overcame him as he remembered his past.

Zak, who realized this, griminced.

"Sorry for bringing up something painful".

"...how does that have to do with anything? I have had plenty of good moments in the past three years".

"But the bad moments still overpower them right?"

Lyo looked at Yuu in a concerned fashion, grabbing his hand with both of his to comfort him as he looked right at Yuu. His expression was calm and relaxing, as he tried to let Yuu know it was okay.

"...there are...a lot...." Yuu said, looking over at Lyo. "...to be honest, Lyo....there is something I need to tell you later...about me. But first things first...how is that related? And why is it related to me dropping my guard when I am about to win?"

"When someone successfully scores a hit, a proper hit against a good and worthy flow, or even right before it when they are about to, they feel a sense of satisfaction and victory. I suspect the reason you fumble with weapons and melee attacks, without it being some sort of magic, is because you are not used to it, aside from your footwork".

"So wait...are you saying the reason I am terrible at training and practicing with weapons is because the sense of satisfaction is new to me? Because when I feel it, its so new and I am so unused to it, that it throws me off?"

"There are other reasons too. But I suspect that is the main one. Simply put...you were so neglected and deprived, you drop your guard from the new overwhelming positive feelings".

Yuu was not sure what to say. It sounded reasonable, legitimate, potentially even accurate. In fact, it made a lot of sense. But...a part of him didn't want to admit it.

"...is there a way to make it easier?"

"If you open up more, if you give at least some people like me and Lyo a chance, you can become more used to it. And you need to tell Lyo the truth. You might not ever be a weapons master, you probably will have to settle for being an exemplary mage, but at the very least, it might help you develop some new magic skills to help deal with enemies in close combat. And, it will help you falter less when you are about to deal the final blow".

"I see..."

"By the way...what is this 'truth' you mentioned".

Yuu flinched a bit....but there was a part of him, the part of his humanity that Lyo had helped restore, that urged him on.

"Yeah...there is something I need to tell you. You see...Yuu was not my first name, or my original name in a way...but, I died...and was reincarnated in this world".

And so, Yuu began to tell Lyo, and subsequently Zak, his life story. Everything from before his reincarnation, in a way Lyo would understand easier so he left out a lot of modern original world stuff, but...he didnt hide everything about his original world either. As he wanted to be honest to Lyo, he told him quite a bit. And he told him everything about himself.

Lyo never cried, never looked away, never let go of Yuu's hand. He simply listened, concentrating and understanding everything. And by the end of Yuu's tale, Yuu felt different. He felt as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders, but he also felt exposed and vulnerable.

And yet, Lyo did not change his expression, he just smiled and nodded. As if he understand Yuu's fears and thoughts...

"I see....but in the end, you are still my Yuu right? my best friend? So this changes nothing, except now I understand you better right? After all, those people cant determine who you are".

Although Lyo was calm, there was some blatent disgust for Yuu's...or rather, Yuuki's original parents that could not be hid. As he had never shown disgust before really, Yuu was caught off guard, but felt that it made him feel a bit more pleasant...and satisfied.

The two boys then looked at Zak, who was barely holding the calm smile he tried to hold to comfort and support Yuu.

"...you think they will reincarnate here some day? I would love to have a chat with them..." Zak said while holding his handle. Zak was not the type of person who usually would go along with others feelings, and had strongly developed his own feelings and personality.

But as a fellow reincarnator, and someone who had not lost his faith in people after one thousand years, someone who would abuse and beat their own child like that were people he wouldn't mind beating the crap out of. Although, he did hear some vague mentions in the story that Yuu had experimented on human beings, although granted they were bandits, so it seemed like he would need to help Yuu properly develop some morales and common sense as well.

Zak did feel like Yuu might have held a tiny bit back, but if Zak's instincts were right about it, he would rather not push that area. It just meant his parents from his original world were more scum then expected.

As the trio finished eating their food, minus the poisoned stuff, they paid and started to leave the adventurer's guild. The moment they exited the doors though, a few cloaked figures surrounded them. Each of them immediately started to take defensive positions, but none of the cloaked people took offensive action. Instead, a smaller cloaked figure, about the same height as Lyo, stepped forward.

"Adventurer Yuu and his party...I have a request for you".

"...sorry, who are you?"

The hooded person with a girls voice opened her hood a little, revealing a tiera with a sigil. Even Yuu, who had only been able to do limited research on the kingdom from the forest so far, knew that sigil.

"I am Princess Aurelia Reynard, the first princess of the kingdom and the crown princess".

It was indeed a royal sigil.