[scene : The twins and five elves are standing in front of a gate with Colt, Edwin and Luna]
Colt : "Now that every combatant has a new toy, it's time I ask for a favor."
Liam : "Sure, what can we do?"
Colt : "There is one person. One person that I told you not to bring until now. So next time, BRING ME AGNAR."
Edwin : "Why are you being so dramatic right now?"
Colt : "Because I like it."
[scene : Liam, Levi and Agnar walk through a gate in the arena]
Colt : "And the strongest warrior finally makes his appearance."
Agnar : "I'm not the strongest anymore, thanks to you, even those that've only been trained for thirty years can take down those monsters. Did you bring me here to humiliate me more?"
Colt : "God, forgot you were a paaiiin *sighs* Listen, I left you out so far because I have a special role for you."
Agnar : "What could you want from me?"
Colt : "You should know this already, it's the weapons I made that are strong not the men wielding them. So I have an offer for you: you get a lance like all the rest and you go hunt with it. I get to learn how to properly wield a sword from you."
Agnar : "Why would you even bother? As if I can teach you anything."
Colt : "I only beat you that day because of my speed and magic, I still want to learn to wield a sword. Let's say that I'm preparing and leave it at that."
Liam [with a blank stare] : "How much stronger do you want to get?"
Colt : "You two will keep training with Edwin until you master it."
Levi : "I know he's your son and all, but the idea of training under a three year old is-"
Liam : "A bit humiliating."
Colt : "You do what you must to gain power. At least that's how I do it."
[Scene : Colt and Agnar facing off in the arena, Colt takes two wooden swords from his item box, throws one to Agnar]
Colt : "I leave teaching me to you, but I want to see how you swing it first."
Agnar [as he takes a stance] : "Then do as I do."
*Agnar practices some swings as Colt mimics his every move*
Agnar : "Grip the sword tighter."
Colt [as he tightens his grip] : "Yes sir."
Agnar : "Feet firmly on the ground."
Colt : "Got it."
[Scene : Colt and Agnar are in the wasteland, Colt hands Agnar a couple of lances]
Colt : "Everyone else could handle one at a time but I want you to take down three golems. We strayed a bit far so let's see."
*The view shifts to a radar screen*
Colt : "A centipede, a titanium and a couple of ants, nice."
*The ants come running in the distance with the golem following behind.*
Colt : "I leave them to you."
*Agnar launches the first lance at the golem, the lances pierces the torso, hitting the core, Agnar raises his hand as the ants get close.*
Agnar : "It's stuck!!"
*Agnar growls and jumps back to avoid the ants' jaws.*
Colt : "Death from below."
Agnar [as he jumps to the side] : "Damn it!"
*From below where he was standing, a giant centipede rises shrieking.*
Colt : "Now what?"
Agnar : "Stop having so much fun."
*Agnar uses the second lance to pierce an ant's head, then the lance rotates to pierce the other one, Agnar dodges the centipede that tried to body slam him, the lance returns to his hand, he throws it at the centipede while enhancing its speed with earth magic, piercing the eye.*
*The centipede falls to the ground.*
Colt : "Wooow and I thought only me and Luna could do that."
He should try whistling next time.
Agnar [as he walks to the dead golem]: "What did you think?"
Colt : "Any other trainee would've died or needed my help."
*Agnar retrieves the lance and walks towards Colt as Colt walks toward him.*
* They gave each other a high five.*
Colt : "Nicely done."
[scene : Colt and Agnar facing off in the arena, each holding a wooden sword]
Colt : "I'll tone down my reaction speed to match a normal person and don't worry about injuries I can easily heal them."
Agnar : "Is that so? And you think you can take me on now?"
Colt : "Might as well try, you know combat experience is vital."
Agnar : "GO!!"
*They both dash at each other, their swords cross, each wearing a smile on his face*
[scene : Colt and Agnar on the ground, panting from exhaustion]
Agnar : "I can't believe...hhh... you gave me a run for my money."
Colt : "Just you wait...huh... I'll take you down next time."
*Colt uses healing magic on himself and Agnar.*
Colt : "I think we'll call it a day here."
Agnar : "Agreed."
[scene: Colt facing against Liam and Levi in the arena as Luna watches]
Colt : "Now that you two are getting the hang of magic disrupt, I want you two to face against me. I still can't beat Agnar, but that's because I've been fighting fair. Against you, I'll increase my speed little by little"
Luna : "I thought you wouldn't stop until you beat Agnar?"
Colt : "I'm not planning to stop, but he'll be living in the same continent at least, without the need to worry about human attacks so I'll have plenty of time to beat him later."
Levi [depressed] : "He says that after nearly fighting him to a draw in two months."
Liam : "We now know he's different so… let it go."
Colt : "That's enough sulking. Time to start."
I said I wouldn't use my speed to attack him, but I never said I wouldn't use it to observe how he moves, how he reacts. The lack of redundancy in his moves is impressive on its own. At my level, I'm only a pale imitation, I need to fine tune what I learned to suit my build more. I knew about sword techniques from my data, but that just goes to show the difference between theoretical and practical knowledge.
Colt : "Using your speed as reference: speed: 1.3."
*Colt dashes towards them. Liam barely manages to block his sword as Levi attacks from the side. Colt backs away while blocking Levi's sword*
Liam [as he swings his sword towards Colt's neck]: "Now I got you."
*Colt moves his sword around Levi's, taking it off his hands. He then parries Liam strike, in that opening, he points his sword to Liam's neck*
Colt : "I don't think you do."
[scene : Colt on the bed staring into space, Luna walks in, sits next to him]
Luna : "What's wrong?"
*Colt doesn't respond. Luna touches his shoulder.*
Colt [looking at Luna] : "Hmm?"
Luna : "What's wrong?"
Colt [sigh] : "A few things have been bothering me, and I only had time to think about them lately."
Luna : "Like what?"
Colt : "I noticed that I was getting cocky, flexing my powers more than I should... I mean, letting Luc use a gate?!! What was I thinking? More than that, the legend about the demon... That happened because I let my family come here... at the time, all I wanted was to see them and nothing else mattered."
Luna : "Do you regret any of it?"
Colt : "I don't know, it's not like that time. But I can't help but think: where did I go wrong? At first I was very inconspicuous, but ever since I had enough power to destroy the world, I started flexing a lot more."
Luna : "Your "flexing" saved humanity from a devastating plague."
Colt : "True."
Luna : "And aren't you a bit happy about that legend?"
Colt : "Mmm...Hit me where it hurts. I can't help it. It's one of the best titles I received. First, darkest of souls, next, a self-proclaimed absolute healer and now the demon of the wasteland. Wonder what I should do to be called a demon king?"
Luna : "A... demon king?"
Colt : "Never mind, it's another thing from my stories. But really, I don't know if I'm overthinking this or if I've done the best I could. I feel that.. a lot of my actions haven't been the most logical."
Luna : "I know how important it is to you, to plan for everything, to think a hundred times before you do something. But people act on their emotions sometimes, it might not be the best thing to do but they do it anyway. You're not the same as before; you have people you care about now. Tell me, can you abandon them?"
Colt [after a few moments of silence] : "No... I don't think I can."
Luna : "Then it's fine if you act on these emotions from time to time."
Colt : "Uuuh, I don't know, you might be right. I just don't want to lose my edge. Calmly making the most rational decision is what got me this far… either way, thinking about what's been is a waste of time. Still, I'll have to be more careful."
Luna : "Glad I could help."
Colt : "There's one more thing.."
Luna : "I'm listening."
Colt : "It's weird but... I don't have the urge to kill everyone in our class anymore. I should still be pissed they looked down on me. You can't imagine how many times I thought about annihilating them while you were pregnant."
Luna : "Are you mad because you have no reason for it?"
Colt : "No, I have a couple of reasons for it, I just... can't believe it."
Luna : "You mean because you made friends? You don't want to lose Luc and the others?"
Colt : "That's part of it but... I think it's you."
Luna : "ME?"
Colt : "I'll still kill them if they gave me a reason, gladly. But I won't go hunt them down anymore. I think it's because I've spent such blissful time with you."
Luna : "I don't know what to say to that."
Colt : "I've decided!"
Luna : "On what?"
Colt : "The name for this... condition? Anomaly? Anyway, I shall name it the "Luna effect"."
Luna [blushing] : "Why do you name everything after me?"
Colt: "Since you're the reason it's only fair. *laughs*"
[Scene : Colt in the wasteland opening a gate, Levi comes out]
Colt : "Time for your shift- uhh"
*Zeno comes out from behind.*
Colt : "Unexpected."
Zeno : "We have a few things to discuss."
This seems familiar…