"Even a sharp sword will beco dull when you try to cut your friend."
— Ashura Doji, One Piece
Roy suddenly stopped, causing the girls behind him to bump into each other.
"Roy, what's wrong?" Ellis asked, looking at him curiously.
"Your opponents have arrived," Roy warned.
"What?!" The three girls quickly spread out, summoning their contracted spirits and assuming battle stances.
A tense silence fell over the forest.
Claire focused her senses, trying to detect the enemy's presence.
She sensed two distinct auras. Were they scouts, or was there an ambush?
"I didn't expect them to find us so quickly," Ellis said, her eyes scanning the surroundings.
"Indeed, attacking so early in the ga isn't a very clever strategy," Rinslet agreed.
Just then...
"Here they co!"
A blinding flash erupted before them.
The girls shielded their eyes.
But the flash was just a distraction.
It was a spirit crystal bomb, a common trap with more flash than actual power.
However, it had montarily stunned them, creating an opening.
Roy sensed a presence rapidly approaching him.
'They're targeting first, huh?' he thought with a sigh.
He leaped into the air.
A giant hand made of sand erupted from the spot where he had been standing.
And then, more appeared, reaching for Roy.
"Not so fast! O fangs of ice, pierce my enemy! Ice Shot!" Rinslet shouted, firing an arrow that shattered the sand hands.
"Roy, above you!" Claire warned.
"Crush him, Rock Beast Spirit!" a girl's voice commanded.
A shadow lood overhead.
A heavy object, a clump of hardened earth, fell from the sky towards Roy.
But Roy had already moved.
The attacker, riding a monstrous rock creature, erged from the trees.
She wore a white dress with intricate patterns.
"That's... the team from the Baluster Kingdom," Claire realized.
They were the ones who had been glaring at them earlier, following the orders of that foolish prince to eliminate Team Scarlet.
And they were targeting Roy first.
The Rock Beast roared and charged towards him.
"O Sword Saint Knight, I command thee, beco my shield!" Fianna summoned her Knight Spirit, Georgios.
Georgios swung its sword, and with a flash of light, the Rock Beast's arm was severed.
Their eyes, finally adjusted to the sudden flash from earlier, could now see clearly.
The girls regrouped, forming a circle around Roy.
A sand giant erged from the ground.
"Ugh!" Claire quickly backed away.
"Where's the Sand Elentalist hiding?" she wondered, scanning the area.
Earth Elentalists often used their magic to conceal themselves underground.
But there were no signs of disturbance on the ground.
Suddenly, a presence appeared behind Ellis.
A girl wielding two daggers erged from the bushes.
Invisible wind blades shot out, slicing through the trees.
Clang!
Ellis blocked the attack with her Windashlance.
"You blocked my wind blades... impressive!" the girl exclaid.
"But you insulted our prince! You'll pay for that!"
"You're really here for revenge because of that idiot?" Rinslet said in disbelief.
Trying to settle a personal grudge during the Blade Dance was incredibly foolish.
"I pity you, pathetic Baluster Elentalists."
"How dare you mock ?! I won't forgive you!" The Wind Elentalist swung her daggers.
Rinslet leaped aside, dodging the wind blades that whizzed past her.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot towards her from behind.
Just in ti, a Knight Spirit appeared, shielding Rinslet from the attack.
It was Fianna's Georgios.
"Thanks!" Rinslet said with a grateful smile.
"We're a team," Fianna replied.
They turned and saw a girl with a bow and arrow erge from the trees.
"What?! How did you detect my sneak attack?!" the Wind Elentalist exclaid in shock.
"Hmph, don't underestimate us!" Fianna retorted.
They were now facing four opponents: the Wind Elentalist with her daggers, the Lightning Elentalist with her bow, the Sand Elentalist who had summoned the sand giant, and the one controlling the Rock Beast.
Claire felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead. She was starting to get nervous.
A thick mist had enveloped the forest.
This was clearly not a natural phenonon but an Elental Magic spell.
The last mber of the enemy team, a Mist Elentalist, was also nearby.
"It's ti to counterattack!" Claire declared, taking a deep breath and regaining her composure.
"Yes, we can't let them underestimate us!" Ellis agreed, standing at the forefront with determination.
"Let's do this! We will win!"
"Show them what we're made of!"
Fianna and Rinslet also expressed their confidence.
With Roy there, they weren't afraid of anyone.
Claire and Ellis charged forward.
Claire lashed out with her Fla Whip, targeting the Sand Elentalist.
She also unleashed a barrage of fire spells.
"Fla King's Breath!"
Ellis confronted the Wind Elentalist.
They were both Wind Elentalists.
But Ellis's spirit was far more powerful.
"O winds of disaster, Roar!!!"
Ellis thrust her Windashlance, launching wind blades that tore through the trees.
The Wind Elentalist charged towards her with her daggers.
Fianna, anwhile, commanded Georgios to block the Rock Beast's attacks.
The Rock Beast's attacks were powerful, but they couldn't break through Georgios's defenses.
Just then, a bolt of lightning shot towards Claire.
It was an arrow fired by the Lightning Elentalist.
"Not so fast!" Rinslet shouted.
"Ice Shot!"
She fired an arrow that intercepted the lightning arrow mid-flight.
She then fired another arrow.
It struck the Lightning Elentalist, who couldn't react in ti.
Rinslet's speed in summoning and firing her Elental Waffe was unmatched.
By this ti, Claire had defeated the Sand Elentalist, Ellis had defeated the Wind Elentalist, and Fianna had subdued the Rock Beast.
Within monts, they had defeated four of their opponents.
"Well done!" Roy praised them with a smile and a thumbs up.
The girls bead, proud of their victory.
The battle had been so swift that their opponents didn't even have a chance to escape.
Well, except for one...
The Mist Elentalist, who had been hiding in the shadows, had fled.
But it didn't matter.
...
...
Roy approached the four unconscious girls and collected their Magic Stones.
"Sorry, but I'll be taking these," he said.
In a minute, they would be teleported back to the main hall.
"Great! Now we have four more Magic Stones!" Claire exclaid with a grin.
"But don't let your guard down," Roy warned, handing her the stones.
Just then, teleportation circles appeared beneath the unconscious girls.
They dissolved into particles of light and vanished.
"It's a sha that Mist Elentalist escaped. We could have had one more Magic Stone."
"Don't chase after her. They're a cautious team."
"I didn't expect to be attacked so soon."
"Yes, we should find a place to set up camp quickly."
...
Claire nodded in agreent.
They weren't getting carried away by their initial victory.
"I was right about Roy," a girl's voice said from a distance.
A group of five girls in military uniforms were observing the battle from a hilltop.
They were the Dragon Knights, one of the teams favored to win the Blade Dance.
They were using a Dragon Spirit's "Dragon Eye" magic to observe the battlefield from afar.
"Yes, this is the worthy sacrifice my Dragon Blood craves," Leonora Lancaster declared, licking her lips as she stepped towards the edge of the cliff.
A powerful aura emanated from her, and her eyes glowed with a crimson light.
'Lady Leonora's Dragon Blood is awakening...' Her vice-captain, Yuri, felt a chill run down her spine.
A wave of dread washed over her.
The Dragon Blood was a special ability passed down through the Dracunia royal family, allowing them to wield the power of Dragons.
This was the fourth ti Yuri had witnessed Leonora's eyes turn red.
The first ti had been two years ago, during the Dragon Knights' entrance exam.
Leonora had single-handedly defeated all the other candidates in a matter of minutes.
It was a terrifying display of power. Fortunately, no one had been killed.
If her Dragon Blood fully awakened, even Yuri and the others wouldn't be able to stop her.
Leonora finished her observation and turned to her subordinates. "Tonight, we hunt," she declared.
Yuri and the others nodded silently.
This was the Dragon Knights' code for launching an attack.
...
As the sun began to set, Roy and the girls finally found a suitable place to set up camp.
It was a clearing beside a gentle stream.
They could catch fish for food, and the clear water was perfect for their cleansing rituals.
Since Roy was in charge of keeping watch at night, the girls took on the task of setting up the tents and preparing dinner.
They knew Roy had plenty of food stored in his spatial magic.
But they wanted to cook a delicious al themselves.
Night fell.
When Roy finished setting up the tents, he found a table laden with food.
There were grilled fish with herbs, stew with various spices, and vegetable soup made from dried ingredients.
"This looks delicious," Roy comnted, sitting down on a stone stool.
The girls gathered around the table.
"Since it's our first day, we have to boost our morale with a delicious al."
"We finally have a chance to show off our skills. Of course, we have to make it special."
"Exactly!"
"Try it!"
...
Claire and the others were excited to have their cooking praised.
"Then I shall dig in."
Roy took a bite of the stew.
"...!"
"Is it... good?" Rinslet asked nervously.
"It's not bad. Is this really made from canned food?"
Due to their limited ingredients, they had used canned food in the stew, but it was still quite tasty.
Roy's standards were high, thanks to Saeko and Shizuka's cooking.
"I-I'm glad you like it," Rinslet said with a happy smile.
It seed she was the one who had made the stew.
"As expected of Rinslet."
Roy couldn't help but think it was a waste for soone with such culinary talent to be a noble lady.
"My position as the chef is in danger..." Ellis mumbled dejectedly.
"Don't worry, Ellis. Your cooking has a holy feel to it. I like it too," Roy reassured her.
"Holy? Like... a husband coming ho to a delicious al...?" Ellis blushed, her mind wandering.
"Claire and Fianna, your cooking is also great," Roy added, seeing their expectant gazes.
Just as they were enjoying their dinner, a fiery red light suddenly descended from the sky.
The intense light blinded the girls montarily.
Just before it reached them, an ice wall materialized, blocking the attack.
The fiery blast had no effect on the ice wall.
"What... what was that?!" The girls were confused, staring at the ice above them.
Then, a massive shadow landed where the attack had struck.
A black dragon, its wings spread wide, blocking the moonlight, landed before them.
Flas erupted from its mouth, illuminating the night.
A girl in a black military uniform erged from the flas, her crimson eyes glowing nacingly in the darkness.
"Leonora... that's a rather rude way to greet soone, for a Knight," Roy comnted, frowning slightly. Was she being influenced by her Dragon Blood?
"Roy... I have sothing to say..." Leonora declared, raising her hand dramatically.
"The Dragons of Dracunia always give their all, even when hunting Monsters," she finished.
Her dragon spirit, Nidhogg, unleashed a torrent of flas from its mouth.
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