Interlude First Shot of The Silver Arrow

And just like how he appeared, he vanished like the wind, leaving me behind once again, deep down, i feel like i am being abandoned by him for the second time, but every time I remember how he looked at me i could tell, he just wants me to keep away, to not get in danger.

"Sakegara-no-tachi..."

Looking at my sword, reborn by his power, now a living holy sword, i felt even more pain in my chest, no matter how much his words made sense last night, he surely was...

"Liar... You liar... You liar..."

The same expression, the same voice, the same flame on the eyes, he is the same Mamoru I met 1 thousand years ago, the one who stood at my side, the one who smiled and despaired, the one who lived and died by his own convictions.

"Why? Tell me, why am I so weak that i always drag him down?"

I asked my sword, once the symbol of a apostle, now a treasure no other could use aside him and myself, but it didn't answer with words, only a strong feeling of sadness, as if mirroring my own.

"... I don't want to continue this weak"

Those storming feelings inside of me, the nightmare of 1 thousand years ago, i had to crush it, i couldn't pull myself to fight again for years, but now I had to.

"You have a good weapon with you"

A man approached me, coming from nowhere, the villagers who lived here left in a hurry ever since that battle started, but this man came directly to me, as if waiting for the right moment.

"Who are you?"

I didn't turn to see him, i had my hand on my loyal sword ready to fight the moment he got near, but he stood where he was.

"I see... It's a Holy Sword, it looked like a oversized arrowhead to me however"

"Answer my question!"

I stood up fast and tried to pull my sword, it was completely covered in blood and it's weight was simply absurd now, i could barely lift it from the ground.

"Damn..."

"Too heavy? He always made unfair weapons after all, did he give you any instructions on how it works?"

The man asked me casually, his behavior was friendly, but it could easily be a lie to lure me into a trap, yet he said something that remind me of Mamoru's words, how i should clean and dry the sword.

"I see, then you do remember his instruction, do it already, i won't wait for long"

He said it as a matter of fact, i didn't know who that man was, but his attitude got on my nerves real fast, but i couldn't fight like this, so i casted a simple spell and dropped lots of water on my sword to clean it, the sword itself got heavier for a moment, but after I dried it with a wind spell, it became as light as a wooden arrow.

"All done?"

"Answer me already, Who the hell are you?"

"You have to fight me before knowing that, silver haired elf"

He didn't release any kind of animosity, he wasn't releasing Mana at all, but his stance had no openings, i didn't know if he used a sword, spear or axe, but it was clear to me that he had a weapon despite the fact i couldn't see it.

I advanced at him, cutting the distance between us for a decisive strike, but the next moment I felt a odd influx of mana, but i couldn't allow him to use a spell, so i continued my strike, just for me to hit air the moment my blade would touch him.

"What... Time magic?"

"Correct"

I quickly turned and blocked a blow, my arms felt the absurd impact, but the moment my eyes were fixed on him, his hands were empty, only his posture of holding something proved he just attacked me.

"Impossible... The only person who could use this kind of spell was the savior!"

"Correction, it was the sage, the time wizard, the savior and my mother, who learned from the time wizard himself and taught me all 3 time spells"

He is way more dangerous than I imagined, he knows about who created this magic and all it's previous users, even worse, he has a invisible weapon and relevant skill with it.

"Well, as much as my father likes to talk when fighting to form tactics and mess with his opponents, i am not used to this, so let's end this quick"

I'm going to die, savior taught me the flaws of time magic long ago, but he said that to overcome it, you need to predict your opponent's intention to counter it, but i couldn't see his face, eyes or weapon, even his posture had no mean to giveaway his intentions.

"It's over"

He simply appeared behind me and stabbed me by the shoulder, blood was gushed out of my wound, but i didn't allow him to kill me that easy, i grabbed the blade that was popping out of my wound and it became visible, it was a azure spear shaped like a fang

"Got you"

The moment he noticed, i released all my mana into a explosive storm, pushing him away and making him let go off his weapon.

"You should learn this kid, time magic can't be used twice in less than two minutes, or else you get unable to use it again for half a hour!"

I took my bow and Sakegara-no-tachi, i turned to the man and pulled the string, the huge sword's handle fit perfectly as a arrow just like what he said

"Curious about my sword? Go on and take it!!!"

I shot my sword at the now weaponless man who's surprised gasp made me smile, but what surprised me, was what he did, he grabbed it by the flat sides and was dragged by it to a house where he broke through.

"Is he... Crazy? No one can wield a Holy sword aside it's creator and it's choosen master"

The act of trying to grab it was stupid, anyone would die before doing something like this, but yet...

"Oh well... I wonder if he made it to be used like this as last resort"

He walked out from the broken house, a cut not so deep yet one big enough for him to bleed out if untreated was left on his chest, same as my shoulder with the still stabbed spear, but the surprising part was the fact he was holding my sword with one hand.

"Ok, you passed the test"

"What in the..."

Suddenly, someone pulled the spear out of my shoulder, the pain pierced my brain, but soon it stopped, despite the damage on my clothes, my wound was gone, i looked back and I saw a fairy making that spear from before float with wind magic.

"Here, as much as I like this unusual arrow sword, it's yours"

He offered my sword back to me and I took it quickly, now with some blood in it, the sword had the weight of a greatsword like it had before being reforged, the man's figure finally appeared to me, under his hood was a familiar face, yet different enough for me to not recognize, but the odd part about it was his eyes.

"Greed and envy..."

His eyes, one was golden, and the other was purple, his hair was black yet he had the pointy ears of a elf and the skin of a far tanner skin that was between a high elf and a dark elf.

"My name is Setanta, i am the leader of the "Cu Culainn", the secret team that exists to support the Hero incarnations, with you, we finally will have all the members we need to end this cycle"

With those words said, i finally noticed the other 4 people watching over me, hidden on the shadows, they had mana crushingly superior to mine, Setanta's hand was extended to me, offering a place among them, the moment my eyes met his, a pressure absurdly superior to the others almost crushed me where I stood, he was playing with me all along.

"Welcome aboard, i think that "Silver Arrow Sakura" would be a good name for you, now come, you need to prepare yourself for war"

Fear and anger for being played with made me clench my fist, but seeing his intentions clear now, i turned it all in resolution.

"Yes, i need a lot of explanation, but most of all, i need your power"

"Good words"

And so, I took his hand.