Little Witch Academia: The Ashen Knight (LWA x Dark Souls)

Appleton Academy

With one hard swing, I chopped off the upper torso of a makeshift dummy made out of bark and branches with my great axe. A clattering thud of wood rang out as I sighed softly. For the whole morning, I've been training and refining my technique with my new weapon. Still have a way to go, but I am enjoying the additional impact it brings.

But these wooden dummies were lacking. Ideally, fighting live foes would provide me a much better challenge and idea of how to fight properly with this axe. Maybe a little trip into the forest to hunt some ferocious beasts could help with that.

As I made my way back to the school grounds, I approached my home when I saw Akko and Amanda waiting outside of it. "Hey!" I shout loudly, grabbing their attention as I walked up to them. "Were you two seeking me out?"

"As a matter of fact, we are! We need your help!" Akko shouted back excitedly, while Amanda whistled at the sight of my axe.

"Woah, nice axe you got there! Think I can have a shot at swinging it around?" The fiery-haired girl asked, to which I chuckled in amusement.

"Sorry lass, perhaps some other time. Don't need to get either of us in trouble for letting you run around with a dangerous weapon." At that, she simply groaned in annoyance while crossing her arms.

"See what I mean, Akko? Even the Ashen One won't let me do anything cool around here..."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Getting back on track for a moment!" Akko suddenly exclaimed. "You're no stranger to finding stuff, right?"

"I've grown to have a knack for it. Why?" I asked, crossing my own arms after stowing my axe back onto my back.

"We've got a hint of where to find the Fifth word! According to Professor Ursula, it's related to tradition and history, and then Professor Croix told us that Appleton Academy is a prime location to find some ancient items!" The brunette explained with high hopes.

"I heard that school's got this item called the Holy Grail, overheard how it's pretty ancient. I suggested to Akko here that it probably holds the secret to uncovering the Fifth word." Amanda explained further.

"I see..." Well, needless to say, I was on my guard given the fact that it was Croix who suggested they go to this Appleton Academy. For all I knew, she had some kind of trap in store for them, or some underhanded tactic she wanted to pull. "Have you told Ursula about this?"

"Hell no! If we did, we'd get in trouble. We're doing this on the down low, no one else is supposed to know." Amanada quickly rebutted. At that response, I just let out a sigh.

"This may not be safe then. Maybe there's some other place you can check-"

"Please, please, please! It'll be really quick! We go there, find the grail, and get out!" Akko looks at me with pleading eyes while gripping my chestplate tightly and shaking rapidly. "No one will even know we were gone! Pleeeaaase!"

It really felt like she wasn't giving me a choice. That's when Amanda groaned again in frustration. "C'mon, Akko, let's just go ourselves! It's obvious he doesn't want to help out." Rudeness aside, the last thing I wanted was for either of them to get into danger.

"Hey, don't be putting words in my mouth." I grip Akko's arms gently and pry them off of me. "I'll come with."

"Thank you, Ashen One!" Akko grinned widely in appreciation, while Amanda smirked.

"That's more like it!"

"Just one issue. How do you expect us to enter this place without drawing attention? I stick out like a sore thumb."