"And then I…"
"...?"
The conversation that the two advanced swordsmanship teachers had in the hallway of the upper floor of the boys' dormitory got interrupted by the sound of breaking glass coming from the outside, making both of them rush to the window to check what was going on.
A few of their pupils who volunteered to patrol the floor with them followed suit, although there was one who stayed behind, seemingly not very interested in the commotion.
As the male teacher opened the window and leaned forward, in came the sounds of a ferocious fight with metal clashing against metal, creating a frenzied cacophony, got in, accompanied by flashes of warm golden light and a gust of cold wind barging in!
"STUDENT JUSTIN! CEASE THIS MADNESS IMMEDIATELY!"
"!?!?"
Not even a full few seconds later, his furious roar shook the two, although the meaning of his words set in a second later…
Down below at the courtyard, in front of the main entrance, a single student was locked in a fight against five other students, all of them pupils of the very teacher who shouted.
It was none other than the commoner student Justin.
To keep all of them at bay, Justin's main sword, as well as the twelve ephemeral blades, were unceasingly dancing through the air, exerting pressure.
His main sword, Caladbolg's shadow, was something the five other students were especially wary of, attempting to counter it with their own ephemeral blades or other spells but never their physical weapons.
Yet even with all of that, the only reason Justin wasn't completely overwhelmed wasn't just his own skill and proficiency with swordsmanship, nor was it the array of internal spells enhancing his body to the point of making it glow like a magic light. No. It was mostly thanks to his contracted fae.
The golden bear cub filled all the gaps in its master's defense, with shields of light materializing in the way of attacks Justin had no way of intercepting, as well as firing beams of light at the encircling opponents, stopping their movement or destroying spells yet to be unleashed.
The fae was Justin's eyes in the back of his head. Their synergy was so high that it was hard to believe they only worked together for a mere year and not decades. What kind of training could they possibly go through to achieve such efficiency?
…that wasn't what the advanced swordsmanship teacher thought watching the encounter from above, though…
Although Justin showed a lot of promise, in that teacher's mind the only possible reason for the youth managing to keep five of his fellow pupils at bay was because those five were holding back… And the only reason for them holding back would be if Justin was the one who went insane, or defolized, and started attacking them while they wanted to subdue him without killing or harming him.
The man clearly didn't even spare a moment to look closely at the faces of the five who fought against Justin, because if he did, the disturbing black veins bulging across their faces and every piece of visible skin would immediately force him to reconsider that stance.
Ironically enough, his shout had an effect, only not the one he intended to.
"...?!"
"!"
The one to react was one of Justin's opponents, whose moment of distraction was instantly capitalized on by Justin and cost the other one both hands, as the youth cut them off with a decisive vertical slash, followed by the upwards diagonal one that shortened the already dismembered left arm and a whole head.
"YOU FILTHY COMMONER!"
It was such a brutal and visceral scene that the rage of the advanced swordsmanship teacher went out of control, and while Justin moved on to the remaining four opponents who could no longer manage him after the loss, the man enveloped in a white light of swordsmanship unsheathed his sword and jumped off the third-floor window.
*SHING*
"Huh…?"
…only that, suddenly, his head started turning against his will, and he gasped…!
He saw his own headless body, as well as the decapitated heads of his fellow advanced swordsmanship teacher and two of their pupils rolling off their shoulders and following his fall while their bodies dropped one by one…
All four, with the same bewildered expressions plastered all over their faces.
The final image reflected in their eyes before the light left them was the one pupil who kept himself back, with the whites of his eyes dyed black and black veins bulging on his face and arms as he was grinning wildly while proudly presenting the sword still slick with blood!