It's been three days since I fought Captain Rafhound. Since then we were notified of the upcoming meeting with the ambassadors from the other Kingdoms. As such our lessons now also included basic etiquette. The Heroes took them with a certain lack of enthusiasm, me included but from the coxing of the head maid, a stern old prune, we were forced to take them seriously. As the Demon Lord my father taught me how to act when in important company, however my lessons back then were about how to exude overwhelming pressure or command respect from the people. These lessons were different. As Heroes we had to ensure not to be overly courteous but maintain respect towards royalty while for different levels of society we had to tone it down accordingly. In other words a huge pain.
Currently we were training. Unlike before we had been moved from the private courtyard to the knight's training grounds. This was to show the people a little more of the Heroes. Now that they were no longer weak beginners it was time to start moving the Heroes to their debut. The location was far larger than the courtyard and knights of different ranks could be seen drilling through exercises, it was quite a sight to see.
To relieve my boredom I had been becoming more involved with the Heroes training. Pretty much I barked at the Heroes with advice and told them to do stuff. I could see how the Knight Captain liked his job, this was kind of fun. When I got back home maybe I should inspect my own soldiers.
"Gary you're putting in too much mana. Remember first comes quality not quantity." He was trying to create a cloud to ride on but so far it hadn't kept its form and kept dispersing.
"But if I don't put enough mana in nothing comes out," he moped.
"Creation type magic is difficult, you need to have not only the spell's structure but also a firm idea of the model in your mind. Now keep trying!" I turned to Alicia. She was learning how to use flash step and had been jumping back and forth. Her successful attempts were increasing.
"How's that!" she cheered to me with a thumbs up as she skidded to a halt.
"You're using too much strength, you've got to keep it in balance with magic. If you don't, you won't be able to stop smoothly."
"Geh," she spat and mumbled, "I'll balance you with magic."
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Back to work." She burst forward away from me.
"Carl you're slipping concentrate."
"Y-yes!" he was standing still while swinging his sword back and forth. It looked simple but he was actually charging and discharging mana into his blade in time with the swings.
"Hyah!" a blade swung towards me but it collided with my barrier and was reflected easily.
"Sayuri you're not focusing enough on dismantling the spell. Focus less on power and more on countering the magic itself."
She nodded and swung again but instead was pushed back from the rebound.
Ha ha, being in this type of position, it certainly had its charms. It was probably my Demon Lord side rising up again but it felt nice to hold power over them. The Knight Captain who should have been here was drinking tea in the distance, quite content to watch me lead the Heroes. Watching Sayuri continuously try to break my barrier was amusing so I decided to kick things up a notch. Nothing like some forced determination and enthusiasm to get their motors running.
"Sayuri you need to concentrate! Keep the flow of mana even."
"Yes!" her blade struck again but didn't stick.
"Not good enough! At this rate I'll have you go back to train with Carl."
"Hey!" Carl called sadly.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that," I added and he resumed his own training. "But still… strike like you mean it!"
"Yes!"
"Again! Don't hold back. Think of me like the enemy."
"Yes!" her katana chipped my barrier. Wow this was actually working.
"You've got to really want it! Don't strike at me, strike through me!"
"Yes!" the blade sunk in and sparks flew but it was repelled.
"You're almost there!"
"Yes!"
"I'm the Demon Lord and the only thing stopping you from getting home! Now strike me!"
Her katana glinted and an odd flow of mana warped around her blade. With this she really would pass through my barrier. A thought went through my head… it was time to play a joke. I put up my hand. Sayuri's katana split through my barrier as if it was nothing but water. Her brief joy however was replaced by shock as she couldn't stop her blade and it sliced through my wrist.
I knelt down in mock pain and held up my arm as my hand rolled to a stop. "Argh!"
Sayuri was at a loss for words as seconds passed and a silence spread from us. Finally it was broken as Sayuri rushed to me and began to panic. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! What, what no I didn't mean to. Dave I'm so sorry! I-," she refocused and tore some cloth from her clothes reaching to bandage my stump.
Carl was the first to arrive, "Dave, no! What do we do? Can we heal it? Gary hurry!"
Gary ran over with Alicia and began to panic as well, "I don't know how to heal an entire hand!"
"Should we get Master Heafest?" Alicia began to look around for help.
Sayuri was clinging to me with teary eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…."
…. I was starting to think I had taken this a little too far. I didn't mean for her to cry and everyone to freak out.
"No I'm fine," I said calmly
"Like hell you are!" Alicia snapped. "Captain come quickly!"
"Look, poof." My arm shimmered and the image of my hand came back as the one on the ground vanished. If they had looked at it normally they would have realised that my forearm was a bit too long.
"Eh?" They all froze.
"It was just a joke. You know haha. Okay that may have been in bad taste… Sayuri?"
She was stood up with a dark look in her eyes, "Don't you dare block this."
Slap! My entire head was twisted as the force shook through me. Honestly I could have stopped it but from her eyes it told me if I had it would have been a lot worse. It wasn't over however as she picked me off the ground.
"I was scared!" she started to shake me, "Don't ever do something like that again! I thought I just ruined your life!"
"No… having a hand cut off isn't so bad for a magician and it wasn't like we couldn't put it back on."
"That's not the point! Jokes and pranks are fine but don't go too far!"
"Ye-yes…."
She held me up to the others, "Anything to add?"
"No you said everything…. Sayuri maybe you should put him down," Carl said gently.
Finally noticing my half choked and dazed appearance she put me down. Guh, I thought I actually might die then. Put down your barriers for a few seconds and the Heroes try to take your life. Who's the Demon Lord now? Anyway, jokes aside I probably deserved that one.
"Sorry I went too far," I bowed in apology.
Sayuri huffed and turned away. Alicia and Carl gave a dry laugh but Gary took my arm.
"How did you do that with your hand?"
Truthfully I had actually let Sayuri cut off my hand so the sensation she felt through her katana was the real deal. In that instant however I had reattached it using magic and produced a copy of it and masked my real one with an illusion. I had the feeling if I told them that they would yell at me again so I just smiled dryly and said, "Magic."
The next day we were training again and although it took a bit difficulty and a melon I had managed to obtain Sayuri's forgiveness. The same as yesterday I was instructing the Heroes while the Knight Captain just watched again. I didn't really mind but didn't he have other work to do? Weren't the ambassadors arriving soon? Regardless I was really getting into the swing of an army instructor.
I felt a group of knights approach me. They were young and acting shy as they grew closer to me,
"Um Sir Hero," one of them eventually braved up.
"Davios is fine," I replied pleasantly smiling. I was tempted to scare them a little but after yesterday I was on a jokes band.
"Ah, Davios… if it's not too much of a problem may we watch you and the other Heroes train?"
I was surprised they had asked, many of the other Knights watched from afar but come to think of it none of them had ever come so close to us. It must be nerving to talk to the Heroes, I mean they were Heroes after all.
"I don't mind and I'm sure no one else does," I looked to the Heroes and they shook their heads although Sayuri shifted a little shyly. "But don't you all need to train yourselves?"
"Watching is more than enough for us!" another shouted.
"Hmmm, that's not good enough. How about you all join us?"
"J-Join the Heroes?"
"Of course, we've sparred with other Knights before."
"But they were all Seniors, were still new and-,"
"Say no more! If you're weak then that makes it all the important to train with us!" I gallantly struck a pose and the Knights' eyes lit up. "Now line up for inspection."
"Y-yes Sir!" they quickly formed a line in front of me. From behind I could tell the Knight Captain was watching amused. I began to touch their bodies lightly one by one. It wasn't much but it gave me a general feel about their combat prowess mainly concerning mana. To my surprise a few of them were actually female. Unlike Alicia and Sayuri who wore lighter equipment, because of their armour it was hard to tell from afar and their short haircuts didn't help.
"Hmm, you three train with Carl, he'll tell you what he's doing," I began sectioning them between the Heroes or telling them to do specific exercises I thought may help. They accepting my instructions enthusiastically. Before long more Knights began to come and ask to join and soon enough even the Senior Knights had come under my reign. Like this majority of the Knights in the training ground were under my command. This power, with this I could rule the Kingdom. Ha ha not really, I was just relieving pent up boredom.
An hour or so in there was a tap on my shoulder. Oops I was too distracted I hadn't even sensed his approach. It was an old man in armour that didn't match the others. It had metallic blue pieces and slimmer in design, behind him were knights wearing the same. The old man had an impressive aura and a magnificent moustache to match. His hair was greying but it only added to the look of experience he exhumed. Were these people in a different regiment? Regardless I wouldn't refuse anyone who came for my wisdom.
"You want to join us as well? In that case because you look capable spar with Sayuri and Alicia," I said easily.
"No we're…." his gaze shifted from me to Alicia and Sayuri who had peeked towards us, "actually I'll take you up on that offer." He walked to a clear space and waited as Alicia and Sayuri followed him after I nodded to them.
A certain Knight Captan who had been lazing around appeared next to me,
"Hey, Davios do you know who you just talked to?" he asked incredulously. The old man knight drew his sword and gestured for the two girls to come at him. The surrounding Knights stopped and began to watch apprehensively.
"Hmm isn't he one of your Knights. Though from what I could gather he's probably at least a Knight Captain like you right?" I said while Alicia and Sayuri began to psyche themselves.
"What no! He's the ambassadors from Allain. He's also a major pain."
"Allain…." From memory it was the major Kingdom southwest of Elsbeth that existed along the coast.
"Not only that but he's their Knight Commander. That man is a legend and people call him the human side's strongest warrior."
"Strongest…?" I watched Alicia and Sayuri charge. It was like he moved in slow motion, with a simple movement he completely removed Alicia's momentum, deflected her strike and threw her aside. Sayuri came in a blink after but her blade missed as it was guided by his hand and ploughed into the ground. This old man was good. The reason he looked like he was in slow motion wasn't because of his speed but the precision and smoothness of how he moved.
The Knight Captain sighed as Alicia and Sayuri were played with, "Yep... he's even fought against the Demon Lord before."
Oh? That guy's fought my father? That meant he had to be around eighty at least. Interesting.
"Gary, Carl stop what you're doing and join the fight," I commanded with a smirk.
"Ah sure," they were already watching it and joined in immediately. This would be good experience for them.
Ten minutes passed… then twenty… and finally thirty. They were really trying hard but the only reason they had lasted for so long was because their opponent was taking it easy. Kudos to their stamina though.
"Shouldn't you help them?" Captain Rafhound poked me. "You're a Hero as well."
"Shouldn't 'you' help them?" I turned the question back at him. "You're their mentor."
"... I don't think it works like that."
"If I join in I'm not sure I'll be able to hold back," I replied sadly.
"Ah, you have a point. I'd prefer the training grounds to remain in one piece. Or at least not be broken any more…." He stared melancholically at the torn up and cratered earth. The Heroes although still growing already had quite a bit of destructive power.
Suddenly the old man flashed away from Alicia and appeared in front of us.
"Yes?" I looked up at him calmly.
"You're a Hero as well? Shouldn't you be joining us?"
"Well, it's fun to watch and besides I think their reaching their limit now."
The old man laughed heartily. The Heroes behind him were looking desperate and breathing hard, barely holding their bodies up. "But you're still fresh."
"I nominate Captain Rafhound."
"What!?" the Captain let out.
"Oh Telius is that you?" the old man slapped the Captain fondly, "You've grown since I last saw you. I wouldn't mind going a round with you as well."
The Knight Captain showed his obvious displeasure, "No thank you, you old battle maniac."
"Ha ha, that's no way to treat your old teacher."
I eyed the pair curiously.
"You chucked me into a nest of monsters!"
"But you grew stronger." The old man grinned.
"I was twelve!"
"Look at you now though! A Knight Captain in Elsbeth, I really want to see how you've grown. If you're anything like your students this could be quite fun."
"I'd prefer to live today."
He laughed again, "You and your jokes. You Hero, you're a Magician right? Set us up a reality plane."
"Davios don't you dare."
"You've been lazy lately so I'll comply," I gave an evil smile.
"That's because you started to steal my job!"
"See ya."
The old man Knight Commander grabbed hold of Captain Rafhound and with a click of my fingers they vanished. The remaining Heroes and Knights stared at the blank space with mixed emotions. Because I had made the field I could see what was happening inside. While watching the Heroes approached me.
"That old man was insane!" Alicia complained. "If we tried to leave he'd target us."
"Not only that but he wouldn't stop smiling!" Gary shivered remembering his expression.
"I think my body's dead," Carl was leaning on his sword weakly.
"I did not enjoy that. Dave next time help us, don't just watch," Sayuri glared at me.
"Right, right." I waved it off.
"What's happening inside?" Gary asked after some silence.
"Hmm… it's incredible is what I'll say. I can't really describe it." It was a good thing that I didn't fight him. With a battle freak personality that old man might have forced my hand to shut him up.
After five minutes they exited the reality plane. The Knight Captain was beat up all over and his eyes were barely alive. On the other hand the Knight Commander from Allain was incredibly refreshed.
"That was fun, whose next?"
Everyone including his own Knights backed away. Unfortunately I did not, which let his eyes fall upon me with an expectant grin.
That night I returned home and appeared in my father's office.
"How's it going?" I greeted him.
"First, back so soon?" My father leaned back in his chair, "Everything is going well. Nothing to report."
"That's good. I was just curious about someone who I met today. Apparently he's fought you before."
"Really? There aren't many who can say that."
"Yeah his name was Polton Drake Verenbell, the human side's strongest warrior, ring a bell?"
To my surprise my father's expression morphed into displeasure. For someone who was usually so easy going and stoic it was rare to see such a reaction.
"So that man is still alive," he sighed, "I know him. He travelled with the Heroes as a companion. Although he wasn't a direct Hero he certainly had the skills of one. But his personality… he's normal till you try fight with him, then he becomes incisive. Again and again, no matter how many times I beat him away he always came back for more…."
"He's the ambassador for Allain. The Heroes and Elsbeth's Knight Captain experienced his… 'personality' today." Although for the Knight Captain it seems he already knew.
"You didn't fight with him did you?" my father asked sharply, oddly concerned.
"What, don't you think I could win?"
"Winning isn't the problem. I have no doubt that you could but if you fight him, you could say goodbye to playing Hero. He is not someone you can treat lightly."
"Ugh… that's a problem."
"You didn't…."
"I promised I'd fight him at the conference. Thus why I visited…."
My father looked wistfully out the window, "Your sister will be happy you're returning."
"Hey don't write me off so easily!" and with that… I may have put myself in a bind.