SPARING MATCH

"So, what did you want to ask?" Jack said, sitting down behind his desk.

"Nothing really," Kojo replied, putting his hands behind his head. "I only sparred with you because a friend of mine wanted to ask you something."

"Oh?" Jack said, raising his eyebrow. "And what would she like to know?"

Lin stepped forward. She and Jack stared at each other. He noticed a mark on Lin's neck.

"I see," Jack said. "Yes."

"Very well then, I'm sure you had your reasons," Lin said. Kojo looked from one to the other.

"Then that must mean..." He looked at Koniko.

"Yes," Lin replied.

"Okay, what's happening?" Kojo asked.

"I'm sure you had your reasons," Jack said. Lin nodded.

"Then we'll be on our way," Lin said, turning to leave.

"Hey Kojo, why don't we head out into the fields and train? So that we can get used to each other, being a new party and all," Lin said as they walked out of the building. Sharone and Kojo looked at each other.

"Sure, that sounds like a great idea," Sharone replied. They walked towards the gates in silence.

"About what happened with the raid chief," Lin began.

"No, it's cool if you don't want to tell us," Kojo said.

"We're friends now. There shouldn't be any secrets between us," Koniko said.

Sysia cleared her throat.

"Don't," Kojo warned.

"If you've observed, Jack isn't a normal person. His lifespan and his power levels prove that," Lin said. "That's because he's a half-elf."

"Okay, that explains the pointy ears. Although they were shorter than Lin's. Guess we know the reason why he keeps such long hair," Kojo said, running his hand through his own neck-length white hair.

"Anyway, I wanted to know why he was with humans."

"Yeah. But he seemed to know you two. And was looking at a mark on Lin's neck," Sharone said, but Koniko cut her off.

"Hey Sharone, remember that chain move you did when we were fighting that beast? I want to test it out, and this open field looks like a great place to practice." Koniko put her hand on Sharone's shoulders and moved her forward.

"No more secrets, huh?"

(I'm sure they have their reasons. They'll tell you when the time's right, so don't fret.)

He glanced at Lin, who looked like she wanted to say something but was unsure whether to do so or not.

"Come on, let's catch up," Kojo said.

"O-okay," she responded.

"This place should be good enough," Koniko said, standing akimbo in the middle of a field.

"And you're sure this isn't anyone's land?" Kojo asked.

"Well, all lands belong to the duke and should be considered public property. Meaning if anything pops up, we can just pretend we don't know anything and mention random names to stay out of trouble," Koniko said.

Kojo stared at her.

"I think it would be best we tried a four-way sparring match to gauge each other's skills," Lin suggested.

"Sure."

"Okay."

"I'm cool with it."

They spaced out a bit, facing each other. There was a cool breeze blowing as they sized each other up.

Koniko shot a fire arrow at Kojo at the same moment he directed an earth spike at Lin. Magic circles appeared under them as Sharone was about to use her blood mines but was thrown back by a blast of wind. Kojo bent backward to avoid the arrow, and Lin flipped to the side to avoid his spike. She spun her staff, transforming it into a halberd, and charged at Kojo. Kojo drew his sword and met her slash, while Koniko went after Sharone, attacking with her daggers. The two groups exchanged blows. Before Lin made a whirlwind which blew everyone away. They quickly charged at each other, moving between slashes and jabs while giving ranged attacks. Sharone flew into the air and attacked all three of them. She fired red flames at Lin while trying to bring Koniko down with her blood spears. All this while, she fought Kojo in mid-air. He'd jump, make a slash, fall, then jump again. She made a spear in her hand and threw it at him, while four magic circles appeared where Kojo would land. Kojo, however, floated out of the way on a cloud he made. He turned and stuck his tongue out at her. She flew toward him. As the two fought, Koniko and Lin exchanged blows on the ground while trying to avoid Sharone's spells. Koniko would come close and make some slashes at Lin before jumping back and releasing a stream of fire. Lin spun the halberd and made a gale which blew out the fire. She then rushed at Koniko. Magic circles appeared around her, and she fired several flame arrows at Lin, who either dodged or deflected them. Lin stabbed the ground with the halberd and used it to deliver a spinning kick to Koniko, knocking her into a blood mine. She then propelled herself upward and shot Kojo down with her wind blades while spinning vertically and making a swing at Sharone. Sharone made two sabers in each hand and tried to block, but the force of the strike caused a shockwave which knocked her into the ground. Lin floated in a whirlwind and moved it on top of Sharone so she couldn't move. A magic circle appeared under Sharone, and chains shot up. Lin tried to hit them away with her halberd, but they still wrapped around her. Kojo, who was fighting Koniko, noticed that the chains had stretched Lin's clothes over her chest.

(Pervert.)

Koniko kicked him back, then jumped over him, touching his head and washing his body with fire. The fire suddenly went out, and he made to grab her. She used him to push herself away and threw fireballs at him from above.

Sharone used the chains to throw Lin into a blood mine, and seeing that Kojo's back was open, made two red constructs of hands and tried to grab Kojo, but he froze and kicked them back at Sharone. She flew upward to evade and charging her fist with red energy shot at Kojo. She was, however, shot down by Koniko, who was blown away by Lin. She then charged at Kojo, who rolled under her and put his sword on her neck. Lin, however, had her halberd on Sharone, who had a saber pointed at Koniko's back. Koniko herself had made a flaming arrow and aimed at Kojo's head.

They all laughed and withdrew their weapons. Kojo fell down on the grass, the others falling around him.

"This is a different experience. I never thought there would be a stalemate," Koniko said. "It's been a while since we sparred, hasn't it, Lin?"

"Yeah," Lin replied. She then turned to Sharone. "Sharone's magic is really impressive. Can all vampires use blood magic?"

"Just accept it, you're good," Kojo said.

(Well, she did multitask, creating different magic skills for each of you while alternating to best suit her.)

"Nerd."

(Perv.)

"And you too, Kojo. You threw random hits at first, but then you switched to different fighting techniques so as to throw us off," Koniko said.

"I thought you wouldn't notice," he said.

(Told you they would.)

"Yeah, but during the fight, you hesitated," Sharone said. Kojo recalled himself staring at her open legs when she fell. He quickly raised his hands.

(Pervert.)

"It's not what you think, I wasn't..." he said nervously.

"I was going to say you shouldn't get distracted during combat, but you're acting weird," Sharone said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Why? What did you think she was thinking?" Lin asked. They all stared at him.

"You know what? I'm starving. Are you starving? 'Cause I'm starving," he said, quickly getting to his feet.

"But we got here a little while ago," Koniko said.

"By the time we get back, it'll be lunchtime," he said.

"But..." Lin tried to protest. Kojo turned.

"Okay then, let's go," he said, walking away. The girls looked at each other, then got up and followed him.

(You know they held back.)

"I know," he turned to look at them.

SKAN.

He saw each of them had a ridiculous amount of Arcana. He smiled and put his hands behind his head.

(Wouldn't piss any of them off if I were you. But you know what? You're pretty fast. Using lunch to cover up the fact that you were checking them out.)

"I wasn't checking anyone out."

(I'm in your head. I know all the perverted thoughts you're having, and I just want you to know that if you continue being a big-assed wuss, you're gonna continue chasing the wind." She made a blowing sound for emphasis.

"I don't have any—" He remembered the girls' bodies on him that morning.

"Aah, stop it. Like, what's up with you?"

(I'm studying the male mind. And you happen to be the perfect specimen.)

"Go study someone else."

(Do you know anyone else who's from another world and has the most advanced Artificial Intelligence in his head as his P.A.?)

Kojo groaned.

(Thought so.)

"Just stop bugging me."

(The more I bug, the more fulfilled I feel.)

"Of course," Kojo said with a sigh.

The girls walking behind him looked at him with concern.

"Is he really that hungry?" Lin whispered to the others.

Just then, they heard some screams in the distance. They stopped walking.

"What was that?"

There was another scream, then a loud roar.

"Sounds like a powerful beast's nearby," Koniko said, her ears twitching.

"Look," Lin pointed upward. There was a smoke cloud steadily rising.

"We should probably leave since—" Kojo was cut short by another scream. Kojo sighed, then ran toward where the screams were coming from. They reached the road and stopped, studying the situation. A carriage was being attacked by a giant slime. One of the men manning it tried to run, but the slime caught him with one of its tentacles. He tried to cut it, but his sword got melted, and his body liquefied. The slime absorbed him, becoming bigger. They all turned their attention to a boy who appeared to be in his late teens. He noticed them.

"Stay back, I'll handle this," he said, drawing a sword. He then ran toward the slime. It tried to get him with its tentacles, but he zigzagged his way forward, slicing them as he moved. He then jumped up and spun his blade, crackling with electricity.

"Strike!"

He yelled, hitting the slime at the same time a bolt of lightning struck it, causing it to explode.

He straightened.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Kojo said, folding his arms. The swordsman turned to them.

"It's alright, I dealt with the fiend. I appreciate your concern." Kojo and the others slowly pointed behind him.

"What?" the boy asked, puzzled, unaware of the slime reforming behind him.