Weaponry

The first thing Sebastian did after finishing his bodyguard (assistant) duties at Markus Luna's estate was to visit the school. Classes should already be over around this time so Sebastian immediately headed straight for Briggs' room.

It was a weird feeling. He was in the school and he technically still is a student but he hadn't gone to a class in Aurora Academy in ages but because he had attended classes at Wave Academy, he had gotten a lot of credits.

Now, though he wasn't the top spot in his batch anymore, he wasn't far. It was surprising. Sebastian even assumed that if he were to just ace his next exams, he'd reclaim his top spot for a long while. That was the gap between him and the former second place.

Attendance had an impact on grades, but not much.

Thinking of all that, Sebastian knocked on Briggs' door.

"Come in."

Once Sebastian had gotten his approval, he opened the door and stepped inside only to be met by Briggs' frown.

"Professor."

"Mr. Sol, what brings you here?"

It was obvious that he still had not forgotten how Amy blackmailed him. Nevertheless, he was a teacher and Sebastian was a student. He gestured for Sebastian to sit down and then began heating water with his heater.

"I've heard that you and Ms. Luna had gone on a trip to Tidas."

"We did, yes."

"So?"

He was asking about Mile. That much was obvious.

The water finished heating quickly and Briggs poured some tea for Sebastian.

"Professor, I want you to look at this."

Sebastian took the badge that Mile had given him for proof that he was her disciple and put it on the table.

"...?"

Briggs was confused. He took the badge and the question marks floating around him kept increasing.

"I'm sorry, but, this appears to be her badge. Why do you have this?"

Maybe it was because of the shock, Briggs didn't even consider the possibility of Sebastian being her disciple. He probably thought that Sebastian stole it.

"I am the Lightning Spear's successor."

"...?!"

Briggs accidentally let go of the badge and hurried to catch it and ended up knocking the table over. Sebastian managed to catch the two cups before they fell.

"W-what?! You became her successor?!"

When he had given them the information, never in a million years would he think that Mile actually took one of them as her disciple. Even the greatest geniuses could only amount to much in front of her.

"As an Inheritor who uses flames, you became the successor of the Lightning Spear?!"

If there was any other person who could manipulate lightning similarly to Mile, then she would make them her successor. At least, that's what Briggs believed judging by her personality.

"Professor, please calm down for a moment."

"Huuu..."

Briggs stood up with trembling legs before he sat down on his chair. Sebastian handed him his tea which he raised to his mouth with shaky arms.

"Alright, let's say that you are truly her successor..."

"I also have this."

THUD SHATTER

Seeing the next badge that Sebastian had raised, Briggs' chair fell over and he accidentally threw his cup.

"..."

"Y-you?! How?!"

'Uwah... This is a pain...'

Sebastian really thought so in his heart as he spent the next half hour trying to calm Briggs down.

In the end, Briggs asked Sebastian to demonstrate his techniques in the gymnasium away from the eyes of others.

"Lightning Spear: Momentum."

Though Sebastian couldn't use lightning, just using flames for executing Lightning Spear was enough.

Sebastian's body and spear shot forward but unlike Death Throes, the boom that resounded and increased its force disappeared. It was still a frightening move, but it wasn't as threatening as Death Throes

"Lightning Spear: Incapacitate."

Sebastian reversed the hold on his spear. Instead of the spearhead, the bottom of the pole faced forward and the same movement for Momentum was used.

Lightning Spear was derived from Lightning God, but it didn't deserve the Lightning in its name.

A lethal and non-lethal move was derived from each form of Lightning God and unlike it, the difficulty didn't vary. Because of that, Mile didn't name any other form by number.

"...I see."

Briggs nodded and hesitated as he looked at the badge in his hand.

"Then, show me Lightning God."

Sebastian turned his head back and saw Briggs' serious gaze. After a moment to gather his thoughts, Sebastian roused his mana. The stance he used changed as well.

'He really is...!'

Briggs' eyes widened as he saw the familiar stance that had long since been etched into his mind.

"Lightning God, 1st Form: Death Throes."

BOOM

With an explosion of flames, Sebastian shot forward with a speed several times that of Momentum's.

"Haa... That stubborn woman really did get a successor. Follow me."

Briggs turned around and Sebastian followed him back to his office while leaving the spear back in the training rack.

"Did you see the spear that Meliena used?"

"Yes. It was an ordinary spear but it felt a lot more durable."

"That's because her real spear is with me."

Briggs opened the cabinet and took a spear-shaped object wrapped in a thick cloth.

"Meliena's spear is special," Briggs explained as he began unwrapping the spear.

"It was given to her by the collaboration of several kingdoms. A mighty spear that wouldn't break even under the force of lightning."

Just as he said that, Sebastian caught a glimpse of the spear from within the cloth.

"But, there was something else that was special about this spear."

With the spear finally unwrapped completely Sebastian could see its luster. From top to bottom, it was nearly the same shade of silver as Mile's hair.

"Do you know how this heater works?"

Briggs pointed at the heater he had used to heat the tea a while ago.

"Yes, it converts the energy inside the fuel into heat."

"Exactly. But, did you know that for all the energy it uses, only about twenty percent of it is converted?"

"That low?"

"Of course. It's difficult to convert energy into something else. Even for us Inheritors, we spend a considerable amount of energy if we don't have the mastery."

Sebastian nodded. When he was a Novice, he felt drained just from using a little bit of his flames.

"Casters and Magus convert nearly eighty percent of their energy to their various abilities and some Sages could reach a hundred. However, this spear..."

Briggs used some energy and soon, lightning began wrapping around the spear.

"It converts a hundred percent of the user's energy into lightning for the spear and augments it as well. The cost of this thing amounts to an airship."

"What?"

Sebastian didn't ask because he didn't understood, he asked because of disbelief. Just a trip on an airship costs millions. Buying one would cost probably several hundred million, or maybe even a billion.

Briggs continued despite Sebastian's shock, "with this spear, Meliena exerted power several times that of her own and she could fight longer as well. Unfortunately, she had never planned on using it for herself."

Briggs stopped the lightning around the spear and handed it to Sebastian.

"This spear was made by her request for her successor, not herself. It was a fact unknown to the kingdoms who had helped her. She knew that having a successor who could also use lightning was a dream. That's why she had this made."

Briggs had taken the badge that Mile had told Amy to give to Briggs for Sebastian's reward but returned the badge that marked him as her disciple.

'I see... That's why she told me it didn't matter if I could use it with flames, she planned to give me this from the beginning. Reward? She just made me work harder for free.'

Even though Sebastian knew that he was duped, he didn't really feel bad. Having the spear was akin to increasing his strength by severalfold.

"Haha... hahaha!"

"..."

'Did I make the wrong decision by giving him the spear?'

Briggs seriously considered taking back the spear after hearing Sebastian laugh so maniacally.

"Thank you Professor, I'll be on my way now!"

Sebastian left without waiting for Briggs' reply.

"Ah..."

Briggs scratched the back of his head. He didn't know what to do now.

"Well, I don't think he'll be destroying anything."

...

"Young master!"

Sebastian looked at Pine oddly.

"Cough... Umm, Miss Kathrina had kept on referring to you like that and it stuck on..."

His face was as red as a tomato as he tried to explain.

"Ah, young master, you've finally come!"

'You too?'

Sebastian had already been back for nearly a week but he hadn't found the time to visit Pine and the others. They couldn't come to his engagement party on such short notice either.

Though, he did catch a glimpse of Kathrina attending. Unfortunately, she left as soon as he saw her.

"Come come!"

Sherry excitedly pulled Sebastian into the store and Pine followed closely behind them.

"Tadah!"

Sherry lifted the cloth off an armor stand and waved her hands exaggeratedly.

"So? What do you think?"

"Armor?"

"Che che che!"

Sherry wiggled her index finger left and right as if to say that he shouldn't call it that.

"It's not just any armor, it's also a weapon!"

"Huh?"

As Sebastian expressed his confusion, Pine quickly removed the armor from the stand. It was made of leather and didn't cover much. It looked like it was built for movement rather than defending.

"You see, there's something unique about this armor."

Pine explained as he began helping Sebastian put it on.

"It looks like normal light armor, sure, but in truth, like the vambrace, it is filled with hidden compartments."

Sebastian looked at his arms that were covered with the vambrace. It was indeed a better version.

"So, where are the compartments?"

"All of your limbs have compartments. Young master, try kicking forward like this."

Pine demonstrated and Sebastian copied his movements.

"A blade?"

"Precisely! Because young master is an archer, it would be dangerous for enemies to get close. And, it would take time to switch weapons if it's a surprise attack, so we created this! The arms

"I-I see..."

While it certainly was useful, Sebastian had no need for it at the moment. It would also overlap with the armor that Amy had given him before.

After the incident, Amy wouldn't relent and made Sebastian take the armor's full set. Though it did help the both of them during the battles, having to worry about the other side of their bodies made it harder to fight.

"But, the true brilliance of this armor only happens when it is paired with these!"

Sherry took off another cloth covering and revealed several tools.

"Oooh..."

Sebastian was impressed. He could tell what most of the tools did with a glance but to think that they made so much in so little time was amazing.

"We will be able to create something better eventually, but young master, you can use these for the time being."

"Great!"

Even Sebastian was excited to try them out. Excluding the crossbows, there were at least half a dozen other more tools in there.

"Ah, Pine, do you think you can create this for me?"

"Let me see."

After telling Pine of his idea to create a retractable spear and bow, he left to test out what he was given with giddy footsteps.