This chapter was rather hard to make, and I even scratched the draft once, and I probably changed some things during my editing.
This was a rather waited chapter, but at the same time, I didn't want to stay in this arc for too long, there will be many interactions with the Loki Familia, and it would be pretty bad if each of them lasted 3-5 chapters...
I don't know, its more of a perspective question, it will depend on the situation.
In any case, I liked the outcome of this... A bit.
Enjoy.
PS! IMPORTANT
I actually made it... The first 'hot' scene...
It's not on P@treon yet, it's on my drafts... Meaning that it's going to take a while for us to get there.
A full chapter dedicated to it... And this leads us to my worries.
I have no plans of making such chapters... recurrent you could say.
I will probably make a single detailed scene for each girl he stays with IF he ends up with another girl.
Or, I will put on details if the scene is meaningful enough. Otherwise, I will just write one or three lines about it and call it a day, use your imagination to think how they fucked based on the previous source.
I just think it's bad to stay too long in Segs and so on, it's okay to do it once if it's meaningfully enough, but afterward? Nothing changed, so only a mention is enough.
Opinions are welcomed!
Peace!
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'Upon hearing what Loki said, Silver just smiled.'
'He shrugged his shoulder and said:'
"You talk as if you don't understand what is going on."
"Tsk. You are no fun, don't you understand the concept of light talk and being polite?" Asked Loki
'But Silver just looked at her with an inquisitive glare.'
"You? Light talk and polite?" He asked
"..."
This kid…
Are you calling me rude?!
'Loki's expression tensed a little, her eyes opened a little.'
"You have quite the balls to talk with me like that in my house." She said as she looked at him
'However, the others continued to listen to the conversation as if it was normal.'
'In a sense, they even agreed with Silver…'
'Seeing how Silver didn't react to what she said she said:'
"So you aren't going to repent? Tsk tsk, so it has come to this in the end." Said Loki in a dramatic tone
"Beat him u…" She said with a smug smile
/Bonk!/
'Riveria appeared behind Loki and bonked her head so she stopped playing around.'
"Sorry for her antics, she is just like that." Said Riveria with a helpless smile
"I know." Replied Silver
"Oi…" Said Loki, annoyed
'Riveria slightly bowed her head and said:'
"Despite everything that has happened I would like to welcome you to our house in our Goddess's stead." She said with a smile
"Yeah, last time we bothered your date so this time we can talk more, no?" Asked Gareth with a thin smile
"As I said at the time, it wasn't really a date…" Said Silver with an awkward smile
"Although… We would prefer that you came by the front door next time… We don't want this to happen again…" Said Finn as he looked at Ais
"..."
'Ais looked to the side as she played with her hair…'
"There are several things I would like to ask you about… Can I call you Silver? Or do you prefer to be called by your Alias?" Asked Finn in a polite tone
"... Call me Silver, there is no need to be overly polite."
'Finn smiled.'
"That's great, once again, I welcome you to our home... But I don't think it's the right time for such conversations." Replied Finn as he got up from the couch
"You came here for a spar, right? We have a training arena in the back." He said as he pointed to the door
"Wanting to heat up a bit, Finn?" Asked Gareth as he got up from his chair
"It's best that we deal with this quickly, after all, don't forget, we still need to finish the preparations for the expedition tomorrow, sorry about this Silver, I hope you don't get offended." He said as he opened the door
"It's ok, I was the one who came unannounced."
"You are so professional… You need to relax from time to time." Said Loki as she whistled to Finn
"I am doing that right now though…" Said Finn awkwardly
...
'Before Finn left, he tapped Lefiya's shoulder, it was a signal so that she would stop watching over the two Amazons.'
'Lefiya stepped back lightly while Tiona and Tione sprang back up and stretched.'
"My knees hurt…" Said Tione
"How can the knees of a Level 5 hurt by standing on wood for 5 minutes?" Asked Gareth as he raised a brow
"She's just trying to be delicate." Said Tiona
"..."
"Sister… Did you just imply that I am not delicate?" Asked Tione with a threatening glare
"Th-that's not it sister… Calm down…" Said Tiona as she stepped back a little
'Silver smiled a bit as he watched the two.'
"..."
She's just as I imagined.
"Stop it you two, behave in front of the guest." Said Riveria
"I don't really mind, in fact, I prefer that you just act like you normally do." Said Silver as he got up from the couch
'Tiona ignored her sister and went to Silver's side.'
"I will show you around!" She said as she pulled his left arm
"!"
"Wait!"
You'll rip apart my arm!
Control your strength! Please…
'While Silver disappeared with Tiona, the other blinked their eyes in surprise.'
"That's the first time I saw Tiona act like that." Said Gareth as he calmly walked to the door
"I guess the War game left a deep impression on her." Said Riveria as she followed Gareth
"..."
Sister…
'Tione had already calmed down, but she was now looking at the door with a bit of concern.'
"..."
'While Ais on the other hand looked at the door in wonder.'
…
/6 Minutes later…/
"And this is… The training arena!" Said Tiona as she stopped
'It wasn't anything fancy like GANESHA's arena, but it was a nice place.'
'In the middle of a large garden was a big 7 Meter radius stone arena.'
'There were a few wooden chairs around it but they weren't part of the arena, but more like furniture that was placed there temporarily.'
'Probably for people to watch others train.'
'There was also a small shack nearby where they store the chairs and equipment when they are not in use.'
"It is pretty simple, but it's reliable. The stone on the ground is made from the Dungeon walls, so it's incredibly resistant." Said Tiona as she walked to the arena
"It seems we were the first ones to arrive." Said Silver as he looked around
"Well… What we did was pretty sudden, we even got scolded by the Captain… They are probably changing and picking their gear… ?!"
'It was then that Tiona realized!'
"I forgot about it!!" She said loudly, startling Silver
"What happened?" He asked
"What about your gear?!" She said as she pointed at him
"Oh…"
'Silver smiled, finally understanding what she was concerned about.'
"Hum… I know how to use several weapons, so there shouldn't be a problem with that…" Said Silver as he looked around
'And as he expected, he spotted a small weapon rack in the corner of the arena.'
'So he made his way to it.'
"The training gear? I guess you could use them but…" Said Tiona as she though
"It's just going to break you know?..."
"..."
Don't tell me you were planning to spar with your main weapon right?
'Silver looked at Tiona as she pondered.'
She is definitely thinking about that…
"Well… I don't know how to use anything apart from my Urga… At least not at the same Level… But I guess it would be too much to use Urga…"
"When you say Urga… Are you talking about your large, double-bladed sword?" Asked Silver as a stream of sweat fell from his forehead
The one is that is actually bigger and heavier than her?
"Yes! It's also made from the finest Adamantite!... Although… Because of that, it ended up costing quite a sum…" She said as scratched her head
'She went to the weapon rack and picked a super large and thick claymore.'
/SWUSH!/
/SWUSH!/
"I think this is good enough, although it's overly light…" She said as she threw and swung the sword around the place, creating loud air cutting sounds
"..."
As expected of the person with the second-highest strength in the Loki Familia…
"Since we are waiting for the others to arrive, how about we start first?" She said as she pointed her sword at Silver
"... I am fine with that…" He said
I already knew I was going to leave this place with more than a few bruises anyway…
'Silver already came to accept his fate of being used as a sandbag, so he just smiled and grasped his sword…'
'Unfortunately, that didn't give him a lot of confidence since Tiona's sword was more than double the size of his…'
(...Then she pulled out a PP that was twice the size of mine…)
"Don't worry, I will control my strength to that of when I was Level 2." She said with a smile
"Ok."
'He held his sword with immense focus, preparing for the fight to come.'
"Here I go!" Said Tiona as she dashed toward Silver
…
/Back inside the manor…/
'Tione was now in her room strapping her Kukri daggers to her waist.'
"That Tiona… She forgot her Urga." Said Tione as she grabbed her sister's main weapon
Was she so excited that she forgot we were actually going to spar?
"But is this good or bad?"
She never showed any interest in this… Could she be finally showing progress in this regard?
If that's the case, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
'Tione put her hand on her cheek and thought.'
"She's still too young…"
"You talk as if you were any older." Said Riveria who was waiting at the door
(I think Tiona is actually the older sister...)
"Oh! Did I make you wait?" She said as she walked to the door
"... Do you plan to bring those things with you to a spar?" Asked Riveria
"Yes?"
"... Think about the poor boy…" Said Riveria in a low tone as she face-palmed
'Tione smiled, she then said with a reassuring tone:'
"Don't worry, I will keep my strength locked to when I was Level 2!"
'The sisters, despite being very different, do think alike...'
'Riveria frowned as she replied:'
"That's not what I am concerned about…"
'She turned around and left the room, walking down on the corridor:'
"Forget it, we can talk about this when we are there, let's not make the other wait."
/Clack!/
"Okay~!" Said Tione as she left her room and closed the door
…
"Are you excited Gareth?" Asked Finn as he tightened his belt
"Hmm… I wouldn't say excited, but I am definitely expecting something."
"So I guess we are two."
"I think we are quite similar in a sense."
"Now that you say… He does resemble you when you were younger." Said Finn with a smile
(Gareth is 54 while Finn is 40 Riveria is 97…)
'Gareth smiled when he heard Finn, memories passing through his eyes.'
"Isn't that right? I loved and still love a good fight."
'Many memories also passed through Finn's eyes, and he eventually said:'
"But he seems a bit more aware than you."
"..."
'Gareth's face blackened.'
"I mean, you were always a 'GO' kind of guy. I still remember how you leveled up." Said Finn with a smile
"..."
'Finn then said in a rough tone, as if trying to imitate Gareth:'
"Shut up your weakling Pallum! It's just a few dozen minotaurs!"
"And then, young Gareth rushed at the group of minotaurs despite being Level 1 and returned with several broken bones, some deep cuts, heavy bruises, and a Level up. Of course, none of the minotaurs actually died, young Gareth had to be saved by the others..." Said Finn as giggled
"... I was rash…" Said Gareth with a smile as he remembered
But not anymore... Hum...
'The two old friends continued on their way to the training arena…'
…
/CLANG!/
/CLONG!/
'While everyone finished their preparations, Silver and Tiona continued their intense spar.'
/CLANG!/
'Tiona jumped in the air and swung her massive sword downwards as she fell.'
'Silver took a step to the side and parried the sword, making it slide to his right.'
"I won… Again." He said as he removed his sword from her neck
"Phew… You are skilled!" She said in an excited tone
I can't do much with my Level 2 strength...
"How are you so strong?! You surpassed me completely when I was Level 2!" She asked as she approached him
'Silver, on the other hand, wiped out the sweat on his forehead and said:'
"It's not that I am strong it's just that I have good control over what I have, and quite a bit of combat experience…"
That's a lot of Bull though… My stats just went to 1500…
And I am already a third of the way to Level 3…
Also... Technique does affect things but Tiona isn't bad in any way...
The girl in front of me also had her entire life centered around combat... So she isn't lacking that much when compared to me.
"Control? I heard that before but it's a bit too complicated for me." She said as she thought deeply
"I always just swung my Urga while listening to Finn, and they end up cut."
"But in any case, how about I step up this spar?" She asked Silver
"That's alright for me."
"From now on, I will be using my Level 3 strength!" She said as she swung her sword horizontally
"!"
/CLANG!/
'Silver barely blocked her sword, but he was sent flying backward.'
/Thud…/
'Silver barely had time to stabilize himself after he fell on the ground before Tiona followed it up with her next move.'
/BANG!/
'Tiona swung her sword downwards while Silver blocked it by placing his sword sideways.'
/Crack!/
'The two suddenly heard a faint sound coming from the sword.'
'Silver moved his sword to see a faint crack in the sword's edge.'
"It broke? Again?" Said Tiona as she scratched her head
"What do you mean by again?" Said Silver as he got up from the ground
"This training equipment breaks from time to time, even though they were supposed to be standard Level 4 gear…"
'The key word here was "standard".'
"..."
"We can continue, it's just a small chip." Said Silver
"But what if…" She said in a concerned tone
"It's okay, don't think about those things and attack me with everything you got!... Within the limits of Level 3 of course…"
'Tiona nodded and said:'
"I won't stop this time even if it cracks!" She said as she dashed once again
…
/Five minutes later/
/CLANG!/
/THUD!/
'Tiona swung her sword, but the moment Silver blocked it, she did a round kick and kicked Silver in the chest!'
'It was a bit too fast for him to react properly.'
"I won this time." She said with a smile
"..."
I… I can't breathe…
'Silver slowly recovered, getting up with the help of his now, chipped sword.'
"By the looks of it, you two have already finished a few rounds." Said Tione as she took a step into the arena
"Sis, you're late." Said Tiona as she rested her massive sword on her shoulder
'Behind Tione were Ais, Lefiya, and Riveria.'
"It has been barely 15 minutes since we left the office, look at your state." Said Tione as she pointed at Silver
'Silver's clothes were now dirty and even a bit tattered, it was clear he was having a hard time.'
'He did not change his clothes, despite the fact they were casual clothes, they were still good enough to be used for training.'
'But it was just a matter of time before they were ruined...'
"Take it, sister." She said as she threw a massive, double-edged sword at Tiona
"Oh! Urga! Thank you, sis." Said Tione in a happy tone
"..."
Fuck…
'Riveria noticed Silver's look and couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.'
'But she did not show anything at all.'
"Finn and Gareth will soon arrive. So, who wants to go..." Said Riveria
'But before she even finished, Ais had already stepped into the arena, her sword in her hand.'
"It seems Ais wants to go first." Said Tione as she shrugged
"Eh? But I am still not finished!" Said Tiona
"You can try again later, let the others beat him once…" Said Loki as she appeared from the side
'She had a light smile as she looked at Silver.'
"..."
'Silver took a side glance at Loki but his focus is now on Ais.'
"Thank you for accepting this request of mine." He said as he held onto his chipped sword
'Ais shook her head.'
"It's ok, I should be the one thanking you for helping us."
And also...
I want to know.
/Shing!/
'As she said that, Ais grabbed her sword and pulled it out of the sheath, before she picked the sword and placed it aside, grabbing the sheath as if it was her sword.'
'Since using her sword would be a bit of an overkill.'
"Ready Miss Wallestain…?" Asked Silver
"Ais."
"I already said this before, just call me Ais." She said as she looked at Silver
'Silver nodded, taking a look at the blue sword sheath on her hand.'
'He did not question her nor did he point it out.'
'If she was using a sword or its sheath, it didn't matter.'
'Since the two were made from extremely high-grade materials, they were more than enough.'
'The sheath was just as good as a sword in this situation...'
"..."
/Swush!/
/BAM!/
"ARG!"
'Suddenly, Ais disappeared from her location, swinging her metal sheath towards Silver's left arm.'
'But he barely blocked it while he repositioned his feet, swinging his sword back at Ais, aiming at her unprotected waist.'
/Clang/
'But Ais easily blocked it while she took a step back.'
"..."
She is testing me.
By mixing the strength of a Level 5 and a Level 3, she is trying to see how I react to unexpected things.
I wasn't capable of seeing her move, but the speed at which she moved the sheath was actually rather slow.
Slow enough for me to react… But to think she is starting from a higher level than Tiona...
/CLANG!/
"You think too much." Said Ais as she pierced with the sheath
'But Silver once again blocked it.'
'The two were now separated, looking at each other.'
'Ais seemed to think for a moment before she said:'
"... I will use martial arts from now on, be careful." Said Ais
…
/CLANG!/
/CLING!/
/CLANG!/
/CLANG!/
"He's good." Said Tione as she watched the two fighting
Despite being Level 2, he wasn't hit once.
"Ais is only getting started! We will see how long he can last." Said Lefiya while she pouted a little
'She was a bit envious, she would also like to receive this level of attention from the executives.'
'Especially, from her idol…'
'But she perfectly understood that he is capable.'
'Gareth scratched his beard and asked:'
"It's clear the boy is proficient in swordsmanship, this makes me question why he chose a Halberd as his main weapon?"
Unless what he showed in the War game was some sort of distraction, but that is questionable, that seemed to be a very high-quality weapon to just be a guise.
"He's probably just as good with it as he is with a sword. Look, he can keep up with Ais's movements, he was clearly trained from a young age like her." Said Riveria
It makes me interested in the one that trained him.
'Loki watched the display with a serious expression, she was trying to determine something…'
'Riveria looked at their exchange and said:'
"Although Ais's swordsmanship greatly falls when she deals with a person, it's still incredibly advanced, I am honestly surprised he can keep up with her."
(N1)
"Not only his swordsmanship but also his martial arts." Pointed Finn
'Riveria replied:'
"Ais is constantly mixing in kicks and other movements, trying to get the boy to fall on a trap, but he isn't. I give him an 8.7/10 for this performance."
"Why 8.7? He seems to be doing pretty well for his Level." Asked Tiona
Although that's already an extremely high score from her…
'But Riveria closed her eyes and pointed out:'
"He is doing pretty well, but he is being incredibly defensive, not even once has he tried to actually launch an offensive on her…"
'Tiona's expression changed.'
"Now that you said it... He is only doing some light counterattacks."
"I can tell why though, he must feel as if there is no point in doing such a thing since his target is Ais…" Said Tione
"But this is a spar, Ais' patience will run out soon if he doesn't act..." Replied Riveria
/SMACK!/
'Ais suddenly parried his sword with an incredible speed and kicked him in the face with a high kick, sending him spinning towards the ground…'
"Like now." Said Riveria
…
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Notes
Don't forget to join my Discord and support me on P@treon... Well, if you wish. I can always give you the link or you can search for it in the synopsis of the novel. Especially for Discord.
...
There is a reason why Ais is called the Sword princess, but there is also a fact in that, and that is the fact her swordsmanship was made to fight monsters.
Pretty much, she isn't that proficient in dealing with Humanoid and intelligent creatures... At least that is my take in it.
She is used to fighting creatures twice and triple her size with 5 or more limbs with special abilities and disproportional strength.
That's why she loses a lot of deadliness when fighting people.
There is also the fact that she can't bring herself to use her killing moves on people.