Reign of the Seven Spellblades – 10 – Triple Clash

The Sword Roses enjoy their first night of “camping” together by the fire in Katie’s workshop, unaware that three classmates are coming for them, each for their own reasons. Early the next morning Oliver is training Nanao in spellcraft with regular wands when the lesson is interrupted by a scream from Guy: Katie’s troll friend has arrived.

There’s nothing to fear; Marco is a good fellow, and any friends of Katie are friends to him. He even has a name: Marco. He also says Katie is always talking about Oliver, which embarrasses her. Vera, who is no longer their enemy, brought Marco to the workshop, accompanied by her severed demon hand, whom she’s given semi-consciousness. After she takes their leave, the Roses continue exploring with Marco backing them up.

This is when they’re confronted by Stacy Cornwallis and her attendant/knight, Fay Willock. She challenges Chela and another Rose to a tag-team duel. Chela and Nanao accept, but the battle expands when Joseph Albright shows up and agrees to join Stace’s team if he can fight the “samurai girl”. He calls Oliver a “nobody” and says he can be the Roses’ third fighter.

Albright leads everyone to a suitable battle ground in the second layer of the Labyrinth, which feels like outside takes the form of a magical forest. Nanao is excited to fight beside Chela for the first time, and Chela doesn’t disappoint, as Stacy doesn’t pose a huge threat.

While Fay is his initial opponent, Oliver hits him with a flash spell and fights Albright instead, leaving Fay to Nanao. The bottom line is that it pisses Oliver off that Albright insists on calling him a nobody; he’ll make him remember his name, even if it’s fake.

As he three fights progress we learn tidbits about Stace and Fay’s long history: she saved him from her father putting him out of his misery and took him in as a manservant. Because of this, he tells her she doesn’t need to hold back when it comes to ordering him around.

Stacy wants to beat Chela no matter what, so she conjures an artificial full moon, which is enough for Fay to transform into a werewolf. While this turns the tide of the battle, I have to say it feels an awful lot like cheating, especially the Team Sword Roses are keeping their troll on the sidelines.

Albright proves highly adept at anticipating and countering Oliver’s mostly-textbook tactics, but has no idea about the depth of Oliver’s talent and resourcefulness. He’s just a tank of a combat wizard, saved from instant defeat only because Oliver can’t show the true extent of his powers or reveal his Spellblade, lest he blow his cover.

Chela acknowledges Stacy as someone doing whatever it takes to win, but urges her to allow Fay to transform back. If he’s a student at Kimberly, it’s because he’s half-blood (full werewolves cannot attend), which means transforming puts him in a constant state of extreme pain.

This troubles Stacy, but Nanao tells Chela to curb her kindness in this instance. Both Fay and Stacy already knew what it would cost to be in the position they’re in, and were resolved to endure the pain. As such, it would be tremendously rude if they didn’t give their absolute all in this fight.

Chela admits Nanao is right, and withdraws her demand that Fay change back. She then assures Stacy and Fay that he won’t be in pain for long. I’m looking forward to seeing her take the kid gloves off!

Reign of the Seven Spellblades – 09 – A Second Heart, A Secret Base, and the Unforgettable Rose

After a detour to introduce Tullio Rossi, the focus returns to Pete’s new status as a Reversi. Oliver arrives home one night to find Pete in severe pain. He manages to correct his manaflow with a healing art, but warns Pete that he can’t keep his condition from the others forever.

He doesn’t, and tells everyone the next day, and unsurprisingly, everyone is not only fine, but incredibly supportive. I love these damn kids so much! Chela even demonstrates how women can use their wombs as a “second heart” to store vast quantities of mana. Pretty neat!

Whether Stacey Cornwallis makes use of her womb in this way in her duel with Pete, I don’t know, but one thing’s for certain: she has an axe to grind with Mister Reston. She didn’t like being shown up in her uncle Teddy’s class, and wants to beat him into submission.

And while she does dominate most of the match, Pete never gives up and keeps fighting to the end, almost scoring a hit when time runs out applying the training provided by Chela. Stacey resents her Chela siding with someone from a non-magical family, but even Tullio congratulates Pete for holding his own in the duel.

While hanging with her troll friend, Katie receives a scroll dropped from a crow familiar: to apologize for what she did to her, Vera Milligan is giving Katie her workshop on the first floor of the Labyrinth. Katie is super excited about the prospect of having a secret base, but Oliver and Michela are concerned.

Katie knows the Labyrinth is a dangerous place, but she has a dream of becoming a top researcher who can protect and support demi-humans. This is no lark; she’s serious about this, and one by one, everyone agrees to help her out, even Oliver…as long as they’re extra careful down there.

The group heads down to explore the Labyrinth together, and they come across butt-stabbing traps, strange creatures, a gourmet club that barbecues and eats said creatures, and a student who moonlights as an RPG-style food shop proprietor.

After buying some food for a little barbecue of their own, Katie finds the symbol on the wall indicating the concealed entrance, and opens it to reveal their new secret base, which she’s told is one of the better workshops on the first floor. The potential of the well-appointed space gets everyone excited.

They make a fire and cook their dinner in their new base, and it feels like camping, Chela in particular is extremely moved and emotional about how much fun she’s had and is having with her five new friends. So much so that she wants to give their group a name.

Nanao makes the first suggestion by having everyone cross their blades together in a circle. Called a “sword rose” where she’s from, it is a very powerful visual symbol of what a group of friends can achieve to hold on to the present, as warriors cannot think too much about the future.

Having made a new sword rose with her friends, Nanao nominates “Sword Roses” as the name of their coterie, which gets unanimous approval. It’s extremely adorable and endearing, so much so that I’m a little miffed that  the vibes are soured a bit after the end credits, when Stacey voices her intention to attack the Roses. That said, if this is a prelude to a Michela-focused storyline, I’m all for it.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades – 08 – A Bit of Cleverness

While they’re watching this world’s version of Quiddich, Oliver and his circle of friends are approached by fellow first-year Tullio Rossi. He doesn’t come off as evil or anything, but the tight bond the friends share, and the notoriety they’ve received so far…it just kinda pisses him off.

In sword arts class when he’s paired up with Pete for a duel, Tulio quickly exposes Pete’s offensive shortcomings, even going so far as to call him a “princess” who is always being bailed out by his stronger friends (though there’s no indication he knows Pete’s a Reversi).

Afterwards, a defiant Pete tells his friends that he wants to get better at sword arts. This causes Oliver and Chela to bicker over which fighting style they should teach him, and seem equally matched in their logic, so they agree to both teach him: Chela offense, Oliver defense.

While the friends have a meal in the dining hall, Tullio once again stirs the shit. He doesn’t like how Oliver & Co. get all the attention while everyone else gets left out, and declares it’s time to determine who the strongest first-year is. To that end, he sets up a tournament and calls for volunteers.

Nanao, Oliver, and Chela all agree to participate, as does Chela’s cousin Stacy. One Evelynn Odets, famous for talking fast, is the first to challenge Nanao. She’s supremely confident she can embarrass the Azian samurai, but she’s the one who ends up embarrassed, as Nanao easily redirects her spell with her sword.

After running Pete ragged with a sword arts training session (though there’s no further discussion of Pete’s Reversi status) Oliver receives an invitation to tea from Gwyn and Shannon via Miss Carste. On his way, he encounters Ophelie, but she isn’t interested in succubussing him, simply having a little chat.

We learn she was once friends with Alvin and Carlos, and she also issues a friendly warning for Oliver to stay out of the Labyrinth and keep his head down for the next couple months. I appreciated how “Lia” (as Shannon later calls her) isn’t just a sexy cartoon villain, but portrayed as an actual person here.

Oliver is greeted warmly by Gwyn and Shannon, who tell him he should consider the little hideout his home whenever he needs it. He tells them how much he’s come to care about Nanao, and Gwyn gently warns him not to let such a charismatic girl “change the very essence of who he is” by getting too close. After all, Noll has a lot more names on his list to take care of.

On Oliver’s way back to the dorms, he senses he’s being tailed and calls Tullio out. Tullio wants to prove which one of them is stronger once and for all, and it’s clear from the outset of their ensuing duel that Tullio plays dirty. He has to, because none of the three classic styles worked for him.

His creative self-made style leaves Oliver with a bloody nose and bruised face, but just when Tullio thinks he’s just getting started, Oliver calmly tells him he’ll defeat him in eight moves exactly…and proceeds to do just that. There’s nothing Tullio can do against Oliver’s mastery of by-the-book fighting.

That said, Oliver admits to the beaten Tullio that he’s always a little envious of anyone who is able to fight with their own talent, as opposed to the borrowed knowledge he’s amassed and practiced. That said, he warns Tullio that he’ll soon reach his limit if he relies on just his talents forever.

Miss Carste was watching the fight, as she emerges from the shadows to praise her “lord.” She draws close to him and says that his kindness is a sheath that can dull his raw power, and if killing her will sharpen his blade, she’s ready and willing to be his disposable whetstone. Oliver doesn’t play like that; he’s not going to use and discard her, or anyone else.

This interaction, which is the first time we get a good look at Teresa Carste (and learn just how into Oliver she is), takes place as the credits roll, followed by Tullio, still in the Labyrinth, being challenged by Joseph Albright. Will Oliver’s warning about Rossi’s talents only going so far prove prescient once again?