A few days have passed and we got called the head's office. Actually a bit of an unusual occurrence since Emily has arrived. Seems it's something serious this time around.
"It appears Hidden Hand reinforcements are coming, so it'll be best for you two otherworlders to leave before that happens."
"Wait, hold on, why do we have to leave? We can just beat up those jerks. Julie here did, didn't she?"
"The agents that were here before were primarily just here to keep an eye on things in this little, out of the way town. They'll be bringing over actual fighters this time around to investigate what seems to be a serious threat to them. It's not safe for you to remain here."
"And you're saying we can't beat them up? We're stronger than you think." Emily was quite proud of her strength. I'm less sure about mine, particularly compared to people who've been powered by the system.
"Well, then, should we test that? Both of you, against me. If you win, I'll relent and even promote the both of you to the ninth rank. If I win, stop questioning me on this."
"Alright, deal. That's fine, right, Julie?" · . Sure, whatever. Still feeling a bit sore from earlier training, but I'm well enough to fight. That said, I'm not really confident that we can beat her.
We went down to the training hall as before, it looked the same as before. We each took our positions, Kala and Yaten staying outside of the area to spectate. As we did, the doll from before appeared next to Xedne.
"What's that doll doing there? I thought this was just us against you?" I don't exactly think a 2-on-2 would be quite unfair, really.
"That doll is one of my skills and thus a part of me. Fighting me without my fragment isn't fighting me."
"Fragment?" Was curious about that too.
"Xedne is one of the few high level fragment users. It's a skill that lets you create and control another body, but at the expense of a significant portion of your abilities. Most people don't feel it's worth it, but some have managed to make it work." Kala explained.
"Well, alright, let's do this. I'll go after the main body while you deal with the doll." · . Fiiine. I suppose this setup makes sense since she's the stronger one, although my claws are probably better against flesh than a wooden doll.
No matter, I was already in my vampire form. My human side was still considerably weaker. The fight has begun.
Emily and I both charged towards our respective targets. I started with rapid attacks using each of my limbs, but the doll blocked them all without much difficulty, after which it started to counter attack with its own limbs. Dodging or blocking these wasn't too difficult, but it was certainly keeping me occupied.
Well, I can't really progress at this rate unless the doll tires or something and I don't know how that works. I grabbed onto its arm to keep it from moving and give myself a bit of time then I bit into my own. I manipulated the blood that came out to give myself a long sword. Although I do think blood scythes that some vampires in media use, they're not really that practical. Especially for me in this situation.
I carried the sword in both hands and swung, getting in much more force than I can with my claws causing the doll to stagger as it blocked. Good, as long as I can keep this up, I can win.
As I thought that, I got punched in the stomach and flew back to the edge of the arena. Looking towards where Emily was, she was already down. That was… faster than I expected.
"You may have been strong in your own world, but that doesn't mean much here."
I stood up and started walking towards the guild head.
"Oh, you can still get up? Even so, it doesn't look like your friend can, do you plan on continuing by yourself?"
I had dropped the staff at the start of the fight since I don't need it in my vampire form. But now, I picked it up and went to my human form. I beeped. "You only got rid of deadweight."
"That's a rather mean way of referring to your friend."
"I only need me…"
Obtained Skill: True Shadow Fragment
"…and myself."
My vampire self launched from my body towards Xedne while my human self launched a barrage of magic bolts. While my sword attacks didn't seem to do much to her, the bit of blood she did bleed fed my blade and I was able to go on the offence without worrying much about the defense due to my magical cover fire now. Or rather, I did defence so the other me could do offence. Yeah, that.
The dark bolts were starting to have their effect, slowly eating away at her senses. Her reaction is starting to weaken. I can win…
…Why is she glowing? She's healing! Wait, she grabbed onto my (vampire) arm. Ow, ow, ow, the doll is beating up on me while also taking my dark bolt shots.
Ow… She knocked (vampire) me into (human) me. I'm down, I give, I give.
"I must say, you're growing quicker than I expected. I especially didn't expect you to figure out a fragment technique. Or did that come from my blood?"
− . I don't really know where it came from. Maybe it was just from my unique me-ness. Either way, it's a powerful skill, it doesn't even reduce my abilities unlike normal forms of fragment. That fight took a lot out of me so I was currently eating food and drinking blood, switching forms between each.
"Can't believe we lost. Humans can be really strong here, huh?" I nodded. · . "Okay, so, we'll leave as promised, but honestly speaking, we don't know much about this world. Where do you want us to go?"
"Right." Xedne brought out a map. "Normally, I would like to point you towards the capital here." She pointed to a place by a mountain and a river. "They have the best resources in the area for your issues, but if the Hidden Hand are after you, well, that's where their base is stationed. Best not attract much attention there."
Emily raised her hand. "Excuse me, but what is this Hidden Hand business anyways?"
"Ah, right. The Hidden Hand is a secretive organisation managed by the nobility to do things that isn't officially or directly connected to the nobility."
"So that the nobility can think they can keep their hands clean, is it? Why do I get the impression that this is a pretty open secret?"
"They don't hide their activities well, and most people know about it. But even if the common folk knows about it, they can't really do much about it. The common folk don't have much power in face of the nobility."
"Right. Well, where should we go then?"
"I recommend you go past the capital to the capital of the next country over. You shouldn't have to deal with the Hidden Hand much there. That said, you would still want to get into the capital here to get a pass for leaving the country, I can give a letter for that. Doing too much more than that can attract unwanted attention, however."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Kala, Yaten, I would like to ask you to accept a quest for escorting our two friends until they can get the help they need. As they said, they still don't understand the world very well, so they could use help from somebody who does. There is, of course, a reward in it for you."
"A quest? Well, okay, sure. It's not like anybody else is really in a position to do this. Yaten?"
"Yeah, okay, we can do it."
"Wonderful. I'll get supplies for your trip ready."
