Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 156: The Hero vs Jules(Part 1)

"Okay, let’s see here...oh, your Aura is giving a reading of 98,000. Which means you’re close to having mastered seventy percent of your Magic, and considering that it’s only been eight days since you were summoned, that’s incredible progress," Remarked Alphonse with a gleam in his eyes.

"I guess, but I can feel that it’s starting to get a lot harder now, my progress is definitely slowing down," Sighed Akila in response, adding, "It’s hard to explain, but I felt this instinctive feeling while training, it came weirdly naturally to me, even though I’ve never done anything like this before. But that feeling is slowly but surely starting to fade now, it seems like I won’t be able to progress at the same rate for much longer."

"Yes, that’s quite evident. However, it would normally takes years of training to progress to this level. I’d estimate that your current level of mastery puts you at around the level of a Vice-Captain...however, that’s only on paper. Considering that you have no experience whatsoever in real combat, it’s hard to say how effective you will be in battle. Your progress is astounding, but there’s still a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, I figured as much. It’s too bad I don’t have anyone to spar against, that would probably make for much more effective training."

It was the 24th of June, 1919. Akila had continued his training under Alphonse’s supervision, making remarkably fast progress with mastering his Magic and Combat Template.

But like Alphonse had pointed out, that was only on paper. The fact remained that Akila was completely inexperienced, so whether he could effectively apply the results of his training in practice was yet to be seen.

"This is quite encouraging, he’s improving at an unnaturally rapid pace. That instinctive feeling he mentioned, it must be a special ability given to summoned Heroes, to allow them to master their powers much faster than normal. His movements have been growing sharper and sharper with each passing day, and he’s getting a lot better at using his Phase Shift Magic as well. There’s still room for improvement, of course, considering his potential.

Even so, for him to have reached such a high level in such a short amount of time is excellent...given these results, I’d like to summon more people using the ritual, but that’s risky. It’s clear that he’s a naive do-gooder, he would never abide using a child as a sacrifice, even if it a random, worthless Commoner. Not to mention, with the way I previously went on about how guilty I felt for summoning him, it would be suspicious if I summoned more people. Perhaps I overdid it with my acting," Alphonse thought to himself regretfully, before adding, "Well, it’s too late to go back now, so I suppose I might as well commit to it at this point."

"Whew, that was a good workout! I wasn’t in the best shape in my previous world, and I gotta say, it feels pretty good to be fit. I am a bit sore though, so I think I’ll take a break," Declared Akila, stretching his arms up after sheathing his blades, before taking a seat on the stairs.

Alphonse walked over and sat down beside him, having decided to take the opportunity to gain more sympathy and trust from the unaware young man.

"I feel the need to apologize for having to rely on you like this...you have no connection to this world, nor any obligations to help me, I truly am grateful for your kindness, Akila. I wish that I was at least capable of fighting alongside you, but sadly, I lacked the talent for it. While I worked hard to master my Detection Magic, my affinity with physical combat was almost non-existent, I failed to master any of the Combat Templates despite my best efforts.

So, I’m useless in battle, little more than a liability. I tried my best to be useful, but all I ever did was get in my comrades’ way. It was frustrating and difficult to accept, but I had no choice but to accept it...I would use my Detection Magic to keep an eye out for any enemies, but as soon as the fighting began, I would go hide to avoid getting in the way. I must admit, I envy you a bit, seeing you progress so fast when I failed to improve even after years of training, is a bit frustrating," Sighed Alphonse, plastering a wistful smile on his face.

Naturally, that was a lie. In reality, after awakening to a Support Magic Class, he was too afraid to become a Knight. He didn’t want to get hurt or killed, so instead opted to coast by on his family’s wealth.

"I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry...that must have been tough, to work so hard but not see the results you would’ve been hoping for. And despite that, you still decided to risk your life and fight alongside your comrades to liberate this nation. I think that’s really admirable, that’s what real strength is, if you ask me," Replied Akila assuringly, patting his shoulder.

"Thank you, I...that’s nice to hear, it does make me feel like my efforts were worth it, at least."

"Don’t mention it, it’s the least I can do. Hey, I’ve been wondering, why don’t you try summoning more Heroes from another world? I mean, what’s stopping you from summoning a whole army?" Inquired Akila curiously.

"Well, uh...you see, the Hero Summoning Ritual consumes a tremendous amount of Mana," Replied Alphonse, trying to think of a convincing explanation as fast as possible, before continuing, "One of my comrades was very skilled with Spells, he created a Spell that linked all of us to a Magic Crystal, and whenever any of us would die, their Mana would get transferred and stored into that crystal. By the time I was the last one left, there were dozens of peoples’ worth of Mana stored in the crystal...but even that was barely enough to summon you, the crystal shattered after the summoning was activated, it very nearly failed. The only way to summon another Hero would be to sacrifice a large number of people, and that is simply not an option."

"Yeah, sacrificing a bunch of people like that is out of the question, I definitely agree with that."

Of course, the real reason was that Alphonse couldn’t afford to let Akila find out how the Summoning Ritual actually worked, requiring a young, unawakened child to be sacrificed in order to activate.

But that wasn’t all...

"Besides the whole child sacrifice part of it, there is another reason I’m reluctant to use the ritual again. This idiot was quite easy to fool, but if I summon someone who’s sharper, my deception would be at risk of being seen through, which would ruin everything. And, well, it’s not as though I have any grand ambitions here...I don’t plan to overthrow the nation or anything like that.

That’s just too much work, and far too unrealistic...what I’m really after, admittedly boils down to little more than petty revenge. I intend to have this fool slaughter as many of the Royals, Irregulars and Commoner Knights as possible, along with those Nobles who have been especially vocal in their support of the Commoners.

I don’t particularly care to accomplish anything significant through this, I just want to hurt as many people as possible while I can. I’m aware that it’s petty, of course, but frankly, I don’t care. So long as I manage to inflict as much pain and damage as possible, that’s good enough for me," Alphonse thought to himself spitefully.

"Hm? Hey, you good, Al? You look kinda tense."

"Huh? Oh, apologies, my mind wandered a bit, I’m fine-...," He began with a smile, before trailing off as a loud crash rang out from the front entrance, before the doors came flying in off their hinges and slammed onto the floor.

Alphonse and Akila quickly sprang onto their feet in alarm, right as four figures walked in through the doorway.

It was Jules, along with Siele and Tilda, as well as another Knight from the Commander Squad, one in possession of Detection Magic.

"We finally found you, Alphonse Plore," Remarked Jules, drawing out her sword and pointing it at him as flames burst out and wrapped around the blade.

"How the hell did they avoid my Detection Magic!? No, more importantly, I need to get out here, now!" Alphonse thought to himself frantically, grabbing Akila’s arm and taking out a Teleport Spell, before his eyes widened as nothing happened.

"Don’t bother, we activated a Teleportation Jamming Spell as soon as we entered. Oh, and in case you’re wondering why you didn’t sense us, it’s because we have a barrier that blocks Detection Magic active," Jules informed him coldly, before glancing at Tilda, who nodded before she shot forward as she brought out her scythe from a Storage Ring.

Akila stepped forward with a grimace, drawing out his blades before crossing them defensively as Tilda leapt forward and slashed at him with her scythe, his eyes widening as it passed through his blades before phasing across his chest, his vision blurring slightly as a bit of his stamina got drained, before gritting his teeth and driving his foot out towards her.

She swiftly rotated her grip on the handle of her scythe, Akila’s foot slamming against the handle and pushing her back about a meter, before he leapt towards her and unleashed a rapid thrust of his left blade.

She managed to block it with the handle of her scythe, before wincing slightly as the impact hit harder than she expected, jarring her arms as her feet skidded back across the floor.

"Hm? I don’t know who that is, but he seems to be fairly skilled, his speed in particular is quite impressive. Is he a former Knight ousted from the Order? But I don’t recognize him, surely I would have taken note of someone this skilled," Frowned Jules in confusion, before stating as she stepped forward, "Stand back, Tilda. I’ll handle this myself."

"Understood, Commander. Be careful, his strikes are deceptively powerful," Responded Tilda, backing off as Jules narrowed her eyes at Akila, before she blasted herself forward with bursts of pressurized flames from her heels, his eyes widening in alarm as she closed in on him in the blink of an eye and slashed at his chest with her blade.

Her eyes widened in surprise as her blade phased right through him, before he whipped one of his blades up and across at her face.

She quickly tilted her head across, a cut appearing across her left cheek as the tip of the blade nicked her, before she unleashed a sharp burst of flames and backed away.

"Strange...it felt like his blade barely nicked me, but this cut is deeper than it should be. And what kind of trick did he use when my blade passed right through him?" Wondered Jules, as she eyed Akila warily.

"Stand back, Al, I’ll protect you!" Declared Akila, as he took a defensive stance, waiting for Jules to attack.

"No, no, no, you don’t stand a chance against her, you fool! We need to get out of here, but with the Teleport Spells wrecked, how are we supposed to escape!? O-okay, just calm down...I just need to wait for an opening, I have to keep a cool head and bide my time, we can get out of this."

Jules then shot towards Akila again, a sharp clang echoing out as he blocked the swing of her sword with his blades, before he swung his foot out towards her.

She swiftly took one hand off the handle of her blade, grabbing his ankle before his foot could reach her, stopping his kick in its tracks, before he suddenly turned his leg intangible and phased it out of her grasp.

She then unleashed a burst of flames from her blade, the force knocking Akila off balance, stumbling back before quickly turning his torso intangible as she fired out a rapid, spiraling pillar of flames towards him.

He then froze as a yell of alarm rang out behind him as the flames phased through him, as Alphonse leapt away to his right and narrowly evaded the flames.

"Damn you...that was a dirty trick!" Exclaimed Akila, as he shot towards Jules, getting low as he closed in and driving one of his blades towards her stomach, before she swiftly blocked it with the flat of her sword, a sharp clang ringing out upon impact.

"Hm, he’s skilled, but clearly not very experienced...he’s nervous, and it’s affecting his movements," Realized Jules, before unleashing a sharp shockwave of heat to knock Akila back.

His eyes widened in alarm as a swirling fireball came shooting towards him, springing back as it closed in and slammed onto the floor, before he froze as he lost sight of Jules.

As a fiery flash of orange erupted in his left peripheral, he quickly spun across to his left and crossed his blades defensively, a blast of flames slamming onto them and knocking him back, a hiss of pain ringing out as the attack inflicted several burns across his hands and forearms.

"I get it now, you must possess some form of Arcane Magic, it allows you to turn parts of your body intangible at will. But that’s not much use if you’re taken by surprise and don’t have enough time to activate it. Am I wrong?" Inquired Jules as she narrowed her eyes at him, before thinking to herself as Akila flinched and shrunk back slightly, "Wait, why in the world would a Commoner side with someone like Alphonse Plore? Something doesn’t add up here..."