CH.331 Sprite Purifying Mirror

CH.331 Sprite Purifying Mirror

“Please! Help my friend!” The red-head begged us.

“Calm.” Lua quickly told her, as she went to the girl’s side. “You are fine. What happened? Where is your friend?”

“We-We-We were returning to the surface. Then we were attacked by something we couldn’t harm.” The girl explained.

“The sprites.” I quickly realized. Maybe they can’t use magic so they can’t harm the sprites. Then again, her blades should be able to kill sprites if she puts any mana into them, so this could still be a trap. I went ahead and used our System link to tell Alice and Lua as much.

“We can save your friend.” I told the red-head. “Can you show us the way?”

“Wi-Will you really?”

“Yes. Let’s go.” I told her, while still keeping my guard up. This absolutely feels like a trap. But just in case it isn’t, better check it out.

We entered the area where the sprites should be, but just one area of this dungeon was quite large, so just because we were in the correct area, didn’t mean we could instantly spot what was happening.

The red-head then led us through the almost jungle-like vegetation of the dungeon towards where she had left her friend. On the way, Alice asked her more about the situation and she told us a bit about it.

Her name is Nel and she is a B-rank adventurer. She was on a quest in the dungeon, looking into something for some noble. She didn’t really go into detail, but we also didn’t ask. She probably couldn’t even talk about it, considering that she was working for a noble.

They apparently couldn’t do what was asked of them and had to retreat, but on the way back to the surface, they ran into the sprites, which they didn’t know about, and because neither of them was that skilled in magic, they tried to retreat. But the sprites kept chasing them, so her friend decided to stay behind to try to buy this red-head time to either find help, or escape by herself.

I have to say, if that is true, full respect to her friend. Not so much for this spoiled princess who cannot even use her magic blades.

“Agunan, Ria. You two take care of other monsters. Lua, Alice and I will deal with the sprites.” I quickly told my squad the battle plan. (Lua. You keep a close eye on that red-head. This might still be a trap.) I gave Lua a separate instruction, just in case this is what I think it might be.

As we kept going, Agunan and Ria did a good job at clearing the way for us. And I was ready to test out my new mirror.

After a bit more running, we began to hear some screams that came from a human, as well as some animalistic screeches. Why would there be animal screeches in a nature/plant based dungeon?

As we finally got through the brush and into a small clearing, I saw where both the screams and screeches were coming from. A group of three foxes was fighting against a dozen or so sprites. And when I say foxes, I mean two of them were literal foxes and one was a fox-folk girl. The fox-folk had purple-ish hair that faded into a more blue color. Her tail was the same, except that it had a perfectly white tip. Agewise, she seemed around the same as the red-head we ran into earlier, so in her early twenties. Her weapon of choice was a bow, though her quiver seemed empty, so she was stuck using it as a melee weapon. And hers wasn’t one that should be used as a melee weapon.

As for the two foxies, they seemed to be tamed monsters. They were iron foxes, a C-rank monster. They had quite tough hide and they were reasonably fast, but were considered weak compared to other C-rank fox monsters, which had a much higher attack stat. They also couldn’t use any magic, which some of the other C-rank foxes could do, so they were about as useless against sprites as ... a handgun against a tank? That comparison didn’t make any sense. I should have said a handgun against a ghost or something like that.

Well, to each their own. They must have just not been prepared to handle these sprites, as they are something that doesn’t usually appear in this dungeon, so they must have not been prepared for sprites. And against everything that does appear, a pair of iron foxes isn’t that bad. They can tank hits from plant monsters quite well, so they are a good bait to take the monsters attention.

Anyway, back to what we are supposed to do.

“Agunan, I’ll use you as bait.”

“As you wish, Master.” Agunan agreed, so I activated a card.

“Raregold Armor.”

Spoiler

[collapse]

As I activated the card and equipped it to Agunan, he got a golden glow around him. This golden glow would now hopefully attract the attention of the sprites. As well as any other monster in the area. And it seemed to work just fine, as the sprites turned from the foxes towards Agunan.

“Lua, Alice. Go heal the fox-girl. I’ll deal with the sprites.” I changed our battle plan quickly. “Ria, keep an eye out for other monsters.”

I confirmed that everyone was doing as ordered, before I activated my newest custom card.

“Sprite Purifying Mirror!”

Spoiler

When sprites gaze at this mirror, they are purified of their miasma.

[collapse]

After I activated the card, a large floating mirror appeared next to me. I could control where it floated either by moving it by hand, or with telekinesis, but it never did touch the ground. I somewhat wanted to look at it myself, but this wasn’t the time for it. Instead, let’s use it as I think I should use it.

I moved the mirror to float above where Agunan stood, just tanking attacks from the sprites. Then I turned it to face the sprites, before lowering it so that the sprites, who were focused on Agunan, had no choice but to look at the mirror.

As the little sprites looked at their mirror image, they froze in the air. No longer did they try to control the vines to attack, nor did they shoot razor sharp leaves at us. They just ... stood there, not doing much. Well, to be accurate, the sprites float in the air. They don’t actually stand.

And because the sprites stopped doing anything, the forest around us became almost quiet. It still wasn’t completely quiet, but it wasn’t loud by any means. It was about as quiet as you’d expect a quiet forest to be.

I focused on watching the spirits, excuse me sprites. And as I was still a Spiritual Human, I could see a literal change in them. Their color mainly. It went from a dark green, which they had been, to a lot lighter green, as a black mist left their body. The black mist was likely miasma.

Eventually, one by one, the now purified spirits began to disappear.

“That worked a bit too well, wouldn’t you say?” Alice commented.

SpoilerName: Brian WoodRace: One without a Race - Spiritual Human ✯Level: 138HP: 5950 (+20,000)Mana: 7540 (+18,300)Strength: 2300Defense: 3120Magic: 2700 Skills: One of Every Race LV.2 (unique-racial) - Draconic Body LV.1 (racial) - Draconic Magic LV.1 (racial) - Advanced Summoning Magic LV.1 (racial) - Spirit Magic LV.1 (racial) Pack Opener LV.8 (unique)Different Dimension Factory LV.5 (unique)Storage LV.10 (unique) Limit Break LV.1 (extra)Space Magic LV.3 (extra)Telekinesis LV.7 (extra)Summoner’s Unity LV.10 (extra)Dungeon Founder (extra)Summon Water Spirit (extra)Summon Nature Spirit (extra)

Health Conscious (extra) Sword Technique LV.4Shield Technique LV.2

Mana Control LV.13Defense Boost LV.10 Dragon Life Dedication (Greater True Fire Dragon)Water Spirits Blessing (Greater)Nature Spirits Blessing (Greater)

Honorary Baron of Ruiso KingdomLanguage Comprehension (humanoid) (draconic)Slave MasterSlaves: Rhianna[collapse]

“That is our quest, so yes. Why? Is there something there we should know?”

“It... it is right next to area 6. What if... what if one of the S-rank monsters attacks you?”

“Do you think we can’t take care of that?”

“I ... I’m not sure. But they are S-rank monsters. What if you get injured?”

“Then we will heal. Don’t worry about us. We will be fine. Worry about how you two are going to get outside. As I said, I don’t mind you coming along with us, but you will have to keep up. I guess we could also escort you two outside for a small fee, if you prefer that.”

“... I... I understand. May I have a moment. To speak with Unika?”

“Sure. We will take a bit of distance, but still keep guard.”

“Brian, what do you think?” Alice asked.

“That Nel girl. She is a noble. Most likely.” I admitted.

“What gives that away?”

“Both her speech and her equipment. Actually, her rank is also questionable. But first, the way she speaks is... artificial. She seems like someone who has been taught to speak formally, but is trying to speak casually. And her equipment is extremely high quality for a B-rank adventurer, so she likely gets money from things other than adventuring. And her skills. If she really was a legit B-rank, she should know how to use her blades to kill sprites.”

“... then, should we ask for her guild card?”

“She might have a B-rank card. But she is still likely artificially carried to that rank by adventurers she paid to be in a party with her.”

“That isn’t too uncommon.” Lua added. “Some nobles do just pay adventurers to complete quests for them, while they get all of the guild rewards, and thus the eventual rank ups. As an adventurer, It is a great way to make some extra cash if you aren’t aiming for a rank up, as nobles generally pay around double the regular quest reward. At least from what I’ve heard.”

“But wouldn’t she have to have at least some skills to take part in the fighting tests?” Alice asked.

“Most adventurers never have fighting tests.” Lua stated. “They just level up slowly while they complete many quests of their rank. Then at some point the guild will allow them to try a quest of a higher rank, and if they complete it, they get the rank up.”

“Ah. I get it. So she has done that and bought high quality equipment, but she can’t really use it.”

“Most likely. Sure there is also a chance that she has just never run into sprites, or other monsters that are unaffected by physical attacks, but that sounds doubtful.”

“And even if that was the case, had she taken part in any guild lessons, she would have learned about them.” Lua pointed out. “And magic weapons are one of the counters the guild always speaks about.”

“... I still think we should help.” Alice said. “It won’t take that long for us to take them to the entrance.”

“I do agree. We should help.” I agreed with Alice. “They aren’t bad people.”

“I guess your assumption was wrong.” Ria said jokingly.

“Yes, it was. But better safe than sorry.” I admitted.

As we kept joking and speaking about nothing in particular, Nel came back to get us. Apparently they had made a decision.

“... would it be possible... for us to come with you?” Nel asked.

“Why? That is the most dangerous thing you can do.” I pointed out.

“I ... we know. But... our quest. It is in area 5-3-7. If possible, could you take us there? And then back to the surface? I’ll pay any price you ask.” Nel told us.

I looked at my team with a ‘I said so’ look. So Nel really is an artificial B-ranker. This time, she just got unlucky.

“I guess that much of a detour won’t be too bad.” I said. “But all the monsters we kill are for us only. You better have your dungeon points you need for your drop.”

“... so you will? Thank you so much.” Nel immediately thanked us.

“Yeah. Yeah. It isn’t that big of a deal. Come on. Let’s make something that can carry Unika. I don’t think she should walk yet.”

“I ... I can walk.” Unika spoke up, and tried to get on her feet.

“No. No you won’t. Not before a doctor checks out your leg and heals your ribs. You will just make things worse.” Lua quickly made sure Unika didn’t hurt herself. “Brian. The medical bed if you would.”

“Fine. Fine. I’ll bring it out.”

What I brought out was a medical bed of Lua’s own design. Well, almost. After I got Ambulanceroid and Ambulance Rescueroid, Lua got interested in the movable beds they had. She made a copy of one of them and shoved it into the Dungeon Founder’s item developer before improving it a bit. She removed the wheels and replaced it with a magic circle that could float the bed. She also added a barrier spell and a healing spell to it. All powered by a magic stone linked to the Citadel core.

In short, a floating emergency bed that had healing and barrier functionalities. I wasn’t sure if I’d want to bring out something like that in front of random adventurers, but if Lua wants to, I won’t say no. The bed was actually quite OP, as it could keep someone who was on the brink of death from dying, as long as they were on it, and the barrier could stop Alice’s Dark Blaster spell. Her Darkness Blaster would pierce straight through though.

We moved Unika to the bed, and got her injured iron foxes there as well, before we decided it was time to move. We still have a quest to complete.