[RPG] Volume 6
Volume 6 – The Eastern Continent
Chapter 33: Quest Begins
Chapter 34: Purchasing Books
Chapter 35: Eyepiece of Truth
Chapter 36: Puzzle
Chapter 37: Bounty Hunter
Chapter 38: You Denied it, but Your Body is Rather Honest
Chapter 39: Assault
Chapter 40: Squad Battle
Chapter 41: Faction Selection
Chapter 42: Sneaking In
Chapter 43: Destruction
Chapter 44: Seeking Death Everyday Puts One in a Good Mood
Chapter 45: New Quest
Chapter 46: Everyone Has Their Own Strange Intentions
Chapter 47: Windslicer
Chapter 48: Quest Change
Chapter 49: The Different Races Rescue Plan
Chapter 51: Can I Touch Your Ears?
Chapter 52: Death Notice
"Oyado~ Are you done packing!?"
"I'm done packing~ Big brother~"
Carrying a bear-shaped bag, Oyado instantly flashed right in front of me.
Seeing her entire look… She seems to give a feeling of a cute little elementary student… It's definitely my imagination.
"Big brother, what happened?"
"Nothing… By the way, your bag looks pretty cute."
"Right~? Right~?"
Oyado happily did a spin, showing off the bag behind her.
"Big sister Hei Luoli said it suited my very well, so she gave it to me~"
"Oh, it's her."
As I recalled that Yamato Nadeshiko in a gothic-loli dress, I somehow felt that there was something wrong somewhere.
Ah whatever, it's best to not mind about something like this.
"Speaking of which, she's going together with us. Well, after all, she did come from the Eastern Continent…"
"Un, un. She told me about it as well~"
"Alright, let's go. We're going to the gathering point."
I stroked her little head, and then, pulled her hand as we left the house.
Obviously, the Eastern Continent.
And, the notification from the school stated that it's a…
School excursion!
School excursion, my ass!
What happened to the exchange programme with a school in the Eastern Continent we agreed on? They actually changed the programme, and changed the list of personnels selected as well.
I even planned on learning some overpowered skills from one of the Eastern Continent's schools. It seems I simply had my hopes too high up.
But… It has indeed turned into a fully scheduled tour where we tour around the entire Eastern Continent, visit the various schools, and sight-see the many unique attractions.
And, I heard from the principal that the one who sponsored our tour fees were actually the other three Knight Squads.
They sure are considerate. Aren't they afraid that we might cause them to go bankrupt?
Or, are they trying to imply that, compared to spending money on us, victory in the academy war is more important?
Well, in the end, it's not really that big of a problem.
In any case, without any quests, I simply can't be bothered to fight for the top spot. After all, there's no experience or rewards waiting for me.
Well~ Let's just treat this tour as a form of scouting and expanding my map.
When I reached the academy's entrance, I suddenly felt something was wrong.
"I say… This personnel distribution… isn't right, is it?"
Looking at the few people in front of me, my head began to ache a little, and said.
"What? Unsatisfied?"
Aliyah, who was wearing a black coat cape, said as she ate her breakfast.
"How can a girl chew on her breakfast while squatting next to the school entrance? That's a little…"
"That's none of your business, is it!? Idiot!"
After saying that, she turned her head away.
Hey hey, since you're going with that look, you might as well add a 'yoroshiku' word printing on your back, you will look more like a delinquent that way.
Ah whatever, it's best not to say this tsukkomi out loud.
Aliyah joining the school excursion is not something unexpected, but…
"But why are Tai Shixi and Lois joining in as well?"
"Even if you ask me, I don't know either."
Tai Shixi shrugged.
"I simply received the notification to join the excursion, that's all."
Lois said as she held onto her notification letter, which looked exactly the same as mine.
"Is that so… What about Bai Yueguang and the rest?"
"I heard that an assault incident happened yesterday, so they went to play with the rest of the Knight Squads and entered the prowling team."
"Obviously, they're not heading there to play, right… Ah whatever, I understand."
Looks like I did indeed go overboard with the incident yesterday…
Well, let's just leave it at that.
"But, are there only us?"
"We still have an advisor."
Hearing this, I suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Yo~ Good morning, everyone~"
As I thought, an expected voice came from behind.
When I turned to look, Ms. Mari, wearing a blue Magician robe, while carrying a handbag, walked over from the direction of the academy.
Hey, hey, hey! Just how did you come up with this idea of an untrendy combination of carrying a handbag while wearing a robe?
And how can you do this so naturally!?
"As I thought, you're the advisor. What will happen to classes?"
"You don't have to mind about something like that~ Teaching isn't my specialty anyway~"
"As our class' homeroom teacher, is it fine for you to actually say something like that?"
"No problem, it's not really a big issue anyway."
I bitterly laughed.
Looks like, this trip isn't going to be boring at all…
Speaking of excursions.
The methods of transportation in this world sure is small in number.
The highest class is obviously by airships, but the cost-efficiency of that kind of thing is low. And, it has an even bigger value when used on the battlefield, so it's rarely used as a transportation tool.
Of course, excluding a certain princess I know.
Then next are the magic-powered trains and ships. These two transportation tools can be considered as the more high-end ones in this age. And, with the appearance of people like us otherworlders, it seems like, recently, the development of these two technologies seems to have improved by quite a bit.
Of course, there are airships run by hot air balloons as well, but those things are basically too inefficient.
But the hope of having car-related transportation tools are temporarily on hold. I believe that many otherworlders have the ability to invent a car, after all, someone did make a segway, but, until today, there has yet to be anyone willing to mass-produce it.
Probably because they are thinking that it will be too troublesome to do so?
Or there might be some other reasons I don't know of. Well, since everyone doesn't really care about it, then I don't really need to care about it either.
Thus, the few forms of transportation tools left for us are…
Horse carriages, and riding actual horses.
Carriages?
This was a good choice by itself, but… After I paid attention to our selected personnel, I realized this really was not a good idea.
Tai Shixi – Warrior, wants to ride a horse.
Lois – Warrior, wants to ride a horse.
Aliyah – Warrior, able to ride a horse.
Oyado – Assassin, does not wish to be at anywhere else other than on the trees.
Mari-sensei – Magician, the only who wishes to be sitting in the carriage.
Hence, the problem surfaced.
Do you want to stay in the same carriage with a teacher, who possesses a mature figure, and also a mind filled with devilish thoughts?
The answer is, let me guess… But if it's me, I don't have the guts to do so.
As a youth with good morals, whose mind is filled with pure and innocent thoughts, and possess a clean and healthy body, my sixth sense tells me that sitting in the same carriage as her will definitely result to bad things.
Hence, with the support of the majority, our journey began on horseback.
Haah, looking at my Riding skill which was merely at LV 3, I had already predicted the situation that would happen in the future, but… to this point, I had long made my preparations, and I'm carrying several dizziness-dispel potions in my bag.
As long as I endure for a period of time, I will feel better after my Riding skill level increases. I thought naively.
But since I have a horse to ride, then I have best not resent about it any longer. Compared to those protagonists who conquered their entire maps on foot, our conditions are basically much better than theirs. In times like this, I best be satisfied with what I have.
As we rode our horses on the stone path heading towards the east, very quickly, the distant figure of the academy could no longer be seen.
There were not even anyone else passing us by on this road. Occasionally, there were signboards appearing along the road, telling us we were indeed moving in the right direction.
"Speaking of which, other than Tai Shixi, have anyone else went somewhere even further?"
Suddenly, Ms. Mari asked.
"I came from the Mitchell Kingdom, well, I'm nothing but a simple commoner."
Speaking of which, even though I have as Asian-looking face, why did I not spawn in the Eastern Continent like Bai Yueguang and Tai Shixi? Strange.
Well, I don't really bother finding out the reason anyway.
"Commoner… huh?"
Hearing this, Ms. Mari laughed, and then, looked towards the rest.
"I don't really know where I came from, because, the moment I was conscious of myself, I was already in the Mercenary Guild with my grandfather."
Lois pondered before answering.
"So, going to school is a first for me. It's really a difficult thing to do."
"Is that so. But is there really no problems attending school with us? What about your work…"
I asked a little worriedly.
"Of course, there's no problems."
Lois smiled happily.
"Because I'm currently taking up the job of safeguarding the academy."
"Is… Is that so?"
Hey hey hey, as a guardian of our school, you still participated in the academy war with us, is there really no problems in that regard? I haven't heard of this matter in the past either.
Well, since the academy doesn't have any objections, obviously, I won't have any either.
"I came from the Ice Empire~ Ever since I was born, I have never been to anywhere else."
The voice actually came from right behind me. When I turned to look, Oyado, who was initially in the forest, was now actually sitting right behind me.
But, because she did not touch me, and was simply grabbing onto the saddle with her hands, I completely did not realize she was sitting on my horse.
"I came from… I can't remember the name of that place either. In any case, I defeated the famous bandit in that area, and was recommended into the Doge Military School by the city guard captain there. That's about it."
Speaking of which, Aliyah did not tell me about what happened during the time between she left the Beginners' Village and enrolled into Doge Military School. But I figured it was about the same as my situation.
"Then, what about you, Ms. Mari?"
Ms. Mari pondered, and then, smiled.
"That's a woman's secret~"
I simply rolled my eyes at her.
This teacher… Just which bastard made her a teacher? She's going to ruin the future generations, I tell you.
"Oh, we're about to step outside the perimeter belonging to the academy~"
When I looked ahead, the stone-paved road at the front was about to change into a simple path pieced up by stones. Although the new path could be considered symmetrical, it looked rather low-grade.
"Is there no other countries in the vicinity? The road actually changed into…"
"Fir, you don't have to hate it so much. This place could be considered as a junction between two countries, so, having a road made of gravel is already pretty good."
"Then how far do we have to go today? And when are we able to reach the next city?"
"Well~ Even though camping outside isn't really a bad idea…"
When she said that, all of us turned to look at her.
Let's put aside the fact that we otherworlders were basically accustomed to bathing every single day.
Oyado, because of my upbringing, had gotten used to bathing every day as well.
And we don't have to say anything about Lois, who had already been totally influenced by us.
Camping outside, means that, there will not be a warm bath.
So, everyone looked at her with very scary glares.
"Alright, alright, I understand! I understand, alright!? We're not the one paying anyway, so, we just have to reach a small village by the hillside called 'Musta' before eight in the evening. There's an inn there."
"But what's the problem?"
Since she put it that way, there's definitely a reason why we will have a hard time getting there.
"Because that village is in a pretty remote area, so there's no direct route towards the town listed on the new map, only the position of the village is shown… Look… We have to cut through this forest to get there, but, I think that if we were to enter the forest like this, we might get ourselves lost…"
"What's there to worry about?"
I looked at the map, and then, looked at the rough direction the map was pointing at, then, I fired an 【Ice Totem】 towards that direction!
A straight ice totem instantly penetrated through the forest, extending deep into the forest within.
"Let's go, like this, we will not lose our way, right?"
"If those Magicians were to know that you're using magic this way, they will definitely be scared to death."
"Why? Because I'm too smart?"
"No, it's too wasteful."
Although the 【Ice Totem】 can be extended to a length of about one kilometer at most, the distance between us and the town was evidently not that short.
Finally, after the fourteenth time I summoned my ice totem, a voice came from afar.
"Stop! Just what the hell are you guys trying to do!"
Looking to the direction the voice came from, a young man carrying a bow… no, a young girl, who was riding a horse, charged towards us.
Because, with a simple glance, I only saw her blue short hair with a braid, and her voice even sounded neutral.
In the beginning, I thought she was a guy, but when I saw the gender symbol beside her name… I realized she was a girl.
Only after she stopped her horse right before us, did Ms. Mari leisurely start to talk to her.
"Well, we were simply using magic to guarantee that we will not lose our way."
"Hah?"
Carefully inspecting our attire, she could not help but gulp down her saliva.
"Magicians and Knights… Gray Magical Academy and Doge Military School… Ah, my bad. I thought that some people were trying to destroy the forest…"
"Even if there's really people trying to destroy the forest, if you charge over like that, you will simply be eliminated."
Aliyah looked at her with a stupid expression, and said.
I kind of feel that this expression of hers looked exactly the same as the one she uses whenever she's looking at me.
It's definitely my imagination.
"But… I kind of feel that…"
"Alright, alright."
I interrupted her.
Even if we were to continue listening to her, she would simply give some funny logic.
"Are you a resident of that village called Musta?"
"Un, that's right."
"… A hunter?"
"Eh? How did you know about that?"
"Kuh… I guessed from the equipment you're wearing."
I won't say I figured it out from looking at your titles.
Female | 15 Years Old
LV 8 Hunter
[Kind] [Honest] [Resident of Musta Town] [Beginner Hunter] [Whatever Goes]
"Ah, yes, I'm indeed a hunter from Musta Village…"
"What a coincidence. We're heading to Musta Village to rest for the night. Do you mind bringing us there?"
"Of course, I don't mind! But… Recently, our village might be a little unsafe… Ah, not good. The village elder told me not to tell travellers about this, otherwise, no one will come to our village."
This girl is really an idiot.
Aliyah could not control herself, and instantly let out a small laugh.
"Ahem, alright, in any case, we have understood the situation. Then, please lead the way."
"Is it really alright… Ah, no, alright, please come with me."
"Fir, she already said it wasn't safe…"
"It's because exactly it's unsafe, we have to go. Don't forget, who do you think we are?"
Side Quest: Exterminate the Demonic Wolf
Quest Objective: Eliminate the Demonic Illusory Black Wolf King
Quest Reward: Black Heart of the Demonic Wolf
Unique Completion Condition: Find out why the wild wolf demonified.
Unique Condition Completion Reward: Wolf Transformation Gene
Tai Shixi, Aliyah, and Ms. Mari all stopped, and began to tap about in the air.
Hey, hey, hey. Can't you guys pull the menu down to the side? At least, that way, you girls wouldn't look so strange…
But this Wolf Transformation Gene… Is this for real? I'm currently capable of Ghostification and Berserkification. Wolf Transformation… I kind of feel that if I were to mix it in, I will definitely change into something strange.
Oh well, as long as they're interested…
When I turned to look at them, I saw a green glow emitting from all of their eyes!
So scary! Do you girls really want it that badly!?
"That girl called Mare over there!"
Aliyah shouted loudly.
Mare was frightened by her call, and her body began to tremble unconsciously.
"Stop dilly-dallying! Hurry and lead us there!"
"Ah, alright…"
The four of them roared as they charged towards the village. It felt like they were rushing towards a bargain sale.
So frightening!
Not long after, the four of them had already ran a pretty far distance.
"Big brother, are we not going to chase after them?"
"No rush. In any case… It's not really a big deal."
I said calmly, and then, looked towards Lois who was left at the side…
This girl had actually been simply standing there and staring at Oyado the entire time.
"Alright, let us catch up to them."
In this party, other than myself, is there really no one else that's normal?
By using their names as my references, we slowly followed after them. Not long after, from the party menu, I realized they have entered the battle state.
And, a second later, a giant thorn of ice, which looked like a tall tower, grew from the ground. Looking at it from afar, a grey wolf was even skewered at the top of the ice thorn.
Isn't that a little too quick? Before you girls began fighting, did you girls give a proper greeting?
"Let's go, we have to increase our speed, otherwise… Eh? Oyado?"
When I turned back to look, I suddenly realized she had went missing without me noticing.
While Lois who was behind me had a confused expression as she looked around. It looks like she was not exactly clear of the situation either.
Haah, alright then. As the only normal person in this party, let's do this normally then.
After thinking as such, I summoned an ice rifle with my hands. After aiming at the enemy on the trees, I fired, and the enemy screamed as he tumbled off the tree!
【Shadow Sneak】!
Under the cover of the trees, my figure flashed, and I instantly charged to his side, restraining him.
He came from the huge ice tower, in other words, he came charging here from the direction of the village.
And his name was in the red state, which meant he came over here with actual killing intent.
He actually stood on the tree in front of us, and stayed there for a long while without attacking. That was also why I did not kill him immediately.
Otherwise, I would have simply shot a Frozen Light at him. According to his level, he would definitely be instantly killed and turned into an ice sculpture.
Wolfman – Elementary
LV 14 | Elemental Type: Wood
Low-Grade Demonic Beast, possesses simple intelligence.
He was a wolfman that was not even a meter in height. Of course, he's similar to the wolfman that we know of in fantasy novels where they would transform under a full moon.
And the one before me… looks like it's still a child?
Garurumon?
"I say, do you understand my words?"
I looked straight into his eyes, and said.
He only had less than a tenth of HP left, and he was currently looking at me with very pitiful eyes.
Haah, geez. This isn't good at all. Seeing that he had intelligence… I don't think it's good to treat it the same as regular monsters…
"I say, at least speak to me with a language that I can understand. Otherwise, I don't know whether I should kill you, or should I not…"
"Please… Please save us…"
Suddenly, I actually understood his words!
This language is…
That's right. Although the intonations sound a little strange, it kind of sound like how Indians speak English.
(t/n: No racism intended.)
From the way he voiced out earlier, the language he used was definitely English!
"What should I do to help you guys!?"
I hurriedly asked in English.
His eyes momentarily widened, and was looking at me with disbelieving eyes.
After being stunned for a moment, he said.
"Someone… caught… us… the fleeing beastmen… and enslaved us… then… have us attack the human village…"
He said really weakly.
"I see. Un, un. Then, who is that guy?"
As I said that, I used a recovery spell on him.
It was actually ineffective!
Was it because he was in the enemy state?
"Thank you… But… If we were not in a state of apparent death… we would have attacked you guys… So… please kill that… person… wearing… a red and white… magician robe…"
As he said that, because he had been in a bleeding state, his HP bar emptied, and his body gently fell.
Looking at his corpse, I softly said.
Side Quest: Exterminating the Demonic Wolf
Unique Completion Condition: Find out why the wild wolf demonized. [Completed]
Unique Condition Reward: Wolf Transformation Gene [Received]
Immediately after, with a flash, a pale blue reagent appeared in my hand.
When I opened the menu, this was written about it:
Wolf Transformation Chain Gene – 1
When used, receive [Low-Grade Wolf Transformation] ability.
Allows user to transform into a Wolfman for five minutes. When in transformed state, user will be unable to use magic. Attack increases by 230%. Defense increases by 150%.
It looks pretty useful, but first, let's deal with the issue at hand…
Wait a minute, there's actually a second part to the quest.
Side Quest: Exterminate the Demonic Wolf (Personal)
Quest Objective: Eliminate the Magician wearing a red and white robe.
EXP Reward (Fixed): 10,000
Equipment Reward (Fixed): Wolfman Research Data
Looks like… things are developing in an even more interesting direction.
"Fir… Are you alright?"
Lois suddenly asked.
"Why did you ask?"
"Because… you have been looking at that corpse with a smile on your face…"
"Hahaha, no, it's nothing. I was simply thinking about something else. Alright, let's go. I believe the village will have a lot more interesting things in store for us."
When we arrived at the village, there were already countless of demonic wolf corpses lying on the ground in front of the village entrance.
Ah, they sure are efficient.
But the notification window has yet to appear, which means…
That【Demonic Illusory Black Wolf King】did not appear?
Battle concluded.
Eliminated【Normal Demonic Wolf】x 8
EXP Gained: 50 x 8 = 400
"I express my eternal gratitude for saving us!"
The village elder… An old man called Hajeen, and several other villagers, were currently standing in front of Aliyah and the rest, expressing their thanks to them.
"There were too many enemies this time, and the hunters that we have sent out to look for help has yet to return, so…"
As he said that, he looked towards Mare who was standing at the side.
"But, fortunately, Mare found you people. Earlier, when we saw that long ice pillar constantly approaching us, we thought someone was planning to attack us."
"Of course not. It's just that, if we were to the proper route, we would have to make a huge detour. So as to quickly arrive before the sun sets, we decided to cut through the forest."
Ms. Mari explained with a smile.
And her expression currently… looks kind of righteous?
I just can't find an ever better term to describe Ms. Mari's current expression.
She's simply completely different from how she usually looks!
"Then that sure is our good fortune. Please, stay here for the night. Although our village have fallen quite a bit, our inn still retains its former look, so please be at ease."
"Then we have to really thank you people."
After they finished conversing, I turned, looked towards Lois and Oyado, who had suddenly appeared beside me without me noticing, and then, immediately walked over.
"You girls sure are efficient, huh. They're actually exterminated in such a short moment."
"They were just five trashes, what's there to be frustrated about? Two to three blows and they're done with."
Aliyah said without a care.
They were only a few Demonic Wolves with levels at the average of fifteen, if it was me, I might have simply cast Ice Arrows and clear them in a single wave, I guess?
In any case, it's really great that we managed to find a place to stay in for the night.
A moment later, following the village elder and the rest, we have arrived at the village inn. Just as he said, the condition of the inn looked completely different from the building next to it.
If I have to describe the feeling I'm getting from the village, it will be medieval-styled. Thus, the inn can be described as a building that looked about the same as one can imagined it to be in A Song of Ice and Fire.
One one side, we have a building that is completely, and perfectly, walled up. On another side, we have a building which have walls made of stacked rocks, and are still stained with layers of lime powder.
Looking at this difference, there's only one thing I want to say…
Do you people simply sleep in the inn every night?
Ah whatever, let's not bother about such details.
"Oh, I see, so the 'mission' actually has a backstory like this."
After the villagers have left, I shared the information I have just received with everyone.
Of course, because Lois and Oyado were still by our side, I used a simple way to explain the intel I received from that wolfman. At the same time, I used the messaging system to send the quest information to the three of them.
Then, I saw them smashing their heads onto the table.
Probably because they regretted acting so hastily.
Ms. Mari raised her head, and looked directly towards me.
'But, even though we're in the same party, why did we not get the shared quest?'
'I don't really know. It's probably because of the (Personal) tag next to the quest.'
'Damn it…'
""Then do you know where they are? Damn it. Simply raiding their lair might provide some results, right."
"Ms. Mari, as a teacher, is it really alright for you to say something like that?"
"Tch, what's the problem."
Ms. Mari said with an indifferent expression.
"In any case, we don't really have anything to do, right?"
Hey hey hey, don't forget about our school excursion so quickly.
"That's right, let's simply flip their lair upside down, and grab their stuffs… no, completely exterminate them."
Even if you kill them all, you can't possibly obtain their genes, right?
"Umm, I think that, if we want to complete this 'mission', we have to at least understand more of the situation. I already said it before."
'They were speaking in English.'
At the end of what I said, I added this sentence.
"If that's the case, before heading to their home, if we find the clues regarding that 'magician with the red and white robe', or the location of their base, we might be able to complete the mission."
Aliyah said as she slammed her hand heavily on the table.
"I shall now sneak into one of the buildings that looks a little special in the vicinity, and steal some intel from inside!"
"That's not my specialty."
Tai Shixi shook her head.
"But I have selected some unique skills, and I feel that they might be of use."
"What a coincidence, me too~"
Ms. Mari laughed.
"Alright, if you guys want to act all mysterious and stuff, go ahead. In any case, we will leave it at that for now."
I smiled.
"Then, let's begin!"
The dinner was rather delicious, probably because they were trying to accommodate us.
Though because the village only possessed rather simpler cooking methods, there were only various types of fried meat and a bowl of vegetable soup.
But, something like fried meat has always been my favorite, so the fried pieces of chicken in front of my eyes were cleared out in seconds, and then, I reached my hand out for the next plate.
But Mare who was beside us seemed to be a little cautious. Is it because she is eating with us?
I see. So, it was because she had wanted to eat dinner at home, but, because of the invitation by Aliyah and the rest of the girls, she stayed behind. But she should not be this…
"Mare?"
"Ah, yes!"
"You're behaving rather strangely. Why aren't you eating much?"
"This… Because… Actually, these meat are all that's left in our storage."
Hearing this, I put down the plate in my hands, and asked sternly.
"Why? Aren't you a hunter?"
"The wild beasts in the vicinity, I don't know when, but they seemed to have disappeared. Only those demonic wolves are currently prowling around the vicinity. The hunters in the village tried to kill those demonic wolves, but their skins are really thick and hard, even if we were to cook them fully, they're still hard to chew on. And we can't leave the village either… This situation had already persisted for a few weeks, so…"
"And you people were unable to contact anyone outside? What about the country's soldiers?"
"In the past, on a certain date, there would be people coming over to collect materials. However, ever since the depletion of our mines, we had basically not seen anyone else from outside. And, since we're situated near the borders of two countries, Sirhente Kingdom and Martel Kingdom had wanted to fight for the rights to control our village. However, ever since the depletion of the mines, the soldiers that were mingling around outside our village had never appeared again either."
"I see, in other words, this place has been completely abandoned."
"Un. Though, before the appearance of the demonic wolves, some people who called themselves【Country Researchers】once came over to our mines to investigate. After telling us that the resources there were indeed depleted, they disappeared."
"【Country Researchers】, huh?"
I looked towards the few people beside me.
Ms. Mari nodded, and then, a moment later, she sent a message over.
'According to Dale's records, only Sirhente Kingdom dispatched some investigators, because initially, Martel Kingdom was the one who occupied the rights to the largest part of the mines, so they were extremely clear of the situation in the mines."
"Mare, may I ask? Just how many of these researchers came over?"
"Un, there were two of them."
It seems like they did indeed disguised themselves as researchers and entered the mines.
As to the reason, it's definitely related to the demonic wolves in the vicinity.
"Mare, then how much do you know about those two people?"
"Eh? I only got a glimpse of them. Those two seemed to be cautious of one another, and one of them did say he was a researcher from the Sirhente Kingdom, but the other did not say anything about that at all."
"The other person… Is there anything worth mentioning about him?"
"Eh? Umm… I can't remember…"
"Is that so… Well, that's already enough. This is a very important clue, well done."
"Is… Is that so? I'm very happy to be of help."
Mare happily smiled.
"Don't worry, we will definitely make sure to exterminate the person, who caused the appearance of these demonic wolves, from this world."
Aliiyah looked at me.
"Why are you asking me?"
"I'm just worried you might start spouting things like killing people is against human morals or something."
"Don't worry, I will only use things like human morals on good people."
"For unique cases, we must use unique methods, right?"
"That's right, that's how it is~"
"Then that's good. Then, let's not delay any further. Let's go!"
I'm very curious as to why Tai Shixi and the rest of the girls did not say anything throughout our entire discussion. Only then did I realize…
The plate of meat that I did not manage to eat earlier, was completely cleared out by them!
At this moment, I suddenly recalled what my mother once told me. 'On the dining table, less talking, more eating.'
Ms. Mari seemed to have leveled up an unique skill which allowed her to contact otherworlders within a very large radius. This was also why she could contact Dale even at such a far distance.
Although I don't know about the rest of her skills, seeing that she disappeared not long after dinner, this meant that she naturally had her own method to deal with the problem.
And because Tai Shixi knew that it was impossible to take Aliyah and Oyado with her, she grabbed Lois and walked out.
As for the remaining few… Before I could even say anything, in a flash, Oyado disappeared. Even if I tell her not to follow me, it's probably impossible…
"Alright, Aliyah, what plans do you have?"
"In any case, let's sneak into some suspicious houses in the vicinity and find any relevant clues. We might even be able to find the enemy!"
"Is that so? If our enemy has such a low intelligence to simply stay inside the village… then he's probably…"
While saying that, we walked out of the inn.
But, the moment we went out of the entrance, a red dot suddenly began flashing on my mini-map.
Oh my god, did I trip a flag?
That's right, the hint caused by my skill flashed!
Skill Activated: Famous Detective
Target Found: Quest-related individual.
Quest: Eliminate the Demonic Wolf
Oh my god, does that guy really not have any intelligence at all?
I did not directly look towards the enemy's direction. Rather, I immediately confirmed his position from my mini-map, and then, looked towards Oyado.
"My cute little sister, I have a mission for you."
"Un? What is it, big brother?"
"A seaweed is holding onto a present in front of the smithy's entrance. Please."
"Un, alright, big brother!"
After saying that, Oyado retreated to the back, and then, disappeared from her position.
Aliyah asked skeptically.
'It means 'follow the man with a long beard in front of the smithy's entrance'. Because I cannot send her a private message, we decided to come up with codes. Alright, you take the back, I will take the front. We will sandwich him. Let's go.'
'How… How did you know about him?'
'My skill is that overpowered.'
I said with a smile.
Even if I wasn't looking over, I knew he was looking in our direction.
Because from the corner of my eye, I could already see his name, and it was yellow in color.
Vigilance.
Interesting. It seems like he is not just someone who is capable of controlling a horde of wolves.
Baldoven
65 Years Old | Male
LV 13 Blacksmith
[Neutral] [Pitiful] [Blacksmith]
Hey, hey, hey. Although I don't know how and under what conditions these titles appear, but there's really… too many things omitted out, right? World-chan, you're just too lazy, right? Why are you not doing your job properly?
Well, in any case, this probably means that this guy isn't really a very important individual, right? Well, that can be considered as a sort of hint as well, I guess.
"Actually, we can simply have him restrained, but, there might be other people hiding nearby as well, so as a precaution, I sent Oyado over to watch him."
"It sounds more interesting than I thought. Alright then."
After saying that, Aliyah loudly declared.
"Then I will be going on a walk over on this side!"
Then, she turned to the opposite direction and ran off.
But, after she reached the back of an alley, she immediately jumped onto the roof of a much taller building at the side. Then, she made a turn back.
However, at this moment, I suddenly saw another guy who was at a nearby shop making a turn, and then, he ran towards Aliyah's direction.
His name instantly turned yellow as well!
He's actually able to escape my detection?
No, earlier, he was more than 15 meters away from me, so my skill was unable to reveal it.
Interesting, looks like our opponent has quite a number of spies in the village.
'Aliyah, another guy is currently pursuing you. I will leave him to you.'
'Ooohh, alright!'
Looks like that guy is in for a beating.
I looked around my vicinity, and then, I directly turned towards the person called Baldoven, and walked over in huge strides.
He was evidently shocked by my action, as he hurriedly turned and sprinted off to the alley nearby!
Do you think you're able to flee?
Activating Accelerate, I immediately charged over. Then, I went into the shadows of the buildings nearby, activated Shadow Sneak, and instantly charged right in front of him.
"Yo, uncle Baldoven."
I appeared right before him, and said with a smile.
He was evidently frightened quite a bit. He hurriedly stepped on the brakes, but, he still crashed into me.
Then, he fell flat on the ground, looking at me with a very terrified expression.
"You…. you… you…"
"What about me? Haven't you been looking at me? Or have you been looking at the two girls beside me? How can I allow that~ If you harbor some sort of ill intentions towards the girls beside me, forget about me for now, they might exterminate your entire existence, you know~ Oh right~ This isn't a good place to talk, let's change our location."
Although I don't know about this guy's identity, if this guy's class is a Blacksmith, then, he might be someone from this village. It would not be good if someone else were to see this.
After saying that, I grabbed onto him, and teleported us directly into the forest.
"Eh!? Gua!? This… How is this…"
"Alright, I will give you one minute to explain why you were staring at us."
I pressed him against a nearby tree, and then, used my Ice Magic to freeze him together with the tree!
"I… I don't know anything! I'm only…"
"You don't know? If you don't know, why were you staring at us?"
"Someone simply told me to watch you guys. If you guys plan to head to the mines, I have to report to him about it."
Very good, we have gotten our clue.
Speaking of which, earlier, Ms. Mari said it as well. All these happened right after someone went over to the mines to investigate.
Interesting, looks like there's a need to take a look at the mines.
"Who is that person? Why do you have to work for him?"
"That person… That person wears a red and white robe. He suddenly visited my home two days ago, and he said if I do not listen to his orders, he will kill my daughter!"
"Oh, he kidnapped your daughter?"
"No, but he tied something weird on her neck, saying that if I don't listen to him, it will explode and kill her!"
"Geez, say that sort of thing from the start. Where's your house?"
"It's the second floor of the building to the right of us earlier."
I ruthlessly gulped down a Quick MP Recovery Potion, grabbed onto him, and teleported once again, appearing at our earlier position.
"Oyado, the little girl on the second floor, retrieve the necklace tied around her neck!"
"Understood, big brother!"
A black figure flashed, and a little girl's scream sounded from the window of the second floor. Then, a necklace was instantly thrown out of the window!
"【Ice Arrow】!"
With a flash of blue light, the necklace was hooked onto the ice arrow and was sent flying high into the sky. Then, an explosion sounded!
"What… just happened!?"
The village elder anxiously ran over.
"There's someone threatening your villagers, and had even planted a bomb on a child's body. Damn it. Village elder, you best have a talk with your villagers, he might have planted even more spies in the village."
"There's actually something like this happening! Alright, I will have a talk with them."
"You best hurry. Currently, you guys are already being surrounded. If you guys don't work together, you guys will definitely be doomed."
"Un… I know."
The village elder's expression was filled with seriousness, and then, he began to gather the people nearby.
And currently, I began to contact Aliyah.
'Aliyah, how's the situation on your side?'
'That guy was actually a dummy.'
'A dummy?'
'After running for a while, he suddenly fell over. Then, he became a dummy.'
'Body Substitution Technique? Return for now! Otherwise, it wouldn't be good if you're ambushed.'
'Un, how's things on your side then?'
'Not good as well. In any case, it seems like we have to pay a visit to the mines.'
Although we had told the villager elder that we would take a look at the mines the next morning, not long after night came, Aliyah, Oyado and I headed out.
The other three?
Although we did want to call them over, no matter was it Ms. Mari or Tai Shixi, we could not contact any of them. I wonder just what kind of mess did they land themselves into.
Oh well, it doesn't matter that much anyway.
Following the map, we walked on a small road heading towards a mountain, and in less than fifteen minutes, we reached the entrance of the mines.
Currently, the mines were already abandoned. Looking at the rusty large door and the large amount of frames which had caved in, this place was already… No, this place most probably did not have any visitors for a long time.
"Oyado."
"Keep watch here at the entrance, so as to prevent them from fleeing without us noticing."
After pondering for a long while, I said this.
There's no other choice. It doesn't matter for either me or Aliyah if the mines collapse, but if it's Oyado… She might not be able to make it out alive.
"Big brother~ How can you do this!? If I'm not by big brother's side, how am I supposed to protect you!"
"Protect? This… I don't seem to need it, right?"
"What do you mean you don't need it!? As long as it's something that wish to cause big brother harm, I will exterminate it! Unless you're telling me… big brother wish to investigate the place alone with big sister Aliyah!?"
"Kuh… It's not that, right, Aliyah?"
"It's not a bad proposal."
"Eh? Aliyah?"
Looking towards Aliyah, I realized she had a rather happy-looking smile on her face.
Hey, hey ,hey. Don't fool around, alright?
"As I thought! Big brother! I have to definitely go with you two!"
"… Alright, there's no other choice then. But, you must definitely stay by my side, otherwise, when the time comes, I might not be able to protect you."
"I'm the one protecting you!"
"Alright, alright. It's fine either way."
Sighing helplessly, I reached out my hand and pulled open the rusty door.
With a 'pa' sound, the entire door actually broke open. Taking the step back, the entire door instantly collapsed onto the ground.
Speaking of which, it hasn't been too long since they abandoned the mines, right? How is it worn out to this extent? Even if it's a disguise, this is a little too much, isn't it…
Ah whatever, it doesn't matter anyway.
"Un!"
Oyado responded spiritedly.
After entering the mines, I immediately cast an Illumination spell, and the white ball of light instantly brightened up the mines.
Looking inside, all of us were astonished.
Compared to the entrance, the mines were much more spacious inside. A few abandoned mining equipment were stacked at the side, and they seemed to be… prototypes of machinery.
Looking further in, there were three different passages that my illumination could not reach, and without the illumination, one could hardly see their own fingers in the passages, and even with the illumination, it was impossible to see the ends of the passages.
"Haah, this place is really driving my selective OCD crazy. Which way are we going to go?"
The two girls said almost simultaneously..
I looked at Oyado, and then, I looked at Aliyah.
"Then we will take the center passage."
I immediately said.
"Why!?"
"That's right, the right passage is evidently much better!"
"No, it's the left passage!"
"Why left!?"
"Because the left passage looks more safe!"
"That's why I'm asking, how did you come up with that conclusion!?"
"There's evidently scent of blood flowing out from the right passage, obviously, it's more dangerous."
"Scent of blood?"
Hearing Oyado's words, I immediately looked towards the right passage.
"Is that considered as a hint as well? Since there's scent of blood coming from over there, then there's definitely clues over there too…"
Suddenly, from deep within the mines, a weird cry could be heard.
The three of us looked towards the deep mines, and after a long while, a large number of red names suddenly appeared at the right passage!
Demonized Black Wolf – Darkness
A demonic wolf with dark-attribute attacks.
Demonized Black Wolf – Fire
A demonic wolf with fire-attribute attacks.
"Alright, everyone, it seems they have brought us some welcome gifts."
"That's great, recently, it had been rather boring."
Pulling out her two flaming short swords, Aliyah looked at the enemy's direction with eyes filled with excitement.
"Then let us have a fun time~"
【Flash】! 【Flash】! 【Flash】!
Simultaneously casting and shooting three 【Flash】 spells, they landed on the nearby rocks, illuminating the space in the vicinity.
I have no other choice, after all, I don't possess any night-vision equipment, and I can't battle just by looking at their names.
And after Aliyah pulled out her twin swords, red flames instantly erupted from her body. She charged directly into the pack of wolves, leaving behind a trail of flames on the ground!
Aliyah directly clashed with the pack of wolves, and countless wolves were being sent flying just by the blast caused by her charge alone!
Oh my god, are you still a Dual-swordsman? Are you certain you're not a Berserker?
Your battle style is completely that of a Berserker's right!?
After charging into the pack of wolves, Aliyah twisted her body, and the two swords in her hands accurately slashed across the necks of two wolves.
The two wolves groaned as blood splurged out from the cut on their necks, their bodies collapsed onto the ground.
And then, Aliyah did a somersault to the back, her two swords stabbing into the chests of the two wolves nearby… The places she stabbed were probably where their hearts were.
Without an exception, the HP bars of the four wolves instantly depleted. Looks like, to these demonic beasts, if they suffer a fatal wound, they will instantly die.
Just what kind of skills did she choose? To think she could accurately pinpoint their weaknesses…
Impressive, the skills she added points in are really incredible.
What's more frightening was that, after she killed the four wolves, she tumbled to the side, and leapt onto the high ground next to her!
And then, with a loud blast, the four wolves' corpses actually exploded! The other "innocent" wolves nearby were instantly blasted into smithereens.
Alright, Ms. Terrorizing Berserker who aims for one's weaknesses, Aliyah, you have crafted the most perfect monster-grinding skill.
In contrast, on Oyado's side, she suddenly appeared behind a wolf, stabbed her dagger into its nape, and then, her figure disappeared once again.
The entire process did not exceed five seconds, and the wolf died before even making a single sound, it's basically a perfect example of an assassination.
As for me…
The wolves basically could not even approach me. Before I could even attack them, all of the wolves would be cleanly killed, I basically did not have the chance to act at all.
There's not even a tint of excitement here at all. It looked as though I'm just an useless baggage, and was just watching a show right in front of me.
With this thought in mind, I instantly released the spell【Restrictor of the Frozen Earth】, at least, I could reduce the speed of the nearby wolves…
But, because of the large difference in levels between me and the wolves, I caused a few bleeding wolves to instantly freeze to death.
Can't you guys provide me a decent challenge at all?
As though to respond my thoughts, an ear-piercing roar was suddenly released from the center passageway. A snake which had the width of a well charged out from the deep with the mines… No, it looked more like a dragon, as it had a pair of legs in front.
Demonized True Snake – Wood
A python which possesses poison-based attacks. Because of special genetic modifications, it had demonized into something close to a dragon.
Oh my god, something like that is possible as well?
Genetic modification?
What the hell, it seems like people have brought over some unbelievable technologies into this world, huh.
Hopefully, nothing like Resident Evil will break out…
But, poison-based attacks are really no good at all. If I do not have any antidotes on hand, it will be really troublesome.
"【Arcane – Unlimited – Millennium Frozen River】!"
A blue light instantly enveloped the center passageway, and in the next second, a large ice sculpture of a gigantic python was beautifully crafted within the passage.
"【Super Arcane – Punishment – Tearing Cross】!"
Immediately after, I threw the red cross in my hands, and the red cross instantly pierced into the ice python sculpture's head.
Pa!
The entire ice sculpture instantly shattered into countless pieces!
As I thought, instantly killing opponents like this sure feels good.
Usually, I would not use this sort of skill combo, as, one, if the opponent isn't big enough, even if I turn it into ice, I would not be able to instantly shatter it with a knock. Two, this is simply too immoral, I will definitely be discriminated if I use this sort of killing technique.
As I thought, it feels good to kill monsters.
And after completing this attack, I looked at my vicinity.
Without me noticing, those demonic wolves had already been exterminated completely.
And the two girls were currently staring at me.
Party EXP: 20 x 45 = 900
EXP Gained from killing Demonized True Snake: 4,000
Total EXP Gained: 4,900
"Big brother! Why did you kill the strongest monster!? In times like this, you should be relying on me!"
"That's not right, I'm the one who should have killed it! Fir, you're already so strong, you should have let me earn some EXP instead!"
"You two… Geez, that thing was really dangerous, obviously, I have to instantly exterminate it."
"Then there's no longer any point to it!"
Facing the two girls' rebuke, I helplessly shook my head, and then, pointed to the two passageways.
"Then, which way should we go?"
"The right passage!" x 2
This time, the two girls actually had the same proposal!
"Big brother, when you see that sort of monster again, you must definitely leave it to me."
"I have to definitely earn more EXP!"
Listening to the two girls' declarations, I helplessly shook my head.
"I think the left passage is much…"
"Alright, alright…"
As I thought, it's really scary to bring along two violent girls.
In the end, as we walked deeper into the mines… the eerie atmosphere in the mines completely disappeared.
The only thing I could feel was my EXP bar filling up continuously.
The scent of blood in the air was slowly becoming denser as well.
Other than that, I really can't feel anything else… If there's something else, the air in the underground passage feels a little too moist…
Well, I'm just kidding. There's nothing else but the deep scent of blood that's lingering in the air.
And under the two girls' vicious competition, the rate of the demonic wolves appearing in the mines decreased as we went further in. In the end, even after five minutes, no demonic wolves appeared, and the entire mines became really quiet.
As though the mines were supposed to be this quiet in the first place.
"Un? How long have we not killed any monsters?"
As we walked, Aliyah suddenly turned and asked me.
"About five to six minutes, I guess?"
I estimated.
Aliyah looked towards the depths of the mines, and then, turned to look back at me.
"Looks like our opponent has finished using his demonic wolves. Otherwise, why haven't any monsters appear after such a long time?"
"Or maybe our opponent has realized that the demonic wolves are unable to threaten us, and any big monsters would be turned into an ice sculpture by me. Hence, he's probably concentrating his troops and planning on sending them all in a single wave."
"If you put it that way, it might be possible."
Aliyah nodded, and then, looked towards Oyado.
"Little sister Oyado, can you feel the presence of the enemy in our vicinity?"
"No… At least, there are no living enemies in our vicinity."
Closing her eyes, Oyado replied as such after a moment.
And my mini-map showed the same results as well. Because, I can't see anything else on my mini-map either.
"Is that so? This is so boring. Seems like the enemy isn't that strong at all."
"That's right, no matter what kind of enemy it is, I will definitely exterminate it! Everything is for the sake of protecting big brother."
"Hey, you two, I think you two have done more than enough…"
Haah, I really hope there isn't any animal welfare group or something similar in this world, otherwise, these two will definitely be labeled as criminals.
"Eh, the place has become rather spacious here."
Suddenly, Oyado, who was leading on our group and investigating the route ahead, spoke up.
I glanced at the mini-map. A new cave did indeed appear in front of us, and it seemed to be as large as the spacious lot we were at when we first stepped into the mines.
I helplessly shook my head as I walked over.
Why helplessly?
Because, a rule like this always exist in games. Whenever a narrow passageway suddenly turn spacious at the end, it means that a tough fight is just ahead.
I have deeply experienced this point back when I played Doom 3, and back then, games were still unlike Dead Space, where monsters would suddenly appear out of exhaust ducts in passageways, rather, monsters would only jump out in a more spacious environment.
But I still had yet to forget about that despicable monster till today.
When we arrived at the spacious mining area, we were given quite the shock.
"Oh my god, this… this place is already… Someone must have clicked on the wrong technology tree, right?"
Looking at the view in front of me, I could not help but exclaim out.
The view in front of me made me feel that I have arrived at the wrong place. However, the menu and mini-map in front of me reminded me that this was indeed a different world.
Why does this mining area look the same as those monster research factories in Resident Evil, where the surrounding walls are filled with monsters that are trapped in glass containers?
But actually, they could not be considered as monsters, rather, they were various types of demonic beasts.
"Are these artificial demonic beasts?"
I swept my gaze at the glass containers in front of me, and the demonic beasts inside seemed to be constantly changing. Only then did I realize the root of the problem.
These were nothing more than regular wolves initially.
Demonic beasts have a low rate of reproduction, but for normal wolves, as long as they have sufficient food, they will multiply at an abnormal rate.
"Seems like someone is using a certain scientific technology to turn regular wolves into demonic beasts?"
"Something like that… Is it possible?"
Looking at those demonic wolves, Aliyah asked with a frown.
"If someone is able to completely simulate the process of a wolf's transformation into a demonic wolf, it's not entirely impossible… After all…"
I looked at Oyado, and continued.
"After all, genetic modification technology already exists in this world."
Although it was brought in from my and Aliyah's world.
"Oh~ You guys actually know about genes. Interesting. Who sent you guys here?"
A voice came from above, and a main dressed in a red and white robe was looking at us from the top of a container.
"That's none of your business!"
I immediately shot an ice arrow at him.
He hurriedly moved to the side to dodge my attack, and he looked rather comical.
"Out with it, where did you buy your technology from?"
"You bastard! Even though you're a Magician, you're actually this rude! Seems like Magicians have fallen as well. Looks like I have no choice, I shall turn you guys into demonic beings then!"
With a wave of his hand, a number of wolfmen actually surrounded us from all directions!
"Go! Restrain them."
"Do you think it will be that easy?"
"We're… not that simple, you know."
Countless wolfmen surrounded us, and these were merely the ones that were being shone by the light source in my hand.
But in the places where my light could not reach, countless of green glowing eyes were staring straight at us. And in my vision, the red names were about to blind my eyes.
Geez, why are you guys rushing to give us EXP?
I snapped my fingers, and a strong chill instantly filled a large half of the mines!
"【Restrictor of the Frozen Earth】!"
All of the surrounding wolfmen instantly received a 'frozen' status, and after I estimated the numbers in the vicinity, I waved the magic wand in my hand.
"【Arcane – Chaotic Shadows – Ninety-Nine Ice Arrows】!"
Countless ice arrows flew in all directions like fireworks, and then, countless of 'damage received' numbers floated above their heads.
They were merely level 27 ~ 30 wolfmen. After an attack like that, their HP immediately plummeted down to a third!
"Go! Restrain them!"
The man in red and white robe immediately commanded the wolfmen to attack. Earlier, my ice arrows had almost taken him down, but fortunately for him, he reacted quickly, and had the nearby wolfmen to take the arrows for him.
Geez, this bastard who uses other people's lives as shields…
Looking at that bastard, I had already issued him a death sentence in my heart.
"Geez, big brother is acting cool all by himself again."
After slightly leaning over to the back, Oyado transformed into a black shadow and charged into the horde of wolfmen!
Like a lawnmower, in every single place she passed through, the red names of those wolfmen nearby would instantly turned grey.
This meant that those wolfmen were instantly stabbed to death by her!
Just what kind of speed is that…
And when I turned to look at the other side, Aliyah had already disappeared.
And a while later, I saw a part of the cold air dissipating in the vicinity. A sea of flames had already took over the ice-cold cave.
Hey, hey ,hey, don't burn up all of the oxygen, otherwise, we will be in big trouble.
And when I raised my head to look, that bastard in a red and white ribe seemed to have disappeared without us noticing.
Damn it!
I opened up my pair of wings and chased after him. Even if I'm seen in a place like this, it doesn't really matter.
Flying to the top of the mines, I realized the place that bastard in red and white robe was standing at, had a passageway behind him.
Pulling out demonic blade 【Bloodmoon】, I immediately flew towards the passage.
"This cave sure is troublesome."
Although I was able to see his name, due to the complicated passages of the mines, I felt like I would not be able to reach his position no matter what I do.
Despicable, to think he would not dare to fight me head on. If you have the capabilities, then let's duel! Why you are you running for!?
Without a choice, so as to recognize the places I have walked on before, I periodically placed markers made out of 【Flash】 spells on the ground.
After after walking round and round, I found out that I have arrived at a new passage.
If I were to express it in words, this was no longer a cave or a mine, rather, it was an even more illogical place.
Because, when I looked over with my eyes, all four walls of the mines were plated with metal, like a warehouse.
I walked over to the metal plated wall in front, touched it, and from its glossy metallic texture, this place seemed to have been moved here only recently.
Strange, just what is this bastard planning? Do these mines actually possess something that would make him do something like this?
With this thought in mind, I continued forward. Not long after, I understood part of his reason.
A gigantic robot appeared before me, and looking at its side, it was even linked to a power supply unit and a case.
I stared at the robot, and then, I finally realized their true goal.
"This is… used to refine aluminium robots?"
Next to the robot, there were countless of metal parts stacked over there, and they looked rather new.
When I touched them, the parts were described as aluminium.
Oh right, although this world possesses Lightning Magic in the first place, they should not possess the knowledge of aluminium electrolysis.
A long time ago, because there were limitations to aluminium electrolysis technology, the price of aluminium were even higher than gold at a certain point in time in our world.
If this technology had just appeared in this world recently… even if there were bauxite found in the mines, people would believe they were just useless stones.
And in actual fact, there were many ways to use aluminium.
"In other words, there's bauxite in these mines, so it was targeted?"
"You actually know these are bauxites?"
A loud bang sounded. I turned and actually saw the metal wall behind me opening. Behind the wall, a robot with a metal chariot as its lower half appeared. This thing seems to look rather familiar, but I can't recall what it's called…
"Hahaha! You're speechless, right!? This is a new weapon I bought with a large sum of gold! I shall have you understand the power of this weapon that's beyond this era! Since you know about the bauxite in this place, it means that you're definitely not that simple. So, please die here!"
"Is that so?"
I pushed up my glasses.
"What a rare coincidence, we actually have the same idea in mind."
I quickly tapped on the menu, and then, took out items that have been stored in the inventory for a long time.
A Shikigami and six battle dolls immediately appeared before me.
"What? Unless you're from the Smuu household…"
When he saw the items I took out, he said frantically.
"Well? In any case, please die here."
After doing a slight stretch, I charged towards him with the seven dolls.
Although the robot looked really big, in actual fact, he seemed to be skilled with its controls.
Like a whip, its right arm was swung towards me, and at the same time, it's other hand began to spin, and it actually turned into a gatling gun.
Gatling gun?
Flashing to the right, I dodged its right arm's attack, and the metal fist struck onto the floor beside me.
But this is not a game, the opponent can still issue another attack in the split moment after it attacks.
Quickly tapping on 【Shadow Sneak】, I speedily hid into the shadows.
And in the next second, the sound of the rumbling gatling gun instantly resounded through the entire cave. And the place I was standing at earlier shattered into pieces in just a few moments.
Oh my god, that attack power is not fake at all.
Just which immoral bastard actually made this sort of gundam with our technology, just for the sake of money?
And he actually sold it to an inhabitant of this world. Is he trying to incite a war?
I hurriedly controlled the Shikigami and dolls to dodge the attack. Although they were really sturdy, I did not dare to be certain that they could last against the gatling gun's attacks.
But I have a rather deep sense of fear towards these firearms. After all, something like that is already considered to be one of the strongest modern firearms.
If that bastard have brought over the technologies from Metal Storm, then I will definitely flee for my life.
I have no other choice, let's first divert its attacks!
Two battle dolls rushed quickly towards it from its flanks, while the other four dolls circled around it near the walls behind the robot.
After all, the Shikigami and I are capable of flight, so we do not need to run about like the battle dolls.
Simultaneous controls like this actually feels like playing Dota. Although I don't know how the inhabitants of this world control them, after I obtained the rights to control these seven dolls, I was able to number them individually, and then, by issuing them commands mentally, I'm able to make them move.
The robot controlled by the man in red and white robes instantly reacted to the two incoming dolls. It's right arm spun and turned into a gatling gun as well, and the robot shot towards the two dolls!
As I thought, it's not that much different from how I predicted it.
With this thought in mind, I quickly made them tumble into the blind spots I have perfectly planned out, and at the same time, the four dolls immediately jumped onto the two gatling arms, instantly causing the arms to be pushed down.
And while the arms were being suppressed, the two dolls which had rolled into the blind spots immediately rushed out. At the same time, I came out from the shadows, and in my hands, was a magic grenade with three fire magic spells compressed in it.
Of course, for more convenient use, like a sticky grenade, I added a part onto the grenade that would allow it to stick on my targets, and then, I threw towards its back.
There were two other battle dolls that did the same action as me as well.
Right before the battle even began, so as to increase their battle power, I had already equipped them with different Connect Weapons, and at the same time, the slots that were initially used to keep magic scrolls were now stuffed with various grenades.
In an instant, a couple of grenades landed right below the robot, and at the same time, the Shikigami which had been lying inversely on the ceiling immediately flew out. Taking out an unique thermos flask, it poured out the liquid that was inside it onto the robot.
A moment later, smoke was emitted out. This was a matter of course, after all, liquid nitrogen did just make instant contact with the metal plates.
That's right, using my 【Unnatural Flames】, I slowly liquefied refined nitrogen. Although it's incapable of dealing a fatal blow to the enemy, just from its effects alone, it could be said to be more effective than using spells like 【Restrictor of the Frozen Earth】.
Especially on things made out of metal, its joints were instantly frozen, and it was no longer capable of moving. And taking this opportunity, the dolls and Shikigami had already retreated from the robot's side.
Suppressed Fire Magic spells cannot be taken lightly, as their strength is much bigger than an actual grenade. And, most Fire Magic spells bring about 'burn' damage, in other words… Even if that bastard does not explode to death, he will still be burnt to death.
The flames instantly engulfed the entire robot, and when it was just about to raise its hands, they went limp and fell back down.
It seems like the systems inside have already been cut off due to the flames. Pitiful.
And the HP of that bastard in red and white robes constantly decreased. A moment later, that bastard made his last scream, and turned into dust, along with the robot.
Un? Why did I not extract information from him?
Are you joking? A quest came with this incident, why would there be a need for me to extract information personally from him?
Quest Completed.
Side Quest: Eliminate the Demonic Wolf (Personal)
Additional Quest: Exterminate the Magician in a red and white robe.
EXP Reward (Fixed) : 10,000 [Received]
Item Reward (Fixed) : Demonic Wolf Research Data [Received]
You leveled up!
Current LV: 35
The notifications popped up, immediately after, a very new-looking notebook appeared in my inventory.
Seems like this is that so-called 'research data', right?
It's actually a new notebook as well, looks like this research indeed only started recently…
But when I opened the first page of the notebook, I was given a shock.
The language used in the book, was actually not the human language we usually use in this world, but…
I kind of feel like I'm doing an English Comprehension Test here…
Looking at the chunk of text in front of me, I made a difficult decision, and kept the notebook back into my inventory.
For now, let's first meet up, and have Ms. Mari take a look at it. In any case, I won't be able to stand reading the entire thing…
With this thought in mind, I sent all the dolls back into my inventory as well.
But I suddenly felt something was wrong!
"One, two, three, four, five, six… Where's the last one?"
I looked at the dolls in my inventory, and suddenly recalled there was supposed to be one more of them…
"Master, are you looking for me?"
I jerked my head to the side. The Shikigami girl which I summoned earlier was standing behind me, and looking at me with a smile on her face.
The Shikigami behind me was wearing a white kimono, and it's definitely impossible to not call her cute.
Even though that's the case, she should have been a Shikigami which do not possess any self-awareness at all, so how…
"Master, why are you looking at me so strangely?"
The Shikigami girl asked this while tilting her head slightly to the side.
So cute. I can't look at her in the eyes at all.
"Wait a minute, what's your name?"
The reason why I asked this was because, in my eyes, the name above her head was still【Empress】.
"Me? I don't know either~"
"With an answer like that, you're not supposed to say it with a smile, right?"
"Then, master, please give me a name."
"Giving a name, that isn't my specialty… Wait a minute! Why did the topic suddenly changed to giving a name? Shouldn't the current problem be about your sudden gain of self-awareness?"
"Although I'm not really sure, in my memories, there's this vague explanation.【After killing a certain number of enemies, borrow the soul fragments of others to construct a new soul. 】~"
"Is that so… But you only threw a bottle of liquid nitrogen earlier… Or was the number of enemies you killed in your previous battles counted in as well?"
"Master?"
Just when I was in deep thought, she actually walked right in front of me, and her eyes which were filled with curiosity were staring right at me.
Unconsciously, I took a step back.
"Master, do you hate me? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's not that. I was just a little startled when you suddenly approached this close to me."
"Is that so? That's good to hear~ If master is angry and decides to dismantle me, I will be really lonely."
"Don't worry, I won't dismantle you, and, I don't know how to either. Speaking of which, did you only become self-aware earlier, or did you have it all along?"
"I only became self-aware earlier."
"What about memories?"
"Other than the memories about the explanation earlier, there's nothing else."
"Battle style?"
"Battle?"
Looking at her skeptical expression, I helplessly shook my head.
And then, I used the earlier mind sync, and commanded her to attack the wall beside us.
With vigorous strides, she charged over, and struck the metallic wall with a punch.
After a loud bang, the entire wall caved in, and a large hole appeared.
"Un? What just happened to me?"
The Shikigami looked skeptically at her own hand, and then, looked at the wall.
"What just happened, master?"
"… Alright, it seems like a part of your battle system is under my control, so you're incapable of using it. Oh right, let's call you Purewhite then."
"Purewhite? It sounds pretty good~"
After saying that, the name above the Shikigami underwent a change in an instant, and the initial【Empress】turned into【Purewhite】.
So you can actually give names just like that? This sure is convenient.
"In any case, why don't you return into my ring…"
"Don't wanna!"
I didn't expect to get rejected instantly!
。The other dolls instantly returned into my ring after I gave the command with the mind sync, but, this girl actually rejected me.
And the ring did not take her in either.
What kind of joke is this?
"Because… staying all alone in the ring, feels really scary."
Looking at her expression… It seemed like that was indeed her real thoughts.
In other words, a Shikigami with the battle power capable of breaking open a hole through a metallic wall is telling me, she's afraid of the dark.
"Alright, then, just follow by my side then. But, you're not allowed to do any strange things, alright?"
"Un, yes, master!"
"Oh right, don't call me master. Just call me Fir. It sounds more natural that way."
"I understand, Fir!"
It still feels a little strange, ah whatever, let's just leave it at that.
"Oh right, next up, let's find the other two girls…"
With this thought in mind, I swept my gaze around the mines, but, there were no traces of their names anywhere.
I opened the messaging system.
'Where are you two?'
'Below you.'
I looked beneath me, and just at this moment, a huge crack line suddenly appeared on the floor!
I hurriedly opened up my pair of wings, but when I turned to look, Purewhite was screaming as she was falling into the hole!
I quickly reached out my hand to grab her, but, the moment I grabbed onto her, I realized…
She was actually heavier than metal!
Hence, the two of us screamed as we were pulled into the darkness.
Suddenly, I woke up within the darkness.
After looking at my surroundings, I quickly threw a Flash magic spell upwards.
When the white magical ball of light shone the entire space, I could not help but be startled for a moment.
"Could it be… an actual traditional dungeon has appeared?"
。That's right, my current position was actually the center of a long passageway, and on my left and right, their ends could not be seen at all.
The walls were made out of deep green bricks, and it was clear that they were artificially made.
Only a few small scratches could be seen on the smooth floor, and when I touched it, it felt as cold and firm as jade.
And when I looked up, I was unable to see the ceiling of the passageway as well.
Just how high did I fall from?
It sure is a miracle that I did not actually fall to death!
And suddenly, my quest notification actually rang!
Main Quest: Ancient Ruins – β
Quest Objective: Flee from the Dungeon of Death.
Reward: Dagger of Death
Oh my god, I actually once again accidentally fell into an underground dungeon?
After leveling up so much in the academy, I thought I would not have the need of killing monsters any longer. I did not expect that I would be unable to escape the fate of killing monsters in the end, huh.
As expected of an RPG-like world.
I have no other choice, let's hurry up and think of a way to leave this place.
"Master!"
Before I could even take a step forward, suddenly, someone forcefully grabbed onto my hand!
"Don't… Don't leave me. It's dark here! I'm scared!"
When I lowered my head to lock, I was actually startled to see Purewhite curled up in a ball beside my leg. With one of her hands, she grabbed onto me, and then, she watched me with a very pitiful expression.
Why was I startled? Obviously it was because she was a Shikigami which abnormal strength, and she was also a Shikigami with self-awareness. In usual cases, it would be really useful to have such a strong battle potential, but…
This is really my first time seeing a Shikigami hiding herself by curling up into a ball because she was afraid of the dark.
So cute, I really wish to hug her and console her!
No, I have to show some restraint!
Otherwise, it will definitely lead to bad things happening. In times like this, I have to keep my calm!
And she's a Shikigami. Wouldn't I be a pervert if I were to have feelings for a Shikigami…
"Alright, don't worry."
As I said that, I once again summoned a few more balls of light, and had them placed around us.
"Isn't this much better? Don't worry, you just have to follow my lead."
"Un, thank you, master… Ah no, Mister Fir."
"Don't call me 'Mister'. It sounds really strange, you know… Well, in any case, let's select a direction to head towards to."
I looked at the entire passageway, and then, I looked at Purewhite.
"Purewhite-chan, which way do you think we should we go?"
"Chan?"
"Well~ Just treat it as a form of nickname. In any case, where do you think we should go?"
Purewhite slowly got up from the ground, and then, she said after looking at the two directions.
I unconsciously stroked her head.
What a honest and good girl…
"Alright, in that case…"
I tapped on the skill hotkey to open my wings… but, I was stunned.
My wings actually did not open up!
Space Restriction – Unable to Fly.
And then, this notification actually appeared!
Oh my god, there's actually a restriction like this here? This is too frightening.
Looks like the person who designed this dungeon is not that simple, to think the person could actually set up a space restriction.
Interesting, then let me have a good look at this place then!
"Then… Let us first head in this direction. Let's go!"
I pointed to the left.
"Why did you choose this way?"
"Because… the passage on the left seems to be cleaner than the right?"
Looking at Purewhite's shocked expression, I laughed, and then, said with a shrug of my shoulders.
"Just kidding, let's go!"
The length of the passageway was slightly irritating me.
I felt like I had already followed down this passageway for 10 minutes, however, I had yet to see a single place where I could make a turn at.
Just how big is this place…
And while we were continuously walking forward, I had been trying to send a message to the rest using the messaging system.
But, when I pressed on the 'Send' button, this notification,【Space Restriction, Unable to Send】popped out.
Looks like our abilities and systems are all under restrictions in this ancient ruins.
But, when I tried to use the various types of magic spells, I was still able to cast them. It seems like only unique abilities are being restricted.
And, my ability to control Purewhite has been restricted as well.
Currently, if I were to try to use a mind sync to control her, it would not be possible. No matter how I try to control Purewhite, there isn't any reaction at all.
"Speaking of which, just why is there no end to this passageway…"
"Because this passageway is actually circular."
Purewhite's reply suddenly shocked me.
"What did you say? This passageway is circular?"
"That's right, Fir, didn't you realize it? This passageway isn't completely straight, rather, it's a curve. It's just that the curve isn't really significant."
"Is that so? I see. And coincidentally, I didn't realize it at all. But, you were able to immediately realize it because you're not human, right? Great work, Purewhite!"
"Un, un, un. I feel happy being praised by master~"
Purewhite happily jumped about.
"By your estimates, how much is the deviation? We might be able to estimate the size of this place with it."
"Deviation?"
It seemed like Purewhite did not understand what I meant. I pondered for a moment, and thought of a plan.
"【Ice Totem】!"
A gigantic ice pillar constantly grew upwards, however, when it grew up to about a height of 10 meters, it struck the ceiling!
An invisible ceiling? Fortunately, I did not stand on the ice totem to try it out, otherwise, I would have been already smashed into smithereens.
Decreasing the height of the ice totem by a little, I gave it a slight push, and the ice totem instantly fell onto the ground.
Pushing it next to the wall, I carefully made a comparison, and measured the distance between the center of the ice totem and the wall… Alright, it seemed like this place has an area of at least 10 square kilometers.
This place is a little too freaking big, isn't it?
Just how did someone manage to create such a big dungeon, and what was his mentality when he made it…
And currently, I have completely no directions to choose from, otherwise, if I were to walk towards the east, I might possibly reach the Eastern Continent from underground.
However, our current problem is, we completely do not have that sort of extremely long passage that could allow us to leave this place. In that case, how are we going to leave this circular passage?
"Purewhite, did you spot any route we can take to leave this circular passage while we were walking earlier?"
"It's a huge pity, master. The entire passageway is a single complete passage, and there's no other routes."
"Then do you know which way is east?"
"… Let me try finding out."
After saying that, she closed her eyes.
"Just what are you…"
"I'm able to slightly sense the place I was born in. However, in a place like this, I'm not entirely sure if I'm able to sense it…"
The place she was born in… I see, the east, huh?
"I got it! It should be this way!"
After saying that, she pointed to the wall on the right.
"Very good! That's enough!"
I smiled, and then, raised out my right hand.
A red-cross knight sword gathered onto my hand.
"【Strengthen】!"
And then, I aimed at the position of the center of the wall, and fiercely stabbed towards it!
Although it did not really do much, the blade was able to stab directly into the gap in-between the bricks of the wall!
Very good. It seems like the wall can be destroyed. Then that's good.
If something like【Space Restriction,Unable to Destroy】were to appear, then it would be troublesome.
Walking right towards the opposite wall, I pressed onto the wall, and an 【Ice Totem】 instantly grew out from the wall. Then, it smashed into the red-cross knight sword that was still stabbed onto the other side!
The cracks around the knight sword constantly grew bigger. I reduced the size of the 【Ice Totem】, and then, I once again smashed it towards the sword!
A giant hole the size of a basketball court was instantly formed on the wall.
But, that was not enough. I instantly picked up a grenade, and then, placed it into one of the cracks on the wall.
Immediately after, I pulled Purewhite a little further away, and summoned an ice wall to block the shockwave.
The explosion this time felt extremely different, and the tremor caused by the explosion caused me to unconsciously take a step back.
Removing the ice wall, a gigantic cave on the other side of the wall had appeared before our eyes.
The wall was actually slowly recovering at a speed which we could see with our naked eyes!
"Let's hurry and leave, Purewhite!"
After saying that, I pulled onto Purewhite and instantly entered the cave.
"Master is really too amazing! Just what was that thing you used earlier to instantly cause such a big hole to appear behind the wall!"
"It's just a small tool. Alright, let us head to the eastern side then… But we have to exterminate some of our guests."
Looking at the complicated passageways in the vicinity, and the monsters which were walking over due to the explosion I caused, I shrugged my shoulders.
"As I thought, it's impossible to flee from the fate of clearing a dungeon."
"Purewhite, run along the wall, and after reaching behind the stonemen, immediately throw this grenade underneath the two stonemen!"
As I shouted that, I used 【Light Steps】and【Accelerate】, charging right up the walls of the dungeon.
And behind me, several stonemen were wildly waving their fists. The gigantic fists ruthlessly smashed into my earlier position, leaving shallow craters on the wall.
If I were to get hit by them, it totally won't be funny at all.
While swiping of my cold sweat, I shot out a【Frozen Light】to the back.
But, so as to save up my MP, the【Frozen Light】I shot out were all aimed at the stonemen's joints, fixating their bodies.
Why did I not exterminate them?
Are you joking? Do you know how many stonemen are chasing us? At least fifty of them!
Hard Clay Protector
LV 30 | Earth Element
Protector of the underground dungeon. Defense is their specialty.
Who the hell said defense was their specialty? Their attack strength is evidently at the level of being capable of smashing me into smithereens!
And their specialty in defense is really too much, don't you think?
At the start, only one of them appeared. We only managed to peel off its outer layer after knocking at it for a very long time, and then, it only stopped after I pierced its core with my 【Bloodmoon】.
However, after that, we saw a group of stonemen running towards us from all directions, and the two of us unanimously decided to turn and run.
Are you kidding me!? A bastard like this with such high defense is basically the nightmare of all dungeon crawlers. Even though it takes ten minutes to beat, it only gives about 200 EXP, and it's such a waste of stamina to fight it.
There's completely no need to fight it at all!
And the biggest problem is…
When this large number of enemies stand in a file, they are even able to directly fend off all of my attacks.
Hence, other than my Ice Magic spells that's able to slow them down, the rest of my magic spells can be considered to be totally useless.
Seeing Purewhite throwing the grenade over, I hurriedly used Charge and appeared right in front of her. Then, I pulled her hand and charged towards the next turning point.
Boooooom!
Other than seeing my EXP rising by 400 points, the only thing I could hear were the angry roars of those monsters.
"Master, it seems like that thing is really effective against those stonemen!"
Purewhite excitedly said.
"Even they're effective, we can't beat them…"
However, I helplessly shook my head.
"Why, master?"
"Because that was the last grenade I brought…"
That's right, the grenades I brought out this time were already used up. It seems like I used them too often this time.
Initially, I did not think that I would encounter so many enemies, so, I simply brought along about twenty to thirty of them.
But, the number of enemies exceeded my expectations. It had only been a few days since we started our journey, but I only have a small number of convenient weapons and tools left.
Damn it, if I knew this would happen, I would have brought a few hundreds of them. They're basically godly weapons here, urgh.
Seeing those stonemen approaching us, I hurriedly grabbed onto Purewhite and charged to the next intersection. Then, I cast a magic spell behind me.
"【Arcane – Empiric – Ice Royal Garden】!"
A gigantic ice wall instantly blocked our back, and the entire passageway of the dungeon was completely sealed.
The ice wall went up all the way to the 10-meter ceiling on top, so it's guaranteed that the enemies at the other hand will not be able to enter from there.
Of course, the enemies will not do something like that anyway. Because I can already hear them angrily knocking against the ice wall, wanting to charge into our side.
"Alright, we're safe for now."
Seeing that there were completely no traces of cracks appearing on the ice wall, I satisfyingly nodded my head.
"Hooray, I thought I was going to be disassembled."
Purewhite held onto her chest and took a deep breath.
"But aren't we sealing off the route on that side?"
"Don't worry, in any case, that's not the direction we're heading. To be exact, the route leading to the east is this way."
I pointed to the other side of the passage.
"Although I'm not entirely sure if it's a dead-end, at least, it looks rather normal."
"Un, I will be following master forever anyway!"
I stroked her head. Un? Purewhite's hair feels no different from real hair, huh. Just who made these Shikigamis? He's actually capable of making them so realistic.
Could it be that dead Onmyouji?
Or could it be that Shikigamis are not created like those dolls in the first place, and are a different type of existences?
Well, I will probably find out once I reach the Eastern Continent, I guess.
Keeping close to the wall, we walked forward. Although we changed our directions many times, we actually did not meet any forked roads. However, the general direction we're heading was definitely east.
I kind of feel like the dungeon is tricking my sense of direction. However, currently, I completely do not wish to once again break the walls to advance.
Because these walls can actually regenerate. Do you actually want me to be like a battering ram and smash my way through the entire dungeon? That's a little too scary, you know.
I mean, just how many walls will I have to smash through before being able to complete this gigantic dungeon?
Unexpectedly, a toad made of stone suddenly popped out from the floor in front of us!
I instantly pulled out my Bloodmoon, but when I heard him carefully, I realized him crying out as such.
"Question! Question! Question! If you wish to pass through here, you have to answer my questions!"
"… What's a thing like you doing here?"
"I'm not a 'thing', I'm the controller of this Dungeon of Death, Frog of the Deep Well."
There are so many points I can make tsukkomis about, that I don't know where to begin.
But seeing that he's saying all that proudly, I kind of feel that it will be too harsh for him if I tell him the truth.
"Cough, cough. Well, what questions do you want me to answer?"
"Question! Question! In any case, I will give you questions to answer. If you answer one question correctly, you can leave this dungeon. If you answer two questions correctly, you will receive the right to fight the Guardian of the Dungeon of Death. If you answer three questions correctly, you will receive an unique reward. Are you ready? Question!"
This toad actually looked as though it was made out of rocks. It's entire body was brown in color, and the rocky skin on its outer layer was constantly trembling.
What was even more frightening, was the very unique symbol beside its name.
Frog of the Deep Well
Faction: Dungeon of Death
Unique Attribute: Indestructible
Oh my god, it's actually even indestructible. Is the rules of this place starting to become strange?
But, whatever. It's just answering questions. Piece of cake.
"Alright, ask away."
"What has four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and thr…"
"Three in the night, the answer is human! You bastard, you're actually plagiarizing the Sphinx's riddle!"
"What!? How did you know the answer!? Who's Sphinx? Question, question! Even though the rest of the people that had entered this dungeon turned into stonemen because of this question, how did you know of the answer!? Question, question!"
"Whatever the case, I answered it right. Next question!"
Hahaha, to think it's actually questions like these. This is too easy.
"Please state one of the components of air. Question, question!"
"Oxygen?"
"Question, question!!! How did you know about that!? Just who are you!? Could it be that the intellect of humans are actually already this high!?"
Are you kidding me? Questions like these…
Are you trying to imply that my Chemistry knowledge was taught by a PE teacher?
"Then! Next question! You will definitely not know the answer to this one! Question, question! Please state the actual age of the girl, Pryn Snowmystel, who is being sealed in ice at the imperial capital of the Ice Empire, starting from the time she was born. Question, question! Now, you can't answer this one, right!?"
"168 plus 665… 833 years old, right?"
"… Question?"
The toad was evidently stunned.
"You… How is it possible… Question!"
"I'm sorry, Snow White, she… can be considered as my summoned being?"
"Su-su-summoned being!?"
The toad was completely stunned.
"Alright, what's my reward?"
"This is impossible! This is impossible!"
That toad actually cried out as he turned and ran!
"Purewhite! Chase after it!"
"Yes, master!"
Hmph. For chasing situations like this, I have asked Ms. Mari's comrades to create a very convenient tool!
【Night Vision Device】!
"Purewhite, hold onto me tightly, we're going to accelerate!"
I wore the 【Night Vision Device】, and grabbed onto Purewhite.
Immediately after, I extinguished all of the light sources in the vicinity!
Within the darkness, my speed is unparalleled!
Accelerating, I instantly zoomed right behind the toad.
"Maaaaaaaaaaaster! It's so daaaaaaark!"
Purewhite, who was in my embrace, was trembling constantly. It seems like she's really afraid of the dark, huh.
"Don't worry! Just hold onto me tightly. It's going to end really quickly!"
With that said, I quickly rushed behind the stone toad.
Although my current speed is sufficient to catch it, with our current situation… I feel that it's best to follow after it instead.
Because when it was fleeing, I saw the wall in front of him opening suddenly, and then, after it passed through it, it closed back. This mean that this guy… is holding onto a key that allows it to control this dungeon at will.
If I were to immediately catch it, it will definitely not tell me the exit, but…
Wouldn't the problem be solved if I just follow after it?
As we passed through the many walls of this dungeon, the passageways in the vicinity of the dungeon constantly grew wider. Seems like we're almost there…
Finally, after passing through the last wall, a site that looked like a battle arena appeared before my eyes.
The stone toad rushed quickly towards the stone statue at the center of the arena. I smiled, and, accelerating, I charged right in front of it, and instantly caught it in my hands.
"Sorry, that thing looks really threatening, I can't have you approach it."
"Question! How did you get here, question!"
"Because I saw you running, so I simply followed after you. After all, you did promise me a reward. And the rights to challenge the guardian or something. How can I simply let you flee?"
"Obviously, I did not forget about that, question. But, I have to return here to activate the guardian, question!"
"Are you talking about this stone statue?"
"That's right, that's right. Question!"
"Alright, let me solve your worries!"
I pointed to the statue.
"【Frozen Light】!"
The blue ray of light instantly shot onto the stone statue. After blasting the ray of light up and down, the entire stone statue was frozen.
And then, I summoned a【Tearing Cross】, threw it at the stone statue, and it stabbed right into the statue.
And then, the statue made a crackling sound. The entire frozen statue shattered into pieces.
"Aaaaaaaah, question, question! You… you… you… How can you destroy the stone statue like that!? How are you going to accept the challenge now!? Question!"
"So just take it as though I have completed the challenge."
"But this is different from the standard procedure. Question."
"So what? The challenge is to defeat the stone statue, right? Looking at the outcome, I have already defeated the stone statue. Isn't that fine?"
"Question, although that's the case, something just feels a little off, question."
"Don't mind such details. Look, that stone statue has been destroyed, you currently have no other way to test anyone else. Doesn't that mean you can leave this place now?"
"Leave this place? But. Question. After leaving this place, what else can I do? Question."
I stared at the toad for a long time.
"Speaking of which, other than asking questions, riding this stone statue, and controlling the dungeon, what else do you know?"
"Nothing. Question."
This child sure is pitiful.
"Then what can you do with the dungeon?"
"Umm… Question. Change the dungeon's routes, change the dungeon's entrances, change the dungeon's size. Question."
"How small you can turn the dungeon into?"
"Question. Probably the size of a pebble. Question."
"Hurry, hurry! Change it!"
"O… Oh. Question!"
I placed the toad on the ground. It then pointed upwards, and the entire dungeon immediately trembled wildly, as though an earthquake has happened.
Immediately after, the entire dungeon slowly rose. Although it did not completely feel like it was flying upwards, when the entire dungeon rose to about a height of five meters…
The entire dungeon which I could not see the ends of, looked as though it was a wrinkled ceiling in the sky!
As I thought, things, that you could not see the ends of, give off an unnatural feeling.
And in the next second.
The entire dungeon shrank continuously, as though the dungeon was a shrinking sponge. And not even half a minute later, the entire dungeon shrank into a disc that was the size of my fist.
"Just like that, question."
"Incredible!"
I picked up the disc and began inspecting it.
On the disc, you could still see the small lines of cracks, which were actually the different passages in the dungeon.
"What about the stonemen in the dungeon?"
""Those stonemens? Question. They have already became part of the dungeon, so those guys are actually the dungeon itself as well. Question."
"No wonder…"
Those numbers and their defenses, were basically illogical.
"But, speaking of which…"
I scanned my surroundings.
"Did you see any other humans other than us?"
"Other humans? Question. Totally not. Question. Actually, other than you guys, there hasn't been any human who stepped into the dungeon for more than 40 years."
Looks like Aliyah and Oyado did not fall into the dungeon.
"Then, why are we here?"
"Question, the exit is actually just here. Question."
It pointed to the floor, and then, a part of the floor caved in. A stairs leading to the next underground floor suddenly appeared in front of us!
"Hey, hey, hey! We still have to go down!? Just where does these stairs lead to!?"
"Question. I don't know either. Because I was here the moment I was born. Question."
Alright then, it seems like going down is the only choice I have…
Main Quest: Ancient Ruins β [Completed]
Quest Objective: Escape the Dungeon of Death.
Reward: Dagger of Death [Received]
Thank you, Cody B., for you awesome donations!
Following the stairs, we walked straight down.
It felt as though the stairs were an endless spiral, but, the cracks on the wall beside me told me that we were not trapped in a loop.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, we finally saw light emitting out from the bottom of the stairs!
Increasing my speed, I charged right down. Then, suddenly, my feet stepped on empty air, and my entire body instantly fell!
"Oh my god! What is this!?"
There was a scream, but the scream did not come from me.
And in the next second, I felt as though my entire body was suddenly raised, and I was heavily thrown aside!
A white figure suddenly rushed over and caught me!
"Master, are you alright!?"
Purewhite, who caught me, looked at me with a very worried expression.
"I'm fine, I"m fine. But, put me down for now…"
My current posture is really embarrassing. Being carried by a girl who is shorter than me by a head, simply looks really terrible.
"Ah! Big brother! Big brother, why are you here!?"
"It really is that idiot Fir. And here I was thinking who else would suddenly fall from the sky."
"Hey, hey, hey! When did I ever have the setting as the person who had fallen from the sky!? Do you think I'm Sheeta!?"
After Purewhite placed me down, I looked at the two girls in the room.
Aliyah and Oyado. I did not expect to actually encounter them here.
And, currently, we're in a room with four white walls surrounding us, and the walls were even glowing white, bright enough to light up the entire room.
And the place where I fell from… The spiral staircase actually stopped right at the ceiling. It's no wonder I would step on empty air and fall.
"If the idiot Fir came from the top… It means that it's a dead-end above us, right?"
"That's right, above us is a dungeon. But, after I conquered it, it disappeared."
I picked up the toad beside me, and placed it on Purewhite's shoulder.
"That toad is the controller of the dungeon, but it has now turned into our companion."
"Eeeehhhhh!?"
The two of them revealed expressions of utter disbelief.
"You even subdued the controller of the dungeon? Then what about the way to get out of here?"
"I don't know, it told us to come down here, and then…"
I looked at the toad, but it actually looked as though it did not know what I was talking about.
"Speaking of which, what about you guys?"
"Us? We fell into a dungeon as well, and then, after smashing all of the walls of the dungeon, we finally found a ventilation duct, which dropped us here."
"Smashing all of the walls in the dungeon… That's sure your style, huh."
I shook my head.
"But, since you people are here, doesn't that mean there should be a way out in this place?"
"I guess so… But! Who the hell is that girl over there!"
Following the direction she was pointing at, I turned my head over.
Was she referring to… Purewhite?
"Her? She's our new companion, Purewhite."
"New companion? You sure like to collect new companions, don't you? Hahaha…"
"What are you talking about? Purewhite is the Shikigami we took from those people back then."
"Shikigami?"
Aliyah inspected her carefully, and then, she looked at her name.
"There's actually such a thing… What did you do to her?"
"I don't know either, she suddenly gained self-awareness after killing some monsters. I don't really know the exact details either."
"It just happened to gain self-awareness?"
"… The way you put it is rather ambiguous, but that's indeed what happened."
"How is that possible…"
Aliyah once again looked at her, and then, after looking at her name again, she revealed a frightened and shocked expression.
"Alright, but speaking of which, this girl is even shorter than me, just what kind of mindset did the person who created her have?"
That's right, Purewhite's body was like a loli's. Although she's taller than Oyado, she's a little shorter than Aliyah.
"Well, who knows. In any case, Purewhite is currently our new companion. Everyone, get along, alright?"
"Please… Please to meet you."
Purewhite hurriedly bowed and said.
"Big brother, big brother~"
Oyado walked over to my side and said.
"I'm the only little sister big brother has, right!?"
"Eh? Ye… Yeah."
"Then that's good~"
Why are you even worried about that… Ah whatever, it doesn't matter anymore.
"But… How are we going to…"
Suddenly, a hole appeared in the wall.
"… leave this place."
It basically did not give me a chance to finish what I wanted to say at all!
"Un, let's hurry! I'm hungry."
After saying that, Aliyah immediately walked out of the hole.
"Me too, big brother~"
"Alright… Let's go, Purewhite."
"Un~"
When I got out of the hole, I was shocked by the view in front of me.
The view that came into my eyes was a city street!
"Oh my god… Wait a minute!"
We turned around, and realized the hole behind us vanishing in an instant!
"Oh, it seems like that exit instantly located a city and threw us here."
"That seems to be so~ Big brother, I will be investigating the area~"
"… Alright, but, be careful. We have already arrived near the Eastern Continent."
"Eh?" x 3
The three girls looked at me at the same time.
"How do you know that?"
"I don't feel any sense of discomfort in this city, but, some of the people here are wearing clothes with traits from the Eastern Continent, and there are even buildings which had traces of an Eastern-style building. "
I pointed to the brick house which had a wooden structure in the vicinity.
"In other words, we took an underground passage, which allowed us to directly arrive at the Eastern Continent without taking the very long route."
"Oooohh, then that sure saves lots of trouble!"
Aliyah instantly retreated and hid in the shadows. And then, in a flash, the clothes she was wearing changed into a red kimono!
"Then I will be investigating the area as well! If there's anything you need, contact me directly!"
After saying that, she instantly ran away.
She actually ran right after changing? This girl sure doesn't pay attention to the current situation at all, huh.
I turned and looked towards the only person who was left, the Shikigami Purewhite who had gained self-awareness just earlier.
"Un? What is it, master?"
"It's nothing… Speaking of which, do you have any memories of this place?"
This place is confirmed to be somewhere really near the Eastern Continent. Purewhite, who was born in the Eastern Continent should know something about this place, right?
"No, master. Because my memories only began after I met you."
I laughed bitterly. Opening my menu, I picked out an attire that could not distinguish where I came from, and changed into it. I also changed my hair color back into black, and walked over to one of the restaurants in the vicinity.
"In any case, let's first get something to eat. We don't know how much time we spent in the underground dungeon either."
We entered the mines during the night, and when we came out earlier, the sun was already high up in the sky. In other words, we have spent at least an entire night and an entire morning in the underground world.
When Purewhite and I entered the restaurant, I suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia.
After all, in the Western Continent, all of the restaurants are very western-style, and restaurants like this which are furnished with various small wooden tables and stools are nowhere to be seen.
That's why I had this sense of nostalgia.
"Welcome, what may I do…"
The person who welcomed us was a youth who was in his late teens, and he was wearing an apron completely stained in oil.
Zhang Ye
LV 16 Chef | LV 3 Swordsman
[Kind] [Hardworking] [Alone] [Lorsande Kingdom Citizen]
Wait a minute, there's completely no problems with his levels and classes, but, there's something really terrifying about his titles.
That last [Lorsande Kingdom Citizen] title…
Why does that name look so familiar…
Back then, the incident where a pair of druids disguised themselves as our academy's students, and caused a dispute between the Western and Eastern Continents, the druids seemed to have been from the Lorsande Kingdom…
I did not expect that we would instantly arrive at the intersection between the Eastern and Western Continent… Lorsande Kingdom, is it?
As I thought, underground passages are the most convenient things ever!
"Umm… Dear guest…?"
Realzing that he had been staring at me, I coughed a few times and said.
"You guys are still open, right?"
"Ye… Yes. What do you wish to order?"
As he said that, he glanced at Purewhite beside me.
"Aaaahh! Sorry, dear guest. I definitely do not have any evil intentions! It's just my first time seeing a Shikigami, so…"
"Oh? You're actually able to discern that she's a Shikigami?"
"That… About that. I did study in the past, after all, so I'm able to recognize the mark on the back of the Shikigami's left hand."
I turned to look, and just as he said, on the back of Purewhite's left hand was a light-colored mark.
And I thought it was an unique tattoo… So it was an identification symbol?
Geez…
"Alright, this isn't the time to study her. Hurry and bring out some good dishes, I'm famished."
"Yes! Please… Please wait a moment!"
The youth hurriedly nodded and ran to the back.
"Purewhite, is it really strange for a Shikigami to be here?"
"Master, I…"
"Ooohh, you don't know either, huh…"
I laughed, and then stroked her head.
"Don't worry, don't worry. Anyway, let's have something to eat for now. But, Purewhite, do you eat?"
"Un, I'm able to absorb energy by eating food as well. Of course, using magic stones or spirit stones are much more effective."
After taking our seats, not even half a minute later, Zhang Ye brought out two baskets of steamed buns.
"The steamed buns are served a little faster than the rest! The rest will take a longer period of time to prepare. Umm, are only the two of you eating?"
"Un, but, just serve them all. There's no worries."
Looking at the prices labeled on the wall… They were basically dirt-cheap.
In the academy, one can get their fill with just a few silver, but looking at this menu, where a basket of buns was only a few copper, I could already feel my face cramping.
And I heard from Bai Yueguang that other than using paper currency here, it's possible to use metallic currency as well, in other words, gold, silver and copper.
Simply by removing the word 'Western Continent' on a silver coin, it's impossible for anyone to find out where we come from.
Why don't I want others to know where we come from?
Obviously it's because it's more interesting this way!
There seems to be a couple of people outside, looking for a fight!
"Zhang Ye! I see that you have guests in your restaurant! Hurry and hand over your protection fee!
Geez. Can't I eat in peace? And they don't really give much EXP as well. This is so depressing…
I looked at them with pitiful eyes, and then, I silently continued to eat my buns.
"Umm… My family really can't afford to hand over any protection fee."
Zhang Ye unconsciously took a few steps back, only to realize that he had already be pushed back into the corner of the wall.
And the people collecting the protection fee were wearing sets of neat black light armor.
Are you guys actually treating light armor as western suits? And they're even black?
"What? A single silver a year, and you're unable to pay for it? Then why are you even opening a restaurant in this street then? Why don't you hurry up and sell of this restaurant!"
The leading figure was called Wang Yizhi, a level 20 Swordsman. However, he was wearing an armor, so I was completely unable to see how he looked like.
"I can't. I promised my father that I will definitely take good care of this restaurant."
"How long has it been since then? There's basically no need for you to care about something like that anymore!"
Wang Yizhi then forcefully grabbed onto Zhang Ye.
"If you can't pay, sell the restaurant! If you don't want to sell the restaurant, pay up! It's that simple."
"The few people over there, can't you guys settle all that after I'm done eating? Even though the buns are so tasty, I'm losing my appetite here."
Actually, I had planned on watching the situation, and only speak up after I'm done eating.
But, because the quest notification popped up, I have no reason to simply sit around and continue eating.
After eating the bun I have on hand in three bites, I looked towards the people behind me.
"Can't you guys settle problems peacefully? Geez."
Unique Side Quest: The Heart of the Middle Street
Quest 1: Help the citizens of Luolinde Kingdom. Receive their trust, and receive information regarding【Duan Ye】.
Although I feel that the hints for this quest are less than the previous ones, at least, I'm told how I should proceed with the quest.
And linking the quest to the situation in front of me, the conclusion I could come up with was – I have to help Zhang Ye by eliminating these people in front of me.
"An outsider like you shouldn't bother us when we're doing business! Otherwise, we will make sure you suffer the consequences!"
The moment those words fell, I had already shot out an 【Ice Arrow】!
The 【Ice Arrow】 unreservedly pierced into his thigh, and his wound instantly froze.
"Who did you say was going to suffer the consequences?"
With a 【Charge】, I appeared right before them.
"Were you talking about me?"
He hurriedly took two steps back, and the people beside him instantly stood before him and shielded him.
"Boss! Our opponent seems to be an Onmyouji. Look, he has a Shikigami…"
One of his subordinates whispered to him, but in actual fact, I was able to hear him very clearly.
"Onmyouji? Why would an Onmyouji be in a place near the borders like this?"
He swallowed down his irritation as he looked at me, and then, he looked at Purewhite behind me.
"Just what do you want? Why are you, an Onmyouji, helping such a small restaurant!"
"Because I'm having my lunch, and I'm having my lunch in this restaurant. That's simply it."
He looked at the ice arrow on his thigh, pondered for a moment, and then said this.
"Alright… You ruthless bastard! Let's see if you're able to continue eating here after this!"
After leaving those words, he actually brought his subordinates out and left.
Geez, and here I thought he would go for a direct confrontation. Looks like he clearly understands that he's not a match for me.
"Zhang Ye!"
I suddenly turned and looked towards him.
And he seemed to have been at a loss when I suddenly called for him, as he hurriedly responded.
"Your steamed buns are actually pretty delicious, so why is your business looking so poor?"
And the hygiene of this restaurant is kept pretty well as well. Looks like this guy did indeed manage this restaurant well.
"This… It's probably due to those people from the Black Wolf Tribe earlier. They wish to purchase this entire street, and then, renovate it into a high-class commercial district. So, a small restaurant like mine will…"
"Hah? Just because of a reason like that? Are their brains made of peas?"
Even I could not refrain from cursing them.
"Just because of a sudden interest, they plan to turn this entire street into a modern commercial district, and then, after a period of time, if the so-called retro were to begin trending again, they will change the entire street back, aren't they simply tossing people around…"
"Umm… Dear guest, what did you say?"
"Nothing much, I'm just sighing."
"Speaking of which, those guys have been pestering you for protection fees, and you're actually able to hold out for so long. You're pretty amazing, huh?"
"Umm… Although this place is near the borders, there are still guards stationed here. So, they're only able to stop people that wish to purchase goods from entering this street… So right now, this entire street is facing a depression."
"Speaking of which, how did you guys enter the street? I recall that the entrance of the street had been sealed."
"Sealed? That's completely useless."
Obviously, I won't tell him that I drilled myself out from underground.
"Well, in any case, this Black Wolf Tribe organization is causing your entire street to suffer miserably, right? Very well~"
"Then I shall freeze them all."
"No! You can't!"
Zhang Ye instantly pulled onto me.
"Are… Are you planning to kill them all? Don't do it! You don't have to do that sort of thing for such a small restaurant like mine!"
"Is that so? But if I don't do so, they will continue to harass your entire street, you know."
"But killing is wrong! Even if they're the bad guys…"
I stared at him for a long while, and helplessly sighed.
"Alright, alright~ Since you insist, then I will forget it. But that only applies if they don't offend me. If they were to come to me themselves, then I will simply act out of 'self-defense.'
I stepped out of the door, and looked at the situation of the entire street.
Earlier, I did not really pay attention to it, as I simply looked at the styles of the buildings. But, I did not expect that, when I did a thorough scan of the surroundings, there were indeed not a single human figure passing by.
There were stores which had already placed signboards on their doors, indicating that they had already moved out. And there were also shops like Zhang Ye's restaurant that were still holding on.
"It's not a good idea for this to continue like this either. Once you guys make a complete loss, you people won't be able to continue to run your shops either. Oh, right, I have to pay you for the food."
After saying that, I threw a silver coin, which had its markings completely erased, over to him.
When he caught it, he stared at it for a long while. And then, he rubbed his eyes and looked at it again.
"This… Dear guest, what you just gave…"
"It's not a problem. Keep it. It's not really that big of a sum."
"Thank… Thank you very much! Otherwise, I might not have enough money to buy fresh buns… Wuu…"
After saying that, that guy actually started crying.
Tears began to pour out of his eyes, and he kept using his clothes to wipe off the tears.
Oh my god, don't you have towels or tissues?
"Hey, hey. Why is a man like you crying for? Geez. Seeing you like this, I have no choice but to help you, don't I? Let's just freeze those Black Wolf Tribe or whatever people into ice statues in a single breath."
He suddenly stopped crying.
"Killing is wrong! No matter how much we're suffering, as humans, we still have a line that we will never cross."
"In times like this, you're actually rather serious, huh. Geez. Aren't you increasing the difficulty level here? It's been raised from 'easy' to 'normal' in an instant."
I pondered for a moment.
"Why don't I give all of these shops a gold coin each? Then you people will be able to slowly pay their fees?"
"No! Definitely not! We will definitely not accept money from others so casually!"
"This doesn't work, that doesn't work. And not even a single hint to this quest. This must be set at the 'hard' difficulty, right?"
I pondered for another moment, and then, clapped my hands.
"Let's go! Purewhite!"
I suddenly shouted.
"What is it, master?"
Purewhite who had been watching the steaming baskets instantly ran over when I called her.
"I decided to use some under-handed means."
Looking at Purewhite's and Zhang Ye's skeptical expressions, I shook my head.
"In any case, I decided to visit their base."
Although I said that I was going to their base… it was actually just half a minute walk from the right of the restaurant.
Compared to the regular single-floored shops along the streets, the Black Wolf Tribe's base was actually a three-floored building, and it was even completely made out of wood.
It will definitely be amazing if it's set ablaze… No, wait. I'm here to use underhanded means… No, that's not right either. I'm here to negotiate.
Only Purewhite and I were present. I don't wish to pull Zhang Ye into this, after all. Even though I'm specialized in battle, I'm not specialized in protecting others. It won't be good if a problem occurs.
But… When I saw those two level 6 minions outside, I had no idea how to comment at all.
But, I guess that's understandable. After all, the king of the kingdom who framed me was only level 15. This was already considered quite good for mere minions.
"May I ask, is this the Black Wolf Tribe?"
"Hah? This is the Black Wolf Estate Development Limited Company! Who the hell are you!?"
There's a need for them to raise their mannerism standards, hey. How can they welcome customers like this?
But, when I heard them say that this was a limited company, I silently opened my terminal.
Strange… There's not a single otherworlder nearby, but the term 'Limited Company', no matter how I look at it, it's something that came from our world.
Haah…
"Is that so. Then I will have to trouble you two to open the door."
"Who do you…"
Before they could even finish, I instantly used an elementary-grade wind magic spell【Air Pressure】to send them flying to the door behind them, crashing it open!
"Thank you, you two, for opening the door in our stead. Let's go, Purewhite."
"Un, master."
After entering, I realized there were a bunch of people, dressed in what looked like western suits, looking at me.
When I took a closer look, they were actually between levels 7 to 20, and they had classes like Warriors, Rogue, and etcetera.
They looked at the people on the ground, and then, they looked as us.
"Boss! It's those two! It's those two who stopped us from collecting protection fees."
One of them suddenly leapt out, pointed at us, and said. It seemed to be the person who was at Zhang Ye's restaurant earlier.
However, he currently has his helmet off, so I'm not able to recognize him.
Are you kidding me? Do you remember the names of all the NPCs in the games you play? Won't you be tiring yourself to death if you do so?
And in the next second, everyone in the room pulled out their weapons and pointed them at me. And, to that, I'm simply waved my hand. Countless ice magic formations appeared in my surroundings, and 【Ninety-Nine Ice Arrows】 pointed at everyone in the room.
The bastard who shouted earlier immediately hid to the back when he saw those ice arrows. It seems like when the ice arrow pierced his thigh earlier, it left a pretty deep impression on him.
"An Onmyouji that can use Arcane spells and control a Shikigami at the same time. Impressive. May I know of your name?"
A man wearing a black armor walked out of the crowd. The shoulder plate of his black armor was decorated with a wolf's head.
Xiao Zhe
LV 28 Heavenly Sword User
[Neutral] [Wise] [Wanderer] [Merchant] [Gang Leader] [Black Wolf Tribe Master] [Murderer]
"Heavenly Sword User? To think I would encounter someone with a class that has such chinese characteristics."
"Oh? You're actually able to recognize my class? Even though I don't have my sword on me."
"But a gang leader as a merchant, and you're even a Heavenly Sword User. Your career match-up is rather interesting."
"I agree with this point. But, I was simply given the role of a merchant by someone else, I'm nothing but a martial artist."
"Alright, can we stop with all this refined and formal way of talking? I want to ask you this. Why the hell is there a need to modernize this entire street? Don't you know there's actually a market for retro as well?"
He was stunned for a moment, and then, in a flash, he rushed right in front of me.
Purewhite instantly stood in front of me to block him, however, I tapped on her, and pulled her to the side.
"Don't worry, this guy isn't planning to attack me."
Because earlier, his name evidently yellow, but, after I finished stating my question, it instantly turned green!
This only meant one thing…
He took the initiative to enter the friendly state…
Why!? Hey!
"Although I was sent by the upper echelons to turn this street into a commercial district, I have completely no idea how I should do it. So, I'm simply followed the guidelines given by the people at the top. However, it seems like the current problem has turned pretty severe, so, if you have an idea how I should go about doing this, please give me some pointers! I will be extremely grateful if you do so!"
He said all that in a single breath, and I took a long time to digest all that before I could react to it.
I nodded.
"That's not a problem. I have played many business simulation games."
"So, as I was saying, you guys basically did not have any clash of benefits in the first place, and were simply lacking communication."
Under my encouragement, the remaining store owners in the entire street and the upper echelons of the Black Wolf Tribe came together for a peaceful discussion.
Of course, because both sides had been in a conflict for such a long period of time, as the organizer of this activity, even after I used up all of my linguistic skills, I was still unable to get all of the store owners to come.
In the end, I had to spend 3 silvers for each store before they would come here unwillingly.
Damn it. As I thought, to merchants, money is everything, huh?
"My suggestion is this. The rest of you remaining store owners continue your business here, however, according to the difference in your products, I will have to make slight changes to the positions of your stores. Of course, I will personally be in-charge of the moving fees. However, these fees will be counted as my investment to this entire street, so, once you guys make money in the future, I will receive some of the dividends. Understand?"
I had made some investigations on the commodity prices in the vicinity.
As Luorande Kingdom's position is considered as a central passageway, in terms of traffic and manpower, it's quite perfect. In other words, manpower costs will be rather low.
And there are only a few merchandises that need to be moved, hence, a single gold coin should be enough to deal with the matter.
Although, to regular people, a single gold coin is a large sum, to someone like me who sneaks into the treasuries of various kingdoms occasionally, it's not really big of a problem.
"Un. We don't really have any complaints. However, do you have any other suggestions in regards to our future development? Because of the long-term blockade caused by these people, our stores had already lost a large number of customers. This is basically a nightmare to our businesses."
The person who said this is the boss lady of a kimono store, her name is Chuan Yemei. Her store is located at the eastern side of the street, next to the entrance. It's an old store with a history of few hundred years.
Of course, it's the largest store of this entire street, and other than the Black Wolf Tribe's headquarters, there's no other store that is larger than hers.
"You don't have to worry about that."
"I will re-arrange the entire layout of the commercial street, so as to guarantee that all of you will be able to obtain the largest benefits."
Then, I pulled open a large piece of paper, revealing a sketch of a map that I had spent a dozen of minutes to make.
"Take a look. We're actually a city made up of couple of self-established villages, located at the eastern side of the Luorande Kingdom. Because of the uniqueness of the Luorande Kingdom's landscape, where mountains are located at the south, the seas are located at the north, and there are basically no rivers and forests in the center, hence, there's no reason for a cluster of villages like ours to close ourselves up. But, as the central passageway, we're a supply point, thus, we're able to connect the Eastern and Western Continents. At the same time, we're near the seas, and a harbor is just a twenty minutes carriage ride away, this is also a positional advantage of ours."
After saying that, I stopped and looked at them. When I saw them nodding their heads, I continued.
"But, around this area, other than this street, there are two other streets present as well. Our three streets are currently formed in a【凹】structure. Right now, not only do we have to exert our advantages, we have to steal the businesses from the other two streets at the same time. This is our final objective. First, we have to re-confirm what the people that passes by are like. Zhang Ye, why don't you try telling us?"
"Me!? Umm…"
Hearing his name being called out so suddenly, Zhang Ye was at a loss.
"Hungry people?"
Hearing his words, most of the people here started laughing.
I smiled, and nodded.
"The hell you guys are laughing for? He's not wrong at all, you know?"
I slapped on the map.
"Take a look at this yourself. This map labeled all of the villages and cities present in Luorande Kingdom. Other than a main city, two checkpoint cities, and five small cities, including ours, there's nothing else. Looking to the west, the people coming from the Western Continent, after they have passed through the border city on their side, other than passing through our street, they will have to take a longer path around if they wish to head towards the Eastern Continent. The same applies for the people coming from the Eastern Continent as well. Merchant groups that wish to save costs by using horse carriages, do you really think they will choose to stay at the two border cities on each side, where the prices are astronomically high? Obviously not. They will choose to come this small city of ours to have their meals. Hence, calling them hungry people isn't wrong at all."
Then, I once again pointed to the map of our town.
"Look, the other two streets do not even have a single restaurant. All of them are selling merchandises such as high-grade equipment, rare gems, porcelains, pottery and magic tools. Have you people realized? Their stores are set up for the pretext that consumers will spend a large sum of money! This is where they're failing at!"
I slammed on the table!
"Tell me, are there more merchants or tourists passing by our street? How does it make sense for merchants to buy merchandises that are more expensive than the goods they're handling!? The merchandises the other two streets are selling are basically targeting tourists, don't you think?"
"So, the consumers we're targeting should be the merchants that wish to be able to obtain resupplies here. As the saying goes, 'hunger breeds discontentment'. We have to place food caterers and smitheries, these two most important stores at the two ends of the commercial district. Then, from these stores, we will recommend these merchants to head into the center of the commercial district, where more food, inns, and resting facilities are located. Shops that sell medicines and supplies can be placed there as well. Only through this way, where we promote ourselves mutually, will we be able to obtain the largest benefits as a whole."
"But in that case, what about my kimono store?"
Ms. Yemei said with a frown.
"Although I think that your business strategy is very correct, the problem is that there are a few of our stores that do not deal with cheap merchandises."
After saying that, she looked at the people next to her.
"That's right, in our commercial street, other than Ms. Yemei's kimono store, there's Mr. Wang's jewelry shop and Ms. Simi's sculpture shop. As the three big shops that cannot be used as resupplies, I have pondered about this for a while, and decided to deal with this matter in another direction."
As I said that, I flipped to the next piece of paper.
"I have decided that, we shall purchase all of the goods that merchants have yet to develop detailed plans for, and then, sell them our merchandises to fill their newly empty spaces! That shall do!"
They looked at each other, and asked.
"Can you guarantee that they will buy our merchandises? After all, the other two streets are selling various high-grade goods as well."
"I guarantee it."
"I had already advertised your merchandises to the various Merchant Guilds through the terminal. Right now, we have something else that we have to do. I believe Xiao Zhe will definitely do a good job with it, right?"
"That's right, swallowing up the other stores or whatever! We're specialized in it!"
"Hey, hey ,hey! What we're doing is 'legal purchasing'."
"Legal purchasing? Just what are you guys planning to do?"
Ms. Yemei asked weirdly.
"It's very simple. We shall head to their various supply holders and buy the merchandises at a low price, we will then move them over and sell them at lower prices than the other streets. This will suppress the pricing of the entire market, reducing their value, and then, cause them to go bankrupt in the end. Right after that, we will purchase their stores."
The people that filled the entire room were all completely silent. Then, a moment later, unanimously, they said this.
"Profiteer…"
Title [Merchant with a Demonic Black Heart] unlocked.
Affinity with all Merchant Guilds increased by 5%. Goods that you have already seen the pricings of, can be directly compared to the pricings on the local goods.
Every 100,000 Gold earned, local fame decreases by 1 point.
This title… Alright, I don't deny it.
"But, how do you plan on buying those high-grade equipments, gems and potteries?"
I smiled, and then pointed to the large-scale terminal next to the wall.
"In this world, as long as the information network is advanced, anything is possible. Oh right, there's another condition as well…"
I pointed to the sky.
"And that is advanced technology!"
Gradually, the roar of a magical engine could be heard from the faraway skies.
"Middle Street, from today onwards, I shall begin to swallow you up!"
Five minutes later, on the empty space west of the city, a white airship that was slightly bigger than a football field slowly descended.
If one were to look at it carefully, it could be seen that the outer structure of the entire airship was very similar to the one personally used by Princess Michelle. But, the current model was much bigger, and there were much more equipment installed as well.
Especially the eight railguns installed on both sides. When Dale installed them, did he think that we would use this airship to attack a city?
The door to the airship slowly opened, and the first person who came down was Dale. Looks like he had been staying up late in the nights at the【Sion's Door】labotorary, as his entire figure looked extremely frail.
And the next person was Lanya. She seemed to be filled with excitement, and…
What's with those cargo containers behind you?
"Fir! You actually managed to find a position in this Luorande Kingdom, known as the【Middle Passage】, that allows you to start up a business! Hahaha! As expected, I was not mistaken with your potential!"
"I was just lucky. Come, let me introduce everyone."
I looked towards the people behind me.
"Lanya, this is Xiao Zhe, the leader of the Black Wolf Tribe who has accepted the management of this entire street… No, I should call him chairman, now. And these are the various store owners. But currently, there are still stores that are vacant, as for the detailed situation, you can discuss with them on your own. Xiao Zhe, this is our academy's most incredible merchant. You two get along now."
"Of course, of course!"
Xiao Zhe's eyes had never left from those huge containers behind Lanya.
"How about it? I have all types of magic tools stored in here. Are you interested?"
Lanya said with a smile.
"Of course, how's the quality?"
"From regular creations by students to high-grade creations by alchemists, I have them all. It just depends on what you want."
"Un. Very good. Then…"
For some reasons, I felt a very terrifying aura being emitted from their surroundings. Unconsciously, I tried to take a few steps away from them.
However, when I took a single step back, I felt my back hitting on something soft.
But, I was suddenly grabbed, and my entire body was forcefully turned around!
"Hahaha~ Isn't this my student, Fir?~ You people actually abandoned us and ran over here~"
Appearing before me was Ms. Mari, who was carrying a terrifying smile…
The corner of my lips twitched.
"Of course not, we fell into an underground dungeon, and then, we found ourselves here after climbing out of it. And didn't I use the terminal to send a message back to the academy after arriving here?"
That's right, I even sent over the news of a money-making business potential being here. Hence, Dale rode the airship newly developed by【Sion's Door】over, while bringing Lanya and the rest here as well.
Along the way, they picked up Ms. Mari, Tai Shixi and Lois as well.
Shua!
The blade of a halberd instantly stopped right before my neck.
"Is that so? To actually leave three young girls…"
Tai Shixi suddenly stopped, and then, she looked at Ms. Mari.
"No, to actually leave two young girls and an auntie…"
"Who are you calling auntie!?"
Ms. Mari instantly pulled out her magic staff and shot out numerous ice arrows.
"Aren't you one!?"
With a single swing of her halberd, she sliced apart several ice arrows, and then, she charged towards Ms. Mari.
I hurriedly used【Shadow Sneak】and zoomed to the side, leaving the area of battle.
Looking at Lois who was at a loss, I patted on her shoulder.
"How many times did they fight per day?"
"Probably… once every three hours."
Lois pondered for a moment, and answered softly.
Looks like she's completely terrified of them. Even though she was a member of a Mercenary Guild back then, she's actually frightened to this extent. She's really pitiful.
"Speaking of which, I brought you guys a guide."
Dale who had been silent the entire time suddenly spoke up, and looked towards the direction of the airship.
"But he's probably still playing cards on the airship, so…"
"Playing cards?"
"Un, initially, it was just to while away the time. However…"
Looking at Dale's expression, I frowned as I walked up the airship.
Halfway to the cabin, I heard the voices of the people inside.
"Hurry and play your hand! Why are you being so hesitant?"
"Hmph, I'm currently thinking, don't bother me!"
"Just honestly admit your defeat! You can never win!"
"Who decided that!? I will definitely show you that I can!"
"Then play your hand!"
"Aaaah! Take this!"
The instant I opened the door, I saw the cards Bai Yueguang placed down. It was actually a straight!
"See this!? This is my power!"
Hey, hey, hey. You're simply relying on luck, right? And you… After placing down your straight, you still have three cards left on hand. This is extremely dangerous, you know. Your opponent only has exactly five cards left.
"Hmhmhm~ Your struggle is futile."
Hei Luoli slightly smiled, and then, she revealed the five cards in her hand.
"Flush."
Bai Yueguang's expression instantly paled, and he fainted on the spot.
Why did I know that? Because, above his head, there was an additional 'Fainted' status.
"Are you guys done playing? We're leaving."
"Ooooh, isn't this Fir? Do you want to play a round?"
"No. Unless you remove all of the Aces hidden in your sleeves, definitely not."
"I was actually found out."
After saying that, she still gave a cheeky smile.
How couldn't I find out… She has a 'Acceleration' buff icon above her head, you know. Just where the hell was Bai Yueguang looking at…
"I will be leaving this place to you, Lanya. We're going to continue heading East!"
After giving Xiao Zhe and Lanya a few ideas, we once again continued on our journey to the Eastern Continent.
Why did we not continue to stay and run the business? Are you kidding? Running a business isn't something one can do in a single day or night, and there's no fast-forward function in this, so do you think I will stay here until I manage to make some money?
Then there's basically no longer a need to head to the Eastern Continent if I were to do that!
It's best to hurry and retreat, and hopefully, by the time we get back, it might be possible to see a blooming outcome, where they have raked in a big sum of money!
"Why didn't we simply board the airship and have it send us directly to the target city?"
After leaving the city, Aliyah asked as she sneezed.
"Un, having walks occasionally is beneficial for the body."
I softly said.
"Well~ Think about it. We're evidently here to tour the place, so why not take a little stroll."
'And do some quests along the way.'
As for things that could be not be said verbally, I simply used the private messaging system to supplement my words. Ater all, in our current party, there's a couple of otherworlders present.
"I guess you're right~ I seemed to have forgotten this recently."
"Even though it's the most important matter?"
I shook my head, and then, I looked towards Ms. Mari before continuing.
"In any case, the academy gave us this vacation to delay us. If we don't take our time, aren't we not satisfying their demand?"
"But, in that case, wouldn't you guys be at a huge disadvantage in the academy war that is currently still ongoing in the academy?"
Ms. Mari asked with a smile.
"Really? In any case, we will be stronger once we get back, so what's there to be afraid of?"
That's right, my current level is 35, and I'm already nearing level 36, which is also Ms. Mari's current level.
In other words, I have already raised to the ranks of a teacher from the ranks of a student.
But, what Ms. Mari specializes in is not magic, but developing products of advanced technology.
"I guess you're right~"
"But, Ms. Mari, I think it's best if we take the actual route this time. If we encounter some weird incidents again, it will be troublesome."
"Un. About that mission regarding the mines back then, even after looking for them for so long, I did not find any clues. Did any one of you find anything?"
When I turned to look at them, Tai Shixi was shaking her head.
"Although I have received the Wolf Transformation gene, I'm still frustrated over whether I should use something like this that came from an unknown source."
It seemed like Aliyah obtained the gene as well.
As for Oyado… Probably because she was not an otherworlder like us, she did not receive any reward even after completing the quest along with us.
"Looks like you guys have encountered some incidents while we were patrolling the school grounds."
Bai Yueguang said unhappily.
"That's right, we landed ourselves in some weird place. And I even thought that we might not be able to return."
"Tch, without fateful encounters, how are we supposed to improve ourselves?"
"Hearing these words of yours, I finally understood the other reason why you three ran to the Western Continent from the Eastern Continent… Speaking of which, are you guys fine? Didn't you three run to the Western Continent to escape being chased by some people?"
"We're fine. Back then, the three of us were still rather weak. What you're seeing now is the us who had experienced hardships as we fled to the Western Continent. We're no longer comparable to back then. And… We have eight of us right now, so what's there to be afraid of?"
"Hey hey hey, if they were to use an army to challenge us, even if there's eight of us, it will still be hard to obtain victory, right?"
"We can talk about that when that happens~"
This bastard is really…
"No worries, in any case, our skills are basically trained to fight against an army. So you don't have to worry."
Tai Shixi said, with utmost confidence.
"That's not the main point, right? Making an entire country as our enemy…"
It seems like I have done the same thing in the past?
Speaking of which, I have to find an opportunity to settle the score with the Mitchell Kingdom. Well, I can think about it when I get the chance.
"Alright, in any case, let's first head to our destination. Ms. Mari, where's our first destination?"
"A place called【Skyview Academy】 . I heard it's the academy that's placed fourth out of the four great academies of the Eastern Continent. Of course, that academy and another academy 【Earthshatter Academy】both claim to be number three, but, back then, someone from【Skyview Academy】used the power of a【Ghost】to kill people. Hence, they were forced to the fourth place by the consensus of the other three academies."
"Looks like the battle between the academies in the Eastern Continent is rather complicated as well, unlike the one in our academy, which is mostly dependent on one's prestige."
"But, since they have competitions among them as well, it meant that their capabilities are definitely not weaker than ours. Although this is a tour, there's a need to fight a few rounds with them to prepare ourselves for what may come."
"Yes, yes, yes~ No problem."
Ms. Mari looked at Purewhite behind us.
"Where did you pick up a Shikigami?"
"I already told you that I collected it back then…"
"Your hobby collection sure is rather unique…"
Silently scratching my head, I looked at Purewhite's skeptical expression. She seemed to be unaware of why they were discussing about her. Then, I responded.
"Ms. Mari, let's hurry up and go. Otherwise, I wonder when we'll ever get there."
"You don't have to worry about that. This is one of the better points of the Eastern Continent, there's villages everywhere. Basically, we will only need two to three hours to reach a new village by foot, so, you don't have to worry."
"Then that's good."
"But if the nine of us were to simply walk there like this, I feel it's kind of strange…"
Aliyah said softly.
"I find it strange as well, but, I don't want to ride a horse again. Oh, right, why don't we use this then."
Although I know a wind elemental party buff that increases speed, there's currently quite a bit of people here, so it's best that I don't expose the fact that I'm capable of using wind magic spells as well.
But… To deal with this sort of situation, I had Lanya make some unique magic cards, which were similar to magic scrolls.
"Then, we will be picking up our pace!"
I broke the card, and a green light was emitted out of everyone's bodies at the same time. Our walking speed had instantly changed, and we were now walking at our normal running pace!
【Arcane – Party – Wind Walk】
When not in battle, bestow party members within the range of 100 meters from the caster an increase in speed of 100%.
"Why don't we, try running with accelerated speed!?"
A minute later, outside a village in the Eastern Continent.
A man with a fierce-looking face looked towards the person next to him and said.
"Boss, the merchants from the Eastern Continent should be coming about now. Our brothers have already made the necessary preparations, let us…"
"Un, let's get ready. Today, we will definitely have to steal some good items."
And just when they were discussing this, a number of green figures flashed, and they zoomed past next to the village!
The two of them stood rooted onto the ground.
After a moment, one of them said with a terrified voice.
"Are they… the merchants?"
"That【Skyview Academy】… you're not referring to that structure on top of the mountain in front of us, right?"
Standing at the exit of the forest, we looked towards the faraway city, and the tall mountain centered in the city.
Of course, and that structure which was defying the law of physics by floating above the peak of the mountain.
As to the reason why we're at the exit of a forest, of course it's because we had rushed too quickly, and we ended up charging into the forest.
Of course, with our superb nimbleness and dodging abilities, we decided to simply cut across the forest, after gauging the direction we should be headed to. Only when we charged out of the forest, and saw our target city, did we finally stop.
"Un, that should be the place. The name of that city is Skybreak City."
Ms. Mari said as she looked at her notebook.
As a teacher, you only had that little amount of work to do in this excursion, so couldn't you have remembered the names of the city?
"Skybreak City? That sure is an easily understood name… But no matter how I see it, there's a problem with that mountain, right? What's the deal with that structure floating in mid-air? And what's going on with those rocks that are near the mountain? Aren't they completely ignoring the laws of Physics?"
"Fir, have you not played games related to deity cultivation? In those games, aren't there rocks illogically floating in mid-air?"
"Un… Speaking of which, that's indeed the case, I see… But those people actually built their academy on a floating rock. This is basically too illogical."
"… Just how long are you going to frustrate over logic?"
"As a scientist, how can we not care about the logic of things? Geez… Well, it doesn't really matter anyway."
Once again, I looked at the city, before I continued to ask.
"Then what are we going to do here? Are we simply going to look around?"
"Theoretically, that's about it. Look around, interact, and learn from each other."
"Hey, hey, hey, by 'interacting', you mean a fight, right?"
"I'm really looking forward to it!"
"You… But, you have to know that, according to the schedule, we should be arriving in another three days, hence…"
"Hence, there's no one to welcome us, is that it?"
"Well, that's about it."
"Oh my… Alright. Bai Yueguang, Tai Shixi, and Hei Luoli? You three should be more familiar with the Eastern Continent than us, right? Do you know anywhere we can hang around nearby?"
"I have never been here before."
"Hang around?"
These three sure synchronized their answers well.
"Alright, in any case, it's not a sound idea to simply stand here. Let's hurry and enter the city for now."
Looking helplessly at our current situation, that was the only thing that I could think of.
"Un. And to save our excursion fees, let's enter the academy directly and discuss with their principal about this matter."
"I did not expect that Ms. Mari would actually behave like an actual teacher in times like this."
"Obviously. The remaining portion of the excursion fees are coming from my salary this month, you know."
Return me my moved feelings.
Just kidding. I won't ever feel moved by someone like her.
Of course, the moment we were near the city, we saw those familiar city walls.
And this feeling of familiarity is not because I have been here before, rather, I have already seen structures like these with Chinese traits countless of times in games.
And I have seen such walls in reality as well. After all, I'm Asian. But, because my memories seemed to be jumbled up with Japanese and Chinese traits, I'm not entirely sure of the concrete details.
But, truthfully, I can't figure out at first glance if this Skybreak City is actually Chinese or Japanese styled. Because, in the city, there were people selling sushis, yet, there were many merchants selling talismans and candied fruits as well.
Alright, it seemed like there's not really a big difference between Chinese and Japanese cultures in the Eastern Continent. I wonder if it's due to the frequent trade around the area?
After all, the Western and Eastern Continents are separated by mountains and seas, however, the Eastern Continent here is unlike the East in our former world where Japan and China is separated by the seas.
"This sure is nostalgic."
Bai Yueguang said as he looked around.
"How long haven't we been back here?"
"Little Bai is simply thinking of eating sushis again, right?"
Hei Luoli laughed.
"Tch. Are you telling me you don't want to eat them as well?"
"I only want to eat some meatballs."
"In the end, we're still eating aren't we!?"
Alright, I shall leave you two to frustrate about what to eat. I, on the other hand, wish to see if there's any new skill books I can find here. After all, there's nothing wrong with supplementing myself with a few Eastern skills.
I turned to look at the remaining people – Aliyah, Purewhite, Oyado and Lois.
The rest?
Tai Shixi and Ms. Mari had already went off to the academy. Bai Yueguang and Hei Luoli are probably going on a date or something, damn it.
"Anyway, I will first be heading off to look for books, you girls should…"
"Hah? Are you thinking of running?"
Aliyah held onto her waist and said.
"How is it alright to not have a man to protect the girls when they're shopping!? You best don't think of running off now!"
I'm totally not following them because of the sword in her hand!
All of a sudden.
I felt that the existence of storage rings is really a wonderful thing.
All the things these girls had bought could all be stuffed into the rings, they're really too wonderful.
Only Purewhite stayed behind me and simply looked around the entire time. Seems like she, who lacked the knowledge of shopping and wants, although she has the appearance of a young girl, other than that, she has no other traits of a young girl.
I really don't know whether this is a good or bad thing.
Although Lois was not as hyped up as Aliyah, but, after looking at Aliyah's figure, Lois unconsciously began to shop crazily as well.
Oyado?
In less than a single minute, she learnt what was crazy shopping, after all…
I seemed to have given her 1,000 gold as allowance in the past…
Ah whatever, it doesn't matter anymore.
But, this is not the most important problem.
The most important problem was the fact that these people were shopping crazily, and all of them were rather cute. It might be possible that they were being taken as some rich girls of some big influential households who were on a shopping trip together.
While Purewhite and I…
Are probably taken as their bodyguards or something, right? There's no helping it, I forgot to cover up the Shikigami marking on her left arm, after all.
In other words, with a simple glance, I currently looked like a Onmyouji Bodyguard, a rather trending occupation in the Eastern Continent.
The Onmyouji occupation in the Eastern Continent is basically hereditary, in other words… The occupation of an Onmyouji is basically set when one is born.
But the problem lied with that system as well. After all, some people are not willing to be an Onmyouji that stay in their houses their entire lives, so, Onmyoujis that venture out to be bodyguards, guardians, and even assassins have been increasing.
Well, this is natural as well, I guess. After all, Onmyoujis and Taoist Priests could be considered to be magicians of the Eastern Continent. Although among the wanderers, there are some who use elemental attacks… after all, that's not what they really specialize in.
Regarding things like this, we will probably receive more detailed explanations when we arrive at their academy. What we have to currently deal with, should be the people whose names have been constantly turning red.
Ah, this is so troublesome. Why do these people have to seek their deaths? Even though I planned on becoming a kind and lawful citizen.
No, wait a minute, self-defence or whatever isn't against the law, right?
Then that's really wonderful.
"Aliyah, Oyado…"
"I know, I can see those people as well."
After glancing to the side, Aliyah continued to look at the clothes in front of her.
"That's right, big brother. Even I'm feeling rather hot-blooded from their killing intent, where are we going to kill them?"
"Haah. You girls are really… We're such upright citizens, how can we do something like throwing them into a well and eliminate them?"
"From the way you're saying it, you haven't done such a thing before?"
"Of course not. I have always eliminated them head-on…"
I'm not wrong, right? I didn't remember them incorrectly, right?
"Alright, even if you haven't, what are you planning to do then?"
"About that…"
I scrolled through my skill list, and then, I tapped on a Warrior skill that I learnt a long time ago.
Decrease the targets' reasoning abilities by 50%, incite the targets to attack you.
The moment I tapped on the skill, a red circle emitted out of my body, and then, like a water ripple, it slowly expanded outwards!
"Hand over the money!"
"Hey! Why did you go out first!"
Suddenly, a Rogue suddenly leapt out of the crowd, and the cold light in his hand was thrust towards my back.
Why was I able to see the attack?
Because this guy's speed is too slow, hence, when I saw the attack warning, I immediately turned and saw his movements.
Oh, I forgot to explain.
These people are mostly in the level 10 ~ 20 range, there's completely…
No point in battling them at all!
I directly extended my hand and grabbed onto the dagger in his hand. And then, I swung my hand to the side, and sent him flying to the nearby wall!
When the crowd saw my movements, those who raised their weapons suddenly stopped coming over, and then, they simply surrounded us instead.
"Hey hey hey! You idiot! Couldn't you have just let him stab you? Look, they don't even dare to attack us now!"
Aliyah said resentfully as she kept the clothes in her ring. And then, she pulled out her two swords.
Is it really fine for you to steal those items so openly?
"Big brother, don't worry, I will exterminate them in an instant!"
"Don't act yet, Oyado. I say, you people, why are you attacking us all of a sudden? And, if you want to rob, hurry and attack us already, otherwise, we will be bored."
"There's something wrong with you guys instead, right!? As the party being robbed, aren't you guys too arrogant!?"
One of the Warrior suddenly shouted loudly.
"Although I don't know why we would suddenly jump out and surround you guys, as the ones being robbed, you guys should…"
"Too much nonsense… 【Restrictor of the Frozen Earth】!"
Shrugging, a large amount of cold air instantly froze all of them up.
All of the commoners in the vicinity had fled, and there's no friendly fire, hence…
This skill is really too convenient.
"What are we going to do now that you froze them up?"
I pondered for a moment, and said.
"Why don't we head to another part of the city and grind another set?"
"Just what the hell are you guys doing?"
Hearing these words, I knew that our wish to grind another set of mob characters could no longer be granted.
"Ms. Mari, you sure are rather efficient. Are you already done contacting the academy?"
When I turned to look, they were exactly Ms. Mari and Tai Shixi who had ran to contact Skyview Academy.
Behind them were two other people. One was an old man in traditional chinese garments, while the other was a woman in samurai armor.
The woman was even carrying a two-meter long odachi on her back. Are you planning to challenge Doragyurosu or Rathian?
"Of course. Let me introduce them. This is Mr. Haoran, and this other person is Ms. Domyuu.
"Welcome everyone from the Northern Continent's academy, who are here for exchange studies with our academy. Let us lead the way to our Skyview Academy. Oh, before that, there's probably a need to explain the matter regarding these frozen people to the guards, right?"
Just when the old man called Haoran was speaking with us, several guards had already charged over from the sides.
I snapped my fingers, and the the ice encapsulating the surrounding people was instantly removed, and they fell onto the ground one after another.
Currently, they were all trembling. Well, that's natural. After all, they were not actually dead, and were simply in a frozen state.
Kill them?
What's the point in killing them? Their levels are so low, so there's basically no EXP to gain from them, right?
"So… Sorry, we… we should not have tried to rob you people."
They curled up into a ball as they said in a low voice.
"Just what the hell happened here!?"
One of the guards asked loudly.
"This big bro, these are the people who tried to rob us, but in the end, got their asses handed to them instead."
"This… many people?"
The guard looked at the dozens of people in the vicinity, and helplessly shook his head.
This is not my fault, after all, the people who wanted to rob us was just too many.
"Alright, we will deal with the matter here."
The guard said while nodding, but, I realized that his eyes were looking towards the old man called Haoran.
Seeing the old man silently nodding his head, the guard and his companions cuffed the hands of the people on the ground, and then, they left the scene one after another.
"Then, please follow us. We will bring you people to the academy for a tour."
Domyuu said with a laugh, and then, she did a 'this way, please' gesture to the right, before leading the way.
"Mistresses, shopping will have to wait till next time."
I laughed while looking at Aliyah and the rest.
As we walked along the street, after a while, the shops in the vicinity began to decrease. It seemed like we have moved from the commercial street to the residential district.
And the merchants and tourists, who were dressed in various ways, walking along the street, had changed into people who were dressed in kimonos or traditional chinese clothings.
And they all had the title【Skyview Academy Student】among their titles. This pretty much mean that, we were closing in on the academy.
"Next, please enter our【Air Floating Formation】."
Old man Haoran said as he entered.
All of us looked at each other, before entering as well.
"Quick steps into the heavens! Go!"
And then, with his voice command, I felt a feeling of acceleration like that of a rising elevator, and our surrounding scenery was quickly becoming smaller as we flew up!
Purewhite suddenly hugged onto me.
"What… What is this…"
"Don't worry, just treat it as though we're riding an elevator."
"Elevator?"
"Well, in any case, you don't have to worry about it… Eh?"
Suddenly, I felt my clothes being tugged on. When I turned to look, Oyado was currently grabbing onto my clothes as she looked at me.
"I'm feeling afraid as well…"
She said softly.
"Un, Oyado, you don't have to worry as well."
"I understand. I just have to hold onto big brother."
As she said that, she immediately grabbed onto my hand.
Silently letting out a sigh, I smiled and stroked her head.
The formation continued to rise, and we constantly passed through the layers of clouds in our surroundings, as we flew high above.
But, even if that's the case, by looking down from the corner of the formation, it felt as though I was looking downwards from inside an airplane, and there's no railings to hold onto on the formation…
It's totally causing people's legs to go jelly, oi!
No, this can't do. My legs must definitely not wobble, otherwise, it will definitely be embarrassing to death!
And just as I was praying as such, the formation began to decelerate, and it flew towards a platform and landed there.
Great, if it had continued for a while more, my legs would have turned jelly!
"From now on~ Welcome to our【Skyview Academy】."
Old man Haoran said as he pointed to the building in front of us.
"The principal is waiting above. Please."
From afar, I did not really feel anything special, but…
After arriving here and looking at building up-close… Without raising my head, it would basically be impossible to see the top of the building!
So scary, just how did the people here construct such a building? And it's even on a floating rock such as this.
"Let's go, what are you still looking at, you idiot!?"
Only after hearing Aliyah's voice did I finally realize that everyone had left. But, Oyado and Purewhite were still standing beside me, not moving at all.
"Un, let's go!"
With that said, I and everyone else had stepped into the huge door with a height of five meters, and entered Skyview Academy.
"Those are the touring students from the Western Continent? Why are there a few of them who are dressed about the same as us?"
"They're probably exchange students, or they had moved over with their family."
"That might be possible… Look, those two are Samurais right? And there's a Spirit Archer. But… That guy who is really strangely dressed, there's a Shikigami following beside him, could he be a High-Grade Onmyouji? Why would such a person be in an academy at the Western Continent? Could it be that they have learnt Onmyou Arts?"
The moment we entered the place, we could hear the soft discussions from the nearby students. Looks like it's really a rare occurrence for people from the Western Continent to come over to their academy.
But, because I have changed into modern clothes earlier, I had turned into someone that did not look like he was from either the Western or Eastern Continent.
Well, whatever.
"I guess it must be your first time coming to our Skyview Academy, right?"
Old man Haoran who was walking in front suddenly said.
"Un."
All of us nodded one after another.
Are you kidding me? A place like this where you have to ride an escalator that goes straight up and down without any handrails, who the hell would be so bored to come here!?
Unless if there's some sort of Boss which could be used to grind for epic-grade equipment, otherwise, wouldn't it be extremely wasteful to come here!?
"Un. Our academy's aim is to gather all of the martial arts and mystic arcanes in the world, so to this Western and Eastern Continent skill exchange programme, our Skyview Academy treats it with great importance. Our academy hopes that, with this interaction, we will both be able to learn things that we wish to know about."
When he said that, his sharp gaze swept past Bai Yueguang, Tai Shixi, Hei Luoli and me.
Geez, what does this has to do with me? If you suspect me as someone of the Eastern Continent because of Purewhite who was beside me, then you're too naive. Other than controlling Purewhite, I basically do not have any sort of Onmyouji skills on me, you know.
"Big brother, there's many people who are filled with hostile intent nearby, looking at us."
As we headed towards the large hall in the middle, Oyado suddenly whispered.
Hostile intent?
I did not receive any attack warnings, so I thought we're rather safe in the vicinity. When I looked carefully, on a building next to us, the countless of people looking through the window were actually red-named!
Geez, in times like this, we will actually encounter enemies as well?
But, because they were too far, I completely could not discern their names. I was only able to see red spots.
Hopefully, these people will maintain their hostile intent, otherwise, it will be troublesome if I can't recognize them next time.
"Un. I saw them. Strange, why are there enemies here?"
"Their focus seems to be on Little Bai. Big brother, do you think it's possible that they are Little Bai's enemies in the Eastern Continent back then?"
"This… they shouldn't be. After all, he's currently disguised, so there shouldn't be anyone that's capable of recognizing him."
"But their eyes are indeed focused on Little Bai~"
"… Forget it. For now, let's just observe. We can talk about it later."
But, just when my attention was moved from that spot, someone suddenly charged out from the large hall in front of us. With a swing of her hand, countless talismans, like fluttering snowflakes, surrounded every one of us!
"Master! Watch out!"
Purewhite's eyes suddenly emitted a red glow, she placed her hands together, and then, quickly made hand seals.
At the same time, Purewhite chanted words that I completely could not understand. Then, pointing to the front, countless white circular formations appeared around Purewhite, and then, they were shot ruthlessly towards the surrounding talismans!
A strong charging force engulfed the surroundings, and after the charge, our surroundings were filled with fluttering pieces of paper!
"Hmph! So it's simply someone who relies on a High-Grade Shikigami to battle, and it's even an Automatic Shikigami. I thought you were an expert, but I didn't expect you were actually trash!"
The one who assaulted us was an Onmyouji dressed in white robes… But regular Onmyoujis are dressed in white robes as well, right?
But, when she assaulted us, Old man Haoran and Ms. Domyuu did not seem to have any comments…
"Bai Xiangtian! What's the meaning of this? If you wish to compete, you can duel to your hearts content in tomorrow's skill interaction meeting! Why did you have to act now!? Do you even know the rules!?"
When old man Haoran saw that our side had nothing to say, he cleared his throat and said that.
"Teacher, if these people are too weak, there's basically no need to interact at all! Look, the Western side only sent two Warriors, and not even a single Magician. The rest are simply people who have learnt the skills and arts of our Eastern Continent. What's there to be fear them about!?"
"Bai Xiangtian! Why haven't you stepped down!? Our academy is an academy that promotes 'etiquette', in times like this, do not do such impolite things."
Is it really fine for you guys to keep up with your pretense?
I can't bear to watch this any longer, you know.
I looked at the surrounding people.
Bai Yueguang and the two girls are giggling at the side as they looked towards the sky, Aliyah and Lois are currently discussing where they are going to stroll after this… Ms. Mari, is actually looking down and reading a light novel! That's right, and she even placed the light novel in front of her notebook!
Are you sure this is really alright!? This attitude as though the matter did not concern them, was evidently implying 'The enemy's target is evidently you, hurry and go, we don't care at all.'
"Let's do it this way, Mr. Haoran. Since she wants to understand the essence of our Eastern combat style now, then why don't we have a small spar now?"
"Hmph! You have a backbone, alright. But, are you going to stand behind your Shikigami and watch it battle!? Hahaha!"
"The miss called Bai Xiangtian over there, I have to say you completely do not have a lady-like demeanor… No, wait, you should belong to… a demeanor of a Nadeshiko? Well, it doesn't matter. But, you guys have misunderstood two things."
I let go of Oyado's hand, and loosened my shoulders.
And then, I tapped on the robe in my equipment inventory!
"One, I'm not an Onmyouji. Two, who told you we didn't have a Magician?"
"Purewhite, you don't have to worry. For someone like her, you basically do not need to help me."
"Hah!? What do you mean by someone like me!? You're the one to talk! Even though you were a Magician, you actually disguised yourself as an Onmyouji! Fine! I will have you now understand the terror of an Onmyouji!"
After saying that, she waved her hand, and countless of talismans flew out from her sleeves. They then gathered in the sky!
A moment later, a giant spider made out of talismans appeared before me.
"Mr. Haoran, can I take it as I can freely battle her?"
"Ah… Un… Umm, I'm really sorry. The tempers of some of our students are really…"
"Of course, of course. I can relate… Because my temper is a lot worse~"
As I said that, her spider had already charged towards me as though it was flying!
You said I was going to hide behind my Shikigami or something, but doesn't it seem that you like to use summoned creatures as well?
Although it could be said that I had eliminated their strongest Onmyouji, this is not why I do not fear Onmyoujis.
As to why I could accept this challenge so casually, it was because… she was just level 30.
Although someone at the level of 30 could be considered as a strong foe in Gray Academy…
To me, she's just someone with no experience to gain from at all…
A blue magical formation opened in front of me, and a giant ice totem smashed towards the spider!
The 【Talisman Spider】 was not fearful as well, as it collided directly with the ice totem!
Idiot, she actually took the bait…
"【Ice Flower! Bloom】!"
With my command, flowers which carried thorns instantly bloomed on top of the ice totem, and all of the thorns stabbed onto the 【Talisman Spider】!
Immediately after, frost spread across the 【Talisman Spider】, and completely enveloped it!
"【Shatter】!"
With a grip of my right fist, the entire 【Ice Totem】, and even the 【Talisman Spider】, shattered into pieces!
"Alright, next up, if you have anything else to throw at me, do it!"
"…… Hmph! Do you really think I'm only capable of this!? Come! 【Green Dragon Guardian】!"
A Shikigami dressed in a dragon-marked armor appeared before her, and in its hands was a thin and long scimitar, as it looked at us with hollow eyes.
Haah, in the end, isn't it still a summoned creature… This is so dull~
"I say, Ms. Bai Xiangtian, did you not say that it's very despicable to hide behind a Shikigami? Aren't you using a Shikigami right now?"
With a teasing expression, I looked at her and said. But, at the same time, I had already pulled the hotbar of the weapons and skills which I'm used to into a comfortable position, preparing to enter the battle state at any time.
"Umm… That's because… That's because I knew from first glance that you're not an Onmyouji, but a Magician of some sort. If a Shikigami were to be added into our fight, how would it be possible for me to beat you then!? And, as a Onmyouji myself, using a Shikigami is natural."
"So that's it. You actually realized that I'm a Magician."
"That's natural. I'm the strongest Onmyouji in this academy, you know!"
After saying that, she proudly tilted her head upwards.
Unfortunately, the materials of the Onmyouji's robes were too thick, which completely prevented me from seeing her figure.
But that's not the main point anyway, after all, the Shikigami she summoned does not look weak.
Should I use 【Eternity of Frozen Grief】and【Millennium Frozen River】directly to break it?
That's very dangerous. There's too many people around us, I would be showing off too much if I were to use such large-scaled spells, and without a【Battle Barrier】, there's a high chance that I might hit the spectators by mistake.
After all, not everyone was in a party member state with me.
But a small-scaled spell does not deal enough destructive power towards a Shikigami. Although there's 【Tearing Cross】…
In actual fact, that's not a magic spell, but a battle skill…
So do I have to expose my ability to use Warrior skills as well earlier than planned?
In a place like the Eastern Continent, for now, I do not wish to expose all of my trump cards, otherwise, I will face big trouble in the future.
Why do I have such a terrible fate? To actually encounter the strongest Onmyouji in this school so quickly… Could it be that this academy is purposefully trying to test our strength…? And, coincidentally, I am…
Right from the start, I even look like an Onmyouji. I was really digging my own grave, huh…
Title [Deathseaker] leveled up!
Current LV: 2
When I suddenly saw the level up notification, the corner of lips twitched.
World-chan, you're definitely watching, right? Even if you're watching, don't use such a way to tsukkomi me!
Staring at the opponent's Shikigami for a few seconds, I helplessly sighed.
I have no choice. Let's make a slight compromise, and use some special skills then.
"【Magic Knight Arcane – Ice Mount Summon】!"
You simply told me not to use a Shikigami, but did not refrain me from summoning a magic beast.
A giant blue wolf leapt out of the magic formation on the ground. Immediately after, I reached my right hand and grabbed onto empty air, an ice magical sword, flashing with blue light, slowly gathered in my hand.
Armor? It's best to forget about it. I feel that sort of thing would hinder me more than the benefit of the high defense it gives.
"Summoning a magic beast? You… Could it be that you're a Summoner?"
"Hah? Can't you see the sword in my hand?"
"A Warrior? How? This… Aaaah, I don't care anymore! Take this! Go, Green Dragon Guardian! Eliminate them!"
Bai Xiangtian frantically pointed at us, and a red glow was suddenly emitted from the Green Dragon Guardian's hollow eyes. Raising its two blades, with a 'huaaa' sound, it came towards us at high speed!
"Partner, go! You just have to restrict its movements, I will deal with its master."
So as to have it understand, I tapped on it, and pointed to the Green Dragon Guardian.
The ice wolf actually nodded. Its body crouched down, and then, right after, it turned into a blue shadow as it charged towards the Shikigami.
"Now then, what are you going to do next?"
I smiled as I looked towards Bai Xiangtian.
Very quickly, the 【Ice Wolf】 and 【Green Dragon Guardian】 collided in mid-air, and both parties took a step back from the collision.
But, the 【Green Dragon Guardian】 immediately initiated its next attack, crossing the scimitars in front of its chest, it then swung them at the 【Ice Wolf】, and two sword silhouettes were instantly sent flying towards the 【Ice Wolf】!
The 【Ice Wolf】 leapt upwards to dodge the attacks, opening its mouth wide, a magical bullet shining with blue light was shot towards the 【Green Dragon Guardian】!
"Where are you looking at!?"
Hearing Bai Xiangtian's voice, I instantly erected an 【Ice Shield】in front of me. Immediately after, countless of talismans, like bullets, stabbed onto my 【Ice Shield】. Not long after, thin crack lines filled the 【Ice Shield】, and it looked as though it was about to shatter!
"Oh, pretty impressive."
I stabbed the Ice Shield onto the ground, and sprinted to my right. At the sant time, a chain of【Ice Flowers】sprouted out from the ground on the left, and they headed towards to Bai Xiangtian to pierce her!
"Are you a Warrior or an Elemental Magician!?"
Bai Xiangtian shouted as she made hand-seals, and then, she pushed her hands to the front.
"【Destiny】! 【Harmony】! 【Golden】! 【Seal】!!!"
The surrounding air suddenly trembled, and a golden shield facing all four directions suddenly appeared in mid-air, and they closed up in front of Bai Xiangtian!
At the opening in the center, a white-glowing defensive barrier appeared in Bai Xiangtian's surroundings!
All of the ice spikes rudely pierced onto the defensive barrier, but not even a scratch could be seen on it.
Incredible, an intermediate-grade magic spell【Ice Flower】would still be able to weaken an intermediate-grade magic shield, but looking at the earlier situation, it seemed like【Ice Flower】was not even able to weaken it.
Onmyou Arts, interesting! I have to definitely learn some of it, otherwise I will be letting myself down!
Seeing that those ice spikes did not pierce through her barrier, Bai Xiangtian heaved a long sigh.
"Oh, then, why don't you try this?"
Hearing my voice, she turned to look, and realized I had already circled around her back while she was setting up defensive barrier.
With my ice sword, I stabbed into her barrier, while I pointed to the sky with my other hand… A gigantic 【Ice Totem】 suddenly shot out from the magic formation, ruthlessly striking onto the hilt of my sword!
Of course, I retracted my hand the instant before it struck onto the sword. I don't wish to be struck by my own 【Ice Totem】, after all.
With a crackling sound, my ice sword shattered into pieces.
But the trembling, caused by the striking of my 【Ice Totem】 to her barrier, made Bai Xiangtian subconsciously retreat to the other end of the barrier.
"Don't worry, here's another one."
Stretching out my hand, I summoned yet another ice sword and positioned it.
"In any case, I can summon them easily, so we can take this slowly."
"You… You bastard! You can't break it open like that! Stop scaring people!"
I looked at that thin ice sword, and could not help but nod.
"I guess you're right. An ice sword is too fragile, and the strength of an 【Ice Totem】 isn't very powerful either."
"Hmhm! I'm glad you know that!"
"But you can't win either, right?"
I pointed to the 【Green Dragon Guardian】 and 【Ice Wolf】 who were exchanging blows back and forth.
"Are you planning to hide in there forever?"
"You… Fine, then I will let you witness my ultimate skill!"
"I'm thinking the same thing as well~"
"I suddenly recalled that I have learnt a spell that's much stronger than Ice Totem in the past. But, because it's too slow, it's not usable on enemies with fast movements, however… It's best used for an opponent that hides in her own barrier. Come, summon! 【Arcane – Ice Warship】!"
The sky slowly dimmed, and in the center of the darkness, a blue magic formation slowly appeared!
A blue magic formation opened up in the sky, enlarged, and then, several new circular magic formations slowly floated out of the center of the magic formation, like a slideshow, the magic formations folded layer by layer at the front of the giant magic formation.
Rays of blue light flashed past the center of the many magic formations, creating a gigantic figure!
Cold air slowly gathered at the figure created by the rays of light, and a moment later, a gigantic warship, that looked as big as a palace, appeared within the countless magic formations. With just a single glance, it looked as though those magic formations were the securing devices in a shipdock, holding the warship in place.
Immediately after…
Those magic formations instantly shattered in mid-air, and following after the shattering sound, the gigantic warship in the air began to fall towards our direction!
It's target was exactly Bai Xiangtian, who was currently being protected by her own barrier!
"Aaahh……"
Seeing this spectacle, Bai Xiangtian let out a trembling voice.
"Ms. Bai Xiangtian, weren't you going to use your ultimate technique? If you don't use it now, you won't have any other chance to do so."
She seemed to be hesitating a lot.
"My ultimate technique doesn't seem to be able to go against your ultimate technique, but…"
Seeing the ice warship beginning to slowly accelerate, her expression seemed to have instantly turned resolute.
"It's not like I don't have any way to defeat this technique of yours!"
"Oh, is that so? Then, why don't you do it!?"
"… Fine! Then I shall have you witness my……"
As she said that, Bai Xiangtian reached out into her sleeves and took out a dagger.
"Stop! Stop your attack! This match is your victory, Magician who came from the Eastern Continent."
Suddenly, an old Onmyouji appeared in front of me, and he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere!
As he told me this, he did a gripping action at Bai Xiangtian's barrier.
"【Break】!"
Following his action, the barrier tore apart, and the gigantic shield plates shattered into pieces at the same time as well, disappearing in the air.
"Bai Xiangtian! What were you thinking!? Did I not tell you can't use the Forbidden Art!?"
But…… I…"
"No buts! Let's go! Stop embarrassing yourself here!"
After saying that, the elder grabbed onto Bai Xiangtian's hand, and looked as though they were about to leave.
"May I ask who you are? Even though it was Bai Xiangtian who wanted to duel with me, you actually popped out and suddenly interrupted out duel without naming yourself. So the 'etiquette' you people are promoting is something like this, huh."
A hint of dissatisfaction appeared on the old man's face, however, after looking at current situation around us, he snorted.
"My name is Hengchuan Zhaiye, a Dragonflow Onmyouji. The duel this time is indeed an overly rash decision made by Bai Xiangtian. We shall apologize for this once again… If there's an opportunity for it another day, why don't you people talk then?"
This guy actually directly pushed back the choices back to me.
"Umm… Since Mr. Hengchuan put it that way, naturally, I do not have any objections."
"Un, then we will first take our leave! It's too much of a hindrance to have that thing above our academy, let me help you out with that!"
As he said that, he swung his hand, and a roaring green dragon flew out from his sleeves.
Not even two seconds later, it had already flew right beside my【Ice Warship】, then, it circled around my【Ice Warship】and wrapped it entirely!
【Ice Warship】was instantly wrung into pieces!
The scattered pieces flew about in all directions, and they turned into small pieces of ice shavings as they descended from the skies.
Under the sunlight, the view looked strangely beautiful…
But this destructive power…
Is too frightening!
Hengchuan Zhaiye
LV 56 Onmyouji【Specialized】
Male | 76 Years Old
[Neutral] [Trembling] [Devastating] [Onmyouji] [Destroyer] [Forbidden Art Possessor] [Green Dragon Restrictor]
This level is rather frightening as well. His battle strength is simply too astonishing.
This should also be why he's able to bring up Bai Xiangtian, the strongest Onmyouji in the whole academy, right?
Bai Xiangtian
LV 30 Onmyouji
[Kind] [Stubborn] [Naive] [Prideful] [Onmyouji] [Forbidden Art Possessor] [Golden Attendant] [Spiritual Blood Veins]
I looked at them as they left for the interior of the academy, and a moment later, old man Haoran suddenly said.
"Everyone, please do not mind. Hengchuan has always done whatever he pleased. If he had offended anyone, please forgive us."
"No, no, no. To be able to have a spar with an Onmyouji, it has helped in raising my abilities a little as well."
"Is that so? Then, that's good. That's good."
But when he said that, the corner of his mouth evidently twitched for a moment.
After all, compared to Hengchuan Zhaiye, old man Haoran was still a little weaker than him.
Zheng Haoran
LV 51 Wanderer
[Neutral] [Firm] [Bitter] [Extraordinary] [Palm-Martial Artist Wanderer] [Azoth-stage] [Arcane Art Possessor]
Un, but it seems like this old man is one of those legendary practitioners. Incredible, although back then, I had heard of what deity cultivation was, this is the first time I see a practitioner in the flesh…
No, wait, using 'flesh' to describe him would be a little too strange, I should say this guy is an deity cultivation expert. Un.
I wonder if I'm able to learn a little deity cultivation skills as well. After all, I'm still rather interested in those mystical arts and flying swords in the xianxia-type games I played in the past.
But what he's trained in seems to be Palm-type Martial Arts, however… Qi or whatever should be the same, I guess.
Anyway, later, when we reach their library, I might be able to obtain them after looking around the place.
I pondered for a moment, then, I approached old man Haoran and said.
"Mr. Haoran, I see that most of your Qi is circulating near your palms, you must have trained in Palm-type Martial Arts, right?"
"Oh~"
The old man looked at me astonishingly.
"What a surprisingly talented youth. This is the first time anyone have seen through my Martial Arts before I even throw a strike!"
"That's because the Qi in your body are all gathered in your hands, but most people should only be unable to determine if it's a Palm-type or Fist-type Martial Arts. However, earlier, I saw that when Hengchuan acted, Mister Haoran's hand subconsciously straightened into a palm. So I was able to determine it."
"I see. Young man, your observation skills sure are great. Your name is Fir, right?"
"Yes, this is junior's name."
"Un, come. I will bring you guys on a good stroll around the campus."
It seems like his mood has gotten much better.
'Apple polisher'
Suddenly, I saw the message Aliyah sent.
'This is a good opportunity to differentiate people. Seems like this academy isn't monolithic.'
I smiled, and replied.
"Then, I will have to trouble you, mister."
"Earlier, we have really let everyone see something embarrassing. Next up, please follow me for a tour around the academy."
As expected, earlier, I'm simply said those things casually, and Mr. Haoran's attitude towards us became much better.
Although Ms. Domyuu at the side seemed to have understood my intentions, she gave an indifferent expression.
I really don't know what she's thinking… Wait a minute, the meaning behind that title might be…
Domyuu
LV 48 Wanderer – Heavenly Sword User
[Neutral] [Pointless] [Shattered] [Confused One] [Returner] [Forbidden Art Possessor] [Murderer]
[Returner] and [Confused One]huh?
I have never seen these two titles before, but, I kind of feel that there's something's off about them.
This person carries an aura that I feel a longing for.
I kind of feel that I have felt it before not long in the past, but I don't have any impression of it.
if there's no quest notifications about it, it means that it's not something I have to take note of. Let's just leave it for later.
"This entire building is called【Heaven-Passing Hall】, it's a place where normal disciples learn various knowledge. If I were to put it in the terms used by the Western Continent, it's something like a classroom."
Following his gaze, I indeed see a few dozens of students currently studying in the room of the hall. And, in the entire hall, there's dozens of the same room.
And the entire hall has dozens of floors as well. In other words, Other than the building style, it's not actually bigger than our academy.
Tch, and I thought it was some unique place.
"Next up, please take a look at our training area."
Aah, it's really making me anxious.
I really want to know where's the Book Collection Pavilion.
But it's best to not directly ask such a question. After all, if I were to ask, and they realize that that there were people who infiltrated their Book Collection Pavilion, I will definitely become their prime suspect.
Following after them, we arrived at the ninth floor of the large hall, and there's actually a gigantic teleportation formation!
That's right! It's a teleportation formation!
They're actually able to use a teleportation formation here? And if you people leave it activated like this, wouldn't it be wasting a lot of energy?
Oh my god, just how did they manage to do this? If we're able to understand its structure, and bring it back to the Western Continent… It will definitely earn us big bucks!
"Alright, please follow us as we teleport to the【Abyss Cave】."
Abyss, huh… That's really a name with bad taste.
And just when I approached the teleportation formation, something suddenly caught my attention!
Beside the teleportation formation, there's actually a box with a metallic texture. The rows of signal lamps on it were constantly flashing, and it looked just like a router!
This thing… No matter how I see it, it's not a technology from this world…
But, in times like this, it's a must to act as if I do not know anything. But, I have already speedily used the screenshot function, and sent what I saw to Ms. Mari.
Although we're quite a distance away from Luorande Kingdom, but if it's Ms. Mari, she's definitely able to send it to Dale.
After this, I will simply leave those two to frustrate about it, I don't specialize in something like that, after all.
After a flash of light, from the four walls earlier, the surrounding scenery turned into blue skies, and…
A strong wind blew over from the side, and I was almost unable to stabilize myself.
When I took a careful look, our position was at the side of a mountain, near the entrance of a cave.
A place like this… As expected, it's more convenient to have a teleportation formation send us here, otherwise, flying here is the only other option… But, how could regular people fly?
"Please follow me."
Following the path of the cave for a good while, we arrived at an empty space in the interior of the cave.
"So spacious… How was this created?"
The entire interior of the mountain cave was more than the size of three football fields, and there's even countless of small caves at the surrounding stone walls!
After taking a careful look, I realized that there were people meditating in those small caves.
And at the center of the site, five groups of people were standing at different positions, facing each other. They looked at each other, yet, they did not move at all.
Wow, could this be the duels between experts in legends?
LV 34 VS LV 38
Looks like there's many experts in this school, and these are only the ones dueling, while the surrounding spectators… there were already dozens of them who were above LV 30!
If we're going to war, will the Western Continent be alright? Why are the people in our academy so weak…
"This is our academy's training site, students who continuously cultivate and train themselves, constantly duel in the middle. They will gain deep understanding in the martial arts they learnt by battling, and the spectating students at the side may gain insights in their own martial arts by watching the duels."
"Seems like a very workable and effective method."
"That's right. Through this education method, our academy has brought up generations and generations of experts, and among them, some have even surpassed our standards, and began to study even stronger martial arts."
Looking at Mr. Haoran's prideful look, I could only nod my head constantly.
But… In other words, these people here are constantly training here? And only training?
So pitiful. No wonder the people here have much higher levels than the students in our academy. If they constantly cultivate and train, it would have been strange if their levels were not high.
But, if that's really the case, we have to watch out during the Western and Eastern Intercontinental War in the future, after all, their students are already so strong.
"If you wish to have a duel, this is a good opportunity. There's no problems if you were to compete here."
"Duel? Now?"
Ms. Mari frowned.
"We have just arrived here, and you want us to duel so quickly?"
"No, of course not. It's just that it's a little inconvenient to come here. After all, only with a staff of our academy leading the way, could you use the teleportation formation. So, this is a good opportunity."
"I see. Then, people like us who use the Eastern Continent's martial arts have no need to take part, right?"
Bai Yueguang laughed, and then, he leaned against the wall behind him.
"Haha… Of course, you're welcome as well. After all, you might have learnt some unique martial arts in the Western Continent, right?"
"But, it's much better to have someone who was born from the Western Continent to participate, right?"
After saying that, he looked towards me.
Geez, in times like this, you still wish to give me trouble, huh?
"Then, I will go."
Aliyah suddenly said with a smile.
"Allow me to experience your Eastern Continent's martial arts."
'Careful, that person has a much higher level than you!'
That's right, just when Aliyah accepted the duel, they quickly dispatched a competitor as well.
That person is actually level 30!
Aliyah is only level 25, and although she's about to hit level 26, there's still quite a difference from level 30.
'Ah, I know. But my opponent is a Sword Artist as well, so there shouldn't be a problem.'
That's right, Aliyah is of the Dual-Swordsman class, and her speed is extremely quick.
But, if the opponent is a strong ranged specialist, then her opponent might have kited Aliyah from a far distance.
If that's the case, even if Aliyah is able to withstand the first wave of attacks, if she gets harassed constantly, she will still be defeated.
With this thought in mind, I looked at her opponent.
Haidao Qianben
LV 30 Sword Artist
[Neutral] [Wild] [Sword Artist] [Murder] [Destroyer] [One-Hit Kill]
And, she's not your average Sword Artist. The weapon she's using is the same as the one Bai Yueguang is using, a katana.
This sure is a duel between slashes, huh. On one side, a loli who loves to randomly slash at things, while on the other side, is a big sister who uses the strongest slashing weapon – the katana.
You girls, enjoy your time slashing… It's great that this site is rather spacious.
"【Arcane – Iai Slash】!"
Qianben initiated the attack, and the katana next to her waist suddenly flashed!
But, the moment her opponent unleashed her attack, Aliyah had already dodged to the side!
As expected of the speed-specialized class – Dual-Swordsman, it's comparable to the speed displayed an Assassin, another of the combat classes in the Western Continent!
"【Arcane – Dual Splitter】!"
Aliyah swung out her two swords, her body flipping skyward, two sword silhouettes, like lines cutting through a screen, were emitted out from her two swords, and they instantly cut across the entire cave!
And evidently, her opponent did not dare to take on the attack, and dodged the attack with a flip in mid-air!
However, the two sword silhouettes did not stop, and continued to fly towards the edge of the cave!
"Guard!"
One of the elderly outside the area of battle stretched out his hand, and the two sword silhouettes were blocked by an invisible wall, rebounded to the side, and they struck onto the wall of the cave!
The entire cave trembled for a moment!
This girl sure is frightening… But, although the attack was powerful, it has a weakness.
Because I saw that her MP bar had already decreased by half!
A Dual-swordsman's battle depends on speed, by using the strongest attack to eliminate the opponent in a flash! But, all of a Dual-swordsman's skills are usually high in output, but high in costs as well, just like my Arcane skills and spells.
And, Aliyah seemed to have sneakily learnt a Super Arcane skill. If she were to use it, it will definitely deplete her MP bar entirely in an instant.
With another strike, Aliyah will lose her chance of using strong attacks.
But… Aliyah still continued to approach her. Taking the opportunity when the opponent had dodged towards the air, she speedily charged towards her opponent.
Dang!
Sounds of metal clashing rang. Her opponent seemed to have seen through Aliyah's intentions, as she used her katana to block Aliyah's dual swords.
But, Aliyah made use of her short stature, flipping upwards, she sandwiched her opponent's head with her legs!
"Fly away!"
With a sudden push, she used her waist strength to actually swing her opponent into the air.
"Arcane… 【Hell Criss-Cross Strike】!"
Aliyah's dual swords instantly turned red, countless red sword silhouettes continuously flew out from the dual swords Aliyah was swinging about!
"Kuh!"
Her opponent quickly swung her katana about, although she barely managed to block two waves of attacks, she was unable to block the rest…
"Aaahh!"
Red sword silhouettes continuously to strike Qianben's body, she instantly smashed onto the ceiling, and the remaining sword silhouettes continued to strike upwards.
Did Aliyah win?
!I squinted into the smoke surrounding the ceiling, and I was able to clearly see it a moment later. She actually still had a hint of HP left!
Ah… This is bad…
I once heard from Bai Yueguang… If a Katana user were to have a single drop of HP left, then that person's battle strength will…
"【Arcane – Windspeed Lightning Evanescence】!"
Like a flash of lightning, Qianben instantly descended from the ceiling! In but a single moment, she struck onto the floor beside Aliyah!
No, wait! Aliyah had predicted the direction of her opponent's attack, and had dodged away from her attack!
But, The light armor on Aliyah's right shoulder broke apart, and it flew off.
Fresh blood began to splurge out from the wound on right shoulder. If not for her quick dodge, Aliyah's right shoulder would have been lost right there.
A difference of five levels, the attack strength of her opponent is beyond ordinary, and Aliyah is unable to recover her MP in a short span of time.
Next up is a harsh battle, huh.
Her opponent is only left with a single drop of HP, and could be defeated with a single strike. However, with the current Aliyah, she's basically unable to compete with her.
Or I should say, she's in a state where she could accidentally be defeated at any moment.
It's either she gets defeated, or her opponent gets defeated. That's the current situation they were in.
The slashes made by Qianben, who had increased her speed by nearly two folds, had become even more frequent. Earlier, she was still continuously suppressed by Aliyah's slashes, but currently, it was a complete reversal.
Aliyah speedily dodged her attacks by moving to the side, while at the same time, used potions to heal her wounds and recover her MP gauge.
Suddenly, Qianben's figure flashed, directly appearing behind Aliyah's back!
"【Super Arcane – Shattering Tremor – Collapse】!"
With a loud bang, Aliyah was sent flying out, her light armor shattered completely, and even her dual swords had been broken into pieces.
Aliyah smashed onto the wall, resulting to countless dust and dirt flying around.
"Victory has been decided!"
The instructor who was in-charged of judging the match shouted out loudly.
"Hoho, it seems our Eastern Continent's martial arts is still superior."
Mr. Haoran laughed and said.
"Oh, really?"
I laughed as well.
Because, I saw it. Aliyah's HP… she still had a bit of HP left as well!
Her name had undergone a change.
Aliyah (Fire Wolfman & Awakened Berserker)
¥……#……%%¥&%&*&……&(*&*(&……&(*……&(&(*……
[Unknown Data]
A pure red figure walked out from the middle of the dustcloud. The two red flashing objects in her hands seem to be 【Magic Chainsaws】?
The instructor who had declared victory was frightened by the view in front of him.
Before he could even react, the red figure took a deep breath, and as though it had been extinguished, it vanished… But, an instant later, the fire lit up behind Qianben.
"Burn!"
Aliyah simply let out a furious roar.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahh!"
Qianben's body instantly burned up, and she fell onto the ground, constantly rolling around!
"Are you not going to extinguish her flames yet?"
I asked Mr. Haoran.
"Ah… Right, you people! Hurry up and extinguish the flames!"
Mr. Haoran instantly shouted loudly.
But, Aliyah is really too much. Isn't it just to gain EXP? Why the need to disfigure her?
But… I suddenly felt Aliyah's state was a little strange.
Even though she had struck down her opponent, the title above her body were still random numbers leaping about.
And she actually raised up the weapon in her hand, pointing straight at Qianbian, who was still rolling about on the ground.
That girl… has she lost her reason?
Just when the weapon in her hand was about to fall, the elder who had blocked Aliyah's slashes earlier suddenly flashed into the site, with a blue ball of light flashing in his hands, he sent Aliyah flying!
"Hooouuaaa!!!!"
Aliyah let out a loud roar, she swung the two Magic Chainsaws in her hands about, and her body turned into a ball of flames as she flew in the air!
Hey hey hey. What the hell is with that state of yours?
"Haah. It seems like I'm up."
Stretching out my left wing, I flew directly towards Aliyah in the air. At the same time, my right hand flashed with a blue light as I summoned an ice sword.
The ice sword collided against the two Magic Chainsaws, and not even a second later, my ice sword instantly shattered into pieces.
Well~ It's within my range of predictions. I can't hope to use an ice sword to block against a fire attack.
But, it's enough to weaken her charge.
Summon! 【Ice Armor】!
Summoning the ice armor, I instantly grabbed onto Aliyah. Ignoring the chainsaws that were hacking towards me, I aimed at Aliyah's chest, and a ray of blue light shot towards it.
The block of ice quickly surrounded us, creating a gigantic iceberg in mid-air.
Of course, we can't ignore the laws of physics, hence, we fell towards the ground!
The iceberg was instantly smashed apart, and the two of us fell out of the iceberg.
"… Eh?"
Earlier, Aliyah's light armor was totally destroyed, and adding her burning earlier, she's actually stark naked!
Damn it, fortunately, I have tons of clothes.
I hurriedly took out a cloak from my ring, and wrapped Aliyah with it. Then, I used a Light Magic spell to heal half of her HP.
"Ms. Mari! Why are you still standing there!?"
Ms. Mari hurriedly ran over and carried Aliyah up.
While I walked over to Qianben at the side who was burnt earlier. With a Recovery spell cast on her, her HP was instantly restored by half.
At the same time, her wounds had begun to close at a fast rate.
"Impressive. So this is the Recovery spell of the Western Continent?"
The physician who had hurried over could not help but let out a sigh of astonishment.
"Hurry and have her drink this. Otherwise, there will definitely be scars left on her body."
"Are you guys still worried I would poison her!? If I want to kill her, I basically won't use something so troublesome!"
"Oh, sorry. It's just that I have never heard of a medicinal potion that could heal scars."
That person said as he poured the potion he took from my hands into Qianben's mouth.
Almost at the same time, the scars closed up, completely disappearing without a trace, as though she had returned to the time before she got injured.
Hoho. It's normal if you have not heard of it. This is a new product that Lanya had made accidentally when she was practicing alchemy in her laboratory. Lanya said that this product would definitely make a killing in the market, so she was currently mass-producing it. By my estimates, it should not have hit the actual market yet.
But, in the next second, the light reflected from a blade flashed, and a thin blade was held next to my neck.
When I turned to look, it's actually another katana-using youth.
"You… What did you do to her, you Western Continent bastard!"
"I didn't do anything to your sister. I simply helped her prevent having any scars left on her body."
Haidao Mingren, that's the name of this person. No matter how I look at them, they're definitely siblings.
"Then why did you have to harm her earlier!?"
"Aren't you the one who harmed her!?"
"You actually still dare to deny it! Are you still a man!? Take this!!"
After saying that, he actually really slashed towards me!
I looked at the people beside me… They completely do not have the intention to help me explain at all. The lot of you, are really…
Too disgusting, you know?
His katana was suddenly grabbed by a hand that was stretched out from the side. And then, with a twist, the katana actually broke instantly.
"Any actions that harm my master, I will definitely not allow it!"
The person who intervened was exactly Purewhite, she actually took action before I could even react.
"It's actually a Shikigami…"
He took a step back. When he was prepared to say something, Mr. Haoran from the side walked over and said.
"I think it's best… if I explain."
"So that's what happened! I'm really sorry!"
Good, this is a normal person. After hearing the explanation, he immediately apologized.
Great, it's really great that I don't have to use strength to deal with the problem.
The EXP is too little, I don't wish to fight at all.
I looked at Aliyah. The battle earlier had raised her level twice. Looks like earlier, she was indeed at the borders of level 25, hence she managed to leap to level 27 instantly.
Well, next time, we should form a party when there's a battle like this instead. I still feel kind of sad to see her wounded like that.
And it was a situation where both of them were girls too.
"A lot has happened today, but it's great that we can settle everything peacefully in the end. And since dear guests have came here from afar, I guess you shouldn't only be interested in things like training."
Hearing Mr. Haoran's words, it sounded as though he was not here when the battle was being conducted, even though he was the one who incited the battle earlier.
"Next up, let's have the students bring you to the city for a stroll, so that dear guests can understand the living situation of the common citizens of our Eastern Continent."
After saying that, he looked to his side.
In the end, when I looked over, my spectacles fell.
Because the person he was looking at was… Bai Xiangtian?
"Wa!"
When I once again used the 【Recovery】 spell, and a 'Faint' Status Removal Potion, Aliyah suddenly leapt off the ground.
"Yo, morning."
"Morning… No, wait! Why did I jump out from a bed!?"
Aliyah who had reacted, looked at the situation around her, pondered for a moment, and continued to ask.
"You… What did you do to me!? Why did my clothes turn into a modern Western dress!? This is completely wrong!"
The reason why she did not attack me directly is because she knows that, even with giving me a punch, she wouldn't be able to do any damage to me, probably.
"You can't blame me for that. The one who helped you change was Ms. Mari. I'm simply in-charge of waking you up."
"Hohoho, is that so~ Fortunately, she's not the one who woke me up. Otherwise, I would have definitely punch the daylight out of her! To actually have me wear such a frilly dress! Damn it!"
"What about it? Even though you like to shop, you don't like to wear clothes like this?"
"That's… That's not the case either."
Aliyah slowly shifted her gaze to the side.
This girl, just what is she thinking about?
"You don't have to care about it. Ah, it doesn't matter anymore, let's leave it at that for now. Speaking of which, how did the battle go in the end? I remember burning that girl, then I can't remember anything else after that."
"Is that so… Speaking of which, you actually used the Wolfman's gene, huh. And you even used it alongside the Berserkify skill. Hence, you went thoroughly berserk."
"Berserk… Well, a price must always be paid for strength."
"And you killed people."
"… Eh!? I killed people!? No way, right!? Me!? Oh my god! I killed people in front of such a large audience! I'm going to get persecuted!"
"I'm just joking."
Seeing Aliyah's troubled expression, I satisfyingly nodded my head.
And then, I was punched in the face.
Although I did not lose HP from it, it hurt…
"Even if you want to punch me, you should have warned me about it first."
"You bastard! You actually dare to joke with me!"
Two Magic Chainsaws were instantly grabbed in her hands.
""Speaking of which, I really want to test this out. Since your HP will not be affected in a party, I wonder if I'm still able to slice you apart with my chainsaws~ What do you think~?"
"Wait, don't, don't do it! An experiment like that, it's best that you don't test it out at all!"
I hurriedly stop her.
"Oh right, we're currently heading to the city to stroll! We're about to head off! Do you want to come as well?"
"Well~ Since your recovery speed is so fast, even if you're injured, you should be able to heal quickly, right~?"
After saying that, her chainsaws actually began to rumble!
Oh my god! This girl really doesn't think about the consequences of her own doings!
Do I have no choice but to use that ultimate technique!?
"What is it~ Even if you beg for forgiveness, I won't forgive you, you know~"
"No, I have been wanting to say this. Your wolf ears… are rather cute."
"… You… What did you say?"
"Touch them yourself, and you will know."
"You… If you're bluffing me, I will tear your corpse into thousands of pieces, alright!?"
"Yes, yes, yes. In any case, why don't you touch them for now?"
The 【Magic Chainsaw】 in her right hand disappeared, and her empty hand reached out to her head.
After pausing for a moment, she touched the place where her ear was at.
Pata.
The 【Magic Chainsaw】 in her other hand fell onto the ground as well, instantly turning into fragments, and disappeared.
And then, she hugged her head and squatted down.
Of course, she was pressing on her wolf ears when she squatted down.
"Aaaaaaaaah! Why!? Why did I grow out wolf ears!?"
It's a pity that they're not cat ears… Well, it's fine as long as it's cute.
"Eh~ What a pity. Even though they're so cute, why are you using a hat to hide them?"
Ms. Mari, in times like this, it's best that you don't fan the flames. Aren't you afraid that Aliyah would once again go berserk and burn everything in the vicinity?
But, speaking of which, the current Aliyah sure is cute.
Firstly, it's because she kept wearing that light armor in the past, there's now a sense of contrast when she suddenly changed into a cute Western dress.
And then, there's the big top hat she's wearing. The hat itself doesn't really mean anything, but when I imagine that her pair of ears is twitching underneath it, that feeling… I have the feeling of wanting to take down her hat, and then, spend a good time stroking that pair of ears!
"Fir!"
"What… What is it!?"
When I regained my senses, I realized Aliyah was currently staring at me furiously.
I didn't say anything earlier, right? The one who spoke was Ms. Mari, you know? Why did you bring me up?
"You… Just now… What were you thinking of doing to me?"
"Eh? Me? I didn't think of anything at all!"
"You evidently did! You pervert!"
After saying that, her fist was already thrown towards me.
Haah, geez…
I dodged the attack by stepping to the right, and then, after using Accelerate, I took a step back.
"Are you two done fooling around!? I'm working hard to be your guides, you know!"
Hearing Bai Xiangtian's words, Aliyah snorted as she pulled her fist back.
This girl, definitely learnt some sort of mind-reading skill. Otherwise, how would she have known my thoughts earlier!?
Too frightening, I think it's best if I stay a little further away from her.
And Bai Xiangtian simply stared at us and sighed, then, she continued to walk and explain.
"A thousand years ago, Skybreak City was just a regular mountain. But, on a certain day, the vicinity suddenly underwent a change, it's also what you people are seeing right now. Certain parts of the mountain began to float in the sky, and on top of the mountain, practitioners are able to feel as though they are filled with energy."
According to the state of the battle earlier, the so-called 'filled with energy' is just an increase in MP and HP recovery speed, it's like a recovery rate increase buff that activates when one enters the area.
Although I don't know what actually happened in the mountain, if this buff can be used properly, it's indeed able to increase the rate of leveling up.
It seems like there are already some people who had found out of this point. From the equipment placed next to the teleportation formation earlier, it can be seen that otherworlders other than us had already found out the uniqueness of this place.
And this buff is actually not shown as a status effect, so the possibility of it being found out is quite low.
I'm really interested as to what this thing really is.
But, up till now, I have yet to see any quest notifications, and there's no hints either. So, it's currently still not the time yet, even if I want to study this thing.
"Hence, our Skybreak Academy was built with the mountain in mind, and it continued until today. As our academy developed in this thousand years, a large number of students who trained in the academy slowly gathered together, and not long after, the town around the academy turned into a city, from a city, it turned into a fortress, and finally, the result is the Skybreak City today."
"The situation is about the same as our academy, huh. But the place around our academy can only be considered as a small town."
Ms. Mari nodded and said.
"That's of course. We're after all, an institution with a thousand year old history."
Bai Xiangtian pridefully said.
"Then there must be many well-trained experts, right?"
I continued to ask."
"That's of course. The people that trained here, eight to nine out of then people turned into leaders or renowned chivalrous people in the various countries, and there are even those who turns into deity practitioners."
So there's really deity cultivation here, huh… But, it should be the same as turning into a god, right?
I suddenly recalled the Demon King that I encountered back then. That guy actually turned into a Demon King. Could it be that it's easier to walk on the evil path than the standard path?
Ah nevermind, let's talk about it when the time comes.
"Umm… Just how did the mountain turn into something like this? Is there a legend about it or something?"
"About that… There's this legend, where it's said that a deity had left a divine weapon within the mountain, and there's another legend where it's said that the mountain body had produced a divine treasure after thousands of years of accumulation. But as to how this change actually came about, no one knows for sure. Because, those who thought of leaping into the cracks to investigate the depths of the mountain, either they were forced out due to an invisible force, or they never came back. So…"
Ting!
Side Quest: Fallen God
Quest Objective: Find out the truth of the mystical phenomenon behind Skybreak City
Reward: Unknown
It's here! The quest is here!
"Is that so? Is there any legends stating a deity descending from the sky, and staying inside the mountain?"
Hearing my question, Bai Xiangtian evidently stunned for a moment.
"It's just a guess of mine… Umm… Seeing that this mountain has so much spiritual energy, I feel that it might be possible that a deity had descended from the heavens, and had cultivated inside till now, thus, causing this place to change into its current state."
Suddenly, Bai Xiangtian suddenly grabbed onto my hand, and said excitedly.
"That's my thoughts as well! According to the notebook left by my ancestors, there's a legendary deity deep inside this mountain. But, the origin of this deity is completely unknown. However, according to the records passed down in my household, this deity isn't that kind. Those who have disappeared after entering the canyons, it's been rumored that they had been swallowed by him, that's why they disappeared."
"Ah… I-is that so?"
Seeing my awkward expression, Bai Xiangtian then realized she had been grabbing onto my hand since earlier, and hence, she hurriedly released her hands with a blushed face.
"It's understandable, it's understandable. It seems like you greatly value the records that was left in your household, huh."
I looked at our surroundings, and confirmed that other than the few of us here, there were no one else who had heard our conversation earlier.
It's great that those lazy people in Skybreak Academy did not follow us. Like this, I can obtain quite a lot of information from Bai Xiangtian here.
"Un. because… Because that is the only thing my father had left for me, so…"
"Then do you want to find out the truth inside the canyons?"
"Eh? Find out the truth?"
Bai Xiangtian revealed a difficult expression.
"Umm… It would be troublesome to have you guys fall into danger, and…"
"But don't you want to know about the secret to what's inside?"
"… Un."
"Then that settles it. Then we shall find another opportunity to enter it. Don't worry, we won't enter the place at this time, otherwise, it will cause you trouble as well, right?"
"… Un. Looks like you're not as bad as I imagined, huh."
"No! He's a bad guy and an idiot!"
Aliyah suddenly cut between us and said.
"Even though he's an idiot, he still acts smart all the time!"
"How can you say that about big brother!? You're only randomly spouting such things because you can't compare to big brother, right!?"
"Hah!? You damn bro-con! Why don't you pay more attention! I'm the smart one here, alright!?"
"Alright, you two. You two stop arguing. Bai Xiangtian, then I will leave them to you, I will do some small investigations on my own. I don't feel like shopping anyway."
"Ah, oh!"
Bai Xiangtian was still in a daze. When she heard my words, she hurriedly responded.
"I'm coming too, I'm not someone who likes to shop anyway."
I didn't expect Bai Yueguang to say the same thing as well.
"Eh? Even though Little Bai, as long as you apply make-up well, you can also…"
"Are you joking!? I'm a man, you know!"
Bai Yueguang's body trembled, and without even turning back, he ran off.
"Hey, I haven't left yet, why are you rushing for!?"
Although I said that, I still immediately followed after him.
"If you people encounter any problems, contact us any time!"
Of course, I said that to Aliyah. In times like that, it's obviously much faster to send a message using the system.
Looking at Aliyah snorting, I shall just take it as she had heard it.
I caught up to Bai Yueguang in just a few steps, and I immediately pulled him. Then, I said.
"Let's go to the bookstore."
"Hah? Why?"
"Obviously, to learn skills! Do you think I'm heading there to check the dictionary?"
"Skills… Skillbooks? In the Eastern Continent, things like skillbooks are usually kept in places like the sects and the various academies, how would a bookstore…"
"This means you do not know the essence of this world yet. Do you think all these stores would only sell things that are displayed in their shops?"
"Isn't that a matter of course…"
"Just follow me."
I gave a good look at this entire street, and then, I sprinted to a bookstore at the very end of the street.
This store only has a single storefront, and it looks very cramped.
And, without carefully looking at it, it's basically impossible to realize this is a bookstore. If this bookstore had not been called【Word-Heart Pavilion】, it might have been slightly indeterminable.
But to actually be able to keep this shop in business in such a popular commercial street, and to actually be such a torn-down looking store, it must definitely have some opportunities to exploit.
"Boss, what good books are there?"
Entering through the door, I hurriedly asked.
The person watching the shop was an old man wearing a robe. Pushing up his glasses, he said with a smile.
"Anthologies, light novels, and calligraphy books. I wonder which type is dear guest looking for?"
"Martial Arts Guidebooks."
In this place, it's not called skill books or anything of that sort. However, every single person has their own different way of calling out for skill books. But, according to the guidelines placed by the black market, the skill books in the Eastern Continent are all called Martial Arts Guidebooks, and as for the Western Continent, the skill books were split into two categories; Magic Arcane Classics, and Special Arcane Classics.
The boss was evidently startled for a moment, and then, he said with a smile.
"My little shop does not sell any Martial Arts Guidebooks, if there's a day when we…"
How about a 100 gold for each book?"
Evidently, the boss was stunned for a moment. After staring at me for a good while, he sighed.
"This dear guest, you're really making it difficult for me. Looks like you know that our shop is facing a difficulty with its finances. But a 100 gold per book seems to go against the regulations…"
"Don't worry, if neither of us say anything, who would know about it?"
I looked at Bai Yueguang who had only been watching, and continued.
"Or are you telling me, a business like this, even I fork out five times the price, you're still unwilling?"
"Five times the price… If you dare to put them on the table, why wouldn't I dare to follow up? If others were to know that I make such a killing by selling these, it will definitely bring about influence to my shop's reputation. But I'm currently… Alright then. 50 gold per book. My condition is, you must definitely not expose any details regarding this trade, how about it? Neither can your friend over there!"
"Deal."
I smiled in a kind and friendly manner.
Finally, I have obtained the skill books of the Eastern Continent in my hands!
Although I'm very happy to see a huge stack of skill books in front of me…
"Boss, do you really only have these types of Martial Arts Guidebooks here?"
"It's inevitable. The people on top manage these things very strictly, and these are the only ones that could be trafficked."
"But… The ones here are only mind-enhancing arts, strength-enhancing arts, chi arts, and taijutsu. Do you really not have any Onmyou Arts, profound techniques, sword arts, or things along those lines?"
That's right, these skill books in front of me, basically none of them are books regarding active skills, and are books regarding the training of chi, mind-building or body-strengthening techniques.
Taijutsu?
Are you kidding me? Clearly, I train in magic, if I am to train in taijutsu as well, are you trying to tell me to participate in gymnastics? Using fancy magic while doing gymnastics or whatever…
There's too much novelty in that! The scene is too beautiful, I can't bear to look at it at all!
"Alright, looks like I have no choice, since that's the case, I can only make do with these. Boss, give me one of each."
Puuuuuf!
The boss spew out the tea that he was drinking.
"Exchange the books that have been sprayed by your tea with new copies."
"Dear guest, you… You're joking, right? One of each? Really?"
"Do I look like I'm joking? 127 books, a total of 6,350 gold. Give me your ring."
Although he was filled with suspicion, he still passed the ring on his pinky to me.
He still had a ring each on his middle and ring fingers. Geez, clearly, you're a rich person as well.
I exchanged my ring with his, and then, I passed 6,350 gold into his ring.
I don't want to pull out more than 6,000 gold out here, that would be too much of a show-off.
Taking the ring that I returned to him, he was stunned for a moment as he pinched onto the ring, and his eyes were suddenly opened wide.
"Looks like you're no ordinary person… This…"
"No, no, no. I'm just an ordinary person. Alright, then, just as we have agreed, I won't tell anyone I bought these books from here, and you won't say anything about this incident as well."
"That's of course, that's of course… But…"
"Eh? Is there any other problem?"
Could it be that he had already went back on his words?
"Since dear guest has such sincerity, I think you should participate in the auction at【Yanmeng House】tomorrow night. I believe, the things you're looking for should appear there."
"Yangmeng House…"
Silently taking note of this name, I continued.
"Thank you for the reminder."
"You're too courteous, I should be the one in your care."
Leaving the bookstore, I looked at the stack of books in my ring, and looked at Bai Yueguang depressingly.
"This sure is a waste of money…"
"You still dare to say that!? Just where the hell did you get so much money!? Did you rob a bank?"
"Something like that."
"It's a place that should be much more incredible than a bank… Well, don't mind the details. But really, I didn't expect to trigger such a strange quest."
That's right, just when he told us about the auction, a new quest popped out.
Side Quest: Gilded Auction
Quest Objective:Choose one of these routes to complete.
Participate in the auction, ignore whatever that happens there.
Participate in the auction, stop the robbery from happening. (Increase affinity with the Eastern Continent)
Participate in the auction, participate in the robbery. (Increase affinity with the Western Continent)
Sneak into the auction, steal all of the merchandise. (Rogue Main Questline)
Sneak into the auction, complete the Momiji's quest. (Heart of the Momiji)
"I kind of feel that no matter which route we take, it's very troublesome. And, there's completely no common point of intersection with our current quest at all. What are you planning to do?"
"What else can we do? Let's first gather some intel. Actually, I just don't want to shop at all, do you really think I have a way to investigate about that mountain? If such a way exists, the guy inside would have already been pulled out by other people long ago, how can there be an opportunity for us to do so?"
I shrugged, and continued.
"In any case, let's first understand the situation about the auction. After all, I feel that this auction will affect the relationship between the Western and Eastern continents. It's best that we be cautious."
"I guess you're right. If a war is to break out, I kind of feel that the scenario will become rather boring."
Looks like Bai Yueguang isn't the type that like wars either.
"About this point, I agree completely. Although it's very convenient to level up in a war… I belong to the faction that plays game for the plot."
"You're right, otherwise, we wouldn't be idling here, and would have been rushing to grind on wild monsters by now."
"Hahaha, it's a pity that field bosses do not drop orange equipment."
Just like this, while we tsukkomi'ed each other, we walked along the commercial street, heading towards the direction of the residential district.
We're not going there to investigate the situation of the commoners, but to find a terminal in the black market. After all, the number of terminals on this side is too few. I don't wish to be seen using one.
And as for the reason why I wish to use the terminal, naturally, is to check on the Heart of the Momiji quest. After all, I still have another quest hanging around, I can't have it kept there forever, right?
But in a city like this, there's a much simpler method of determining the location of the black market.
This place leans against a mountain, so, ordinary people would not have continued to open a black market underground, but in a cave. Hence, it will work out as long as we take notice of anywhere within the mountains where the area is filled with names.
"Hey, found it."
Bai Yueguang pointed to the pagoda not far away, and right below it, a name was constantly moving downwards, and then, after pausing, that person sprinted in the direction of the mountain.
But the problem is… This pagoda actually doesn't have a door!
"A cover-up spell or is there a mechanism somewhere?"
Bai Yueguang held his chin as he asked.
"Illusion Barrier."
Hearing my answer, Bai Yueguang looked at me with an astonished expression.
"How did you know that?"
"It's very easy."
I pointed to my spectacles.
"This tool is called the 【Eyepiece of Truth】."
"You actually have such a convenient tool as well? How did you get it?"
Bai Yueguang looked at my spectacles with an unbelievable expression, and asked.
"It's from the Rogue's main questline. Form a party with someone who has the Rogue class, and then complete his or her first quest, then you will receive it."
"It's actually that troublesome? Haah, if the opportunity arises then. I really want to have a pair of spectacles that can allow me to see through the weak points of others, so that I can defeat my opponents with a single Iai Slash."
"Do you think this is an【Eye of Instant Death】?"
"If there's such a thing, that will be so much more awesome."
"Alright, let's stop with the idle chatter… Coincidentally, there's no one around us right now. Let's hurry up and head over."
I instantly headed over to one of the outer walls of the pagoda, and then, with an Accelerate, I passed through it.
Of course, in my eyes, there's a grey door that was currently opened over there, so naturally, I was able to instantly pass through it.
After passing through that door, the surroundings instantly turned dark.
I changed into the black cloak I wore in the black market in the past as well, and then, I covered my face.
Although it's possible to use the Disguise technique as well, it's evidently more professional this way.
Seeing my look, Bai Yueguang fiddled around for a moment as well, and changed into a set of ninja attire! (With a mask)
"What's with that get-up of yours?"
"In the past, I encountered an idiot who tried to assassinate me on the road, and after I killed him, I realized his equipment was not bad, so I kept them."
"Is that so? You might as well take up the Ninja sub-class then?"
"When the opportunity arises. It's too troublesome to pick up another class."
Bai Yueguang waved his hands in irritation, and I stopped bringing up that topic as well.
Like the other black markets, after walking along the dark passageway for not even a minute, we arrived at the black market that was hidden inside the mountain.
Probably because of the rocks in this mountain body being firmer and stronger, they even dug up holes in the walls to set up their stores.
This kinds of similar to the cities of gnomes in the games I played back then. Or is this place designed by actual gnomes?
"You can just look around for now, I will be using the terminal for a while."
After saying that, that guy actually instantly turned and headed in another direction. Could it be that he had found something interesting?
Ah whatever, it doesn't matter. Currently, it's best to deal with my quest.
Sweeping my gaze around the black market, I found a terminal at the corner, and then, I walked over with quick steps.
There's only a single terminal in this black market, and it's actually being used!
Walking to the entrance, and as usual, I signaled to the manager, and he allowed me to first wait at the side.
Just who is actually using it as well… Eh?
After looking at her carefully, I actually found out that she was actually someone I know!
Although she changed into a black cloak and wore a mask as well, it's completely impossible for the titles above her head to be concealed.
I should say, even if it's concealed, my Eyepiece of Truth will be able to display them as well instead.
Although earlier, I felt she was a little suspicious…
I didn't expect that it would be Domyuu!
But currently, she did not have the odachi carried behind her back, it's unknown as to whether it's hidden in her ring.
This woman's class clearly states that she's a Wandering Heavenly Sword User, yet, she carries an Odachi… Just what is going on?
And adding that currently, she actually appeared in this black market… Interesting.
So as to prevent myself from being exposed, I took off my Eyepiece of Truth. At the same time, Domyuu completed her communication, turned and left the store.
After exiting the door, she turned her head to look at me, before leaving.
I should not have been… exposed, right?
I pretended to be calm, and walked into the terminal store.
At the same time, I sent a message to Bai Yueguang, hoping that he could check on Domyuu's whereabouts.
Turning the terminal on, I hurriedly opened the machine's usage history and communication log. Although it stated that they were deleted… I instantly entered the administrator's menu, and looked at the deleted records.
"This mark… should belong to the Western Continent. The ID she used earlier… is registered by someone called【Sibeir Mu】? Who is this guy?"
I hurriedly used the terminal to investigate, but…
Sibeir Mu
Witts Empire State Magician
Dead? To actually have a dead person use the terminal, this should be a stolen account, right?
Returner
One of Domyuu's title suddenly flast past my mind, and I felt cold sweat flowing down my back.
Returner… Could it be that person is actually a zombie that has been possessed?
Looks like things have become really interesting. Great. Now, let's look at the missions on Momiji's side as well.
After inserting the Momiji's plugin, the screen entered the Momiji's main page.
"As I thought…"
Almost all of the Momiji's missions in this sector are related to the auction.
Momiji's Missions:
1. Kill the host of the auction – Heimdor Fournights
2. Kill a participant of the auction – Zhang Yuan
3. Kill a participant of the auction – Sevenday Plain
4. Steal an item from the auction – Silent Flowerbox
5. Steal an item from the auction – Sky Moving Halberd
6. Free someone who is about to be auctioned – Li Fang
The hell, this quest sure is troublesome. There's actually such a long list.
After thinking deeply for a moment, I made a wise decision.
"So, after killing all of the hosts and participants, I have to steal all their stuffs, and release all those people that are going to be auctioned off?"
I shook my head and laughed.
"This sure is challenging."
Although I figured out the general contents of this quest, when deciding how to go about doing it, it's actually really difficult. After all…
World-chan is watching…
If I were to really kill everyone and then steal away all the stuffs, then, titles like【Murdering Great Demon King】,【Auction Blood-Washer】,【Number One Wanted Person】would probably be added, right?
And my current title is already nearing【Neutral】. If I were to do something like that, it might turn into【Evil】or something along those lines.
When that time comes, even if I want to change it back, it will be too late!
Although the people opening a private auction like this can't be good people, it would be indeed too much to crazily slaughter everyone like that.
And, in actual fact, we're not from this world anyway. If we were to directly participate in the matters of this world, wouldn't we be interfering too much?
It sure is hard to make a decision, huh… If only it was a main quest with only a single route, then I wouldn't have to choose like this.
'Fir! Hurry and get over here, I realized I'm being followed.'
'Hah?'
Suddenly, I saw the message Bai Yueguang sent.
Being followed?
Are our enemies in this place as well?
Although I don't know the exact reason, I still quickly closed the terminal, and then, left the store after paying up.
Sweeping my gaze across the surrounding titles, I quickly found Bai Yueguang's name at a corner not far away. And behind him, a yellow name was slowly following him.
When I took a careful look, she was actually a teenage girl with green short hair, wearing a magical windbreaker, she was even using the collar to cover her face.
'Isn't it great to have such a cute girl following you?'
I poked fun at him, while I walked towards them.
'Are you kidding me? That girl is evidently a slaughtering machine.'
Hearing Bai Yueguang say this, only then did I give a careful look at the girl's titles.
Zangetsu Kurosashi
LV 45 Assassin
[Evil] [Extreme] [Brutal] [Bounty Hunter] [Song of the Charming Night] [High-Grade Wanted Person] [One-Hit Kill] [Arcane Skill Possessor] [Alpha Descendant]
'You sure are capable of offending a big shot huh. Just what did you do to her? Touch her butt? Sneaked a peek at her underwear? Or…"
'Are you kidding me!? Why would I dare!?"
'Are there actually things that you don't dare to do? Clearly, you're even the【Kidnapper】or whatever in our party…"
'Enough nonsense! Hurry up and help me!'
'I'm already beside you guys, how are you planning to do this?'
After a moment of silence, Bai Yueguang suddenly put down the item he was looking at in his hands, and then, with an Accelerate, he passed through the crowd, immediately sprinting towards the direction of the exit!
Hey, hey ,hey! You're actually going to flee right away!?
And the girl behind her, almost at the same time, accelerated and chased after him as well! Looks like she has him deadly locked-on.
Should I say, as expected of the Assassin class?
Looks like it's inevitable, in times like this, it's best to help him out.
Taking the opportunity when everyone was watching them, I instantly used Shadow Sneak, and instantly flashed towards the exit of the black market.
Immediately after, Bai Yueguang instantly ran past me, and I pretended to make a casual turn, colliding with the girl that was chasing after him.
She actually took a step back from the collision, and then, instantly fell and sat on the floor!
The girl looked at me skeptically, as though she was confused that she actually did not see me earlier and collided with me.
"Are you alright?"
I pretended to use a low voice and asked, and then, I stretched out my hand towards her.
She shook her head, and then, got up from the ground by herself.
Damn it, it's actually someone who doesn't talk, and she doesn't even take out a little book and write down what she wants to say. How am I going to communicate with her then!?
Looking at her titles, I suddenly thought of someone.
Kamiochi Yuon!
That's right, the name of this girl's guild is the same as Kamiochi Yuon's guild. In other words, even an Assassin Guild from the Western Continent is participating in this as well?
Speaking of which, one of the routes for the quest is to 'participate in the robbery', which means, the incident this time is much more important than I imagined, huh.
Alright, since that's the case, let's slightly change our course of action then.
"Un? Aren't you Kurosashi-chan? Could it be that the 【Song of Charming Heart】 is participating in this mission as well?"
I purposefully approached her slightly, and then, asked her softly.
She hurriedly took a step back out of shock, and then, looked at me with a very terrified expression.
Although she looked like that on the surface, I knew she had already took out her dagger from under her windbreaker, because, her name had already changed into red.
"Kurosashi-chan, I'm not your enemy. I found out about you from Kamiochi."
Hearing Kamiochi's name, her name actually instantly turned from red into white!
Hey hey hey, what's your relationship with Kamiochi…
"This isn't a good place to talk, why don't we change locations?"
"You're really a good and obedient child, let's go."
Firstly, let's leave the black market for now.
Of course, at the same time, I sent a message to Bai Yueguang and have him hide a little further away. Although I don't know why he was found out, I guess I will find out in just a moment.
At the same time, I searched the players in the vicinity, and as I thought, that woman Kamiochi Yuon's name indicated that she was nearby.
As expected, when there's a place with a violent incident occurring, she wouldn't miss out on it, huh?
'Yo, you're here as well, huh.'
I sent her such a message.
'… Eh?'
Only after about half a minute did she finally reply.
'Why did you come to the Eastern Continent as well?'
'Robbery? Gaining EXP?'
'… Your main questline sure is pleasant and fun, huh.'
''You sound as though it's not the same for you… Oh right, your Kurosashi-chan is in my hands. How much are you planning to fork out to take her back?'
'… Hah!? What did you do to my Kurosashi!?'
'Nothing much, just find us at the inn at the eastern commercial district later.'
After saying that, I cut off the messaging system.
"Kurosashi-chan, let us find Kamiochi then."
As I said that, I removed the strange black cloak from my body.
She nodded, and was not shocked in the slightest. She simply nodded, and then followed after me.
Is… Is this the development where I will earn the Kidnapper title?
When we just arrived at the inn, we immediately saw Kamiochi rushing over while panting heavily.
"Fir!!!!"
"Yo, Kamiochi, long time no see."
The current Kamiochi was wearing a grey priest robe, and her body was even adorned with various sparkling jewelries.
And currently, her long hair was dyed white, adding her current heavily panting look…
I kind of feel that she looked like a slave elf that was being prepared to be sold off in some fiction, to…
Kuh kuh, this isn't the main point.
"You're dressed up quite nicely today, are you planning to go on a date?"
"Date your sister!"
"You're actually interested in my sister? That's too frightening!"
"You… Forget it."
After saying that, she pulled Kurosashi over.
"Kurosashi-chan~ Did this pervert Fir do anything to you?"
"What did he tell you just now?"
"He said… that he would bring me… to look for Kamiochi-chan."
So this girl actually knows how to talk. However, compared to her body which was filled with killing intent, this girl's voice is different… it's unexpectedly tender!
This sort of gentle voice… Could it be that, Kamiochi, you like this kind of taste?
Kamiochi was dispirited for a moment, heaved a sigh, and then, looked at me with a very scornful expression.
"You, you're only trying to fool me into coming here, right?"
"Well… I simply saw the name of this girl's guild, which led to me thinking about you. Hence, I called you over as well."
"You sure are casual about this! Forget it, I'm not going to fuss about it anymore. But, you actually came to the Eastern Continent, is it for that auction quest as well? Your "Momiji Secret Society" guild sounds very familiar, but I have never really seen it."
This girl is actually able to see my hidden guild information among my titles, huh. Looks like she has chosen the skill that allows her to see through the target's titles as well.
"It's a legendary guild. You have best not bring up my guild to your superiors, otherwise, they will definitely be scared half to death."
"Really? You seem to always find those abnormal and strange things, huh?"
"Birds of the same feather flock together?"
"Is it really fine for you to look for retorts… Ah, this is bad, I can't chat any longer, I still have a quest on hand. And this is all your fault. Let's do this then, you're here for the auction quest as well anyway, so let's have Kurosashi-chan follow you for now. If you were to anything to Kurosashi-chan, I will definitely erase you from this world!"
"Then I think it's best if you bring her along with you."
"Alright, I will contact you again at night!"
After saying that, with a "shuaaa" sound, she ran away.
Clearly she was still panting heavily earlier, yet she actually ran away so quickly…
Kurosashi-chan pulled onto my clothes.
"Pleased to meet you…"
"… You're sure a very good-mannered child, huh."
"I got praised… So happy."
After saying that, this girl's eyes curved a little, and seemed to have smiled.
This girl! She's basically an angel!
Just how did【Song of Charming Heart】turn such an angel-like girl into an assassin!? Tell me, please!
I want to learn too!
"Hence, that's the reason why you kidnapped a girl back?"
Aliyah's scornful expression looked as though she wanted to kill me.
While Oyado and Lois at the side were currently surrounding Kurosashi-chan, inspecting her from head to toe.
However, Kurosashi-chan who was facing these onlookers, completely did not have any sort of movements, and was simply standing there, looking blankly at us.
"Well~ In any case, we managed to find someone that could assist us in the quest, didn't we?"
"Hmph! Fine, do whatever you want!"
Aliyah unhappily snorted, and then, returned to her own seat.
Our current position was an especially big guest room in an inn at Daybreak City. After finishing our schedule for the day, we returned here.
But, Kurosashi's appearance seemed to have caused Aliyah to be very unhappy. Geez, I didn't intentionally kidnap her back, so what's the use for resenting me?
"Big brother, is she your new little sister?"
Oyado suddenly turned to me and asked.
"Hah? How is that possible? Aren't you my only little sister?"
"Un! Big brother is the best."
"This girl is so cute, can I hug her?"
"Lois, you should be asking her that question!"
"I don't care anymore!"
After saying that, Lois actually hugged her directly.
Speaking of which, this girl had kept quiet for so long, even I have forgotten she was yuri. So, after seeing a new little girl, she was resurrected from the dead?
But, the instant Lois' body moved, Kurosashi-chan's figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
"Waaaaaah…"
Lois who had leapt into the air, instantly fell onto the ground.
"She… she actually dodged it, wuu…"
"Because… it feels… very scary."
Kurosashi-chan who had dodged to the side slowly said.
"Wuu… I'm being disliked…"
After saying that, Lois cried as she ran out.
…… This girl really knows how make a commotion, huh.
"In any case, it's fine for you guys to make a fuss, but don't cause any trouble for me!"
Ms. Mari said very sternly.
"After all, we're here on an exchange study, if something were to happen, I won't be able to save you guys!"
Hearing her say this, I silently sent her a message and asked.
'What's your true thoughts?'
'When's the auction? When are we going to act?'
As expected of Ms. Mari…
The commotion in the room did not really last long, as half an hour later, Bai Xiangtian came over to call us for dinner.
Haidao Qianben actually joined us as well. Looks like the cure earlier was very effective as she was actually fully recovered now. And as I predicted, those scars were healed as well.
Looks like the medicine that was created out of coincidence was very effective. Seems like mass-producing it shouldn't be a problem now.
While I was still thinking of contacting Lanya about increasing the production, I heard someone calling out for me.
When I turned to look, it was actually Haidao Qianben.
"Umm… Thank you very much for back then."
"It's that…"
She was clearly very strong-headed during the duel, how did she become like this? Could it be a side-effect from the medicine?
"Even though the duel was something I casually instigated, in the end, I was still healed by you, and you even used a medicine that could prevent leaving any scars on my body… Umm, really, thank you very much."
"Ah, umm, it's fine as long as you're alright. Don't mind it."
When I said as such, I looked at Aliyah as well, and realized she was currently glancing over to my side.
"No, no, no. Really, thank you very much. And, I heard that my brother even misunderstood you after that, umm…"
"Don't mind it. It's very normal for a big brother to protect his little sister…"
"No! Oyado will protect big brother!"
Suddenly, Oyado leapt over to us and said.
Have you been eavesdropping on us?
"Alright, let us go. Aren't we eating dinner?"
"Un! Let's go, Little Bai."
Haidao Qianben said as such.
But… when she said that, her target was not Bai Yueguang, but Bai Xiangtian…
Our entire body looked at Bai Yueguang with sad eyes, while he himself was leaning against the wall and looking towards the sky with a darkened expression.
Kurosashi, Bai Xiangtian, and Haidao Qianben who were left out, looked at us with skeptical expressions.
Hence, the bunch of us mightily walked towards the restaurant which we have made a reservation at.
After all, this is a city constructed with an academy as its center, the number of mercenaries and merchants are comparatively small, hence, with our numbers, it's already considered rather mighty.
But, it's because of this fact, that so-called auction will be conducted here, right?
Who will think that an underground auction will be held right at the city next to an academy? And, even if any strange things were to be transported here, they could be explained as the academy's experimental needs. Is there really anyone that will come to an academy and ask what experiments you're conducting?
"Speaking of which, aren't Mr. Haoran and Ms. Domyuu coming?"
While we're walking, I asked the two people who were taking the lead.
"Of course they will be coming, and there's our academy dean as well. In the morning, because they headed out for work-related matters, they were unable to come personally. Earlier, they even had me express their apologies to you people in their stead."
Haidao Qianben turned back and said.
Is that so? Clearly, we made such a big mess in your academy though.
"Then your dean must be a very strong person, right?"
"Un. Currently, he's already at the Mahayana Realm, he's just waiting to make a breakthrough now."
Hah? What's that?
I completely do not understand deity cultivation at all, even if you were to tell me that, I don't know either!
I silently looked towards Tai Shixi behind me. I don't know if it was because she hard what Haidao Qianbei said earlier, her eyes narrowed.
"Then he must have lived for a few hundred years, right? I wonder what your dean trains in?"
Tai Shixi suddenly asked.
"Un, what our dean specialize in, is "Weapon Refinement". Although it's called Weapon Refinement, he's basically able to create anything."
"I see. so he's able to provide mutual support, and yet, not become the primary target of fire by his opponents."
Tai Shixi muttered to himself, and then, once again, she gazed towards the sky.
Can you guys please not say such strange terms as though they have come from a heavenly book? There's no guidebooks in this world, so why don't you people explain what the hell you people are talking about?
However, I feel that if I were to ask like this, I will definitely embarrass myself even more. Hence, I silently kept my mouth shut instead.
"Murder!!!"
And just at this moment, without any warning, I suddenly heard someone from the side shouting out loud!
Immediately after, a store not far away suddenly exploded, and the flames that rose to the skies instantly lit up the night.
Although I don't know what happened, those flames that rose to the skies were definitely not ignited from explosions, rather, someone had used a Fire Magic spell or something similar.
Because… Where were there ever explosions that could bring about their own flames!? Do you think they are incendiaries!?
"【Arcane – Ice Palace】!"
When I saw those flames were being spread towards the passers-by, I hurriedly released an Ice Magic spell, surrounding the flames that were engulfing the entire store!
"You guys! Hurry and get away from there!"
I shouted to those passers-by who were still in a daze.
"Yes… Thank you!"
Those people immediately fled to the side.
"Hey! If you surround that store like this, what about the people inside!?"
Bai Xiangtian shouted at me.
"Those people are already dead! The explosions earlier and those flames are not normal! That's a skill someone used!"
The moment I said that, my ice wall suddenly took a strong blow from the inside, a red shadow smashed apart my ice wall, and got out from passing through the crack!
The hell, is that guy the Human Torch?
That guy's entire body was covered in flames. Even his clothes were burning, and they completely did not have any signs of being burnt apart.
"Oh, to think there's actually an Ice Magician as well. What a pity, you're not a Water Magician. Hahahaha!"
He laughed as he pointed towards the sky, and then, with a bang, a flaming giant descended from the skies!
The hell, that skill is so blazingly cool, I want to learn it too!
However, currently, I can't completely see this guy's information like his name and titles, and I'm unable to determine his level either.
Because currently, this guy is a red-name to me, however, the flames on his body are completely covering his name…
Hey hey hey! Is this a considered as a bug? At least, highlight the name for me. If he's a dangerous BOSS-type character, could you add a skull-face above his head?
"Retreat!!!"
Bai Xiangtian loudly shouted.
"That guy is an Onmyouji! This is a summoning technique!"
He's an Onmyouji?
When I looked at it carefully, on the head of the summoned giant, a talisman was pasted on it.
Onmyou Arts?
But that Fire Magic spell earlier, clearly, I saw a magic formation…
In other words, he's a Fire Magician with Onmyouji as his sub-class?
I looked at the people behind me, and everyone was excitedly looking at the guy who suddenly appeared.
"What should we say in times like this?"
I said, while wearing my 【Magic Armbands】.
"Monster has spawned? Let's go, everyone?"
Bai Yueguang said with a smile as he held onto the hilt of his katana.
"Wrong, it should be… Kill-steal! First come first serve!"
Aliyah's entire body exploded into flames, instantly turning into a fire wolf-woman, and then, she charged right out!
And behind her, was Tai Shixi, who was charging out while silently holding on her halberd!
Geez, can't you guys be a little serious in times like this!?
"Hey, you guys…"
Bai Xiangtian wanted to say something, however, I patted on her shoulder and said.
"Don't worry, we're not idiots either."
And then, I pointed to the sky.
"The enemy isn't only the one who can summon! Come! 【Ice Warship】!"
After saying that, black clouds once again tumbled in the sky, and a gigantic ice warship rushed out from the clouds, as it crashed towards the body of the flaming giant!
"You! Who are you people!? 【Fire Giant】, endure!"
Hearing the man's words, the 【Fire Giant】 roared, raising its two hands, it caught the descending Ice Warship. However, the floor beneath its feet sunk a little as well!
But, the point of contact between the 【Fire Giant】 and the 【Ice Warship】 began to emit out layers of white fumes, and the energy of both sides began to diminish.
However, who determined that the 【Ice Warship】 is only used to smash into targets?
The cannons on the warship began to fire at the same time, and countless ice shells landed on the giant's body. The giant cried out, as its body began to slowly kneel onto the ground!
Hmph, what you need to pay attention to isn't just your giant!"
A ray of red light flashed past, and shattering sounds began to resound continuously around the flaming man's body.
Aliyah stopped and turned towards the flaming man, clicking her tongue.
"You, actually have so many defensive talismans!"
"【Arcane – Blazing Sky】!"
A gigantic fire pillar rose towards the sky, and the searing flames began to approach us!
"Hmph!"
Bai Yueguang took a step forward.
"【Secret Arcane – Iai – Skybreak】!"
After a flash of blade light, the heatwave that was approaching us actually split exactly in half! At the same time, Tai Shixi behind him swung out two halberds as she charged towards the opponent!
"【Arcane – Green Dragon Wheeling Dance】!"
The dancing halberds instantly shredded the flaming man into pieces, however, he actually turned into a ball of flames and flew away!
At the same time, the giant let out a sorrowful cry, as it was pressed onto the ground by the Ice Warship!
He's actually thinking of fleeing?
I smiled as I spread out my Angel's Wing!
However, just when I was thinking of chasing after him, a blue ray of light instantly shot out from the ground, piercing through the ball of flames in the air!
That ball of flames trembled in mid-air for a moment, before dispersing.
Killed Huotian Zhichuan, Fire Giant
Party EXP Received: 8,000
Bai Yueguang leveled up! Current LV: 35
Aliyah leveled up! Current LV: 28
Tai Shixi leveled up! Current LV: 34
Mari Steppe leveled up! Current LV: 37
All of us silently looked towards Ms. Mari who was standing at the back of our group. The weapon she was currently holding in her hands was not the Magic Gun she used in the past, but a Sniper Rifle that was fixed onto the ground with five support frames… No, with the caliber of the barrel, it could almost be considered as a cannon, right?
"One hit kill!"
Ms. Mari did a 'V' gesture.
"You actually stole our kill!"
Aliyah returned to her human form, and shouted out unhappily.
"This is called bringing my specialty into play."
However, Ms. Mari shrugged her shoulders without a mind.
"Well~ At least, you earned some EXP and leveled up, so don't mind it."
"Hmph, as someone who is already level 35, can you understand the feelings of a LV 28?"
"What's there to be afraid of? We're all in a party. Look, no matter what boss it is, as long as we work together, won't the EXP go to everyone?"
"You guys… are incredible!"
Bai Xiangtian looked at us with a respectful expression.
"To actually eliminate a demon in less than ten minutes, when you guys are grouped together… just how strong are you guys?"
"That's right, what's with that slash strike earlier!? To actually instantly cut apart magic! Just which sword style school did you come from!?"
Haidao Qianben asked Bai Yueguang.
Bai Yueguang scratched his head.
I bet he can't really say which school's skill it was either. As long as he's able to learn them, he should have learnt them all, right?
"Ah, I don't have the intention to force out an answer from you, please do not mind."
Qianben seemed to have thought that Bai Yueguang was unhappy with her question, as she hurriedly explained.
"Alright, alright, in any case, the demon has been eliminated. This is a good thing. However, how are we going to clear up this mess?"
I pointed to the traces of the battle on the ground.
"This… Even I don't…"
"Let our academy pay for the damages then!"
Before Bai Xiangtian could finish what she wanted to say, we heard someone saying as such from not afar.
When I turned to look, the person coming over was dressed in a gold-rimmed black martial robe, and although his hair was white, one could feel a sense of fear from the aura emitted out from his body
This person is…
"Dean, why are you here?"
"If I'm not present even after such a huge commotion, then I'm not suitable to be the dean of the academy. But, our dear guests from the Western Continent actually managed to subdue the demon so quickly, this old man rather admires your abilities."
Du Tianren
LV 78 Weapon Refiner
[Neutral] [Stable] [Blessed] [Pure Weapon Refiner] [Formation Master] [Dean of Skybreak Academy] [Arcane Possessor] [Mahayana-stage]
Such a scary level, this guy is evidently acting. With such a level, forget about that demon earlier, he would not even break a sweat if he wanted to subdue us.
"Elder Du, you must kidding. There's simply no need for Elder Du to personally act against that demon earlier."
Ms. Mari hurriedly said.
In times like this, it's best to have the teachers interact among themselves, I don't really feel like talking too much nonsense either.
"There's no such thing, each new generation excels the last one. There's no need for further discussion, since this place has already turned out like this, then, dear guests, please head over to our academy for your meal. The skills of our chefs are not incomparable to that of the restaurants outside."
"Then pardon our intrusion."
After saying that, Ms. Mari nodded to us, and then, we followed after them.
But, at the same time, I sent a message to everyone as well.
'Careful, that person earlier is a participant of the auction as well. However, it's unknown why he would suddenly launch an attack, so, be careful."
The reason why I sent such a message is naturally because, earlier, other than the battle report, I obtained another message as well.
Side Quest: Heart of Momiji [Completed]
A-Rank Mission: Kill Huotian Zhenchuan [Completed]
Mission Completed: Gilded Auction – No. 16: Before the auction, kill Huotian Zhenchuan who might be able to influence the auction.
Weapon Reward: Magic Ring of the Momiji
Additional Reward: Increase 10% attack strength to all fire-related attacks. Increase fire defense by 10%.
Looks like, the quest has already begun!
"Thank you everyone for lending your help in exterminating that demon today. This Elder Du once again thank everyone from the Western Continent."
"There's no need for thanks, everyone has the responsibility to eliminate threats and protect the stability of the society."
Haah, once again, Ms. Mari is using terms that others cannot understand.
Shaking my head, I quickly cleared out the dishes in front of me, replenishing all of the stamina I had used earlier.
As expected of high-graded goods, to actually completely fill up my stamina bar in an instant, and it even provided a buff that increases my rate of HP and MP recovery.
Unfortunately, it only lasts for 30 minutes, and dishes like these can't be preserved in the storage ring. What a pity.
If I'm able to learn recipes, I wonder if I'm able to make dishes whenever I want. A buff like this is very useful, after all.
"This is really shameful. It's really a mistake on our academy's part for such a thing to happen when another academy is here to visit. We will definitely increase the strength of the nearby guards. This decision is not made just for you people, but it's also for the safety of our students."
"Then there's really good to hear."
You two continue talking nonsense with each other then. I silently opened my messaging system, and began to chat with the others.
'You guys must know about Kamiochi-chan, right?'
'Un? Who's that?'
The person who replied was Bai Yueguang.
Speaking of which, I did indeed acquainted myself with Bai Yueguang after Kamiochi, huh.
'Oh, she's from our world as well. However, due to the difference in race, she joined a strange assassin organization. Currently, she's probably working on mission outside.'
'That's right, that's right. I don't have that much leisure time as you guys, to stay in that room and have dinner. We're still waiting for this academy's dean to come out, so that we can assassinate him, you know.'
'Then you guys can head over to have dinner. The dean of this academy is LV 78. There's basically no point for members of your organization that's not above LV 75 to come. And, this person knows how to use formations as well, no matter how many of you people come, you will all be sending yourselves out to die.'
'Is your intel correct?'
'That's of course, I personally saw his information, you know.'
"Hey hey hey, how did you see that person's level… Could it be that you actually learnt that useless skill…"'
'That's wrong, isn't it? Rather, there's even more of a need for you guys to learn it, right? Alright, let's not talk about this. Currently, let us pay attention to this large-scale quest. According to what I have seen, there's too many incidents and missions involved in this auction, containing various assassinations, robberies, and even slaughtering missions. However, comparatively, the number of rewards and the amount of EXP gained from this large-scale quest should be rather huge. But…'
'But this will result in a change, in our position and stance in this world, to occur, right?'
Seeing the name of the person who sent this message, I raised my head and looked at Ms. Mari.
She was still chatting intimately with Elder Du, yet she's actually able to split up part of her attention to chat with us. Geez…
'Ms. Mari is right.'
I said in agreement.
'Although there are some among us who simply treats this world as a game used to while away time, however, the current problem is, we have already lived in this world for quite a long time, and we do not know if there's a method to leave this world and return to our own world either. In other words… since we're currently unable to confirm the method of returning to our own world, we have to consider our methods of living in this world.'
'I agree, back then, I did indeed underestimate this world a little, but recently… In any case, I think that upholding our… umm… upright image is very important!'
The one who said this was Aliyah. I did not expect that the most violent individual in our group was actually capable of saying such things. She's not as simple as she looks.
'That's just you guys. I'm an Assassin myself, so it doesn't really matter anymore.'
'Kamiochi, there's nothing wrong with the path you took, however, maintaining our… upright image is important as well. Think, we, as existences that cannot be killed in this world, can basically already be seen as god's equals. Although our strength have yet to reach that stage, with the accumulation of qualitative experiences, it will cause qualitative changes as well. And that is…'
'The Leveling Up system? There's sure a very interesting opinion.'
Unexpected, Tai Shixi who have always been rather quiet would join in the conversation as well.
'But, if this a theory like this is established, then wouldn't our actions be considered as…'
'Tai Shixi!'
I hurriedly forcefully cut her message.
'We can't do anything excessive.'
'Oh, you're right.'
Regarding the fact that we're being supervised by World-chan, I used the concept of 'there are other people watching us in this world' to cover it up.
Firstly, I don't wish to expose the existence of World-chan. Secondly, I can't guarantee that World-chan will not erase their memories if I expose this matter.
And what Tai Shixi was stopped from saying earlier was… Our existences seem to be for the sake of exterminating the gods and deities of this world.
And the position of the Demon King was already someone from our world, I really don't know what would happen if we take the next step.
'In any case, the question comes down to this, what are we supposed to do? There's no problem with eliminating a few evildoers, but as for the rest…'
'In other words, exterminating those that are still on the wanted list?'
'Hey hey hey, I'm on that wanted list as well.'
'Then how about those with the title【Evil】as well?'
'Eh, in times like this, the title system seems to rather useful, huh.'
'What about the rest?'
'That's of course…'
I smiled and replied.
'If we can rob them, rob them. If we can't, then release them.'
'Release them?'
Bai Yueguang asked skeptically.
'Of course I'm referring to those slaves. Unless you're planning to take them all in?'
"Hah… alright, then this matter is decided.'
"Looks like our interaction this time will generate very good results. I'm really looking forward to it."
"We're very happy as well."
And on this side, their conversation has ended as well. Looks like it was rather fruitful.
After Elder Du gave a final speech, we gave our goodbyes, and then, left the cafeteria.
After leaving the place, as expected, Kamiochi and her gang who were ambushing outside had already left.
This can be considered as a way to repay them for giving up on Bai Yueguang's bounty, I guess.
Speaking of which, I wonder what would happen if they know that I have a bounty on my head as well? Well, with a small amount like that, it doesn't really matter to them, I guess.
If the auction is tomorrow night…
"Let's do some after-dinner activities, taking the opportunity while the buffs are still active."
I turned around and said to everyone.
"In any case, everyone here is a night owl, right?"
"Oyado, have you confirmed the numbers?"
Squatting on the hotel's ceiling, my figure and my black cloak completely assimilated into the darkness.
I don't have the habit of having the night breeze blow against me, and I'm not like Altair who likes to watch people from high places. However, I don't really have any other choice when the roof is the only place I can break through from.
After surveying the hotel beneath me, I could see that there's a total of 14 people. However, to be sure that there's no one using presence concealment skills, I had Oyado confirm it.
Oyado's figure was not near me, however, when I asked this question, Oyado's figure slowly revealed itself in the air.
"Big brother~ Don't worry, just as big brother has said, there's only 14 people who are in-charge of guarding the hotel."
"The numbers are little small… But it's understandable as well. Otherwise, if there's too many people in a hotel that's about to be abandoned, wouldn't it expose the location of the storage?"
That's right, the locations of this hotel and the auction were completely different, and this is a hotel that is about to be closed down, situated at the deep end of the residential sector.
If we did not have any intel of it, finding this place would have really been difficult.
"Since everything is clear, let's hurry and enter. If I don't make any money this time, I will not forgive you, I tell you. I have privately shared the guild's intel with you, after all!"
That's right, the one who spoke was precisely our source of intel, Kamiochi Yuon.
As a trade for the intel, she gets the first pick on the items we will be stealing later.
I bet this girl won't choose any magic skill books or anything related to that anyway, right?
Hence, my group will be in-charge of stealing. Our members are me, Aliyah, Oyado, and Kamiochi.
The rest who do not have sneaking-related skills are separated into three groups. Two groups will be strolling outside, while one group will be in the hotel, waiting for an opportunity.
The opportunity-waiting group naturally consists of Kurosashi and Purewhite… Well, the combination of two who are not used to talking, could just happen to practice playing cards to while away the time.
The rest are in-charge of strolling around, shopping and eating night snacks, so as to prevent people from watching us in the situation where we don't notice them.
Even if all of the skills that we possess are very overpowered, there are always someone stronger and better. If our opponent has a surveillance skill that is a tier better than ours, then we will be in big trouble.
Hence, after separating into four groups, we began to move, and the four of us arrived at the old hotel that was stashing the goods.
However, even though this hotel is very old and tattered, according to the records in the intel, the business of this hotel was pretty good three hundred years ago, and its basement even consists of places such as treasuries. Hence,we deduced that the goods should be placed there.
These bastards placed various of traps in every room of every level of the place, the danger of entering from any one of the room is higher compared to entering from the roof. Hence, inevitably, our only choice is to enter from here.
According to the layout of the path we're going to take, why do I feel that we're actually in a stealth game?
And, so as to guarantee that the auction tomorrow will continue to run, what we have to do is to quietly sneak in, steal a portion of the goods, and then run away.
The items requested in the mission are not many, and what I want are just various skill books, so, things are really simple.
As to what these people over there wish to steal, is not a problem that concerns me.
Also, the worst scenario is that we're found out, we will just have to kill or knock the 14 of them out according to our standards then. As to what happens after that, we won't bother any longer.
So, right now, we're all wearing clothes that are completely different from what we wear initially, and, we even added disguises. Unless someone has maxed out his observation skills, regular people are completely unable to recognize us.
If there's options to save my progress, there wouldn't be a need for me to worry about a small matter like being found out, what a pity…
The lock on the roof was finally opened by Aliyah. She heaved out a long sigh, and then, she slowly took down the lock.
"There's no traps set-up here, let's go."
Aliyah pointed to the detection glasses she was wearing, and then, she took the lead and entered.
The glasses she's wearing is about the same as my Eyepiece of Truth, however, it specializes in detecting traps, and zooming in on objects.
You might be thinking that, with my 【Eyepiece of Truth】, I'm able to enter from the window beside me as well. However, with my【Famous Detective】skill and Eyepiece of Truth, when I approached that window, it would continue to ring its warning signal without stop. How do you think I can focus on sneaking through that window then?
Aliyah slowly crawled into the attic from the entrance, and then, making use of the gaps between the floor panels, she looked through below.
"There's actually still a few traps set-up in the passageway below. It's no wonder this level only has a single guard. It's completely impossible to pass through with such densely packed traps, right?"
"There's definitely a way."
I silently walked over as well, and after looking at it, I looked towards the entrance we entered from.
"Let us first confirm our route. After ensuring that it's an ok, I will notify all of you. You guys just have to be in-charge for surveillance from up here, and see if they's anyone coming in to check."
Kamiochi and Oyado nodded.
Although a task like this would have been more convenient for Oyado who only possesses killing techniques to act alone, because she has no methods of contacting us quickly, she has no choice but to stay with Kamiochi.
"In any case, I shall first make a especially thin passageway."
With this said, a blue wisp of cold air slowly penetrated into the floor, circled past those magic traps, and then, binded those physical traps.
Slowly, a light layer of frost appeared on the surfaces of those traps. However, not just its exterior, even the mechanisms in all those traps, had already been completely frozen.
"Like this, we have a little passageway made."
Because the traps on the ground were too densely packed, I had no choice but to use a method like this to remove part of the traps.
"Hold on tight."
I carried Aliyah by the waist, and with 【Shadow Sneak】 activated, I passed through the route formed by those frozen physical traps, and arrived at the shadows on the left passageway beside that guy who was in-charge of surveillance.
That was a blind-spot, so it was completely impossible for him to spot us within his vision.
And the moment we landed on the ground, Aliyah threw out a small object, and it formed a pale white fog above the head of the man in-charge of surveillance, landing on him.
That person instantly leaned to the back, and slept.
"Done. Next up are the magic traps."
Aliyah took out the absorption equipment that we used in the past, pointed it directly at the traps on the pathway, and pressed on the button.
The magical energy in the magic traps were slowly absorbed into the magic crystal in the absorption equipment, and the magic traps turned into a pile of scraps.
"Fourth floor has been secured. Let's go to the next floor."
Looks like, so as to leave aside a walk-able passage, the stairs leading downstairs do not have many traps in place.
Of course, it's not like there are no traps in place, after all, it's the only passageway heading up and down in the entire building. Those objects that look like decorations are actually installed with detection devices, and if they are not removed before passing them through, they will trip off a warning signal.
And, the range of detection of this thing is very big, and from where we are, we are still unable to use the magic absorption device to absorb the magical energy from the detection device.
This is really troublesome…
Even Aliyah said as such.
"There's one in every corner of every floor, and they cover up all of the blind spots. Clearly, it was not a well-designed facility, yet, they're actually able to set up the traps this way, they're really worthy of praise, huh."
"Indeed, like this, even if I use 【Shadow Sneak】 to directly absorb the magical energy, I will be caught by the other device, so we can't work with regular methods."
"Regular methods? Could it be that you have some irregular method to deal with this?"
"Because those magic traps make use of a certain frequency of magical waves to detect, before releasing a noise as a warning signal, right? Because, looking at the positions they're placed in, there should not be any possibility of being attacked."
"Aliyah, are you able to confirm the model and usage of that magic trap?"
"Eh? Although I'm able to… But don't think things too simply. Even if you know the model of that thing, what can you do about it? When one installs it, he will definitely make certain adjustments to it, and, from such a far distance, even you won't be able to destroy that thing, right?"
"No, no, no. In usual cases, it's impossible, however, it's still possible if I know the rough model. Think about it, traps like that usually follows a certain rule to work."
"If you put it that way."
Aliyah pondered for a moment, and then, took out a small booklet from her ring.
It's actually written "Recommendations and Introductions to the Newest Magic Traps" on it!
Hey hey hey, they actually mass produce small booklets like these as well? Isn't this basically disclosing all of the information!? Is this really alright?
"Un, this should be a magic trap of the TYI-232 Model. A magic crystal can be added to increase the output and effects."
"Usage?"
"Detection, with effects similar to a radar. However, it can even detect approaching magic spells."
"Is that so? Then that's really troublesome."
"See, even if we know about it, there's no use."
"… Un, wait a minute. Just what do these equipment use to emit warning signals?"
"Sound. Obviously, a sound similar to an alarm."
"… I see!"
I nodded, and then, aimed at those two magic traps.
"You should have said something like that earlier. Geez, you actually wasted so much of my time."
"【Arcane – Vacuum Detachment】!"
Two green magic balls directly enveloped the two magic traps and pulled them into mid-air. At the same time, I could see the magic traps inside the magic balls flashing constantly, as though they had eaten stimulants.
There's no sound at all!
Aliyah said out of sudden realization.
"Using the principle of sound, where sound is not able to transmit in vacuums?"
"That's it, and then…"
I grasped my two hands, and the two magic traps were instantly smashed into pieces under pressure!
Alright, now that we know the principle, things should be simpler now.
"But the problem is the guards below are not weak either. They are all in the LV 30 to LV 40 range. I really wonder where they managed to find so many strong opponents."
"In any case, we have found the method. Next up, it's fine if we head straight towards the basement."
After a continuous chain of 【Vacuum Detachment】, the traps placed around the stairs were all turned into scraps.
"Isn't all this because I was able to find these magic traps quickly? Otherwise, before we even find these magic traps, we have already triggered those alarms."
"Yes, yes, yes, thank you very much~"
I replied with a smile.
I bet Aliyah must have be rewarded with a detection tool from doing the Rogue's main questline, right?
"But, there's still currently three enemies below though?"
That's right, there's a total of 14 enemies in this entire building, however, after clearing out one of them, we're still left with 13 of them. If we have to deal with the rest… it's very difficult. If it's just one or two LV 30s, we might be able to exterminate them instantly with a fight. However, if it's a dozen or so of them… Even if we're seeking death, this isn't the right way. And, we still have to settle this quietly.
Usually, it's still fine if it's only one of them sleeping, however, the possibility of all them sleeping at once is a little low.
"Currently, the goods are in the basement, but there's still three of them there."
The door in front of us was the door to the basement. But, through the door, we can see the three people with the levels of 35 currently guarding the contents inside.
"Steal the goods right in front of them?"
"How's that possible… In times like this, we have to rely on something else to attract their attention."
"Hehe… Before I entered this place, I have found a tattered building that has been abandoned for a very long time, and then, I installed some toys…"
With this said, I pressed the device in my hands.
And then, an explosive sound rang from afar! That little building have already been exploded into smithereens by my explosives!
Aliyah had wanted to say something, but after glancing to the side, she hurriedly pulled me to hide into shadows at the side.
Immediately after, the huge door to the basement opened, and the three men hurriedly rushed out!
"What is it!? What happened!?"
After they passed by us, Aliyah and I nodded to each other, and then, we charged right into the basement behind their backs.
Seeing the goods that were arranged nicely in front of us, I laughed.
"It's time to collect our treasures!"
Title Unlocked: [Terrorist]
The strength of explosives used automatically increases by 50%.
After replacing all the skill books with a stack of skill books that I have already read, I turned and looked towards Aliyah who was still fiddling with those goods behind me.
She's actually still comparing the goods, as though she have not decided which items to take away.
"Aliyah, hurry. We don't have the time to be picky, just take away those that look more important."
"It's because of that reason, I don't know which to take away…"
"Take those that aren't easily found out, duh! Otherwise, our efforts to sneak in here earlier will be wasted!"
"Stop nagging, I'm almost done."
Seeing that she was still going to take some time, I raised my head and looked at the situation above. Those people are actually beginning to come down.
Because the situation was urgent, I had already informed the people upstairs about our actual situation.
After understanding our situation, Kamiochi expressed her understanding and told us it's fine to simply pick out a few valuable ones.
I only set a single explosive, we don't have much time left!
"Hurry! Last ten seconds, those people are coming down soon!"
"Alright, alright, I'm almost done…"
The moment when they were about to open the door to the basement, I stretched my hand and grabbed onto Aliyah's shoulder, and with a【Flash Movement】, we returned to the ceiling.
"Hey, what are you doing!? I was almost done over there!"
She was still holding onto a golden plate and a golden dagger in her hands, as though she was still contemplating. Though, it's alright now, as she stuffed all of them into her ring.
"It's a miracle that you actually did not get caught in the past. Those people were about to open the door and enter the basement!"
I let go of Aliyah's shoulder, and helplessly said.
"Really? Alright, then. Then… Then I shall forgive you."
This person, I'm still unable to converse with her normally, huh.
"Forget it, let's hurry and find another location. Right now, it's more important to deal with the things we looted."
"Un un. Hurry, hurry!"
Kamiochi beside us said anxiously as well.
"I still have to rush to my next assassination mission. Time is money, you know!"
Hey, hey, hey. That person's life is a little too cheap, don't you think? Is there a need to be in such a rush?
"Then let us hurry!"
Kamiochi threw a painting to a side, and then, picked up a gold-rimmed box.
"What's this… An artistic sculpture made out of magic crystals is placed inside, are these people crazy? Why did they use magic crystals to sculpt? Couldn't they have used more precious metals?"
"You're really a troublesome person! Do you want it or not!? I think this sculpture is pretty good! It can be used as a camouflage."
"Your taste is so terrible, and you're still a Rogue?"
"What about it? Do you want to fight?"
Seeing them making a commotion at the side, I slowly opened one of the skill books, and then, pressed on the "Learn" button.
After learning it, I placed the book I have finished reading to the side, and silently picked up another book.
These skill books are really awesome. Skills which I have never seen before in the past, like 【Comprehension】, 【Onmyou Arts】, 【Profound Martial Techniques】, I have learnt them all in a single breath.
Although I don't get the meaning of some of them, they kind of feel pretty incredible.
In any case, after learning them, the main points written in the skill books will still be left in the skills' descriptions, so I simply threw the books I have finished reading directly to the side.
After reading dozens of books, I realized Aliyah and Kamiochi were still fighting, and helplessly shook my head.
The rest have yet to arrive. Probably, they're too engrossed with their mission objective, and was unleashing their wandering ability to its fullest potential.
There's no point in continuing to stay here anyway, hence, I looked towards them and said.
"I'm heading out to buy supper. Let's go, Oyado, Purewhite."
"Yes~ Eating supper with big brother (master) ~"
The two of them said very happily.
Eh? When did these two actually become so familiar with each other?
Ah whatever, this is a good thing anyway.
Not a moment later, the three of us appeared on the streets.
My clothes have already changed into my regular Magician Robe, and I don't wish to have another Onmyouji running out to challenge me.
Of course, I have Purewhite put on a set of gloves to cover that Shikigami's mark as well, otherwise, I think another misunderstanding will occur again.
After all, we all know that, while you're doing a quest, if you accidentally trigger another quest, it will cause balls-hurting consequences, and consequences like those are beyond terrible.
Doing quests are still fine, however, if you were to set off an irreversible ending or something, that will be really troublesome.
Currently, it's best to quietly buy supper and head back.
Although I say that…
No matter if it's the Western or Eastern Continent, there will always be things such as idiots.
"Hey, that guy over there. You actually brought along two beautiful girls with you, are you underestimating us?"
Hearing such words from the guy in front of us, who was wearing a gold trimmed silk robe and was pointing right at us, I looked at my surroundings, and then, looked towards Purewhite.
"Purewhite, do you see any other beautiful girls nearby?"
"I don't know, master."
"Is that so… Then, Oyado, do you see anything?"
"Big brother, are you referring to that person that's 300 meters away to the left, or the one that's 500 meters away at our 5 o'clock, or the one at our 9 o'clock…"
"Oyado-chan~"
"Hehe~"
Oyado laughed cheekily.
"They're definitely talking about us!"
"I guess you're right. The beautiful girls they're referring to are Oyado-chan and Purewhite~"
"Beautiful… A beautiful girl. To actually be called beautiful by master…"
Purewhite's face flushed entirely red, and she turned to look towards the side out of shyness.
Speaking of which, clearly, Oyado is only 7 years old, while Purewhite is a Shikigami, and they're actually able to draw in your beastial desires…
I believe you guys can be humanely destroyed, right?
"What are you guys still on about!? I'm talking to you guys, you know!"
He was still roaring at us, but…
In the next second, I have already frozen his teeth together, and at the same time, his bodyguards' legs as well.
Immediately after, I drank down an MP potion and have my MP fully recovered in an instant. Then, I walked right in front of them, and grabbed them.
Before they could even finish what they wanted to say, they had already appeared at the side of Skybreak Academy's training mountain cave where we have once visited earlier.
Then, I released my hand, and the three of them screamed as they fell into the valley.
I pray that you guys have a good tryst with the god inside~
"Wait a minute, I currently can't restore my MP in an instant… Could it be that I have to fly back?"
Looking at the streets in the distance, I helplessly shook my head.
"If you don't seek death, death won't come, you know."
Unexpectedly, when I woke up on the second day, the entire city was still immersed in a 'peaceful' atmosphere. Nothing happened. Nothing happened in any given point in time.
Of course, other than the security level in the academy increasing by twice the amount, and the guards were swapped out for those who were LV 40, at the same time, there was a large increase in the number of suspicious individuals from different guilds in the city.
Other than that, there's really nothing special that had happened.
And due to the impact caused by the previous battle, they no longer brought up things like spars and duels.
Of course, one of the reasons for this was the incident where we eliminated a great figure, Huotian Zhichuan, in a blink of an eye. Probably, the reconstruction fees for the broken buildings must have caused them enough of an headache, huh?
Speaking about money, after I finished reading those skill books yesterday, I handed them all over to Aliyah and the rest. After everyone had picked out the various items that they wished to have, the rest were passed to Kamiochi, where she would place them in the black market to sell, and the money earned would be equally split among ourselves.
However, because the wind is still rather tight currently, this plan has been postponed for now.
And today, after touring the Skybreak Academy's school building and medicine refining room, every one of us received a bottle of HP recovery medicinal pellets, and then, our itinerary of the day concluded.
I kind of feel that the places that we can take a look at after this are left with but a few. Looks like we have to prepare to head to the next academy as well.
Everyone in the party today seems to be really quiet as well. Seems like they're recharging their batteries for the battle tonight.
"Dean! Umm…"
When the conclusion of today's tour was just announced, someone who was dressed in a ninja attire suddenly, swoosh, and leapt out.
Seeing us, he apologized, and then, said to the Dean softly.
"Those people are increasing, I'm afraid tonight is really…"
"Why? Haven't we agreed to not dwell in each other's matters, and simply take care of our own people?"
"It's rumored that many things have happened yesterday, and then they…"
"Then what does that have to do with us!?"
"But, currently, they're already facing off inside the city, and from the looks of it, they're about to fight it out!"
"These bastards, it's clearly a secret auction, but in the end, it ended up like this! Hurry and recall our disciples! Don't have remain outside! Damn it, I will make sure those bastards pay the necessary price sooner or later!"
And then, the Dean turned to look at us.
"Kuh kuh, I apologize. Currently, in Skybreak City, there's a group of people disrupting the city's law and order. Our academy's teachers and Skybreak City's guards are handling this problem, however, it might require dear guests to wait for a short while in our academy."
"Then I wonder if there's anything we can do to help?"
I immediately asked.
"After all, those people are doing evil acts, and watching from the sidelines isn't really our style."
Are you kidding me? If you make us stay here, what are we going to do about the auction?
Even if we don't participate in the auction, if we don't even participate in a fight, our quest will completely fail.
"But, for you people who are our guests to…"
"You don't have to worry about that. We will naturally shoulder the consequences ourselves."
"I believe you should know of our capabilities as well, so you don't have to worry."
Dean Du went silent for a moment, and then, nodded.
"Alright then, then I will not stop you. However, you people must be extremely careful. After all, the people who appeared are all individuals who kill others without even blinking an eye."
"Un, we understand."
And just at this moment, someone suddenly charged over while panting heavily.
"Umm… You people…"
"Isn't this Haidao Mingren?"
When I looked towards the person who ran over to us, it was actually Qianben's brother, Mingren.
"Umm, have you guys seen my sister? She left the house in the morning, and then, I have not seen her since then."
I looked towards the people beside me, and everyone shook their heads.
"Yesterday, we did indeed see Qianben, however, we didn't today… Could she have went to the city?"
"I'm not sure… I'm heading over there to take a look!"
Mingren said anxiously.
"Haidao Mingren!"
Dean Du shouted loudly.
"You're one of our academy's disciples as well. Currently, it's chaos outside, do you think that you're able to defeat those evildoers if you head outside?"
"We will find your sister for you, after all, she's our friend as well."
"Right, everyone?"
I looked towards everyone, and all of them nodded.
"Then, thank you very much!"
"Then, let's not delay any further, let's go!"
However, the moment I said that, it was as though everyone had taken drugs, some jumped, some ran, and in an instant, everyone disappeared without a trace!
Only Oyado and Purewhite were still staying at their positions, smiling at me.
"Let's go, I shall bring you guys over to buy some sweets."
I said with a bitter smile.
Emergency Quest: Find Haidao Qianben
EXP Reward: 5,000
Item Reward: Emotion Detection Ability
Seeing this emergency quest, I felt my stomach cramping.
What's an Emotion Detection Ability? It kind of feels very unreliable. Could it be that the people's conquerable status will be revealed above their heads?
Are you treating this as a Galge!? Bastard!
Ah whatever, the most important mission right now is to save Qianben.
Although that girl's temper is a little bad, based on our few days of interaction, I feel that she's just as prideful as Aliyah, that's all.
It had begun to rumble inside the city as well. Looks like those people have taken action.
Damn it. Did we trigger some unique scenario or something!?
"In any case, the mission has begun! Oyado!"
"Big brother, what is it~"
"Find Qianben's location, then, report back to me."
"Understood~"
Oyado took a step to the front, and then, her figure disappeared.
"Purewhite, let us go!"
Incidentally, I can test out the Onmyou Arts that I have just learnt.
"【Air Seal – Rise】!"
I quickly did the hand-seals, and then with a shout, I slowly floated upwards.
"I can actually fly without spreading out my wings as well~"
"Yes, Master. It's very convenient."
Purewhite smiled as she flew up as well.
"Purewhite, you know Onmyou Arts too?"
"I don't know why, but when I saw Master use the skill, I became able to use the skill as well."
"That's… pretty good. Let's go then!"
"Hmph! We have already come this far, yet you people are actually taking the opportunity to rob the auction goods while the elders are not here! Where are all of your conscience!?"
"The ones who are robbing the auction goods are you guys, right!? Only you people would specialize in doing things like that!"
"Who would know if you people have secretly trained up subordinates in some ways!? I heard that recently, your wild ambitions have already stretched out to the Western Continent, aren't you all afraid of bringing trouble to yourselves!?"
"Hmph! Do you really think I'm unable to see through your acts!? Hooking up with the powers from the Western Continent, the ones trying to swallow up the entire continent are you people, right!?"
"Enough nonsense! I currently don't have the time to argue with you about these. Hurry and hand over the things you stole, otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless!"
"The ones who stole the goods are you people, right!? The auction that our Eastern Continent holds once every year, the ones who dare to lay their hands are clearly you people!"
After sneakily landing at the tree at the side, and watching their entire banter, I could not help but sweat out buckets.
So this big show was initiated because of the items we stole last night, huh. We didn't really steal that much either, is there a need for such a big commotion?
"Geez, it doesn't matter if there's anyone taking the initiative, this war can no longer be prevented, huh."
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice coming from beside me. Turning around to look, I don't know when she came here, but Domyuu was actually standing at a tree branch behind me, and she was even waving towards me.
"As an teacher of the academy, is it really alright for you to not be looking for the students right now?"
I smiled and asked, and at the same time, I signalled to Purewhite who was high alert that there was no need to worry.
"Ah, you know that I'm currently not using my identity as the academy's teacher to talk to you as well, right?"
"Geez, on that day, in the black market, clearly, you were the one who used the terminal right after me."
"… Alright, Mr. Sibeir, is there anything you need from me?"
"As expected, you're more incredible than I thought. The number of people that knows of my identity in this world is only but a few."
"You're flattering me, there's basically not but a few people who can see through my disguise as well."
"Then we're pretty much equals?"
I turned to look at him.
"We're not here to chat about ourselves, right? Speak, what do you need from me?"
"You have the Ice Empire's State Magician badge on you, right?"
I took out the badge and looked at it, and then, I looked at him again.
"How did you know about that?"
"Because all of the State Magician badges are created according to a certain rule, and then, I made a corresponding inspection device. Let's put this aside. Since we're both people from the Western Continent, I simply wish to confirm if you're either a friend or foe, that's all."
"See, what are you getting at? We're simply poor students that just happened to pass by, and we just happened to make it in time to watch a show. What friend or foe are you talking about here?"
"Really? Even though your body clearly carries the aura of a Necromancer?"
"As someone who borrows the body of a dead person, do you have the right to say that about others?"
"Alright, can we not mind about such details? What I wish to get across is, those people have long thought of fighting each other, and the items that were lost yesterday was just an excuse. And incidentally, our Western Continent can use this opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Eastern Continent's strength. This way, it will give our Western Continent an opportunity to invade into the Eastern Continent's powers."
"Do whatever you want. I have already said so in the beginning, we're just here to watch a show."
My lips slightly curved into a smile.
"Of course, occasionally, we will do a few things that benefit us."
"So your goal is…"
"For now… Finding Qianben, I guess."
He was instantly stunned.
"Of course, first, we have to guarantee our friend's safety, and then, fight after that. I don't wish for our friend to get hurt, you know."
"… You do know what I'm telling you now are very important matters, right?"
He rubbed his temples as he revealed a worried look.
"Of course, but… regarding the sequence of importance, I call the shots. FIrst, let me find Qianben, and after that, I will deal with those people who are about to fight… Oh right, I might as well ask this now. Is it the unique trait of this side's mafia to fight in a random city?"
"This… Not really… It's just that the people on this side like to find places with many people to fight in."
"Alright, then, let's meet again."
After saying that, Purewhite and I once again flew towards another direction.
"Oyado, you said you saw Qianben?"
Oyado's figure slowly appeared on Purewhite's body, and with Oyado's slim and small body figure, sitting on Purewhite's shoulder was not really a problem either.
"Yes, big brother~" Earlier, I saw her hiding in a dessert shop at the southern part of the city. But, a large half of the dessert shop had already collapsed, it seemed they have already started fighting on that side."
"Then, we will have to hurry!"
Location: Eastern Continent – Skybreak City – Southern Street – Wintermoon Dessert Shop
PoV: Haidao Qianben
Ah, why is my luck so bad today?
No, my luck has been pretty bad recently. First, I lost to a red hairy little twerp in a martial spar. If a strange person had not given me some sort of medicine, I heard that I might even have been left with scars. And, today, when I took a leave to buy some desserts, I ended up encountering a revolt among the bandits. And, they seemed to be pretty strong, and, their numbers were huge as well. I can't take on so many at once at all.
As I helplessly sighed, I once again took out an egg tart from the paper bag and nibbled on it.
Geez… nom nom… Just how long are they going to fight for… nom nom… I can't even eat my food properly… nom nom.
But this is really delicious, you can never get tired eating food like egg tarts at all~
Just when I was feeling blissful because of the food, suddenly, I felt a sword silhouette flashing past, the thing concealing me above was instantly slashed apart!
With a flip, I leapt out, and I held onto the hilt of my katana.
"Caun uu guss wayt teel ai fynis eetin befo atakin mi!?"
I nibbled on my egg tart as I said that.
"… This girl seems to be from the Skybreak Academy. Boss, what are we going to do?"
A man who was dressed in a samurai armor asked the person beside him, who was also wearing a samurai armor.
"Hmph, since she was hiding here, she might be an enemy. Eliminate her!"
After saying that, a couple of people dressed in armor suddenly popped out of nowhere, surrounding me very tightly!
Ah! So many people! I don't specialize in battling against so many people at all!
Nooo! Master, hurry and save me!
"Distinguish, Haidao Qianben – Party member, 【Arcane – Cold Territory】!"
The people surrounding me instantly turned into ice sculptures. Immediately after, that strange person actually landed on top of one of the ice sculptures, and then, said to me.
"Yo, Qianben. A girl shopping on the streets alone must watch out for her own safety, you know."
Qianben seemed to be still in a state of confusement, and only after a while did she finally react to my words.
Probably because she had seen me accidentally kill so many people, and was frightened.
When I was just about to explain, she interrupted.
Qianben's eyes were filled with excited little stars.
"How did you freeze all of them? Incredible, you actually instantly eliminated all of them!"
"Ah? This… is an Ice Magic spell."
"Ooooh, I see! Back then, I heard that Western Magicians are stronger than our Onmyoujis, I didn't expect that they're actually able to instantly defeat so many people at the same time!"
Onmyoujis can't do it?
Ah whatever, it seems to be rather troublesome to explain to her.
"Umm, currently, it's a little dangerous inside the city, let me bring you back to the academy before we discuss any further."
"Oh, right, just what happened? Right from the start, the people on the streets were very strange. Although Skybreak City has always been in a mess, this is still the first time I have ever seen such a situation."
"Just treat this as a time for grinding mobs… No wait, I should be calling it a messy battle between the mafias."
"Mafia!? Alright, I never expected that the mafias nowadays would be this arrogant. Ah whatever, let's go."
"Alright, please hold onto my hand."
"Eh… Umm."
She seemed to have misunderstood something. To situations such as this, I could only sigh while I grab onto her hand. And then, with a Flash Movement, I brought her back to a spot near the academy's entrance.
"Oh! This… Could it be that you used a teleportation skill? Umm, what was it called again? My master seemed to have said that Magicians who are capable of using teleportation skills are all very strong Magicians! I remember they're called… Oath Magicians?"
"Oh, is that so?"
As I have always been able to directly see the levels of others, I have never paid attention to stuffs like Magician ranks.
And, for example, although a strange person like me is clearly an elementary-grade Magician, it's definitely not a problem for me to fight it out with an Oath Magician.
"In any case, hurry up and return to the academy, otherwise, your brother will go crazy again."
"Then, what about you?"
"Me, I'm going to grind lev- No, I'm heading off to punish the evildoers, and eliminate those enemies who are wrecking havoc on the streets."
"Then I wish to go as well!"
I unhesitantly stopped her.
Are you kidding me? If I'm heading out to grind levels, I can resurrect when I die. However, Qianben is an inhabitant of this world. If she gets killed, I have no choice but to… resurrect her by turning her into an undead.
I can't allow that.
I'm not like a certain pervert male protagonist who loves zombie girls.
And, among the people I know, there's already the undead Pryn. I don't wish to know that many undeads at all.
Of course, if she's an undead right from the start, then I have no choice either.
Regaining my senses, I saw Qianben looking at me with an expression filled with unwillingness.
Helplessly letting out a sigh, I searched for an Ice Magic spellbook and handed it to her.
"Why don't we do this? Since you're interested in magic, I will give this magic spellbook to you. But, you must promise me to not leave the academy, alright?"
"Oooh! Alright!"
Seeing her taking the book very happily, I finally heaved a sigh of relief.
"Then, I will be heading off now."
"Un, un."
This girl is already sitting at the side and has begun to read it.
Should I call this girl a very serious and studious child?
With this thought in mind, I hurriedly tapped on all of my speed buffs, and ran to the city at high speed.
It's inevitable. My MP has yet to recover fully, so I can't use Flash Movement at all.
A moment later, I have already rushed to the battlefield.
Other than the green names of my party mates, regular people will have white names while enemies will have red names. The three different colored names constantly moved around, and looking at them caused my vision to blur.
"It's really a terrible situation, huh…"
And since now that the calculations will only be made after the entire battle ends, I don't even know what's the current battle situation.
'Just what the hell are you guys doing?'
Freezing the lower half of an enemy pouncing towards to me, I walked towards the direction of one of the green names.
'Fighting a boss.'
Aliyah replied simply.
'Where?'
'Look to the west, that building with a very sharp roof.'
'Un?'
I raised my head and looked towards the direction she pointed me to. Over there was a pagoda-like building.
And a moment later, with an unknown attack from the bottom, it sliced the entire building into two exact halves, as though it was paper!
But, as its foundations did not seem to be that firm, the entire building broke into parts, and collapsed onto the ground with loud bangs.
'Are you sent by the demolition services?'
'I didn't do that. You have to ask the male Little White about this.'
'I already told you guys not to call me by that name. And you guys are a little too used to this, don't you think? Don't you guys feel tired from typing and attacking at the same time?'
A few seconds later, Bai Yueguang responded.
'We're used to it.'
Not just Aliyah and I, even Ms. Mari and Tai Shixi replied as such.
'But I'm just lazy to type, that's all.'
I can imagine Tai Shixi's expression on her face when she says this – a bothersome-looking face.
As I said these words, I have already rushed towards the tower that was still collapsing. Although it's still collapsing, from the looks of it, it's definitely going to turn into complete ruins.
The moment I landed on the ground, an attack warning came from behind me! I pressed on the ground, and an ice totem sent me flying to the skies!
Before I could even rise high enough, a sword silhouette sliced apart my ice totem. If not for my quick reaction, I would have been the one being sliced.
I hurriedly flipped and landed to the side, at the same time, I looked towards the direction where the attack came from.
No one?
No wait, I should be saying, according to my experiences, people who use sword or katana techniques to attack me, should be within the range where I could see them. If the attacks come from further than that, although there's such people, the attacks should not be in this way…
And just when I was pondering this, the attack warning once again rang, and the target was coming from the direction in front of me!
Presence concealment? Or extremely long-ranged attacks?
Just when I was still frustrating about this, a ray of light assaulted me from far away! I hurriedly summoned an Ice Palace, and just when the ice wall was erected, the enemy's slash attack landed on the ice castle! The entire ice castle was sliced into two from its center!
The hell! What kind of strange technique is this? It can actually slice apart my defensive magic from such a far distance?
And not even three seconds later, behind me, another attack warning appeared. This time, before I could even turn around, I heard the sound of blades clashing against each other.
"Hey hey hey, don't daydream!"
When I turned to look, it was actually Bai Yueguang who was behind me, blocking the attack of the enemy with his katana!
While the opponent is wearing a black wanderer's dougi… his name is… wait a minute, wasn't he at a faraway place facing in my direction earlier?
Haishang Longye
[Neutral] [Painstaking] [Sword Specialist] [One-Hit Kill] [Arcane Skill Possessor] [Unbeatable Sword Technique User] [Skybreaker] [Wanderer] [Speedy Windslicer]
He's actually… the speed-type enemy I hate the most?
"【Arcane – Chaotic – Ninety-Nine Ice Arrows】!"
I accelerated towards the back, and then, I shot out countless ice arrows towards Longye. The flying ice arrows, like a blue tornado, swept towards the enemy!
The target's figure flashed, and countless ice arrows passed Bai Yueguang by, the entire ground was instantly fully stabbed with arrows.
"Are you trying to turn me into a sifter?"
Bai Yueguang sheathed his katana as he asked.
"Well, in any case, according to the settings, I'm unable to shoot you."
I shrugged and said.
"That's something I can't retort about at all…"
Bai Yueguang said as such, yet, the katana in his hand flashed, and a blade light instantly passed me by!
With a dull impact, Longye's figure revealed itself behind me.
So troublesome… He's actually able to become invisible as well?
"That's not invisibility."
I don't know if Bai Yueguang actually understood my thinking, but he said this softly.
"That guy simply hides his presence to the very extreme limit, to the point where he could be considered as either sand or stone. If you don't pay attention, you're basically unable to see him."
"To think that such a strange skill exist as well…"
"The two of you. You're actually chatting while we're engaged in battle. That's an extreme lack of appeal, don't you think?"
After that Longye's figure appeared, he did not immediately attack, rather, he simply stood from afar and looked at us.
"Appeal? When you fight, you still consider things like appeal?"
Just what the hell is this guy here for?
"That's of course. If an enemy isn't giving his all, how can I exert my abilities well? Ah whatever. Looking at your age, you guys are most probably people from the Skybreak Academy. Let's talk about this again next time."
Before we could even react, he leapt to the back, and his entire figure, as though he was Oyado, disappeared in a flash.
I was stunned for a long while, and then, I turned to look at Bai Yueguang.
"Just what the hell was he here for?"
"How would I know?"
"How did you encounter him?"
"He suddenly assaulted me, hence, we started to fight."
"… Alright then."
And at this moment, Purewhite brought Oyado and rushed over.
"Master! You ran too fast! I almost lost you!"
"Thank me! No matter what big brother is, I'm definitely able to sense him!"
Oyado was still sitting on Purewhite's shoulder. I never expected this girl to get addicted to it.
But, earlier, after I used 【Flash Movement】 with Qianben, I should have went to look for them first. However, earlier, when I passed by where we were earlier, I did not see them, so I came running over here first.
"Really sorry, earlier, I did not see the two of you, so…"
"Big brother~ Big brother~ There's many idiots over there, while we were heading here, they kept pestering us, so we exterminated them all."
"But,those people were really stupid, so, I eliminated them all instantly."
Such pitiful people, why did you guys have to block the great Oyado's path?
From afar, intermittent explosions sounded. It seems like the entire city has completely sank into chaos.
Did we trigger some sort of strange quest route or something? I kind of feel that this is already different from the initial route we wanted to take.
Where did the promised auction go?
If this goes on, forget about the auction, it's about to turn into a martial art competition.
Quest: Gold-Gilded Auction [Concluded]
Completion Rate: 20%
Unique Route triggered.
Unique Quest: Destroy the Gold-Gilded Auction
Competition Rate: 45%
Quest Reward: Randomized
As expected… we entered another route. The many initial quests, in the end, turned into a single one. The EXP are all gone, huh.
"Tch, the quest changed?"
"Looks like, by starting our quests too early, they would divert into other routes. This is really troublesome, huh."
'Hey, did you guys see the change in the quest?'
Aliyah sent a message over.
'That's right, the scenario actually changed. This is really a big disappointment.'
Ms. Mari responded.
'Really? I think this is pretty good. Kill!'
Tai Shixi is still as heroic as before.
I shook my head, and then, looked towards the three beside me.
"Let's go. We shall rob off the remaining items. If I had known this would happen, we would have completely moved everything last night. What's there to be courteous for?"
"So, the place you guys robbed at last night? Alright! Let's go!"
"Why are you so excited…"
This is really the first time I ever see Bai Yueguang's eyes shining.
"Because of the strange selection method you guys used yesterday!"
He agitatedly pulled out a katana sheath fully embedded with gems.
"You guys actually stole the sheath for【Deep Plume Blade】, yet, you guys did not bring the blade out! What's with that!?"
As expected of Aliyah!
When we approached the hotel we were at yesterday, the entire hotel was already in flames.
Looking at the huge raging flames, I could not help but let out a sigh.
Fortunately, I have already took all the books out. If all the skill books were to be burnt away, then it would truly be a pity.
And just when I was still in a daze, suddenly, a broken shadow immediately charged into the hotel which was still burning!
When I took a closer look, it was actually Bai Yueguang who rushed over!
So quick. This guy had actually used his battle skills and charged right into it! Just what kind of blade is it to have this guy go crazy about it?
Initially, there were still two people who were battling each other in front of the door. When they saw Bai Yueguang's move, they could not help but stop what they were doing.
Alright, go look for it yourself. I'm not going in there.
Initially, I had thought of heading to rob the place, however, looking at those raging flames, I know that I won't be able to get anything good even if I go in.
I might even be burned to death or something… Haah.
"Save us…"
Just when I was planning to change my location and look for anyone with the [Evil] title, so as to eliminate them, I suddenly heard the voice of someone calling for help from not far away.
Is it some civilian who has yet to flee or someone else?
I swept my gaze at the situation in the surroundings, and only after a while did I see a bunch of white-named people under a square building that was currently in flames.
White names?
I looked at the surrounding large bunch of red names, and could not help but frown.
Why would there be white-named people hiding underground? What's the situation?
Seeing that the surrounding people did not pay attention to this place, I waved my hand, and a strong cold breeze instantly covered the entire building.
"Big brother, what are you trying to do?"
Oyado at the side asked.
"I sense that there seems to be innocent people under this building. Hence, I plan to enter to take a look."
"Eh? Really? I didn't really sense anything though?"
Oyado took a careful look at the building, and still shook her head.
"Under this building… there's indeed lifeforms."
However, Purewhite nodded. Could this girl actually be equipped with a life detection device? But, there's still a need for discussion if she could be considered as a lifeform herself.
The dip in temperature prevented the flames from continuing to burn, and all the flames instantly extinguished.
I satisfyingly looked at the extinguished building, pushed the door open, and walked into it with Oyado and Purewhite.
The furniture in this square building was extremely simple, just like a regular civilian's home. However, after taking a careful look, the things inside did not seem to have been used by anyone.
"A disguise, huh? Looks like the use of this house is not as simple as it looks at the surface."
Seeing the bunch of white names under my feet, I swept my gaze at the entire room.
Hint, hint, where are you? Earlier, you were still active, why don't you have any reaction now?
Just when I was complaining so, with a 'ting' sound, a spot of light revealed itself from the burning bookshelf at the side.
So it was actually burnt away, huh?
I directly walked towards it, and tried pulling the bookshelf. However, it got stuck and completely motionless.
It's really giving me a lot of trouble, huh…
I immediately threw a punch towards the bookshelf, and the entire bookshelf instantly shattered into pieces.
Although I'm a Magician on the surface, my level is, after all, more than LV 30. If I'm unable to even break a bookshelf, wouldn't that be a little too embarrassing?
And, I'm not just a Magician either.
After sweeping aside the debris of the bookshelf, as expected, behind was a stone stairs leading downstairs.
"Big brother! I'm heading in to scout the route!"
"No, protecting master is my responsibility!"
"You're nothing more than a Shikigami! Without a presence concealment ability, how are you going to scout?"
"Clearly, you're just a seven-year-old brat. If you don't know anything, how are you going to protect master!?"
Seeing the two of them, I helplessly circled around them, and walked directly down the stairs.
Unsure if it was because it was too cold, fire was unable to be ignited, and the entire basement was abnormally dark.
I pondered for a moment, before using the Flash spell. A white ball of light slowly floated towards the air of the basement.
And when the rays of light brightened up the entire basement, I could not help be shocked!
The entire basement was like a prison, with eight prison cells, and dozens of people were still closed in here.
"Hey, are you guys alright?"
I asked them loudly. However, they actually retreated continuously, and did not answer my question either.
"The lot of you, at least say something. What's the meaning of this?"
"They… can't understand… the language you humans speak."
After a long while, one of the people slowly stood out, and said with a very rigid voice.
Hearing her voice, it seemed to be coming from a teenage girl. I have the ball of light split into two, and sent one of it above her prison cell, allowing myself to clearly see her appearance.
Elf!
She's actually an elf girl with golden hair and sharp ears!
Although she's wearing very plain clothes, her exquisite-looking face cannot be completely concealed!
Although Kamiochi is an elf as well, she's a dark elf, so there's a slight difference between her and this elf in front of me.
As expected, high elves look more beautiful from here.
"Although… I don't know… who you are… If you… release us… out of here… we will be… extremely… grateful."
Seeing that I was in a daze, she said as such.
Oh, speaking of which, if I don't hurry up, I might be discovered.
I used my hidden blade and stabbed into the lock. The lock instantly opened.
"Hurry up and go. However, currently, it's chaos out there, so it's best for you people to be cautious."
"… Thank you."
She seemed to have not expected that I would open their locks instantly. After seeing me opening four other prison cells in a single breath, the people inside hurriedly walked out.
"I never expected that there's such a good person among the humans as well!"
One of them exclaimed, however, the language he was using… English?
Beastmen?
I dispersed the ball of light, and clearly looked at the people in the surroundings.
If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have known. But now that I have seen it, I was given quite a fright. Is this a meeting of every different races?
High elves, dark elves, rabbitmen, catsmen, wolfmen, bearmen, lionmen…
No, no, no. I feel that it's not too much for this to be a zoo either.
"Big brother, why did you…"
Oyado and Purewhite who had just finished arguing above, when they came down the stairs, out of shock, their words were stuck in their throat after seeing them as well.
"Everyone, listen up. Although I released you guys, you guys have to know that right now, a chaotic battle is happening outside. It's not a simple matter to leave."
This time, I used English to directly converse with them. When those beastmen heard this, all of their ears erected.
"You… You actually know the language of our beastmen as well?"
One of the rabbitmen asked.
"Of course, are there any other questions?"
Seeing her shaking her head, I continued.
"Although I'm not entirely confident, since I have coincidentally found you guys, then getting you guys out isn't really big of a problem. But, next up, you have to move according to my instructions."
"…… Human, why are you helping us? If you were to simply say you coincidentally passed by, it's already not a simple matter for you to release us. Why do you want to bring us out as well?"
A lionsman asked me.
"Because I have too much free time."
"As expected, you're not an average human. Hahaha."
That lionsman laughed.
"Alright, then, let us begin."
After saying that, I sent a message to Ms. Mari through the system.
'Call the airship over! We have new passengers.'
After a moment, Ms. Mari replied.
'Just what kind of quest did you trigger now?'
'In any case, it's… Do you guys want to see cute beastmen with cat ears and high elves with white, smooth skin?'
I sent this message to everyone, and not even twenty seconds later, I could heard multiple crashing sounds from above. Immediately after, Tai Shixi, Ms. Mari, Bai Yueguang who was holding onto Hei Luoli, and Aliyah who was grabbing onto Lois, squeezed out of the entrance heading to the basement and rushed into the place!
"Oh my god! What you said is actually true!"
"And here I was wondering where all the slaves for the auction were, so it's actually here."
Seeing them talking one after another, the beastmen and elves who had put down their heart at ease earlier, were once again afraid.
"Haah… That should be enough, you guys. This time, we're going to get them out of here."
"Oh. That's right. Un. Indeed."
Everyone thought for a moment, probably calculating the degree of destruction that would be dealt to the auction if we were to get them out.
"Alright, then let us move."
As the entire group had a total count of forty-seven people, it's impossible to maintain secrecy. Hence, we could only strive to stay low.
However, what they're wearing was simply too eye-catching. After pondering for a moment, I took out the equipment that I used to disguise myself.
However, I did not have any female wear, hence, that portion could only be supplemented by the rest.
Actually, the most important thing was to hide their ears. And, for those that had a little scarier facial appearances, I had them wear masks, scarves, helmets, and things like that.
In any case, after the forty-seven odd people were packaged into a weirdly dressed group, all of us immediately sprinted in the direction of the city gates.
"Stop! Who are you people!?"
A guard hurriedly rushed over asked as such.
Level 20? Even if you're here to reinforce the city, you're basically sending yourself to death.
Ah whatever, in times like this, I don't wish to waste anymore time.
"We're protecting these merchants and getting them out of this city! Earlier, these people were all trapped in the center of the city, yet, you guys did not even try to save them. What were you people doing!?"
"Kuh… We…"
Hearing our words, he clearly felt a little embarrassed.
"Haah, in the beginning, the city lord told us that it was just a small matter, and we need not worry. In the end, they began to start fighting and we lost control. Now, everything is in a pretty bad shape. The city lord is currently seeking help from the other cities, but at the rate this is going, when everything ends, Skybreak City can be said to be doomed. For something like this to happen, the city lord is… No, no, no. I didn't say anything, and you guys didn't you hear anything! Understand!?"
This guy is a chatterbox, huh. He instantly exposed quite a bit of information.
"Un, you didn't say anything. You only said we can leave, right?"
"Oooh, yes, yes!"
The guard hurriedly nodded.
"Alright, enough chit-chat. I will be leaving first."
And then, that guy ran away, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
"Alright, let's take the opportunity of this chaos to hurry and run."
"I kind of feel that… we're the one… doing something that goes… against our conscience… Clearly… even though… the ones' fleeing… are us."
That female elf back then said as such.
This female elf who is capable of speaking the human language is called Eli. Although she looks frail and weak, this girl's level is actually…
Eli Lirya
LV 45 Advanced Archer | LV 65 Elf Shaman
[Kind] [Loyal] [Protector of the Altar] [Fatal Blow] [One-Hit Kill] [Natural Affinity] [Arcane Possessor]
Just how did she get captured? Could it be that, without a bow, she loses her battle capabilities?
However, the rest doesn't seem to be weak either. Just how did they lose their battle capabilities?
Ah whatever, let's not think about a problem like this.
"Do not worry, in any case, let's first leave this place for now."
Passing through the streets and the city gate which was already devoid of people, we arrived at a big open space outside the city.
"Alright, we will stop here. Ms. Mari, are the rest here yet?"
"You have to trust the power of technology. Such a small distance is basically a small matter."
The moment Ms. Mari said that, Dale's voice sounded from the side. Immediately after, a flash occurred in the sky, the figure of our airshop slowly appeared in the sky above the open space!
A word like this was actually added onto the body of the airship. Oh my god, are you trying to let the entire world know of our name?
And what's going on with this invisibility skill?
"Hello, everyone~ I heard that you people required transportation, so I came~"
Dale who was dressed in a huge white labcoat walked out of the airship's entrance. He silently took out something, and with a 'kacha' sound, he snapped some photographs of those elves and beastmen.
"Hey, hey, hey. Did water enter your brain, Dale?"
I looked at him scornfully and said.
"What? I'm snapping my own pictures, and you have to care about that as well?"
"No, at the very least, let them wear some regular clothes before taking pictures of them. You can't even see their faces, so what's the use of those pictures?"
"Oh, you're right."
"And speaking of which, you have so much free time that you actually developed a camera?"
"I was bored…"
Just how bored is he…
"In any case, let's go."
Seeing the beastmen and elves who did not understand our conversation, I said as such.
"In any case, give us a location to drop you guys off."
After entering the airship, I said as such.
"I know you're worried that we will be record the locations of your homes, and once again turn you guys into slaves later on. Hence, just give us the locations that you guys feel are safe with. This way, we're both fine with it, right?"
They looked at each other, and a few beastmen began to converse within themselves. And on the other side, a few elves had begun to interact too. Un…
I seemed to have once heard the language they're using, but I don't understand either.
"Latin."
Ms. Mari beside me suddenly said.
"The elves in this world use the Latin language. Although there are some differences in the pitch, it's basically the same."
"Beastmen use English, elves use Latin, and humans use Mandarin. What about the rest?"
"I wonder. It's probably something similar."
The elf called Eli spoke up.
"Please bring us to the entrance to the Rapture Mountain Range. That place is very close to the Outo Forest where us elves live."
"It should be…"
Dale decisively said.
"That place is the intersection between human and beastman territory. On one side, it's a castle protected by us humans, while the other side, is a castle guarded by the beastmen. If we were to put you guys down there, we will be treated as traitors by the humans."
"That's right, that place is impossible. However, that's the only entrance to the Rapture Mountain Range, so it's best if you guys think of a more normal location."
Ms. Mari said as such as well.
Hearing you guys say things like these, I feel that I should get myself a map as well. Otherwise, I won't be able to make head or tails of my exact location in the world, huh.
"I think I know of one…"
"Eli!"
An elf next to her interrupted her.
"%#¥%……%&"
"……&*%……&*"
The two elves started conversing again, I completely can't understand at all.
"They seem to be discussing about a hidden area. However, it seems the defenses set by the elves are weaker over there, so it will be bad for humans to know of it."
Ms. Mari at the side said.
"I see, that's sure troubling for them. Unlike our former world, where we only needed to consider humans."
"It's more exact to say that considering the problems of us humans alone is already troublesome enough. Alright, they made a decision."
Looking towards those few elves, they indeed have stopped conversing.
"Please bring us… to the Madou Peak at Outo Forest."
"That cliff? Incidentally, we're an airship, so there's indeed not much of a problem."
Ms. Mari nodded.
"Then… let us set off."
As expected, an airship constructed using modern-age technology and the magic of this world is abnormal. We only used less than three hours to directly pass through the Western Continent from the Eastern Continent, arriving at the Rupture Mountain Range at the northern side.
From the airship, I could clearly see the northern side of the Eastern and Western Continent were surrounded by mountains, and there was even a vast sea of trees right in the middle of them.
And humans were living in the open plains. Although there were some rivers and mountains here and there, compared to the mountains at the Rupture Mountain Range, they were far, far smaller.
So as to completely prevent ourselves from being spotted by the people below, our airship instantly rose up to ten kilometers into the sky.
And, compared to the previous engine, the sound produced by the magic engine was much softer, and the people on the surface were basically unable to hear it.
Very quickly, from the guidance provided by our map, we arrived at the place called Mado Peak.
And only then did I understand why they would choose this place.
Because at the peak of the mountain, there was a very unusual-looking platform that could be incidentally used to land the airship.
"That place is actually one of the altars of our Elf Race."
Probably because I had been staring at the mountain peak, that elf called Eli walked over to my side and spoke with me using the Beastman Language.
This girl actually knows all three different types of languages, huh. It's just that she's not that familiar with the Human Language.
"Is that so? Then you must be the Shaman for that altar, right?"
"Yes. How did you know that?"
Can I say that I thought of it after looking at your titles?
"Because your body carries a beautiful and saint-like feeling. So I guessed it."
"Is… Is that so."
Eli blushed, and then said with a smile.
"You're flattering me. I was captured and turned into a slave not long after I was appointed as a Shaman. My body should not have bathed in God's radiance yet… No, maybe it's exactly because of God's blessings that have led you people to save us."
No, no, no. You're thinking too much now. We simply saw that you people weren't humans, so we saved you.
Of course, there's the EXP too.
Although that's the actual case…
"Probably. But, you people have to be careful, and don't get captured again."
"If that happens again, Mr. Fir, please come save us again."
"Don't say such unlucky things."
"That's right. Come, let me give you this. As long as you get captured, I will be there the moment you call for me. There's no need for this idiot to save you!"
Unclear of when it happened, Aliyah had already squeezed in, and placed a blue pendant onto Eli's hands.
"Geez, in times like this, you actually still have the mood to flirt with a female elf! Fir, you idiot!"
"Hah? I wasn't doing that."
"That's right! Big brother wouldn't flirt with a female elf! It's enough for big brother to have me!"
Oyado came into the mix as well.
"This damn bro-con! This is none of your business!"
"What are you saying, you damn tsundere! If you don't have the guts, go hide in a corner!"
"Hah? What did you say!? You have been really arrogant recently, you know!?"
I silently took a step back while I held onto my forehead, and then, I turned and headed to the other side.
In any case, these two will definitely make a huge commotion. I'm already used to it.
Eli who was left at the side seemed to be unable to grasp the details of why they were arguing, and was simply looking at them with a skeptical look.
And then, she looked towards me.
Don't look at me, I'm unable to stop them either. There's no one on this ship that can stop them at all. Can't you see that everyone had already shifted their lines of sight somewhere else?
Before the two of them even finished arguing, I could already feel the airship slowly descending.
Immediately after, the door of the airship opened, and the strong winds unique to mountain peaks instantly blew into the airship.
But what caused me to feel unexpected was, the few elves were actually completely unafraid of the cold wind, as they hurriedly walked out of the ship's door.
And those Beastmen followed after them closely as well.
I looked at the people behind me, and every one of them had shrunk into a ball, trembling. It seemed like they were freezing quite a bit.
Only Purewhite seemed to be immune to the cold, and was standing in her original position, looking at us.
"It's so cold, big brother!"
Oyado rushed from the back and hugged onto me.
"When I'm together with big brother, I'm no longer afraid~"
"Ahhhhhh!"
On the other side, Aliyah's body suddenly released a huge amount of flames, and she had actually forcefully drive away the cold!
Aren't you afraid of burning the airship?
Geez, is there really no other Fire Magicians here?
"【Red Territory】Open!"
I raised my hand towards the front, and a red sphere enveloped all of us. The temperature in the entire space began to slowly rise.
"Ooooh, you actually have such a convenient magic spell!"
Bai Yueguang exclaimed.
"Ah, it's a Fire magic spell. I don't usually use it, so for a moment, I couldn't recall that I have such a magic spell."
"That's great. We're really saved."
One after another, everyone sighed in relief.
Walking down the airship, I could feel that my MP consumption rate actually increased, It seemed like the temperature outside was even lower.
Although I require 20 MP per second to maintain this spell, my current MP recovery rate is 18 MP per second. In other words, my MP is decreasing at a rate of 2 MP per second.
"Ah! We're finally back! Thank you very much, humans!"
A wolfman stood on the altar and loudly roared.
"Around this time, there are no elves around the altar. Hence, this will avoid any misunderstandings as well."
Eli said with a smile.
"That's right, we hate trouble the most."
We can't help but agree to this point as well.
"Speaking of which."
A catgirl asked.
"Do you guys really save us just for the pure sake of doing it? Or do you guys have other motives? I'm sorry for still having doubts. After all, we only had the courage to ask after we have safely arrived here."
"What, you people still have doubts about our motives? Don't worry, We're simply too bored, that's all."
I said as such with a smile.
"Things like motives, just forget about them."
"Wait a minute! Can I have a request!?"
Ms. Mari, who was at the side, asked, with a green light emitting out of her eyes.
Crap, what is this woman thinking of doing!?
"Request? You saved us, as long as the request isn't asking too much, we will have no problems with it. However, we Beastmen and Elves do not use large amount of gold and silver as currency like you humans, so…"
"No, no, no. I'm not interested in money, I simply wish to ask… Can I touch your ears!?"
Ah, uncle policeman, there's a pervert here.
Just when I was retorting in my mind, two notification alarms sounded.
Quests Completed
Completed: Find Haidao Qianben
Completed: Destroy the Gold-Gilded Auction
EXP Reward: 10,000
Relationship with Beastmen – Friendly
Relationship with Elves – Friendly
"This… This… This is a little…"
All of the Beastmen and Elves, no matter if they were male or female, covered their ears at the same instant, and they looked very frightened.
Their actions were so uniform that I could not help but suspect if this was a system built-in reaction.
Alright, that's definitely impossible.
"Umm… Umm, ears are… sensitive parts… of us Elves and Beastmen, so…"
Eli explained, as she continuously retreated.
Ms. Mari showed a depressed expression, and then, looked towards Aliyah.
"Don't even think about it!"
Aliyah held onto her hat. It seemed like it was to prevent Ms. Mari from touching her wolf ears.
It really is hard on you, Aliyah.
'In any case, all of you have received the EXP, right? Let's hurry and go then. We still have to return to Skybreak City, otherwise, everyone will start to suspect that we have done something against our conscience, and fled.'
I said in the message I sent.
'Yes, yes, yes~'
"Alright, then forget about it."
Ms. Mari said very helplessly, and then, she turned and walked towards the airship.
"Then you people, take care. Hopefully, we have the opportunity to meet again."
I said to the Beastmen and Elves.
"Umm… If it's you people… we will welcome you people as our guests!"
Eli suddenly said.
"Eli! This…"
An elf beside her wanted to say something, but Eli shook her head at her.
"When that time comes, you simply have to say you're a friend of mine."
"Haha, we will welcome you to the territory of our Lionman Tribe as well! But you people will have to avoid the surveillance of the side of you humans."
"You're welcome to our Catsman Tribe as well!"
"Our Foxman Tribe too…"
And then, all of the Beastmen said as such as well.
Could it be that the raise in level of closeness with the two different races have taken effect?
"Alright, if we get the opportunity, we will come."
When we returned to the Skybreak City, fire could no longer be seen from inside the city. However, the black smoke left by the flames had yet to disperse.
With optical camouflage activated, we directly rode the airship to the back of Skybreak City, and then, we walked into the city after alighting from it.
When we entered the city, a large number of the buildings in the city had already been destroyed, and dozens of soldiers were currently dealing with the collapsed buildings.
Some of the soldiers glanced at us, and then, proceeded to continue with their own matters.
"Looks like they don't even have the leisure to care about us…"
Bai Yueguang and I sighed, and then, the lot of us walked straight towards the direction of the academy.
Not long after we started walking, we saw Bai Xiangtian currently rushing towards somewhere not far from us.
"Bai Xiangtian!"
I hurriedly shouted.
"Eh? Ah, it's you guys."
She stopped her feet, turned, and ran over to us.
"The Dean was even saying how he was unable to find you people. Where did all of you go?"
"Because we were chasing after some fleeing enemies, so we left Skybreak City. We even split up, and we have only gathered back together just earlier."
So as to hint to everyone, I even explained especially loudly.
"Is that so. Haah, the enemies this time were indeed too many, and too strong. It's great that you people are fine."
Bai Xiangtian nodded.
"I'm not talking about this anymore, I still have to help out with the treatment for those who were injured."
Speaking of which, she was carrying something on her back. It should be the tools needed for treatment, I guess.
"Then I can help as well."
"I know Recovery spells."
"If you haven't brought it up, I wouldn't have thought of it! Un, come with me then."
Bai Xiantian nodded.
"I'm coming with big brother as well!"
Oyado said as well.
While Purewhite consciously standing behind me already meant that she was going to follow me as well.
Aliyah at the side snorted, showing her dissatisfaction.
You don't even know any recovery skills, so even if you come, you wouldn't be able to do anything either.
"Then let us first head to Skybreak Academy. We can contact each other later on."
"Understood."
After I said that, I looked towards Bai Xiangtian.
After that, I began to walk towards our destination while following along the streets.
"How many injured people are there?"
"The number of injured people… are estimated to be around 3,000. The heavily injured civilians have already been sent to our medical department in the academy. Currently, the entire medical apartment is already full."
Incidentally, I can use this opportunity to train my Group Recovery Spell. Speaking of which, I have basically been using potions during battles, and I have basically not used much of the Recovery spells.
After all, I basically do not spread out my wing during my battles. Firstly, that way, I will lose the excitement I gain from battles, and secondly, it's not really a good thing for too many people to know that I have the ability to use recovery spells.
But, after such a long time, I have pretty much used my recovery spells for quite a number of times, yet, nothing has happened to me. Looks like Yybril have been doing quite a good job at the Church's side.
In any case, it's all good if I'm fine.
"We're here."
Bai Xiangtian pointed to a building that looked somewhat complete in front of us, and from the outside, it seemed to look like an inn.
From outside, continuous streams of people moving things inside could be seen. They're probably recovery medicinal products.
After opening the door and entering it, what entered my vision was all injured people.
"Little White! Why have you only just arrived!?"
Someone from the side suddenly shouted, and when I took a closer look, it was actually Qianben.
"Yo, Qianben."
"Un? Isn't this Fir? Why are you here?"
"I know recovery spells. So I came."
"Recovery spells?"
After saying that, I looked at the many injured civilians at the side. Then, I raised out my hand. Several white rings of light appeared in the air above them, and then, they shone down on their bodies.
【Group Recovery Spell】!
The wounds on the bodies of the people that were under the five white halos' shine began to close up rapidly, and in less than thirty seconds, their wounds on the bodies completely healed.
They shockingly looked at their current state of their bodies, and then, stood up from the ground.
"Oh my god! This… What's going on?"
Those civilians looked at the spots where the wounds were on their bodies earlier, and then, looked towards me.
"This is too mystical. Little brother, how did you do this!?"
"That's right, this is simply… a miracle!"
Looking at their expressions, I looked at Bai Xiangtian strangely.
"Bai Xiangtian, why are they so shocked? Could it be that in the Eastern Continent, there's no recovery spells such as this that could heal injuries rapidly?"
Bai Xiangtian shook her head.
"All of us rely on our own self-recovery ability to heal ourselves. Some very strong individuals can even use the energy in their own bodies to increase the rate of recovery, and instantly heal themselves. However, an average person isn't capable of doing it… Or, they can use medicine. However, for medicine that can rapidly heal injuries, the Eastern Continent mainly imports them. What we Eastern Continent produce are all medicine that can only increase the recovery rate by a small amount."
I see. It's no wonder why, even though the martial arts in the Eastern Continent is so formidable, they do not dare to attack the Western Continent directly. The support classes in the Western Continent were enough to drive them crazy, and after the Church began managing this power, it allowed them to greatly consolidate their position in the Western Continent.
I see, so the chain of benefits is like this, huh.
Looking around my vicinity, everyone was looking at me with high expectations. I thought for a moment, and then, said.
"In any case, first, leave those whose injuries are more severe to me, to prevent their conditions from worsening."
"Al… Alright."
Bai Xiangtian nodded, and then, got those civilians together.
"Everyone, all of you heard it. Those that are severely injured, please come over in an orderly manner."
When she said as such, I opened my inventory and pulled all of my MP recovery potions to the very top.
Well~ Even though there isn't any potions like these on sale here, with the airship here, at the very most, I can always return to the academy to restock them, and fly back.
Magic Stones? Compared to EXP, those things are just dusts.
In the next few couple of minutes, countless of white light shone inside the room, while my proficiency in Recovery Magic was continuously rising as well.
Recovery Magic only exists in the Light Magic Tree, so, only this way, could I use the spells multiple times.
I can't always stab myself with a knife and then cast a Recovery Spell on myself after that, right?
[Arcane – Descent of the Saints] Awakened
Heal up to 10 selected allies.
Strong HP Recovery of 100 HP per second.
MP Consumption: 50 MP per second.
[Arcane – Angel's Halo] Awakened
Heal a selected target.
Fully recovers HP of the target. After recovery, target will possess 3 seconds of invincibility.
MP Consumption: 500 MP
[Super Arcane – God's Descent – Divine Encompassing Light] Awakened
Select a space of 100 squared meters. All HP of the targets within the space will recover by X HP per second.
MP Consumption: X MP per second.
After treating the last person, I have already expended more than a hundred bottles of MP potions.
Walking into a resting room at the side, I sat dazily on the chair, feeling as though I could see continuous flashes of white light in my eyes.
This is the first time I ever realized that continuously using spells was such a tiring thing, and my stamina was already approaching zero. If this had kept up, I would have definitely received the backlash for depleting my stamina.
"Big brother, are you alright?"
Oyado worriedly asked.
"I'm fine…"
"Master, please do not use any magic again. Currently, master is already very weak, if master were to continue using magic, master's body will not be able to handle it."
"Don't worry, Purewhite. I know."
Looking at the two girls, I smiled pleasantly.
"In any case, it's can be considered to be beneficial for both of us."
Suddenly, the door to the room was pushed open, and a large crowd of civilians appeared behind the door.
"Umm… thank you very much for treating us! With your help, we have recovered at a very fast pace! Really, thank you very much!"
After saying that, all of them bowed towards me at the same time.
"But, most of our homes have suffered severe damages, so we're unable to provide any gifts of thanks. However, we will definitely remember your honor, Fir's name. In the future, you will forever be a friend of our Skybreak City!"
"It's nothing much, you people are too courteous."
It doesn't matter if there's no rewards. After all, I have already raised my proficiency, and that's enough.
Your friendship level with Skybreak City's Civilians has reached a 100%.
TItle: [Hero of Skybreak City] unlocked.
Your friendship level with the Eastern Continent's Forces of Justice has increased by 75%.
Your fame has increased by 350.
Hey hey hey, when was there ever a Fame System? Is it a system triggered by someone else? And there wasn't even a notification about it?
Ah whatever, it's good that I can see the actual figures this way.
"I simply helped on the fly, so it isn't something worth being thanked for. In the future…"
Before I could even finish, a message suddenly pulled me from my happiness into valley of ice!
Immediately after, I opened up my Angel's Wing, and instantly broke through the ceiling, flying straight towards Mitchell Kingdom.
And as for the message that was sent to me…
'Fir! Emergency! Earlier, Dale sent a message to me, saying that when he returned to the academy to restock supplies, Ms. Irlin's two friends, who had sustained heavy injuries, ran to the school to make a report. They said that when Irlin inherited the identity of an Earl, she was forcefully detained by the King of Mitchell Kingdom, as the identity of the Prince's fiancee. The two of them struggled with their all might to escape the pursuit of the guards. They're requesting you, her childhood friend, to immediately save her.'
The one who sent the message was Ms. Mari. She was able to receive everyone's messages, even if they were from an extremely long distance……
And exactly because of this, this message was able to be sent over this quickly!
"King of the Mitchell Kingdom! I have been ignoring you this entire time, yet, you actually came to me yourself! I'm going to slaughter your entire city!!!!"
As I roared, I flew towards Mitchell Kingdom at high speed!
– Vol. 6 End –