章 84: Altima
"Tch, you couldn't have at least told me you were going to do it last night?" Said Celestia, "Not to mention with all THREE of them!?"
"Well look, when you see three beautiful women laying on your bed, it's going to get intimate."
Celestia sighed and shook her head.
"You are lucky I formed a sound nullifying barrier around your room, otherwise everyone in the manor would've heard you."
"Oh? Did you pass by and take a peek?"
A vein bulged on her forehead as she turned to me with an irritated look.
"OF COURSE NOT!!!" She yelled at me and I jumped at the sudden change in tone.
"Jeez, relax."
Huh, guess the only difference between her clones and her real self is that she is more grouchy and has a quick fuse.
I hope she wasn't reading my mind.
'What did you-?'
Never mind…
Anyway, we were in the courtyard behind the Oria estate. The floor was made entirely of material that not even Piercing Red could destroy. Celestia herself crafted this stage several centuries ago.
Hmm, I still question what her age is but it's a pretty minor detail to know now that I think about it. I just know she is…
Well, you know.
Anyway, as I was saying, we were in this courtyard. In front of us, Katrina was facing Francis.
Katrina was equipped with silver armor decorated in cobalt and had a golden emblem of a pair of feathered wings. The emblem seemed to resemble the wings of an angel except one side was tattered while the other wasn't.
The armor seemed silver but the energy it gave off wasn't that of silver. It was more… mysterious and poisoning…
"That is Divinium armor, metal made from divine properties. I recommend you stay away from that as it has the same properties as divine energy." Celestia said, responding to my thoughts.
"What happens if I touch it?"
"Well, it won't kill you, but your power will be seriously limited." She answered.
Aah, I see. Since she is equipped with this armor, I'm guessing she's able to resist divine energy or manipulate it as Ravyn does.
She wore this armor over a different variant of her dress, one seemingly suited for combat. On her waist, there was a longsword. Like Francis, it seemed to be radiating some sort of mystical power that felt similar to Katrina's. Just what is it…?
"You are about to find out," Celestia whispered.
I raised an eyebrow before turning my attention back to Katrina and Francis.
"Are you ready little one?" Francis asked as he drew his saber. His weapon handle was a pattern of black and gold while his blade shone white.
"Yes, grandfather!" She responded, unsheathing her longsword. Her sword handle was silver and blue while her blade was dyed gold.
The energy emitting from both swords was clashing with each other countless times that I was able to see their aura's physically.
This is… curious.
The two stared at each other for a while. Celestia and I were watching and we weren't the only ones. The girls and the other two Orias were also watching.
Anyway, Francis made the first move, stepping forward, and suddenly, Katrina dashed forward with her sword aimed towards Francis's stomach.
Clang!
In a flash, Francis parried Katrina's attack and shoved her away.
As Katrina flew back, Francis ran forward, swinging his blade as he did. From a normal person's view, it would look like he's just swinging his blade wildly, but that was not the case. Each time he swung his sword, there was a sharp shockwave emitting from the edge of his blade.
Katrina rolled to the side as the shockwaves flew past her. Katrina would once again dash forward but this time she went with a different tactic.
Instead of thrusting her sword, she jumped into the air and twirled around with her sword. Francis stopped as he blocked Katrina's sudden barrage.
A few seconds later, he jumped back as Katrina landed on her feet and performed a quick diagonal slash.
Clang!
Francis raised his saber to block a shockwave that had discharged from Katrina's sword. I didn't even notice until it had clashed with his blade.
"It seems you've learned my signature move!" Francis said, complimenting Katrina before sprinting towards her.
Katrina took a step forward and clashed with Francis. The two unloaded a flurry of slashes on each other. The impact of each clash sent a violent exuding force that blew against my face.
My face stung a bit but it wasn't major so I shrugged it off. I'm going to have to develop resistance against divine energy soon, otherwise, it will be painful when I'm going up against an enemy skillful at using divine energy.
"HA!!"
Francis stepped back before rushing forward and countering with a quick, powerful swing. Katrina was knocked back, but she caught herself.
"Little one, I think it is about time to stop playing around," Francis said as his body was wrapped around in golden light.
Katrina nodded as her body began to shine as well. This time it was a mixture of white and blue with golden particles in the shape of feathers.
Then there was a flash, and my instincts told me to panic, but my body tensed up, causing my body unable to move.
Clink!
Divine energy was overflowing, and if that wave of power had stricken my skin, I would've received a pain that I have never experienced before. Luckily, Celestia had cast a shield, protecting me from the divine energy.
"Nero, are you alright?" Celestia asked me.
"Y-yeah…" I said nervously.
I looked at my trembling hands and took deep, ragged breaths. Calm down… I might not have Divine Resistance yet, but as long as I have Celestia to shield me, then I'll be fine.
As I calmed down, I turned towards Katrina and Francis and my eyes were quickly intrigued by the sight in front of me.
In Francis' place, there was a large knight with black and gold-colored armor with white, pulsating lines running across it. In addition to that, he had white glowing strips that seemed to move on their own coming from his back. He was also wearing a helmet that resembled a spartan's helmet, and it had a long-hair-like ornament that glowed white.
At first, it would look like he was wearing some kind of armor, but the longer I looked at it, the more details I noticed that I had missed the first glance.
I realized that his helmet was not actually a helmet at all. Instead, it was his head, literally. His eyes weren't human as they were completely white with no pupils at all. His mouth was also not human at all, as I noticed he had razor-sharp teeth.
It was also the same with Katrina, except she looked almost angelic.
She was humanoid, but her appearance was like that of a dove. Her body composed of white and blue feathers which were neatly placed over her golden-skinned body. She wore a feathered head crest that was almost like a mask. Her eyes were almost no different from her human form except they glowed. She also had a set of wings that folded down in the manner of a coat.
The two altogether were emitting divine energy that could intoxicate me instantly if I were to breathe it in. Just... what am I looking at?
"Right, I should explain this to you," Celestia said.
I turned to her and she began to explain.
"That sword that those two are wielding are called Altima sword and this form that they are taking is called Altima."
"Altima?"
Wait, wasn't that what Katrina mentioned last night but didn't get to because Celestia interrupted her?
"They are able to access these forms due to the power of the Altima sword. With the power of the Altima, the wielder will receive significant boosts in power. Their mana acceleration rates will triple, causing them to regenerate mana faster than they could before."
"Really? So, am I able to obtain this power?"
"I do not know. The Altima sword grants power, but it can only be wielded by a person it deems worthy. Many are able to wield it and borrow its power, but only those that are pure of heart can fully control its powers. Each sword has a soul. They require these souls of theirs to link with their hosts so they can grant them their power."
"Really? So-?"
"However," She interrupted, "-if the two souls are incompatible, then the host may very well die."
"How do you know if the two souls are incompatible?"
"Well, it's simple. The host cannot be wielding any form of dark energy. However, it is still possible for those with dark magic to obtain the powers of the Altima."
"And how do they do that?"
"You see, Nero, there are three ways to obtain the power of the Altima. The first way is to have the Altima choose you. Once you wield it, the soul in the Altima will scan your soul, deciding whether or not you are worthy of wielding it. The second way is through inheritance, where an Altima sword is passed down through their bloodline. That is how Katrina and Francis obtained their Altimas. Of course, they have to be able to handle the power in order to wield it."
"What is the third?"
"Forced fusion. This one is risky and not recommended. Why? Because it requires the wielder to stab themselves in order to gain more power. The chances of this to succeed is... devastatingly low for those who wield dark energy."
"I-I see..."
So this is... the Altima. I wish I could hold such a power, however... these requirements are limiting my options. Forced fusion... she says the chances are low, so that means it must've worked at least once. I still have chances, but for now, I don't think I'll be obtaining the Altima.
After everything was explained to me, I turned my attention back to Katrina and Francis. However, when I cocked my head towards them, they were nowhere to be seen.
That's when I noticed two figures were fighting in the sky and I knew it was them.
It seems that those strips of cloth on Francis' back aren't just for show and actually allows him to fly while Katrina on the other hand was using her wings.
The two clashed as they built up charged attacks while they separated. It was hard to see who was winning, but once I saw Katrina get knocked to the ground from one of Francis' attacks, the outcome was obvious.
Katrina landed on her back and struggled to lift herself up. Francis descended and approached her slowly.
"Come on, don't tell me this is all you've got! It pains me to see you in this state. If this continues, you won't be able to fight your freedom from him," Francis said as he exited out from his Altima form.
Him? Who's him?
"I... will explain the details later," Said Celestia.
Katrina clutched onto her blade and swung it, sending a weak shockwave at Francis, but he didn't even attempt to dodge and allowed the shockwave to hit him. The only thing it did was hit his uniform.
Katrina slowly exited out from her Altima form before saying, "I-I can't..."
"...I see," Francis said before sheathing his blade.
"This will be all for today," He declared before walking towards us.
Walking past us, he glanced at me before walking back into the estate.
Huh... weird.
Katrina got on her feet and walked to her parents before bowing to them.
"I'm... sorry," She apologized meekly.
"It's ok honey. We all make mistakes," Her mother, Layla, said to comfort her.
"At least you are able to fight! I on the other hand..."
Her father, Lloyd, looked away and scratched his head. I'm guessing that means he is unable to fight. Huh, so I worried about him for no reason.
Anyway, after that, the courtyard was empty. Luckily, we were given permission to use it so I used this time to help the girls.
Kiyomi continued to practice on her flute, Ravyn continued mastering her divine energy in order to use it along with her dark energy, and Akane sparred with me.
After that, I went to the library to talk with Celestia and maybe read some books while I was at it.
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