Chapter 21 “A Knight’s Magic”

“Very well then, Nerva.” I could see a slight smile appeared on Sir Lange’s face. “Let’s see how well you will fare against this.”

After saying that, I could feel a surge of energy started to gather around Sir Lange. The amount is not as much as what I usually feel when I observe the mage division practice their magic spell. That is understandable since according to what I know, Sir Lange is not actually specialized in magic, unlike the mages. But even so, the feel he gave off wasn’t all that different. Maybe less, but only by a small bit. Maybe. It is hard to exactly measure it since I can only rely on my feeling.

I said feel since I can’t really see magic energy. Only a few people can literally see magic energy without any use of magic apparatus. They who can see it are they who possessed something called “True Sight”. For them, they can literally see magic power anywhere and anytime easily.

As I said before, although I can’t really see it, I can feel it. For someone like me who often hunt for dangerous game, the ability to feel magical energy is a must and it is no doubt will be a lifesaver in many situations. It is very useful because many dangerous beasts that roamed the forest are able to manipulate magic power while they hunt. And unlike “True Sight”, this is a skill that can be learned by almost anybody. It is especially easy to learn if you are often thrown into a situation where you have to be able to sense the magic power in the air for your survival.

“Try your best, Ingolf.”

“Heh, no need to tell me that.” After that, Sir Lange opened his mouth while still keeping his posture. His sword is held close to his chest with a firm grip as the blade pointed upward. “Give me strength, give might. Let me grab victory in every fight.” After saying his incantation, the magic energy that I could feel from him started to somehow vibrated.

“Ho, body strengthening.”

“Body strengthening?” This is body strengthening? The body strengthening spell I know would never make the magic energy around the one using it vibrated like that. This is different. The incantation is similar, but…the feel it gave off is totally different.

“It is body strengthening technique, but it is not common body strengthening technique.” As if knowing my confusion, Nerva gave an answer. Well, I suppose it is not strange for him to know my confusion. Yeah, he is always like that.

“What do you mean not common?”

“Hmm…let’s talk about it later.” He snickered. “I advise you to keep your attention to him. It will be very interesting.”

“Huh?” I once again shifted my attention to the knight. “W-What!?” I was unable to hide my surprise.

When at first I was only able to feel the magic energy from him, after I look at him again I can literally see the magic energy gathered around him. A reddish blue aura has completely enveloped his whole body, making him looking somewhat like being consumed by raging flame. After a short while, the raging flame also started to consume his sword, making the sword emitting a bright fiery red glow.

Sir Lange opened his eyes and I could see a different light from him. It showed a very strong determination and confidence. I could not see a single trace of fatigue from his eyes. He then pointed his sword at Nerva. He also assumed the same stance as Nerva with his sword positioned above his head and his feet is ready to kick the ground to resume the fight.

I who stood as the referee looked at two combatants who assumed the same stance. The air stood still as they also ceased their movement. I could literally hear my own heartbeats as I anticipate the first one that make a move. Although I’m not the one in combat, I really feel a very great sense of excitement as I stand watching the battle between these two great fighters.

“I will win this!”

“Try on, Ingolf.”

Only seconds after Nerva’s response, Sir Lange kicked his body off forward and straight onto Nerva, leaving a cloud of dust behind him. With his appearance that looked like to be engulfed in a raging flame, I could only see it as a large flaming ball heading straight to Nerva. He was coming at him in an incredible speed that is certainly very different from his previous speed. Is this the effect of his body strengthening technique?

But to my surprise, Nerva also launched himself toward Sir Lange. At first I thought he will stand still just like in the first stage and try to receive his attack defensively. I was so wrong. He charged at him with the same speed as him, if not faster.

The moment they meet each other, a loud impact sound filled the whole field. Together with that I could also feel a very powerful shock wave. It moved the air around us with them as the center of it. I unconsciously raised my arm to protect myself from the powerful wind and cloud of dust that hit me. As I opened my eyes I saw the sight of the two of them locking each other’s blade in their place with their own blade.

After that, a loud metallic ring resounded and then they released their locked blade and began exchanging attack. Slashes after slashes were delivered. Upward slashes, downward slashes, sideward slashes, and thrusts were executed times after times without any sign of stopping. They were executed with speed I have never seen before that I could only recognized the first five strikes or so. With each passing time, the speed increased more and more to the point where I can only hear the metallic sound it made when it clashed.

This is very high level fight. The most exciting fight I have ever seen here is probably the fight between the commanders of the squad. But even that is truly failed in comparison after seeing Nerva and Sir Lange fight with each other. You could not really call it a simple practice fight any longer. It might be more correct to call it the battle for one’s life.

I squinted both of my eyes and concentrated on the battle as best as I could since I really wanted to know Nerva’s real battle capability. Although I couldn’t really see too well, I could at least realize that the battle is in a stand still. Both Nerva and Sir Lange kept delivering attack after attack without any sign of stopping any time soon. But…it seemed that Nerva is able to parried and blocked most of the attack. He really hid his ability too much.

“HAH!!!”

“GUH!!!”

Suddenly a shout came from them. I could see Sir Lange’s body was pushed backward with his sword held closed near his chest. It seemed that he managed to block Nerva’s attack just then. With his body still engulf in flame-like magic energy, he stood still without making any movement. Nerva, on the other hand, had his sword rested on his shoulder as he looked at him. A very relaxed expression is shown on his face without a single trace of fatigue or anything from him. Is that even possible?

“Well, I guess I won, eh Ingolf?” Huh? I quickly shifted my sight toward the knight and he certainly didn’t show any sign of being defeated. In fact, he still looked quite strong and ready to fight another stage or two at any moment.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Isn’t saying it like that is an insult? “The match is not over, Nerva.”

“…No…” Huh? Sir Lange? Once again I looked toward the other side. “Nerva…is…correct.” Then right after he said that, the flame died down almost immediately. “Guh!” After letting out a groan, his sword left his hand and fell onto the ground, embedding itself onto the training ground’s soil. The owner itself also started to fell backward onto his back, making a loud impact sound the moment his body hit the soil.

Nerva beat him? Just like that? Even after he used such a terrifying body strengthening technique, he still lost his fight against Nerva who didn’t use any kind of spell. This is just unbelievable!

“So Eryell, can you declare the match, if you please?”

“H-Huh?” I who was still unable to believe the result of the match and left in a slight state of shock was brought back to his voice. Well, I guess it is much more precise to say that the thing that shocked me is not only the result, but the whole match altogether. From the start and the reason behind the match and the way the match unfold over times. Everything about this match really left me in a shock.

“Eryell?”

“O-Oh, yes. Winner, Nerva!”

“Thank you.” He bowed to me slightly. It felt a little anti-climactic for me. I know that it is absurd of me, but I really wanted to hear some sort of loud cheer as he win. Not that I favored him or anything. But a fight that intense really deserved a good cheer or two, don’t you think? I guess I can clap my hand to congratulate him. But…on second thought, let’s not. It just felt awkward. “Eryell, I think we should check on Ingolf.”

“Ah, yes, yes.” I almost forgot all about him since I was still slightly shocked by the whole match. As I ran toward the fallen knight, I didn’t see any kind of injuries on his body. The only thing that caught my attention is his rugged breathing. He also continued to sweat profusely without any sign of stopping. This might be bad. “Uhm, are you okay, Sir Lange?”

“O-Oh…ugh…f-fine.” He forced himself to smile at me to assure me he was fine. Forgive me, Sir Lange, but you are far from convincing. Especially with how much sweat you’re letting out and how difficult it looked like for you to take a breath. Furthermore, you are still lying down there. You really were anything but fine. But I just gave him a nod. I might offend his feeling if I say something wrong. Might just as well stay silence. “W-Where’s Nerva?”

“He’s behind me…or not.” I failed to see him anywhere. I thought he was behind me not long ago. Where did he go?

“I’m here.” As if answering the question I uttered inside my mind, Nerva’s voice came from the direction of the field’s entrance. “Just want to get this for him,” said Nerva as he raised a small bottle.

“What’s that?” Sir Lange who has pulled his body upward into a sitting position looked at him.

“This is a stamina boost potion.” He then threw it toward him. Hey! That’s impolite! Aren’t you supposed to show him more courtesy? “Drink it. It’s good for your body. The taste is quite bad though.”

“Bad tasting medicine is a good medicine.” He then took off the cork and then emptied the content in one gulp. “Guah! It’s really bad!”

“Told you.” Yeah, I have drunk some of that potion before. It is pretty bad. It somehow tasted quite pungent and slightly spicy, and not in a good way, I assure you. “But it is effective. How do you feel?”

“Uhm…slightly better, I think?” He then tried to move his arm around. “Uhm, let me rest for a while. I’ll need it.”

“Take your time.” Nerva let out a laugh.

After Sir Lange feels well enough, we moved onto the nearby bench and took a seat there. Although I said until he feels well enough, I doubt that is the real case since his complexion still looked quite bad. Only his breathing has been stabilized.

“Well, Ingolf, how do you feel now?”

“Fine, thank you. But still a bit tired.” He then let out a carefree laugh. “Well, a bit bitter too since I lost to you.”

“You gave a good fight, you know? But there are still rooms for improvement.” As I heard Nerva said that, I felt slightly curious at the direction this conversation, so I stayed quiet and try to be a good listener. I might be able to use that advice to improve myself.

“And what are those, if I may know?”

“Well, let’s start from the basic. Your movement is good. But you forced your body to do too much too often. Pushing yourself is good, but pushing it too much will not do you any good. You’ll waste more energy than needed.”

“Really? I pushed my own body too much?” I could hear his tone contained a pure confusion. “I have never heard anyone gave me that before.”

“In a short battle where the winner is determined by the one that can deliver the deadliest blow the fastest you will definitely win that two out three times.”

“But when fighting a prolonged battle or against something or someone that has a ridiculous amount of endurance or stamina, you will lose three out of three times. Is that what you mean, Nerva?”

“Correct, Eryell.” He nodded at my words. “You remember my words.”

“Well, yeah, of course.” There’s no way I could forgot that. It is the first advice he gave to me and even until now I still struggle to actually put that advice in my real battle. Just like Sir Lange, I often have the mindset of whoever deal the first killing strike is the winner.

“Just like what Eryell said, with your style of fighting you will be defeated when fighting in a prolonged one since you pushed your body to the limit right at the start. It is good to surprise someone and end a fight quickly, but that is not case when fighting with a stronger opponent. You’ll tire out yourself much faster than your opponent.”

“Hmm, I see, I see.” Sir Lange nodded several times. “I will have to reorganize my training menu next time.” Ho? I am very curious at what training menu the knight corps have. But I think asking him right away will not be appropriate.

“Then there is your magic.” A wry smile suddenly appeared on Nerva’s face. “Pardon me for asking, but…is magic not your expertise, Ingolf?”

“…I see that you’ve realized my weakness.” A mocking laugh came from him while he scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m quite bad at it.”

“But you have a lot of magic energy inside you.” He widened his eyes. Well, I am also surprised to see that he was able to discern it to that extend. “Ah, I’m right.”

“…Yes, you’re right.” Another mocking laugh came from him.

“No wonder your magic drained your energy too much. It is performed in a sloppy way that might endanger oneself.” He shook his head while letting out a disappointed groan. “Ingolf, you should really know your limit. If I didn’t kick you back then, you will use your magic energy to the point where you will exhaust your life energy too.”

“Ah, you’re right. Sorry, sorry.” A laugh came from him. Really. Isn’t Sir Lange a much too careless person? I never realized that. At first, I thought he is a careful and calm person. But he turned out to be such a careless person when in a fight. He is strong, I admit that. But it seemed that he still need to be more careful next time. Ah, all these talk about magic reminded me something.

“By the way, Nerva. You said that Sir Lange used a body strengthening technique, right?” Nerva nodded. “But you also said that it is not a common one. What do you mean?”

“Oh, you noticed too, Nerva? Impressive. I thought you will not notice that since the incantation is mostly the same.”

“Well, incantation is up to the user. But the feel it gave off is very different. Especially since your body strengthening includes your weapon as your own body.” His weapon as his own body? What does he mean by–Oh!

“Is that why Sir Lange’s sword also gave off magical energy?” Nerva smiled the moment I said that.

“Correct.” He said while giving me a single nod. “Common body strengthening technique only covers the body of the user, not the armor or the weapon. Ingolf magic energy, on the other hand, covered the whole area. Armor and weapon included.” So that’s why it gave off a different feeling. “And I presumed that you can see a flame like energy from his body, right?” I nodded. “Well, that is the sign of it being done in a sloppy way.” Sloppy way?

“Nerva, since you said that my way of doing it is sloppy, can you show me how to do it the correct way?”

“Oh, I would really like to see that too.” Most of the time I see people using body strengthening technique, a similar phenomenon occurred on the user’s body, although not as grandiose as Sir Lange’s though. I thought that was the correct way.

“Hmm…I suppose I can do that.” He got up and then went to the weapon rack nearby and picked up a sword and shield. He then placed it onto the ground. “Ah, you can have your sword back, Eryell.” He then approached me to give my sword back and took back is cane. “I’ll show you the difference just by using this normal wooden cane.”

“Oh, really? Interesting.” Said Sir Lange while leaning his body forward.

“Let’s start then.” Nerva took his usual relaxed stance and then let out a breath. “Break, shatter, and reform my soul. Filled it with power, might, and strength that no one has ever seen before.” W-Wow, even the incantation is very different. It sounded…ominous. But is this even the same spell?

Just like Sir Lange, his body is enveloped by magical energy. But unlike him, the color is very different. The color of the magic energy that enveloped his body is scarlet red. And like the incantation, it also gave off a very ominous feeling. Another difference from the one Sir Lange used before is the fact that the magic energy that enveloped him did not looked like a flaming fire. It looked very calm and very still. In fact, after a few seconds I find it quite difficult to recognize the magic energy as if it merged with his own body.

He then approached the shield and then quickly threw it onto the air. When it fell down, he slashed it in mid-air using his cane. When it hit the ground, the shield shattered into eight similar pieces. I couldn’t help but let my mouth left open by the movement he has shown. Didn’t he just slash it once? How come it broke into eight pieces like that?

“…Magnificent.” I could hear Sir Lange’s voice beside me. “To be able to move that fast.”

“Now the sword. Let’s try it.” He once again threw the sword onto the air. He then slashed it while it is still in mid-air, dividing it by half. But without letting it touched the ground, he thrust his cane onto the first half and it shattered into thousands of pieces while the other half too was struck by his cane and also shared the same fate as the one before. He then planted his cane on to the ground and the vague trace of magic energy from his body dissipated completely.

A short silence came over the field as I was struck by what he has done. That is crazy!

“W-W-What the hell is that!?” I unconsciously shouted at him. “That’s not body strengthening technique!”

“I agree with Ms. Reystone here, Nerva. That’s not body strengthening technique. That is much too powerful.” Hearing both my and Sir Lange’s argument, Nerva scratched the back of his head while wearing a wry smile.

“Hmm, I guess you will doubt me. That is understandable. But trust me, it is a body strengthening technique albeit it is a very high level technique.”

“Ugh…I…no, I have nothing to say.”

“Tell me, what is it called?” Sir Lange is much calmer than me. I have to give him that. “I’ve never seen anyone using that before.”

“It is called ‘Soul Reform’. It is a body strengthening technique that uses the core of your soul as its source of strength.”

“Can you teach me that?”

“It is faster for you to refine the current technique you have already learn than to learn an entirely new one. Although the effect is the same, the concept is entirely different, making it much more difficult for you to learn it.” He then walked toward us. “Trust me, you will be better with what you’ve already learn.”

“Hmm…I guess you’re right.” Sir Lange let out a small snicker. “If I can’t master the current one, how can I learn a new one?”

“Exactly.” Nerva nodded. “Okay, for now, I have a few things that I can tell so that you can improve yourself.”

“Oh, I appreciated it.” A wide smile could be seen in his face. I guess Sir Lange really wanted to get stronger that much, eh?

After finishing his short lecture with Sir Lange, the two of us parted way with him as Nerva walked with me toward my mansion. Along the way, he told me the story he heard from Sir Lange and all of his circumstances. Honestly, I felt nothing but anxiety when hearing it.

“So, there you have it, my dear Eryell.” He finally finished his whole story. “It is quite a lot to digest, but I believe the circumstances are too much for me to call it just a mere coincidence right now.”

“Although I hate to believe that, I can’t simply ignore it now after hearing your story.” I let out a heavy sigh. “So that’s why Sir Lange wanted to get stronger so much.”

“Yes. It is understandable though. Being in his position, he really needs to be able to prepare himself well.” I stopped my feet and he also stopped his. “What is it, my dear Eryell?”

“…Tell me, Nerva.” I looked at him. “Do you think everything will be all right? Are we…this town going to be okay?”

“Hmm, are you that concerned?”

“Very...Very concerned.” I nodded. “If what Sir Lange’s said will come true, then a disaster will fall onto this town. I mean, we are already trying our best to solve the case of that strange substance in the forest, not to mention that the sudden disappearance of the many informants in this town. This is getting scary by the minutes.”

We have deployed all our resource as best as we could, but we still couldn’t discover the real identity of the strange substance we found in the forest. While we are still struggling with that, we have to be careful with our way of collecting information due to the fact that several informants in this town have been silenced for good. Once again, we do not know the real culprit who did that. To make matter worse, we have to keep the security of this town to be much higher than usual due to the royal family visitation. It is as if problems keep piling up one after another. And now this? The possibility that something dangerous will come to annihilate the whole knight corps together with the royal family? I already feel sick and tired just thinking about it. I even could feel my body trembling with fear.

“Well, I guess…everything will be all right.” Huh?

“What make you so sure? How can you be so confident about it?”

“Hmm…I guess if you asked…it is my instinct.” Huh? Instinct? “Yeah, let’s just say that I have my instinct telling me that everything will be fine in the end. There will be a rough time, but in the end it will be fine.”

Hearing his statement that is free from any kind of worry or negative feeling, I felt quite astounded. He is really a strange man. To be able to stay calm in the midst of a crazy situation like this. Either he is a fool or a strong person. Or maybe a foolishly strong person. I don’t know. But all I know is that his words calm me down at the moment. Even my trembling is gone. I shook my head and let out a heavy sigh. But this time it was not filled with worry unlike the one before.

“…You are too carefree.” I smiled at him. “But I guess I’ll try to believe you.”

“Thank you for that, my dear Eryell.” Yeah, that is for the best for now.

Author Note:

Well, no comment at the moment.

Please give me comment and opinion for this story, or even critique so that I can improve my writing. Do tell me if you find something strange or wrong with the chapter. Thank you for reading!