December 5th X784
Meliodas, Lily, and Erza sat in one of the booths of the train, with Meliodas sitting next to the window as Erza and Lily sat across from him. The train they were on was on their way to Clover Town instead of Magnolia Town as Meliodas had previously promised them a visit to Musica.
"So I finally get to meet Musica…" Erza said with a visibly nervous look on her face. Lily looked at her, somewhat surprised at her attitude.
"I haven't been in Earthland very long, but I've heard stories about this Musica person...that he is the "Legendary Blacksmith." Lily said. "I believe Edolas had someone similar."
"Hmm...now that I think of it, it must have been Edolas Musica who crafted Erza Knightwalker's spear." Meliodas mused, thinking back to Erza's Ravelt with its "Mel Force" form.
"I've never seen Erza get this nervous over meeting a person. How is this "Legendary Blacksmith" as a person?" Lily inquired as he looked at Erza, who was in an uncharacteristically nervous wreck.
"Well my first impression was that he seems like your average cranky old man. But he has a good taste in booze and makes really good swords. My Mel Force was forged by him. But even in his old age, he's not just a master blacksmith, but also a master swordsman." Meliodas replied, thinking back to his sparring session with Musica.
"That's impressive." Lily commented.
"I heard he only crafts swords for those who he deems worthy." Erza added in.
"Well he did test me with a sparring session. So you guys will probably have to fight him before he makes anything for you." Meliodas said.
"Then I will give it my all!" Erza said with a determined expression, her nervousness now gone.
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A couple of more hours passed by as the group got off the train. Meliodas, Erza, and Lily walked into the forest east of Clover Town. They approached a small house in the middle of a clearing with a blacksmith's forge right in front of it, still lit dimly by burning embers.
"So this is the place…" Erza said with a wide eyed expression as she looked around.
"Musica!" Meliodas shouted. There was a moment of silence before an old man stepped out of the house. His eyes widened as he saw Meliodas and he immediately ran towards the group.
"Meliodas?!" Musica exclaimed.
"Well, well, well. It's been a while hasn't it, old man?" Meliodas said with a cheeky smile.
"Hah! I hope you're not here because you broke Mel Force!" Musica shouted.
"Actually, I want you to meet my friends." Meliodas responded, gesturing toward Erza and Lily. Musica raised an eyebrow looking at them.
"Oh so the famous Titania has come to visit? After Meliodas left, I was wondering when I would eventually see you as well." Musica said.
"It is an honor to meet you." Erza said with a stiff expression while bowing her head.
"Well you're quite polite compared to when I met Meliodas for the first time. He would not leave me alone until I agreed to make him a sword!" Musica laughed. He turned his attention to Lily.
"Don't tell me this cat is also a swordsman?"
"My name is Pantherlily. I am a swordsman as well." Lily replied, much to Musica's surprise.
"You don't see a talking cat every day…" Musica commented. "I'm guessing Meliodas told you both about how amazing my swords are and that you wish to get some forged by me?"
Both Lily and Erza nodded in response. A small smile formed on Musica's face.
"Then you both should also know that I must deem you worthy as a proper swordsman. In this world of mages, the art of fine swordsmanship has been lost and tainted by an overreliance on magic. I'm not looking for a mage who wields a sword. I'm looking for a true swordsman. So...which one of you would like to fight me first?"
Musica looked towards both Pantherlily and Erza, waiting for an answer. Pantherlily glanced over to Erza and noticed her stiff expression as she muttered something anxiously under her breath.
"I'll fight first." Lily said as he raised his hand.
"Very well. You don't appear to have a sword on you so I will let you borrow one of mine. Although I don't think I have one that is quite your size." Musica said.
"Any sword will do. This is not the form I will be fighting you in." Lily said as his body began to grow, taking the form of a large muscular humanoid cat. Musica nodded and turned back around, gesturing to the group to follow him.
As they walked towards the back end of the house, Meliodas lightly hit the back of Erza's head with a small chop, snapping her out of her daze.
"Erza you there?" Meliodas said, having noticed her stiff expression for the entire duration of the meeting.
"O-oh!" Erza gasped as she snapped out of her daze. She looked over at Musica and Lily who were walking towards an empty plot of land with no grass.
"Something the matter?" Meliodas asked.
"It's just that meeting the legendary Musica has been a dream of mine and I can't believe he's right there in front of me. Thanks for snapping me out of it Meliodas. I will falter no longer!" Erza said as she clenched her fist in front of her, her eyes ablaze with fierce determination. Meliodas nodded and looked back towards Lily and Musica.
Musica walked over to a sword stand nearby with several blades of different shapes and sizes mounted on it.
"Which one do you want to use?" Musica asked.
"I'll take the broadsword." Lily said. Musica nodded and picked up a broadsword from the stand along with a one handed sword. He walked over to Lily who was standing in the middle of the clearing and handed him the broadsword. Lily grasped the sword firmly in his hands, admiring the craftsmanship.
"When you're done gawking at my brilliant work, we can begin." Musica said. "If you manage to disarm or draw blood from me, I'll craft you a sword. Although it won't quite be free of charge as I did with Meliodas as materials are starting to get a bit expensive now."
"That's fine with me." Lily said as he held the broadsword out in front of him. Musica responded by taking a relaxed sword stance with his sword facing the ground and his right side to Lily.
"I only have one rule. No magic. This is pure swordsmanship." Musica said. "Come at me whenever you want."
Lily stared at Musica with surprise as he looked at his stance. He was seemingly leaving himself wide open as he stood in a relaxed stance out in the open field. Lily remained standing still as he had an uneasy feeling in his gut, a feeling that if he were to charge straight in, he would lose that trade.
With his sword up in front of him, Lily slowly walked closer to Musica as he circled around him. Musica smiled as his eyes followed Lily. Lily suddenly charged forward, winding his sword back to swing it at Musica. Musica quickly jabbed forward at Lily with his own sword. To Musica's surprise, Lily quickly stepped back before charging in once again.
'A feint to see how I would react and to gauge my attacking distance. Not bad.' Musica thought as Pantherlily swung his sword down at Musica. Musica jumped to the side, narrowly dodging the blade as it crashed into the ground, cracking the ground as a large smoke screen of dust was lifted up.
Musica noticed the dust cloud shift in the corner of his right eye. He immediately jumped back as Lily swung his blade at him once again. Musica landed on the ground outside of the dust cloud and stared intently at the cloud.
From inside, he could see Lily's hulking figure charging straight at him. Lily swung his sword once again at Musica. To Lily's surprise, Musica raised his own sword to block at an angle, causing Lily's sword to parry off to the side and hit the ground next to Musica. Musica whistled with a look of amazement on his face as Lily's sword cracked the ground beneath their feet. Musica quickly jumped into the air, and over Lily's shoulder. He swiftly cut at Lily's arm, causing a small amount of blood to drip out.
Lily looked at his arm in shock as blood dripped down. 'I-I lost…'
"Not bad." Musica said as he sheathed his sword. "Your power is certainly impressive. You wield that heavy greatsword as if it's as light as a feather. You seem to understand the basics of swordsmanship as I have no major corrections to make to your form and your battle instincts are passable."
"Thank you for allowing me the chance to fight you." Lily said as he bowed his head. 'I see why Meliodas was speaking so highly of him. I could barely track his sword swings and he could read me perfectly…'
"Now then…" Musica turned his attention to Erza, who was watching them intently. "I believe it's your turn."
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