8 Ghost 物語

Chapter 9

Sahara, Kiba, and Hana were walking in a row in the rear of the column of adventurers. Sisila was sitting with the commanding units in a large carriage in the wagon formation behind the column of adventurers. Sisila had taken on the role of advisor for this mission. Hana looked at the green armband on Sahara, and let out a short laugh.

"Oh?" Asked Sahara

"It's nothing seeing you with a rookie armband is just funny to me."

"Ah yes let's try to avoid revealing too much power ok? We don't want to be too suspicious."

Before they left Kiba summoned Rubarow who told him his overall rank was three and that he boosted many more skills. She advised him to activate a dormant skill in the Book of the Living Art called "Instinct" this was an extremely beneficial skill that allowed Kiba the ability to command more spells and arts he might not know of or read about. The downside is that Kiba cannot use it intentionally. Rubarow then gave him a list of magic he could use to study while traveling. Kiba was examining this list as they slowly made their way to Prisma.

Divine Opus - Novice rank 1

useful skills: Advanced Restoration, resistance to Light Magic

Useful spells: Healing Rain - wide area heal, Brilliance - wide area light magic

Demonica - Novice Rank 2

Useful skill: Transformation, resistance to black magic

Useful spell: Demonica - demon infused performance

Magnus Mage: Intermediate Rank 1

Useful Skill: All Elementals Achieved

Useful spell: Fused Blast - attack spell using all element, Earth Wall - ten meter by ten meter hard earth manipulation, Napalm- advanced mid range area fire attack spell

Necro: Novice Rank 3

Useful skill: Undead fear reduction

Useful Spell: Ally of the Dead - boost allies with undead magic, create undead - summon low level undead

Ghost Monogatari: Intermediate Rank 3

Useful skill: Ghost Admiral, Foresight

Useful spell: Summon Ghost Armada - Advanced Ghost Summon

Book of the Living Arts: Intermediate Rank 1

Useful skill: instinct - ability to use skill/ spells subconsciously, Harden, martial arts

Useful Spell: Advance antidote, Sword dance, Acceleration

Tenshi Level 3

Special skill: Second Wind - special skill that activates when health and Vis are extremely low

Special spell: Crystal Vanishing -Supreme wide area attack spell (one use per week)

"All the Grimoires are now past the beginner level," Rubarow said to him before he left. Kiba was still nervous about this mission, but he knew that with the help of his friends it would be alright. He looked at the seven hundred and fifty adventurers that marched like an non-uniformed military battalion in front of him and walked on.

The weather was overcast and then quickly turned into a storm, which slowed the travel down drastically. Kiba was annoyed the worst part about traveling was getting soaked. Luckily he knew enough healing magic to avoid developing rashes and infections, but once your equipment is wet it becomes heavier and hard to dry. Using magic to dry things is more difficult than one would think, because it has to be a constant low powered spell. There were specialists who could use a spell specifically for drying but it was rare.

"Well it could be worse."

Chapter 10

The rain had stopped and night was falling. Camp had been set up and people were resting and discussing the coming battle. Suddenly a group of three people riding horses appeared. The were messengers here to relay the current events at the battlefield.

Kiba, Hana, and Sahara sat quietly sharing a loaf of bread and some carrots. They had already ate some rabbit meat earlier. Sahara watched the messengers enter the large carriage that held the Leaders of the mission.

"Aaahhh I wish I had some charred orc to eat… rabbit just doesn't cut it." Hana sighed.

"We are about to get a briefing, things have changed since we got our last one before we left." Sahara said.

Kiba looked up and saw a concerned look on Sensei's face.

Two orange ranked adventurers near them overheard them, and called out, "Hey rookie are you are scared?" The adventurers were fairly big and wore similar armor. One had a facial scar and long brown hair. He was equipped with a mace. The other was bald and had a broadsword. he was trying to taunt, but Sahara calm said, "No I will be fine, but if I were you I wouldn't take this so lightly."

The two adventurers laughed, "ok big shot, two thousand undead are a piece of cake. There are five thousand soldiers at the fort by the time we get there it will be over. In fact that's what the messengers are telling them now!"

"Watch your tongue filth," shouted Hana as she stood up. Sahara pulled her back down.

The adventurers laughed again, "good thing he has that bitch on a tight leash." The stood up and decided to press on with the taunting since Sahara was shying Hana away from a conflict.

"Hey bitch are you wearing those wraps to hide your disgusting appearance?" The man who was doing most the talking was the one with a facial scar.

"Hey lady why don't you join us, you may be ugly but you seem to have a nice body."

The scarred man stopped as he noticed a boy standing in front of him. "Oh you gonna fight instead of your cowardly master?" He chided.

Kiba looked him dead in the eye and shouted, "APOLOGIZE!"

As he shouted he punched the rude man in the abdomen.

The fist sunk straight in causing his fist to push his abdomen back until it touched his spine. The man's face contorted and his eye bulged out. He started to vomit as his vision faded to black. "Is this the end?" He muttered as his legs buckled.

A few moments later the man was awake being healed by the boy. "W-what?" He groaned. The boy smile sheepishly, "ah I punched you a little too hard… I tried to hold back."

"Aaaagh." The man groaned

"You still need to apologize to Mimi."

The scar faced man sat up with a wince, "Sorry mam, I went too far."

Hana pouted, "you were really mean."

"Ahhh i have no excuse, but I was taking my frustrations out on you. You see you are green ranked, but you haven't done any of the mule work I had to do as an orange rank."

"sorry mam," the bald man said as well

"It's fine just let this be a lesson." Hana said dismissing them.

As soon as she said that the rally bell rang.

Chapter 11

Everyone quickly rallied up to where the leaders were. There were three people considered leaders, a middle aged man with white Adami plate armor and he had blonde hair with one long braid on the side. He was Commander Honomoko. To his left was a cloaked Mage who looked fairly old. He was Head Priest Kano. Lastly was Advisor Sisila who was wearing a very revealing set of plate armor that mostly covered her private areas. She also wore a full head mask like Sahara's V mask. The major difference it had an ox face carved in the front and had two spots where her horns could go through.

"Listen up," the commander bellowed "We will be arriving at the battlegrounds tomorrow. What we thought was going to be an easy undead subjugation has turned for the worse. Prisma is at serious risk of falling now. The number of enemy combatants has increased to ten thousand."

Concerned murmuring began rippling through the ranks.

"As of right now there are 10000 undead ranging from zombies to liches in strength. 2000 orcs, 1400 goblins, 500 dire wolves, 500 lizardmen, 200 harpies, 200 slimes, 5 behemoths, and 2 dragons."

The murmuring turned into full scale panic.

"We have been officially conscripted by the King anyone who flees will be arrested and executed! The King has already dispatched 10000 more soldiers and they will arrive one day after us. So we just need to hold out for one day with these terrible odds. Let's show these enemies why we are call the Gashi Guild the Monster Crushers!"

A battle cry rang out from the seven hundred and fifty adventurers as they prepared to march. Hana and Sahara equipped themselves with Saga style combat gear that was not like plate armor. This combat gear was made of magic fabric called Kevlara. In the gear you can slid small formed pieces of metal to reinforce it. This was a Saga secret and is considered the most mobile and advanced combat gear on the continent. This means they hid it under their Mage robes. Kiba was offered one but refused. "I prefer the gi and my robe!" He said. "Plus I can harden my body with my skills." Kiba fastened his sword to hang behind him as said, "Ready."

Sahara nodded as he was prepared too. Hana put on her large Mage hat that boosted her Vis output and grabbed her "Staff of Crooked Yew." This staff was Hana's most prized possession and only equipped it during battle. They all looked at each other and smiled.

"Let's show them how it's done!" Sahara said with a thumbs up.

Chapter 12

The sky was blackened by smoke as the adventurers made their entrance into Prisma. Prisma had been evacuated and all that was let were empty buildings with soldiers and support unit running around. The Fort city was standing strong and was not surrounded due to the expansive border wall going far as the eye could see.

The situation was not good the troops protecting the fort and walls were spread thin as enemy forces had split into three legions. They were trying to overwhelm the defense through a major assault on the fort while heavily assaulting the walls to the east and west of the fort. "Their objective obviously is to break through and flank the remaining soldiers." Said the commander so we will split into three groups. "Two hundred for each side and three hundred and fifty for each side."

The commanders for the adventurers and the King's army had already had the seven hundred and fifty adventurers organized by their parties and began placing them where they could fit best. Only Sahara, Hana, and Kiba were unassigned to a wing. This was because they were not an official party. Sisila was sent over to decide what they would do.

Sisila asked Sahara, "what would you like to do Tosu?"

"I would like Hana to take the west wall, Kiba go to the Fort, and I will take the east."

Hana and Kiba looked slightly concerned.

"Are sure you want to split?"

"Yes they did not get much training on the way here because of some Ogre Lord's mercenaries subjugation of the violent Demi-humans."

Hana sighed a little and said, "that's true, and I want see how strong I am alone. How bout you Kiba?"

Kiba nodded his head aggressively he was trembling with excitement.

"That's the spirit!" Sisila laughed.

Chapter 13

Kiba walked across a large drawbridge that lead to the fort with the other adventurers. Most of the adventurers were orange and green. There were several red and a few blacks. In the front were three Adami ranked who wore a scarlet and black arm bands. When they entered the Fort the stench of blood and decay was filling the room. It was especially potent due it being the hottest time of the year. The were wails and screams coming from all directions slightly overwhelming Kiba. He was getting a bit flustered, and one adventurer with a red armband asked if he was ok.

"Yes," Kiba nodded at the woman who looked at him protectively.

"Stay in the back and help with support, ok?" she told him

Kiba had no intentions of staying behind, but he agreed anyway.

The scene was bad there were too many hurt and injured troops easily three hundred in this area alone.

Kiba remembered he had a wide area healing spell he learned a while back called "Healing Rain." He clasped his hands together where all his fingers on his left hand were set in between the index finger and thumb of his right. Both index fingers were sticking out as he said, "Healing Rain" under his breath.

A light green mist cascaded down onto the fort. The adventurers failed to notice it as first but the mist became more and dense until it was like rain. They began to panic as they thought it was a magic assault by the enemy. It was not until they noticed their wounds were healing that they realized it was not an assault.

"Listen up, I am Fusho I am the commander of this wing." Shouted one of Adami ranked adventurers. He had very spiky red hair and wore red guards and leather armor. He held a massive two handed sword that had been enhanced by magic as well as enchanted. "Do not release wide area magic without getting acknowledgement from a leader which will be any CO of the Kings military, the priests, or black/Adami ranked adventurers. Now we need to get to the ramparts and stop the enemy attack!"

Kiba was acting inconspicuously as he notice one of Adami ranked adventurers was staring at him with and expressionless gaze. Kiba saw that it was a girl not much older than himself maybe sixteen or seventeen. She did not wear any armor except for two oversized Adami gauntlets and two massive Adami boots. Both sets were polished white with blood red spikes. She wore wraps around her chest and waist under a hooded silk dress that was split down the sides. Kiba recognized that appearance from on of his Sensei's lessons, she was a Four Fold combat specialist. These were people who were experts at martial arts dealing with the fists and feet. Her stares reminded him of Yuko back at Edelweiss but even more blank. Personally he didn't care if she knew it was him who casted the healing spell, so he gave her a toothy grin. This made her cock her head like an animal trying to hear. "Yup just like Yuko," Kiba thought.

The other Adami was what was called a tank. He wore black and gold heavy plate armor and carried two massive battle axes in each hand. Kiba could tell what he looked like other than big and strong.

Fusho shouted, "Ok everyone follow me unless you are a healing specialist or a support unit."

Kiba was astonished at the scene on the ramparts. Black smoke clouded the sky as soldier scrambled around fighting monsters that managed to scale the wall. There were large spear like arrows flying over the walls one soldier got hit in the head which caused an explosion of brain and skull to shower the stone wall way they were heading down. Everyone was crouching slightly as they got to the besieged wall except for Kiba who walked calmly like normal.

The leader Fusho turned and addressed the men, "Ok close combat specialists fight any monsters that you see on the ramparts, ranged specialist make sure you are constantly suppressing the enemy with arrows and magic. Green arm band make sure everyone has supplies and assist anyone who need help….."

Fusho's commands trailed off as he watched Kiba stroll casually by him without a care.

"Hey kid what are you doing?" He shouted but Kiba kept walking. When he got to the besieged side of the fort he looked out over the sea of monsters. There were easily double the amount of enemies than was reported. Kiba said, "analysis!" A voice in his head which sounded like Rubarow said, "Three Columns: Direct Opposition: Central Column: 9789 zombies, 6954 standard skeletons, 3579 goblins, 5437 orcs, 984 evil aligned dire wolfmen, 834 skeleton archers, 607 skeletal knights, 489 evil aligned lizardmen, 152 demon harpies, 200 toxic variant slime, 5 skeletal dragons, and 5 Hebi Behemoths."

Chapter 14

Fusho Manchi was a magic sword man who had been in countless battles. He had seen every monster in the book and lived to tell the tell. He could take on hundreds of enemies at a time, this is why he was a Adami ranked Adventurer. He was nominated to lead this vanguard because of his reputation as a level headed and successful warrior. He was being briefed by one of the Captains while he led his wing of three hundred and fifty adventurers. "This is not a good situation," he thought as he heard that the enemy was doubled from the messengers report. "We are in big trouble, but with Lala and Tora we should be able to hold out." He thought as he looked at the other two Adami ranked adventurers. "Captain send a messenger to the King and request more troops, do it by bird so it gets there much quicker."

"Yes sir Blessings be upon you!"

Fusho was returning the pleasantries when he noticed a strange mist which made him clutch his sword. He knew had seen this somewhere before. He noticed a wounded man to the right of him say "my injury it's gone!"

"That's right!" He thought "it's that healing spell the geezer Kano uses, but he isn't here… did someone?" He noticed Lala was staring at a greenie who was holding his hands in an awkward position. "Was it him ? Nevermind we need to move!" He thought.

"Listen up, I am Fusho I am the commander of this wing. Do not release wide area magic without getting acknowledgement from a leader which will be any CO of the Kings military, the priests, or black/Adami ranked adventurers. Now we need to get to the ramparts and stop the enemy attack!

Ok everyone follow me unless you are a healing specialist or a support unit." Fusho shouted as he led the adventurers to the ramparts. "Yup this is bad," thought Fusho as he saw a soldier's head explode from a javelin arrow. The sky is blacken from all the smoke and the enemy is like a sea crashing into the walls. "At least we have some serious high ground." Fusho studied the area quickly. This side of the border wall and fort rested on a ten meter embankment so the task of breaking through will be much harder.

"Ok let's do this," Fusho steeled himself. He turned to his crouched subordinates

"Ok close combat specialists fight any monsters that you see on the ramparts, ranged specialist make sure you are constantly suppressing the enemy with arrows and magic. Green arm band make sure everyone has supplies and assist anyone who need help….." Fusho let his voice trail off as he watched that greenie from earlier walk right by him. He had seen several of the newbie adventurers get sick in the face of this battle but this kid seemed like he lost his mind.

"Hey Kid what are you doing?" He called out to the boy who was muttering to himself and climbing the raised brickwork to get to the ledge. Fusho started after the Greenie because he saw projectiles flying toward the kid. He froze when he witness the boy's skin begin to show tattooed like glyphs all over his face and arms. "Brilliance," the boy shouted with a raised hand. Suddenly the blackened sky is split apart by a divine light which slices through a significant portion of the enemy's army. Those in the path of the light's beam evaporated immediately and those evil aligned monsters near the beam take indirect damage. Howls and screams can be heard from the beyond the wall.

Fusho was watching with his mouth open…. "Impossible," he said to Lala and Tora, "That's Adami ranked magic casting."

"Super Shocking," Lala said without conveying any emotion.

"Impressive," Tora grunted.

If that was not shocking enough Foshu was dumbfounded by what happened next.

"Hey that crazy kid just jumped off!" One of the soldiers shouted.

Indeed Kiba was no longer on the ledge.

Chapter 15

Kiba was coming up with a short plan as he fell feet first toward the ground. He decided to jump off for a few different reasons. The first being he noticed that the behemoths were digging into the embankment to destabilize the fort walls. The second being he could not stop the monsters easily at the wall without destroying parts of it so it would be easier if he tanked the enemy causing a massive distraction. Lastly he had been unable to go all out since that time he fought the Behemoth months ago. "Having tons of time to talk to two Saga military officer sure does have it's advantages." Kiba contemplated as he slammed into the ground causing the earth to crater underneath. Kiba immediately put his hands to the ground as he landed. An earth wall shot up in front of him knocking the enemies that were swarming him to get launched into the air. As the wall was formed he pulled out sword which was similar to a katana but instead of a hide handle on the tang the tang itself was the hilt. He swept with the sword slicing through the zombies, and knocking back the skeletons. Skeletons had a resistance to slashing and stabbing. Thanks to Kiba's skills and training he was highly proficient at moving quickly to avoid being swarmed. He countered a skeleton here dodged a zombie there all while slicing with his sword. He moved like a fluid he would jump up and kick off the skeletons' skulls then cut a zombie in half. As the swarm became quicker and more thick he altered his strategy. He would cast fireball and blow skeletons and zombies apart then jump in the middle of the cleared zone and repeat the process. However the enemy's numbers were stifling and Kiba was losing ground as the whole enemy unit began to get drawn in. Kiba who had not gotten serious.

"This is more fun than I thought it would be!" Kiba shouted with excitement. "Now would be a good time to try one of my new spell."

As Kiba said that, the ground shook causing him to turn. Suddenly someone shouted, "Blade Ripper!"

Guts, bones, and flesh exploded in to sky as a black light parted the enemy forces. Kiba looked over to where the light came from. It was that Adami ranked warrior with the giant two handed sword.

The other two Adami ranked adventurers were behind him. The girl that was staring at him earlier had yellow glowing auras around her hands and feet. The was moving extremely fast smashing her fists through the enemy. She would punch a skeleton, it would explode from the impact, and be launched into the hordes like a cannonball.

The big guy with the black and gold armor was also smashing through the enemy with his battle axes his swings were so massive it would take multiple opponents down with one swing.

"Wow!" Thought Kiba as he used a fireball to create space.

"Hey you little shit do you have no respect?" Yelled the commander at Kiba

Kiba shrugged and decided to move further in to the depths of the enemy. "Oh?" Kiba said as he ran into a group of orcs. "Napalm," Kiba shouted as he held his hand up. His glowed white hot as it sprayed a liquid flame. Unlike fireball which quickly dissipates after it's casted napalm lingers and spreads. The monsters were fairly intimidated as well as distracted by the Adami adventurers. In this moment Kiba grabbed a piece of charred orc and scarfed it down. He felt revitalized as he chopped his way through the enemy. Kiba used earth wall to lift himself above the fray. He could see explosions to the east and to the west. "Just as I suspected," Kiba thought. He wanted to take on one of the dragons but they were in the rear guard and not engaging. "I guess I'll take out that Behemoth!" Just as he was about to cast another fireball Kiba heard a massive horn sound off three times. Then the enemy began to fall back.

"Ah retreating already? Well let me give you a farewell gift." Kiba held up both his hands and shouted, "Scatter!"

Many retreating enemies on the battlefield were enveloped in a translucent rectangular prism about 20 meters by 20 meters. All you could see were the dark shadows of the enemies inside the box. Then there a loud groan as a bold thick black line appeared a meter from the base. After that line formed the sound of some monstrous weight collided with the ground causing the ground to shake like an faultline tremor. The box evaporated leaving a field of gore and squashed body parts. Scatter was a dark magic spell that is essential a trap spell that causes those caught inside the box to be crushed by a tremendous force. It was activated in the Demonica and was the strongest spell in that Grimoire that Rubarow discovered so far. It uses an incredible amount of Vis, so Kiba rested on top of the earthen wall watching the retreat. He noticed there was some dead orcs near him so he jumped down and cooked them with a low level flame. He ate as he noticed that the Adami adventurers had finished with their foes. He waved over to them and cooked another orc.

They were panting heavily as they got to Kiba. "Hey kid what the shit?" The commander said as he put his hands on his knees in exhaustion.

"Mmmhph orc?" Kiba said with a mouth full of pork.

The three sighed and took some of the food.

"We should get back to the fort." The girl said void of emotion. She seemed serious but Kiba couldn't help smiling at her because she had food all over her face.

"Kid you are stupid strong but you need to listen to your commander," Fusho berated his overpowered subordinate. "Why did you jump off in the first place if you could deal such powerful magic?"

"Look over at the earth underneath the wall," Kiba pointed to an area under the fort that had been heavily dug out. "If they had dug another three meters the ground and fort would have collapsed with everyone in it. I decided the best course of action would be to distract the simple minded undead by triggering their sense presence."

"He is right!" Grunted the black armored man as he walked toward the spot Kiba pointed. Tora pressed his hands to the ground and shouted, "Pillars of Earth!" Suddenly the ground shook and giant earthen pillars sprouted out of the ground. These pillars wrapped around the loose earth and solidified. "That should hold it!" Tora grunted.

Everyone was fairly tired as they went to climb the five hundred steps to get back to the fort.

Chapter 16

Sahara was surprised at the scale of the undead invasion. The numbers far exceeded the reported amount, however they were fairly low leveled. They were able to repel the attack within an hour of battle. The dragons concerned Sahara more than anything because they were the only category of monster that would be dangerous regardless of level. "If I were to put it in a comparison to the Behemoth that Kiba and Hana fought the weakest dragons are five times more powerful." Sahara thought to himself as he ate. "I probably should meet with Hana and Kiba before the next battle."

Chapter 17

Hana was tired she used up a huge amount of Vis and she was leaning against the wall in a guardhouse on the Borderline. She had eaten a bunch of Demi-human meat and was feeling sleepy. Her eyes drifted shut but suddenly the Major appeared.

"Yo how you doing?" He smiled.

She smiled back with a slight blush.

"Aaawww don't look at me I don't feel pretty right now," she whined playfully considering she was still covered in her mummy wraps.

"Haha well that may be so but you're still beautiful to me." Sahara said as he leaned on the wall next to her.

"Ha... lame," she said covering her face with her hand. The rested a bit in silence. Hana put her hand on her abdomen and smiled.

"Ahhh well I better go check on Kiba." Sahara said as he stood up and stretched.

"Hey ummm Koyo I need to tell you something," Hana said nervously

"Oh using my first name?" Sahara said smugly but in a joking manner.

A flustered Hana replied, "Ah yes I figured it would be nice once in a while."

Sahara nodded, "So what did you need to tell me?"

Hana took her hand off her stomach and rubbed her head, "oh I really appreciate you checking in with me!"

Hana laughed sheepishly and Sahara frowned slightly then smiled.

"Anytime, I'll guess see you tomorrow."

"Yes!" Hana exclaimed

Sahara then left.

Hana leaned her head back against the wall. "Why couldn't I tell him?"

Chapter 18

Two men shrouded in darkness watched the jubilee at the border.

"Is it time?" One shadow asked.

"Nay, Lady Mari said to wait until the full force of the enemies might has arrived." Said the other

"There are some unexpectedly powerful enemies. To be able to press an attack will severely strain the force, but if Lady Mari wishes it… I will not question it. Even if it means entering the battle myself."

"By any means necessary we must."

Both men looked at one another

"Will awaken her Majesty!" They exclaimed as the vanished.

Chapter 19

Kiba woke up. The night before was quite interesting. After they had made it back to the fort, all four of the adventurers who jumped into the enemy's vanguard received a hero's welcome. Thanks to Kiba's decision the casualty rate dropped almost 100%. Fusho took control of the celebration and warned the group not to get loaded or to eat too much, because the enemy is always lurking. Lala and Tora shrugged, grabbed some food, and went to the special seniors offices. Kiba was getting most of the attention as people were congratulating him and thanking him. It was overwhelming and he felt like he understood why Sisila freaks out in crowds. Fusho called out to the crowd of soldiers and adventurers to discuss tomorrow's strategy which Kiba seized the opportunity and slipped away. He found himself at the top of the Fort's bell tower, which by a miracle was unscathed. He looked out over the hilly battlefield. The moonlight was bright as it was almost a full moon. He felt calm in this area when a voice behind him spoke, "You did a decent job today boy."

It was Kiba's Sensei.

"Sensei!" Kiba replied

"You didn't get hurt did you?"

"Haha no in fact I didn't even get a scratch, but I really didn't face any tough opponents."

"Is that so? Well it is true most of the enemies are extremely weak, but I must warn you do not let down your guard. I've got a strange feeling about tomorrow."

Kiba had been around his Sensei long enough to know that Sensei's gut feelings were extremely accurate feelings.

"Those dragons are going to be extremely tough they are much stronger than that Behemoth you fought. They will be engaging in battle tomorrow."

Kiba wanted to ask how he knew but decided against it.

"Do you know how Hana is doing?" Kiba asked instead.

"She is well, but tired she used up a good amount of Vis."

"Well that's good to hear," Kiba nodded.

"I can tell you are running low so get some sleep."

"Aye Sensei," Kiba said yawning.

"Hey one last thing If things go the way I expect them to go. The enemies will probably feint a retreat tomorrow, but it will be a reformation. They will then proceed to go all in on a flank. So don't relax."

Kiba was listening intently. "Also if you feel like you will fall in battle launch a fireball or any other spell directly in the air to act as a flare. Got it?"

"Yes!" Kiba nodded.

Kiba stood up to shake off the drowsiness from his Vis regenerating sleep. He looked out the window of the barracks he was in and noticed the sun was high in the air. It was at least midday. "The enemy!" Kiba panicked as he scrambled to prepare for battle. It wasn't until he was fully equipped and out the door did he notice that there was no battle occurring. Outside soldiers and adventurers were cooking, making repairs to armory, and treating the wounded. Kiba strolled to the fort where he bumped into a person wearing a light green robe. "Oh I am sorry very sorry," the feminine voice cried as she bowed.

"It's fine really, are you ok?" Kiba asked.

The person raised themself up from their bow and Kiba noticed it was a cute girl. She had hazel eyes and freckles across her nose. She had strawberry brown and red hair which was done up into a thick long braid.

"Yes yes I'm fine Hero." She blushed and ran off.

"Hero?" Kiba repeated

Kiba found himself looking over the ramparts at the battlefield not a single enemy could be detected.

"Hey Rubarow do you sense anything?"

"Negative," Rubarow responded in his head. "Be advised you ranked up. I am currently placing as many skills and spells into your instinct profile. This seems almost unfair to your opponents. Every one that I place in there will automatically register in your mind like your fireball spell. You won't even need a card to know what abilities you can use."

"Really?"

"Yes, I have linked the Grimoires themselves to it as well so once you decide to enter a battle they will automatically activate without using a spell. Also since all this uses Vis subconsciously your Vis storage and control is increasingly exponentially!"

"Wow that's incredible," Kiba said.

"The only downside is the more you grow the less you will need me…." Rubarow sounded depressed.

"Rubarow… you are my friend how could you say that?" Kiba asked in shock.

"I-i don't know it is just I don't want to be alone again," the voice was sobbing

"Rubarow I give you my word. You are my friend and I will protect you! That means I can never abandon you!"

There was a pause and Kiba heard a sniffle.

"I understand…."

Kiba smiled.

"Kiba?" The soft voice said.

"Yes?"

"I love you!"

Kiba's eye grew wide for a second then a horn bellowed.