98 Challengers Approach

***** Narrator's POV *****

Eris and Nina squared off against one another as they prepared to spar yet again. It was a familiar sight to the fellow sword saints spectating their match. Nina had long considered Eris to be her bitter rival and held a firm grudge against her for the humiliation she was served in their first bout.

Over the past two years, however, the grudge she once held gradually transformed into a bond of kinship. These past two years, Nina has seen her once stagnating skills improve at a rapid pace as she struggled to keep up with Eris.

Eris, who was already naturally talented, also practiced harder than anyone. Day after day, from dawn till dusk, she was constantly swinging her sword. It would take repeated complaints and nagging from her peers just to get her to take a break to bathe or wash her clothes.

Even Timothy, who at first found Eris distasteful due to her relationship with Ghislaine, acknowledged her efforts.

Timothy had intended to try and probe Eris to see what she actually knew about the Magic God, but Eris parted with that information willingly. In fact, she would preach about Rudeus to anyone who would listen. The tales she would tell were hardly believable. Many of the students believed the stories she told were her way of mocking Timothy and thus they were wary of her.

As Timothy got to know her better though, he realized that was the furthest thing from the truth. He knew one thing was for certain though; ERIS believed everything she said about Rudeus.

The best conclusion that Timothy could come to was that the Magic God was a devious assassin who is using this poor boy Rudeus to hide his true identity. There's simply no way an eleven year old child could defeat the North God in a fair fight. It was absurd. Completely impossible.

Eris and Nina's sparring match ended in predictable fashion; victory for Eris. While Nina held an edge in mastery of Sword God forms and fundamentals, Eris' combat instincts and her ferocious style of attack acted as a counter to Nina's more 'by the book' approach.

Eris reached out a hand to help Nina up so they could spar once again when the door to the dojo opened and a familiar figure walked inside.

"...G-Ghislaine!?"

Much to Nina's annoyance, Eris let go of her hand as she was half way through pulling her up, instead dropping her back to the ground in favor of running to embrace her former Master.

"Where have you been!? I'm so glad to finally see you again!"

"I'm glad to see you as well", Ghislaine said as she ruffled Eris' bright red hair lovingly. "What brought you to the Holy Land of Swords?"

"I want to grow stronger!", Eris answered with no hesitation.

That was obvious to Ghislaine. There was no other reason to come here.

"What I meant is that I'm surprised you're not by Rudeus' side."

Eris looked away in shame.

"It's... not like I don't want to be."

"Could you not find him? I've heard he's in Sharia."

"No. It's not that..."

Ghislaine tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"As I am now, I would only hold him back. I need to grow stronger so that I'll be worthy to stand by his side."

As she said this she clenched her fist in determination. Ghislaine couldn't help but be astonished by Eris' will.

When she met Orsted, every bone in her body was screaming for her to flee. She could never imagine herself even approaching that level of power. For Eris to strive to reach that level... the level of strength that someone like *HIM* acknowledged...

"I understand", Ghislaine said as she released her hand from Eris' head. "One day you will reach that height, I'm sure of it."

"Long time no see", a familiar voice announced from behind Eris.

"Master Farion."

Ghislaine bowed in respect to the man who taught her everything she knew about the sword.

"I'm surprised to see you back", Gal admitted.

"I have sworn allegiance to the Boreas family", Ghislaine answered. "I've been trying to track Eris down since the displacement incident."

"That's not what I meant", Gal said as she shook his head. "I received a letter from Sword King Zahid some time ago that you had been defeated in Helios."

"What!?", Eris shouted in surprise. "You were defeated!?"

"Yes. What he says is true", Ghislaine admitted.

"From the way Zahid described it, you took out a great many of his men. I'm surprised they let you leave alive after something like that."

"I was tricked into attacking them by a rival nation... It was only thanks to Zahid that they spared my life and sentenced me to prison instead. I'd still be there now if the Dragon God hadn't intervened."

"The Dragon God!?", Gal yelled out in shock.

"Yes... he was every bit as terrifying as you described him."

"What was Orsted doing in Helios? Did he say where he was going next!?"

"No... He simply freed me from my prison and then left."

"Damn!", Gal shouted in anger. "He didn't say anything to you?"

"Well, he told me where I could find Eris when I asked him. That and..."

"And what?", Gal pressed as Ghislaine hesitated.

"He told me that Rudeus was strong."

"..."

Ever since his humiliating defeat at the hands of the Dragon God, Gal had continued his training in hopes to one day face him again. Despite his complete and total defeat at the hands of Orsted, he swore to himself that he would one day beat him. At the very least, he would get him to acknowledge his efforts. Unfortunately, in the decades since, Gal had yet to hear even the slightest clue of Orsted's whereabouts. The Dragon God was notoriously hard to track down.

"Of course he is", Eris huffed, interrupting the silence. "Rudeus is the strongest. I've been saying that from the beginning."

Slowly, Gal's head turned Eris' way. He stared at the girl who held her chest out in pride at hearing her lover being praised as he recalled the first time the two of them had met.

~One year prior~

Eris had mastered the longsword of light and finished her training with Timothy. He himself said there was nothing else for him to teach her. She finally officially met with Sword God Gal Farion to try and convince him to train her.

"Timothy says good things about you", Gal started the conversation. "Tell me, why do you want to grow stronger? Do you seek my title?"

"I'm not interested in a lightweight like you!", Eris answered in the rudest way imaginable. Timothy, who sat beside them, had his jaw drop as his hair stood on end.

Gal however, was grinning.

"I like the look in your eyes. Tell me... who is it you want to kill?"

"Hmph! I don't want to kill anyone. If I can't even beat you then I don't deserve to stand by *HIS* side."

"Oh? And who might *HE* be?", Gal said as he continued grinning.

"Rudeus. He's the strongest."

"The strongest is he?", Gal said as he laughed. "I'd like to meet him someday. Next time you meet, send him my way haha."

~Back to present day~

"Rudeus? The same Rudeus that Eris is always on about? That kid? You're certain Orsted was talking about him?"

"Yes. Without a doubt", Ghislaine answered Gal's question confidently.

"Hmm... I haven't left the Holy Land of Swords in years. I think I might be in need of a short vacation", Gal said with a smile.

Two months later, Gal Farion, Timothy Britts, Nina Farion, Eris, and Ghislaine all departed together for Sharia. Originally, Gal wanted to leave on his own, but allowed Timothy to come along due to the humiliation he suffered years ago when nobody believed his story about the Magic God being a young boy. Nina begged her father to come with until he conceded and Eris simply stated she was going regardless of what anyone said. Ghislaine obviously tagged along since the whole purpose of her coming to the the Holy Land of Swords was to find Eris.

The journey to reach Sharia took about two months. The closer the group got to their destination, the more nervous Eris became. She couldn't help but worry about what Rudeus might say about her sudden departure. Hopefully he isn't angry at her. The nervousness seemed to slip away, however, once they arrived at the outskirts of the city.

"Never been to Sharia", Gal remarked. "It's a beautiful city."

"I know!", Eris agreed. "Just wait until you see the Academy! It's amazing!"

Nina, who had spent her whole life in the Holy Land of Swords, observed the city in wonder.

Eris took the lead since she was the only one in the group who knew where they were going. It was fairly early in the day, but even so there weren't that many people out and about considering the size of the city.

It took a little over an hour before their group reached the academy. When they approached the gated entrance to the academy grounds, they were stopped by a group of Sharia's knights who were blocking access to the university. What was even stranger was the entire campus had been surrounded by the nation's soldiers and local adventurers.

"What business do you have at the Academy?", one of the knights questioned.

"We've come to visit one of your students."

"I'm sorry, but Ranoa University is temporarily closed. I'm afraid you'll have to come back later."

"We've traveled a long way. I don't intend to take no for an answer", Gal said with an intimidating scowl.

"Look, I'm not trying to start a fight", the knight said as he waved his hands to the sides. He could tell that this band of swordsmen were no joke. "You guys look like you can handle yourselves, but it's dangerous right now."

"Dangerous?", Gal questioned with a smirk. "What's so dangerous about a school?"

"A *DEMON KING* has broken into the school"