Burst_Swords to the Skies

by Adam Wan

  I'm so happy to finish this one. Sorry if some of the chapters were a bit sloppy.

  This arc was a lot different from the previous two. This one focused on a mass murder case instead of searching for stuff.

  I tried to make a great ending for this one. I made the final two chapters quite long. Mainly chapter 19. I tried to make it powerful.

  I wasn't able to express the fight scene in chapter 19 that well, at least for my standards.

  Thank you for reading this arc! Hope you enjoy the next arc! See you guys next time!

  Arc 4: Ordeal

  Hi! Welcome to arc four of Burst! This arc should have 20 chapters.

  This fourth arc is again, different from previous arcs. This arc features some new stuff for combat.

  The flight combat thing is somewhat unused in most arcs for some reason xD. The most use of it is in arc 1.

  I'm most excited to write the fifth arc. The Fifth arc is the last arc of the Freedom Saga.

  I didn't have much of an idea for the arc but it'll come as I write.

  Hope you enjoy this arc! Thank you for reading. See you soon!!!

  Ordeal 1: Tech

  It has been 4 years since I became the Royal Knight. I kind of became Sora's personal knight though, and I love being her knight.

  It has been 3 years since my journey to Galaya. The mass murderer who went under the name Zeynox was stopped. His name was revealed to be my old classmate, Cyan.

  Ayla has finished teaching me the bow. I may not be a master like her, but at least I can hit targets of moderate difficulty.

  I was still teaching her to use a sword. Sora would help out sometimes. I would also teach Spica more advance moves whenever she was free.

  "You can do it, Ayla!" cheered Spica.

  "Wool!" cheered Sora.

  "Arghh!"

  Ayla was trying to find an opening. I was only blocking her attacks.

  "Gahh!"

  She finally hit me. She seemed to be exhausted from trying so hard. Her face was sweating like crazy!

  "Well done, it seems like you have improved since last time. You couldn't even hit at all last time" I commented.

  "Thanks... Though you didn't have to bring up last time's practice... Panting*"

  "Tea's ready! Come on over!"

  "Coming!" I replied.

  Ayla was slowly walking to them. She was still panting.

  After drinking some tea, the king came to see us.

  "It seems you sword practice is over" said the king.

  "Yup, Ayla is improving" I replied.

  "I have something to show all of you"

  "What is it?" Sora asked.

  "Follow me"

  We followed the king to a room. The sign wrote "Tech Research Center".

  I remembered when the king announced the "Tech Research Team". He said that the purpose was to improve kingdom's technology, currently working on weapons.

  "This is where the magic happens"

  I saw scientists testing out some sort of weapon. It looked like a sword with no blade.

  "You seem interested in that, Cel"

  "It looks interesting"

  "This was what I want to show you all"

  We followed the king to the scientists.

  "Please explain this weapon to them"

  "Will do, Your Majesty"

  He faced our way. He started to explain.

  "This is what we call the 'Portable Sword'. As you can see, there is no blade attached to it. When you clench the grip hard enough, a laser blade will appear. Would like for me to explain how the blade was formed"

  "Nope!" said Ayla.

  "Na-ah" said Spica.

  "Ummm" said Sora.

  "Haha... They don't want to..."

  "No problem!"

  "Thanks for showing us this sword"

  "You're welcome"

  We left the room. Everyone seemed to be hyped about this new sword.

  "We wouldn't have to sharpen them!" said Sora.

  "It won't break too!" said Spica.

  "It should be easier to carry along too. Its portable anyway" said Ayla.

  "What do you think, Cel?"

  "Its ok. The concept is quite interesting"

  "That's it?" said the girls.

  At bedtime, I went to accompany Sora to her bedroom as usual.

  "Cel, could you come in?"

  "Sure"

  I entered her bedroom, she went to sat on her bed. She wanted me to come and sit with her. I went and sat by her side.

  "MIA is coming to perform soon" said Sora.

  "When?"

  "I'm not sure. Spica will make a schedule soon. She said that it is mostly likely taking place next week. If not, the week after"

  "Ok... Why did you want to talk?"

  "I just feel... like I wanted to get closer to you..."

  "Its ok. Even I wished we could talk more too"

  "Its getting quite late though... You should go to sleep"

  "You too... Good night"

  "Sweet dreams"

  I left her room and to mine. I slept soundly that night.

  Ordeal 2: Testing

  "Muahahaha!!!"

  A deep malevolent laugh was heard.

  I saw a silhouetted man laughing in the background. People were fighting with the Portable Swords. Some were dead.

  "What's this?!"

  "..."

  "Haaa!!!"

  I yelled when I woke up. I realized that it was just a dream.

  "Ha... It was a dream. I have a bad feeling out this Portable Sword thing. I don't know what to expect from this project..." I thought.

  After getting dressed, I went to join the others for breakfast. I got to eat some of Sora's amazing Niegra Berry Pie!

  "Akhemm... Cel, Sora, Ayla and Spica. Please gather at the castle field after breakfast" said the king.

  "Alright" said Sora.

  "K..." I said.

  "Yes" said Ayla.

  "Ok!" said Spica.

  After breakfast we headed to the castle field. Ayla and I practice there most of the time. Sors, Ayla, Spica and I also go for picnics there. We do go outside the castle for picnics sometimes.

  "What do you think is going?" Sora asked me.

  "I have no idea. I guess its about the sword"

  "It might"

  At the field, the scientist was where.

  "Morning, Doctor" I greeted.

  "Morning! Call me Kohaya by the way"

  "Morning, Kohaya" greeted the girls.

  "Now then, I'm giving you these Portable Swords. Go on and pick!"

  We went to the table to pick the sword we wanted. I saw a hilt with a blue grip. The cross guard looked like wings, it was white in color.

  I took it and clenched the grip. It wasn't too hard to activate nor too easy, meaning that it won't activate when you don't want it to.

  The blade of the one I chose was blue in color. The one Sora chose was white, Spica's was pink and Ayla's was green.

  "Seems like you have chosen your swords. Don't you want to try them out?"

  We looked at each other, no one wanted to fight.

  "Sora, wanna try?" I asked.

  "Sure! Be gentle on me!"

  "I will!"

  We were ready to have a friendly match.

  "3, 2, 1, Go!" said the others.

  We were just hitting and blocking. The sword felt like it was a real sword. The lasers were as if they were physical.

  "Let's stop" I said.

  "Stop?!"

  She started to use "Sleek", she started to hit quickly and smoothly. I decided to try out "Rapid Fire".

  She was blocking every attack, but was in a panic.

  "Woah!!! Stop! Stop!"

  I stopped using "Rapid Fire".

  "Haha... That was fun"

  "Heehee... Yea, I think so"

  "Woo!!!" cheered Spica.

  "That was fast" said Ayla.

  We returned to the others after having our friendly match. We were holdin
g hands as we walked. Holding her warm hand was an amazing experience. I felt like I was holding an angel's hand.

  "You two are always so lovey dovey, you know?" said Spica.

  "Yea, you two are sooo close to each other"

  "Yea..." I said.

  "Yea, I know that we're lovey dovey..." Sora replied.

  "Hey, can you do me a favor?" said Koyaha.

  Ordeal 3: Testers

  "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "Can you go on a quest to test out these swords? You wouldn't fight each other with them, right?"

  "Yea, we wouldn't use it to fight innocent people" I replied.

  "What quest?" Sora asked.

  "There is a beast rampaging in the city of Eradicus, Ayrus. The world's warriors weren't able to defeat them"

  "Does dad know about this?" Sora asked.

  "Yes, he just got the message earlier this morning"

  "The city of Eradicus... Never heard of it. I only stayed in Ayrus for two weeks. Spica should know the place" I thought.

  "I know that place!" said Spica.

  "I knew it. But I doubt that she has ever actually gone there" I thought.

  "Sorry, Spica. You couldn't join the quest"

  "What? Why?" she said in confusion.

  "You have an event to manage. MIA is coming to perform soon"

  "Oh... Yea... Sorry, guys"

  "Its all right. We should be fine"

  "Ok! Good luck! I'll come to see you off tomorrow!" said Spica.

  We went to eat lunch together after thanking Kohaya for the swords.

  "Ayrus is in danger. Its city, Eradicus has been attacked by-" said the king, he didn't get to finish his speech.

  "We know, dad. We're planning on going there" said Sora.

  "Oh, alright then. I will contact the king of Ayrus about your visit"

  The kingdom of Ayrus was still a new kingdom. Cielo has helped them to keep them on their feet. They were still in the learning process of becoming a strong kingdom.

  "Do you know what the beast is?" asked the king.

  "No, we don't" I replied.

  "The beast is a Gyonorme. Its a beast that appears everyone 100 years in Ayrus. The world had Sylus to protect them then. She was the best at sword fighting in the world of Ayrus. But her motives were to make them worship her. She succeeded in her mission. The people worshipped her and call her a goddess. Her soul was sealed in the mirror after her death. Her worshippers have tried to revive her countless times by sacrificing themselves to become her vessel but she declined all of them"

  "Without someone strong is protect them, they are hopeless" I said.

  "Correct" said the king.

  After lunch, I accompanied Sora to the royal meeting. It was about the concert and the Ayrus beast. It was kind of boring, but I didn't fell asleep.

  After the meeting, it was sunset. We ate dinner, I was hungry from just standing! The meeting was a long meeting. I was kind of used to it because of being her personal knight, I had to accompany her everywhere, except for certain places...

  I accompanied to her bedroom as usual. She wanted to talk again, so I entered her room to have a chat.

  "MIA's coming tomorrow, right?" I asked.

  "Yea, first thing in the morning"

  "I'm hoping to go to the concert"

  "You have to, your my knight, silly! Hahaha"

  "Oh, right. What was I thinking? Haha"

  After some more chat, it was time for bed. Sora was sleepy.

  "Good night!"

  "Sweet... Yawn* dreams..."

  I went back to my room to get some sleep. In bed, I thought "I want to be more than just her knight for some reason... I know that we're kind of a couple but I felt like I needed to get closer to her..."

  I eventually fell asleep that peaceful night. The world wasn't in any danger as of what I knew. The memories of Arsceil's attack on Cielo was still fresh inside my head.

  Ordeal 4: MIA

  "My death caused those people to suffer..."

  "No... You won't be around to protect them anyway!"

  "If you just let me take your Sora as my vessel, those people should be safe..."

  "No! Sora's more important to me!"

  "What about all those innocent victims... Are they not important?"

  "They are... But... But..."

  "Hahaha! What a knight you are!"

  "I couldn't trust! You could've gone to kill all your followers!"

  "Why would I do that?"

  "You said they were useless! You never cared for them!"

  "Hahaha! But are you sure that its all over?"

  "You're dead! There's nothing you can do!"

  Another voice was heard in the distance...

  "Cel!!! Help me!!!"

  "Sora!!! Sora?!!"

  "Hahaha!!!"

  "..."

  "Haaaa!!!"

  "It was another nightmare... What's happening?! Is Sylus coming back?! No... No way! Sora... I'll protect you..." I thought.

  I woke up from a nightmare. I didn't know why I was having these nightmares, but I do know that I have to be careful. I would protect my princess at all costs! Without dying...

  I decided to stop thinking about it for the time being. I got up and went to take a bath.

  The water was cold, it helped me to not think about the nightmare and instead think about the temperature.

  After the freezing bath, I quickly got dressed. I was wearing the knight's uniform. It was mainly white with some black parts, it indicates that I'm not a normal knight. Normal knights had blue parts while guards had red parts. I placed the Portable Sword on my belt.

  I went to the dining room to eat breakfast. I wanted to see Sora, I wanted to feel secure.

  In the dining room, Sora was there. The king wasn't there.

  "Where's dad?"

  "He left to do something"

  "Oh, alright"

  I sat down at the chair next to Sora, my usual spot. I huffed out a breath of air in relief. I felt secure again.

  "What?" Sora asked.

  "Just tired"

  "Ok..."

  "At least nothing happened to her... Wait, will a follower plan to attack Cielo? Impossible! They should already know that she's dead!" I thought.

  "What are you thinking about? Is there something bothering you?"

  "Haaa... I had a nightmare. In it, I was talking to Sylus. She asked if I was sure that it was all over. I then heard you screaming for help. I'm scared of losing you again..."

  "Don't worry, its just a dream. I won't leave you. She won't come back"

  "Thank for making me feel secure"

  "No problem!"

  We shared a short, light kiss. No one was around, so no one saw it. Not long after, the king arrived.

  The food was served, Ayla and Spica finally came to eat.

  "You're early, Cel" said Spica.

  "Yea... I woke up early today"

  After breakfast, we went to the arena. The concert was going to be held there. Workers were working on making the stage.

  "When's the concert taking place?"

  "Next week!" said Spica.

  "MIA is coming today, right?" I asked.

  "Yup, they should arrive any minute now" she replied.

  I heard the sounds of horses and carriages. The sound got louder and louder. I saw a few carriages coming our way.

  They stopped at the gate. From the first carriage, a girl with brown hair came out. She wore a pink blouse. The girl that came of the carriage was Mia, lead singer of MIA. A young man also came out the carriage, I guessed that he was her bodyguard. That guy didn't seem to be a friendly type of guy.