Chapter 176: Swordswoman

Giliath demands your power stones!

*

Several moments later, a cloaked figure, a silvery-white fox as well as a little girl spanning no more than five to seven inches tall soon become focused on eliminating several mushroom monsters that came out to greet them, only to fell them one by one. The biggest mushroom soon went poof, leaving behind different types of item drops.

Naoto first got a taste back with his father who saw the death of monsters for the first time. Aside from dropping different types of monster ingredients, he has yet to see monsters drop anything in regards to equipment or orbments. For monster parts though, they can easily be sold in marketplaces, and the Bracer Guild often asks as a good middleman while doing such business. But back then, that was also the first time him saw sepith drop. Each kind of monster drops different kinds of sepith, but it could be further refined into quartz.

Sepith isn't like Septium. Monster drops essentially skip the whole refining process of Septium, which is called Sepith. However, fighting monsters is a dangerous path. Not everyone can kill monsters. If you aren't part of a military, Jaeger corp, or Bracer Guild, one typically stays away from monsters, thus allowing no Sepith to be earned. They would have to resort to mining the resource directly from Zemuria's land, but only then would it pop out as Septium.

Still, the small group was happy seeing item drops coming from monsters after quickly slaying the several mushrooms around them. They decided to keep up the pace, making their way to the water source the little AI previously mentioned, which brought them to a more open space. But that also brought more danger, as they could see monsters further in the distance. Thankfully the cloaked figure had access to an inventory that he could store drops in, so they didn't have to waste time trying to store the drops somewhere.

With that mindset, the small group quickly continued their way beyond the small lake, staying out of sight as they ventured further to their destination. The Ebel Highway connected to one of the largest domains in Erebonia, the Arseid Viscounty. Legram was the capital city here, which housed the Arseid Family.

It was none other than the Arseid Family that Naoto currently had his destination set to, and they decided to use a good training period to grind some monsters along the way shortly after "vanishing" from his stay at St. Ursula.

Several hours later.

As the morning soon passed, deep fog began to spread throughout the Arseid Viscounty. However, despite having such fog spread around the entire state, its citizens didn't seem bothered by it, and proceeded to work about their daily jobs like normal, acting as if they had long gotten used to this type of fog.

Some days, it would turn into a heavier fog, obstructing vision to where one wouldn't even be able to see a few feet away from them. Yet on other day like this, visibility was still far, and I could see people working out on the streets. This phenomenon was one of the beauties that made the Arseid Viscounty so attractive, compared to the other Great Houses.

This place also held one key factor as well.

It was the home to Lianne Sandlot and the Eisenritter.

But on this particular day, the Viscounty seemed to be quite active, engaging in their daily operations. The same could be said to a particular person, as one sole figure could be seen on the outskirts of Legram. This figure often frequented this place during their training exercises, as it was the closest area to where monsters roamed. If one had a close look, this figure appeared to be a woman, who appeared similarly aged to Naoto, and also seemed to be twelve years old this year, just one year shy of Naoto who was thirteen.

She sported very long and wavy indigo hair, much like Ennea's but a bit darker. Her hair was quite long even despite being just twelve years old. They also had it tied into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in their way while they actively trained. Right now, she was currently in the depths of Ebel Highway, fighting off a group of rather two or three large monsters.

These monsters appeared to be very large rhinoceros-like creatures, sporting thick plated skin that acted as a defensive piece of armor that covered most of their skin.

This girl didn't seem to mind that, as she already began to leak her battle qi, wrapping herself in a blueish color. If it wasn't for the fact that this girl held a long giant two-handed sword in her hands, the monsters would have changed her right as she had come into distance with them. Seeing three large rhinoceros-like monsters, the girl had a smile creep on her lips as her eyes became determined.

"Come!", The girl shouted, brandishing her large two-handed sword in front of her.

The moment the girl shouted that, anger appeared in the eyes of the three large monsters, and they started to stomp the ground hard, letting out grunts as they did. One after another they began to charge, creating small quakes that shook the plants and trees around them. Seeing them turn angry, the other smaller monsters began to flee, scared. But seeing the three of them enter a charging stance, the girl kept calm, letting them dash her way.

Once she felt the battle qi reach a certain amount inside of her, the girl let out a yell, and slashed forward. She also entered a dash of her own.

With one large swing, the girl swung her sword down fiercely, striking the three large monsters at their vital points. As the girl swung, she quickly reappeared on the other side, squeezing herself in and avoiding the stampede of the three large monsters.

Right after she finished her swing, sounds of piercing flesh struck her ears, only to have blood spill out from them. The monsters let out a cry of anguish, only to poof shortly after, leaving the girl alone again.

"Phew.", The girl said, deactivating her battle qi, only to give a quick shake of her blade as some of the monsters' blood was spilt on it.

However, as the girl regained her composure, she soon heard the sound of hands clapping reach her ears, which caused her to look in a certain direction...

The girl didn't spot anyone at first, but she quickly scanned her surrounding, only to look up into a tree, only to spot a violet haired boy wearing a cloak over his body. The girl was able to see a sword hilt on his waist too.

"It seems it was unnecessary for me for me to join in.", I said, looking down at the blue haired girl who had some sweat on her face after she slashed those three rhino-like monsters. I smiled seeing that she took care of them quite effortlessly too.

"I didn't think this spot was taken.", The girl said as she took a breath to cool her battle qi down. "You weren't hunting these, were you?", The girl looked back at me, a bit worried.

"Nah.", I said, only to jump down from the branch. "That was a nice strike, by the way. As expected of someone from the Arseid School.", I said, still sporting a smile on my face. Yet as I saw that, the little tiny figure who was hiding behind my neck blinked her eyes seeing the blue haired girl.

"Could it be this is the one you are looking for, Master?", AI KeA said, hiding behind my neck. Seeing a little figure fly out beside me, the girl's eyed couldn't help but turn wide in shock seeing her fly down, only to spin around the blue haired girl a bit.

"What is this creature...?", The blue haired girl tried to ask, only to see AI KeA sniff the blue haired girl, ignoring her.

"She smells nice!", AI KeA happily responded, only to cause the blue haired girl more confusion.

"Don't bother her, KeA. Come back for now, okay?", I said, urging KeA to come back.

"Okay!", AI KeA happily responded, only to quickly vanish from sight, leaving the blue hair girl alone in her stupor. Seeing her act like this, I let out a laugh.

"Haha, sorry about that. KeA's just curious, that's all.", I said, only to snap the girl out of her shock.

"I see. Well, at leas the coast seems clear, for now. I was in the middle of training. I wish I could recognize who you are, but I don't think I've come across you. Did you happen to get lost on your way to the city?", The blue haired girl asked me.

"Oh I can make it to Legram just fine. In fact, I was searching for you actually.", I said.

"For me?", The girl asked with interest.

"Yes. Or to be more specific, your father. He extended his hand out to me once. I figured whether that offer still stood.", I said, revealing a smile, which only draw confusion in the girl's eyes.

"A person my father knows...", The girl uttered, wondering who this boy was now standing before her.

Of course, the boy he was referring to was the lord of this region, Viscount Arseid, who actively taught the Arseid style of swordsmanship.

And the girl who was currently before the boy, she was none other than the daughter of Viscount Arseid.

Laura Arseid, a current practitioner of the style her father trains in, and also one of the future members of Class VII.

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[Insert picture of Laura Arseid here]