Chapter 25: Aika and Aiko's story
The next day, Ryo had finally found the perfect place for him to train, he was at an open rocky area, close to a river stream and away to the town or paths that might alert people of his presence, the only person that knew about his whereabouts is Aiko, since Ryo expected her to become worried and search for him.
" Okay, Arya, can you show me my stats? " Ryo said after checking his surroundings if he's truly alone.
[ Yes master. ]
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Name: Ryo Masashi
Race: humanoid
Sex: Male
Age: 16
Class: Combat Mage
( Description: combat mage class buff can raise your Strength and Intelligence by 15 each level up, a combat mage is a rare class that Combines a mage and a fighter, thanks to this buff that can erase the one weakness they all have, and that is close combat. )
Job: Adventurer
Rank: Warrior 1
lvl: 125
Exp: 0/12,500
Sp: 40
Kp: 400,000
Hp: 15,000/15,000
Mp: 20,000/20,000
Str: 1,340
Vit: 1,500
Agi: 1,420
Dex: 1,340
Int: 2,000
[ Skills( 16 ) ] [ Innate Skills( 1 ) ] [ Tasks( 3 ) ] [ Shop ] [ Companions( 1 ) ] [ Beast tamed( 1 ) ]
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" Good, my Mana capacity should be enough to wield it for a much longer time than before. " Ryo then took the flame katana out of his space ring, and the sheathed katana appeared in his hand with a fiery aura.
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Item: Flame katana( Legend )
lvl: 31
Exp: 0/3,100
Rank: S+
Attributes:
+2,480 Damage
+800 Dexterity
+800 Agility
Durability: 8,000/8,000
( Skills )
{ Sword style: Flame Breathing( passive ) lvl: 2
Cost: 160 Mp each skill
Everytime the user uses a sword skill of this sword, it will ignite into flames and coat itself with it and it also add burning damage to the attack. }
{ First Form: Unknowing Fire lvl: 2
Damage: 160 on each slash
Cost: 80 Mp
The user charge towards their opponent at high speed while slashing anything that comes close to the user to stop them. }
{ Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun lvl: 2
Damage: 160
Cost: 80 Mp
The user swings a strong upward moving slash attack. }
{ Third Form: Blazing Universe lvl: 2
Damage: 160
Cost: 80 Mp
The user delivers a heavy downward slash. }
{ Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation lvl: 1
Damage: 80 on each slash
Cost: 40 Mp
The user spin their sword in a circular motion, deflecting the enemies attack. }
{ Fifth Form: Flame Tiger lvl: 2
Damage: 160 on each slash
Cost: 80 Mp
The user release a series of sword slashes that makes the flame take form of a Tiger. }
{ Sixth Form: Flame Lance lvl: 1
Damage: 80
Cost: 40 Mp
The user launches towards the target at high speed with the tip of the katana pointing towards their opponent and pierce them. }
{ Seventh Form: Flaming Vortex lvl: 1
Damage: 80
Cost: 40 Mp
The user Attacks with consecutive spiral slashes that produce a flaming tornado that traps and burns the enemies. }
{ Eight Form: Grace Of The Phoenix lvl: 1
Damage: 80 on each slash
Cost: 40 Mp
The user charges at the target while consecutively releasing powerful slashes that takes on the form of a fiery Phoenix. }
{ Ninth Form: Fierce Flame Dragon lvl: 1
Damage: 80 on each slash
Cost: 40 Mp
The user charge up a large amount of Mana to create a large amount of flame and envelope the user with it and launch towards their opponent while the flame start to form a fierce Dragon. }
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" Huh?! it leveled up? " Ryo asked Arya.
[ Mhm, it did. Since this katana is sentient, it actually has the ability to grow stronger in power like any other sentient items, but the durability will still be the same. But if you don't have a sentient weapon, you can just give it to an expert blacksmith to augment your weapon. ]
" Augment huh. Can the katana's durability be augmented by a blacksmith? "
[ Well, if the blacksmith knows how to, then yes. ]
" Ah, I see. Okay then, let's train. " Ryo then unsheathed the sword and it suddenly erupted to a strong Flame, surprising Ryo, the sword was dangerously drawing a lot of Mana from him and he struggled to control it.
" Augh?! What's up with this sudden outburst?! " Ryo was sweating hard but before his sweat could drop it had already been evaporated by the flame.
[ Task:
The soul of the katana will test you now and if she found you to be worthy of drawing this sword, you'll have full ownership of it. If you fail, you'll die by Mana fatigue. ]
" Huh?! What is this test?! And who is this she?! "
[ Master, just flow your Mana into it, this is what's called an ownership processedure, the sword will test you if you're worthy of it. ]
" Okay! " Ryo then poured almost all of his Mana into the sword and the flame started to change color from a yellowish to a blue green with a slight yellow on it. The flames wrapped his whole body and the flames were too bright for Ryo to keep his eyes open so he tightly closed it. After he closed his eyes, images started to appear in his mind. The images contained a couple, one was a human man, the other was a fox woman with eight tails, and there was also a little fox girl that surprisingly resembled Aiko but smaller and she was in the hands of the woman.
The fox woman deeply cared for her family and would do anything to help them or prevent anything bad to her family, but the man's love and feeling was just to an extent, but still care for both the woman and the kid, the little fox girl was a curious little one and always asked her parents something that she didn't understand.
One day, the man returned after a couple of weeks of not seeing him. The woman was slightly mad but she calmly asked the man where he had been these past weeks, the man half-heartedly apologized with a regretful act, the woman noticed this but she didn't point it out. As an apology gift, the man brought out a crystal ball, this crystal ball had an ominous aura to it but the aura was too small to sense it, but the woman did and got distracted by it, the man then made a surprising move of summoning a sword that almost looks like it was made of ice and thrust it at her.
With quick reflexes, the woman blocked it with her own katana that is almost identical to the flame sword but this katana's guard and handle was decorated like a fox. The woman was furious but Ryo could see that she was hurt and felt betrayed.
The man scoffed and attacked again. The couple were fighting now, not like a normal couple fighting like shouting curses at each other or throwing random things, this was a full-blown battle to the death and the woman was winning and the man was losing badly.
The man was now kneeling on one knee and his breathing was ragged, the woman was only scratched a couple of times and she wasn't even tired at all, the woman placed the flat side of her katana on the man's chin to make him look at her and she asked why, she didn't said more because she was afraid that her voice might crack.
The man only smiled and the woman suddenly sensed something, with high speed, the woman grabbed little Aiko who was scared and whimpering, she then jumped out of the window of their house and dashed out of there because up above the sky was a countless amount of fireballs raining down on their house.
The house was burnt down and the only thing that was there was a large burning crater. Now outside, the woman saw only chaos, people were being killed left and right by both monsters and bandits.
The woman ran and ran until they were inside the darkest part of the forest, the woman stopped and put the little Aiko down, little Aiko looked up at her mother while she told her the plan, the plan was that Aiko will ran as far as possible from here while she ran the opposite way, this was a risky plan but Aiko hadn't developed enough Mana to be sensed by anyone so she was already concealed because of it and the woman felt that she was their target and sticking with little Aiko might get her in danger.
Aiko was hesitant about this but still followed her mother's order after reassuring her that they will meet again when this matter is over, that was a lie from the mother because the woman knows that she won't make out of this alive, even if she did, they will still hunt her down.
Her plan went smoothly and as she thought, all of the bandits were aftering her. She made them follow her until they were far enough from where the woman left Aiko. They reached a dead end and the bandits were cautious of her, another battle broke out between the woman and the surprisingly strong bandits.
The battle was fierce but the woman was coming on top but not for long because an army of bandits were fighting her now and she was tired and bleeding badly, someone managed to hurt her and this someone looked like the leader of the bandits because he had been ordering them through the whole battle.
Even though the woman was heavily outnumbered and exhausted, she still fought them in a one vs all. The woman fought bravely and fiercely that it was making the leader of the bandits back down, this battle was getting long and the bandits feared that the Adventurers were going to get here if this battle would drag on.
Fortunately for the bandits, a group of their comrades managed to stop this battle and these bandits looked like the bandits that Ryo first met and slayed, they were holding someone hostage and the hostage was little Aiko.
The woman stopped and looked shocked and also in disbelief, that was enough for the bandit leader to dash towards the woman and deliver a strong slash that the woman couldn't block in time, now she was laying on the ground dying and Aiko screaming for her mother but the bandits put a cloth on her mouth to make her stop.
The man that was supposed to be the husband and father of Aiko's family, steps towards the dying corps of the woman while holding the crystal ball, he knelt down on one knee and placed the crystal ball on her hand, the crystal ball glowed a bright and ominous purple light and Ryo could barely see that Mana was coming out of the woman and entering the crystal ball after that, the corpse of the woman was now laying there pale and lifeless, this made Ryo tensed because the woman still have a couple of minutes to live, did that crystal ball do something about it?
And then Ryo was surprised after being shown how this sword was made and came to life and then the images stopped there, now there was only darkness and a surprise but angry Ryo.
" Was- was this soul in this sword, Aiko's- "
" Mother? Then yes. " Before Ryo could finish his sentence, someone finished it for him. Ryo looked back alarmed, behind him was a woman nonchalantly standing there with her fox ears slightly twitching and her eight tails swaying individually from left to right. She was wearing like a shrine maiden's clothes but with orange, white, blue and green colors on it and instead of trousers, she was wearing an above the knee skirt, revealing her smooth legs.
The woman walked towards him with a sway and looked at him curiously, Ryo was on guard but when he entered a stance he felt that the katana was not in his hand anymore, now he was standing there in a sword stance but without a sword, this made the woman laugh and Ryo blushed from embarrassment.
" Relax, I won't hurt you, if I did then you'll be dead before you could make a comeback and Aiko will be so sad because her precious master is dead. " Ryo relaxed but he still kept his guards up.
" So, you're the sword huh? "
" Mhm, surprising isn't it? " Ryo nodded and the woman sighed.
" What are you going to do now? Are you going to test me whether I could wield you or not? " Ryo asked and the woman put her hand on his chin and thought about it.
" Hmmm, nah, you already can wield the sword but not its full power though, but it is understandable since you're still currently weak. I only brought you here to talk. "
" Talk? "
" Mhm, I just wanted to ask if Aiko is okay? Is she eating well? Has she grown up into a beautiful woman like her mom? Does she hate me? Is she strong now? " The woman kept asking him questions without stopping for Ryo to answer.
" Woah, slow down, I can't answer everything if you won't let me. "
" Oh, sorry, I'm just worried about Aiko. "
" Heh, well then, I'll explain it from the top. " Ryo told her everything from the moment he met Aiko and to their date. The woman was nodding at his explanation and when he was done the woman's tears were streaming down her cheeks, making Ryo worry.
" Um, ma'am, are you okay? "
" Yeah, I'm good, I'm just very happy that Aiko still loves her horrible mother. "
" Horrible?! Ma'am you're a great mother, the decision you made was for your daughter's safety whether she lives or perishes with you. " The woman flinched at the last part and Ryo apologized.
" But it still went horribly and she suffered while I was stuck here and couldn't do anything. " Ryo sat close to her and he wiped her tears and the woman blushed but she quickly shook it off.
" It might have gone horribly, but look at her now, she's a strong and self dependent woman because of you. "
" No, she's strong now because of you though, but thanks. " They stayed like this for a moment and the woman calmed down.
" Ma'am, what's your name exactly? "
" Oh, hehehe, I didn't tell you my name yet, Aika's my name. " Ryo blinked multiple times and Aika laughed.
" If you're wondering, Yup! Aiko's name was actually just a letter O change from my name. "
" Ah, I see, if you don't mind telling me, what was that weird orb anyway? " Aika nodded and told him what that orb was for. Ryo found out that, that orb was called a soul capturing orb, this was an S rank item that was mainly used by necromancers to capture the soul of a dying person, the orb only works if you were about to die any minute since it will accelerate the time you die, but if you can survive a deadly blow the orb will not activate.
The necromancer that used this orb will sometimes keep it to be used later if they were about to die or give it to an expert blacksmith to be made into sentient tools, armory, and weapons. That's what happened to her.
" It's a cruel thing to do, that's why this kind of process was banned for anyone to freely use it and anyone that does this without permission from a royal family will be executed. My, I think we already talked so much that we're about to run out of time. "
" Huh? " Ryo was confused but he then felt the sensation of getting pulled back into consciousness.
" Before you go, you might want this to fully wield the sword and can you also promise that you'll love my daughter like you love the woman in your head? " Aika then leaned close to Ryo and kissed him on lips, Ryo felt something hot was entering in his mouth and going down his throat, after that, Aika pulled back and Ryo was surprised by the kiss and her knowing about the woman in her mind, Aika then smiled.
" Sure, I will. Can I come and visit here again? " Aika then smiled teasingly.
" Ara~ do you want another kiss from me? Hmm~ " Ryo was blushing and before he could answer, he was pulled back into his exhausted and sweaty body. Ryo knelt on one knee and started to pant.
[ Congratulations master, you are now the owner of the katana and you also maxed out your Fire Resistance. ]
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I hope that you liked this chapter and possibly enjoyed it, if you did please leave a star or put this in your library please and thank you.
Author: Hey there, read this if you like my novel or not.
I'm about to go School and there might be a chance that it's going to be everyday of the week now and I might not regularly publish chapters but I'll try and thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you have a good day or night now.
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