Dawn- An age of Darkness

For once I actually slept rather peacefully. There weren't any spirits hugging me and there wasn't anything sucking my life either. 

Yawn. 

So I woke up in a very good mood. It was probably noon. 'This is getting redundant.'

Why?

Because there were girls on both of my sides. On one side, there was Biteria making my whole body a pillow, and on the other, there was Viola- hugging my right hand rather passionately. Well, there went my theory of no one hugging me.

Both were asleep.. And both were drooling all over me. 

Yuck!

And then I noticed Alisa sitting on a stool by the window reading a book, while Ve was in the other corner just looking outside through the other window. 

'The hell?' 

I didn't walk into another world, right? My life couldn't have been this peaceful, right?

Right?

***

I got fresh and after chatting with Alisa for a while learned that I'd actually slept for three days straight. So they got worried and took turns watching over me. 

Or at least that was the plan but neither Biteria nor Viola ever left my side. Today was Alisa's turn but for some reason, Ve showed up saying, I was going to wake up- or so Alisa told me. 

She didn't even say morning to me though and jumped out of the window before I could talk.

I had a very bad feeling about all this, but I just ignored everything. 

"So, what do you think we should do now?"

Only me and Alisa were walking around outside. The other two were still sleeping peacefully so we didn't disturb them.

This place was not only tall but it was pretty wide too. The floors were spacious enough to have more than seven or eight rooms and the path was at least wide enough to fit seven Joris side by side!

'Why the hell did that guy just come to my mind?' A shiver went down my spine.

"I don't know. If I say anything, you'll just do the opposite. You don't trust me anymore, do you?" Alisa's voice had a tint of sadness though she was smiling.

"I do trust you, just not as much as I used to before all this. But- I'll believe your words."

Then again, if I was being frank, I didn't trust anyone in this world, not even my own self. So, I always took everything with a grain of salt. And yet, somewhere along the way, I kind of trusted Alisa a bit too much. This whole vampire thing kind of made me realize that trusting others blindly was definitely a flaw of mine that I hadn't yet overcome no matter how much I tried. 

So instead, I was going to listen to everything. I won't trust them- but, I'll try my best to distinguish between what was true and what wasn't. 

Alisa giggled. "I didn't want to burden you, that's why I hid the plan. You see, everyone already knew that the prince and the princess were captive. But they just used it as an excuse. And when their plans fell apart because of you, they just dumped all the responsibilities on you and hoped that you'd destroy this country for them. In the end, almost no one had their way thanks to you. I made sure, you were the one who got the most out of all this."

'So that's why-' A faint smile crept up my lips. Even if she was lying, even if, everyone just used me, I- I couldn't help but smile. 

I chuckled. "Well, thanks for the compliment and your hard work. But maybe next time, try to not make it so complicated."

"Both dwarves and men lost a lot from this war. You, on the other hand, not only gained new lands, but also a new woman." She grinned very devilishly.

I dreaded over both of the facts. "Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather not have either." I sighed. But she was right. "About Alfeim-"

"I've sent a letter to the princess and one more to the emperor, so no worries." She giggled and grabbed my hand and walked by my side. "So, you see me as your little sister?" 

She was still on that?

Actually, she was holding my hand like a little sister too.

"I used to call my sister Alisa when she was little."

"We share the same name then?"

"Yeah, she used to get pretty mad though." Remembering made me chuckle but- then sad. 

This floor was pretty wide but we were almost back at where we started. 'I should get a shower I guess.'

"I see. So, I'm her replacement." Now, Alisa was sad.

Honestly, this girl was too smart for her own good. 

I chuckled, ruffled through her hair. "No, not really. My sister is gone and no one can take her place. I just felt like I should treat you as a sister cause you looked so cute." Otherwise, I might not have been able to stop myself from committing things I had to take responsibility for. After all, I really, really had a thing for bunny girls. 

Alisa giggled again. "You're weird." She did blush slightly and squeeze my hand a bit tighter as we walked though.

"I'm aware."

We both laughed a bit and walked around the corridors.

Basically, all we were doing was showing the soldiers of this place that I was still kicking and I wasn't some monster who didn't laugh. 

***

The rest of the day went boringly. 

I got to talk with some of the ministers: they only had praise for me. It was more like they were worshipping me though. 

Some of my companions kept on following me all day. Especially Biteria and Viola weren't leaving my side. When they woke up and saw that I wasn't there, both of them got mad at me and pouted when I tried to talk to them.

I almost felt like a novel protagonist. Where the hell was my cheat powers!

Oh wait, I did have cheat stones, I guess. 

I didn't see Gorgon and upon talking with Alisa in detail, I learned some interesting things. 

The dark knight had gone to Dwaram as our messenger and Gorgon had gone to the north capital as our messenger as well. 

But weren't they messengers of their respective countries? How come they were doing us favors now?  Alisa just gave me a blank stare when I asked that. Did she think everyone was as smart as her or something? 

Ve took both of them. And according to Ve, we should be getting a reply from them in two or three days. It could take longer depending on the condition of the people above- or so she said. 

Probably by birds.

I doubted it'd be anything positive. 

Sigh.

"Why did it come to this? I was supposed to be meeting the friend of the geezer and learning one-handed swordsmanship you know?"

Ve and I were watching the sun slowly climb down.

"Look on the bright side, you'll be able to learn to use a spear."

Without two hands, even a spear was too complicated though. Sigh. 

"Well, I can teach you. I am well versed in using a rapier." 

An elf walked my way- a half-elf. 

"Really?"

Even if she could, it didn't mean my mood changed in any significant manner. Elves were great in swordplay but even Lianne couldn't teach me much after I lost my arm. Most of the elven techniques focused on two-handed swordplay. And the few one-handed techniques they had were too strenuous for my joints. 

I learned it the hard way after spending half a day with Lianne practicing. 

"But-" She paused. "You'll have to answer some of my questions."

"Sure."

It's not like had anything better to do. It'd be evening in under half an hour anyway. In the worst case, I'd have some sore limbs.

What could go wrong?

"There's a bit of open space right around the corner. Follow me."

"Sure." 

Ve also followed us. I guess she didn't have anything better to do.

***

The open space was the size of maybe a basketball court: that explained why there were only three rooms on this floor instead of the typical seven or eight. There was just one soldier in the corner and that was basically it. 

This castle was massive so, seeing one or two soldiers per floor was the norm. But since we kind of got rid of half of the soldiers, this place was in dire straits. 

The half-elf was directly in front of me and she had a slender blade in her hands. She was holding it with one hand. "Though your sword is clearly heavier, your muscles have developed quite well. But- you don't happen to have a specific style. You still swing that sword as part of your two-handed style. That's why your sword skills have gone sloppy, but you try to conceal that with imbuing magic and perhaps even the speed you gain from those stones." 

She was spot on. I already knew I was significantly weaker than when I learned from the geezer. And I was just covering everything up with these cheat stones. In truth, I hadn't grown all that much after losing my left hand. 

"Then? What do you suggest I do?"

"Hmm?" She grinned. "Keep, 'imbuition' was it? All-day long. And whenever you're practicing- you're not allowed to use magic or any of those stones. Elven techniques might seem like they are alien but once you simplify them even humans should be able to reproduce them." With that said, she charged in fast. 

She was literally shoving her sword at my head from left to right. 

"Are you trying to kill me!"

I had a typical sword, and there was no frigging way I could block her attacks. All I could do was barely dodge without my magic. 

Her moves were like leaves falling from a tree, slow and yet unstoppable. I could see them, they felt slow, and yet she was cutting me with ease. She was almost dancing- not dancing but almost. What the hell was this? I could barely read her moves let alone ever hope to reproduce them!

She wasn't stopping, I kept backtracking more and more, and by the time my back struck the wooden wall behind me, she'd already cut in me in more than twelve places and held her blade straight at my neck: very light cuts but cuts regardless. "See, let's say you ran out of magic and your flashy stones crack- would you just give up at this point? And for reference that was one-fifth of my speed."

'HOLY FUCKING HELL! You were five times slower!?'

She really had a point though.

But seriously, she could go five times faster than that? Wouldn't that just mean I'd be dead if I happened to get on her nerves? 

This elf not only looked like Lianne but even her abusive training was like hers. 

She snorted and moved back. "We'll be here for a while- so let's do this often, shall we?" She looked back and the sun behind her was right against my eyes. 

I saw it. A demon- all elves were demons!

'Oh, man!'

"And from now on you'll refer to me as master." She proudly pumped her chest, and unlike Lianne, she actually had plenty of cushion. 

I was wrong. She was worse than Lianne!

"I guess you get the afternoon. I'll take the morning." Ve came walking this way. 

'Someone just end my misery already!'