Chereads / Infinity X Infinity / Chapter 8 - - Swords are overrated

Chapter 8 - - Swords are overrated

"Okay… Swords can go… Suck a fat one." I say wheezing on the ground from blocking Ophis' attacks. 'Swords are useless, I couldn't find a single opening and I couldn't get any range since I had to be close.' "Next weapon you goddamn slug, get off the ground and fight!" Ophis yells making me jump up and grab the next weapon…

'What in the fuck is this thing!' "It's called a Kama, 2 small mini scythes connected via chain. Better get used to it before I beat your ass again!"

"SHIT!"

Ophis rushes at me and swings her stick down, I turn my body to the side and dodge and strike at her with the Kama in my left hand. In retaliation she grabs the shaft of it and tries to pull me towards her. I use the momentum to write a normal Ansuz rune, blasting her with a ball of fire.

"Nice use of the runes, sadly you don't have enough fire power." Ophis says still holding onto the Kama. I twist my lower body and try to throw a kick towards her temple. She grabs my foot and lets go of the Kama and throws me towards a tree. I take the opportunity to pull the Kama into my hand before steadying myself to kick off the tree. I then let go of the Kama in my right hand and I use the one in my left to swing the Right ones towards Ophis. Ophis then ducks and grabs the chain, only to get shocked because of a Thur rune I drew on it. I then try to punch Ophis, but she dodges to the side and kicks me in the abdomen.

"Minutes over, grab a new weapon." Hearing her I get up with some resistance and grab the next weapon, it's a normal polearm. I like the feel of this one.

I spin around the polearm a bit and experiment for a second, after I'm content I look towards Ophis. "I'm good to go." Ophis then without saying anything rushes towards me again, this time holding the stick with both hands. She swings diagonally towards me, using the advantage of longer range I strike the stick and knock it off course, then I spin and smack Ophis in the side with the butt of the polearm and launch her to the side a couple feet. "Woah, nice job, that's the first hit you've gotten so far. Seems spears and polearms are your thing; we will test out your use of other weapons first and then go back to polearms/spears. Now, let's see if you can get a second hit at a different speed." She says, congratulating me before slowly shuffling towards me, going on the defensive.

'Shit, shit, she's going on the defensive. How am I going to do this?' I panic and start thinking about what to do, after calming down I breathe and think. 'If she is going to be defensive, I need to play this both slow and fast. Start slowly, shuffle towards her, once she's in distance I will attack.' I think as I slowly start to shuffle towards her, trying not to give away what I will do next.

Once she's in range I thrust towards her, she dodges easily and while she's distracted I write a Dagaz rune with my other hand and blind her with the burst of light, then write a Thur rune behind her and kick her abdomen. I retract my spear and activate the Thur rune, sending a bolt of lightning towards her. After the smoke clears, I see her without a speck of dust on her.

"Goddamn Kazu, I didn't expect you to do that. Sending your mana through the spear to write the Thur rune while blinding me. Seems we don't need to go over the other types of weapons after all. Nice job." Ophis says walking over to the table, evaporating every other weapon on it, and then spawning multiple variations of spears and polearms. "Now... pick up a new weapon and prepare for more fighting. This time I won't be as nice." I'm fucked.

*****

"I didn't expect you to go with that one, it seems you really like it though." Ophis says, holding the weapon I choose in her hand. It's a Double-sided Glaive, with a mana lock in the middle, when released it will split it into two parts and I can use it like a Glaive Kama.

"Yeah, it's a bit weird but I really like it. Good for when I need room, and when I want to get close, I can surprise the enemy by releasing it." I say defending my new favorite weapon.

"Well, whatever. Anyways it's time for dinner, eat and then get your stinky ass in the bath house."

"Wait we have a fucking bath house? Why was I never told this?" 

"Because I didn't tell you, now shut up and eat. What kind of master would I be if you died of hunger?" Ophis says walking back inside, leaving me to lay in the grass, still holding the Double Glaive in my hand. 

'This is weird… I haven't even stopped to think about my situation lately. I am a man who has survived death, through sheer luck I glitched the reincarnation cycle and I got lost in the void. Gaining the attention of the strongest being, thing, and person that has ever existed… My life is fucked, and so is my body. I am more dragon than human now, I am now using magic and using weapons that shouldn't be physically possible. Man...… Fuck it, time to go eat and leave my new life crisis behind.'

Throwing my worries behind I go back into Plymouth and go back into Merlin's house.

"Oh, look, the idiot finally comes inside, sit down at the table and eat already. I don't want good food to go cold." "Yeah yeah, sorry. I was having a crisis, I am still getting used to this Ophis." I say sitting down and devouring the food.

"Yeah, sometimes I forget that you are new to this world. You should take it slow, but at the same time, the world won't wait for you. And neither will the gods. I can't keep you hidden for more than a couple years, and with the gods, especially the Norse hating my existence. I guarantee you that as soon as they know you exist they will try to murder you as fast as possible." Looking up I notice something. "You have never actually told me about that. Why do the gods hate you?"

"That's… A long story I don't want to get into. How about this? If you impress me enough in the upcoming test I have for you, I will tell you about my past." Ophis says, sliding back her chair and standing up "Wait, what trial?" 

"Oh nothing. Just go have a bath ya stinky fuck. That's something you don't have to worry about right now. Just enjoy life and train. The test will come when it comes." Ophis says before walking up the stairs... Where are the bathhouses?                                                  

*****

"Haaaaaaaa. Got to love nice hot water after training. Now what are you doing here Merlin?" I look towards the small blob of pink and silver hair barely sticking out of the water. 

"What? I'm just enjoying myself and relaxing in the nice warm water." "And you just so happened to have gone into the bath only 1 minute before I did. What a crazy coincidence. Just tell me what you want already."

"What do I want? I just wanted to ask a little favor from a fellow friend of mine."

"What is it?"

"I want you to spar with little Arthur. After all, he will have to shed blood if he wants to become a kind. So I want you to fight him and show him how to fight dirty. Although Arthur is strong, and has potential to be stronger than some gods, he still thinks like a child. He thinks that every fight should be fought with knights' honor. I want you to beat into him the fact that he may fight fair, but his foes won't." Merlin says looking off into the distance. 

"Okay, I will do it. But, I want something small in return."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"What does the word ástir mean? I'm pretty sure it's Norse but I don't know what it means." After I say that Merlin looks at me confused. "Where did you hear that?" "I was having a dream, I can't remember anything from the dream other than those words." Merlin looked confused then smiled and started laughing "Hey! What's so funny dude!"

"Hahahaha! Oh… Oh, that is amazing, well how about this, I'll tell you if you beat Arthur."

What the fuck dude.

*****

"Hmm. God his room is so dirty, he needs to clean it… Oh wait, he doesn't exactly have time. I might as well clean It for him." I say looking around Kazu's room. Picking up his trash and putting his blanket back on the bed.

"Oh? Is that his normal clothes? Did he really forget to grab them before he went… Well… since they're right there… Fuck it." What happened next? Well…

Let's say those clothes weren't clean when I gave them to Kazu.