Fragments of the Past

"This is not even funny" muttered Tatsumi, dodging Tsubaki's attacks.

It had been almost two hours since the duel appointed by Sona began, and Tatsumi was left with only half of his shinai.

This cursed bamboo stick broke within five minutes, and it wasn't of much use anyway since Tatsumi couldn't strike Tsubaki as per the conditions of the duel. However, he got a full view of how one of the types of pole weapons fluttered in experienced hands.

"Only forty-five minutes left," announced Sona, looking at her watch.

"You seem delighted. Can't I hit back?" asked Tatsumi.

"No."

"Shame" Tatsumi sighed, blocking Tsubaki's attack with his left forearm while theatrically grimacing.

"Ouch. Shinra-senpai, is your naginata even made of wood?"

"Yes" Tsubaki replied, coming out of her trance. She had been using the bare minimum of her diabolical abilities for half an hour, but her opponent hadn't even noticed.

"That's odd. I thought it was a steel tube painted to look like wood" Tatsumi pondered, bouncing back.

"If you practiced kendo, you would know that shinai is not to be used as a club" scolded Muruyama.

"Shinra-senpai, we're rooting for you!"

"This is all because of you, Muruyama! It's your idea to drag me into your club!"

"It would be good for you."

"No, that's definitely a steel tube" Tatsumi said, blocking the naginata's blow with his hand.

"And I'm going to prove it now. Want to see some special street magic?"

Dodging another attack from Tsubaki, Alduin grabbed the naginata with his hand and pulled it towards him with such force that the weapon slipped from the girl's hand.

Discarding the useless piece, he quickly caught the naginata with both hands and broke it in half with a sharp motion.

"Zao-za!" exclaimed satisfied Alduin.

"Would you look at that, it really is made of wood!"

"Hyodo-san..." Sona sighed wearily.

"What? I suppose that's the finish?"

"Just go home..."

"With pleasure, Kaicho. Shinra-senpai, you were fantastic"

Alduin hurriedly said his goodbyes before anyone could snap out of their stupor.

Breaking a three-centimeter-thick piece of wood like it was a twig wasn't even the most impressive thing he had ever broken.

As Alduin approached the school gate, he met Issei, whose face expressed so much satisfaction that Alduin wanted to punch him.

However, when he noticed his brother's aura, which had darkened even more, his left hand began to emit a weak golden light.

"Are you okay?" Alduin asked. The darkening of the aura could only mean that his brother had sunk a little deeper into the mire of Daedra worship.

"Everything's just perfect" replied satisfied Issei.

"Let's go home then."

"Sorry, brother, I have some business to attend to."

As Alduin walked away, he finally noticed the massive packet in his brother's hands, filled to the brim with leaflets featuring some sort of drawing.

He took one and asked his brother.

"How long are you going to be out for?"

"Tell ma I have club activities."

"You'll have to sort that out yourself."

Leaving his brother to do his own thing, Alduin went back home and after dinner, began examining the flyer he had taken from Issei.

"Hmmm, the glyphs are clearly not Daedric, they resemble more Latin, but this sheet radiates a summoning spell-like magic. The central glyph is definitely not Latin. I'll have to do some googling."

After researching on Wikipedia, Alduin found a description of the interesting glyph that turned out to be the emblem of the demon Gremory from Ars Goetia. Upon reading this, Alduin immediately burned the flyer and began to ponder what to do about his brother.

He decided that he must first test his brother for any influence of illusion magic and then gather more information about the cult he's involved in before devising methods for intimidating or eliminating cultists. But that could wait, as Alduin still had plans to conquer Oblivion, Cairn of Souls, and Sovngarde.

Those Realms were what Alduin decided to focus on.

"Okay, it's settled. School is far away tomorrow, so I have two days to work on my plans."

Student council meeting at Kuoh Academy, in the evening.

"What do you think, Tsubaki?" Sona asked her queen after releasing the rest of the student council, and her servants.

"He's strong. Very much so" Tsubaki replied, examining the tables, where documents, on which the student council had been working, were arranged perfectly.

"He didn't even notice when I got carried away and weakened my control, ceasing to hold back my strength. That's a big accomplishment for a mere human."

"What's your assessment then?" Sona asked, leaning against the table, which, in the light of the setting sun, seemed golden.

"He's a warrior, capable of compensating for our lack of offensive power in any scenario, whether he's a pawn, rook, or knight."

"Invite him to the student council tomorrow" Sona ordered.