The Beginning After The End (New Heights Book 2) (10 page)

“Use
your other sword…” Jasmine eyes Dawn’s Ballad as she says this.

“How
did you know this was a sword?”  I wasn’t planning on hiding my
weapon from her but I was still startled.

“…Knowing
you, that black stick should be something more than just a cane or a practice stick.”  She
just shrugs, walking a few steps closer to me.

I just
nod, throwing the shortsword near the campfire.

*Shhinnng*

The
translucent blade glows a light teal as it smoothly glides out of the scabbard
matte black scabbard.

Holding
it out in front me, I position myself.  “Get ready.”

“Y-yeah…”
I could tell Jasmine was in awe by the appearance of my sword after it was
drawn.  I suspect it’ll get that kind of reaction anywhere since its
beauty stunned even me.

“Hahp!”  Without
mana reinforcing my body, I realize just how much I was neglecting
myself.  My arms felt heavy and my legs felt frail as they pushed off
against the ground.  I was a fool.  I was complaining every
time I fought about the limits of my juvenile body, but instead of fixing the
problem, I just masked it.  “Tch,” I can’t help but get pissed off at
myself for this.

I give
a sharp thrust at Jasmine’s core.  We could cover our bodies with
mana if we know we can’t block it, to prevent fatal injuries, but besides that,
we weren’t allowed to reinforce our body.

Jasmine
crosses her two daggers; blocking the thrust with ease she knocks my blade down
in a swift movement followed right after.

My
blade sinks into the ground as she prepares to use her other dagger to swipe at
my head.

I
squat my legs, lowering my center of gravity as I pull my blade out of the
ground.  Using the momentum I gained from pulling back my sword, I
spin in that direction to lash at her legs.

My
blade is met with empty air, Jasmine jumping up to avoid my
attack.  She won’t be able to change direction midair without the
help of mana so I continue on with a stab.

*Clang*

I’m
surprised at how heavy the force of the block was, as my hands get numb.

Jasmine
gracefully recovers after she blocks my stab by doing a summersault to regain
balance.

I give
her a weak smile as I wait for my hands to get their feeling back.

“Hey
Jasmine… I think I’m going to need more than a couple of days to work this
out.”

Her
lips curl up slightly as she nods in agreement.

I have
3 years before I’ll start attending Xyrus Academy.  During my time at
school, I’ll have plenty of chances to focus on studying mana.

I know
what to do.

“2
years.  Jasmine, don’t let me use mana unless absolutely necessary
for 2 years.  Whether it be on missions or inside dungeons, I’ll have
to train my body first.”  I sheathe my sword and can’t help but get
excited.

This
is just the beginning.

****Dragonspine
Inn****

INSIGNIFICANT
ADVENTURER’S POV:

“Hey
hey, did you hear about the rumor going on?”  I say as I put down my
mug of beer.

A
burly man sitting in the same table finishes off his cup before slamming it on
the table.  “If you’re talking about that famous masked swordsman, I
say bullshit!”

I
could tell he was a little drunk by his flushed cheeks and glazed eyes.

“No,
apparently it’s true!  An acquaintance of mine supposedly partied
with him.  He’s traveling with Jasmine Flamesworth so it’s hard to
miss him.”  A skinny lad with his hair tied in a bun came over to our
table to join in on the gossip.

“So?  What
did your so called ‘acquaintance’ say about him?”  The drunkard
exclaimed, getting impatient.

“Well
they went together to explore a minor dungeon that’s been cleared
already.  Apparently, he’s pretty short!  I think the
rumors are true in that he’s not a mage.”  The thin lad just shook
his head in wonder.

“Bah!  I
call bullshit!  It’s either that masked swordsman is an Augmenter, or
the rumors are just exaggerated!  Did you hear some of the stories
going around about him?  There was even one rumor that he solo
cleared a dungeon by himself?  Is that even possible?  B
class Augmenters can’t do that, even if it’s a low level dungeon and you expect
me to believe an ordinary swordsman can?” The drunkard waves his empty mug for
a refill on his beer.

“Yeah
man, I would take some of those rumors with a pinch of salt.  That
solo clear rumor… didn’t the guy also say that Jasmine Flamesworth went in with
him?  She probably helped him inside right?”  I take
another sip, feeling a little lightheaded.

“Right
right?  I’m telling you dunderheads, that swordsman is probably not
even that strong!  Half those rumors are probably rumors of Jasmine
Flamesworth!  That half-wit warrior dares call himself a
swordsman?  Bring him here!  I’ll take him on any day!”

Things
were getting loud as the burly drunk was getting more and more intoxicated.

The
hottest topic these days amongst Adventurers were about the masked
swordsman.  Some stories say that he’s Jasmine Flamesworth’s
apprentice, but that was a little far fetched.  It was made known
that he took a rank exam to place into B rank, which was really
rare.  More shocking than that though was, he was now an A
class!  Moving a full rank up in two years time?

I just
shake my head as I pity myself.  Here I was, a borderline C class
Adventurer.  I failed the exam to move up a class three times this
past 3 years.  Once you gather enough merit points from going into
dungeons and completing missions and quests, Adventurers are allowed the chance
to move up a class upon passing an exam.

The
exam differs for each class, but supposedly, to go into the A rank, which is
first class considered ‘elite’ the examinee has to fight two on one with two A
rank Adventurers and last for 10 minutes.

The
weird thing is that when some of the rumors reached the examinees that were
there with the masked swordsman when he took his exam, they all said that he
was an Augmenter.  The rumor got so big around him because everyone
who has been on a dungeon exploration with him has said that he uses no mana
but was still a monster.

The
burly man was sobering up a little now, and was just annoyed by the fact that a
midget swordsman was better than him.  He was a veteran B class
Augmenter after all; I could imagine that was a pretty big source of pride for
him.

*Kreeeeeen*

The
squeaky door to the pub opens and I drop the fork that was in my hand as I see
a figure entering.

“Well
speak of the devil!  The little midget swordsman everyone’s hyped up
about is here!  Where’s your little guardian?”  The burly
man gets up from his seat with a snide grin on his face; cheeks still red.

The
very same masked swordsman; the one responsible for all of the crazy rumors, he
was here in the flesh.

I see
his blue eyes underneath the mask look up at the burly man with an unknown
expression.  He was wearing a simple black coat that came down to his
mid thigh, the hood on the coat covering up what the mask couldn’t.  If
I were just passing by, even with a mask and two swords, I probably wouldn’t
have noticed anything particular about him, but when you look carefully, he was
an odd sight.  The masked figure stood at about 1.6m, which wasn’t
that tall.  He had a very slim figure underneath his coat, which
either suggested he was a normal person, or a Conjurer.  Strapped
behind him were a normal short sword on top and a sleek black stick on the
bottom.  I couldn’t help wondering if he was actually a Conjurer and
that was his staff.

After
casting a glance at the drunkard that was calling him out, the masked man
simply walked past him, uninterested, as if he wasn’t worth the time.

“Are
you fucking ignoring me?  Just because you’re a little famous for
your bullshit rumors, you think you’re better than ME
?!
”  The
drunkard hit his last straw as he unsheathed his giantsword from his back and
held it above his head to swing down.

“C-calm
down!  You know you’re not allowed to kill someone in
here!”  I try to quell the man, holding my arms up to stop his sword
from swinging, but the masked man didn’t even turn back and just kept walking
towards the front counter.

This
pissed off the drunk even more as he augmented his body and sword, which both
glowed a silvery glow, pushed me aside, and swung down at the masked swordsman.

“BOOOOM!”

I look
in horror as I imagine the bloody corpse that was probably cleaved in two from
the force of that blow.  However, contrary to what I expected, the
sword created a small crater next to the masked man, missing him by just a
hairs breadth.

Whew…
At least the drunk had enough sense to not kill the man; he probably just
wanted to scare him.

I
stand back up about to calm the burly man down from swinging again but when I
turn to him, I see that his face is twisted into a shocked, seething
expression.

“GRAAH!”  He
swings his sword again, lifting it out of the small depression he made on the
ground.  The customers that were seated in the dining room of the inn
were all staring now, some cheering for gore.

With
mana reinforcing the burly man’s body and his greatsword, no matter how drunk
he was; his power and speed were no joke.  He attacked with a flurry
of swings that obliterated the wooden seats and tables in the way but no matter
how much he attacked, his sword always missed.  The masked man was
actually staying in place, not taking a step away from his position but every
time the sword was about to cut him in half, he just turned into a blur, while
the only thing the sword hit was an afterimage.

After
about a 5-minute barrage of attacks by the burly man and his greatsword, he was
sweating profusely as his face showed his frustration, but he was more cautious
now as he took a step back.

“Is dodging
the only thing you can do?  I guess your guardian did all of the hard
work for you while all you did was run away!”  The man gave him a
menacing smile, still confident that he could win against the masked
man.  He puts both hands on the grip of his sword and swings again,
this time much faster than his previous attacks.

*Clang*

His
greatsword that probably weighed more than the masked man himself was sent
flying but I don’t know how.  The sound seemed like it was knocked
away by another sword but I couldn’t see it.  I couldn’t even see the
masked swordsman pull out his weapon.

“Are
you done?”

*DOOOOOOOOOM*

“A-aah…”
was the only sound I heard from the drunk before we all dropped to the ground.

I felt
like I was deep underwater.  I couldn’t breathe and the surrounding
atmosphere seemed to want to crush me.

“…”

I-
I’m
scared…

S-scary!

I’ve
heard that some elite fighters are able to produce a killing intent that could
scare mana beasts away, but what the hell was this?  Was there such a
thing as a killing intent that could actually kill people?

Slowly
turning my head to face the masked man who was obviously the source of this
bloodthirst, I feel the blood drain from my face as I look at him.

I
couldn’t tell what sort of expression he had under his mask but I didn’t need
to.  There seemed to be this dark, baleful aura bursting out of
him.  I swear I feel like that dark aura around him was alive and
raging.  The killing intent isn’t even focused on me but I had to
will myself to keep from wetting my pants.

I see
the sorry state that the drunk is in.  His eyes are wide and his body
stiff, as if he’s petrified.  He’s muttering something and I can see
tears stream down his eyes while the crotch area from his pants are a darker
shade.

Suddenly,
he retracts his bloodthirst and I can breathe again.  I take deep
gulps of air and end up coughing.  I could see the other Adventurers
and the workers of the inn doing the same, some in a worse state than I am.

The
masked man turns back to the counter and faces the trembling waitress at the
front desk, as her face is a full 3 shades lighter than it was before.

“I
believe there is a sack of rations under the name ‘Note’ that a friend of mine
ordered not too long ago.” The masked man speaks, his baritone voice clear and
precise.

“Y-yes!  I’ll
get that for you right away!”

He
gives a slight bow to the waitress as she hands him a sack of food and he
leaves as the whole inn just watches him go off, not daring to make a sound.

ARTHUR
LEYWIN’S POV:

“What
took so long?”  Jasmine divides the food and puts it into each of the
pouches attached to the saddle of our horses.

“Ah I
had a little quarrel with one of the Adventurers at the inn!
Haha.”  I scratch my head as I hop on my brown mount.

I
could feel Jasmine staring at me suspiciously, her half closed eyes judging me.

“Don’t
mind don’t mind!  I didn’t make a big deal out of it!  I
didn’t even hurt the guy!”  I just wave my hand to try and convince
Jasmine from going back into Dragonspine Inn.

Jasmine
just shakes her head and gets on her horse as well, snapping at the reigns to
go.

“Haap!”  I
do the same as we head towards our destination.

I
think back over the last two years.  Jasmine wanted me to get to
A
class as soon as possible to explore the dungeon we were
heading towards today.  Along the journey to raise my class, she
ranked up as well, becoming an AA class Adventurer.
 
There was still quite a bit of a level
difference between her and Kaspian but she did improve a lot during these two
years.  When we weren’t on missions or exploring low class dungeons,
we were sparring.  At night, I made sure to meditate for at least a
couple of hours before I went to sleep.  During these past two years,
I broke through into the light orange stage, which I count as a success
considering how much time I spent meditating.