On the outskirts of Roria.

  The sounds of swords clanging echoed near the sparkling lake, located near Elias’ cabin. Aihara and Raito were currently commencing a mock battle, only this time around, the two students were using their real swords instead of the training swords – as per the request of Elias. According to the Knight Commander, training with a dull, wooden blade will only take you so far.

  It is also important to train using a real blade, while of course, avoiding damaging the other individual.

  Aihara charged at Raito, swinging her blade with heavy weight, pushing the boy back a bit before blocking a counterattack from Raito. Holding each other's blades down, the two students had a smile across their faces. “You’re a natural Kagawa! It’s rather incredible how well you fight with a sword.” Aihara complimented the boy, before breaking the hold and after taking a single step back, swinging her sword towards Raito with high speed, trying to break his defence.

  Raito stepped back, dodging or blocking the sword swings made by Aihara, before flipping his sword around and using the handle, knocking the girl away, before spinning it around once more and disarming Aihara, knocking the sword out of her hands, before placing his blade at her chin.

  “I suppose I am quite skilled. But you yourself are no pushover Rikako – the way you swing your blade with that speed, is quite frightening.” He laughed lightly, before swinging his sword back, spinning it and sheathing it back up. Then, he reached his hand out towards the girl, helping her stand back up.

  Aihara exhaled a bit heavily, rubbing the back of her neck before walking over to her sword that Raito had knocked out of her hands. “Honestly, what good is speed if your opponent is able to dodge you with ease and then disarm you?” She commented, laughing to herself lightly, before picking up her blade and sheathing it back up. She then looked back at Raito, over her right shoulder. “How about we head back and grab something to eat? Master Earl and Lady Sarah said that they will be back rather late, so we’re going to be alone for a while.”

  Raito crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. “And do you think you’ll be able to whip up anything to eat for the two of us?” Aihara looked away, letting out a light, confident laugh. “Of course! Master Earl taught me how to use the stove in the house. While it is not one I am used to, it isn’t rocket science.” She then looked back at Raito, a wide, bright smile stretching from cheek to cheek.

  “Come on! Let’s go see what I can make for us!” The girl said before happily bouncing back towards the cabin. Raito stood in silence for a moment, his cheeks slightly flushed before he smiled to himself – and after a quick exhale, followed after Aihara.

  Roria.

  Other side of the Kingdom.

  A large unit of soldiers was gathered at the most western gates of Roria, all awaiting further orders. From the gates, stepped out Earl, Sarah and Calliope von Gradsil – another Great Hero, specifically one of the class ‘Paladin’. The three heroes walked past the soldiers, taking their stand in front of them, with Earl at the very front. Then, Earl took out a small spyglass from his waist, extending it before looking off towards the distance.

  In the distance, the incoming small army of monsters was visible – behind them all, a tall, dark figure with shining red eyes. The Ghoul Lord itself. “How does it look, commander Earl?” Calliope asked, placing her hand onto the sword on her back. “Just as the intel from the patrol guard had said. A large group of undead led by a Ghoul Lord at the back. If my eyes don’t deceive me, the group measures about one hundred and eighty in numbers.”

  Sarah shed a slight sweat. “Hundred eighty, eh? That’s quite the imposing number of undead to be waltzing around so deep in our territory.” The Holy Knight commented, before exhaling and looking towards Earl. “What’s the move?”

  Earl remained silent for a bit, before collapsing the spyglass and placing it back onto his waist and exhaling. “Take the lead of the soldiers here to ensure not a single undead creature gets into the Kingdom. I will take care of the Ghoul Lord.” Calliope exhaled and then laughed to herself, before unsheathing the sword on her back. “Taking all the fun for yourself, are you Commander? That’s a bit disappointing. I was hoping to have a go at the Ghoul Lord.” Earl smiled lightly and laughed at Calliope's comment, before turning around and taking his helmet from Sarah, placing it on, before securing it under his chin.

  “Alright. I will move in to get the attention of the Lord. Once the undead monsters start to move closer, take them out.”

  “Sir!” Sarah and Calliope responded in unison, before the two of them turned to face the soldiers behind them, with Sarah unsheathing her sword and smashing it into the ground in front of her. “You heard him soldiers! Under our lead, you must fight to protect Roria. Understood?” Sarah announced with a loud, imposing voice. The Soldiers immediately placed their hands to the left sides of their chests. “Yes ma’am!”

  With the soldiers and the other two Heroes staying behind to take care of the fifty five undead creatures led by the Ghoul Lord, Earl moved towards the approaching monsters.

  The march of the monsters was stopped by the large beast, before their eyes fell onto the singular approaching figure — a Knight. The Ghoul lords eyes locked with Earls for a second, before it pushed itself through the undead forces and moved towards the Knight. The two moved towards one another for a bit, until there was barely ten meters between them, before stopping – their gazes locked.

  Silence.

  A suffocating silence took place.

  For what felt like a long time, Earl and the Ghoul Lord simply gazed at each other, before the Ghoul Lord placed its right, skeletal hand onto the handle of the greatsword on its back. “You. You are strong.” The Monster pushed out, its voice distorted and heavy. Earl looked a bit taken back for a second, before laughing lightly. “I figured that a high ranking monster such as a Ghoul Lord would possess a great amount of intelligence.” The Knight Commander commented to himself, before unsheathing his sword as the Ghoul Lord lifted its greatsword off of its back and smashed it into the ground next to it.

  “Since you can speak normally, perhaps you will accept my proposal of a one on one duel? Your forces are free to continue their march towards the Kingdom behind me.” The Ghoul Lord tilted its head to the side. “Why. Why would you allow an army of undead march farther? Is it not your mission to guard that Kingdom?”

  Earl laughed to himself.

  “Oh, it most certainly is. However, for today – my only concern…” Earl spun his longsword around, before pointing it towards the Ghoul Lord, a gentle shine of his eyes breaking through the darkness of his helmet's eye sockets. “..is you.”

  The Ghoul Lord remained silent for a bit, before letting out a light cackle and lifting its greatsword back up, resting it onto its right shoulder. “I see. Then I shall accept your proposal, Knight of the Humans.” The monster then gestured to the rest of the undead to keep moving, which the undead goblins did a moment later, all of them moving past Earl and continuing their march towards the Kingdom. Within mere moments, only Earl and the Ghoul Lord stood alone, the Kingdom of Roria just in the distance behind Earl.

  After a moment of silence, Earl bowed towards the Ghoul lord. “I pray for a fair duel.” He said, before taking a step back and then in a split moment, leaping onto the Ghoul Lord, swinging his longsword down towards the Ghoul Lord. The monster cackled again, before its eyes shone brightly and it grabbed the greatsword it wielded with its other hand as well, swinging it towards the incoming strike from the Knight, intercepting it and blocking it.

  Meanwhile…

  The Undead Goblins rushed towards the west gates, all letting out distorted cackles and grunts. Sarah and Calliope sharpened their gazes, before putting on their helmets, securing them in place. “Try to keep up with me if you can, Captain.” Calliope said to Sarah.

  The Holy Knight laughed lightly. “I should be the one telling you that, Calliope.” The two females laughed, before picking up their blades. As the undead goblins drew closer, Sarah took in a deep breath, before letting out a loud battle cry — one that immediately caused the approaching undead forces to freeze in place. Then…

  “Charge!”

  After the order, the soldiers let out a loud battle roar, before dashing towards the frozen Goblins, striking them down with their swords and spears. Calliope dashed towards the undead forces herself as well, using her sword to instantly slice apart thirteen of the monsters in one swing. However, after their bodies hit the ground, they decomposed into black mist, which then reformed back into the same undead goblin as was slain, before continuing the fight. Calliope scoffed. “Forsaken creatures – won’t stay down, will you?” The woman shouted, before swinging her blade towards the undead once more.

  Sarah remained at the back, using her blade to keep the undead goblins that slipped through the soldiers and Calliope at bay. Noticing their bodies decomposing and then reforming back to a full state once more, Sarah groaned a bit. Then, she placed her left hand onto the sword's blade.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Spirits of hope, coat my blade in your light and let me be your bearer.” She did a quick chant, causing her blade to ignite with a bright white light around it, before she swung it at the just recovered undead once more — with a single swing, completely destroying the very bodies of the undead.

  Spirit magic.

  A Powerful kind of magic that allows the user to utilise the spirits in the air to execute spells that contain great power. The only limitation is the user's ability to perceive and converse with the spirits around them.

  Sarah looked towards the clashing soldiers and Calliope. The Undead Goblins definitely were putting up more of a fight than expected – but then again, these were undead creatures. Unless you purify their magical energy or destroy the one that leads them, in this case, the Ghoul Lord, these creatures will not stay down and instead, keep reforming.

  “Calliope, use your spirit magic to coat your sword in light!” Sarah called out to the Paladin, dodging an incoming attack from a goblin, before slicing its head off with a single swing. The Paladin sliced apart another seven undead goblins, before smiling. “I’ll do you one better.”

  Calliope then lifted her blade up above her head. “Spirits of hope, bind your light to my blade and allow me to bring down purification onto these foul beings – Light Splitter!” After the paladin finished her chant, her blade shone brightly with a white light, before shooting out into a longer blade of light, which she then swung down, sending a burst of light towards a large portion of the undead forces, destroying them in an instant.

  The ground shook with the aftermath of her attack, the blade of light erupting into a barrage of flying stars, which chased down more of the remaining undead, destroying them in an instant — incinerating their bodies.

  Sarah laughed lightly to herself, while the soldiers cheered for Calliope, before charging down the remaining undead goblins, striking them down. Their numbers were thinned out by now – there was no worry about them potentially making it past the defending line and into the city. Sarah smiled under her helmet, before dodging a flurry of attacks from several undead – moving behind them and with a single slash of her sword, slicing off their heads, causing their bodies to dissolve into magical energy, which then quickly moved back behind the fighting, reforming back into new undead, that charged at the defending line once more.

  On the outskirts — West.

  Blades clanged, as two figures dashed around - trading blows with one another. Despite his imposing size and giant sword, the Ghoul Lord was managing to keep up with Earl's great speed – swinging its blade at unbelievable speeds, while also dodging or blocking Earls strikes. However, though the creature was managing to keep up with the speed of the Knight Commander's attacks, the test of strength was a different story.

  In fact, the Ghoul Lord struggled greatly to keep up with the Knights physical strength, often being pushed back by its sheer force. Earl leapt into the air, crashing down onto the Ghoul Lord from above with immense force – which the monster blocked, however, the power of the strike was strong enough to exert force that cracked the ground below the Ghoul Lord, before creating an instant small crater where the monster stood.

  The Ghoul Lords pupils shook lightly, showcasing stress.

  Earl snickered under his helmet, before the beast pushed him off of it and back. Earl kept his balance perfectly – flipping around in the air before landing gently onto the ground, around ten meters away from the monster. Earl stood up, brushing off his armour lightly. “Not bad so far. Despite being but a hatchling, your strength is quite impressive. And don’t even get me started on your speed — it’s been a while since I’ve fought someone that can keep up with me.” The Knight spun his sword around, pointing it at the Ghoul Lord.

  The Beast breathed heavily, its body slightly trembling. “What is this human?... His strength is unreal… His speed, I can barely keep up with… I should be stronger. I should be greater than him..” The Ghoul Lord scoffed, roaring towards Earl, before dashing in, closing the distance between the two of them in an instant, before swinging its greatsword down at Earl.

  The Knight simply stood in place for a second, before moving out of the way and then parrying the next strike the monster threw at him — then, with a swift movement, Earl quickly flipped around the monster, moving behind it, before slashing it across its back twice – following up the slashes with a kick, which pushed the Ghoul Lord away.

  The Monster caught its balance, not falling to the ground, before flipping around and with shining red eyes, unleashing a loud roar once more. Then, the beast dashed at Earl swinging its blade at the Knight at immense pace — not giving the man a chance of counterattacking. Earl kept a calm demeanor, simply moving back while evading the beast's heavy, yet fast attacks.

  Slowly, the thing was starting to behave a lot more appropriately for a monster — letting its instinct take control, rather than being in control itself.

  The Ghoul Lord swung down a heavy strike at Earl, which the Knight Commander swiftly evaded, moving to the right side, about to strike the monster – but then, from its back, a black, shadowy arm shot out and moved towards Earl, in an attempt to disrupt his attack.

  However, Earl simply snickered under his helmet, before spinning his sword around, the blade of the sword igniting with a faint silverish glow, and parrying the incoming strike of the shadow arm. Then, his eyes shone a silverish colour inside his helmet, before in an instant — he vanished. Then, a flurry of slashes was executed, slicing the Ghoul Lord's body apart.

  Earl reappeared behind the beast, landing onto the ground gently.

  The Ghoul Lord's body erupted into blood, with it letting out a shriek of agony, as it fell forward, the greatsword falling out of its grip. “Wh… What was that..?” The Ghoul Lord pushed out, looking at Earl over its left shoulder, with a fearful gaze.

  “What do you think? It’s a grand skill of mine known as ‘flash counter’. If I manage to get my timing right and activate it right as I block an attack, it activates automatically, granting me essentially a few seconds of accelerated movement – accelerated to such a great decree, that I vanish and reappear somewhere else in an instant.” Earl spun his blade before walking up to the beast and knocking it down to the ground with his foot. “It’s a pretty handy skill.”

  The Ghoul Lord's eyes continued to shake.

  It wasn't sure how to react. The Knight had bested it in an instant, by just activating one skill. It thought that it had managed to catch the Knight off guard with its shadow appendage, but the man had been prepared to not only deal with the attack, but also counter it in the same second.

  The Beast breathed heavily, while Earl sheathed up his blade, before standing over the monster. “Come on, stand up. We can still continue – but this time, without our swords.” The Knight invited the monster to stand up, taking a battle stance, before cracking his knuckles gently.

  The Ghoul Lord remained laying on the ground for a little bit longer, before scoffing. A powerful dark purple aura engulfed its body as it rose back up onto its feet. The wounds inflicted by Earl with his sword rapidly healed. Earl sharpened his eyes. “Seems like the thing activated some special skill… That aura around it is absorbing the magical energy in the air around us to heal its wounds.” Earl commented in his mind, before letting out a small exhale.

  The Ghoul Lord towered over the Knight, the dark purple aura subsiding and instead, being replaced by a strong, black one. “You choose to discard your weapon? You may have great strength and skill with a blade, but do you believe yourself to be just as capable without it?”

  Earl shrugged, taking the sheathed sword off of his hip, before tossing it away to the side. “Perhaps. A Knight should always be prepared to fight without his blade. If I wasn’t capable of fighting without relying on a sword, what kind of knight would I be?” Earl took in a deep breath, before taking a stance once more, his eyes shining lightly inside his helmet.

  “Ready?”

  The Ghoul Lord lifted its head up, unleashing a powerful and ear piercing roar. The aura around it grew stronger, before a mass amount of similar black, shadow appendages shot out from its back, each one readying its sharp claws. Then, the Ghoul Lord gazed back down at Earl with its red eyes. “Let’s test your limits, Human…”

  Earl laughed to himself, a light, silverish aura engulfing his body.

  [ NOTICE ]

  Activating [Knights Shape].

  All physical stats have been increased.

  [ NOTICE ]

  “I look forward to you being a good challenge.” Earl responded, his eyes shining a bit brighter.