Master Of The Sword, Akiol’s Fight!

Yielya eyed the just-awoke Akiol. With a slight narrow of her eyes she asked, "Everything alright?"

Akiol was unsurprised at her godlike deduction, "Memories resurfaced making me a little sentimental."

Yielya nodded and did not pry further. Instead she asked, "What's your plan for the match?"

"I planned to just finish it off quickly, but Stars was adamant about me battling in a flashy way."

"Are you going to?"

"Ehh, I don't know. I feel like it's pointless, but if he enjoys it slightly I suppose I could put a little effort."

"It's not like we want you to finish fast or anything. Take your time! That's what we agreed on."

"I'll consider it then."

Tilia walked in and yawned, "Rest well?"

Yielya and Akiol nodded. Tilia smiled and walked towards the kitchen, "I'll make something for breakfast."

Akiol quickly joined, "I'm helping!"

She stopped and turned. Looking at Akiol's arm she flicked the cast, "With that arm? How long until it heals anyway?"

"It might not, Doctors said I will have to be lucky for it to fully recover. There's a big chance that it won't be as strong."

Yielya raised an eyebrow, "Really? Let me see."

Akiol unhesitatingly obeyed as Yielya raised the cast and inspected it carefully. With a confused look Akiol asked, "How will you tell with this in the way?"

"Don't worry about that."

Tilia's mouth curled slightly into a smile as she turned back into the kitchen.

Yielya then put down the arm, "You'll be fine, two months. After two months this cast can come off. After that spend some time treating it carefully and you'll be back in tip top shape."

"Isn't that a little fast for this amount of damage?"

"I didn't say it will be completely healed in two months. Just that you can't do anything extreme with it. Your body subconsciously protected your bones, thus the damage is healable. Don't go releasing that limit again."

"I had no choice at the time. But I won't!"

Yielya nodded, "Now go help, before Tilia does it herself."

~ ~ ~

Stars sat in his special space, a sad look on his face.

Givale stared at him, waiting for him to notice. However her efforts bore no fruit. She then grit her teeth and walked over, "Oi, what's with the look?"

"This is the first time as one of the Upper Swords I felt so useless. Does he even need me?"

Givale frowned, "What do you mean?! Of course he does! Else why would he have kept you for all this time?"

"Yet. . .", a heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"Stop! This sad look doesn't suit you at all. Where is that confident and arrogant face I despise so much?!"

"You understand too don't you? Despite his efforts in helping you, you can't do much to return the favor."

". . ."

She was taken aback by the cruel words. Whilst Stars normally never failed to hold back with his tongue, his voice always held a hint of teasing. Making it obvious that he wasn't serious.

This time it wasn't like that, a pure emotional voice unfiltered struck her directly. Directed at the thing she was the most conscious about.

It was true after all, she wanted to help so badly. Despite her being one of the apex races she wasn't useful at all! A freeloader who ate their fill and rested. She even was being taught lessons with Mana and still hadn't done a single thing to repay that.

She clenched her jaw, "I'm different! I can't do anything no matter how hard I try! But you have all this power just sitting here! Stuff I have yet to experience! How dare you call yourself useless! You are obviously the most useful thing Akiol has!"

Stars had a face of surprise, completely caught unaware of such an emotional outburst.

Tears were forming in Givale's eyes, "I know! I know I can't do anything no matter how hard I try! It's not fair! I'm supposed to be a Dragon! But I can't even defend myself properly! I want to be helpful! I want to! Yet the only one he relies on is you!"

Stars was at a loss for words. He couldn't form anything to say, to comfort Givale. Nothing was coming to mind.

He wasn't equipped for this, so he brought Akiol into his space. It was the only feasible solution he could come up with.

Akiol frowned after being pulled into the space without him knowing. But after seeing Givale his frown vanished, almost as if he understood immediately.

He kneeled in front of Givale and caressed her hair, "What's wrong?"

"I'm so useless! I can't do anything!"

Akiol did not speak, instead he comforted her with his presence. Right now words would be ineffective.

Stars watched as Akiol managed to calm and talk to Givale. He wondered how his wielder seemed so omnipotent. Capable of handling anything in his way?

Givale soon recovered, having been calmed. Akiol patted her head and stood. He then walked over to Stars.

Stars nodded, "I'll send you out. Thank you."

Akiol spoke, "Stop, look at me."

Stars was startled and he looked up at Akiol.

"Do you know why I wield a sword? Instead of just using mana?"

Stars shook his head.

"Because I can do a better job with my own hands. Who's to say a farmer can't do a better job with higher quality tools? While I can fight without a sword, I much prefer to use one. Especially one of high quality."

Akiol looked over to Givale before turning back, "Now let me free, the match is soon and I cannot be late."

Stars nodded and waved his hand, Akiol vanishing without a trace.

Stars sighed shakily. Seriously, why was he so omnipotent?

Akiol returned to his previous position and steadied his breath.

He was caught unaware!

Life and death battles had nothing on reconciling relationships! It was such a fragile procedure!

Wrong words could make the situation worse, wrong moves could do the same. Mediocre stuff won't make anything better. Akiol felt he was far more suited for battle.

However, he felt like he did a decent job.

Hopefully.

Akiol shook the concerns out of his head, he had a match first.

As he stepped into the building he noticed that once again the present players had reduced. This much was natural, eventually they would be narrowed down to a mere eight total teams. It was expected that the attending players would be slowly declining. Yet the current amount of players was. . . pitiful. Akiol guessed it was around an eighth of what he saw yesterday.

Did that many players get eliminated in a single day?

Instead of pondering this himself, he asked a nearby player, "Isn't it a little empty in here?"

"You aren't aware? Some people have been delaying specific teams to not arrive on time. While picking fights in here is prohibited, outside isn't as strict."

"Who's doing this?"

"We have no idea, we suspected it was some Guild. But I doubt they would spend any focus on us."

"Hmm, that's intriguing. Thanks for the info."

"No problem, stay safe."

Akiol walked over to his party. Wrock looked at him, "You done with your business?"

"Yeah, how much time left?"

Kan'na answered, "Around eight minutes, shall we head in now?"

Akiol nodded and the party walked into their designated Matchup Room. As they walked in their enemy team was already seated.

The party gave greetings, but were met with a cold silence. Despite the rude encounter, they weren't concerned.

The enemy team quickly readied up. Akiol quickly assessed them before readying up himself. As the countdown timer reached a single second one of the enemy team members spoke, "Don't disappoint us."

The arena this time was simple, it was a farm. A large field with tall crops covered around a third of the total map. A large wooden barn stood in an undisturbed corner. The remaining space being loose rocks and grass.

Jarvis called out, "Before you go, can we have some cards?"

Akiol dispelled a pack, "This is the last one I have, the guy who sold them hasn't been in stock for a long time."

Wrock took the pack with a smile, "We will take extra care of them."

Akiol nodded and walked off. His goal was straightforward:

Destroy the barn.

Such a large building could prove troublesome if used correctly. Since he had no issues with it he decided to render it unusable.

He would have liked to burn the field, but he had no reason too. Despite the tall crops being able to provide cover, with Akiol's current ability he was able to sense the movement of the crops easily. If anything it gave him more of an advantage.

He unsheathed Stars and pointed to the sky, "Let's smash that with a meteor."

'Now that is what I'm talking about!'

A small pitch black portal appeared above the tip of Stars. It shot to the sky and rapidly expanded, a meteor soon came flying out.

The meteor crashed into the barn and created a crater. The barn quick turned to rubble, leaving it barely a shadow of its former glory.

The ground shook from the impact, but it wasn't too violent.

Akiol nodded in satisfaction, "Very good, now let us see what our enemy team is doing. I shall not 'disappoint' them."

The other team saw this and some frowned.

"Are they showing off? Destroying the barn like that."

"My plan is slightly ruined, I wanted to use it as a tactical point. Perhaps they realized this and decided to rid of it all together."

"So what's the plan now?"

"We lead them to the field, we can place several traps in there. Once they're separated we strike at them together, one by one."

"You sure they're going to fall for it?"

"We will make them."

A voice appeared near them, "Yo, not a bad plan. How exactly you going to make them though?"

The moment the newcomer said 'Yo' they instantly drew their weapons and looked towards the source.

Akiol walked up to them, "Quite aware aren't you?"

"You came at us alone?! Are you in a relationship with death?!"

Akiol tilted his head, "Isn't it 'courting death'? Never mind, I came to see what the team who arrogantly says 'don't disappoint us' before we teleport is all about. I guess you have your head on you. Now that I heard your plan what's your next move?"

A Sorcerer named Wylie casted a spell, "Killing you! [Greater Fireball]!"

Pointing Stars forward he absorbed the fireball. They shook their head, "Shouldn't we talk a little? How about some introductions? I'll go first, my name is Akiol. What about yours?"

"Our names don't matter, we will not meet after this."

"That's saddening, alright then. Give it your best shot."

A Sword Master named Pot ran forward, sword flashing and moving directly for Akiol's neck.

Pot immediately frowned, for his attack seemed to miss by a hair. Yet Akiol praised, "Not bad, aiming for the vitals immediately. It seems you know how to wield a sword somewhat."

Pot grit his teeth and immediately executed a skill, his sword moving brilliantly, several strikes being created.

The enemy player seemed unperturbed by the attack. They moved simply, barely dodging the strikes. Suddenly moving their arm they caught Pot's blade, "A little reckless, but well executed. However, why are you just standing there?"

Akiol looked at the enemy team, as the Sword Master had been fighting him the rest of the enemy team did not make a move.

No one answered him, but Akiol could deduce the reason almost immediately.

The leader was analyzing him, coming up with ways to successfully eliminate him. The Sword Master was merely meant to make him expose his cards.

Akiol smiled, "No answer? They don't mind me taking advantage of this."

The Sword Master let go of their blade after realizing that freeing it was unlikely. They then slid forward and aimed a punch.

Akiol was pleased, "Not bad! Not many of your class would willingly abandon their weapon for an upper hand. Extra points to you!"

Akiol moved slightly and the blow missed him. He took a step back and held the sword in front of him, "Take it back, I don't need it."

They ignored the offer and aimed a sweep kick. Akiol easily dodged and shrugged, "Well if you aren't going to take it I don't need it!"

Akiol tossed it aside, he couldn't wield two blades.

'This is kinda fun, don't attack them yet.'

Akiol smiled faintly and watched the enemy team's movements. He then decided to play a little bit of mind games, "You're creating a plan to beat me aren't you? Though you're slightly upset for this guy not making me retaliate. Despite that you believe to have a feasible plan. Am I wrong?"

The leader's eyes narrowed and they finally spoke, "You aren't so simple, are you."

"When you fight as long as I have you can clue in on these things."

The leader smirked, "Then, shall we proceed to the main course?"