Chapter 41.

They both nodded and he made sure to pat their heads before he said, "Good luck."

They nodded again and Isis jumped onto Trystan's back before they got into a position opposite to fitoria. Adrian tried to suppress his nervousness.

He failed.

It was unnerving to realize that despite all the power he had gained since he had entered this new world at this moment he was utterly powerless.

Adrian didn't think that Fitoria would permanently harm Isis or Trystan. She might be a little rough with them but if she granted them her blessing then it would be beneficial in the long run. Even if she didn't bless them or care about them it was unlikely that she would want to anger him, not because he could kill her - he couldn't, but because she wanted him to fight the waves and he was unlikely to if she killed someone he cared for. And Adrian did believe that she cared about them, as far as he could tell it was the only reason she had come to visit.

Still, watching Fitoria set up a barrier and then stand in her Filolial form waiting for Trystan and Isis to start was terrifying. Adrian had his sensory skills at the ready, he was using Dash to enhance his perception and would manifest his Swords if he thought that his Filolials were at risk. He was as ready as he could be, everything from his Sword Form to his Status enchantment was optimized.

It was a pity that he had no goddamn idea what to do.

If Fitoria turned out to be hostile, if this was just a game that the ageless bird was playing, then they were all dead. No questions asked. Zero chance of survival. Adrian was almost sure that she didn't want to hurt them but almost wasn't good enough when his life was at risk, when the lives of his party members were at risk.

"Please start whenever you're ready," said Fitoria, her voice calm, but he could hear an undertone of excitement.

To his surprise, it was Trystan who made the first move.

"I, who has contemplated the source of all power, command you! Bless us with greater power! Zuerst Strength! Zuerst Speed! Zuerst Guard!" he chanted, and Adrian noted that both Isis and Trystan were surrounded by a pale blue aura, the colour of Trystan's magic.

Fitoria didn't move. He wasn't surprised. Stat boosts or not his filolials were no match for the Queen.

Trystan kept his distance staring warily at Fitoria, he wasn't doing anything to attack, Isis had taken up that role. She was whispering, chanting, and while he couldn't hear what she was saying the effects of her chanting was obvious. A massive amount of lightning was gathering around her fingertips.

"Zweit Lightning Blast," she said, her voice barely audible over the crackling of lightning, as it moved towards Fitoria at incredible speed. Adrian could track it, and it was clear that Lightning Magic didn't move as fast as natural lightning, but it was still insanely fast.

Fitoria batted the attack away with a Wing and then vanished in a blur.

Adrian saw how she leisurely ran towards Trystan and Isis, moving at incredible speeds with absolute ease, and then used the same wing that she had employed to stop Isis' attack to slam into Trystan. The attack was casual but the effects were incredible. Trystan went flying, Isis had to hold on desperately to stay on his back, and though the hit was glancing thanks to Trystan leaning away at the last moment Adrian could see the bruises forming thanks to his Blindsight.

Trystan landed on his feet thanks to Isis using a burst of wind to slow their movement. He winced and cast a healing spell on himself, Adrian frowned when Fitoria allowed it, just as she allowed Isis to prepare her next spell.

Fitoria was toying with them.

It was what he had expected to see but it still frustrated and infuriated him to watch it happen. Fitoria casually negated Isis' wind spell and then fired off a massive cyclone at the two Filolials.

"Barrier" yelled Trystan, desperate to stop the massive attack. A series of magical floating walls emerged from nothing and the first three shattered without trouble.

The last one survived. Isis had reinforced it with Lightning Magic and had changed it to a simple, transparent plane to a crackling barrier with bolts of lightning jumping out from it. Adrian had no idea how the hell it worked but it seemed to have surprised Fitoria a fair amount. For the first time, he could tell that she was a little bit taken aback.

"Make more," commanded Isis, and Trystan obeyed even as they moved back to create some distance, dozens of barriers were created which Isis quickly converted into the Lightning variant which moved forward to surround Fitoria. The Filolial casually dodged a few of them, ignoring the sparks that jumped to her and transformed into her human form, making it even harder to trap.

But she was still very casual in her movements. It was unnerving to realize that she was barely even trying. Was this how Raphtalia felt when she saw him fight? It would explain the looks of fear he occasionally received from her after he killed some monster.

Thankfully his Filolials had not stayed idle during this time.

Isis had prepared a massive spell, some sort of combination that had both Wind and Fire mana included, while Trystan got buffs ready again.

The massive blast of fire hit Fitoria head-on. It looked incredibly impressive, the soil around their feet burned to ash in seconds, nearby trees caught fire. Even better the hit was a direct strike and the Barrier around Fitoria seemed to contain and amplify the massive flare.

Blindsight neatly shattered any hope he had of the attack doing something. Fitoria has employed a barrier of her own that casually blocked the attack. When the flames subsided, Isis was panting heavily while Fitoria was standing there in her pink and white dress, looking as pristine as always. When Isis and Trystan caught sight of her being unharmed they were a little shocked but they quickly began to prepare another attack.

Fitoria didn't let them do so this time. Instead, she pressed them, not enough to crush them as she surely could, but enough that they didn't have the time to prepare a combination like the Lightning Barriers or a massive attack like Isis' flame blast.

Adrian felt his Sword transform as he watched her send a massive wind burst that sent Trystan and Isis flying. He grit his teeth took a deep breath and reminded himself of the fact that she didn't want them dead. He knew that they would already be dead if she did.

His anger and fear didn't fade even as he transformed his Sword back to one with a good speed boost.

Isis got up, on the ground for the first time in this battle and covered herself in lightning before beginning to chant. Adrian frowned, curious, he had never seen her do something like this before. A secret? Or was it a last-ditch effort to do something?

Fitoria approached Isis with incredible speed that Adrian could track but Isis couldn't. The older Filolial raised her hand to attack when a truly massive blast of lightning blasted the Filolial. Adrian blinked, trying to get rid of the spots in his eyes, even as he used Blindsight to track the battle.

Isis had surprised Fitoria and Trystan didn't let the opportunity go to waste. He charged Fitoria and kicked her with his full force. It was probably the only time either of his Filolials had managed to hit her head on and Trystan was buffed and had used his full force. The ground underneath Fitoria cracked and a great deal of soil and dust were kicked up.

Fitoria barely even moved and was almost completely undamaged. Her expression was satisfied. She waved her hand and dispersed both the barrier surrounding the battlefield and the dust around the three of them. The smouldering trees and the heated ground were quickly cooled down.

She smiled at Isis and Trystan and said, "Well done,"

Adrian relaxed a little, just noticing how tense he had been, how quickly his heart had been beating. He loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword and changed the hand he had been holding it before wincing at the pain as he clenched his fist and relaxed it.

He shook his head, realizing that this had been the most terrifying thing he had faced in this world. Adrian took a deep breath and wondered why nothing else, not being summoned, not even being chased by three spies or assaulting Rabier and eventually killing him had unnerved him as much as a battle that had carried minimal risk of death or damage. Hell, had they failed to take out those three spies or Rabier the best-case scenario would have been death, this was nothing in comparison.

Adrian walked towards them. Raphtalia and Rifana followed the latter clenching onto the former's hand tightly, in awe of the fight she had just seen. Isis and Trystan had relaxed and Fitoria was healing them.

When he reached them he ignored Fitoria, unsure if he'd be in control if he spoke to her, knelt and hugged Isis and then got up and stroked Trystan's head, both of them were tired and didn't respond much beyond a smile but he needed to feel that they were alive. His eyes and Blindsight suggested that they were fine but it had been horrible to just stand aside as they were toyed with.

"You both okay?" he asked, wondering what the limits of Blindsight and his Diagnosis skills were. Could he have missed something subtle? Perhaps some type of small problem that only becomes a problem in the long run? He didn't think they had been injured this badly since they had been born.

They nodded, tired but otherwise intact.

"Sword Hero," said Fitoria, "you have raised two excellent Filolials,"

He looked to her, trying to keep himself under control, "Thank you but they have a lot to learn. Though given that they're less than a week old, there is no doubt that they are amazing."

She smiled, it was a guileless smile, and it was with surprise that he realized that Fitoria wasn't very manipulative or cruel...she was just insanely blunt. She'd totally missed his anger and fear. Perhaps it was a sign of her age and extreme power. If she wanted something there was literally no one, no nation, who could hope to deny her.

Fitoria turned towards the Filolials and said, "I declare both of you as my potential heirs, the one who displays greater growth and wisdom shall be my true successor." Her tone was rather...stiff, formal in a way that seemed almost comical.

The way her terrifying large and well-controlled mana unfurled as she manifested two crowns and placed levitated them so that they landed on his Filolials was a wonderful reminder of why he didn't dare oppose her. For now.

The Crowns vanished in a flare of light and Adrian frowned as he pulled up their stats and noted that they had been boosted all around, some stats more than others but a general boost. It was around a fifty per cent boost at a minimum and a nearly 300% per cent boost for Isis' magic stats. It would seem that the magnitude of the boost was dependant upon their specializations. Adrian wondered if this was worth the fight and fear.

He cut down on his silly thought. A minor annoyance in the short term for a long term boost was an excellent exchange. Sentiment had no place here, this alone, even without the Class Up boost, was worthwhile. Adrian knew that he needed to calm down. He had never enjoyed being helpless, being powerless. Fitoria probably didn't give a shit about him, he had to stop assuming that she was going to just turn into her Kaiju Form and stomp him into paste without reason ...then again if she believed that killing him was worthwhile she would crush him and he didn't have to be the reason, if the other Heroes were morons it would be his head on the line...he would have to look into controlling the other heroes. He would not die for their stupidity.

Once she had finished with the Filolials she turned to him, "Sword Hero," she said, plucking out a strand of her hair, "this will grant you all the Filolial series swords."