Isekai: The Eight Soul Fragments

Serkyrio went around the castle checking on the maids that were personally invited by Lynx and Noelle. He passed through the halls where he found various maids cleaning the castle diligently. "Great work." He then walked towards the training grounds where he found Draxus holding two short swords while being surrounded by Wesley, Keith, Jevil, and Viceroy. There are more people that are around the training grounds as spectators or those who are waiting to be trained by Draxus. "So he's about to start with physical training? It seems that he's going for a short demonstration with the newcomers." Looking at the weapons of the four people surrounding Draxus, They're all using wooden versions of the weaponry they used. Excluding for the chain for Keith's chain and sickle. Draxus simply waited for others to attack. "Wesley, start." With his instruction, Wesley dashed forward with two wooden daggers in his hands and tried to perform consecutive strikes. All five strikes were firmly blocked by Draxus using both swords without even leaving his position. Wesley then dashed to the side and spun a little to strike once with the wooden dagger. Without even turning, Draxus blocked it with the sword but a follow up was made. However, that attack was also easily blocked by Draxus. Wesley tried to attack from behind but Draxus finally turned around and defended with solid blocking skills. The flurry of attacks continued on until at some point where Draxus forcefully spread out the two daggers away from Wesley. Draxus then tapped both swords on Wesley's shoulders and prepared to cut off his head like a pair of scissors. "[Kingfisher Bladework Fantasia, Thread Cutter]" With a smile, Draxus told Wesley to take a bit of rest and instructed Keith to begin.

With skillful hand movement, Keith swung the chains and tried to strike Draxus with the ball part of the chain. But Draxus caught the chain with his wooden sword and got the chain to wrap over the sword. He then pulled the chain but Keith used that chance to fling the sickle towards Draxus. With swift hand movement, Draxus struck the flying sickle up high which made Keith pull both ends of the weapon back. The sword Draxus was held firmly so there was some resistance with the spiky ball. He then made multiple large swings with the chained scythe which made Draxus strike it precisely to ensure he wouldn't get hit. But seeing Draxus won't be able make a finishing move, Serkyrio let out a comment. "Winning without leaving position against a middle ranged enemy will be very hard... Specially if he has no abilities that will be applied to mid-range." One person heard that and immediately asked Serkyrio about it. "What do you mean?" It was Matilda who heard Serkyrio's remark while they both watched Draxus getting attacked endlessly one-sided. "You see, without the use of magic, Draxus had developed his [Kingfisher Bladework Fantasia] right? I'm sure he is looking for a way to try and battle against a person with a chained sickle. However, it seems that to win, he either has to use a new bladework ability or leave the position." Matilda smiled while continuing to stare at Draxus. Serkyrio grinned a little and gave her a tiny warning. "Let me tell you this regarding Draxus. Sometimes, he will need somebody to stay by his side for the entire night. He's the one with the highest tendencies to go insane within the four of us so... Take care of him, alright?" Matilda turned her gaze to Serkyrio with surprise. "Draxus is...? No... Of course, I'll gladly take care of him." Serkyrio gave a further explanation to her while they watch Draxus finally defeat Keith. "You see, Draxus is kind to those he care for. That's why he gets mistreated, he used to love a person but he ended up getting tricked. He did everything for that one person but after the breakup, he was forcefully cast aside and replaced. In most days where he's alone at night, he would normally break... Sometimes asking things in the dark, including wishing for death... Eventually, he came to me to renew his resolve, but regardless of how much resolve he's filled up with, he now has a darkness residing inside him. Be sure to tell the others as well, because Draxus had lost way too many things before he got here. In fact, he's the one with the highest burdens on his mind and body even before he arrived to this world. And he still does have a lot now, he tends to overwork himself beyond the normal human capacity. So somebody has to hold his breaks." Serkyrio moved his gaze to the sky and continued explaining. Matilda didn't even notice that the other three girls were already listening. "That guy is really resilient. Despite all the pain he's been through, he stands up, whatever pain in his heart, mind, and body, and soul, that guy will face it and achieve victory in the end. You should be able to notice it Olivia." Olivia smiled and turned her gaze to Draxus. "Yeah, I'll be sure to assist him with his duties as his secretary." Staring at the battle, they saw Draxus being able to easily counter Jevil with his scythe. "Regardless though, if you hang around with him, you'll obviously see how caring he is to you four. Surely, you four have been saved by him at least once right?" The four girls remembered the events after Serkyrio mentioned the word [Saved]. "To face overwhelming odds just so he can see me smile... Against the hero's party in Quisterion..." Lily and Julie immediately remembered the level of violence Draxus brought out when he stopped the men from getting them in trouble with some adventurer group. "That violence, when we feel uncomfortable as people surround us..." And then Matilda who saw Draxus kill a thousand soldiers right in front of her. "To be against the world just for me..." The four girls smiled once again which got Serkyrio to make a light joke. "Be sure to accompany him in bed sometimes. Though sometimes you'll be seeing something amazing." Serkyrio was grinning as the four girls got a little confused. He then left the audience as Draxus finished the battle with Viceroy.

"Drax, wanna spar a bit?" Serkyrio walked towards Draxus who immediately heard him. "Ah, sure! With weapons?" Serkyrio brought out a wooden version of the three-sectioned staff. Draxus's eyebrows instantly twitched as he watched Serkyrio formed a stance with the staff on his hands. Draxus immediately dashed forward to perform a succession of strikes without stopping. All those attacks Draxus made were blocked skillfully as Serkyrio looked for a chance to counterattack. After a few more strikes, he forced Draxus back and held the staff at one end and swung it cleanly twice in a row. Draxus had to dash back to dodge the attacks which allowed Serkyrio to begin rotating the staff continuously at high speeds. This prevented Draxus from taking a risk and attack. He was forced to enter a defensive position and blocked the rotation a few times. The speed which the three-sectioned staff was rotating was too high that each block chipped the wooden sword by a little. "!!" Eventually, Serkyrio got a chance and swung the staff overhead for it to strike Draxus from above. He sidestepped and avoided the attack which allowed Serkyrio to pull back the staff and be spun around as he performed a follow-up by swinging it from the side. Draxus blocked the strike with both swords and finally allowed himself to move forward and attack. He then began muttering something which Serkyrio easily noticed. Using that opportunity that Draxus is attempting to use his [Bladework Fantasia] Serkyrio dashed forward and closed the position while locking his foot with a light step on it. He then stepped through Draxus and held both ends of the staff up and choke Draxus with it from behind. "Ghh!!" Without being able to counterattack, Draxus was completely lost in battle. Serkyrio let go of the choke using the staff and tapped Draxus's shoulder. "You had a good start, but as expected, you still don't know much about this weapon." Draxus let out a light laugh while expressing his thanks for the short lesson. After getting thanked, Serkyrio left Draxus and began looking for Remuel.

"That was a bizarre weapon, just how did he manage to use it quite well?" The four girls sat around near Draxus who was sitting down with dead fish eyes. "Cursed... Weapon..." The three girls who were accustomed to fighting were trying to analyze while Olivia was shaking Draxus. "There's no way you can analyze something like that with ease! Gahh!!!! I swear I need to find a way to deal with that weapon!" Draxus quickly recovered and immediately prepared himself for further training. He thanked Olivia for the wakeup call and asked whether she wants to watch until magic training. She agreed immediately which made Draxus drag Matilda, Lily, and Julie into the training grounds and began training with them three.