One day after the start of the Hunters' Tournament, two of the challengers were having a conversation within one of the castle rooms.
"He'll apparently be fine…"
Akari's voice echoed through the bedchamber as she paced around impatiently, which drew a sight from the blond boy lying flat on her bed.
"I told you, his heart wasn't normal."
Aaron, who had activated his Mana Vision nearing the end of the fight, had discovered quite the surprise when he looked at her opponent.
"His core was on his left instead of his right. There isn't any way to move it, so if it's on that side, there is only one reason for it."
He paused when Akari started speaking over him.
"It would mean his heart is on that side as well…"
She groaned, wiping her face with her hands, then leaped upwards, landing on the balcony of the second floor of the room.
Within the small, elevated area, mountains of armor, gear, and weaponry sat on intricately carved shelves.
The blond-haired boy who still rested on the first floor furrowed his brow at the sight of the luxury products, a question coming soon after.
"Where did you get the money for all of that?"
Awaiting the answer, he heard a heavy sigh come from the pink-haired girl in the loft above, her body leaning over the railing as she spoke.
"Some gambler won big because of me… Turns out Alaric was the favorite to win, and some people got nearly ten thousand golden Draughts just from my win."
Aaron's eyes widened at the number, trying to wrap his head around the pure absurdity of spending an amount large enough to buy a mansion on a simple brawl between teenagers.
"P-people are crazy…"
Standing up slowly, he tightened his fist around a grip strengthener he had been exercising with all that time, squeezing it as much as possible.
"You think that thing will really help you wield the dagger better?"
Before the boy could even think of an answer, he realized Akari was standing behind him, her eyes fixed on the sheathed blade at his hip.
In his match against Raphael, he planned to close the distance as much as he could, preventing him from casting the long-range types of magic he had used against Ezra.
Therefore, in preparation for that, he had begun to train more seriously with Ocean's Bane in the form of a small, handheld stiletto that he could use effectively even at the shortest range.
The girl beside him, as a professional assassin, was well-versed in using concealable weaponry such as the dagger, allowing her to offer assistance where needed.
"With a stiletto, you're going to want to aim for quick, rapid strikes to the vitals, but I don't assume you intend to end your opponent's life. So, I'd personally recommend that you target areas such as the spleen, liver, or even kidneys, as they have excellent power to disable your enemy."
She sent a light kick to the back of his left knee, causing him to bend into a lower stance, and with her free hands, she moved his arms in front of him.
"Keep it drawn close to you until you stab. You should not slice with this dagger, only pierce. Quick, agile strikes will allow you to retreat as needed and shoot in whenever you see an opening. If your weapon has a seal or emblem, then that could change your fighting style monumentally, but by the look of it…"
Reaching into his sheath and pulling at the hilt, she furrowed her brow in confusion when the blade did not come loose.
"Eh?"
She tried again and again, pulling with considerable strength, yet she couldn't wedge it at all.
Getting pushed and pulled around by the struggling girl, Aaron looked down at her while shaking his head.
"Here."
Removing her hand and pulling out his weapon, he handed the small blade to the girl, allowing her to inspect it.
Thinking of the strange resistance she had experienced, Akari was still uneasy; however, after a moment, she turned her attention back to the task at hand.
Starting with the leatherbound hilt, the girl's eyes traced down the prismatic sword, which did not pulsate with its usual light since Penelope had thoroughly concealed her presence, further decreasing the already small risk of getting detected.
"One… Two… Three…? Aaron, where the hell did you get this thing?"
Anticipating the startled reaction of the girl when she was faced with a tool capable of slaying gods, he shrugged his shoulders, acting as confused as she was.
"This old thing? I found it in a dumpster in Sea Fallen!"
Keeping a perfectly straight face, he watched as Akari's expression twisted slightly in bewilderment before finally settling into half-hearted disbelief.
『You found me in a dumpster…? Perhaps this little cherry would like to hear the specifics of that little boat you—』
Laughing aloud to shroud the sound of the angry woman inside his head, Aaron heard his childhood friend speak up again.
"I-It has three full emblems and over a hundred seals placed into it… T-that doesn't even take into account the other strange markings on it…"
For the first time, Aaron actually frowned, a mildly concerned thought crossing his mind.
Three emblems? W-What are the side-effects?
Collecting himself, he prepared to ask the question nonchalantly; however, before he could even open his mouth, Akari picked up where she had trailed off.
"I can only recognize one of these, but…"
She paused, running her finger over the edge.
"Aaron… Have you ever heard voices from your sword? Like whispers or curses?"
His face froze as he heard the words, a silent fear creeping into his heart as he responded quickly.
"N-no?"
Failing to control his voice, he realized, with relief, that Akari wasn't even paying attention, her eyes locked on the dagger, not allowing anything to distract her.
"It's the Dragon's Emblem… Said to grant consciousness as well as control over the domain of the sky to whatever is marked with it... To have this engraved onto it means that someone imbued a spirit of a Dragon into this weapon…"
Finally looking up at the rather pale boy, she noticed him quietly whispering something under his breath.
"Did you say something?"
He flinched and quickly shook his head, denying the claim.
"No… It's just that I think I just heard one of those whispers right now…"
He tuned out the voice inside his head as best as he could, yet the woman who lurked within the sword continued her relentless chatter without care.
It was hard to say whether she was talking to him or the other two beings that resided within his head.
『You know how long I had to beat that dragon to death before it stopped trying to talk to me? Nearly thirty years! Thirty whole years of listening to its annoying comments! 'Oh, but Penelope, it's a mythical creature that can offer foresight into the future!' I don't give a damn! That annoying lizard tried to make me give it partial control! When it finally croaked, I took its control over the sky, but every so often, I swear it returns to torment me!』
Her rambling did not cease even after Aaron and Akari finished their conversation, and the boy returned her to the sheath.
In fact, even the Naelith began to wonder about the sanity of the woman he shared the central consciousness with, pondering the idea of moving into the deep mindscape to live with the other being instead.
Aaron, however, had long-since stopped listening to her, deciding to finally part ways with the pink-haired girl and get some alone time to calm his nerves.
As he prepared to leave, he heard the girl's voice call out from behind him.
"Aaron… Where did you actually get that dagger from? Some of those emblems are more complex than even the ones recorded from Apex-terrors…"
Her face was contorted with worry, the idea of her friend wielding a blade with such overwhelming strength and unknown side effects leaving her uneasy.
Turning around slowly, the blond boy stared straight into her deep blue eyes, seeing her concern as clear as day.
"I told you, I found it in some trashpile in Sea Fallen."
Before she could say anything else, he had already placed his hand on the knob, turning it and pushing the door open.
"Good luck tomorrow…"
Her hollow wish echoed through Aaron's ears as he closed the door behind him, and a look of focus took over his face.
Raphael won't be easy to beat… Though…
Having put some distance between him and the girl's room, he stopped abruptly, finally interrupting Penelope's pointless rant that she had been continuing without a pause, much to the displeasure of all the inhabitants inside his skull.
"Penelope. What else can your emblems do?"
There was a pause before she answered.
『I can't tell you the specifics; however, what I can tell you would be enough for you to gain a little more control over my powers in a fight.』
Aaron's brow furrowed immediately, a hint of annoyance clouding his thoughts.
"Eh? You mean you could've told me information to help me this entire time, and you just didn't? Did you want me to die or something?"
The girl did not reply to his question, only expanding on her previous offer.
『When imbuing me with mana, if you abruptly and rapidly increase the input, it can be expelled like an electric blast that can eliminate all forms of mana regardless of strength. The side effects would include your own magic failing, even the defensive barriers around your mind.』
Hearing her explanation, he quietly nodded and began walking again, thinking aloud.
"That's incredible… If it can really erase all forms of magic, then that's comparable even to Ezra's mana resistance… If that's just one of the emblems, then I wonder what the second could be…"
As he entered the main foyer of the castle, the answer came quietly, like a whisper straight into his ear.
『That's only a seal.』