It Seems Like I Got Transmigated Into An Eroge - Chapter 20 : Spirit Ceremony

The clash of two metallic swords reverberated throughout the enclosed room as Clara and I clashed our swords. And then, there’s Clara, who’s not moving an inch from where she’s standing while parrying every strike I attempt without even breaking a sweat—The difference between our strengths is like heaven and Earth. Even though she’s the one on the receiving end, she still manages to overpower me with ease.

Then I kicked off the ground to give myself some lift, shifting my weight into my upper body, and then swinging my sword downward, to which Clara parried it and hit me in the stomach with the hilt of her sword—I groaned in pain.

“Kuh—!”

Kneeling on the ground, clutching my stomach with a distorted facial expression, agonizing in pain—It has always been like this ever since I started training. The person who always ends up in pain every day is me. Master Irene hasn’t taught me anything sword-related other than what she instructed a year ago, which is swinging the sword, nor has she guided me in hand-to-hand combat. Clara was the one who taught me everything, not really; I learned by copying her. And what’s more, Clara has been taught by Master Irene, who is technically my senior.

I don’t have any problems with that, but all the things we did are sparring sessions. In all of those sessions, not a single time did Clara tell me what my mistakes are or what I should do with those mistakes. That’s why I’m having a hard time understanding the fundamentals of how to fight someone—heck, not even the basics. Like how to punch or kick properly. Also, I don’t know how to swing a sword properly, nor even the basic footwork. I learned all of that from the ground up—And learned by studying Clara’s movement in our sparring and trying to imitate it.

For real though, it’s hard to tell if I’m doing well or not if no one is pointing out my mistakes. Furthermore, the person who’s supposed to be teaching me doesn’t show up at all. Master Irene would stay in her office all day and would visit me every time she can—Mostly just to kiss me on the head. Like, she became my mother or something. I don’t know if she took me in for other purposes or if she really found something in me—I can’t tell.

Anyway, today is the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, which means I’ll be able to acquire my spirit today too. That’s why I’m quite excited today. I wonder what kind of spirit I will get?

But before all of that, after my encounter with Lily, I’m certain that the world I transmigrated to is the same world as the game, yet so different. I don’t even know if I want to meet the heroines anymore because of my last encounter. It was quite a scary experience. I almost died at that time; if it weren’t for luck, I would be gone right now.

After the sparring session, Clara dragged my body to my room, exactly to my bed, and then she left me alone.

“Uggh—! Why do I feel like Clara loves making me suffer? Like, come on, it’s my birthday, but does she really need to be that hard?”

I grunted as I walked myself to the bathroom to take a quick shower, as my body reeks of sweat. While going in, I removed all my clothes and saw my reflection in the mirror, where I could see myself naked. Throughout the months, my body gradually changed from skinny to muscular skinny. My muscle mass hasn’t grown yet, plus my body is still undergoing puberty.

Oh, please.

After taking a shower, I exited the bathroom and put on a faux leather hooded coat and sweatpants. Finally, I grabbed the mask that Master Irene had given me last time. As I took it, memories of the events that occurred while wearing this mask flooded my mind—it was a disaster.

Heading downstairs, I immediately spotted Clara and Master Irene in their suits, waiting for me. They would be accompanying me to the cathedral where the spirit ceremony would take place. The priest would guide the younglings in creating a contract, as their astral consciousness would be sent into the Aether for the contracting process to begin, similar to what happened when I was sent to the Void by Pix, if my conjecture was correct.

“Happy birthday, Claude,” Master Irene embraced me.

“Umph, thank you.”

Honestly, initially, I was extremely embarrassed by it, but I grew accustomed to it, and it became a regular occurrence in my daily life. Did I feel a surge of excitement every time the Master did it? Certainly, my hormonal glands went into overdrive every single time. I mean, who wouldn’t be affected? A curvaceous, beautiful woman was embracing you like that, and you wouldn’t be stirred? It wouldn’t be very manly if one wasn’t. In reality, I was gradually making advances on my Master, which was quite risky because one wrong move could spell the end for me—or maybe I was just overthinking it.

“Happy birthday, young master.”

“Thank you, Clara, but you could have gone easy on me earlier.”

“No can do, young master. It’s part of your training.”

“Right…”

Then Master Irene interrupted. “Anyway, Claude, here’s my gift for you.”

Master Irene handed me a sword, a fairly long and narrow, single-edged blade with a slight curve towards the point. The hilt was made of black leather, with a small diamond-shaped purple gem embedded in the upper part of the handle. She placed it in both of my hands, which surprised me because the pristine sharpness of the blade looked impressive. However, as I held it, I almost dropped it to the ground—I hadn’t expected it to be this heavy!

“What on earth is this?”

“It’s a sword made from meteor metal. Pretty cool, isn’t it?”

“Meteor metal? What’s that?! And why is it so heavy?”

“It’s a type of metal that originated from the heavens, making it one of the rarest metals to find due to the unique meteorite it came from—called the Assisi Meteorite. That’s why they refer to it as meteor metal.”

Why call it meteor metal when they could simply call it Assisi metal? That makes little sense to me.

After the explanation, my quintessence started emanating through my arms, making it easier for me to lift the sword. As I picked it up, I began to swing it through the air, and it surprisingly felt fantastic.

“Oh yeah, Claude. You can channel your quintessence into the blade to make it lighter and activate the runic gem embedded within the sword as well. Give it a try.”

“How?”

“Just imagine you’re pouring water on it, or like distributing your quintessence throughout your body.”

“I see… I’ll try.”

Focusing all my senses, I gathered all my quintessence and directed it toward the purple gem instead of concentrating solely on my arms. Eventually, the gem lit up brightly. After a moment, red lines appeared on the side of the black blade, along with hieroglyphics that I couldn’t read. Swinging the sword again, it felt lighter, almost like a feather. As I swung it, a smile blossomed on my face, reminiscent of a child with a new toy.

“This is so cool!”

“Hahaha, I’m glad you like it.”

“Yeah!”

“Happy birthday,” Master Irene said once again.

“Thank you!” And at that moment, overwhelmed with happiness, I took the initiative to embrace Master Irene on my own.

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Then we arrived at the Polycarp Cathedral, we tNext, we arrived at the Polycarp Cathedral, having taken a carriage there. The area was bustling with families escorting their children for their spirit ceremonies, a highly celebrated event. Master Irene’s face was widely recognized due to her holding one of the most prestigious titles in the world—being a Saint.

Some of the people looked at me with confusion, likely wondering why I was beside her—or more precisely, why I was carrying an unusually long sword that was even taller than me, and swinging it around. As a result, I received a scolding from Clara and a light smack on the head. She then handed me the sheath for the sword, and I obediently complied.

Soon after, the enormous wooden doors of the cathedral swung open heavily, revealing to us the magnificent architectural wonder within, a sacred religious ground for people around the globe. Truth be told, I had never before entered a cathedral, let alone seen one, making this my inaugural experience.

The cathedral was a vast basilica with grand assembly halls. The halls were long, aisle-lined, and bathed in light from large clerestory windows. Mosaic and inlay designs—often abstract and floral patterns—adorned the floors and walls. Surrounding the cathedral was lush greenery, a landscape of flowers and trees, lending a sense of unity to the environment.

As the doors opened, a female figure clad in a white cloak, presumably the priest, stood before us, holding a pectoral cross-staff in her left hand.

“Good afternoon, everyone. The Spirit Ceremony will take place inside the cathedral. Please follow my lead. Thank you.” She then bowed her head slightly.