Still inside the Knight Arms gym, Allen's mouth hung in shock after being told by Helena to enter the circular ring himself. His eyes shifted downward to see Renzo knocked out on the floor after losing to Vanna in a heated match of their own. The victor herself stood proudly in the center of the ring with everyone else surrounding it.

“Are you sure about that one, Coach? No offense, but the match will be over so fast he won’t have time to learn anything.” Vanna honestly exposited.

“Yeah, what she said!” Allen had already broken out in a cold sweat. “I’m all for some difficult training, but fighting her would be insane.”

The towering woman named Helena crossed her arms in front of him with an annoyed look. “Hmph, don’t wet yourself, Newbie. I don’t plan on having you fight any of my top students. Don’t want to dull their skills fighting someone as weak as you.”

“Uhh, thanks...I’m not sure whether to be grateful or irritated.” Allen looked over to see Vanna and Declan helping a reluctant Renzo back up to his feet. “However, as long as it’s not up against any monsters like I just saw, I’m still up for sparring against someone here.”

‘Renzo’s brain might still be rattled from Vanna’s finishing move but I’d rather not take the chance he’s recovered with that Pulse technique already.’

“Well, at least you have some backbone in you. I have a bit of a rising star who should be a good match, but the troublemaker developed a habit of running late recently.” She gestured at the front door of the establishment. “If he shows up within the next hour, you’ll both fight. This’ll show him what happens when all the good sparring partners are taken.”

“So, I’m being used as a punishment.  Metal.” Allen bemused sarcastically only to be startled when a shoulder was suddenly pressed into the side of his arm.

“Forget about this pushover, I figure you got fights lined up for the rest of us, right?” Nera questioned with a gleeful smile that was returned by Helena.

“Of course, nothing beats pure combat training.”

***

The members were split into individual sparring matches. Nera, Iyo, and Xalia all participated as well. Nera won her match by putting her opponent in a stranglehold to get around their aura’s Flow defense, but Iyo lost after a fluid exchange of precise strikes with Declan. Lastly, Xalia forfeited after mocking all her sparring partner’s failed attempts to land a hit on her by walking out of the ring of her own accord.

Allen peered on while taking mental notes of everyone’s general skill level while standing in between Vanna and Renzo.

“Where would you put the other’s strength compared to you two’s,” Allen asked after coming up with his own assumptions.

“Aside from Declan, I’d say everyone else is an Echelon One at best,” Renzo explained matter-of-factly. He showed no signs of grogginess from his prior battle, justifying Allen’s wariness about sparring with him even more.

“Yeah, we’re the only gym members here who have reached Echelon Three. However, I was the one to get there first.” Vanna said cheekily, earning some ire from her peer.

“Echelon One, Echelon Three? Is that some sort of leveling system?”

“I’d have to say it’s a bit more complicated than-”

“Yeah, it’s like straight out of those LARP games,” Vanna butted in. It seemed even her talking speed was outpacing Renzo’s. “It ranks people based on their magic power and expertise. It’s pretty cool, right?”

“So, there’s still more to Atelier City’s status system that I didn’t know about. What are all the Echelons?”

Renzo sighed. “There’s 10 in total going from Echelon 0 to Echelon 9. For a sense of scale, Echelon One is said to be comparable to a Craftless trained warrior, Echelon Two’s are on par with the strongest creatures of the animal kingdom, Echelon Three’s match up to fully armed soldiers, and so on as you go up the ladder. ”

Stars filled Allen’s eyes. “That’s hard to wrap my head around. Just what kind of people are at the top of that ladder?”

Just that moment, a group of people entered from the front door of Knight Arms. It was a posse of young men wearing similar outfits with the one in front wearing a dark brown jacket and having blonde hair. His face stood out to Allen as familiar. That person walked in the direction of Helena.

‘Hold on, that can’t be…’ Allen thought to himself in bewilderment. He met eyes with the person in question. A similarly surprised reaction confirmed his suspicion. That person was the punk who chased Allen through Atelier City’s street along with the rest of his friends the day he met Nera. Although, the people accompanying him now appeared to be different from that other group.

“You’re late Porthos. Are you asking to be getting cleaning duty instead of lessons?” Helena asked the blonde young man.

“Forget that, what’s a Craftless guy like that doing here? How’d he sneak in past everyone’s noses?!” Porthos exclaimed in irritation.

Helena’s brow furrowed “You think I would let someone sneak into my gym, ehh? You better choose your next words carefully punk.”

In pure fear, Porthos backed up and replied in a shaky voice. “No, I didn’t mean that at all...I just don’t have a clue why someone like him would be here.”

“He’s a new member just like those other three.” Helena informed while raising her hand to Nera, Iyo, and Xalia.”I allowed them to train here. It’s as simple as that.”

“Oh, of course, Helena,” Porthos responded and clearly took notice of Nera whom he had also encountered before but held his tongue.

“I’m not exactly enthused about seeing you again too.’ Allen admitted while baffled by the idea that even this lowlife was likely a Crafter while he had to be almost killed by a tree monster in order to gain the ability to use magic.

“Maybe you should, because he’ll be your sparring partner for tonight, Newbie,” Helena announced frankly.

Allen and Porthos both expressed their confusion simultaneously and Helena gripped their shoulders with a vice grip that threatened to crush them.

“You two are going to fight? Understand?”

“Alright, if you want me to crush this nobody then I’m not going to refuse.” Porthos scoffed.

“If it means I can get back at this asshole then why not?” Allen was eager to show how much he had changed since the last time he met Porthos. He was not going to back down this time.

***

“Looks like Allen’s fight will be fun to watch,” Xalia commented from the sidelines as they all watched the last sparring session of the day. Each combatant equipped themselves with one of the dull training weapons made out of lightweight material. Porthos was armed with a round mace while Allen possessed a small handaxe.

An armament like a polearm would’ve been his first choice with the reach advantage it would give, but all the larger weapons had been taken along with most of the smaller ones. Allen used a kitchen knife from time to time at home, but even all the knives were gone. All that was left had been the more seldom-used items like tonfas and flails.

‘For what it’s worth, I did use an axe just last week.’ Allen thought back to his encounter with Harpe and Hache. However, he knew all too well that the flimsy stick he had in his hands now did not compare to the silver grand axe he wielded for a brief moment before.

“Better this than nothing, I guess.” Allen raised the handaxe in front of him.

“I’ll try to waste as little of everyone’s time as possible.” Porthos pointed his mace directly at Allen.

“Alright, it’s you two’s turn. This will be the same as the other spars so no Skills nor Cards allowed. That also means victory will be decided with five clean hits, forfeit, or one of you not being able to continue.” With a signal from Helena, their match began.

They exchanged a few blows and Allen was quick to notice that Porthos was not all bluster. His movements were quick and precise. He was not just throwing his weapon around carelessly. Despite that, Allen was keeping up with them.

Allen was naturally athletic and his reflexes were sharp before even learning about magic. All that he had gone through already had forced him to sharpen his reflexes even more. He was also able to apply Flow and Sense now to increase the fluidity of his movements.

“I’m surprised.” Declan started. “Porthos is still only an Echelon One but Allen’s even lower than that, an Echelon 0. You wouldn’t think it would be so close.”

Nera huffed. “He’s been following my lead for a week and trouble’s never far behind me either. You think he would last that long next to me if he was that weak?”

Declan turned to glance at Nera’s monochrome hair. “No, probably not. He should be able to hold his own along as the conditions stay the same.”

Back in the ring, Allen and Porthos were in a bind as both their weapons pressed against each other. Porthos was the larger of the pair with a full two heads of height over Allen and much more muscle mass. The newcomer was getting crushed under that weight.

‘I could throw a punch at him from this range, but I feel like as soon as I let even one hand off my axe, it’s going to get sent flying.’

With no other clear option, Allen suddenly ducked down and stepped out of the way. The loss of that support while all his weight was concentrated there caused Porthos to fall forward. Before he could catch himself with one hand and get back to his feet, Allen had already struck him three times.

Allen chuckled. “That was a lot easier than I thought it would be. You must be the bottom of the barrel here.”

Porthos scowled. “Don’t let a few lucky shots get to your head. Your face would be planted in the ground already if I could use my Skills.”

‘He has a point, but I’m interested in seeing what his Craft is. I could probably still handle it.’

“Would you like to test that theory?!” Helena exclaimed. “Porthos, I’m giving you special permission to use your Skills for this match if you want. Or are you worried about losing to a Craftless even while using Skills?”

Nera’s face flashed with irritation as Declan’s words came back to haunt her.

Meanwhile, Porthos grinned with eagerness. “There’s no chance in hell of that happening. I would’ve still won before, but now it’s going to be a lot faster.”

Allen grimaced and charged at Porthos. He was not going to just stand by and let him chant the words needed for his Skills. However, Porthos must have practiced chanting while exchanging blows before because it barely impeded him.

“Bludgeoner Craft, Page 2 - Double Blow!’ Porthos spoke the mystic words while swinging his mace. An orange Sigil appeared on his mace at the same time. Allen defended with his weapon while holding it with one hand then quickly held his forearm up to the flat side of the axe.

The initial strike that Allen met with one hand was already strong, but it was immediately followed by an even more powerful force that Allen would not have been able to withstand if he had not used his forearm to block as well. The newcomer was swept up off the ground and sent skidding toward the edge of the ring like a rock being skipped across a lake.

Allen was left shaken up with his left arm sore from the attack. Meanwhile, Porthos stood fully in tiptop shape with a smug grin on his face.

“Heh, it almost seemed like you knew the second hit was coming,” Porthos remarked. It was not an observation that he was surprised by nor expected. He simply did not think it mattered either way.

Allen wiped some sweat from his forehead. “When an attack’s called <Double Blow>, it’s easy to figure out what it’ll do.”

“Then, I’ll just have to break through that keen sense of yours with overwhelming force.”

Allen ran to meet Porthos again and he responded in kind by chanting for another Skill.

“Bludgeoner Craft, Page 5, Impact Shock!” A different orange Sigil appeared on his mace as he swung it to meet Allen’s handaxe. At the last second, Allen swerved out of the way.

‘Wait, Impact Shock? Is that electricity-based? it’s not emitting any but it could shock me if our weapons cross. Even not, if it’s like that last Skill, making contact with his mace isn’t a good idea.’

Allen decided to avoid any contact with the mace until the Skill eventually ran its course. A diagonal swing came at him and he backed off from it. Porthos then followed up with an overhead swing that hit the ground with impressive speed, but it stopped short of his opponent. 

Its trajectory was so off that it confused Allen. For a brief instant, Porthos was left unguarded with his mace hitting the ground. Despite feeling something was off about that last attack, Allen was set on taking advantage of that opening, but he stood still.

“Huh?” Not a single muscle in Allen’s body would move. ‘But I know I dodged that move.’Before he could even begin to wrap his mind around what was going on. Porthos stood up and his mace was hurled at Allen’s temple. Everything else went dark from there.

***

Allen woke up to someone shaking him forcefully.

“Rise and shine, I’m not carrying you back to your apartment.” As his vision cleared, Allen could eventually make out that Nera was the one telling him this.

“Ugh, my head feels terrible. How did I do?” Allen asked.

“You put up a valiant effort until your opponent was able to use Skills,” Iyo stated from beside Allen.

“Yeah, after that, you didn’t even last a minute and were knocked unconscious. A bad showing this time, but we’re here to get stronger and then crush our enemies later.” Nera tried to cheer him up in her own way.

“You all are better off leaving, because that Craftless is never going to be able to beat me or any other Crafter.” Porthos butted in from across the gym.

“Wanna bet on that?” Allen questioned while clutching his head. He lost soundly but the gap between them did not seem too far. If he could just figure out that <Impact Shock> which was likely Porthos’s trump card, Allen was sure he could turn the tide in his favor. He just needed another chance to prove that.

Instead of Porthos, other members of his crew spoke up for him.

“Looks like the jerk still hasn’t learned his lesson from the beating you gave him.”

“Yeah, how about you give him another thrashing right now to seal the deal? Should be a good laugh.”

Porthos sighed. “As if, there’s nothing fun about beating up weaklings. I’ve got bigger fish to fry anyway.”

“Hey, what exactly is that supposed to mea-” Before Allen could finish his sentence. He was interrupted by a beep going off in his pocket. Not just him, everyone else’s digital devices were making the same sound.

When he pulled his phone out, a holographic display appeared. It showed a dark-skinned man with short hair wearing a purple and gold suit with a large overcoat adorning his shoulders. The emblem of a golden stage was emblazoned on the right breast pocket. Looking around, it was clear to see that that same 3D image was being shown to everyone.

“That’s Councilman Hydrus Erstad! Is this some sort of public safety announcement?”

“Do you think it’s going to be a warning about another big outbreak?”

Allen heard random voices chattering all around him anxiously.

“Hydrus…Erstad? Who’s that?” Allen questioned as he got up to his feet.

“He’s a member of the Atelier City Council.” Nera began. “They regulate most of the city’s affairs including supernatural ones. If a big wig like him is making an appearance to this many people, it can’t be anything insignificant.”

Councilman Hydrus began to speak. “Greetings my fellow citizens, today marks a pivotal moment in our city’s history, no, this entire continent’s history. That is because, for the first time, Atelier City will be hosting the Sword in Stone Festival to usher in a brand new era of Craft.” The councilman raised his hands to the side to emphasize the grandeur of the revelation. The gym instantly erupted in an uproar.

“What kind of festival would cause that much fuss? Must be the biggest party ever.” Allen joked but the rest of Virtuso was completely serious as they watched on, further unnerving him.

“Yes, with the eminent reemergence of an ancient threat. The diviners of the Distant Art Alliance have decided that now is the time to act, to find the beacon of hope that will lead us to victory and greatness. We hope that this festival will not only let us find that Pathfinder but also reveal the other chosen heroes whom we believe they will be a member of. Those heroes are the ones spoken about in the Nine Leaves Prophecy that possess the powers of each of the Norse’s nine realms. They are the Valkyrie’s Chosen who were gifted with ebon marks of arcane magic.”

“Nera, there’s a lot that doesn’t match up, but that sounds an awfully like…” Allen started.

“I know.” Nera quickly replied with a shaky voice. “He’s talking about the Grim Inheritors.