Seeing the blade radiating a blue aura, Bozes almost dropped it in fright. Quickly holding her hands so she didn't drop it, I told her that is was okay. Looking at me with a worried look she was petrified we destroyed her prized sword.
"Did we break it?", she asked me on the verge of tears.
"No...it's become a Heroic Sword.", I told her with a smile, "This is a massive upgrade for you!"
"Heroic? How is that possible?", Bozes questioned, "A Heroic Sword is the stuff of legends!! If...if my brother finds out I have one he is going to take it as his-"
"Don't worry Bo, he won't be able to touch this sword. You and I spent weeks forging the sword, I wouldn't let him take it from you no matter how badly he wanted too.", a voice said.
Hearing her start to sniffle she looked around desperately looking for the source of the voice. Asking her if she knew the voice she looked at me with a tearful smile.
"Only one person ever called me Bo, and that was my grandfather. He...he told me it was the first word I ever said.", Bozes told me, "Where is the voice coming from though? Are you here grandfather!"
"Not completely, but I am here in a sense.", the voice said, "You are holding me currently."
Looking at her sword, she noticed that as the voice spoke the blue aura got brighter. Looking at me in shock, Bozes asked how this was possible. A Heroic Sword was one thing, but she hadn't ever heard of a Talking Sword. Asking me if I was messing with her, I told her there was no way I would know how her grandfather sounded or what her childhood nickname was. Reminding her I had never met him, she quickly remembered that was true.
"Grandfather, how are you still alive? You died so long ago...", Bozes inquired.
"I am not alive I am afraid, I am but a fragment of my former self. It would appear that the time we spend together making this sword, the memories we had using this blade, and your wish for me to stay by your side kept me alive.", he laughed, "Out of all my grandchildren I am not the least bit surprised you'd be the one to do it."
"Hehe...", she laughed with a happy smile.
"So you are a grandpa's girl.", I teased her.
"He was the only one that took my dream seriously, and started training me since I was old enough to pick up a sword. My father and mother would always lecture him about it, but he never listened to them.", Bozes told me.
"That's because my son is blinded by his own ambition. He may be a good leader, but he missed the point of being a good father and husband.", he replied, "Your grandmother was a knight just like you, and she used to kick me around the training grounds in our youth. He forgot that his own mother was one of the best knights the Empire ever had."
"Hehe, I know. Grandmother talked a lot about it in the last few years of her life.", Bozes remarked.
"It is good she out lived me...she was the only one your father listened to properly.", he laughed.
Feeling like I should let them have some time together, I went to leave when Bozes stopped me. Introducing me to the sword, Bozes said I was the man she was going to marry. Feeling a presence observing me through magic, it appeared that he was capable of a lot given his current state.
"Hmm, I have no qualms about him. He has a lot of skill to reforge this blade better than any smith I know.", her grandfather said, "I entrust my granddaughter to you boy, make sure you don't disappoint me."
"I will do my best sir.", I said thinking about something, "What would you say to me potentially making a suit of armor for you to inhabit?"
"Go on.", he said.
"If you are tied to the sword, I could move the fragment to a suit of armor and make you into Living Armor.", I told them, "You'd have a body to move around in, and be able to live a semi-normal life with your granddaughter. Base on what she told me, your aid and guidance would be appreciated in the Empires rebuilding."
"Hmm...", he considered, "I will think about it, for now being in this sword is good enough for me. There are a lot of things I wish to discuss with my little Bo before making that decision."
Understanding that, I said we would leave it alone for now. Quickly making a new scabbard for the blade, I wanted something that the sword wouldn't cut to pieces just sheathing it. Once it was done, she sheathed her sword with a smile as she ran her hand down the scabbard. Having finished her discussion with her grandfather, Bozes was in a very happy mood now. Running out of the smithy to find Piña, Bozes didn't even bother to thank me. Understanding the situation, I didn't think to much about it.
Meeting Shigure outside the smithy as I was locking up she gave me a shocked look. Evidentially she had heard the sword talking to Bozes when she left, and was shocked that something like that existed. Quite honestly I was more surprised that a Talking Sword was more unbelievable than mouse that was a Martial Arts Master. I mean logically speaking neither of them should be possible, but they both existed.
"So how goes the armor making for you?", I asked.
"It will be a few days before I am done.", Shigure advised.
"Do you need me to help, or do you have it?", I questioned.
"I took the job on, and I will see it to the end.", she told me with a firm nod.
Suggesting that we go home to have dinner, she took my arm before walking home together. Walking inside, I found Namiyo and Kikyo setting out the food while Mikoto and Saya struggled to hold Ilulu and company in check. Seeing me though, the three abandoned the food and came running over.
"Hey Victor!", Zero Two shouted jumping on me, "Where's the sweets you promised Ilulu!!"
"I thought it was for Ilulu only?", I questioned.
"She lost a few games, and now has to share with us.", Lucy told me.
"I still say you cheated...", Ilulu pouted.
"It's rock paper scissors, how do you cheat at that?", Zero Two asked sitting on my shoulders.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling you did.", Ilulu stated.
"You are just a sore loser, we did no take backs!", Lucy teased.
"You both only get a piece.", Ilulu reminded them.
Getting them to take a seat at the table, I promised to make something after dinner. Accepting that, they took a seat and behaved themselves. Serving everyone food before I started to eat, everyone gave me an overview of their day. Nothing was too far out of the ordinary, but I could tell that something was bugging Alcina. Asking what the problem was, she told me she'd bring it up tomorrow.
"It's not an emergency, and I'd hate to ruin the good mood.", she told me.
"I understand, we can talk tomorrow morning.", I replied.
---Next Day---
The next morning I woke up early and got a large pot of coffee brewing. Astrid had slept in so I was the only one that was up...at least for a short time. About twenty minutes after I came down Piña, Bozes, and Hamilton stumbled down the stairs still partially asleep. Having no pajamas with them, they had been sleeping naked up till last night when they moved in. Using some of my button down shirts and shorts, the three of them made due for the time being.
Seeing them so defenseless first thing in the morning was very nice. They weren't wearing bras, and I could clearly see their bodies through the shirts. Since they were still partially asleep they didn't even realize it so I kept it to myself. Noticing that they were fixated on the coffee being made, I stopped eyeing them to have a conversation.
"You three never had coffee?", I asked pouring them a cup.
"To my knowledge we didn't have it in our world.", Piña stated receiving the cup from me, "We drank tea and wine usually, we didn't have anything quite as enjoyable as coffee."
"Yes, it makes long nights a bit easier.", Hamilton laughed dryly, "It's good we don't have them anymore now that we are caught up on paperwork."
Adding cream and sugar to their coffee, I told them we would be focusing on training today. Telling them that their core training was good, I advised that their teamwork and finer skills needed improvement. Admitting they did need to work on that, Piña stated that recently they had been preoccupied with other matters. Staring at me, I just sighed and told them that training should be their focus moving forward now that they had reached their goal.
"It will be, do you have a timeline of when you want to move to recover the fragments of the GATE?", Bozes asked.
"The base we resecured in Anchorage should be ready to move next week.", I replied, "They have been in talks with other bases in the lower 48, we will have to make a few jumps between bases to reach the ruins of Raccoon City."
Understanding the situation, they were excited to go home after being away for so long. Taking their cups of coffee and sitting at the counter, they waited patiently for the others to come down to eat. After breakfast, Piña and company left to gather up the knights for training and I got ready to head out to the training grounds. Before I left the house though, Alcina pulled me aside to talk about what she wanted to last night.
"Something wrong?", I asked, "You see something out on patrol, or need a day off?"
"It is sweet of you to think that I need a day off, I might take you up on that sometime though. I'd like to take you to some of the spots I find that are absolutely breath taking.", she remarked with a smile, "Anyways, you know how I have been monitoring the Canadian border for hordes? Well I have been noticing a lot less activity on the border as of late. Most of what I have seen is just common Undead, not a single mutant undead anywhere. Not only that, I haven't seen any Demons anywhere almost like they were never here."
She was right, I had been monitoring the border with my map and for some reason the hordes were retreating. All of them were migrating back to Raccoon City like there was something going on there. The area that had once been Raccoon City on my map was now a black void symbolizing that it was its own space separate from the rest of the world. What was more worrisome was that satellites still couldn't see anything as the dust cloud had yet to completely settle yet.
'I have an feeling Davoth left a parting present behind, but I am not sure what it is. If it was the Icon of Sin, I doubt he would have just left it there. Moving forward I need to consider the lasting effects of a meteor strike...', I thought, "Just keep me up to date if you see anything else change. Thank you for letting me know in advance."
"Understood.", she promised.
Thanking her for her continued hard work, I promptly left to meet the knights on the training ground. Finding them all talking with Piña and company, it seemed like they were trying to force an them to spill the beans. We hadn't slept together yet, but Yuko, Rika, and Shizuka had given them a very vivid idea of what to expect so them just imagining that was enough to make the others think we had done the deed.
"Alright ladies, enough chitchat for now. You can talk during lunch time.", I told them.
"Sir!", they replied falling in line.
"Today we are going to be working on your team work and solo fighting. In live combat all of you are aware that the situation can change in a split second.", I told them, "You will learn to fight with several different weapons, and use several different formations to fight effectively depending on the situation."
Nodding their heads, we got stretching out of the way before getting into it. While we were stretching, a certain Empress and company came to watch. I knew Kyoko had given them the day off as there was no paperwork to file, but to see them here was a bit unexpected. Seeing their maids wearing an apologetic smile, I realized what they were doing.
'Jeez...after training today we are going to have a chat.', I thought.
---Several Hours Later---
Having the knights start off with shield tactics, I mimicked the Spartans and Romans in what I taught them. Walking them through several different formations, I drilled them till they got right. Once they had several of them down pat, I put them through a live test.
"Alright girls, now you all are going to face me.", I chuckled.
Giving me a nervous look, I assured them it wouldn't be too bad. Telling them I would only be using a stick, they nodded their heads when they realized it was just a stick I would be using. Picking up a decent sized stick, I stood a few feet from them.
"If I land a strike on your head or chest, sit down where you are. Those would be lethal strikes in actual combat situation.", I told them.
Agreeing to that, we got to it. Forming rows of three the women marched forward like I taught them. This tactic didn't really work well with such few people, but once they reunited with the rest of those in their Order it would do better. Thrusting at me with their training swords, I easily parried them away. Telling them to not offset their movements, they needed to time them so they were in sync. An enemy was less likely to parry if they were in sync.
Going for a shield bash, Bozes pushed forward to far from the others. Stepping back to avoid being hit, I grabbed her shield before she could pull it back. Yanking her forwards, I thwacked her on the head making her yelp.
"Ouch!!", she shouted.
"Don't give your enemy any quarter. Only bash as far as the shortest person allows. I was able to grab your shield because you were further away than the others.", I teased, "In combat the enemy is much less likely to grab your shield if you are right next to someone else. Holding your shield puts me at the disadvantage as it exposes me to your team. Getting too far from the others though removes that threat."
Taking a seat, she puffed her cheeks out in frustration. Similar to her the other women made mistakes like tripping over rocks, bumping into each other, and getting distracted during the fight. Each of them ended up with a smack on the head from me.
"You are doing good, but you have a lot of improvements you need to make.", I sighed glancing over to Shigure who had been watching, "Shigure, think you can take over from here? They have the concept down, but they need to work on timing and awareness of their surroundings."
"Of course, I can handle that.", Shigure replied, "We can work on that after lunch."
Breaking for lunch, the knights went to get something to eat along with most of the other people on the training grounds. Walking over to the Royals, the Empress seemed to sense I was coming over to speak with her.
"Is something wrong?", she asked me.
"Haha...you can stop feinting ignorance here. I think you know why I am here.", I said pulling the book out of storage, "Care to explain this?"
"Oh dearie me, I thought I misplaced that.", she stated trying to act like a proper noblewoman, "Thank you for returning it to me."
"You not going to admit giving it to them?", I questioned.
"Why would I give them something like that?", she inquired trying not to laugh, "I am a proper woman, I wouldn't have-"
"Mother...", her eldest daughter sighed.
"Oh alright, yes I gave it to them. Did it help them at all?", she asked.
"...they can't even say the word member or pole without nearly fainting...", I told her.
"Oh...than this probably didn't help, if anything it probably frazzled their minds.", she admitted, "I expected better from nobility."
Sighing I asked why she did it. Telling me that they had been talking about speaking to me for a while, they just never knew how to approach me. She gave them the book hoping it would help them, but didn't realize they were so innocent.
'Well they aren't that innocent...if we had BL stuff here they might have been corrupted rather quickly...', I thought thanking Clark for not letting that situation for happening.
"You should know that I have memorized the book, as all Empresses before me have. It's over fourteen hundred years of accumulated knowledge.", she said with a seductive smirk.
"I figured as much...", I replied pretending notice the others pushing their chests out.
"Now Victor, since you have accepted some nobility into your group...would you maybe consider us?", she asked with a smile, "Only six of us are of the right age, the younger girls are still to young to be partaking in bedroom affairs. We are-"
"VICTOR!!", Yuko shouted running down the street with Ada, Alexia, and others in tow.
"We will continue this conversation later, go get something to eat.", I told them.
Agreeing to that, the packed up and left just as Yuko arrived. Catching her breath before speaking, she held up a vial to me. Wearing a very happy smile, she informed me that they had managed to make a cure that could remove the dormant zombie virus and potentially undo zombification. Looking at Alexia, she nodded her head confirming that it should work like I requested of her.
"Alright, let's have a look.", I said holding the vial up to examine the contents.