Chapter 19: Coincidences

Chapter 19: Coincidences

We just buy simple food and ingredients from the current open shops and leave, there's not much else to do. We gave our goodbyes to the griffin spirit in our backyard and it chirped sadly.

Lina is very depressed, going from losing her master to falling for me and then nearly losing me must be getting to her. I spend the trip hugging her and kissing her neck and hands.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be making you worry about me like this," she says.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, I got overconfident."

"You are both sorry and that's it," Alissa interjects, I think she's getting jealous right now.

I gotta give them all attention, we are all needy after facing terror.

When the road looks clear we land behind a tree and I mark it as a "coordinate" for [Gate].

We reach the Ant Hill pretty fast and in much more comfort than last time.

I put my skills like this:

Wolf Ryder Skill ReportPhysicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSword Use9+6 Dodge 5+5Parry5+5 Block2+8Shield Bash0+1Muscle Explosion0+1Battlefield Perception2+1 MagicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSense Mana2+5Mana Control0+7Mana Recovery7+0Mana Efficiency2+5Reduced Mana Cost7+0Mana Overuse Resistance0+3Electric Magic7+8Earth Magic0+2Light Magic6+4 Nature Magic7+13 Space Magic14+16Summoning Magic11+9Blessing Magic0+14Illusion Magic0+2Golemancy0+2 Redirect Mana (creator)3Sense Soul (creator)2 MiscellaneousSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelAndraste Language9+1Dismantling 0+2Enhanced Semen Recharge0+3OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)

I feel safer when my skills are properly distributed again.

Everyone except Lina puts a Ring of the Servant, it's a ring that blocks experience gain and gives it all to the one without a ring. It's used by nobles for training but we will use it to power"level Lina, she's currently the weakest and can't properly fight beside us.

I summon a spirit elemental, a light elemental and a fire elemental. The spirit elemental is invisible if you don't have [Spirit Magic], you can only sense the mana if you get too close. It's good for scouting, we will tell it to keep behind us a good distance away and warn if there's anyone following us. The light elemental is a shining outline of a curvy woman, it will give us light and it has a positive mental effect on all of us, something we are in need. The fire elemental will walk in front burning all webs.

"Why are they all women?" Asks Ciel while frowning towards my light elemental.

"Don't you see any similarities?" Asks Alissa.

"To whom?" Ciel frowns harder.

"Well, you?"

Ciel takes a few seconds, then she opens her eyes wide and blushes a bit.

"Now that we are talking about it, why are my elementals women? They come like this when I don't put any effort into changing them."

"T-the elementals search the heart of the master for something to copy. They look for someone they... hold deep in their heart," Ciel says bashfully.

I smile and kiss her lightly. Lina looks at me with expectancy, I summon a small earth elemental and she covers her face with her hands.

"Hahahah, well, it's not that different from you, it's you know, flat," Roxanne says and pulls her tongue.

Lina groans and Alissa pats her back. Ciel is glaring at Roxanne who hides behind Hana.

I go to Lina and grab her hand.

"Remember, flat is justice," Then I kiss her.

The trip is rather calm. The Giant Tarantulas are no match for any of our group. My shield hand still hurts so I hang back.

We reach the Arachne territory and Alissa tenses up. I put all our extra points into [Mental Resistance].

"I hate this smell. I know it's not poison but it messes up with my smelling ability, again I won't be able to tell if we get poisoned," Alissa says, frowning.

"Ciel, use [Diagnosis] on us every 10 or so minutes," I say.

She nods.

Aoi seems quite content, I thought she would be more afraid but she's very comfortable on Roxanne's shoulders. She even dared walk beside us until she got tired. She tried to fire a fireball into a spider but the spider was too agile to hit, but it's good to know she can give a small help in a pinch.

"There's something... odd," Alissa frowns.

"Oh, what is it?"

"Well, I'm feeling some 'flashes' with [Sense Presence], as if pieces of souls are moving near us."

"Hm... you are poisoned, it's a weak confusion," Ciel says.

"Well then, it's another mind poison, right?" I grin.

"Yeah, it's not affecting her body, only her mind," Ciel lifts an eyebrow.

Roxanne smiles, she grabs Hana and they both kiss deeply. Alissa flinches and smiles, she remembers.

A mere kiss won't do, to break any mind poison I have to pour my feelings into it.

I grab Alissa by the waist and pull her. I kiss her and pour my love, my trust, my happiness for having her always beside me. I grab the back of her head and comb my fingers through her silky hair.

When we break Ciel and Lina are lightly blushing and staring blankly.

"Mind poison can be broken by the passion of love!" I spread my arms wide and pull Ciel.

I do the same for her, I feel the squishiness of her body through her armor and remember all her delicious spots, her tight hug, her kind eyes, her sweet voice. I feel calm in her arms.

I break the kiss and grab a fidgeting Lina and kiss her too. Her cute demeanor, her endless curiosity, her dedication to me, her innocent soul. All I want is to hug her and keep her safe.

Once I finish I notice Roxanne is still kissing Hana. Roxanne is desperately trying to undo her armor, her robe is already on the ground.

"Uh, Roxanne...?" I ask.

"W-what?" She asks and immediately goes back to kissing.

"What are you doing? Now is not the time."

I grab her and pull her away. Hana sends me puppy eyes wanting more and Roxanne glares at me.

"You okay?" I ask.

She turns her head away and starts fidgeting.

"Well she, uh, is still poisoned, it's medium arousal," Ciel says.

"What? No, can't it be just normal arousal? Does it means I'm poisoned?" Roxanne says, discreetly rubbing her legs on each other.

"Well, sorry Roxanne," I say.

A shining hand touches Roxanne's shoulder and she stops fidgeting, her anxious face turns into one of displeasure.

"Noo, this feels so frustrating," she drops down her head.

"Well, having an orgy in the middle of the Arachne territory isn-..."

I get interrupted by an unpleasant feeling. I draw my sword.

"The spirit elemental is dead, something is coming."

Everyone gets ready for combat immediately, Roxanne lets out a long sigh.

I stare at the tunnel and wait for it to come. I hear nothing.

I hear my breath, it's slowly becoming heavier in anticipation. Adrenaline runs through my body. I feel my muscles creak as I hold my sword harder. The tension brings fatigue, my body is still weary.

It's tiring to keep my head up, I will just look with the corner of my eyes. My posture is hurting my back, I will just hunch a little, it will be easier to stay like this. I look down, my head is too heavy to keep up, I gotta save energy. I feel sleepy.

A shining hand touches my shoulder and I feel the pleasant sensation of mana coursing through my body.

I look up and see Hana defending a strike from an Arachne. It's a giant spider with the upper body of a woman on its head, on a normal posture it's around 2 meters tall, this one is bigger, nearly 3 meters. This one's spider body is black while the human body is sickly white and full of blue veins with disheveled black hair.

Holy shit I think this was a spell similar to [Illusion Magic]'s level 15 spell [Pacify], how terrifying that I never felt it coming.

Alissa hits two arrows on the Arachne's human chest. Ciel keeps in front of me while I recover my senses. Lina is beside Hana, she crushed a spider leg. Hana is countering a blow from a very pointy spider leg, she opens a long cut on the Arachne's body. Roxanne is gathering mana and besides her Aoi is staring at me, I feel her worry.

I feel the Arachne gathering mana. I charge a bit and release [Lightning Bolt] at the same time the fire elemental and Roxanne lets out [Fireball]. The Arachne stops and convulses for a moment, it gets hit square in the exposed and well-endowed chest. Both breasts explode, opening a large wound.

"HIREEEEE!"

The Arachne recoils in pain and covers her eyes from the explosion. Hana takes the opportunity and charges with her wings, she decapitates the Arachne, which falls limp on the floor. That's how a sword fight goes, you look away from a second and you say goodbye to having a head on your shoulders.

Lina falls down on the ground and starts crying.

"Masteer! Don't leave me~!"

"Awn, she just fell for an illusion too. It seems to be a strong nightmare," Ciel says.

A shining woman hugs Lina from behind and she slowly stops crying. Her eyes regain focus and she looks at us confused.

"What? You are back! Wait, where's the Arachne?" She asks, her eyes blinking repeatedly.

"It's dead, she cast an illusion on you just before she died," I say, rubbing her hand.

"Oh... that's good... what I saw was..." She looks with a pained face, tears still on the corner of her eyes.

I interrupt her and give her a kiss. She stiffens and I give a few more all over her face until she giggles.

After she recovers her composure the light elemental releases her and we move on. I summon another spirit elemental.

"So, I think that one was really powerful, well magically, not physically. It didn't expect us to all have resistance, otherwise it wouldn't have attacked," Ciel says.

"Yeah, I was a bit surprised that me, Lina, and Roxanne had the worst with these illusions and poisons," I say.

"You three have the lowest 'Sanity', that makes you all more vulnerable," Ciel says.

Roxanne sighs again. She must still be feeling frustrated.

We don't have another encounter with an Arachne, it seems our party size makes them wary of us and the last one who we met severely underestimated us.

With the elemental we are ahead of schedule, we reach the mole territory and have lunch. Sandwiches and some hot tea do just fine here, you don't want to spend a long time eating on these dusty and oppressive brown tunnels, it is seriously depressing and sours the mood of the meal.

After lunch, Alissa goes to work. With her warbow, she just one-shots every mole, their thick skulls are now useless to the penetrating power of an enchanted bow.

Not long and we reach the springs.

"Ah! How I have not missed this stuffy and moist atmosphere," Roxanne jokes, taking a deep breath.

"If it weren't for the little devils around here I think it could be a bit comfy," I say.

It's not so stuffy, at least not for the almost hermit me.

The girls frown at me, except Lina who grabs my hand and nods with happiness. Aoi seems displeased at the wetness of the ground and decides to stop walking beside us.

I dismiss the fire elemental and bring a lead earth elemental. He will strut in front of us, stepping on all traps and simply ignoring everything. Aoi loved the elemental and decides to nest on top of its flat and hairy head.

When we reach the stairs Hana grabs me like a princess and we jump down. With her wings, she slows the fall and we safely touch the ground. Then I open a [Gate] for the other girls and the elemental struts through the stairs. A vine trap grabs its leg and then snaps while the elemental continues as if nothing happened.

I drink an average MP potion so I can use [Gate] more times.

Floor 2. 1 Stalker, dispatched by Alissa.

Floor 3. Multiple bear traps latch on the elemental, they just scratch his feet before being crushed and falling off.

Floor 4. 1 Stalker appears and Roxanne wants to try something.

She gathers mana, she stretches her hand forward and points her staff. She makes gestures with her hand as if she's trying to crush something. She's not chanting.

With a crackling noise, a small ice stake grows out of nothing. I feel Roxanne's mana is coursing a few centimeters outside her body, this is not normal. Roxanne relaxes and the stake flies towards the stalker, I hear a thud in the distance.

"Nice aim and you didn't even chant," I say.

"Thanks. Yeah, I understand now how the system works, how that 'itch' you explained can be 'scratched'. I never felt it before you put the points for me, I still feel the urge to chant but if I hold it in I can cast it without chanting and I still have control over it. [Ice Lance] is very mana intensive but with some effort this time it cost me 3/4th of the normal," Roxanne says, she seems very proud of herself.

"This 'itch' might be the reason I can 'expand' my soul, see if you can move whatever is inside you like you moved a muscle or a finger to try and 'scratch' that 'itch'. But try to do it when you are lacking mana otherwise it doesn't work properly. Maybe you can learn [Redirect Mana]."

"I see, I will try it," Roxanne says with a happy nod.

"I also felt your mana coursing outside your body, is this an enchantment?"

"My robe has a [Mana Control] enchantment that improves it a bit."

Lina's Trivia: mana boosting enchantments flow better on loose clothing than on metals or stiff leather, other enchantments work the opposite. Mana has to flow and harmonize, loose clothing allows the robes to flow where they are needed and aid mana flow. Chanting works similarly, it harmonizes the mana inside us and prevents it from running wild. The other enchantments have to control mana in a very specific way to form the spell required, which is why gems are more useful than metals, their crystalline structure guarantees a specific behavior.

Floor 5. The puddles of water are bubbling and releasing noxious fumes. I put [Poison Resistance] on everybody and we just stroll through. With Ciel and Roxanne's potions, it would be quite simple even without the Resistance. Only certain puddles aren't bubbling so I guess we would need to go around these if we wanted to not get poisoned. Thanks, skill system, it's basically cheating.

Floor 6. A stalker is following us from too far, can't really get an angle for a shot. I summon a german shepherd dog and sic him on the stalker. After a minute or so I hear a death scream. The doggy latched on the neck of the Spriggan and snapped it. I tell him to pant and wag his tail and everyone gives him a pat.

The lead elemental steps on a crumbling floor and gets stuck on the floor. He manages to look adorable as his huge leg dangles from the stairs.

Floor 7. We enter a suspicious corridor.

"Go past the corridor and torment any monster on the other side," I tell the spirit elemental.

It goes through the wall and I get glimpses of mechanisms as I share my vision with it. Yep, it's that godsdamned trap again.

"I could go ahead and kill whatever is in the other end, this corridor is nothing for my flight," says Hana.

"There are other traps in this corridor, better not risk it. If anything happens I will use [Gate] to send us back here, understood?"

Hana shrugs.Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

A few seconds later we hear a painful scream. I share my vision and see the spirit is hurting the soul of a Spriggan.

"Hihihih," Roxanne giggles evilly. She coughs and recomposes herself.

With Alissa in front, we dodge all traps. On the other side, the Spriggan is rolling on the floor screaming in pain, these monsters are completely vulnerable to magic.

"You know what. Hana, can you tie him up?"

"Oh, I see. Lemme try something," she grins.

Hana first ties his hands and legs then she gets a very long rope and makes some very odd patterns with it. Once she's done it looks like the Spriggan is using a harness made of rope, it leaves him with very little mobility.

"Hana... Where did you learn this?" I ask.

"That's uh... a book my mom had, there were some very interesting... illustrations," she looks away."

Me, Ciel, and Alissa massage our eyes while Lina looks confused and Roxanne shivers.

The lead elemental carries the tied up monsters as it struggles to break free. I can hear it cry, though I'm not sure if it's from the pain or humiliation.

Floor 8. Alissa noticed the Spriggans come near every once in a while just to run away soon after. It seems they got the message and know what will happen if they get close, capturing a Spriggan was the best idea I ever had.

Floor 9. The Spriggan stopped crying but it's now fidgeting weirdly.

Floor 10. The floor is filled with traps, now that the elemental is carrying the prisoner we use random rocks we had collected to set off the traps. Instead of blowing they cast a spell, either a water blade or an earth spike attacks whoever steps on it. We waste a lot of time on this floor.

Floor 11. It's the floor full of vines. We keep the lead elemental in front but it gets slowed down by the number of vines, though it made things easier for us.

Floor 12. I just can't ignore the way the Spriggan is acting.

"By the Gods don't tell me he's... aroused?"I ask.

"T-this pattern the rope is supposed to... rub the crotch, ass, and nipples..." Hana says, she fidgets and looks away.

"Put it on the ground," I order the elemental.

I cut one of the ropes that's limiting its movement the most.

"Let's go," I say.

Nobody says anything.

Floor 13. There's heavy mist on this floor. We tie a rope to all of us and walk slowly.

"Wolf, put all my points into [Wind Magic], at level 20 I can use [Wind Storm], it should clear the mist if I put some effort into it, though I won't be able to attack."

"Good idea. In case we get attacked release the rope connecting us and surround Ciel and Roxanne."

We slowly walk through the floor but nothing happens. When we reach the stairs they turn into a slide and gush water like last time. The elemental slips and slides down, he crashes into the spear trap at the ground and crushes them all.

I touch the elemental and send a bit of mana, with this all the scratches and light penetrations get cleaned up.

"Boy, am I glad you have [Gate]," says Hana.

"It's almost a cheat," I say.

"Well, it is," Ciel says.

I shrug.

Floor 14. The mist continues, it gets even heavier, I can barely see a meter in front of me.

"This is bad," I say.

"It is. Eight are coming, we are surrounded!" Alissa yells.

The girls huddle up on the elemental. Ciel starts gathering mana.

"You know what, Hana, spread your fire around us," I say.

She inhales, "FOO~M!" The fire spreads. I hear screams of pain.

"[Wind Storm]!"

A strong wind makes it difficult to stand, at least we aren't being cut up to pieces like [Wind Storm] is supposed to work. The mist clears up around us and we see 4 Spriggans on fire and rolling on the ground in pain. The other 4 are frozen, watching their allies burn to death.

"You guys seriously don't remember me?" I ask.

One of the Spriggans runs away.

"I will use your bark to smoke my meat!" Hana taunts.

The 3 remaining Spriggrans charge and scream.

The wind elemental waves its hand at a harpy, it starts to struggle to move. I cast [Gravity Crush] on it. Now the harpy is basically locked in place, it shrieks as its bones creak and crack. An arrow ends the shriek and I stop the spell. 9 to go.

[Gravity Crush] is useful but due to the nature of acting directly on another living being's body, it's rather mana intensive.

Hana fires a last arrow and hits the gut of a harpy. It shrieks and has trouble moving, Alissa finishes it off with an arrow on the throat. 8 to go.

"[Wind Storm]!"

3 Harpies get nearly cut to shreds inside of it. They survive but they won't be much help on the battle.

One wounded harpy gets a [Fire Arrow] to the face and dies. 7 to go, 2 are wounded.

The harpies are close. Hana drops her bow and grabs her shield and spear.

"[Ice Lance]!"

A harpy gets a large hole on its chest and coughs blood, slowly it falls towards the mist. 6 to go, 2 wounded.

A harpy gets an arrow to the face. 5 to go, 2 wounded.

Another harpy gets caught by my elemental, another [Gravity Crush] and it receives a [Wind Blade] to the face. 4 to go, 2 wounded.

A harpy tries to dive on Hana, she blocks the claws and tries to riposte. The harpy contorts its body and avoids the spear, receiving only a slight cut on the flank.

A harpy tries to dive on Lina, I feel the mana coursing through her body and she defends against the claws as if it were nothing. On her riposte, she swings her hammer wildly and it catches a retreating claw, which gets shattered. The harpy shrieks.

An arrow kills a wounded harpy. 3 to go, 1 wounded.

Aoi fires a fireball at the harpy that tried to hit Hana. One wing gets singed and the harpy gets distracted, receiving a small [Wind Blade] to the chest, it struggles to recover. 3 to go, 2 wounded.

"Needlers!" Alissa yells.

I look into the distance and see 3 harpies are approaching fast. They have small feathers floating around it.

I cast [Lightning Bolt] on a harpy. It struggles to maintain flight and gets a [Fire Arrow] on the wing. It flails about trying to put it out. 3 to go, all wounded, 3 Needlers.

"Incoming!" Hana yells.

I feel a hint of mana on the distance. I pull my shield up and Alissa hides behind me.

Multiple clinks of something solid hitting metal can be heard. I feel a few hit my legs that aren't fully covered but the scale armor holds.

A harpy screams just as the sounds stop. Hana perfectly skewered a harpy that tried to attack as soon as the barrage ended. She swings the spear and smashes the harpy on the bridge. Aoi inhales deeply and fires a fireball at the struggling harpy, its neck explodes. In a few seconds it passes out due to bleeding. 2 to go, 2 wounded, 3 Needlers.

Alissa fires an arrow and gets the harpy with the [Fire Arrow] on the wing. 1 to go, 3 Needlers.

The last harpy charges at Lina again. I cast [Lightning Bolt] and it convulses, failing to retreat in time. Lina swings her hammer sideways, it connects with the harpy and it gets thrown into the bridge. Ciel jumps into it and pierces the heart of the harpy, it struggles for a few seconds and goes limp. 3 Needlers to go.

"Incoming!" Hana yells again.

I feel the slight mana gathering and raise my shield again.

"Elemental! Hold them all in place once the barrage is over!" I order.

I hear an ethereal grunt in response.

The clinking stops and I cast [Gravity Crush] on all harpies. To cast area magic you have to focus on a point in space and unleash your mana towards that point. Casting in the middle of the air is really difficult due to depth perception but since they are clumping I just cast it on the middle harpy.

I pull all my effort into keeping them in place. "Willpower" does wonders for these types of spells.

"[Wind Storm]!"

The harpies get cut up and blood flows off them, the blood swims in the air and slowly the tornado gets tinged red. The harpies shriek and they gradually lower the volume. Soon the Needlers turn silent.

Unfortunately, we can't recover the bodies or the proof's from the harpies, Needlers can give some good money. We end our spells and sit down on the ground. I grab Ciel's hand and give it a kiss, she shakes her head but I see her smile.

After an MP potion and some meditation, we are ready to go again. I recall the elemental.

"You know, I think I can understand how your [Redirect Mana] works. Though I think it will take some good amount of effort to actually get it to work," Ciel says.

"Well yeah, I would be depre-... impressed if you managed to get it so easily. I did get it after a life or death situation," I say.

"You better put some effort to get it. It's what saved my life," Roxanne says and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"A mage that can regenerate mana at will is almost cheating," Alissa says.

"Good thing some of his cheats are rubbing off on us," Ciel smiles.

"It's still not so easy to do it," I say.

"It's still an unfair advantage no one else has," Ciel replies and shows me her tongue.

We finally reach the end of the bridge. This town is called Mons Meridien. The mountaintop is circular so the town is divided into circular layers, we are at the middle layer. The same overgrown ruins full of partially destroyed concrete buildings, arches, and domes, with overuse of columns. There's also ivies, vines, and moss covering any still-standing wall, tall grass everywhere that's not a paved road, pieces of rubble spread all over. A few not-olive trees on a garden or other.

We walk down the steps, the only sound is the rustling of leaves and our footsteps. This floor is not very popular due to the harpies and the height.

"I hear snoring," Alissa says.

"Can you go check? Don't fight it, please," I say.

"Yees," she smiles and goes off.

She takes a minute and silently comes back. If I wasn't looking she could easily sneak on all of us.

"It's a minotaur, female. Thankfully it's wearing a dress."

"Still sleeping?"

"Yes."

"Then I have an idea."

We get closer, trying not to make any noise. It's starting to get misty. On a plaza I see a pile of rubble has two horns protruding out of it, the pile rises and lowers, if I concentrate I can hear it snoring.

I put 5 points in [Throw].

"Well then, here goes nothing."

I cast [Summon Elemental]. Instead of making it appear instantly beside me I use the traditional way of creating a small ball of light. I pick this ball and throw it into the rubble.

When the ball touches the rubble a large lead elemental appears and hugs the sleeping minotaur.

"MOOOOO~!" It yells, trying to break free.

"RAAA!" Hana yells, she charges forward with her emerald wings open wide.

Hana falls beside the struggling minotaur and does an overhead slash with both hands. The minotaur tries to dodge but there's no room, all it does is that instead of being decapitated its neck gets cut halfway.

In less than a minute the minotaur passes out. We just wait a little more and Alissa confirms the kill.

"A cheat as always," Ciel sighs.

"Oh? We got another one," Alissa says.

Here comes the problem with this town. It's too small, other minotaurs might end up hearing the sounds of battle in this quiet town.

The lead elemental awkwardly gets up and stands in front. Out of the mist, a male minotaur appears, it's wearing a ripped, filthy shirt and a filthy loincloth.

"Thank the Gods," I pray.

"The bulge is still visible," Hana says.

Ciel shudders.

The minotaur pierces its horns into the chest of the elemental. I feel the metal bent slightly.

For this, he receives an arrow to the chest, a [Water Blade] to the flank, a [Wind Blade] to the belly, a hammer on the right knee, and a spear to the left thigh.

It pushes the elemental away and I cast [Earth Bullet] on its chest. The air goes out of its lungs and it staggers back. It raises its head and an arrow pierces the eye.

"MUOOOOH!" It roars again and jumps back. Alissa clicks her tongue, she's not using the warbow.

Hana drops her spear and charges with her sword, she slashes towards the neck and the minotaur defends with his arms. Hana jerks her sword and the blade slides through the arms instead of getting stuck midway.

Lina swipes sideways at its legs and it's forced on its knees. Blood pours through all its wounds, yet it finds the strength to swipe at Hana, sending her flying backward. She uses her wings to stabilize in the air and lands gracefully.

"Lina! Come back!" I yell.

Lina turns and runs as awkwardly and adorably as a dwarf can. Her face is pale, she does not want to be swiped at by this minotaur.

I charge the biggest [Earth Bullet] that I can. The minotaur stands up.

"[Wind Blade]!"

"[Water Blade]!"

I let out my spell at the same time an arrow pierces its throat. He is hit in the face with a rock, and a deep wound on its chest opens from both spell blades. It falls backward, unconscious.

Hana joins us in the front and the elemental awkwardly gets up again. We wait a minute or so and it dies from blood loss. I recall the elemental.

"Catching it by surprise really does make things easy," I say.

"What, you thought this was hard? I was thinking we barely have a challenge here," Hana says and grins.

"Don't start..."

She laughs.

We continue our way down, the town slowly disappears into the mist and we plunge into near darkness. Our path that is circling around the mountain edge ends and we find a small door on the wall. We open it and it's the stairs down.

We reach the 9th floor.

This floor is kind of bad, it's called Tower of Melancholy, for the sake of our minds it's best we don't spend much time here. This whole dungeon floor is a single tower full of holes and crumbling ground, broken furniture all over making it difficult to walk, cobwebs make it horrifying to move, dust everywhere makes it difficult to breathe. It follows the same architectural style as the other floors, coupled with even more ominous skeletons around, including those of children. Outside there's only white mist. There's no known ground floor.

We all cast [Spirit Light]. Lina is even more scared on this floor.

I summon a nature elemental. It's a dryad, a green woman with moss-like skin, leaves for hair, and bark instead of nails or teeth. Thankfully she wears a modest ivy dress. The nature spirit is light, so she won't crumble the floor like an earth elemental and she has enough physical strength to help with combat.

We move out and start exploring. There are no maps of this dungeon floor, the floors are thought to be infinite and so there are only incomplete maps available. Also, a single floor is the size of a village, making you waste time until you realize where you are.

We spend a good amount of time mapping the floor so we don't get lost. Fortunately, Ciel is good at drawings, so she and Roxanne work on that.

"I got something. Seems like it has a bit of knowledge in [Hide Presence]," Alissa says.

We enter a room and our lights reflect on the eyes of a monster, a Shadow Satyr. Satyrs are humans with horse ears and horse legs, the shadow version is a monster that is eerily and completely black, it has a straight, featureless face. It wields a very curved scimitar, almost a crescent. It can cast bullets of darkness that hurt like a bitch. This is supposedly a rare monster, we are just that lucky.

I immediately cast [Lighting Bolt] and it dodges, no it teleports sideways.

"Motherfuc-..."

It charges Lina.

An arrow flies and it dodges, I feel Alissa's anger. Roxanne lets out a weak [Fire Arrow], it singes his hair and embers fly. Hana slashes towards it and it dodges but it stops the charge. The elemental times the opening perfectly and manages to grab it with a vine.

The satyr jumps around, trying to get free but it's not strong enough. It slashes the vines only to get its arm grabbed. The elemental pulls him and he falls on the ground, an arrow pierces his arm and it drops the scimitar.

It decides to jump towards the elemental and scratch at its face. The elemental screams and turns into vines, entangling him more. Hana charges and slashes sideways cutting the satyr in half by the waist.

In the middle of the air, it fires a small dark bullet towards Lina. I extend my arm and block it with my shield.

"AAAAARGH!"

I feel like my arm is crushed. I instinctively cast [Heal] but nothing happens. Lina grabs my arm and looks at me horrified.

"Wolfy... why would you do such a thing..." Lina mutters to me.

"Well, I don't know..." I wince in pain, "I just thought it would be better... if I felt the pain... instead of you."

The pain pulses but with each pulse it reduces. I feel a light chop on my head.

"Wolfy, that's rude, Lina isn't so weak she can't handle some pain," Alissa says to me, reproachfully.

I feel another chop on my head, this time it's Lina.

"Alright, I get it."

Just our luck, the stairs are in this room. After healing the elemental we move on.

We reach the 10th floor.

Once in a while you get filled with excitement and wonder at what a dungeon can show you, this is the prize explorers are looking for. This floor is a sky archipelago, floating islands in the middle of the sky, just like the sky lands of the chimeras. This floor is called Proud Memory.

We are at grassland at the edge of an island, there's only a wooden fence between us and the infinite blue. There's no ground, there's only a blue abyss below us.

Lina's Trivia: The sky lands are camouflaged magically. An ancient spell that was given to them possibly by the first emperor as a token of friendship. Anyone who looks towards the sky lands sees nothing, they are invisible. Anyone on a sky land who looks down only sees the infinite blue, they don't see land until they leave the spell's influence.

Around us, we see a grassland with a few pink willows and at the distance, there are white and black marble ruins. The other islands follow a similar pattern, there are dozens around us, above or below. We see from above a few have lakes with fish that we could eat. Above, we see the green crystals bellow the island that glows harmonically, they keep the islands afloat. White clouds once in a while pass through an island.

A few wooden bridges and spiral stairs connect the islands. On these bridges we can see the Marker Kites, they are long squares of very light cloth where each corner is tied to a long, light rope. These markers than are left to fly about, most keep upwards as the wind normally comes from below. If you see one of these markers flailing about you have to stay away, a rogue gust of wind is passing through and you don't want to be hit by it while you are vulnerable near the edge of the blue abyss.

Ciel runs up to the fence.

"Wow..." It escapes her lips.

"Hatara would love to come here," Alissa says, coming up beside Ciel.

I grab Lina's hand and lead her to the fence, I feel her hand tremble.

"Hold my hand tight, I will keep you safe."

She nods and squeezes tighter. A few steps more and her trembling reduces a bit.

We stare at the blue sky for a few minutes. It feels odd that there's no sun here but the beauty of the environment is entrancing.

I look behind us. In the middle of the island, there is a 3 story building with a cupola and a small tower on the top.

"Let's go there, we can locate ourselves better on top of that building," I say.

As we walk I feel an itch on my head. It's somehow similar to the "itch", of using magic, it's just stronger and makes me want to scratch it immediately. I squirm, trying to scratch it.

Alissa jumps to my side and slashes near my shoulder with the scabbard of her sword. I look to where she tried to strike, a Plom floats about, Alissa tries to strike it again but it slips away and creates some distance from us.

Alissa sighs and puts her scabbard back in place. Ploms are magical animals that feed on mana, they sneak on you and slowly suck your mana. They are nearly impossible to kill due to how easily they manipulate the air around them and slip away from any attack.

"I'm surprised it could bypass your [Sense Presence]," I say.

"It didn't, it just has such a small presence I didn't notice it. It's smaller than a mouse."

"There are Ploms on Maoka. Annoying little creatures, adorable, but annoying," Roxanne says.

She passes us by and I swat a Plom on her back. It slips from my attack, my hand only manages to brush at its fluffy fur. Roxanne groans.

"My... mana... 1/5th is gone!" She cries.

"I'll pay more attention to them," Alissa says, with pitying eyes.

"Pleeease!"

As we get closer to the building we reach a small group of marble houses.

"There's something weird in there," Alissa says.

"Living Armors. The satyrs only appear in dark places," I answer.

Lina's Trivia: Living Armors are suits of armor that got possessed by spirits, somewhat similar to a nature spirit. Living Armors are generally found in battlefields or tombs, which means their personalities are aggressive or territorial. They give no proof of extermination and their metal is of poor quality, but if you can capture one the hunters guild pays a good price for them, depending on their form. They work well for sparring since you can control their aggressiveness with [Spirit Magic].

"There's four, they are patrolling the front of the building."

"We could go around but let's go fight them and see how we do," I say.

We pass by the houses and enter a courtyard, the Armors are walking side by side through this courtyard and stop when they see us. They are ethereal humanoids without any features. Their armor is a hauberk with a metal plate cuirass on top, greaves, sabatons, metal pauldrons, vambraces, gauntlets, a bevor, and a sallet.

Though they would look imposing with so much metal, it's nearly all rusted and decaying. Their longswords look a little better.

They charge towards us. We'll do a melee test, Alissa, Roxanne, and Aoi will do nothing unless necessary.

I ready myself. My Armor does an overhead slash, such a telegraphed attack is easily dodged and deflected by my shield. I slash sideways and destroy the armor on the left arm. As a combo, I slash again and destroy a part of armor on the chest.

Hana takes the charge and ripostes towards his belly. The sword easily slides in and the Armor winces, somehow their spirits can be harmed physically.

Ciel parries the attack while stepping back and digs her glaive on the Armor's shoulder. With a bit of a yank, she removes the glaive and parries the next attack.

I feel the mana circling on Lina's body, she takes the hit head-on and immediately counters with a swing on the knee. It gets completely shattered and the Armor falls on its knee.

My Armor tries to swing upwards and gets deflected again. I slide my blade on the exposed chest armor and pierces a lung, not that the spirit breathes, but it does "feel" pain.

Hana slashes at the Living Armor's chest and its sword is caught on the way and sent flying. She finishes the Armor by decapitating it, the crumbling bevor did nothing to protect its neck. The spirit believes it's alive, if you cut its head off it will believe it's "dead" and truly die.

Ciel digs her glaive on the arm of the Armor, it tries to shorten the distance but gets a kick and it's pushed back again. Now it has only one functioning arm.

Lina takes the chance and swings her hammer upwards and it connects with the chin of the armor, its bevor gets crushed and the helmet flies off. It's "dead".

I bash my Armor on the moment it winces in pain. It falls backward and I thrust my sword on its neck, I use the bevor as a lever and push the sallet upwards. Then I thrust my blade on its round, featureless, and ethereal face, it's "dead".

Ciel parries the weak slash and thrusts towards the heart. The blade slides in and she twists it, the armor squirms and struggles in pain for a few seconds then "dies".

The remaining metal of the Living Armors corrodes and turns to dust.

"That was easy," Lina says.

"This is the first level with these monsters, they aren't that good," Hana says.

"These were especially weak, really old looking. Living Armors shouldn't be this rusty," I say.

"The ones at the guild looks like ceremonial armors compared to these ones," Alissa says.

We move inside the building. It's rather large but completely empty, at least there's no ruined furniture, debris or skeletons. The walls are decorated with carvings of battles, mostly have winged humanoids and monsters fighting each other. The building has no seams, it's like it's carved from a single rock of white marble with streaks of black, it's certainly not the minimalist architecture of the chimeras.

"I have a few hits. Humanoids... I think I recognize three of them," Alissa says.

Oh? We better go meet them.

Ciel and I share a look, we don't really believe in coincidences.

Intermission 6

I have never been happier, free to explore the library, discussing what I read every day, continuing my training in enchanting, actually fighting alongside strong people. Mom, Dad, I'm okay now, I'm happy. I just want you to know that, I don't want you to feel guilty anymore, I don't blame you for selling me, I just want you to know that I'm happy.

Master Hilde, thank you for everything.

I thought master wouldn't find me attractive seeing how Ciel is... big. But now I'm sure I'm making him happy, it's the least I can do to repay this new life. Even so, I have been training, this time I will have strength, I will have power. When the time comes, none shall stand on his path.