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Chapter 89. Let's Do Some Crazy Training

"So?"

"You wanted to somehow manifest a Grimoire, right? So this is like an experiment."

In the outdoor training grounds, I’m with Elixira, and Nina and Ash have also gathered. Nina and Ash are both incredibly skilled, and with a Grimoire, they could become some of the most powerful people in the country.

"Yeah... It pisses me off that Elixira can use it and I can’t."

"Isn’t that just taking it out on me? I haven’t done anything wrong, right?"

"So, what exactly are we going to do?"

Ignoring Nina and Elixira's words, Ash turned his gaze toward me. Normally, Ash doesn’t show much expression, but now he’s staring intensely, his eyes gleaming with a desire to manifest the Grimoire. Ash seems to be most himself when he’s hungry for power.

Since they asked for a specific method, I opened a book I brought out with special permission from the ancient library and showed it to them.

"What’s this?"

"It’s a diary of someone who researched Grimoires several hundred years ago... It’s been made into a book. I found it by turning the bookshelf upside down and searching everywhere."

"And this can manifest a Grimoire!?"

"No, I don’t know about that... The diary doesn’t mention success either."

Also, this diary... Apparently, it was excavated from some ruins and was quite worn and partially unreadable when discovered. This book is just an attempt to compile the readable parts.

"Read it."

"Uh... It says something like, ‘Get close to death’."

"That’s right!"

I gave a slightly puzzled look at the absurdity of the suggestion, but the issue is that the experiment which resulted in several deaths... reportedly led to a few people manifesting Grimoires. However, the exact correlation between the experiment and the manifestation is unknown, so it’s unclear if getting close to death truly leads to a Grimoire. Moreover, there were survivors of the experiment who didn’t manifest a Grimoire, so it’s not a reliable method.

"But there’s a possibility."

"…Alright, let’s do it."

Seriously? Am I really agreeing to this after suggesting getting close to death? Ash nodded without hesitation, but Nina looked a bit uneasy. Well… that’s probably a difference in values.

Ash is a noble with the rank of Baron, and it’s his job to use his life for his position. However, for adventurers like Nina, the most important thing is... staying alive. Achieving job goals is important, but for adventurers, the top priority is survival. Losing three people is a common thing in the world of adventurers.

"Nina, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to do it."

"No, I’ll do it... It’s not like we’re being told to die... I trust Theo."

Alright... then let’s do it.

When told to get close to death, the first thing that came to mind was... fighting a strong opponent. Specifically, fighting a dragon-type monster or something similar, but dragons aren’t that easy to encounter, and they’re mostly south during this season.

The next idea was... to fight seriously and beat them up.

"Alright, let’s do this."

I draw Verethragna with my left hand and hold [Yaldabaoth] in my right.

"…A Grimoire, huh?"

Seeing me draw the Grimoire, Nina and Ash took a step back. They’re probably intimidated by the unusual aura from [Yaldabaoth]... but that’s not enough to make it a battle against a strong opponent.

"Ha… Ha!"

Nina, drawing her two swords, approaches with her usual roughness. It’s a storm of attacks, but... today, I’m not holding back.

"Huh?"

Nina’s initial flurry of attacks missed, and as she spun around for another storm of strikes, they were blocked by a magical barrier I created with one hand. The barrier’s strength would crack and shatter after two hits from Nina’s attacks, but it still creates a brief opening. Ash rushed in to fill that gap, but I used Yaldabaoth to throw a false text to stop Ash’s movements while cutting Nina with Verethragna.

"Hmm?"

"Ugh!"

I thought I had pushed hard enough, but Nina seemed to have stepped back just in time, maintaining her consciousness even as she was blown away.

As Ash came towards me, knocking away the false text, I blocked his attack with Ursulagna. Ash’s flexible swordsmanship becomes less effective when he’s on the offensive, but is Nina panicking because she’s been attacked?

"I can read your sword techniques fairly well. It’s not that easy to—"

"Is that so?"

While blocking Ash’s attacks with Verethragna, I pull in [Yaldabaoth]. The Grimoire manifests through the soul... meaning it’s a weapon tied to my soul. Drawing it from a distance isn’t difficult. Ash should already realize this, but... while he’s fought me many times, he’s never fought against me with both Verethragna and the false text.

"Ugh!?"

"Even so, you’re handling it well... you’re impressive."

By switching to a two-sword style, my techniques should be completely different... but it seems that the habits from when I used one sword haven’t changed. Nina barely manages to counter me by deflecting only the fatal blows. However... as I ramp up the intensity, she couldn’t keep up with the speed. Verethragna grazed her side, and the false text pierced her right thigh when she lost her balance.

"Ugh!?"

"Too slow."

Her face contorted in pain, so I blasted her torso with fire magic, sending her flying. I don’t think she’s even close to death, but... let’s see what happens from here.

"Ugh!"

Even as she bled heavily, Nina roared like a beast and ran toward me. She tried to obstruct my vision with flames and get behind me... but [Yaldabaoth] returned to my hand, absorbing all the flames and revealing Nina’s movements.

I deflected Nina’s sudden slash with Verethragna and delivered a spinning kick to her torso, causing her to spit blood and be blown away with a loud crack. I might have overdone it a bit... but it’s for the Grimoire, so it can’t be helped!