by Andy Nadir
Chapter Ten
Laxus woke up in the morning, and slowly rolled out of bed. He saw the poster of the Job request on the stand next to his bed, and quickly dressed. He grabbed the poster, and put it in his bag. He then grabbed the bag, and ran outside. He rapped on Niko and Tabitha’s doors.
Niko immediately opened his door. “Food?” He asked.
“Niko, wake up” Laxus sighed, as Niko groped around in his sleep for some non-existent dish.
Niko snapped awake. “Oh man, sorry. I guess I got hungry. Do you have any food though?” He asked.
Laxus shook his head. “No, now get your stuff.” He said.
Tabitha peeked out of her door. “Time to go already?” She asked.
Laxus nodded. “It’s high time too. It must be nine by now. How is it that you two are already awake by this time at Blue Phoenix, but here, you sleep later than I do? What is going on here?” He asked.
Tabitha shrugged. “Oh, whatever.Let’s go already. The three headed out of the building. Laxus pulled out the sheet of paper with the job request on it. “Ok, it looks like we should be able to find the requestor… here.” He said, and pointed to a small map on the paper.
Tabitha looked at the map, and nodded. “We’re here, right?” She asked, pointing to a small inn on the map labeled “Cauldron”
Laxus nodded. “It looks like we are pretty close. Let’s head over and get some more information on the job.” He said.
They walked to the house marked on the map, and knocked on the door. After a moment, Laxus knocked again. “Come in already!” Snapped an old voice.
Laxus opened the door, and the three stepped in. An old woman was sitting on a couch in front of them. “You here for my job request?” She asked.
Niko nodded. “We saw it on our guild board.” He said.
The old woman nodded. “The necklace is a family treasure, passed down from several generations. It went missing recently, and I have no clue how. I have always kept it on me, so I must conclude that it was stolen at night.” She said.
Laxus raised his eyebrows to Tabitha. She shrugged. “The day before it went missing, I was on the road to the armored city of Eravea, and I was sleeping on the side of the road. When I woke up, as usual I checked my neck for my necklace, but it was gone. All other valuables were gone too. Can you help me?” She asked.
Laxus looked at Tabitha. “Eravea? Is that a large city?” He asked.
Tabitha nodded. “It is one of the few cities with more than one powerful guild in it. There are quite a few bandit teams outside it though, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find someone who stole a precious necklace.” She said.
The old woman grinned. “Thank you so much youngsters. I cannot go with you, but I can offer some assistance in getting there.” She said.
Niko turned to her. “What do you mean?” He asked.
The old woman gave a toothless smile. “I have a little magic. It is nowhere near powerful, but I used to work for the delivery service when I was younger. I cannot send you all the way to Eravea, but I can put you about six hour’s walk from it. That is about where I lost my necklace, so it should be a good start.” She said.
Tabitha nodded, and the three huddled. Her brows furrowed in concentration, And she muttered something about old ladies and stupid youngsters. She waved her hand, and they were gone.
When Laxus came to, Tabitha and Niko were next to him. They stood on a dirt path, surrounded by forest. Tabitha looked up. Since the sun is rising there, Eravea is there.” Tabitha pointed ahead of them. Laxus and Niko nodded, and they quietly headed towards Eravea.
“Do you hear that?” Tabitha whispered to Laxus. He nodded.
The trio slowed to a stop, and crouched into a fighting position. Niko waved his hand slightly, and screams echoed from the woods. There was a mad rustling as men began running away from several sections in the woods. “What did you do?” Laxus asked Niko.
Niko grinned. “I cast an illusion making these bandits think that our shadows were massive demons, and I had several demon illusions appear in the woods.”
Tabitha grinned. “Nice thinking. We should keep going now.” She said.
Laxus shook his head. “What if these are the bandits that took the old lady’s necklace?” He asked.
Tabitha sighed. “That’s right. I guess we have to find their leader.” She said.
“Men! Do not cower before these illusions! They cannot harm you!” A voice called.
The three turned towards the voice. A man with a large case slung across his back stood in front of them, and his men were grouping in behind him.
Niko waved his hand, and an illusion lashed out, and left a small slit across his cheek.
The man ignored it. “These shadows can only cut you slightly! Fear them not!” He roared.
Laxus glared at the man. “Who are you?” He asked.
The man returned Laxus’s glare. “I am Roranora, The master of one hundred swords!” He said.
Laxus chuckled. “In that case, we have no threat from you. For what Is a swordsman without his swords?” He asked.
The man ignored him. “Give us all of your valuables, and we will let you live.”
Tabitha shrugged. “We have nothing but the clothes on our backs!” She said.
Which was a complete lie, but Niko had already cast an illusion over their backpacks to hide them.
Roranora shook his head. “Then, come with us. We shall take you to see the 10th regiment commander.” He said.
Tabitha shook her head. “Like hell! If you want us to come, make us! And, on a completely unrelated subject, have you seen a necklace that looks like this?” She asked, holding up a drawing of the necklace that she had gotten from the job flyer.
Niko shook his head. “Tabitha, the enemy isn’t going to help…” He started.
Roranora peered at the drawing. “It is quite possible that is the new necklace that the 5th regiment commander acquired recently.” He said.
Tabitha grinned. “Why thank you, kind sir.”
“You have to be kidding me.” Laxus and Niko said at the same time.
Tabitha grinned at them. “Now, we just have to go get it from him!” She said.
Laxus shrugged. “I guess. How are we going to find him?” He asked.
Roranora cleared his throat. “I am afraid that you shall be coming with me.” He said.
Laxus shook his head. “We already told you. He have to do something. Get out of our way.” He said.
Roranora shook his head regretfully. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to sully my blades on you. Oh well, the boss shouldn’t mind too much if you are missing a few digits.” He said.
“Excuse me?” Tabitha asked.
Roranora pulled the box off of his back, and opened it. It was filled with swords. The man hurled the box into the air, spilling swords everywhere. “Allow me to properly introduce myself! It am the half demon Roranora, the bounty hunter! I usually hunt rogue mages, but I was defeated in fair combat by a commander in this bandit Legion. Until I defeat him, I will work for them.” He said.
Roranora pulsed. Suddenly, a red aura manifested itself around him. It rose up, and hands shot out of it. The aura formed into a large demon’s body with almost a hundred hands. Each caught a sword.
“One hundred sword style! Ninety-eight handed demon!” He roared.
`Laxus raised his eyebrows. “Impressive. But just because you have so many swords doesn’t mean you are any good with them.”
“Broadsword” Laxus said.
The shadows cast by the forest flowed towards Laxus, and formed a massive sword, almost twice his length, and width. Laxus lifted the sword. “This is great! The book said this was actually a warrior technique, but it was so favored it was included everywhere!” He said.
Niko’s mouth dropped. “Laxus, that thing is huge! How are you holding it up?” He asked.
Laxus grinned. “It weighs nearly nothing! It is really a good technique.” He grinned.
Laxus shrugged, and ran at Roranora. He heard Tabitha begin to play her flute, and Myron formed. He immediately began attacking the band of men. Niko was waving his hand, and throwing illusionary fireballs and lightning at the men.
Laxus brought the broadsword up in an arc, but the demon blocked it with five of its swords. It slashed at Laxus with five others. Laxus managed to dodge a few, but two of them cut him.
He hissed. Roranora shook his head sadly. “We just started, and you are losing to five of my swords? Pitiful, really.” He said.
Laxus growled, and wrapped shadowy barbs around his sword. He jumped up and swung again at the beast. It again stopped the sword with a few swords, and slashed at Laxus with others. With a flick of his wrist, Laxus sent the barbs from the sword to tangle up the demon’s swords.
The demon simply flicked the swords, and they cut through the shadows. “My swords are all kept extremely sharp. A thin shadow will not stop them.” He said.
Roranora swept ten swords at Laxus, from both directions. Laxus barely dodged the first round, and the second one swept across his back. Laxus screamed, and his sword fell from his hands.
Roranora shook his head disappointedly. “You didn’t even make me try. I think I will enjoy killing the girl in front of you.” He said.
`“Stay away from her!” Laxus wheezed.
Roranora’s demon reached back, and swung at Tabitha. Its arm extended as it swung, but right as it reached behind Tabitha’s neck, a shadowy sword blocked it.
Roranora looked down in surprise, and saw that Laxus had thrown his sword with a rope attached to it. Laxus pulled the rope back to himself.
“So, you have some fight left in you? Well, I guess I will finish you off first, then get to the other two.” He said.
Laxus bowed his head. “I’m sorry.” He said.
Roranora frowned. “Sorry that you weren’t good enough?” He asked.
Laxus growled. “I was talking to my shadow.” He snapped.
Roranora flapped his mouth. “Shadows don’t speak.” He finally managed.
Laxus shrugged. There was a tug at his feet, and the dragonoid rose from it. “You intend to use one of the Forbidden techniques?” It asked.
Laxus nodded. “I do. For the sake of survival.” He said.
The shadow nodded. “Very well. I grant you the key to the physical plane. The key of Matter!” The shadow cackled, and bulged. It grew to the size of Roranora’s shadow.
Roranora’s mouth fell open. “A demon in your shadow?” He asked.
Laxus said nothing. Roranora began shaking slightly. “Bah, no matter. I will shred you both to pieces! Tornado!” Roranora and his aura began spinning with their swords. They launched towards Laxus.
“Gate of Matter, I open you!” Laxus staggered.
His shadowy counterpart reached forward, and grabbed the aura of Roranora. The shadow and aura grappled. Laxus staggered up. “I said, Gate of Matter, Open!”
Laxus’s body flickered. A crazy grin crept across Laxus’s face. “So, this is immortality?” He asked.
His body flickered again. Suddenly, he was in front of Roranora. “What the…” Roranora started.
A black scythe grew from Laxus’s shoulder, and launched forward. It slid right into Roranora’s stomach. Laxus flickered, and he was back where he was before.
Roranora screamed. “How dare you! Nobody has injured me in decades!” He roared.
He pulsed, and his aura shrank slightly. The red swirled around his stomach, and healed it.
Roranora charged at Laxus, swords swinging. Laxus laughed. “You fool! Don’t you understand? I control all matter on this plane of existence for as long as I can hold it! The only way for me to release it is if there is another one with a key around, or I let go!” He roared.
Shadowy spikes launched from the ground, and impaled Roranora. As before, his aura healed him, and he continued charging.
Laxus flickered behind Roranora, and a blade lodged itself in his back. Laxus flickered back to his original spot.
Roranora screamed in rage. Suddenly, his aura grew bigger. “Don’t YOU get it? I am the physical manifestation of Anger! The madder I am, the stronger I get!” He roared.
“No matter! I shall never tire, as long as I have control over this area!” Laxus returned.
Suddenly, something flew over Laxus. He easily stepped to the side, and the object flew past him, and landed at Roranora’s feet.
Roranora reached down, and picked it up. He put the sword to Tabitha’s neck. “What now, Weakling?” He asked.
Laxus growled with rage. “Release her!” He said.
Roranora shook his head. “Release the magic, and I won’t kill her.” He said.
Laxus growled. Slowly, he dropped his magic. His shadow returned to normal, and Laxus fell to his knees. Immediately, Roranora’s sword hit the back of his head, and he blacked out.