Hunt

For the first time in a long time, Roko's workload seemed to settle back down to a normal workload. The brunt of his research was over. What remains now is field testing his theories which meant leaving the library and hanging around the barracks. Not for any physical training though, which left some of the soldiers puzzled over why Roko would just show up just to practice archeomancy. But none of them really bothered him. They all knew better than to disrupt his research. Romer on the other hand…

 "Oi, human!" Romer grinned as he approached Roko as soon as he had settled down on the side of the training grounds, "You plan on ever joining us for a bit of exercise?"

 "You ever plan on joining me on my magic training?"

 "Ha! I know plenty of magic myself you know!" Romer said as he summoned a fireball in his hands, "I don't have to catch up to you! You have to catch up to me!"

 "I wasn't saying that you needed to get on my level." Roko replied blankly as he continued to manipulate mana, "I don't even know my level."

 "And I have no idea what you're talking about."

 "I'm sure you can figure it out."

 "Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight."

 "Think you're so smart because you've got that new crown on yer head do ya?" Romer rubbed his chin with a slight frown on his face.

 "I can assure you the only aggression you're hearing is from your own misinterpretations."

 "Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight."

 "Umm...Lady Momo?" One of the soldiers walked up to the princess stealthily chanting in the background, "Are you sure you want to make those two fight again?"

 "I missed it the first time!" Momo cried, "I want to see them fight this time!"

 "U-Uh huh..."

 "So..." Romer continued, oblivious to Momo's silent egging, "How was your date with the human girl? What was her name, Corissa?"

 "If you're so interested in her you could at least remember her name." Roko scowled, "And I didn't go on any date with her."

 "Really? Even after winning it fair and square?"

 "I didn't win anything! She wasn't even there to agree to the conditions!"

 "Heh. All I'm hearing is that you're scared. Can't even work up the courage to ask a girl out."

 "Are you hearing me? I said there was no prize and I won nothing from our fight. I had no reason to ask her out on anything."

 "Are you guys talking about me?"

 Romer and Roko turned to see Corissa standing there looking a bit confused and a Momo hiding right behind her, a little winded after quickly zipping away to grab Corissa and bringing her here.

 "Oho!" Romer grinned, "Princess! How nice of you to stop by today!"

 "Well I was told I was needed here?" Corissa said with a confused smile.

 "More like wanted here." Roko sighed, "I sure hope Varis isn't freaking out right now."

 "I was in the middle of shopping." Corissa said, "So he's probably just going to bring what we had back to the lodge."

 "Shame he isn't here."

 "Why?"

 "Princess!" Romer spoke up again, "What would you say to a little bit of an...outing with me?"

 "Outing?" Corissa blinked, "To where?"

 "Well, I haven't partaken much of the elven cuisine and culture. Perhaps you would like to show me around a bit?."

 "Hasn't it been like a month?" Corissa tilted her head.

 "AHEM! Yes, well, unfortunately I've been busy with raising these poor soldiers. But now that their training has reached a slow point and now that my daughter and her friends have decided to make a quick return to our village, I find myself with more time than before."

 "That makes sense." Corissa nodded.

 "So when are you free exactly?"

 "Roko!" Momo hissed as Corissa and Romer continued talking, "Roko, are you just going to let this happen?!"

 "Corissa's old enough to make her own decisions." Roko replied, not looking up from his magic practice, "Besides, we can just have Varis tag along to make sure he doesn't try anything suspicious."

 "Eh? You want me to come visit your room to plan out the details?" Corissa said as their conversation continued on the side, "I don't think it would be that complicated but sure. I guess it'll be fine."

 "Also it'll be funny to see a grown elf like Romer trying to woo a girl whose name he doesn't even have the courage to say."

 "What was that?" Romer growled as he turned back towards Roko.

 "Oh did you hear that? No, I just find it funny that you refer to Corissa as a princess when Momo here's also a princess." Roko explained, "What's the big dark elf doing being shy around a human girl less than a tenth of his age?"

 "Ohoho." Romer scowled, "You suddenly have a tongue now. Are you itching for a rematch now?"

 "No, just making simple observations." Roko replied, "Though it's certainly something to see a grown man having trouble talking to a little girl."

 "What do you know human? You're not even brave enough to defend her."

 "Uh huh. By the way, how's your wife? I mean you have a daughter so you must've gotten married right? Or did she run away?"

 Romer's spear slammed into the ground with a thud, "You. Fight me. Now."

 "Well if you want to be beaten all over again, how could I say no?" Roko smirked as he stood up.

 "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

 "G-Guys, no!" Corissa cried, "There's no reason for you two to fight!"

 "Corissa, Corissa!" Momo whispered, "The opposite! Say the opposite!"

 "O-Opposite? U-uhhh...I would...love(?) to see you two fight?"

 "So be it!" Romer boomed, "Men! Clear the training grounds!"

 "No wait!" Corissa yelped as Romer and Roko made their way to the middle of the field, "Ooohhh..."

 In short time the rematch was set up with Roko now equipped with a random sword from the armory again.

 "You may have won by taking my spear last time. But this time that won't be happening!" Romer declared, "This time I will be using my personal spear, Wilderman!"

 "Use whatever you want, I don't care." Roko said.

 "Winner of this fight gets to go on a date with Corissa!"

 "Wait this was a date?!" Corissa cried, "When was this about a date?!"

 "Never change Corissa." Momo smiled as she pet Corissa on the head.

 "Prepare yourself, human!" Romer cried as he leveled his spear at Roko, "This time, I'll be taking the first move!"

 "Whatever lets you think you'll win." Roko sighed.

 "Charge!"

 Romer charged at Roko as he drew his sword back.

 It was infuriating. Ever since putting on the Intellect Coronet, archeomancy was noticeably much easier for him. Roko knew it was augmenting his intelligence but he didn't think it would be this effective. Even now the image of the magic seals were clearer in his head and the mana was flowing with little strain. Roko had been trying to resist the effects of the crown in his practice but it wasn't very effective. But now he let the mana flow, wrapping around his sword in shapes as he swung the sword up and cracked it against Romer's spear. A burst of wind blasted out from the sword and Romer's spear was flung into the air, spiraling around in the air before embedding itself into the earth behind Roko. Romer's mouth stood agape like everyone else that was watching. Even Corissa and Momo were shocked by what they saw. As the enchantments faded from his sword, Roko walked over and patted Romer on the shoulder,

 "Don't worry, I'll let you pick up your spear."

 Romer ground his teeth as he glared at Roko and ran to pick up his spear, Roko continuing to walk forward until they had exchanged starting positions on the field. Romer turned back to face Roko again but more cautiously this time. Gripping his spear tightly, Romer raised it over his head and charged at Roko. Roko wrapped another enchantment around his sword again and stabbed it into the ground. The earth began to quake strongly, throwing everyone off balance and stalling Romer from his charge. Instead, Roko ran forward, wrapping another enchantment around the sword as he slashed into Romer with a watery blade. It only made a small mark on Romer's armor but also doused it in water. And like his spells had told him before, the armor was porous and shrank ever so tightly, hardening and holding tight to Romer's body. With a slight hindrance to his movements, Romer turned around to try and swing at Roko again only for Roko to place wind magic over his sword and tap it on the ground, sending a gust of wind strong enough to propel him into the air. With another enchantment, Roko slashed at the air over Romer, creating water that rained on Romer, hardening his armor even more. Their match continued in much the same fashion, Roko dodging around Romer as he threw water around Romer until Romer's armor began to crack and crumple under his own movements. If Romer tried to save his armor, the easier it was for Roko to outmaneuver him. If Romer sacrificed his armor to try and make a big attack the easier it was for Roko to land meaningful hits in retaliation. And while Roko wasn't technically allowed to land any serious blows, he had made a few attacks that should have been decisive but Romer barreled on nonetheless. But no matter how hard he fought, Roko remained out of his reach, pressing his advantage more and more until Romer collapsed. Neither were particularly injured or even particularly tired but Romer's rage was quickly doused in the sheer difference in skill in display between the two of them.

 "I give up." Romer sat down on the ground with a scowl, "Is that what you're like when you're serious?"

 "Hardly." Roko said as he sheathed his sword, "I wouldn't have been able to do this without this stupid crown."

 "Are you feeling okay?" Corissa asked as she and Momo came over.

 "I'm fine for now." Roko scowled, "I just don't like this power."

 "What's wrong with it?" Romer smirked, "Isn't that the consistent power you wanted?"

 "As powerful as it is, I'm still not comfortable using it. It's cursed. Who knows when I might start suffering side effects?"

 "Hopefully they won't be that bad." Momo nodded, "I haven't noticed anything on my end yet."

 "Well don't forget to record it if you do. We actually need to gather data on yours. Unlike mine." Roko scowled as he pulled at the cursed object on his head.

 "Soooo..." Corissa fidgeted awkwardly, "Does that mean I have to go on a date with you now?"

 "Yes!"

 "No." Roko smacked Romer on the head with the flat side of his sword, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

 "What if I might want to?" Corissa muttered.

 "What was that? Speak up."

 "N-Nothing!"

 "Is this how humans flirt?" Romer rubbed his chin confusedly, "Why can't they just say what they want?"

 "I've never been in love but I assume it's more complicated than that." Momo shrugged, "I am interested though."

 "Really?" Romer raised an eyebrow, "It's rare to find a warrior like you interested in love."

 "Of course! I hear the power of love is really powerful!"

 "I uhhh..." Romer blinked, "...Yeah...it sure is."

 "Forget that though! Roko! That magic and swordplay out there was worthy of being called a sword style! You can have your own sword techniques now! What do you want to call it?!"

 "Umm...no..." Roko frowned, "I don't think what I did was anything like a sword style. For one its very clunky. Writing an enchantment meant for an arrow into a sword is not really the most effective usage of it even if it does work to some extent. The enchantment disappears after one use which is probably due to how the enchantment that I'm copying was built but even if I was copying a more permanent enchantment, the magic just kinda peels off in short time so it wouldn't last long either way. More damning is the fact that I can't do anything close to this without this stupid crown. I don't know how but it's making my magic better. And worst of all, it's not even my magic."

 "Who else's magic could it be then?"

 "Mine, thank you." A calm, composed voice alerted everyone to the appearance of Rivera.

 "Q-Q-Queen Rivera!"

 The elf soldiers quickly lined up and knelt in front of their queen. Roko, Corissa and Momo all lined up as well and bowed politely as she walked up to them. Romer simply sighed, stood up and walked over to meet her.

 "It's been nearly a week since we last met, Roko. If you're done borrowing my magic..." Rivera sighed, "I have something to discuss with you all."

 "So the elven queen finally steps out of her castle." Romer said as he looked Rivera over, "Nice to finally meet you, Queen of the Elves. You don't have half bad bod for a woman of your age."

 "R-R-Romer!" Corissa quickly spoke up, "Perhaps you'd like to clean up a bit before speaking with the queen? I mean you were just in a fight after all."

 "No, it's fine." Rivera tapped her staff on the ground in front of her, "This concerns him as well."

 "It involves Romer?!" Momo cried.

 "Dark elf." River turned to Romer with a slight hint of well disguised disgust, "General Romer. I've been keeping up with the news of your efforts with my soldiers. You have my sincere thanks. Our army has never been stronger without your command."

 "You elves just don't have the motivation to properly build muscle." Romer smirked, "I've met dark elves a bit like you so I have some experience with things like this. The real praise belongs to your men. I wouldn't have made it this far without men brave enough to follow me all this way."

 "Indeed." Rivera nodded, "And now I'd like you to put them to actual use now."

 "Actual use?" Roko frowned, "Wait, you don't mean-"

 "It's as you suspect, Roko. We've found the orc camp."

 "So we're finally preparing a bit of a counter-offensive huh?" Romer smirked, "Gotta say, I didn't expect this from you elf folk. Waur was probably the biggest threat from the orcs and he's been dealt with. I was sure you folk would bunch up and focus on rebuilding instead of risking more lives in a spot of revenge."

 "We have our reasons to preform a counterattack." Rivera crossed her arms, "Not the least of which is that our associate, Zadkiel has been very insistent that we investigate these...toothy tentacle monsters further. Roko, do you have any idea why she's so interested?"

 "I'm sure she has a reason but I'll be damned if she would tell me anything." Roko sighed.

 "That so? Regardless, Romer, I'd like you to lead the attack on the orcs."

 "Me?" Romer said with a childish grin of excitement, "Are you certain about that, queen? I am a dark elf after all."

 "Our days of alliance were something I never would have imagined in my long life of existence." Rivera scoffed, "But I can't say these days weren't interesting. You know our soldiers better than anyone else right now. What's more it's clear you dark elves have seen more combat than any normal elf. I would like to have someone of such regard leading our charge if possible. Of course, if it's not then I'll have someone else lead the way..."

 "No, I'm honored you'd entrust this to an outsider like me. I'll accept this opportunity and promise to lead your people to victory."

 "I have no doubt you will." Rivera nodded, "Roko, you said you wished to come along didn't you? Will you be going alone?"

 "Well if nobody else wants to come with me-"

 "I'll come!" Momo volunteered immediately, "And I'm sure everyone else would too. You don't have to ask to include us!"

 "And you?" Roko turned to Corissa.

 "Of course, if you want me there, I'd be happy to join in." Corissa smiled, "Though I guess you mostly want Varis there."

 "I don't think we'd be encountering anything too drastic but Varis would be a good safety to have around. Of course, if you're fine with staying back and just letting us borrow your knight-"

 "Absolutely not." Corissa said with a hint of an angry smile, "If Varis is coming then I'm coming too."

 "If you insist." Roko sighed, "I guess all that's left is to check Kaguya's availability."

 "For what it's worth, I do believe this raid would be a good opportunity to gather data on those cursed objects." Rivera added, "So all of your participation would be ideal. My dau-ahem. My...personal assistant will be coming along with your party."

 "I didn't think we'd need a pencil pusher on this raid but if you insist." Romer shrugged, "I still don't know where all these cursed objects yall got came from."

 "Maybe you'll learn one day." Roko shrugged.

 "Yes..." Rivera grimaced, "...one day...Ahem. Regardless, this raid will commence tomorrow morning so I expect you all to be ready by then. If you have any further details to discuss we can do so in private. Barring that, I'll dismiss you all to focus on your preparations."