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--
Little Wing It
Volume 1
The Holy Light's Blessings On This Wonderful System!
Chapter 1
Giving Me Emilia Reasons
--
I
--
My name is Kara Draken. An 18 year old Beast Vanguard. Occupation: Freelance Mercenary.
I'm not a person who one would call a friendly face. And I can't exactly say I blame them.
For one, I'm not exactly Mr. Smiley Pants. Experts might say it causes less muscle stress to smile than it is to frown but it's not like I wear a permanent scowl.I'm just mostly disinterested in lots of things. My job is tiring enough that I just don't feel like getting involved in many stuff.
For another, it would probably be my eyes. They're a dark shade of crimson, and given enough level of darkness, they can give the illusion of a menacing glow. Not to mention that my pupils are slitted, not unlike those of felines and reptiles.
And along with the traditionally altered ears of beastkin, which in my case are reptilian ears, light skin tone and messy mop of white hair, I'm definitely not someone who you'd call "very approachable".
And my preference for dark colored clothing probably isn't helping matters also.
Not that I want it to. I'm perfectly fine with how things are. I just want to do my job peacefully, well, as peaceful as a mercenary job can get anyway. Stay out of my business and I'll keep away from yours.
--
II
--
First thing I know, there was a newly discovered relic site and an opportunity to make some cash.
"Is no one going to open this stupid door already!?" Ugh!"
The next thing, I'm trapped inside said relic site along with a noisy blonde girl.
Quietly dusting off the dirt clinging on my clothes, I stood up from where I had gloriously fallen and chose to ignore the girl who was still banging on the shut doors.
She seems to be doing a good job of doing the same to me anyway.
I decided to examine the area to check if there's something that might open the doors or something similar.There weren't any, of course. Seems like the only choice is to go further into the ruins.
On that train of thought, a question popped up in my head.
What do I do with the girl?
Most likely, she won't survive alone inside here...
"Um, hello? Mr. white-haired guy? I'm kinda having a crisis over here..."
Oh, great, she finally noticed me. Well, I'm having a crisis of my own so I don't really want to bother myself with her.
"Hey! When a girl's troubled it's only polite to ask, you know?"
You're one to talk about politeness.
I wanted to respond with that but I had a feeling it'd only make things worse.
Instead, I settled with:
"You seem fine to me."
She didn't seem to like that response as well and slightly teared up.
Girls are so fickle.
But it did make me feel a little guilty
"Oooohhh... Chelsea always said tears are a girl's best weapon... So much for that theory."
Oh, alright, fine!
"Sorry."
I could swear I saw one of her eyes twitch in annoyance ever so slightly.
But it looks like this calmed her down a little
"Grr... Fine, but don't let it happen again!"
I managed to nod in response which seemed to placate her.
With that little fiasco over, I started to walk towards the deeper portion of the site.
"Hey, where're you going? It's not safe there!"
"I'm a mercenary."
I'm surprised the area isn't getting any darker. At least, not dramatically.
Come to think of it, I didn't notice any torches or artificial lights in tge first chamber earlier.
These stones that dot the cave's walls may be of the luminous variety. Interesting.
"So do you have any idea what the fuss earlier was all about?"
"None, whatsoever."
"Yeah, me neither. It all happened so fast. Next thing I knew, the place was empty."
I unanimously decided to not tell her why I couldn't get out in time and continued walking.
"Well, we have bigger problems to worry about, I guess. Talk's not getting us out of here."
I nodded.
And then I stopped walking.
"... why are you following me?"
I asked and in return, I got a look that said "what are you talking about?"
"Well, it's a relic site. Who knows what could be down there..."
Ah, so she's scared. Well I can't exactly blame her. There certainly are monsters further in. I can already see some of their trails and hear some quite unnatural sounds
"If you go off on your own, you could end up dead, you know? Or worse! So I'm coming with you!"
... is this kid for real? I already told her I'm a mercenary!
You know what? Whatever. If she wants to come along, I don't care. If she's this confident, she's probably a mercenary too.
I started waking again and sure enough, she continued tailing me.
"Oh, I don't think I caught your name before."
"Kara."
Silence.
And then I saw the most irritating expression I saw on a girl's face ever.
I'm just not gonna bother with this.
"Isn't... Isn't that...?"
Nope. Not me. Nu-uh.
"Isn't that a..."
I am a mature person. I will not be affected by a girl's childish taunts.
" ... a girl's name? Pfffttt! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Yes, I get that a lot. Can we move on?"
She laughed for a few more moments. After breathing in a little, she looked like she was gonna explode again but luckily, she managed to stop herself.
"Sorry about that. It's just... with your coolio attitude and emo get-up, and your name is Kara? Isn't that funny? Pfft!"
"Hilarious, I'm sure."
After a few more seconds, she finally managed to be calm and stay that way
"Anyway, it's nice to meet you, K-Kara. I'm Emilia. Emilia Percival."
Emilia Percival, huh?
"Like it or not, we're in this together."
She told me while wearing a gentle smile.
If she just shut up and smiled like this, then she doesn't look that bad.
She's actually pretty cute.
But like Emilia said, we're in this together, and I don't like it.
Not. One. Bit.
After a few more minutes of walking, my danger senses kicked in and I hid behind a wall. Fortunately, Emilia caught on and did the same.
Taking a peek every so slightly, I managed to catch a glimpse of a group of bipedal green monsters with blades for arms.
They seem to be the newly discovered Evil Shark species. If I remember correctly, they're electric elemental.
While checking my palette to see if I had an earth type weapon, Emilia took a quick peek at the sharks.
"Figures. This place is crawling. And I have a feeling that they're not just gonna let us pass..."
Great observation by Miss Percival.
"Maybe if you asked nicely."
"Ha-ha, very funny. Oh wait, maybe I should tell you this..."
She seemed pretty serious when she said that just now.
Wait, don't tell me...
"... you actually CAN talk to them?"
"What? No! What I wanted to say is... I may be armed, but I haven't been into many fights. Um, none, to be exact..."
Huh?
Care to repeat that?
"So good luck! Don't worry, I got your back!"
This...
This damn kid!
I really wanted to strangle her right at that very moment. What was up with that accompanying me so I don't get killed? Give me my confidence back!
I looked at her again and to my horror...
She's completely serious.
Oh dear gods.
So help me.
--
III
--
"Karaaaaa! Save me! Save me, please! C'mon, what're you waiting for!? Aaaahhh, I'm gonna die!"
Emilia screamed as she ran in circles around the chamber as a single Evil Shark rabidly chased her.
As for the other one, I already defeated it. Lucky for us, there were only two in our way.
Before we engaged the sharks, I instructed Emilia to, at the very least, distract one shark while I dealt with another. I would then strike down the one Emilia's distracting.
She said "I'm not exactly a warrior but I hope I can do this..."
Well, she's actually doing a pretty good job.
"Karaaa! Don't just stand there! Help meeeeee!"
"Fine, I'm on it, stop screeching."
I leapt towards their general direction and prepared to swing my saber.
The shark seemed to notice this and quickly turned around and raised its arms to block.
Unluckily for it, I noticed that too and a small light quickly illuminated my left hand.
Using the newly summoned handgun, I managed to fire two quick shots at the creature's exposed legs before I landed on the ground a meter away.
While the energy bullets blasting its legs aren't fatal, the momentary distraction caused by the pain made it lower its guard.
And that was all I needed to place three quick well-placed saber slashes on its body.
A dull thud echoed throughout the chamber as the Evil Shark's body hit what would be its final resting place, the floor.
It twitched for a while before its appendages hung limp.
"Haa... Haaaa... Hey, is it over? Did we do it?"
Emilia came jogging over since she kept running even after I engaged the shark chasing her.
Granted, it was a very short fight so she didn't get too far. But it was still quite some distance since she was surprisingly a fast runner.
"We did. Good job."
For a moment, her eyes looked like it shined but as quickly as it came, she returned to panting heavily faster.
"Haaa... Take that, stupid sharks! Haha!"
"You good to go?"
She seemed like she wanted to complain but I guess she really wanted to get out of this place ASAP so she nodded as affirmation.
We started moving again but I purposely walked a little slower to help Emilia catch her breath.
I'm thoughtful like that. She did do what I told her to do.
This might not be so bad.
ooo000ooo
This is bad.
We were surrounded by Badiras, quadruped hostile creatures, on all sides, four in total.
I might be able to deal with this situation if I were alone but with Emilia along, I can't make any reckless moves.
Luckily, the Badiras aren't charging us yet.
"U-um... Kara? Wh-what do we do?"
"Speak for yourself. This is your fault, after all."
"I said I was sorry, didn't I?"
I could only sigh.
That's right, it's all her fault.
She got bored of walking so she started fiddling around with the rock formations until she caused a minor rock slide.
Of course, this alerted the creatures to our presence.
We tried to make a run for it but the Badiras blocked our path. They also appeared behind us so we also couldn't go back. They then spread out to surround us. And who knows how many more are coming.
Guess we have to fight.
"Eep! Kara, they're starting to come closer!"
"I can see that."
With this, she frantically waved her rod at the hostiles to scare them off but this, of course, only managed to provoke them further.
I was about to stop her and make her dismiss the rod but an idea came to me.
"Emilia, can you use Technics?"
"Huh? Y-yeah, basic ones, but I don't have much practice..."
Yes!
"You don't say. Anyway, that doesn't matter. When I give the signal, use an Ice Tech. Fire at the one in front of us."
"Err, I'll try..."
These Badiras that inhabit the relic site are fire elemental. So with a blast of an Ice Tech at any of them, which is very effective against fire elementals, it might, and I do mean might, startle the others enough that we may be able to escape.
"Alright... On 1..."
"I can do this... I can do this..."
"2..."
"These are nothing!"
"3... FIRE NOW!"
"Taste this! Blast of cold! Rabarta!"
She missed.
ooo000ooo
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Forget it, just keep running!"
Luckily, even though Emilia's Rabarta missed, badly, the Badiras' instincts scrambled them a little.
Before they could retaliate, I blasted them with my handgun and I immediately grabbed Emilia's hand and made a mad dash.
And now we're running from the even angrier Badiras whose numbers doubled because of that ruckus.
"Uh... Uhh..."
"Stop whimpering and keep running if you want to live!"
"I'm trying, I'm trying!"
This is getting us nowhere, fast!
I won't be able to take on eight of them and protect Emilia at the same time!
Just as I was madly thinking of a way to survive,
"Oof!"
Emilia tripped and fell down.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
"Uwaaahhh!"
That's it, we're doomed.
It's either I save myself or I we die together. And honestly, I was tempted to just leave this crying wreck here.
But I couldn't.
Die together it is, then.
Just as I was preparing myself for an unpleasant experience, the Badira in the lead whimpered loudly and jumped back, causing the others to stop.
And as if on cue, criss-crossing beams of sharp light filled the corridor behind and in front of me and Emilia.
The Badiras growled at us for a few more seconds before they finally backed off and left one by one.
After ensuring we were safe, I slumped down on the ground besides Emilia.
"We're safe? We're safe! Haha! Ahahaha!"
"Keep it down, crazy girl, you might attract more monsters!"
"Oh can it, aren't you glad to be alive?"
I am, but frankly, I don't have any energy left for this.
"So what happened? Is this a trap?"
Emilia asked. If this is supposed to be a trap, where is the trigger?
Ah, there it is.
"Yeah, you tripped on the mechanism."
By her foot was a raised circle of rock.
Accidentally, this noisy girl saved us both. I don't know if I should be grateful or perplexed.
"So what now? The lasers don't seem to be planning on dissipating on their own."
Hmm...
Upon looking around, I managed to spot what I think might be a control terminal.
It's beyond the lasers.
"See that thingamahoo over there? We need to reach it."
"Where? ...Oh, that terminal over there. Well, that seems dicey so it's all yours! Good luck!"
Sigh.
This girl.
--
IV
--
"Not bad. You really are a mercenary."
Speak for yourself, you troublesome girl. That's what I've been trying to tell you before all this monster fiasco started.
And now this trap business.
With all that slithering and jumping around I just did, added to all that mess earlier, I've never been so tired in my life.
"I gotta admit, I'm relieved. With you around, maybe I'll get out of here."
Really.
I have so many questions. Like, why is this girl even a mercenary? Better yet, why did her boss even hire her?
I mean, she's not actually a bad person. Annoying and troublesome, sure, but not bad.
I just had to ask.
"Why are you even in the mercenary business anyway? Err, no offence."
"Well yeah, you see, it's a long story. Some other time?"
And now she's assuming we'll meet again after this.
I guess I'll just forget about it then. I'm just a little worried about what would have happened if I didn't get that stroke of bad luck earlier.
"Alright. Just be careful from now on. I don't know what your boss was thinking but you're definitely no fighter. Even though you're a mercenary."
"Sure, I may work at a mercenary company, but this fighting stuff isn't for me."
"You don't say."
"Not that my boss cares. No, he dragged me into this death trap cause I was lazy."
What an irresponsible boss.
Although there was no way he'd known this little accident would have happened, it's still pretty gutsy to send off a non-fighter to a place like this.
But since he mentioned pay earlier, I guess he'd be irritated that Emilia isn't earning her keep.
"Ooohh, he gets under my skin! Who's he to tell me when to work? You're with me on this, right?"
Don't drag me into your squabble with your boss.
"He's your boss. Though I think he might be a little irresponsible."
"Oh sure, take his side!"
"Sorry."
"No, it's okay, really. I'm used to it."
Huh. I guess she might have it harder than I thought.
Though it's to be expected if she's nothing but a freeloader in their company.
"Used to it, huh?"
She stayed silent for a few seconds before responding.
"... nobody takes anything I say seriously."
You know, I have trouble taking her seriously too.
Really, if she just didn't screech at every opportunity, and just get off her ass and earn her pay, I'd bet she'd be taken more seriously.
Of course, I'm just assuming with all the stuff I've heard.
"Whatever. With your help, I should be able to make it out of here in one piece. Then he'd get a real earful!"
Oh great, she's loud again.
"'The seed are gone' he says. The relic site is 'completely safe' he says. Yeah, right."
If she's just gonna ramble and complain like this, I better stop her. Nothing productive is gonna come out of that mouth if she's like this.
Just as I was about to stop her, she put one hand close to her mouth and closed her eyes. The "Thinker" pose.
Oooh, I wonder what complaint she's gonna come up with next.
"Come to think of it, have any relic sites ever gone active even the Seed weren't attacking?"
"This one did."
"Well, maybe some have, I suppose. It's kinda hard to say for sure. I've heard the relic sites react to elementary particles emitted by the Seed. But does that explain the disruptions in the magnetic field? Hardly."
...uh?
"In any case, the last of the Seed was driven out three years ago, but that didn't stop this place from activating. So if the whole site is run by some sort of master program, it follows that there must be some sort of trigger."
What just happened?
It's like a completely different person!
I had so many questions but my mouth was stuck in an "o" position. I just couldn't stop gawking.
Expectedly, this made her uncomfortable.
Hey, you can't blame me. If she starts rambling about the meaning of the universe, anyone would gawk too.
"Or uh... yeah, something like that."
"Don't you "something like that" me! Are you some kind of expert or something!? Is that why your boss hired you!?"
This startled her. Well, I couldn't help it. If she downplays that amazing observation she just made, well, of course I'd freak out.
"Who, me? No... That's all common knowledge."
"My foot! That's not something anyone would note off the top of their head!"
"W-why are you getting mad!? Ask any mercenary you want! They'll tell you the same thing!"
No, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who would be out of the loop if that was all common knowledge.
"Just forget I said anything. No one ever believes me anyway. Don't you go starting on me now!"
Believe me, that's one of those unforgettable moments or something. I was caught completely off guard.
And the best/worst part? I didn't catch anything that would make me think she was lying.
Well, too bad, Ms. Percival.
"Actually, I do believe you."
This genuinely seemed to surprise her.
"Really? You do?"
"Yup."
If I could describe what emotions her face displayed in a span of five seconds, it go in this order.
Surprise.
Happiness.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Happiness again.
Before it returned to the default, Annoyance.
"Well, this isn't really the time or place. Let's hurry up and get out of here!"
This girl!
--
V
--
We kept walking and walking. Taking some short stops to rest, investigating every nook and cranny carefully, and of course, fighting some hostile monsters.
One encounter with a Vulgatus, tusked hard-carapaced monsters, was particularly hairy.
It was best summarized by Emilia.
"Gross! What are these things? I'm gonna have nightmares about this..."
We must have been walking for over two hours now since we got trapped and it's wearing us down. More so for Emilia.
She even had the nerve to ask to be carried. I refused.
This caused her to give me nasty looks every minute for an hour.
And of course, this stopped when I saved her from a Tavalus, winged fly-like creatures.
"Hey look, a door."
I pointed to a passage we haven't been to yet.
Normally, every time I did this, she'd get over excited and rush over to open it, only to find more of the relic site.
This happened for about seven times.
"Ugh... I don't want to expect anymore. You go first. It's probably just another stupid corridor..."
I guess she's just REALLY tired of getting her hopes crushed repeatedly in a span of two hours.
I moved on and pushed the door open and I was monetarily blinded by a light.
Hey, this might actually be daylight!
Or not.
It was a circular room, with a stream of water separating the floor from the wall. Said wall was filed with glowing rocks with differing light intensity.
"Hey, Emilia, look, this room's a tad different."
"Really? Lemme see, there might be an exit!"
She came jogging over.
It's amazing how fast her face can go from delighted to disappointed.
"Ugh! How much of this place do we have to search before we find a way out!?"
To be honest, I'm a little annoyed now too. Must be all that fatigue.
Looking around, there were all kinds of machinery around this room.
"All these machines around here... they're the site's automated defenses."
That doesn't sound good. We better bail.
"I feel like they're watching me... What if they went live...?"
"Hey don't raise flags! C'mon, let's get outta here!"
She seemed confused but I didn't really want to spend any more time in this room. Those machines are creepy enough. The thought of them activating... No thank you!
We hurried towards the door, but I still couldn't shake this bad feeling away.
And then the doors shut before we could reach it.
"What, again!? This is getting old!"
It would help if she stopped screaming!
Fighting away the panic building inside, I hurriedly checked the door if there's a way to open it.
As I was doing so, I heard something behind us. It was something like something starting up.
Something like a machine.
"Uh, Emilia? What was that?"
"I don't know and I don't want to find out!"
Way to be helpful, you annoying girl!
I was about to turn around when a loud THUD assaulted our ears, and then another one.
Not good. Gotta think fast.
I grabbed hold of Emilia's hand with my right hand and manifested my handgun with the other.
We quickly moved out of the way as what was behind us charged at what was now our previous location.
I fired five bullets at it but all I heard was the energy shots clanging off harmlessly in what I imagined was extremely hard armor.
As soon as we reached the other side of the room, we were finally able to take a good look at our assailant.
I could practically feel Emilia pale.
We were looking at a giant machine that looks like someone wearing heavy armor with light emitting from the blank spaces.
It was easily three times taller than us.
And it was carrying an axe almost as big as itself.
"You gotta be kidding me! I shoulda just kept my big mouth shut!"
Yes, she should do that all the time.
"I told you so."
"This is no time for "I told you so's!". What are we gonna do!?"
Sigh.
Well, can we do?
"This could get messy... But whatever. Do what I say and we can handle this."
"Whaddaya mean "handle this"!? Don't tell me you're planning on fighting that!"
"Got any better ideas?"
"Ugnh..."
Really, what did she want to do?
But I guess I can understand her extreme hesitation. That thing is *huge*.
"All right, I'm with you! If you say we can handle it, we can handle it!"
"I appreciate the vote of confidence but not screwing up like earlier with the Badiras would be more helpful."
"N-no, you can count on me this time, I promise!"
Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I? Whatever, let's get this boss battle over and done with.
Ranged attacks aren't gonna do squat so I dismissed my handgun and summoned my saber and a shield.
"Ooohh, good idea! When things get hot, remember to defend! I'll be counting on you for blocking, Kara!"
"At least defend yourself from time to time, you troublesome girl!"
The golem seemed to lose patience for our squabbling and charged at us with its axe.
"I'll draw its attention. Get behind and pelt it with Techs! Go!"
Emilia nodded before running around the golem as I raised my shield to block the incoming attack.
And I was sent flying a fair distance.
That was close. If I had blocked an overhead slash, I would have been paste!
"Bolt of electricity, Zonde!"
A thin but fast stream of electricity emitted from Emilia's rod and struck the back of the golem's head.
Funny, it looks like she's more accurate with electric Techs.
Though it didn't seem like the blast hurt the golem very much, it did give me enough time to recover as it slowly turned towards its assailant.
I sprinted fast at the golem and quickly swung my saber at its leg with all my might!
It released a mechanical roar of pain as it raised its axe to strike back at me, forgetting about Emilia.
I dodged this time as I didn't want to get squashed.
This repeated two more times, Emilia blasting the golem with Zonde and me attacking the same leg.
It seemed to have caused significant damage this time as it keeled down on its damaged leg but it still looked ready to fight.
"Haha, take that, you brutish hunk of junk!"
"Don't get cocky! It can still fight!"
True enough, it stood back up and roared out a loud battle cry.
It then charged again at me, albeit slower and a little sluggishly.
"Keep blasting it!"
Emilia nodded in response and started preparing her spells.
I quickly dodged the golem's slower attack then moved back in to slash at its sides just as a Zonde spell struck it on the back.
Another roar of pain.
That seemed to be good news. But the bad news is that me and Emilia are running out of stamina, fast.
As we regrouped, the golem started getting up again, this time, very slowly, with some lag in its movements.
"Huff.. Huff.. Almost done..."
I raggedly breathed out to Emilia who was panting lightly.
As we were expecting the golem to resume attacking, we returned to our stances but it did something it hadn't done this entire fight.
It raised its axe above its head and begun building up large amounts of electrical energy.
Uh-oh.
"Emilia, get ready to dodge."
Before she could respond, the golem brought down the axe and slammed the handle to the ground.
A raging blast of electrical energy began bursting out its body in large amounts and they were headed straight for us.
"Stay behind!"
The attack lasted for around ten seconds.
We kept dodging every bolt targeting us and I blocked the shots we couldn't dodge while Emilia supported by blasting the ones I couldn't with Zonde.
Until finally, the attack greatly decreased in intensity.
This is our chance!
"Emilia, prepare a stronger spell and fire at my signal!"
"Got it!"
I charged at the golem while it was still recovering.
It raised its axe to slam down on me as I was nearing its vicinity.
"Fire, now!"
"Bolts of lightning, strike down! Razonde!"
Emilia fired a large number of lightning bolts from her rod.
And this time, they hit their mark.
The golem wasn't expecting this, as numerous blasts assaulted its upper body, its axe flying away at the resulting explosions.
Perfect.
Its arms apart and no way to defend nor attack, I dismissed my shield, held my saber with both hands and leapt at its head.
And I impaled it where the middle of the eyes would be on a normal person.
The golem didn't release any sound except the lights on its body dying down.
Its arms then fell limp as it fell down face first.
I got out of the way using its chest as a launching pad as a loud crash exploded across the circular room.
ooo000ooo
"Huff... pant... I'm... alive...? I'm alive!"
Emilia cheered as the golem remained unmoving.
We won.
But there's still a bad feeling in my chest.
"We did it! The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
Seeing as there's no more threats, I dismissed my saber and exhaled in relief. Fight's over.
"That was really something! I knew you could do it! I knew it!"
"You're raising an awful lot of flags..."
Is this what the bad feeling is about...?
As I was wondering, something behind us sounded like starting up.
Funny, the golem we defeated was behind us.
Before we could turn around, a giant armored hand reached out to grab Emilia before she could even finish saying "Huh?"
It all happened so fast.
I didn't have time to summon my weapons, tell her to get away, or grab her and dodge.
All I could do was push her away.
And that was all I remember before everything turned to black.
