Wisps of black smoke poured out as the tattoo on my right arm dissolved. The smoke cascaded down, pooling at my feet, and from the haze emerged two beautiful black swords. Intricate, teal designs ran along the hilts of both swords. One was a long katana, and the other was a wakizashi.
'Double weapons?'
I blinked several times, unable to believe what I was seeing.
In the world of Seraphim of Doom, it was normal for every bond to manifest as a single weapon. However, there were very few bonds that could manifest as double weapons. These bonds, which were rare and could be counted on one hand, gained their dominants respect from the people of the empire, and fear from their enemies, because the power of two weapons often meant a doubled, unpredictable fighting style and devastating lethality.
That was why I was awestruck by the sight in front of me. But I was not the only one stunned by this. Every cadet around me murmured in confusion and disbelief. It was hard to register the fact that not only did a Bondless just suddenly call out a Bond, but the Bond manifested double weapons.
The person the most devastated by this shocking sight was Damon. He stood frozen with his axe hand hanging limp, unable to register what he was looking at.
Ignoring the stares and murmurs, I reached out and grabbed the katana in my right hand, and the wakizashi in my left. They felt light, balanced, and perfectly molded to my grip, humming with power.
'Aika. Why didn't you tell me that you could manifest as double weapons?'~
The swords vibrated slightly in my hands and Aika's voice echoed in my head.
'Because you didn't ask, dumbass.'~~
I smiled. 'Fair.'~
Looking up to the stunned Damon in front of me, I began to run my mental strategy. Despite having double weapons, it was pointless if I didn't know how to wield them.
However, right when I thought of it, a notification popped up to the side, drawing my attention.
[Activating Gamer Privileges…]
'Huh?'
[Would you like to access combat tutorials?]
'What? There's combat tutorials?'
My smile brightened. 'Yes please!'
If there were tutorials to help me in combat, then of course I needed that.
Right then, the screen blinked off. Then barely a second later, it popped back up with new words:
[Get into combat position, then taunt the opponent to make him lose his composure and attack recklessly.]
'Huh? Taunt him?'
At that moment, Aika's voice echoed.
'It's about time we got disrespectful.'~~
I grinned. 'Ha. That should be easy then.'~
I tilted my head and slowly raised the hand holding the katana to Damon who was already muttering in feverish confusion: "How? How is it that you can manifest a bond? Weren't you bondless?"
My grin grew wider as I jabbed the tip of the katana toward the ground near his feet. Then I said chillingly. "I reject your offer Damon. I won't come to you. You, come to me. And I will let you have the first strike."
"W-what?" Damon stammered, still frozen in place.
Seeing that, I jeered and said, "What? You can't move? Ha. Don't tell me you're afraid of the one everyone calls The Bondless Bastard."
"A-afraid?" Damon let out a nervous laugh. "What rubbish is that? W-why would I be afraid? I'm not—"
"Then move your feet already, dumbass!"
At my words, Damon snapped out of it, and his confused expression twisted into anger.
"S-so you suddenly managed to manifest a Bond? So what?!" Damon roared. "Don't get cocky! You got lucky! It's probably just some weak, trash Bond!"
Hearing him call Aika some weak, trash Bond made me angry. But I didn't focus on that and kept my attention on him.
Damon went on, his voice thick with anger, but I could tell that he was just trying to convince himself with his words:
"That miserable Bond doesn't change a thing! You're still weak, and I'm still going to crush you!"
After yelling that, he lunged at me with his axe raised high.
Then notifications from my tutorial screen popped up.
[The opponent's level is too high to block the strike. Leap back to dodge!]
Due to the automated voice reading the notification in my head, I didn't have to take my eyes off Damon to read the screen.
I immediately lunged back, and just then, Damon's massive axe slammed down on the exact spot I had been standing a second ago.
[Strike with the Katana!]
I immediately slashed the katana down, aiming to strike him now that he was off balance from the swing.
However, before my sword could reach him, he brutally brought up his axe, parrying my strike.
'Cr…'
Indeed, Damon's high Level was immediately apparent. I felt a white-hot jolt of pain as the force of the deflection shoved my right hand back.
But before that pain could register, I immediately followed up, slashing horizontally with my wakizashi.
Instantly, Damon bent over backwards in an impossible arch, and my sword sliced the air above him.
'Shi... This guy is fast.'
I immediately leapt back to create distance and regain my balance, but Damon, refusing to give me any breathing room, immediately lunged after me.
His massive axe swept forward in a dizzying horizontal arc aimed straight at my chest. I gritted my teeth and braced for impact, knowing I couldn't evade completely while retreating.
But just as the axe closed the distance, I heard the command:
[Dodge left and follow up with a strike of the wakizashi!]
I immediately twisted sharply to the left, letting the axe head scream past my right shoulder. But I was a fraction of a second too slow: the blade bit into my shoulder, leaving a shallow, stinging cut before the massive weapon shrieked past.
"Agh!"
'Damn it!'
Maybe it was because I naturally possessed a painfully low tolerance for injury, but I hated the feeling and couldn't stand pain, especially one of this intensity. The momentary white-hot burn stunned me, and because of this lapse, I staggered and couldn't follow up with the strike of the wakizashi.
'Focus Ced!'~~
Aika's urgent voice instantly snapped me out of it, and I leapt away just in time as Damon, using my momentary lapse, pivoted, swinging his axe again in an horizontal arc.