PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

For his part, Desmond could be considered a bloody anomaly even among geniuses. Although Desmond was never a genius of the analytical scientist type, Desmond’s learning abilities reached absurd levels when mastering multiple martial disciplines and some other physical skills.

But that wasn’t the worst thing about Desmond’s talent; that was the foundation of his current combat prowess. However, the genuinely absurd thing about Desmond was his affinity with mana and his ability to control it.

Contrary to what Kyuru claimed, Desmond’s ability to use mana was unheard of for someone who had only gained the ability to use it a few months ago. As if that wasn’t enough, Desmond’s combat prowess using mana wasn’t at all something someone in the one-star class should be able to do.

Kyuru insisted that Desmond lacked control and affinity because the fairy always judged Desmond by natura standards. Still, the birth of almost every natura in the universe was related to mana somehow, so they were the race with the highest affinity for mana in the entire multiverse.

Hence, Kyuru always believed Desmond had to work more on control and affinity. However, said opinion was not necessarily a negative for the ignorant Desmond, who was trying to meet Kyuru’s standards and had reached an incredibly high level of skill in using mana.

On the other hand, Desmond’s affinity for mana had always been high. This only increased after receiving Kyuru as his fairy companion, leading to the situation currently unfolding inside Desmond’s room as he practiced with his sword.

Originally, Kyuru watched with a smile as Desmond practiced, a gleam of interest and affection filling the faerie’s eyes. Still, even she was surprised when she felt the mana inside the room begin to naturally gather where Desmond was practicing.

A faint aqua glow soon filled the entire room, with Desmond trained in some kind of trance as he practiced with his eyes closed and a calm smile, his steady and soft emotional state coming into harmony with the mana in the water around him.

.....

With each swing of the sword, the mana reverberated, wavered, and echoed with joy, changing at the whims of a calm mind focused on nothing but the art he was now performing.

At first, the movements in the mana were calm, simple, and perhaps barely noticeable, but as Desmond’s trance deepened and his mind became more and more focused, the mana around him began to take shape and intent.

Suddenly Desmond’s mind became sharp as he retained that strange calm from before and metallic mana soon began to flood the sword’s edge. Likewise, the water mana around the room started to concentrate more and more on Desmond.

The silver and the sea intertwined, blending their bodies with uncommon naturalness, guided by pure, focused intent, a memory firmly etched, an art mastered to the hilt, and a mindset willing to let go of the pain of the past. A perfect combination of factors eventually led to Desmond’s current trance state.

Soon the dual mana of water and metal completely covered the edge of Desmond’s sword, like blue lightning dense as mercury, giving Desmond’s sword an extremely menacing look.

Immediately Desmond’s stance changed. Desmond shifted from masterfully wielding the sword to a less flexible but predetermined set of moves and postures. This was the core set of kata that served as the basis for the sword style developed by Eiden Astryd, a collection of twelve movements, a combination of offensive and defensive moves, firmness and flexibility, stillness and speed; the true style of the Astryd sword.

During the first execution of this kata, the mana in Desmond’s sword remained stable. It wasn’t until the second set of moves where Desmond’s intent was sufficiently solidified that something else occurred.

One, two, three, river after river of mana formed from the sword guard, running undulating to the sword’s tip and spreading beyond, like an influx of turbulent rivers whose currents met. By the time the sixth was formed, the mana fluctuations had reached a terrifying degree causing the entire room to tremble.

With both hands facing each other, holding the sword’s hilt in front of him, the axis of the sword is held horizontally in a defensive stance. The sword’s blade runs to his left, requiring only a fluid shift between the defense and counterattack to pour all the power gathered into the sword.

Stepping forward across his stride, with a slight shift in his center of gravity and a twist at the waist, Desmond raised the sword’s blade above his head, and in a slow downward movement, the six rivers of mana followed the edge of the sword.

Then, there was no then, the destruction never came, and the mana completely lost its form and intent, dispersing instantly as Desmond was unable to maintain his trance state any longer.

Complex emotions flashed through Desmond’s eyes as he looked at the sword in his hand, there was a certain amount of joy and comfort at being able to wield a sword again and a hint of pride, but there was also a regret that kept undermining Desmond’s efforts.

“Some things are just too hard to leave behind.”

Though still in awe of the terrifying display of power earlier, Kyuru quickly turned her attention to the vibes of negativity Desmond was giving off at the moment.

Unsure how to comfort Desmond, Kyuru floated up to sit on Desmond’s shoulder, and as she stroked his obsidian-black hair, the faery delivered a few heartfelt words of support. “Don’t worry, Desmond, I’ll always have me by your side no matter what happens.”

Desmond wasn’t such an idiot that he didn’t appreciate the faery’s sincere intentions. Besides, he was in a much more relaxed mood now than in the past. Desmond returned the gesture with much love and warmth by stroking Kyuru’s long hair.

Kyuru immediately threw a little tantrum; her puffy cheeks and sore eyes as the fairy pouted were highly adorable. “Silly Desmond, you ruin my hairstyle.”

Although the start of the day was somewhat bleak and strangely fruitful in many ways, Desmond still had a whole day ahead of him, and he really hoped this could be a calm day.

Like murphy’s law said, if there was any chance of something going wrong, chances are that it would; Desmond received a small taste of how cruel fate can be just a few minutes after leaving his room.

Originally, Desmond had wanted to visit Cecilia’s room, wanting to check on her after the previous day’s events. Still, after knocking on the door a couple of times, Cecilia didn’t respond.

This was strange given that Cecilia was an early riser, just like Desmond. Before Desmond had any strange thoughts, Nana’s sleepy voice came from the other side of the door, asking him to come in.

Desmond found it peculiar but didn’t give it much thought since it wasn’t entirely unusual to find Cecilia in Nana’s company. However, this rarely happened this early morning since Nana had so many responsibilities and chores to accomplish.

One can imagine Desmond’s colossal surprise when the first thing he saw upon entering the room was two girls lying on the bed with only nightgowns over them, holding each other somewhat seductively.

Desmond thought for a moment that he had gotten himself in the middle of an intimate situation between the two girls. Still, upon a closer look, Desmond realized that the girls were just asleep, and from how irritated Cecilia’s eyes looked at each other, she seemed that Nana had spent the night comforting her friend, which led her to sleep in the place.

Not that Desmond could be blamed for the misunderstanding either, since he knew or at least sensed that Nana had an unrequited love with Cecilia, although it could also be that Desmond’s unsound mind was thinking strange things when He saw both girls in bed.

It was there that murphy’s law came to bite Desmond in the butt; Desmond didn’t even notice when his sword guard hit the edge of a table as he tried to leave the room.

The noise immediately woke up Nana, who had already been half-awake since she allowed Desmond to enter the room, but the girl’s reaction was beyond what Desmond expected.

Blushing from her neck to the tips of her ears, Nana shivered in embarrassment, waking Cecilia up in the process. An awkward moment followed, with both girls’ scolding and resentful looks.

Desmond only hoped that the rest of the day would be calmer or his nerves would not be able to tolerate it in the long run. Perhaps the goddess of fortune finally took pity on her long-forgotten son, and Desmond not only had a quiet day in Serefia, but the quiet stretched on for nearly a whole week.

It was the calm before the storm, and Desmond knew it, but that didn’t stop him from taking advantage of every available second to increase his chances of survival. On the other hand, back on earth, it should already have been a week since Desmond left due to the difference over time, so Desmond was beginning to wonder how the girls were doing.