ApprenticeofLife
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Chapter Preview 39
🕑 Added 2022-07-02 00:05:00 +0000 UTCHey guys, this is the next Chapter of the story that I decided to post some of the pages that are already done. Most of this chapter is going to be fights within the same space and it is going to try and follow to the next in a sequency that will begin on the next chapter.
For now only five to six pages are complete and I shall do my best to always post like that to make sure you guys can when the main chapter is about to be lunched.
In this case it will probably be posted between tomorrow and Monday at the latest. Yes, I will be trying to warn you guys when the next chapter will go out too from now on unless I get enough time to just fix and edit everything in one sitting. Enjoy the preview and until next time.
Forgot to add something; Three more chapters of basically just fighting to then end this Saga. End as in there are going to be some chapters for the clean up and then a few others to prepare for the next one.
Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity
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39- The King’s Sword: Art Gallery Brawl
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Throughout all her life Luvia had many expectations placed on her back, both from other people but also by herself.
Born as the older of twin sisters just by a few minutes, it was always implied that it would be her duty to carry out her family traditions with the support of her younger sister sharing the burden of the future of the Edelfelt despite their differences.
But that wouldn't last forever as tradition dictated that only one could truly be the Head of the family. As sisters they always knew that one would remain in the Edelfelt while the other was destined to be married off into another family and they had many talks about it. Even the siblings agreed that Luvia was the best choice for the part and so more expectations were placed on her together with their hopes.
Her twin didn’t even put up a fight when they were told she would marry outside of the family sooner or later to avoid succession issues. Until that happened both were the heiresses of the Edelfelt but as soon as she married she would be part of another family, a former Edelfelt.
Despite their Crest ensuring the life of their family if one of them perished, one of them being married off was an inevitable outcome to stop an internal conflict. Not that Luvia’s twin cared as she was more introverted and accepted the situation with grace, dignity and without a care in the world.
She was almost opposite of her elder sibling, most of all when it came to their personalities, and instead of fighting she went with the flow, even falling in love with her suitor.
That also steared everyone’s expectations more towards Luvia as the Head since the younger one showed no interest in advancing their magecraft and was fully interested in joining her love’s family.
She had to be smarter than everyone else, stronger than everyone else, more cunning than anyone and cruel to all her enemies. That was the necessary criteria to any noble of the Clocktower and that meant that Luvia’s duty demanded excellency in not only leading her family but also manipulating events to its favor ruthlessly.
With so much expectations on her ever since she was a child it wasn’t odd that Luvia felt every single one of them from time to time. It didn’t matter her talent or skill, there were times that she wanted to run away from everything and give up because of how heavy the burden was.
But there were those that wanted to help her, people that Luvia could truly appreciate in the worst of times. Auguste was one of them, a silent protector and that has been with the Edelfelt for a long time, Luvia’s whole life.
For most of her life Luvia had dedicated herself to her studies and while she was an outgoing girl that didn’t mean she had many friends. The danger of betrayal in the Clocktower meant that people were always kept at arm's length at best between the nobles unless they were already allies or family of some kind and that wasn’t a guarantee.
But Auguste had always been there for Luvia. He was loyal, capable and an ear to hear her troubles when she needed to. When the blonde announced that she would be moving to Japan to either secure a husband or a pact the man immediately asked “When shall we depart?”
He was always there in the good and bad times, a reassuring presence that Luvia could openly admit that she needed more than once.
Seeing the car with her loyal caretaker being flung into a wall sent Luvia into a spiral of emotions; worry, apprehension, anger.
It was an anger that Luvia never felt before in her life.
Luvia thought that she knew what fury was, what the fire that burned every time she fought with Rin was. But she realized in that moment, the moment she thought her loyal caretaker was dead, that she had no idea what true fury was.
“You are dead.” Her killing the knights that harmed Auguste wasn’t enough, that fire didn’t disappear with their demise or diminished with her declaration. Not while their leader and enabler was still alive.
When Xenovia declared she was going to go after the Excaliburs, Luvia gave her no thoughts and barely any attention. The swords didn’t matter to her anymore. What the aristocrat magus wanted was Gawain’s head.
When everyone began to move, Luvia didn’t think twice before charging into the fray. It didn’t matter who was on her way anymore, all she wanted was to make Gawain pain.
Considering how the golden energy acted around the members or the Order and its absence around their leader indicated that Gawain himself couldn’t use it or was just the source of it. She also felt a familiar sensation of power around the man but nothing which indicated danger which led Luvia to believe that either Gawain couldn’t use his power or was directing it to improve his men’s chances.
As many soldiers of the Order moved to stop her, all surrounded by a golden aura while Gawain had none, Luvia was confident that the knight was responsible for their power. The logical side of her mind told her that once she got her hands on Gawain she would effectively end the fight.
She was still mostly after revenge, cutting out the power of her enemy was just a bonus.
When Luvia was close to the first obstacle she already prepared another spell on her hand, ready to repeat her previous feat and kill the man in one hit. This time the soldier of the Order was much faster and managed to react at her approach with his shield, blocking the attack.
When she saw the shield resist the blast of mana, the blue magus frowned but didn’t panic. Her jewel was running out of mana and she allowed it to keep going, using the extra seconds to think.
But the shield resisted and around them the mana began to dissipate to reveal that it remained intact with some of the golden aura around it from the knight.
That was irritating for Luvia who expected the spell to pierce the shield with a single strike. But it was something easily fixed in her opinion as she grabbed the shield with her gloved hand and tried to push it to the side.
Finding it hard to move the shield showed Luvia that the soldiers’ of the Order physical strength had increased considerably as previously she had already defined that they hadn't broken the human limits.
That apparently had changed because of the aura and she had to take a step back when the man in question tried to cut her head with his sword. She noticed how many were already moving around, getting into better positions against her and the others as Gawain remained back.
That just made Luvia more determined to reach the knight than before as her magic circuits became visible in her face and neck. She felt the familiar sensation of mana empowering her body with Reinforcement as she sidestepped a spear before delivering a hard kick to the attacker's chest.
While Luvia wasn’t capable of lifting a car even with Reinforcement she was still incredibly strong, certainly stronger than most magus practitioners of the skill. Her Reinforcement was close to perfect, only one person she knew was her superior, and the strike was so strong that the man’s feet left the floor and he flew away.
Luvia made an effort to watch that particular knight as she dodged the others, trying to understand the effects the aura had on them. Purposefully she aimed the kick precisely on the center of the man’s chest and had him flying exactly from where he came from, members of the Order moving aside to not be hit for the body of their comrade.
Even then the other members of the Order had no intention of letting Luvia relax. They had the numbers and planned to use them to the fullest, first by surrounding her to then cut her down.
It was a simple plan that didn’t involve that much coordination but they were coordinated enough that seamlessly transitioned between letting their comrade fly without hitting them to surround the magus completely.
While her fury was still in the forefront and her desire of vengeance didn’t diminish, Luvia didn’t allow it to blind her to the fact her opponents were all amplified humans. ‘I can’t lose track of that one.’
She just didn’t know exactly how much stronger the soldiers became or how it affected their equipment. Considering she failed to break the shield in the first hit it was obvious all their defense was now much higher. Two people being able to push a car off easily after being run down and not suffering any wounds told her as much.
So Luvia knew that the situation may be many times worse than it looked and that she may now be at a disadvantage. “If you wish to live, step aside.” That didn’t stop her from speaking confidently as she held the sapphire empty of mana on her hand before dropping it down on her sleeve. “I am in no mood to play today.”
Always the aristocrat, even when furious over the death of her caretaker, Luvia’s posture remained calm and nonchalant. Her eyes showed the arrogance of someone that was above all and every single soldier of the Order of Pendragon could feel the confidence in Luvia’s actions.
“Out of my way.” By her tone It was a warning and a threat that the magus planned to carry out if anyone tried the contrary.
Actions spoke more than words as the members of the Order charged with fury of their own. The blonde magus insulted their pride, threatened their leader and they fully intended to make her pay.
From her ears Luvia felt mana from her earrings charge up with a small blue light, hidden by her hair. As the soldiers approached she took out them from her ears and held both jewels in her palm. “You will pay for challenging an Edelfelt.” When a sword was about to stab her Luvia allowed the spell to activate. “Gemini!!”
The two small jewels hit the first soldier hard and threw him back like he was punched by a gorilla. But they didn’t stop there as the jewels kept flying around and attacking the knights like flies but infinitely more dangerous.
However, that maneuver can only deal with the closest life signs to the jewels themselves, temporarily distracting one side while the others move to finish Luvia off.
She didn’t wait for them, instead Luvia charged and grabbed one of the soldiers by their face, a woman from what she could tell, and slammed her on the floor as hard as she could before going to the next.
Not having expected such a counter attack, especially one that seemed more like a wrestling move, the soldiers saw another two of theirs hit the floor before one of them reacted by raising his shield for Luvia to connect.
The Edelfelt Heiress expected the defense and jumped while taking hold of the soldier’s shoulder. His eyes widened in a panic behind his helmet as he noticed Luvia smile as she descended and hit his back with her knee. Her Reinforced closed to perfection knee that hit him hard enough to break something even with the armor.
But as the man fell to his knees Luvia didn’t stop, she pointed her fingers at those around her and unleashed a couple shots of mana only to realize the aura was fully negating them.
With a frown she had to dodge a sword coming for her shoulder from a soldier that discarded his shield and then quickly moved to deflect a spear going for her head.
Feeling a small cut from her cheek despite the blade falling to touch her skin had Luvia changing tactics as the aura appeared to have increased the weapon’s reach slightly. She could see it going in a tiny veil around the tip of the weapon and moved to break it with her other hand.
Surrounded as she was Luvia had to keep moving while using Reinforcement constantly, a feat she would begrudgingly thank Rin for since she could only do that for long periods of time because of their ‘spars’.
Doing a flip and landing close to two soldiers she punched one on the face and kicked the other away. More of them jumped from the second floor and landed close to her but Luvia grabbed the one she punched by her legs and began to spin.
“Are you kidding me?!!” Someone complained before they were hit by the spinning knight in Luvia’s hands as she laughed out loud.
“Ohohohoho!! How do you feel facing the mighty Lancashire style of martial combat?!!” She threw the man she was using straight to the soldiers that finally neutralized her earrings, smiling all the way. “You should know about it as servants of King Arthur. It came from England, afterall.”
Having managed to make some space for herself Luvia glanced at the first soldier she had kicked away and frowned. Despite the man having been hit by her fully Reinforced kick he was getting up, it was slow and he looked hurt but he was getting up. That was extremely bad for her.
Using Reinforcement at full capacity took a lot of concentration so it didn't backfire on the user. Doing so while fighting numerous opponents increased the risks considerably; it meant that the odds of her making a mistake and dying were quite high.
“Looks like I will have to spend a considerable amount of my jewels to deal with all of you.” Luvia commented as the soldiers, even some of those she had beaten up, prepared to attack her again. “Let's see if you can make even a dent on the Edelfelt’s coffers.”
That declaration just served to irritate her enemies more and some of the soldiers threw away their shields to hold their swords and spears with two hands.
Grabbing the sleeves of her dress, Luvia ripped them off while grabbing some of the jewels hidden inside them with practiced ease. The used sapphire moved to her picked as she showed the soldiers multiple gems between all her fingers.
“Do any of you know anything about Jewel Magecraft?” Already having seen some of what she could do the soldiers of Order were cautious. “No? Then you shall learn with your skin.”
All her gems began to glow with mana as they synchronized with their owner’s presence.
