93 – Endorsement

Vivi had promised not to take too long obliging the Gale of Blades’ demand for a duel, but thankfully, that hadn’t meant she needed to rush too much. With every individual present having been Titled, the reaction and attack speeds of each combatant meant that quite a lot of fighting could happen in a very short time. Vivi’s encounter against the maids and butlers at the White Glove Academy had likely lasted less than two minutes total, after all, and she’d wrung out more than enough bliss from that whole embarrassment.

And viewed in that light, Vivi had definitely enjoyed sparring against the old archmage with his two martial teammates—since apparently the Archbishop had only come to watch, the same as Lysander—but she would admit it hadn’t scratched quite the same itch as the battle at her estate. She had a glaring weak point when it came to those sharply dressed, prim-and-proper servants.

The Gale of Blades was undoubtedly a better fighter than Constance though, to say nothing of Aeris’s obvious skill and even the Silver Squire’s, so the ensuing one-versus-three duel had definitely been fun.

When she had finished, the section of tundra she’d chosen several miles to the north of the Ashen Hierophant’s lair had been torn to shreds. Naturally, she could have ended the encounter with little to no damage to either environment or participants, but while she’d promised to make the fight quick to be respectful of people’s time, she couldn’t help but indulge somewhat, not when the opportunity had presented itself so readily. She would always want to see what other high-level people in this world were capable of and experience it firsthand. She would have fought Aeris sooner if she could have come up with a reasonable excuse for it.

She could even twist logic around to come up with an explanation for why testing various Titled was eminently practical. She and they might not be in opposition, but it was always better to have more information than not, right? Rafael might even agree. But probably not without knowing she was making excuses.

Looking at the woman lying half a mile down inside a crater the size of a city block, Vivi hesitated and wondered if she’d gathered a little too much information. The Gale of Blades had all but demanded Vivi ‘stop pulling her punches,’ though. After enough goading, Vivi had eventually obliged. The woman was rather direct with her words, and Vivi couldn’t decide whether she liked the bluntness or not. There seemed to be a certain good-naturedness to the Gale, in a similar but different way to Lysander, but that didn’t excuse troublesome personalities.

With an obviously herculean effort, the swordswoman dragged herself to her feet, struggling to mentally lift her thirteen chromatic blades alongside her exhausted body. The sheer exertion it took her made Vivi’s mind up; it was time to end the fight. They’d reached that point a bit ago, actually. She’d gotten carried away.

“That’s enough,” she said as she floated down. “We’ve spent too long already.”

The Gale almost seemed like she would disagree, but she looked down at herself and grimaced.

“We’ll… call it a draw, then,” the woman laugh-slurred.

Vivi raised her staff to cast a healing spell, but the Gale immediately shook her head. “No. I will keep these injuries.” A smirk pulled onto her lips. “Thank you, Sorceress, for the guidance you’ve provided me. I accept your proof of identity.” She flashed her teeth, and there was red in the smile; Vivi internally grimaced. She really hadn’t meant to hit the Gale that hard, no matter how insistent the woman had been to ‘take the fight more seriously.’ “It may take me longer to catch up than I thought.”

Vivi considered her for a moment. “I’m not sure it sends the best message, to return with you obviously hurt.”

The Gale snorted. “And you care what those pencil pushers think?”

“One of them is a friend,” Vivi said dryly. “And I think highly of several others. So yes.”

The Gale pursed her lips. She didn’t apologize for what she’d said, though she did shift uncomfortably, maybe recognizing that she should. She let her thirteen floating blades melt into nothingness as she sheathed her sword.

“Where’d you leave the boy?”

“A mile or so that direction.” Vivi gestured vaguely to the east. “I’ll go find him.”

A [Farsight] and [Blink] later, she found the young half-elven man who barely looked out of his teenage years—though he had to be older than her, Vivi reminded herself—straining underneath the weight of a gigantic earth golem’s foot. He’d managed to lift the leg nearly off himself, but when he felt Vivi arrive, his red-faced concentration broke and the crushing weight slammed back down on him with an impact that shook the ground. He only seemed slightly dazed by the blow. Vivi had layered several impressive stat bonuses into him at the start so that he could participate meaningfully in the fight.

“Lady Vivisari,” the boy said, a bit of a wheeze in his voice. Probably thanks to the pressure smashing down on him that could flatten mithril bars into wafers. “Thank you for the… instruction you’ve given me this day. I will strive to become worthy of the privilege.”

Vivi almost coughed into a fist with embarrassment. She wouldn’t say she’d tried to instruct anyone so much as she’d evenly met their efforts out of curiosity, allowing them to showcase their skills. Which she supposed was a learning experience, and one Titled couldn’t find in many places. But still.

“You fought well.”

“Like my namesake among true knights,” the Squire disagreed in as polite a tone as he could manage. “I have far to go, my lady, I know this. But thank you for the kind words.”

Vivi dismissed the summoned golem, held a hand out to the boy—whose limb flopped up to accept the offer—then teleported him next to the Gale. Without sparking another conversation with the two, she [Blinked] over to where she’d left Aeris.

“It is a rather shameful way to be defeated in battle,” the old man commented, floating in the air while frowning at a shimmering barrier surrounding him. An ongoing… drill… of dense mana was trying to pierce the shield containing the archmage, grinding against the spherical pane with enormous speed and power—and failing to break through. “I do believe I’ve used similar methods to separate unruly students when they fail to hold their tempers.”

Despite his words, the archmage didn’t seem offended, only amused. Vivi herself felt immediate embarrassment. She supposed it was a disrespectful way to set an opponent aside; she hadn’t given it much thought. For the Silver Squire, she’d produced an enemy to face down and lose against, even if it was just a summoned golem, and thus the action had been effectively the same as what she’d used against Aeris—a means of disabling him while she focused on the Gale.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“You should be able to break it,” Vivi said. It had been meant to occupy him for a time, not indefinitely. “Try something like this.” She summoned her grimoire, tore out a page, and presented a tier-sixteen diagram to him. “That’s an interesting shield breaker,” she said, nodding at the drill construct, “and it might get through eventually, but it’s not nearly as effective as some other approaches.”

Aeris stared at the grimoire in her hand, the torn-out page presenting [Aegis Sunder] next, then finally at Vivi herself. He raised an eyebrow. “I deeply appreciate the opportunity to learn from the Sorceress’s own grimoire, my lady, but if you mean for me to try it now, I would need several hours to even understand the architecture of that spell.” His eyes scanned the paper a second time. “Likely days,” he added, amused.

He… would? Vivi internally blushed, dispelling the shield surrounding Aeris and handing him the paper anyway. After taking him to the Gale and the Squire, she teleported to Lysander and the Archbishop, both of whom had observed from a distance. Vivi had felt Lysander using analysis abilities and carefully scrutinizing every spell she had cast. The Archbishop had watched with an inscrutable gaze, doing similarly. Vivi was glad she hadn’t needed to fight him; it might have complicated the already tenuous situation.

“You didn’t swat the buzzing gnat like you should have,” Lysander said flatly. “I suspect she still doesn’t realize how completely she’s outclassed.”

Vivi disagreed. Even from the start she had gotten the impression that the Gale of Blades knew she had zero chance of winning but that she’d desperately wanted to fight anyway. Clearly the swordswoman had struck a nerve with the Headmaster of the Institute, resulting in the man making uncharitable appraisals of her. They had both said rude things to each other, and arguably Lysander had begun the conflict… though presumably in defense of Vivi’s reputation, or for the sake of not interrupting an important meeting.

Vivi obviously didn’t know how to mediate that kind of situation, and she didn’t try.

She faced the Archbishop next, and the man said, “Thank you for the demonstration, Lady Vivisari. It is clear what you claim is true. Your strength is undeniable. Not that I ever held any doubt.”

She nodded. “We’re returning,” she said, holding a hand out.