Aside: Medic?
Carl:
"Argh!" I screamed and punched Lazly's shield. My sword had been disarmed by Anna's magic. Right now we were in combat. A full week had passed since we had begun training with the Generals. I had never been so frustrated in my life. Not for a bad reason but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't land a solid hit on the two of them. They were pretty nice women but they were brutal in a fight.
My fist hit the shield with a solid thud and waves of distorted light rippled between us. Something snapped in my shoulder but I managed to finally knock that shield away, revealing Lazly's surprised expression. My arm fell to my side oddly limp but I didn't mind it and went for a kick only for my leg to pulled up and thrown away. I hit the ground with a hard groan.
"Okay that's enough," Anna said. She approached me who was still lying on the ground breathing tiredly.
"I'm impressed," Lazly smirked. "To think you would be able to get through my defence so soon."
I stood up and winced at my arm, "It's you two who are strong. I can't believe we actually thought we would stand a chance against you all."
"How is your arm?" Anna looked at it with a deadpan expression. Her ability to express herself was quite blunt at best. Although she had been very forceful that I call her and Lazly by their first names, something that Alicia wasn't too happy with.
"I'm not sure," I tried to lift it but only felt a strange pain.
"Looks dislocated. I can't fix this," she shook her head. "You'll need to see Tiana."
"Tiana?"
"Demon Lord's doctor."
"I see… I'm sorry for ending our session short but I'll have to do that now."
"Not a problem," Lazly laughed, "I need time to fix my shield anyway. You put quite the dent in it."
"Oh sorry about that."
"No need to be sorry. I like men who can pack a strong punch," she smiled. "I used to think all you humans were weak. Your strength puts a lot of our men's to shame."
"Thank you," I said. It would have been pleasant but Alicia was glaring at me severely. Ha… apparently she could be the jealous type as well.
"Carl stop getting along with them so well," she blatantly yelled at me from across the courtyard.
"My, my, your jealous expression is as sweet as when you're angry," the voice came from General Ever-bell. It was a sweet and seductive sound but it was wasted on Alicia.
"Get away from me you creep!" she threw her fist out but missed. "Argh! Damn it, damn it, damn it!" She kept missing. We all had our own share of troubles. At first I was concerned about General Ever-bell being paired Alicia but it was clear she didn't appreciate his words. It was just too bad she let it out on me when we were alone….
Gary was having the worse time out of all of us. Whenever he tried to gather mana an arrow would disturb his concentration and soon after he would be forced to dodge as a giant great sword swung down at him. He had gained more scrapes and bruises this past week than our entire journey so far. Sayuri was, well she was having trouble but her steadfast determination pushed her onwards.
I left the courtyard and followed a butler as he guided me towards the clinic. Although we had been here for quite some time now, I still had no idea how to get around. The butler bowed and opened the clinic door and I walked straight in not expecting much but really by now I should be ready for anything. Three men stood shirtless with their heart stones in plain sight while a Horned tribe women wearing glasses inspected them. A young girl sat bored in the corner.
"Carl, what brings you here?" Dave asked me as I stared at him, his father and grandfather blankly.
"I dislocated my arm, but ah what are you doing?" I had to ask.
"We're having a check-up. Can't have any of us getting sick."
"Then why are you shirtless?"
"…," he was silent.
"What's the matter?"
"No I just realised how used to this I have become…."
I was still confused until the Horned tribe women turned to me. She was well proportioned and had purple hair but there was something about her eyes that sent a chill down my spine. "My name is Tiana, pleasure to meed you Hero. Now please take off your shirt and wait there."
"But it's just my arm," I said slowly.
"My clinic, my rules now strip."
I looked at Dave who sighed, "Just do it before she makes you take off your pants as well."
Slightly fearful of this supposed doctor I did as I was told, however I was having trouble only being able to use one arm.
"Here I'll help," a youthful voice exclaimed and I felt a tug as my shirt was lifted off.
"Thank you," I replied and looked down to see Dave's sister holding my shirt. Although we hadn't talked much I had seen her around a lot. Whenever we trained she would watch us intently from the side. Alicia asked her if she wanted to join once but Dave immediately said no. Still she had built a steady repertoire with Gary and the two got along well. Probably due to their mutually childish personalities.
"No problem," she smiled. "Hey Mister Hero, your name is Carlton right?"
"It is."
"Do you want to fight me?"
"Sorry what?"
Dave pulled her away from me, "Terra I told you not until later. Sorry Carl she's kind of a battle maniac, don't let her start with you or else she'll never stop."
"Okay…?" Dave's family was certainly interesting.
I felt a hand prod me in the side and I jumped reflexively. That would usually be enough to deter someone but then I felt the hand grip my arm and chest.
"Fine muscles indeed," Tiana smiled a little creepily. I didn't know what I was meant to do so I just stared at Dave for an answer.
"Just go with it, it ends sooner that way," it was his father who replied.
"Whoa!" I defensively moved my good arm as the hand moved down my stomach and towards my waist. "My arm, it's just my arm!"
"I know, I'm just inspecting the goods," she pinched me. Is this person really a doctor?
"Tiana you're scaring him," Dave's father gently moved her away. "Allow me." He took my shoulder and gripped it. A sharp pain cracked through my body.
"Ow-thanks," I groaned.
"Not a problem," he put back on his shirt and left the room with Dave's grandfather.
Dave also put on his shirt and whispered as he left, "Leave if you know what's good for you. She's the best doctor around but there's a reason no one else would hire her…."
Tiana looked at me expectantly, "Is there anything else I can help you with? Do you perhaps have a sore throat or maybe you'd like to enhance yourself?"
"Enhance?" I felt scared after Dave's words.
"Don't worry I'll sow you back up," she held a pair of scissors close to my body.
"No I'm fine," I grabbed my shirt and left the room.
She sighed disappointedly but chirped up again. "Okay Terraostra it's your turn," an overly happy voice proclaimed behind me.
"W-wait umm I'm fine, no need for a check-up haha…." There was a bang as I closed the door.
"If you move too much I can't take off your shirt."
"No please!"
I walked away with a silent prayer. Surely if Dave and his family hired her she couldn't be that bad right? On the way back I almost walked into Gary.
He pointed to his limp arm. "I did it as well," he laughed.
I patted him on the shoulder and kept walking, "Good luck."
"Good luck?"
Aside End:
Aside: Rival?
Davarious First Born Light of the Autumn Wind:
I watched the Heroes in the courtyard as they repeatedly challenged the Generals. Only a week had gone by but they had improved immensely. If you were to ask them however they'd say the opposite. For them the Generals were like a steel wall that continued to force them back again and again. From my seat on the sidelines however I already knew they would win. At the rate they were going the two weeks I set them may not even pass. Certainly the Heroes were a frightening force to reckon with.
"Where did Gary go?" I asked Alicia who was taking a much needed break. She looked incredibly tired, most of it mentally.
"He dislocated his arm and went to the clinic or something," she sighed. I looked in the direction of the clinic. Well he'd be fine. Tiana was a bit eccentric but she knew her craft better than any other doctor I knew. She did have certain lines she wouldn't cross and cared about her job here too much to ruin it. Although she may get a bit excited after inspecting a human male's body…. I remember when she first did a check-up on Lisanna almost nine years go. Lisanna still refuses to be alone with her.
"Hey Dave," Alicia began in scorn, "Can you do something about that stupid Fay?"
"The point is you do something yourself," I replied with a wry smile.
"I've tried! I can hit Sian if I try hard enough even when he flies away but that damn Fay is too slippery."
"You need to relax more. You're too tense when you fight, be calm and feel the flow of the fight instead of going against it all the time."
"Argh, that's what he keeps saying but all I want to do is shut him up!"
"As annoying as he can be, he really does know how to fight."
"How did you beat him?" she asked angrily.
"Hmmm, the first time I surrounded him with a stone wall then crushed it, but that's not your style. When it was all of them it was actually General Duebell who took him out after he tried to touch her in the midst of the fight."
"So he's always been a dirty crone." She looked at me with renewed passion, "By the way, why did you pair up Carl with those two? Just look at them getting all chatty with him."
Now Carl's arm was better he was taking pointers from the two Generals. They had a pleasantly soft atmosphere around them.
"You're not jealous are you?" I asked.
"No," she turned away with a huff, "but I don't like it when people try enter my territory."
"Don't be like that, besides they're both married."
"Oh really?" Alicia's expression took a 180.
"Yeah, General Fin's husband leads my research division."
"Hmm, it's better but I'm still not super okay with this."
"Just focus on your training…."
"Fine," she huffed and left her seat walking towards General Tallon and Ever-bell. Not even ten seconds later she threw a punch at General Ever-bell. It looked like it missed but I could tell it grazed his cheek.
I decided to check up on Sayuri and moved to another part of the courtyard. She was lying on the ground breathing hard. Her chest heaved up and down in an almost hypnotic rhythm… I snapped my eyes away. General Carter was leaning against a wall quite beaten up. It seems Sayuri had already surpassed him but Lana was firmly holding her spear completely untouched. She hadn't even taken Dragon form….
"My Lord," she greeted me with a neat bow.
"How's she doing?" I asked.
"She is very capable but not ready yet."
Sayuri hearing my voice started to rise.
"Don't ease up on her."
"Of course my Lord, however may I ask you a question?"
"Umm maybe not right now…." I replied fearfully as Sayuri walked towards us.
"Then apologies for speaking out of turn, but please marry me!" Ah she went and said it anyway.
Sayuri almost tripped in shock but quickly regained herself only to shout, "What!?"
"I have asked the Lord to marry me," Lana replied matter of factly.
"W-why?" Sayuri stuttered.
"Because I desire to be with him at all times."
I sighed, "Sayuri calm down." Her mouth was continuously opening and closing but unable to find the words she wanted. "Lana I've said no dozens of times now…."
"Hmmm is it my bod-"
"It's not your body!" I cut her off exasperated. I did not want to go through this again, especially in front of Sayuri.
"Then between the two of us who would you prefer?" she held onto Sayuri and faced her towards me.
"W-what kind of question is that?" I couldn't keep a straight face at Sayuri's expectant but blushing expression.
"M-my Lord?" Lana took a step back. "That reaction, it couldn't be…." She grabbed Sayuri's shoulders. "This girl?"
"Wait, don't jump to conclusions," I tried to stop her but she continued to ramble.
"I see so this is what the Lord likes. Delicate yet strong." She poked Sayuri's body causing her to squeal. "Supple skin with firm muscle. A pleasant smell despite the sweat. Hmmm however my chest is larger than hers." Jeez not that again.
"D-Dave what is General Dragonmaw on about?" Sayuri was becoming increasing flustered as Lana stared intently at the details of her body.
"Please call me Lana," she said strongly.
"Umm okay but why now?" Sayuri asked oddly happy about being able to call her by her first name.
"If you are able to court the Lord then I shall be the Mistress. I would like to attain a favourable disposition with you at this time."
I face palmed myself and hid my expression.
"W-what? I- I-, I don't feel, I mean no- but really...." Sayuri couldn't keep her mind straight.
"Until then however you are my rival. Let us fight once more."
"O-okay?" she was dragged off.
I don't know what to think anymore…. A hand tapped me on the shoulder,
"It is alright my Lord," General Carter smiled. "You are young and should be happy to have such fine ladies after your hand."
I sighed. All my subordinates weren't normal I swear. Or worse, it could be me for having them….
Aside End:
Two weeks passed since the Heroes and my Generals first started training together. As expected of the Heroes they had all grown incredibly quickly. Carl eventually managed to beat back the strong defences of General Fin and Duebell. He had been smacked up pretty bad for it but came out the victor. Gary's challenge was harder but after almost two weeks of getting nowhere he finally broke through and was able to simultaneously cast offensive and defensive magic together. Once he did, the tides were quickly turned as he subdued General Grim-tooth. Marker's father put up a strong fight but eventually gave in as he ran out of arrows and became surrounded by Gary's army of spears. Alicia, well she suffered the most initially but at the end she was having a little too much fun. Her movements had become more agile and her ability to predict and track her opponents became outstanding enough to even hit General Ever-bell majority of the time. Although the General had given up, it became a game of cat and mouse as Alicia didn't let him rest for tormenting her and continued to pummel him till she was satisfied.
The only pair that were still going were Sayuri and Lana. General Carter had been knocked out pretty early in their fights to the point he no longer bothered participating. Of course if he were in the water he would have the dominate power. Lana and Sayuri stood apart from each other breathing raggedly with their weapons poised at each other's throats. The rate at which Sayuri had adjusted to fighting Lana was frightening and she could no longer hold anything back. A red glow covered her body and her wings were significantly larger. Due to a certain defect Lana could not turn any more into a dragon than her usual appearance. However she could still tap into the raw strength given to those in Dragon form. It was a benefit just as much as it was a curse.
Waves of energy burst through the courtyard as the two continued to collide with each other. The other Generals and Heroes attention were quickly drawn to the fight.
"I am pleased Sayuri!" Lana exclaimed with a strained smile as they almost butted heads. "Like this I have no qualms of you being together with the Lord."
"W-what?" Sayuri's strength weakened for a split second and Lana immediately took the opportunity shoving Sayuri across the ground. How crafty of her….
Sayuri managed to stay on her knees as the earth was gouged apart. Due to the nature of the Castle we couldn't set up a reality plane but our grounds keepers were highly attuned with repairing it. Still I could see their displeasure as the dirt and grass was being upheaved in great quantities.
"Unfortunately you are still not enough for me and as such it is you who will take the position of mistress," Lana huffed proudly. I sighed from a distance. The others could hear her delusions and would surely misunderstand.
"You," Sayuri was on the verge of exhaustion but stood up again. It may have been her current state and the adrenalin rushing through her body but no one expected what she said next, "You! No! I will not give Dave to you! He's- he's mine!"
I almost spat out my drink in surprise. What did she just say? My face was heating up. No, she probably just meant it in a companion type matter and was caught up in Lana's pace. I would not be the one to misunderstand her intentions.
Sayuri charged forwards with a yell. Lana flapped her wings powerfully and pushed forwards. Just before they clashed, Sayuri vanished and appeared behind Lana. It wasn't enough however as Lana rolled forwards and used her tail to spring back and push Sayuri away. Instead of retreating Sayuri dug her heels into the ground and an intense mana flowed into her body as the pair grated their weapons against each other. Pulling out was no longer an option. The accumulated mana was too concentrated and would tear through whoever gave way first. For several seconds the struggle continued and bursts of lightning discharged into the ground around them. Just in case I set up a barrier behind the two of them.
Sayuri was at a disadvantage in terms of strength and it soon became apparent as millimetre by millimetre her sword was pushed closer against her. Finally the energy burst in an enormous clap of power. For a moment I thought she'd lost and prepared to catch her but instead her eyes lit up and a yell threw itself from her lips. She gathered the energy back towards her and rotated her body, spinning it back from the momentum of the burst. Her sword came around and collided with Lana's spear discharging the pent up force. A tremendous explosion of light and sound coursed through the courtyard as both sides were thrown apart.
The chaos was contained by my barrier and when the dust finally settled both were barely standing, leaning on their weapons for support. Sayuri fell to her knees but didn't drop her determined glare.
Lana coughed, "Well done," and fell to the ground.
A brief time of silence passed as everyone gathered what just happened. The other Heroes burst into a cheer and ran to Sayuri. Alicia was jumping around her excited while Carl and Gary couldn't stop commending her. The Generals saw to Lana with wry smiles. They had all been defeated and surpassed by the Heroes but they were not ashamed, instead I knew they felt a begrudging pride in helping them grow. Even General Grim-tooth and General Fallon who were most against humanity had to smile.
With Sayuri's battle over, I chose to save my congratulations for later. The Heroes were getting more powerful day by day but none of us were truly ready for what was to come. I headed to Warten's laboratory instead. As I entered Warten was surrounded by his assistants, they scattered away as they saw me.
"First," Warten greeted me with a slight bow.
"What have you got for me?" I asked getting immediately to the point.
"We've just finished analysing the notes from the Mil Kingdom and have confirmed several things. It is as you suspected, when you entered the sealed laboratory a small trace of mana was released. Its purpose was to enrage the Monster so it would repel any intruders, however as it was sealed the rage was subdued but it took a toll on the seal itself."
"Have you found a clear time when it might collapse?"
Warten looked at me painfully, "We have at least one month left but I suggest any actions should be taken in no more than three weeks else it may break on its own."
Three weeks… I internally cried. Just how much could we do in three weeks?
"The good news is," Warten smiled, "we have found a way to deal with its armour."
"Really?" I became excited. The Monster's armour was the major reason why it was so hard to deal with. It was able to destabilize mana that drew near it and had incredible resistant to physical attacks making the Monster near invincible.
"Yes, although the way to make the material no longer exists we have discovered its flaw. Although the armour can cause magic to collapse it does so by absorbing and discharging the energy. Meaning we could in theory cause it to break apart by hitting it with a huge amount of energy in a short period of time. And we just so happen to have the perfect weapon for that." Warten grinned and gestured to the cannon parked at the back of the room. It had been our combined idea after my mother's death and was supposed to be used for the next generation.
"Does it work?" I asked cautiously.
"It should... however we'll only get one shot. It takes far too long to reload as the battery efficiency is terrible. But the biggest flaw is that we won't be able to take it into the mountain. We'll need to shoot it from outside."
I grit my teeth. It would be best if we shot the Monster as soon as we dropped the inner seal but if the cannon entered it would malfunction due to the seals nature. The Monster laid dormant in a cavern at the Mountains depths. A large and long tunnel led to it from midway up the mountain. We couldn't change the terrain either in case of breaking the seal early. Which left the best option to luring the Monster to the large cavern at the entrance and firing at it from a distance. However that would require us to be able to restrain it there and survive long enough….
"Thank you Warten. Continue your investigation and make sure the cannon is ready in three weeks. I don't want to die because it jammed on the day."
"Yes my Lord."
After leaving the laboratory I crashed into the Heroes in the corridor. They were staring at the paintings on the wall.
"Oh Dave there you are," Gary smiled noticing me first. "We've all done it. Beat your Generals fair and square."
"I noticed. You all did marvellously," I replied encouragingly.
Alicia jumped at Sayuri, "What about Sayuri? Did you see her last fight, it was pretty incredible. You know she did it for you."
"Alicia it's not like that," Sayuri blushed hard. See, if I had misunderstood her before it would have been a terrible embarrassment.
"I saw it. Sayuri you were beyond amazing. Lana is the strongest of my Generals and can fight several of them at once." Though it really depended on the combination.
"How about you give her a special reward then?" Carl insisted after Alicia 'sneakily' elbowed him.
"What would you like?" I asked with a gentle smile.
She opened her mouth but Alicia was the one who answered, "A kiss!" These girls were being influenced by Lana….
"Sayuri ignore Alicia, you deserve something 'you' want."
She couldn't handle the other Heroes staring at her so strongly, "C-can I think about it?"
"Sure, but don't take too long. You all still have a lot of training left to do." They groaned as one.
"Let's not talk about training for now," Carl coughed. "Dave we were wondering who these paintings are of? At first we though they were the Demon Lords but some of them aren't High Demons."
"You're close but not quite," I took them to the first painting and we began to walk down the corridor. "These are my family who have sacrificed their life fighting or in order to seal the Monster. The first was the first Demon Lord's brother. The second was his wife and the third was himself. From there it goes on as we continued to fail to destroy the Monster each and every time. Sometimes only one life was lost, other times many. No Demon Lord or family member has died for any other reason."
"Even against the Heroes?" Gary asked.
"Nope, the Heroes certainly did a number on the Demon Lords and many were permanently injured however we have the duty to only die in one place." I continued to lead them till the end of the corridor where our throne room resided. Just outside its doors was the painting of a human women smiling majestically. It was a smile that radiated the sun.
"That's your mother isn't it?" Sayuri asked gently.
"Yes it is," I touched the painting filled with a melancholic reminiscence.
"You have the same eyes," Sayuri looked between us and smiled.
"Can I ask how she met your father?" Alicia perked in curiosity. "It must be some story."
"We first met when she was eight," almost out of nowhere my father appeared with a soft smile. The Heroes were startled but didn't say anything. "It was back when the Heroes and I fought. She was caught up in the conflict and I rescued her. The Heroes of the last generation did not care so much for life human or demon. Unlike the Heroes of now of course."
"So did you raise her then marry her?" Gary asked.
"Of course not," my father laughed. "I would have raised her like a daughter. Back then I was not too much older than First. No, the next time we met she was already a fine women. Although I did not remember our first encounter. For her it was a life changing moment. She was a citizen of the Klerical Kingdom and a slave. My rescuing her also freed her. It wasn't till thirty years ago when I saw her again. She had joined a group of thieves that lived along the border. Although they were thieves they were the noble kind and most importantly there were both human and demons in their ranks. A group like that interested me and I sought them out."
"And then?" Alicia encouraged him to go on.
"Well they tried to kill me in their panic. I did appear very suddenly. My wife she actually managed to wound me, something that surprised me to no end at the time. Even the Heroes struggled to do such a feat." My father pulled down his shirt to reveal a scar just below his neck. "In doing so she recognised me and since then pursued me quite endlessly." He smiled fondly, "She kept apologising then thanking me and then asking me to marry her out of nowhere only to apologise again for asking so suddenly. She was a lively women and soon she won my love. From there we lived happily… that is until it came our turn once again to fight that Monster. Before any of us could stop her she gave her life so that we could live on."
The Heroes visibly saddened and a spark of anger lit inside them. It was an anger born from kindness unlike the one inside me.
"What was her name?" Sayuri asked.
"Theresa," the way my father said it, there was a longing in his voice.
"But what about there?" Alicia pointed to the empty space opposite my mother's. "There's only one space left."
"The corridor will continue to grow if we fail," I began and then smiled, "However with your help I plan to leave it blank."
"Of course!" Carl grabbed on to my arm. "We'll do anything."
"Really now?" I smirked evilly and led the Heroes back to the courtyard which had just been repaired. They looked at me expectantly. It was time I started to train with them directly. I surged my mana out of my body and concentrated it into a small sparkling orb of light. My body felt incredibly weakened but as I ate the orb, it lit with an immense power.
"Umm Dave what are you doing?" Alicia asked.
Sayuri took a step back as she had seen it before, "You don't mean…."
"It's time we did more focused training," I flexed my arm and a shockwave of power burst out. The Heroes eyes widened. "The Monster cannot use magic. It's exceptionally fast and its strength is beyond incredible. As such your task for now is to survive until my magic falls apart while remaining in the courtyard."
"Wait so we're going to fight you?" Gary edged away.
"Don't worry I can only last just over an hour like this."
"Can we have a moment before we start?" Carl put his hands up.
"No," I grinned and dashed in front of him. He managed throw up his guard as I flicked him. An intense groan left his lips as he was forced back several metres, tearing the ground as he did so.
"What the heck was that!?" he looked at me shocked.
"You have got to be joking," Gary stared at me with wide eyes. "You're meant to be the weak magician. That's your character, don't go suddenly change!"
I cracked my neck. Although I was actually more capable using magic, fighting like this always held a certain charm. "Ever since my father discovered I could do this he drilled into me every form of fighting he knew. Why else did you think I could instruct you so well?" I took a stance. "Prepare yourself, for the next hour you'll be at my mercy."