章 140: Omake: Lusia the Adventurer 2 Electric Boogaloo
In the gardens behind the Lancilia branch of the Guild, there is a large, open area that is empty of all greenery, instead being a simple ring of dirt, with benches surrounding it like a poor man's colosseum.
In the centre of this dirt ring, there stands a lone man.
He is incredibly well built, with his muscles clearly visible through his tight clothing. His shirt is tan, but with it's edges lined in white and a long set of buttons going down his chest, slightly off centre, while he wears a simple pair of loose, black harem pants.
The man's hair is a dirty blond, roughly tied up in a man bun, with some strands escaping to fall over his face, causing him to blow them out of the way of his eyes intermittently.
He also has a large scar across his face in the shape of four lines cutting diagonally over his left eye, from the centre of his forehead down to the corner of his jaw, luckily missing his oak brown eyes, if only barely.
The final thing of note, is the large bastard sword strapped to his back. Though simple in nature, the straight edge seems to glisten with malicious intent, as if the sword itself knows that it's only purpose is to kill.
Into this scene, walk a pair of women.
One of them, Trixie, is walking haltingly, a slight limp to her step that ruins the otherwise perfect image of professionalism that she displays; her hair is done up in a neat bun and her clothes are free from any wrinkle as she leads her latest acquaintance, Lusia into the field.
By contrast, Lusia looks incredibly energetic, her red her swaying around her as she twists and turns in an attempt to take in every inch of her surroundings, clearly enjoying the scenery.
"Grant!" Trixie greets, waving her arm at him, a gesture that is returned with a polite nod of the head, "are you well?"
Responding to her greeting with a smile, Grant gives her an expressive shrug. "Well, you know how it is, I can't complain," he says, eyeing up the newcomer as he does so, an action that she returns, "is this the girl I'm to be testing?"
Though his question was aimed at Trixie, Lusia answers before she is able, pushing her hand out for a shake as she does so. "That's me!~ The name's Lusia, pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr Muscles.~"
Letting out a bark of laughter, Grant shakes her hand with a smile, "I like your attitude!" He exclaims, before looking down at where their hands are locked with mild surprise, "and I must say, you have quite the grip!"
Grant's boisterous laugh seems to be contagious as Lusia chuckles with him, Trixie smiling besides them.
"Alright, alright, enough of that you two, there are tests to be done," Trixie says, interrupting the moment with a fond sigh before turning back to Lusia, "do you understand how the Guild's ranking system works?"
"Not even slightly," Lusia's response is immediate, "but if I don't get whatever the best rank is then I'm gonna complain.~"
Her words cause another bark of laughter to slip from Grant, but he allows Trixie to continue her explanation of things.
"Well, an Adventurer is ranked based on Ability and Merit, starting from D-rank and going all the way up to S-rank, though there are only thirteen living S-rank Adventurers in all of Terra, and there has never been an instance of there being more than twenty at any one given time, and even outside of the Adventurer's Guild, S-rank Ability is enough to make you a Kingdom's Pride, such as the Four Aspects, the Royal Knights of Laptalia. So don't get your hopes up."
As Trixie pauses to take a breath, Lusia takes the opportunity to speak up, her tone exaggeratedly smug as she raises her head to look down her nose at the two of them. "Meh, I could take 'em."
No one dignifies her cockiness with a response more than a roll of the eyes, and Trixie continues as if she had said nothing.
"In terms of Ability, the rankings can basically be summed up as D-rank being well trained humans, and A-rank being people who can singlehandedly fight a small army and win. S-rank is generally measured by one's ability to slay a Dragon, but that is not an actual requirement. If you really want to be S-rank, you would have to both show Ability enough that you could slay a Dragon, whilst also having enough Merit to earn the promotion."
Neither of the Guild employees notice the way that Lusia's eyes widen upon the mention of Dragons, or if they do, they simply attribute it to the more general awe involved when one thinks of Dragons being slain.
Little do they know, she is simply surprised that Dragons exist, and excited to meet one all the same.
"Now, Grant here is a retired B-rank adventurer, he now works to test newbies like you. The two of you will spar, and Grant will rank you based on your Ability. Do you need to prepare anything? Weapons can be provided for the duration of this exam if you do not have one of your own?"
At Trixie's kind words, Lusia merely cracks her neck, followed by both of her knuckles, giving Grant a wild Grin.
"Nah,~ I prefer a more hands on experience,~" she says, shadow boxing a couple of punches with her cocky grin never leaving her face.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Well, if you insist, then I shall not use my weapon either!" Grant exclaims once more, unstrapping his sword and handing it to Trixie, who immediately drops it, nearly falling on her face as well, as the weight of the blade brings her to her knees.
"Godsdamnit Grant! How many times! Stop throwing your sword at people! It's heavy!"
Ignoring her complaints entirely, the two fighters eye each other up, but Grant notices that something has changed with his opponent. Instead of the smiling, joyful woman from mere moments ago, she is wearing a light frown, suddenly seeming annoyed and above that... bored.
"What is wrong young Lusia? Is something the matter?" Grant asks, his kind heart causing him to worry even for a total stranger, yet even in his famously humble mind, he feels a stinging against his Pride as he hears her answer.
"You threw away your sword. It looked pretty special, and without it, this won't be any fun. Beating up weaklings who can't fight back stopped being fun since the first time it happened."
Both of the Guild employees are shocked by her suddenly insulting words, and right as Trixie is opening her mouth to say something, Grant cuts her off, his tone edged with slight hostility, something rarely seen.
But every man has Pride, and Grant has earnt his Pride through a long life of Challenges overcome.
"Confidence in one's ability is a fine thing young lass, but overconfidence will get you killed."
Her response is without delay and just as condescending. "Then why don't you pick up your sword and we can test that theory?"
After a short stare-down, Grant lets out a long suffering sigh and moves to pick his sword back up, choosing to indulge the woman in her whims. "If that is what you wish, then so be it."
With that, the two of them are finally ready to begin the tests, and without further adieu, Trixie picks up a pebble. "The fight starts when the rock hits the ground," she states, loud and clear.
The pebble is launched into the air, and Grant tightens his grip on his sword as it starts to fall, while Lusia simply stands there, looking just as casual as always.
Clearly, she is not taking this seriously, but Grant is not angry with her, instead he simply wishes to educate her, so that she does not make the mistake of overestimating herself in the field and ending up a corpse.
The rock hits the ground, and Grant 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘴 forth, reaching Lusia in a single moment and swinging his blade for her neck, intending to hold it to her throat and end the fight in an instant, to truly show her where she stands in the world.
Yet, when his blade comes to a stop, he can only gape as its edge is not resting against the woman's throat, but rather open air. And when he looks up, he sees why his blade feels heavier that it should be, as he sees, with complete shock, Lusia holding herself up on top of his blade, standing upside-down with her hands.
A beat passes in stunned silence, before Grant is awoken from his stupor by the very woman who caused it in the first place. "See?~ It is not 𝘐 who is underestimating 𝘺𝘰𝘶-"
Her words are cut off as Grant shakes her off of his blade, making another swing at her that once more hits nothing but air. Only this time, instead of feeling an added weight to his blade, he feels a weight pushing against his back, and when he turns to the side, he sees the side of Lusia's face, as she leans back to back with him, dangling her head over his shoulder and looking to the sky, ignoring him entirely.
"It is 𝘺𝘰𝘶, that is underestimating 𝘮𝘦," she whispers to him, and he spins in response, trying to catch her with an elbow that is shortly followed by his sword, swung with one hand despite it's weight and size.
The elbow is dodges with a simple spin, but when the sword is just about to reach her, she swings out a single arm, karate chopping the flat top of the blade.
The force from her casual blow is enough to send the blade crashing into the ground right before it can reach her, almost even managing to knock the blade out of Grant's grip at the same time.
But instead of pushing the advantage, Lusia simply hops back, clearing a few feet in a simple bound. "Can't you do any magic stuff? 'Cuz if this is everything, then can I just get my S-rank badge already?~"
Instead of showing anger like one would assume, Grant only smiles at her, happy that her cockiness is deserved and not so likely to get her killed.
He has seen far too many Adventurers die to their own overconfidence, so he is simply happy to see that she is not likely to be another similar case.
"Very well then, if you can best this, then you be given A-rank directly, as for S, I am afraid that I am simply not qualified to hand out such a rank."
Following Grants words, he holds his sword out in front of him with both of his hands, pointing it straight up to the sky as he starts to chant.
"O' Blade of mine, grant me your strength."
Dark energy, like flares from a broken sun, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘦 from the blade as a feeling of Power, of 𝘞𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 descends on the field. Shadows elongate and grow, darkness takes form as the Light from the Sun is dimmed, blanketing the field in shade as Grant finishes his chant.
"Cursed Blade Kalanavshka!"
With his shout, an explosion of pressure bursts from the blade, blowing away the dirt and cracking the ground. The two women's clothes flutter in the blast of air that follows, and when they look back at Grant, they see an entirely different man.
Instead of the kind, worn Adventurer, with kind features even with the scar, calming eyes and soft hair, what now stands before them seems to be the exact opposite.
His hair, no longer constrained in a bun, hangs free down to his upper back, now black locks swaying in the storm caused by the release of his own power.
His eyes, once warm and brown, are now cold and dark, as if the abyss is hidden inside of him. More noticeable than all of this however, are the dark red markings spreading across his body, from where his hands connect with his blade, up his arms and over his neck until they stop just under his eyes.
Instead of a man, he now seems little more than a Demon.
But he does not intend to underestimate the woman before him again, especially once he notices her stance remaining casual, even as her grin grows wild and excited.
"O' Lord of The Deep, grant me your Blessing!"
Following his shout, the shadows beneath him seem to come alive as tendrils of water, dark as night, reach out to cover his body. The water itself seems to suck in what little light remains, making it seem as though it is drawn from the very depths of the ocean itself.
Once the armour covers his body in its entirety, Grant wastes no time in charging forth.
His speed eclipses that of his previous movements with ease, and his blade is inches away from Lusia's neck in less time than it takes to blink.
Yet, that is when she 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴, leaning back with the same speed as the blade, keeping it from getting any closer until she is low enough that it simply passes overhead.
The wind screams out in protest at his swing, both of their hairs blowing wildly as a miniature vortex is formed in the air.
But neither of them stop. With complete ease, Grant's sword is immediately swinging back in a reverse arc, somehow ignoring the momentum of his original swing as he brings Kalanavsha back, aiming for centre mass this time.
However, in a stunning display of speed, Lusia spins her entire body right as the blade is about to touch her, avoiding it entirely in less than an instant.
Landing from her horizontal spin, Lusia 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘴 forward, launching a fist into Grant's gut. Yet the moment her knuckle impacts his armour of water, it feels to her as if she punched the most durable material she has ever seen, as the only evidence of her assault is a simple ripple from the point of impact that disappears almost immediately.
Before she can push further, Grants blade is coming down on her once more, but with almost insulting ease, she weaves around his strikes, taking a moment to think, as if his relentless assault is but a casual dance.
Eventually, she gets bored of dodging the swings that to her, are simply too slow to be challenging. So when his blade next passes her by, she crouches low and holds her fist close to her chest.
Unknown to anyone but Lusia, faint tendrils of blood weave their way out from under her skin, forming a simple layer around her hand, like a glove. And with that done, she 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘴 forward, faster than Grant can react to, and buries her fist in his gut once again.
Only this time, the deep seas that guard him part with ease under the force of her full strength, as her blood battles against the ocean and wins, allowing her fist to push deeper and deeper until it lands on skin, whereupon it buries itself into his body, causing him to hunch over.
All of this happens so fast, that Trixie, watching from a safe distance, barely sees a blur of movement before Grant, who just seemed to have Lusia on the ropes, is sent hurtling back, flying through the air and crashing into the dirt.
A sudden 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘮 follows as sound catches up to her, and another burst of wind blasts out form the point of impact, seemingly blowing away the dark storm that covered the field, returning Light once more to the land.
Trixie stares in shock at the scene before her, while Grant simply moans painfully on the ground, a slight trail of blood extending from his mouth.
Lusia meanwhile, simply stretches, raising both her arms in the air and bending backwards, before turning to Trixie with a grin.
"So," she exclaims, "do I pass?~"
=================
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
Been a bit since we checked in on the omake world, so I figured I'd do this, since there's not a lot of action going on in the current chapters, nor will there likely be for a small bit.
Next Omake chap will feature the age old classic of every fantasy story, which is to say, buying slav- ahem, Dragon slaying of course
Also, My mum just facebook stalked her way to finding my literal first ever crush who I haven't seen in like a decade since I left the school we both went to, so... that's a thing that happened to me. She's apparently into horse stuff now, which is honestly to be expected since I've always lived in rural england, and there do be a lot of farmers with horses.
We has a laugh about my mum just (theoretically) sending her a random text "Hey! My son had a (mutual) crush on you around 9-11 years ago, and you're both single! *winky face*". Though you gotta admit, it would be hilarious if I just like, showed up at her door unannounced with flowers like "I never forgot you!" (It took us a while to figure out her full name, and we're not 100% sure lol)
(5+)Advanced chapters with the links below!
pat/reon.com/user?u=41732867 (get rid of the first slash or check the description)
Also, join the discord with this invite code! Pj3Dttwses
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