Into the Darkness: Devotion

The blackness of my dreamscape was interrupted. I was lying in bed.

A soft-spoken woman's voice stirred me awake. It was as if she was trying to keep her presence hidden.

"Hey… are you Astrea?"

Slowly, I opened my eyes to see a girl standing before me. She looked kind, just from her face alone, I could tell.

Her features were soft, and she had a slight weight to her, chubby, with brown eyes and black hair.

 Her skin had a faint pink hue, and her glasses sat slightly askew on her nose. 

She wore the academy's uniform, a formal white and gold outfit, consisting of a long-sleeved shirt and a skirt, with a pocket on her chest.

Obviously, she was my roommate, though I had no idea why she was in my room or why she was talking to me.

"Yeah, I'm Astrea," I said, slowly sitting up.

She pushed up her glasses and gave me a soft smile. "Artoria said you could help me."

I rubbed my eyes, blinking a few times. "With?"

She stood up, brushing off her shirt. "She said you would help me with this."

The moment she extended her hand, I saw the future, she was about to kill me.

But the vision didn't explain why. It only showed that if she continued doing whatever she was about to do, I would die.

I didn't waste any time. I grabbed her hand, stopping her movement immediately.

"What were you about to do?"

She didn't resist at all, which at least told me she wasn't actively trying to harm me.

"My Gift… it allows me to hold onto anything. But the problem is that whenever I activate it…"

Her eyes trailed off to the side. "It seems to hold onto the emotion of the closest thing to me… but I can give it back."

I had no idea what to say. That was such an obscure ability, and it had such a weird drawback.

First of all, how did she even know she could grab other things? And what was the nature of this ability?

If she could give things back, why did it matter? Did she have to give them back?

Something like this had to have a condition. My only question was, why in the hell did Artoria think I could help her?

And, more annoyingly, why did she not come back?

"Did she say how I was supposed to help you, by chance?"

The girl shrugged. "She just said you had insane insight on things like this."

I thought for a moment, trying to wrap my head around everything. That's when I noticed something.

Her body language, the way she glanced around nervously.

Was she pranking me?

Though, pranking me with death was pretty extreme. Maybe she had been set up.

This whole situation was weird. But I supposed there was one way to figure out what was going on.

"Hey, what does Artoria look like?"

She blinked a few times before softly muttering, "Red hair… muscular?"

Well, at the very least, she knew her.

"And did she ask you to try and scare me?"

She mumbled over herself before finally speaking clearly. "N-no… she asked me to get your help."

Ah, so she must actually need help. But was she just really awkward? I couldn't tell because of how she was acting.

"Be honest. Do you really need help, or did she set you up?"

She paused for a moment, then nodded.

I wasn't sure why Artoria had done this, but it was dangerous.

"Hey, how long can you hold onto the things you grab?"

She thought for a moment before answering. "As long as I'm stronger than whatever I'm grabbing, infinitely. If not, then less than a second."

Ah, so that was the limitation. That made sense. It was probably why she could grab onto an abstract concept itself.

Though, Lady Death might target her for a while.

"What's your name?" I said standing up.

She bowed slightly. "Cassidy."

"Okay, Cass, how about we start by talking about where and how you met Artoria?"

I gestured toward the door, and she left the room with me following behind. She sat down on the couch, squirming slightly.

This girl… she's a very nervous person, isn't she? It's almost like she's scared of me.

I wonder how she even managed to enter the academy. Everyone here should have extreme battle experience.

After a short silence, she finally started speaking. "I was making my way back from my father's workshop when I saw Artoria."

She must be Cordell's daughter, the blacksmith we asked to forge Artoria's arm.

Interesting. I did think she looked like him. They're basically twins, only he's older and, well, a man.

"I see. Well, good to meet you," I said, watching as she slightly flinched at my words.

She nodded, placing her hands in her lap, and after that, we just sat in silence for a while.

This might be the most awkward thing I've ever experienced.

"Say, I heard you were a scholar. What's your main study?"

Her face lit up as she spoke. "Swordsmanship, mainly from the gods and ancient warriors of the past."

"So you're a swordsman?"

She nodded before standing up. "Let me show you my sword."

She held out her hands, and mana began converging around them. Its color was a pale pink, similar to her skin.

After a moment, a sword appeared.

In her left hand, she held a scabbard, white and straight, with pink clouds painted along its length.

The blade was also straight, even the tip being flat, though still razor-sharp.

 It was crafted from a white metal, most likely from the western continents resources.

Its hilt was pink, decorated with the same cloud motif, giving it a distinct and elegant design. With the guard being white and flat, with fluff around it.

It resembled a cloud.

More notably, the blade had a faint pink hue, wrapping up its white-and-pink color scheme perfectly.

She smiled brightly, running her hand along the flat side. "This is my father's second masterpiece, the Nube Real"

She placed the scabbard on the table and held up the sword.

"With this, I managed to slay a demon, which is why I was able to attend."

Ah, so that's how she got in. But now I can't help but be… interested in her power.

I smiled while standing up. "Say, you wouldn't mind if we sparred, would you? I'm actually a swordsman as well. I'd say I'm pretty good."

Her eyes lit up almost immediately. "I'd gladly spar."

Well, that was easy. She completely dropped the awkwardness the moment swords were involved.

"Then we should head out to the training grounds."

She nodded, and we both made our way toward the door. As we stepped outside, I recalled that there should be training swords available there.

The moment we left the dorms, I noticed the sky was already shifting into the deep hues of dusk. Almost night.

We walked behind the dorms, where first- and second-years usually spar. The area was vast, structured with several large stone arenas meant for combat practice.

As we arrived, my eyes landed on a high-quality training sword resting on a nearby rack. Without a word, I motioned for Cassidy to pick a place.

She took a moment, scanning the area, before choosing a stone arena right in the middle.

As I walked over, she was already stretching, rolling her shoulders and loosening up.

It seemed like she was genuinely excited.

I stopped at the other end of the arena and leveled my blade at her.

"You ready?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm interested in seeing why they allowed someone younger to join the academy."

She lowered her stance and extended her arm, placing the flat side of her blade against her palm.

Then, she exhaled. thick clouds of steam billowing from her body.

 My vision was briefly obscured, but as the mist dissipated, I could see the change.

The slight chubbiness she had before was gone, replaced by a noticeably more muscular frame.

 I wasn't sure what technique she had just used, but one thing was clear.

The very second I moved my leg, she blasted off.