Aftermath And A New Weapon

(Robin's POV):

After the duel, Denzel and I shook hands which the rest of the group was just completely speechless with the battle. It reached the point where they were sweating even more than both of us who are actually fighting.

We returned to the palace and Denzel had actually went straight towards the underground junction. That basically tells me that he's going to continue to work on Stardust Claymore. I was prompting to follow him but the other members pretty much stopped me.

"Robin, that was something... Really extreme..." - Jay

"Surprised?"

"Not just surprised... Shocked..." - Jay

"Well, that's kinda how it is when me and Denzel start clashing. It's somewhat different when against Michael or Seymour but I know that combat will practically be very difficult against any of the three."

"He's processing things... Faster than I can read..." - Gayle

"Denzel isn't something that you should rely on smarts on. He's at the level where he will outpace you in planning by a very long shot. The only way to beat him is by keeping a solid defense and improvise quickly. He has made a countermeasure against a solidified defense when you look at the artillery cannon transformation of his weapon."

"His weapon transforms quite a lot, can he use any kind?" - Grace

"Yep, he masters all possible weapons that he can transform it to. It reached the point where he even mastered transition attacks and defense. So if you're fighting against him alone, then you might be in trouble. That doesn't mean that my score against him will lose down you know? Our current score is 16 wins and 16 losses..."

"That's extremely skillful... I have a feeling that even all of us would be able to take him on." - Jay

"If I go all out against you guys, nobody would be able to handle it either."

"True, Robin's Justice card makes combat against him difficult. It will give him a sharp edge against multiple opponents at once so it's the same as fighting Denzel but with more unavoidable attacks." - Grace

"There's a trick on combating Denzel because he will make his targets panic and deliver extreme strikes. So even if he tries to overwhelm you with multiple sudden attacks from extreme angles, if you managed to remain calm then he will overuse his mana and cancel the attacks."

"I see, who has managed to get through an onslaught like that?" - Grace

"Me, Michael and Seymour."

"Figures." - Grace

"It's almost impossible after all. Getting hauled by multiple ice spikes like that and him trying to attack you, it's like defending from seven attackers at once you know?!" - Jay

Everyone seems to have been impressed by Denzel's fighting style. Ridley and Rylle were talking about it and trying to go over everything they saw earlier. Lester was thinking deeply while Terrence, Grace, Jay, and Gayle are listening to me intently.

These four want to improve huh?

"Well, it's also amazing that Robin managed to hold out pretty well. Does Denzel make repeats?" - Terrence

"Yep, unless you're fighting him at two different times. He will use an entirely different pattern and sometimes, just completely unpredictable."

"I see... How... Can you manage?" - Gayle

Gayle asked that question because she was unable to read Denzel in his pace of planning.

"Seems like even you can't read Denzel's movements..."

"Mhm... Too fast... Too many things..." - Gayle

"Yeah, once he starts calculating it's actually at crazy levels."

The others were taken aback with Gayle saying things like difficulty to read Denzel.

"I think you actually have a higher chance to dodge an overwhelm by Denzel actually. I have to rely on reaction time while you can predict where some attacks will come from. And you can even block sudden ice spikes with your barrier."

"R-really?" - Gayle

"Well, that depends when you get a chance to be trained by Denzel personally. I'll train everyone soon enough so you guys can get the ropes pretty easily. You should be more careful once Denzel starts to train you guys."

"I see. I'm kind of excited though." - Jay

Denzel had finally went back upstairs with a nice mood. Seems like the weapon is officially complete so we now have a chance to test this weapon out in the open.

We went back towards the area where Denzel and I clashed and he passed me the large claymore that has a single edge. It looks decently heavy for one hand and is well designed. It has a golden color and something like a shining star in between two symbols that look like radiance.

"Alright, give it a few swings Robin." - Denzel

I swung it multiple times and started to train a bit. I brought out the Paladin's Sword and made a few combined attacks with both.

"Very nice, seems like you got the hang of it immediately. Now try pouring mana into the weapon." - Denzel

I poured some mana into the Stardust Claymore and it started glowing instantly. The two symbols embedded in the blade started to shine brightly.

"Aight, now try it out." - Denzel

When I swung the Stardust Claymore, it was pretty light. When I noticed, four stars appear in an arc shape behind me and started firing small lasers towards the location. After that, it instantly disappeared even though I'm still pouring an optimal amount of mana.

"The best part about pouring mana is that you can desync it by parrying attacks. As you know, rather than having four at once, it is much harder to dodge something that attacks constantly and rapidly right?" - Denzel

"True... Then, only the two symbols glowed here what about the third one in the middle?"

"Try pouring even more mana into it."

I poured even more mana and directed it to a spot. It generated a pillar and multiple stars started falling into the radius at an extremely rapid rate. The area wasn't wide but it's more or less useful when fighting against multiple opponents.

"This will disorganize everyone in a formation. A sudden attack from below and an incoming hail from above will fix your current problem about facing armies. Try pouring even more mana, at that point you can summon up to five pillars at once." - Denzel

"Five you say?"

"Five?!!" - Jay

Jay was pretty shocked with the capability of the weapon. He seems to have become a lot more excited once he got the level of power I just gained from gaining all the materials gathered.

"This weapon will not suck up as much mana. It has the explosive properties of arcana ore, mana sustain and suction from mystic ore, heat from the lasers and radiation from magma ore, and the starry effects from the celestial pillar taken from the celestial ore." - Denzel

"As expected from you. I knew you'd make something pretty absurd again."

"Well, the mana you'll use up is a lot less because you'll be taking mana from your opponents. Be careful about corrupted mana though, it can damage your weapon since this cannot hold corrupted mana like the miasma currently residing inside me." - Denzel

"I see... So that makes it difficult when fighting enemies who can corrupt."

"Yep, that's all the functions of the weapon." - Denzel

So Denzel immediately left and returned to the palace. I decided to talk to the others about their time together in this place. They gave me nice results, Jay gets along with the other people. Some things get introduced to another, well they were toured by Gayle with Lilith's assistance. There's a lot more things that have happened but I don't have to worry about them that much.

I haven't seen or gotten news from them having spars from various other residents in there so I don't think there's still a problem. If there's one then it would be Jay and Lester getting into a fight pretty often.

Sometimes, they have arguments or even completely ignore each other without caring. At that point, Gayle was having trouble on who to choose to keep an eye but I guess I'll just leave them be.

Grace and Terrence doesn't seem to have any problem now that they're reunited. Though she still doesn't help when both Jay and Gayle bully Terrence.

Ridley and Rylle were mainly talking to each other or trying to get Lester comfortable. It seems like they became stoppers whenever Lester and Jay enter an argument. Gayle doesn't seem to have slept enough but when she shouted "Boo" at Denzel she seems to have gotten a word with him.

I thought to myself that Denzel and Gayle might be somewhat close friends when they're talking alone. Somehow, she still doesn't talk easily with the other friends which she had been with for a very long time. I don't think I should dwell more so I can respect their privacy.

After some time Lester left the area and walked back to the palace. He doesn't seem to be agitated but just left calmly to do something. I was thinking of following him but Jay tapped my shoulder and invited me to a game.

"Robin, let's play Confession Time with everyone." - Jay

"Confession Time?"

If I remember correctly, this game will be something like telling secrets or so. Why not?