42 Prologue (1/2)

Clang! Clang, clang!

”'Yawn,'” A large man scratched his shaved head as he watched two teens sparring in a grass plain, the moon hanging in the sky shining on all of them with a faint light.

One of them was a handsome young man, with black hair and slightly tanned skin. He swung his silver spear with great speed and ferocity as the girl in front of him deflected the blows with her two blood red short swords. His blood red eyes matched hers as he grinned, enjoying their bout as she two did the same.

She was a small, pale skinned lady whom had rather delicate features that made her look fragile. Despite that, she still struck back with equal, if not more, ferocity that didn't fit her small frame.

”Heads up Axel,” muttered the large man from a distance as the young man disarmed the woman, sending one of her blades flying.

Axel could barely register as the moment she was disarmed of one of her blades, she used her other sword, which morphed from a straight to a curved blade, to lodge his spear into the ground before grabbing his arm with both hands. She threw him over his shoulder and into the ground hard.

Bang!

Axel coughed from the impact and opened his eyes to see the woman catch the disarmed sword and hold it to his throat with a smile. ”That makes it my thousandth win, right, Axel?”

Axel groaned as she held out her hand to help him. ”You used an ability...”

”Never said we weren't allowed to,” she grinned as he grasped her hand. She lifted him up and looked up at him.

Their heights compared, she only reached Axels chest, making him look down whenever he talked to her.

”Argh, I thought I could get you this time,” Axel muttered as he grabbed his silver spear. He turned back to see her still staring at him. ”What, do I have something on me?”

She snapped out of her daze at his words and shook her head. ”...No, just that you've grown.”

Axel noticed the slightly sad look and grinned. He put his arm around her shoulder making her yelp in surprise.

”What, jealous?” Axel's smile grew wider as she glared at him as her sword on the ground flew back into her hand. ”Shorties like you could only look up to someone as great as me...?! Oi?!”

Axel ducked as a something red flashed over his head. He looked back to see her pointing her swords at him with killing intent.

”...It was just a joke?” Axel held his hands out with a nervous grin.

They both stared at each other for a while before hearing footsteps coming their way.

”You two, stop messing around,” the large man grunted as he stopped infront of them. ”Axel, move back, it's my turn.”

”Zwei! My hero!” Axel scrambled behind the large man and peeked his head out to see the girl still glaring at him. ”Well, I'll be over there watching if you need me.”

Zwei's blood red gauntlets and spiked balls manifested as he looked at Axel's back. ”How was he today?”

”Even stronger than before,” the girl muttered as she kept her eyes on Axel, no trace of her previous grievance with him remained in her blood red eyes. ”In terms of skill alone, his better than any noble I know including you and me. If only he wasn't...you know.”