NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: 007
'Dear Diary,
Several days have passed since our shopping spree in the Capital. After coming back to base, I and Vanessa gave Asta the sword at which he teared up and started to cry in an over-the-top fashion.
I also bought another sword for Captain Yami as a gesture of good faith. The sword was just like the one he uses, with nothing fancy on it because I thought he would like it that way.
Following the next day, I requested him to teach me swordsmanship and this is how our conversation went…'
***
It was a warm sunny day, and Asta was training out in the open, sweating all over as Wilhelm stood near him with a resigned look on his face.
"Okay…fine."
"Hahaha(awkwardly)...Sorry Wilhelm, but I also learned from my teacher and don't know how to teach swordsmanship."
"Never mind, I will ask Captain Yami instead." Wilhelm said as he started to make his way to Captain Yami, passing by the trees.
'*Sigh* I should have gone to Captain Yami but he seems like the kind of guy who would not care to teach someone. He is a bit too chill.' Wilhelm thought as he arrived at the back of the castle where Yami usually smokes.
Seeing Wilhelm walking to him with a sword in his hand, Yami raised his brows up and said, "Ho… Mr. Creepy, what are you doing with that sword out? Trying to imitate Shrimpy, huh?"
'And this is also another reason why did not want to learn from him. He annoys me.' Wilhelm thought with a tired look internally and said shrugging his attack, "Can you please teach me swordsmanship?", he ended with a small but curt bow of his neck, which caused a slight shift in Yami's posture.
Taking a puff of his cigarette Yami said pointing to a stump of wood, on which other smaller pieces of wood to be used as firewood were kept said, "You see those pieces of wood. Chop them up with that sword of yours."
"Okay." Wilhelm said without arguing or for knowing the reason for it, because he knew that exercises that seem useless to a person are very useful in the long run.
Walking up to the stump, Wilhelm removed the sword from his sheath, and under the watchful eyes of Captain Yami, swung it vertically down.
*CLUMP*
With the characteristic sound of wood breaking, the log of wood was snapped in the middle.
"Again."
Heeding his command, Wilhelm swung his sword once again.
*CLUMP*
"Again."
*CLUMP*
…
*CLUMP*
Wilhelm looked a bit out of breath after swinging the sword till it got dark, while Yami stood there and watched.
"Stop."
As Yami said this, with a clank, Wilhelm dropped the sword and lay on the ground with his hands sore from gripping the sword.
'Damn it, and here I thought it will be not too difficult to use because I already used to do fencing, but it is a different thing entirely.'
Wilhelm thought as Yami walked over and said, "What did I tell you to do, Mr. Creepy?"
"Ha-ha…*inhales*…*exhales* Chop these pieces of wood." Wilhelm replied with a confused look.
"Yeah, and look at that stump. You did more than just chopping the wood. You cut the stump too." He said as Wilhelm examined what he commented, and then seeing his look of realization Yami continued.
"When you swing your sword, your footing feels like you mean to hit and retreat to a safe distance. You do the same thing with your magic. Cast it and quickly hide in a safe spot. But this is not how you can fight with a sword this big. You will have to have firm footing as you attack. This sword is not meant to be used while dodging, but to overcome the opponent with strength. Understood Mr. Creepy?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Hmm…from now on, chop these pieces of wood every time until you stop hitting the stump. If you think you are able to do that, then cut the log horizontally in half, and try the same thing with the shorter log. Keep doing this until you are cutting a small disc of wood."
"Yes, Captain."
"And eat more. You look so thin as if the wind can blow you away. You need more muscles like Shrimpy if you ever want to use a sword that big."
"Yes, Captain." Wilhelm said, taking personal offense to his last statement as the memories of his previous world resurfaced.
'It's not that I did not try, but I cannot seem to have proper muscles. No amount of protein shakes and other things could help me, and the person who I looked up to, turned out to be a cheater and used chemicals to do it and after it, I gave up.'
***
'…and from that on, I continued my training from Captain Yami, who surprisingly, while not an overly involved teacher, is a good teacher. Though since not much time has passed and I am still learning to use the sword properly.
Next, I tried to study my magic as much as possible and use the grimoires that I borrowed from the bandits, but I was not able to integrate any of them into my grimoire. Studying the difference between the 2 cases, I came to an assumption.
When someone dies, their grimoire vanishes with them.
Then what if…my grimoire magic is not to copy magic? What if my grimoire's magic is to catch the grimoire that is about to vanish in itself? This means that to progress in my magic, I will have to kill people.
I wish it is not true, because I do not want to be reduced to a murder hobo, and also because this means that my plan to join Black Bulls to copy Captain Yami's magic fails as well.
Ha…
No need to put too much thought into it though. If it is true, I cannot do anything about it. If it is false, then I don't need to do anything about it.
With this, I will end the entry for this day because Captain Yami is going to give us our next mission a few moments later, which he informed us about not long ago this day.'
***
In the common room of Black Bulls, a sight that was unique to this squad alone was taking place. Asta was doing pushups with THE anti-bird sitting on his hand, who was glancing at Wilhelm from time to time who was eating anti-birds while looking at her. Charmy was stuffing herself with food, Vanessa was sitting on the sofa with a bottle of alcohol in her hand, with Noelle sitting by her side playing with her twin tails. Luck and Magna bickering over the topic that was being discussed by everyone.
"I say we name her Black." Someone suggested at which Wilhelm quipped.
"Nope. We are calling her Dinner, right Charmy?"
"Yesh~ From now on she is our Dinner." Charmy replied chewing flesh from the bones of an anti-bird, which caused the anti-bird to shiver and back away in her place.
"No, look the poor thing is scared." Noelle said at which Wilhelm asked, "So what should we name her princess?"
"Black Burn Bright Rider, or 3BR for short." Magna suggested to which Vanessa said, "Oh~ I did not know you were a princess Magna~"
"You…!"
"Miss Vanessa~ You should not say things like that."
"Thank you Wilhe-"
"How can Mr. Magna be anything less than a queen~"
"Pfft." At this, Vanessa, Noelle, and Luck laughed, the latter of whom had decided to designate Magna as Queen Magna while Magna looked at Wilhelm with a dead look and asked, "You are not there, right?"
"Yup, just an illusion." Wilhelm replied as his body became transparent for a second at which Vanessa commented with a weird look.
"Why do you always use illusion? It feels creepy."
"Aww~You broke my heart. Noelle~ fix it my love~"
Wilhelm said giving Noelle his best look at which her ears reddened up in front of Vanessa and Wilhelm who were grinning at her like a Cheshire cat.
"Seriously, Noelle you are so cute~" Vanessa squealed pulling Noelle in a tight hug as Noelle writhed, from pleasure or pain, no one knows.
"What about Toritori?" Asta suggested, taking the conversation back to its original subject, giving his own name for the bird which earned him a peck on his head, clutching which he shouted, "Ow ow ow!"
"How about Nero? It means black." Luck suggested out of nowhere, hearing which THE anti-bird stood silently for a moment, after which she nodded.
"Okay, it is decided. The nickname for Snack will be Nero." Wilhelm said getting up, and just when Nero looked like she was about to peck Wilhelm, the door slammed open, and in came Yami who immediately said, "Okay, listen up. We are given a mission to search a dungeon at the border of Clover Kingdom and Diamond Kingdom."
"Umm…what is a dungeon?" Asta asked as he sat on the floor which was met with a look of silence from all.
"How do you not even know that? Where were you? Living in a cave?"
"Ahahaha" At Wilhelm's question Asta just chuckled awkwardly.
Taking a deep breath, Wilhelm said, "Dungeons are like old tombs that appear all over the world and have been made by people from ancient times. These places contain treasures of all sorts like gold, gems, artifacts, or other things related to magic.
But that's just not it, these places are also filled with deadly traps to prevent trespassers.
Whenever a dungeon is found, it is quickly scavenged and looted by Magic Knights to take anything of value."
"Oh…is that so. Then, Captain Yami, I want to be on the mission!" Asta said at the top of his lungs standing in front of Yami grabbed him by his head and squeezed it.
"Ow ow ow ow ow!"
"Stop shouting so damn much, it is giving me a headache."
"Um Captain, that is due to alcohol that you drank-" Finral was about to say but was silenced by a single gaze from Yami.
Then Yami released Asta from his grip who touched the ground on his butt and started to rub his head with a slight grimace. Following this, Yami took a puff of smoke from the cigarette and said, "You are going anyway. Both you and Wilhelm are. Wizard King requested it himself."
"…"
"Wait, did you just say that Wizard King himself requested me and Wilhelm for the mission?" Asta asked gasping for breath, showing a spectrum of emotion that was being shown by every team member here, even Gauche.
"You heard right. So listen up. For the mission, the people who are going are Luck, Shrimpy, Mr. Creepy, and Noelle, so pack whatever you want and prepare yourself, you will leave in an hour." Saying this, he left the room at which Wilhelm said, "Well, let's get ready. And Asta, bring Snack too."
"Proo~"
***
Writing this, Wilhelm closed his diary and stored it. Then he stood up from the chair and stretched his back, picked up the sword lying on the bed with its scabbard, and placed it on his back since it was far too long to strap on his waist. Then he took the shield and placed it on his back as well.
With this, he walked over and looked himself in the mirror.
In the mirror, his image reflected back at him. A man of good height and slender build with a slight hint of muscles that were developing due to his exercise. Long pants that nobles wear with boots. Armor that covered his chest, over which was a coat to hide most of it. From his shoulder, the sword's hilt peeked out, with the side edges of the heater shield.
Smiling at his image, Wilhelm left his room and somehow made his way back to the common room in this ever-changing base.
As he reached the common room, he found Noelle, Asta, and Luck already there.
"You are late." Noelle said immediately seeing him.
"Well, I had to dress properly to accompany a girl like you~"
(⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)
"A baggage like you."
"Hey!"
"Hahaha, I am sorry, you just make the most adorable reaction." And before Noelle could reply, he switched to Asta and said, "Ready Asta?"
"Yeah! Totally! And I am also going to see how you fight with a sword?"
"Hahaha~Me too. I want to fight you too without your illusion." Luck chimed in following Asta.
"Well, then I have to disappoint you that I have practiced with the sword for not even a month and am no good enough to fight you." Wilhelm replied to which Luck replied without looking even a bit bothered, "Oh! That's sad."
'You don't look sad.' Wilhelm spoke internally as the door opened with a bang from there came Captain Yami with Finral behind him.
"So everyone is here, huh? Finral, take them to the dungeon."
"O~kay~" Finral said in an over-the-top fashion as he created a portal shimmering in a thin grey light. But just as they were about to leave, Charmy came up to them on her small dainty legs and then extended a small bag in Asta's hand and said, "Here. I made food for you. Don't forget to eat it when you feel hungry."
"Oh, thanks, Miss Charmy."
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
Thanking her, the group stepped into the portal and instead of the stone of the castle, they were surrounded by trees and other light flora, with a large entrance in front of them, leading to the dungeon itself.
'Hmm…but why did Wizard Kind give us this mission? By standard procedure, this place should have long been cleaned by any magic knights that found this. This should have been given to Golden Dawn instead of us, or any better magic knight squad for that matter. Strange…'
With this thought, Wilhelm walked in the last into the entrance, which was a small passage that did not allow them to move sideways, just back and forth. As they walked, Wilhelm kept his eyes out for any trap that might be activated.
"Eh…this path is so small."
"Hmm, it feels fine to me." Asta replied to Noelle's comment.
"You are small. It cancels each other out."
"Hey! I am not small" Wilhelm commented at which Asta quipped back, which Wilhelm avoided and then asked Luck who was running faster than everyone in the group, "Hey Luck, wait up. Don't go too fast, otherwise you will activate traps."
"Hehehe~" But in response Luck just chuckled and moved faster.
"Wait! Stop!" Asta shouted as he ran behind him and Noelle who was about to run was held back by her shoulder and said when she turned to him, "Don't run. This is full of traps, you don't want to get shot by a stray arrow and die, do you?"
"But Asta…"
"Yeah, no, he is just running in the same spot, you see." Wilhelm said as the glass broke in front of Noelle and from there emerged Asta, who was confused, but before he could speak, Wilhelm barked in a firm tone.
"Stop fucking running around like this is a park, and I mean you both. Luck is a suicidal maniac, not you two, so start walking carefully. Remember, the mission is given to us by Wizard King."
'This ought to do the trick.' Wilhelm thought as he observed that the last line made both Noelle and Asta listen to his words seriously.
'And now, the annoying one, Luck. Why did Captain send him of all people? Magna for all his words is a great person and Finral could have been valuable here, but no, he had to send Luck of all people. Well, gotta work with him somehow, or maybe leave him to his own devices. Captain Yami is not an idiot and won't send him here if he can die due to his own recklessness. I hope so.'
Wilhelm thought as he straightened his back and ventured deep into the cave with a tired look.
***
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