“Ah. Oh. Um. Tea? Have some tea, maybe? Uh… I have snacks, too.”
Clay welcomed Iona into his room. Blade often came over and asked for something to eat, so Clay made sure to always keep snacks on hand. It was rare for him to have a girl in his room, though. This was the very first time, so he was a bit nervous.
“The intake of water and organic matter is not required for the maintenance of my body. No need to worry.”
Iona kneeled directly on the bare wooden floor. Clay, being a considerate sort of guy, wanted to offer her a cushion, but Iona didn’t even seem to need it. She rested on the hard floor without the slightest look of discomfort.
“…Oh,” Clay replied.
Come to think of it, where did Kassim go? He looked at me with a big smirk when Iona arrived and said he would step out and wouldn’t be back for two hours. Why two hours?
“…So. Um…you wanted me to teach you Dragon Smasher, right…? Maybe we’d be better off doing that at the Proving Ground?”
Dragon Smasher, the first of the dragon-destroying skills, wasn’t as powerful as Dragon Eater, the second. Invoking it indoors, however, was certain to destroy Clay’s dorm room. It might even open a hole in the wall. Dragon Eater, on the other hand, might blow the whole dorm building away. You’d be lucky if any part of the structure was left standing.
“No. This place is perfect. It will allow us to hide from prying eyes. And, Clay…what I am about to ask you for is a very private favor.”
“Huh? Private? …Why?”
“I want you to pour what you have into me.”
“What? Huh? Whaaat?!”
Clay was shocked but proved helpless to resist as Iona grabbed him and pushed him down on the floor.
“Honored Father? What are you doing?” asked Cú.
“Shhh. Quiet.”
Blade was in the dormitory’s hallway, ear pressed against Clay’s door as he listened intently to the sounds coming from inside. He couldn’t understand any of it, though. Even with his Hero Ears, he wasn’t able to listen in.
Once, in the past, Blade had fought someone whose hearing was so good they could create a picture of their surroundings using soundwaves alone, even sharper than a visual image. But that was like a physical trait that person was born with, like a bat’s echolocation. A normal person, even an ex-Hero, couldn’t just learn a skill like that.
“What are Clay and Iona doing, honored Father?”
“I don’t know… Apparently, Clay is ‘pouring’ something into Iona.”
“What’s he pouring? And where?”
“Good question. Oh… I hear something again. ‘That was amazing, Clay. Give me a lot more of that.’”
“What’s amazing? More of what?”
“I have no idea.”
Blade and Cú both raised an eyebrow. What could Iona and Clay possibly be doing in there? It was a mystery.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Draaagon…Smaaaasher!”
With a loud whoosh, the ground shook as the target—a suit of magic armor tied to a stake—was shattered into pieces.
“Dragon Smasher! Dragon Smasher! Dragon Smasher!”
Then with a series of finger snaps, she struck again. The spiraling energy flew from her, no preliminary movement giving away her next move as she blew up all the armor sets arranged in a circle around her, one after the other.
“Wow, she’s building up her spirit and everything.” Blade politely clapped his hands. “Unlike Clay, who rushes it and winds up misfiring, you’re really bringing out the technique’s true power.”
“My master praised me.” Iona stuck her tongue out in a contrived “silly me” look.
“M-misfiring…? That’s not what’s happening. I’m purposely adding in an explosion…”
Clay was talking again. But you were only supposed to add on to a technique after mastering the basics, so Blade couldn’t take him seriously.
“But how did you do it? You’re a Guardian. You shouldn’t be able to tap into spirit or fighting force like that.”
“I define my own limits,” Iona said. “And with all due respect, I believe I have just disproved the notion that I cannot generate fighting force. Please update your knowledge base.”
“All right. Sorry. I was wrong.” Blade had to be honest.
At that, Iona’s face began to gleam. The effect was almost blinding. It went beyond mere joy or delight—it was sheer rapture. And that meant it looked pretty silly to everyone else.
“Hey, I think she’s broken. Can someone fix her?”
Blade turned toward to the others. They all looked just as surprised, saying things like “Blade praised her…,” “she was praised by a super-being…,” and “the super-being actually admitted he was wrong…”
How rude. Even Blade made mistakes. If he messed up, he admitted he was wrong and fixed his mistake. What kind of person did they think he was?”
“Hey, how ’bout you show me some more?” Blade motioned at the student in charge of equipment. “…Yo! Can we get, like, a dozen more targets put in place?”
“I’m sorry,” Iona said, “but I am out of ammunition.”
“Th-that’s fine! Here, I can teach you how to use Dragon Eater next!”
“That is a very alluring offer, but I must decline. I have a promise to keep. Now, Clay, let us go.” She grabbed Clay’s arm and walked away.
“Hey! I said I’d teach you!” shouted Blade.
But Iona didn’t look back. She just wiggled her hips as she disappeared from the Proving Ground.
Pffft. Snicker, snicker, snicker…
Hearing laughter behind him, Blade turned around, a fierce look in his eyes. He couldn’t determine who was snickering at him. So instead, he yelled at the entire crowd.
“Right! Who wants to learn Dragon Eater? I’ll teach anyone who wants to learn!”
Everyone’s faces turned pale with horror. After a few moments of pushing and shoving, Earnest was finally tossed to the front of the audience.
“Sure! I’ll learn it! I’m not s-scared at all! I’m perfectly all right! So c’mon! Let’s do it!”
“Great! You better be ready, ’cause I’m not gonna hold back!”
Blade suddenly became the most motivated teacher in the world. He might be confused and irritated, but he was venting all that emotion straight into Earnest’s mind!