Chapter 134 – Oddity

Chapter 134 – Oddity

"Again Ikarus"

"Sure sure!"

Out in the middle of the woods, me and Petra are currently sparring against each other and things have been getting pretty intense right now. The clashing of steel probably rings all throughout the woods as well.

You see, this time around I'm doing some slightly new training with Petra and I'm currently dual wielding. I'm my left is the good and always proven vampiric blade and in the right is something we picked up back in the monastery. The metallic sword Excalibur is finally getting a run out.

The way we're doing it this time around is that I have the first swing, then she counters and we see how the spar goes from that. It's safe to say I've had my arse kicked multiple times already but I'm not getting sat down instantly like usual.

It's been a flurry of dodging and countering for the most part but she hasn't gotten her sword to my neck this time just yet. The thing about using Excalibur is that it really presents some interesting fight moves. Unlike a regular sword, it seems to have a slight magical effect that happens every swing. This sword is actually the reason why we're not in my head space training area right now, it's the first time it's being used so copying something over you're not experienced with would be a little stupid. Everything does have to be created inside there after all.

Every swing from the blade fires off a magical beam that seems to do some HP damage in the direction of the swing. It doesn't seem to be able to cut through anything and Petra can easily block it with her blade but it still has its uses. I can basically use this sword like a ranged weapon if I want so backing off and keeping the distance is a valid strategy, it matters little towards the beast Petra who can close down anyone in a split second though.

And that's what she's done right now with her samurai blade swinging in from above, I swear we both are getting riskier with the type of attacks we do but we should be skilled enough not to kill each other.

Without any warning though, Excalibur briefly shines from my block and Petra gets thrown back from some sort of pushback! It doesn't push her over but she is partially crouched over just ahead of me and even had her spare hand on the floor, never knew the sword did that as well.

"You alright Petra? That looked like it hurt"

"Heh, perfectly Ikarus. It turns out that sword had more secrets then realized, looks like I can try a little harder"

"H-Hang on... what does that mean Petra?"

"Heh, don't worry about it, just focus Ikarus"

She's even gone black eyed mode on me now! The sword has also reacted gleaming just as brightly as beforehand constantly keeping up that glow. I'd be pissing myself looking into those lifeless eyes right now if it wasn't for the fact she also is smiling. How anyone can not feel fear fighting for real against that is madness to me.

Petra instantly changes up her approach aiming for my left side and there's only so much my dagger can do before it ends up being pointless, no defence is capable of withstanding multiple attacks happening in split seconds of themselves. Once again, it's my loss with her sword resting firmly against my neck, I didn't even see that second and third attack go in then! She really is unbeatable.

"You know just how freaking terrifying it is to face you like that, right? It's like fighting a wild beast or dog!"

"Heh... I'll try and take that as a compliment Ikarus, even if you just compared me to a dog"

"You know it was meant in a nice way though... Besides, if you were a dog, you'd be all mine to pet, or that could be your nickname as well!"

...

What I just said sounds so idiotic! Why the hell can't I come out with some smooth line or flirt properly!? I wanted to use pet like how her name is Petra but it just came out weird and all it's done is made her chuckle.

"Heh... you really are terrible at this. If we're really doing this though Ikarus, can't imagine how cute you'd be wagging your tail with a couple of ears on your head. My heart might melt at that thought, giving you a head pat as well would be too much"

See? Why couldn't I have come up with something like that!? Petra would be a cute puppy as well but there's no chance I could ever say that smoothly...

"It's so freaking unfair how easily you can come out with shit like that..."

"Heh... we should probably continue again though"

Ah yeah, she is in black eyed mode as well, nearly forgot what we were out here for in the first place...

__________

"Damn it! Even with this freaking sword, you still always best me with no issues"

It shouldn;t be too hard to tell what's happened. Even with having a sword that can push her back, all she needs to do is avoid colliding with it and focus elsewhere. If anything, this might be backfiring on me. Having this sword makes Petra put more effort in unfortunately, it makes me want to throw it away in protest.

“No need to beat yourself up Ikarus, I’m trying harder now and you can even defend for over a minute... want a hand?”

Like how I always seem to sulk when training, I'm currently lying flat on the floor. Eh, at least I'm not out of breath this time around but I'm not sure if I want to lose another round again to her.

'That's what she said... I hate myself at times'

Petra now commands the crowd of recruits all paying extreme attention to her, none trying to appear disrespectful all filled with eyes of awe. It's really quite the strange sight but my brain is still a little high on dopamine right now. Little weak in the knees as well...

After doing something not suitable for younger viewers, there was no chance I was going to help train this time around so I'm just going to stand here looking pretty and smiling while she starts to teach the new recruits. Maybe we can do a good cop, bad cop routine to them later one day but this probably isn't a situation to be messing around.

I'm probably looking a little too happy right now, I can't control my facial muscles, alright!? It wouldn't surprise me if Petra watches me sleep normally after the sessions we do as I'd probably do the same if she smiled like this. Stop fangirling over your girlfriend Ikarus! Seriously though, there's other things to look at...

We're actually at a little training yard on the island that holds the mine and the Magi guild tower right now, a makeshift temporary bridge has already gone up in the channel making this slightly easier to cross so it makes sense why things are starting to be built out here as well. Having recruits train their strength using and being around the mine is never a bad idea too.

"All of you! Pair up, grab a training blade and start sparring so I can see how sloppy your forms are"

She's obviously going to be a natural at this, it almost sounds like she could be a drill sergeant drilling the troops. I'm so freaking lucky I get extreme favouritism from her but that still doesn't stop me from getting beaten time to time as well... I know how that sounds but you all know what I mean.

All the trainees have done as ordered grabbing swords and are now wailing on each other... they really aren't that good it looks. Petra's already started to go around to certain people and guide them on what to do, can't hear what she's saying but it must be good advice if it's coming from her.

My advice to them would be get good kid... I joke, but me giving advice on swords sounds terrible. I could imagine myself telling them to get faster and stronger and that's pretty much the limit to my knowledge on it...

Anyways, while I'm watching Petra give some of the trainees and trainers a hand, a familiar face walks up to me from someone I haven't seen in quite a while. Normally, someone else goes to pay the miners now so he's normally off working deep in the earth.

"Jaxon! What brings you out into the light? Us surface dwellers aren't scaring you too much, right?"

The scrawny brown haired mine master finally leaves the mine joining us surface dwellers, it still makes no sense how he's able to mine being that skinny but he does have a conditional Ikarus. Don't be mentioning something like that again.

"Funny ma'am. I came looking for you two queens-... you have a few leaves and a twig in your hair"

Do I? Damn that Petra! She let me walk over here knowing full well I didn't realize I must've have picked them up from our little playfight in the woods...

Shaking my head full of shame, I continue the conversation knowing full well Petra needs moaning at later on. At least Jaxon didn't question why I had so much in my hair I guess, maybe he's purposely not asking...

"Don't you be starting that ma'am and queen thing too kid. What did you want us for?"

"There's something in the mine you might want to check out Ikarus. It's not really a problem, just something a little weird has been going on lately"

"Okay then... you know what? Petra's too busy right now so I'll come with you alone then"

This is her punishment for not telling my hair was a mess. I say punishment, all this will probably be is work for me to do alone...

__________

"Just how far down is this Jaxon?"

"Not that much further Ikarus, we're already gone past section sixty-four. You'll get used to the burning smell soon"

Having walked down the endless tunnels that adorn this place, once again the mine is looking more and more complex but there's no real point going too heavily into it. I have no idea how these miners navigate this place at this point.

He does have a point about the smell though, I'm currently following Jaxon into one of the deepest tunnels and presumably the burning for light does that. There are other ways you can light up things in this world other than fire but this tunnel does look more makeshift than the others so they probably haven't got around to it yet.

Eventually, we arrive at some boarded off sub-section and I can't help but think of a video game quest this reminds me of. No idea which though.

"If you start to tell me there's gigantic blood sucking spiders down there, get another pest exterminator!"

"-Ikarus- is making joke target -Jaxon- wouldn't understand"

Ah yeah, I forgot to mention Aesa fancied coming out to play for a little bit on the journey over to the mine so we activated doppelganger. That was definitely a weird experience for Jaxon realizing I had a 'twin' that randomly showed up in the middle of nowhere. I did make sure that he didn't see her naked before putting clothes on though, the clone body is the exact same as mine after all. She's back in that pink dress that was bought for my birthday as it kinda suits her... or me. Jaxon's reaction was a little boring if I'm being honest though.

I have zero ideas why Aesa wanted to do this considering she seemed to hate being in a human looking body but if the robotic wife is happy, then no complaints on my side.

"Okay, it's nothing like that though. As for the concern, follow me and you'll understand. A lot of the miners have been hearing voices down here recently..."