Yearning

"Haaa...haaa...haaa..."

Though her visor had a few kinks that needed working out, Madeen was able to dash full speed through the rough, forested terrain that dominated much of the battlefield her team shared with the enemy.

Shfsfsfsfsfsfsfsh

Forcing Madeen to leap forward, perform a combat roll, and bounce back to her feet using her hand as a spring, a giant spider more than six meters

tall surged from a darkened area in the forest's canopy. Forests in the real world, especially during times of war, were infested with a large variety of magical beasts and aberrations. As such, it wasn't just enemy combatants Madeen had to be wary of.

"Shaaaaaaaaaaa...!"

Raising its forelimbs and exposing venomous fangs that were longer and much thicker than any ordinary spear, the monstrous spider, known as a Gloamspinner Sentinel, attempted to make itself appear even larger in an attempt to intimidate its prey.

Wholly undaunted, Madeen brandished her distinctive black flamberge in a sweeping motion, shouting, "I don't have time for this...!" as she sent a crescent wave of inky, purple-black liquid slashing at the Gloamspinner's sternum.

SKRREEEEEEEEEEEE

Though Madeen's attack failed to cut the Gloamspinner in two, it left a deep gash in the creature's underside, causing a forceful outpouring of luminous green, highly corrosive hemolymph.

"Ugh...it's even worse than normal blood..." complained Madeen, casually following up her initial attack with a sweeping, upward slash. In response, spears formed from the hemolymph sizzling on the ground, most failing to pierce the Gloamspinner's hide, but that wasn't Madeen's target. Instead, she exerted her control over the purple-black liquid that had invaded and disseminated through the Gloamspinner's body, wreaking havoc on it from the inside.

Overwhelmed by intense pain, the Gloamspinner thrashed and skittered about violently, releasing one of the most shrill sounds Madeen had ever heard.

"Just die already...!" hissed Madeen, swinging her flamberge several more times to speed things up. Her position had doubtlessly been exposed by the Gloamspinner's cries and death throes, but until it settled down, she couldn't safely approach and extract the purple-black energy that formed the 'core' of her flamberge, Fulcra.

biribiribiribiribiri

Interrupting Madeen's attempts to finish the Gloamspinner, a vibrant, bluish-white projectile resembling a bolt of electricity came flying at her from afar, narrowly missing its mark. Unfortunately, one of the bands of electricity produced by the projectile connected with her cheek, hitting her with a force comparable to a punch and causing the muscles in her face and neck to tense as she was knocked off balance.

"Ouch. That looked like hurt," remarked a short, pale-skinned youth with stylish, somewhat spiky black hair that was feathered on top and faded on the sides, standing casually on a tree branch. He was a bit on the small side, even for someone just starting their twelfth cycle, but his bright blue eyes and the lighting crackling around his pulsing, neon blue tennis shoes denoted him as one of the few who possessed an affinity for lightning.

Retrieving a marble-sized ball bearing from the front pocket of his black and white, camo-patterned hoodie, the youth began channeling his Mana into it, causing the tiny silver sphere to hover above his hand and crackle with electricity as he said, "But, don't worry. This next one won't."

Reacting quickly, Madeen pressed the nail of her right thumb into a tiny groove in Fulcra's hilt, causing hollow spikes to jut out of it. An ordinary person would have released the sword then and there, but Madeen didn't so much as flinch as she raised it in a defensive posture, producing a thin but exceptionally durable shield of purple-black energy in front of her, just in time to block the second projectile.

"Seriously?" asked the youth, preparing several more ball bearings as he remarked, "I can't believe the organizers actually allowed a cursed sword to be used in a duel between students. Your mommy and daddy must be-"

Triggered even more than she already was, Madeen surprised the youth by emerging through her shield as if it were a pane of glass, shattering it to pieces as she ran forward a few meters and kicked off the ground with enough force to crater it, leaping straight at him.

'Holy fucking shit...!' exclaimed the youth internally, his eyes widening to their limit as he retreated to one of the branches he had taken note of in advance, just in case things went south.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaah...!"

Not caring how the majority of people viewed her, Madeen released an almost feral-sounding cry as she charged through the electrically charged web of metal bearings the youth had left behind as a deterrent. Pain was a familiar friend to her, so even as bands of electricity arced between her molars and caused the ends of her hair to curl and singe black, she was able to endure it and direct a tendril of purple-black energy to chase after the retreating youth, ensnaring him by the ankle.

"You're completely insane...!" exclaimed the youth, grasping the branch he had attempted to retreat to in a frantic, instinctual attempt to avoid falling. He realized his mistake almost instantly, but before he could will himself to let go, Madeen used the band of energy painfully eating into the flesh of his ankle as a pendulum to swing under him and propel herself onto the branch he was grasping onto.

"Die..." decreed Madeen, giving those watching the match the impression she was somewhat vindictive as she swiped at the youth's face, grazing the bridge of his nose as he quickly released the branch. This spared him from being blinded, but as he still had her tendril wrapping ever-tighter around his ankle, intense pain shot up his leg as it went taut, severing his foot and providing sustenance to increase Fulcra's mass...

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'Cursed weapons are pretty useful...' mused Will, unbothered by Madeen's admittedly ruthless display. Watching children brutalize each other wasn't exactly his idea of a good time, but as they were willful participants in the league and it was the most practical form of training outside of actual life-and-death combat, he 'convinced' himself the pastime wasn't 'completely' reprehensible...

"The newest members of the First-Year team are quite fierce..." remarked Lyra, unconsciously tightening her hold on Will's hand.

"No kidding..." appended Claire, shifting her gaze to Will and raising her right brow as she questioned, "Just what have you been teaching these kids...?"

"Nothing...?" responded Will, but his expression and tone lacked their usual confidence. "Other than sparring, the only thing I teach those in my care is the importance of training their physiques. I don't have the time, patience, or experience to instruct them directly."

"Well, maybe you 'should' become more involved..." contended Claire, looking back at the display to find Madeen looking as though she had just emerged from a hard-fought battle where her entire squadron was wiped out by a Calamity-Class monster. It wasn't like there were no Duelists famed for their brutality, but they generally did more harm than good for the Houses and brands they represented.

"I wouldn't recommend it..." said Ohta, surprising nearly everyone present as he rarely spoke in such instances.

Rolling his eyes and avoiding the gazes directed at him, Ohta asserted, "It looks to me like she's venting her frustrations. And if I'm not mistaken, the reason is currently holding hands with your Princess..."

"What did I do...?" asked Will, appearing genuinely confused as various possibilities entered his mind. His recent interchange with Aisha came to mind, but before he separated from his usual group, he explained that he just wanted to touch base and make sure she was okay. If Madeen were angry or jealous over something as simple as that, he had nothing to say...

"You should never underestimate a woman's intuition..." responded Ohta, feeling a sense of incongruency as the words left his lips. He wasn't sure where he had heard the phrase or why he believed it, but he felt a certain degree of...certitude when he said it.

Leaving Will at a slight loss, Lyra, Claire, Delphina, and even the usually uncommunicative duo of Emily and Theo nodded in affirmation of Ohta's assertion. Then, feeling partially responsible, Lyra asked, "Do you think it would help if I spoke with her...?"

Since the question was directed at him, Ohta shrugged, slipped his hands into the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie, and replied, "I don't know. But if this idiot tries talking to or reassuring her, it's almost guaranteed to make things worse. You know why..."

Understanding that Ohta was referring to Will's possible leave of absence, Lyra nodded, lowered her gaze, and fell into a state of reflection. She had her people carefully investigate everyone who had approached Will for his backing and financial assistance, particularly his female classmates. Now that she and Will were all but engaged, she felt it was her responsibility to approach and reach an accord with those who pursued him with the most vigor...

'I always thought I was a people person, but I'm starting to grow weary of interpersonal relationships...' thought Will, closing his eyes and exhaling a faint, inaudible sigh. It was a little too soon to be thinking about his next life, but he felt it might be nice to go 'full hermit' for an incarnation or two. Reason told him that continuously using Dominate to regulate himself and his emotions probably wasn't ideal for his mental, emotional, and spiritual development...

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'How many days has it been now? 4,000? 5,000? Please, won't someone just find and end me...?' pleaded a deep, resonating voice. Unfortunately, the only person, or, more accurately, the only entity who could hear it was the voice's owner, a katana with a shimmering, silvery-white blade, a gold tsuba resembling a coiled dragon, and a white handle.

Though it once had an owner, who it promised to make into a legendary swordsman, the katana was now at risk of being swallowed up by grass and other forest fauna after its wielder overestimated their abilities and was killed by a colossal, fire-breathing bear. Now, as the vast majority of its manifold abilities only worked when it was being wielded, it had spent what felt like an eternity staring up at the sky through the forest canopy, its primary form of entertainment being to count leaves and guess which order they would fall in as the weather and seasons changed...

'Who could have guessed we could be incarnated as inanimated objects?' sighed the katana, closing its imaginary eyes. It had asked itself the same question more than a thousand times, but it felt like if it didn't talk to itself, it would sink even deeper into the despair and loneliness that threatened to consume it.

'At this point, I wouldn't care even if Z became my wielder...' thought the katana, its true identity being that of Justin. He had actually been excited when he first awoke to find he was a sword, as it brought back memories from his first incarnation, but since the person who discovered him was an uneducated, talentless peasant whose ego grew faster than his ability, he now had a seemingly endless amount of time to process his regrets...

'I miss Sarah...' Justin cried meekly, a bead of condensation sliding off the flat of his blade. There were instances in their previous incarnations when he wished he could strangle or beat her to death for betraying his trust to sleep with random men, but now he would give just about anything to see her face, even if it was contorted in pleasure beneath someone else...

As such thoughts entered his mind, Justin succumbed to depression and despair for what felt like the ten-thousandth time, his blade trembling as a faint sobbing sound echoed through the clearing he was slowly becoming a permanent fixture in. There were times in his previous incarnations when he felt like he wanted to end it all, but that was nothing compared to what he was currently enduring...

"Is something there...?" asked a tentative, distinctly female voice. Since Justin had grown accustomed to having auditory hallucinations, however, he didn't immediately respond. Instead, he kept sobbing until a relatively young girl with pale green hair and long, distinctive Elven ears found him, her leaf-green eyes widening as she never in her wildest dreams thought the sobbing might originate from a sword...

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