Argentum: Alright this is the chapter where we begin to see our favorite idiots!
Kazuma: Hey don't lump me in with the rest of these people!
Megumin: What do you mean by these people?!
Grel'Slyfer: And it's already begun…
Shadow: Tell me about it.
Argentum: Oh you're here.
Shadow: Indeed I am for we hav-
Aqua: It's a demon! God Blo-
Shadow: (Flicks her away) Like I was saying I'm here because we have a couple of reviews!
Grel'Slyfer: Sweet! Hit us with them.
Shadow: Sure! Ahem… first review is from Bachi the cat who made a comment about Kazuma's level.
Argentum: Now to hopefully clarify a couple of things. We believe the video you watched that talked about his level was simply talking about his class level.
Grel'Slyfer: Yeah for you see at the very beginning Kazuma's stats were so bad that the only thing he could be was the adventurer class. It is mentioned that he could switch classes at a later date. However he has decided to stay as an adventurer despite probably being able to switch.
Shadow: In other words when it says he's the highest level adventurer… it really just means he's the highest level of his class.
Argentum: Yeah cause I think Megumin at the point the manga is at… well I think she's around a hundred or more in her class.
Shadow: Alright next review is from Kyo… And we will simply say thank you for the encouragement.
Argentum: Yeah it's always nice to have some support so simply thank you for that.
Grel'Slyfer: Alright I think it's time we wrap this up… Megumin! Mind doing that for us?
Megumin: Sure! We here at the dark guard productions own nothing but reality building concepts and OC's. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. Now without further ado…
Everyone-Aqua: Here's the story!
Aqua: Ugh…
Shadow: She really is a useless goddess…
Kazuma/Argentum: Tell me about it…
Hello= Regular talk
Hello= Thoughts
[Hello]= Radio
(Hello)= Telepathy/Mind reading
Chapter Eight: How I met one of the most chaotic teams around and… How I finally started to heal
It has now been a couple months since we first began our training. And just to recap a bit… well the second morning of our second day was a bit embarrassing. I mean me and Cassandra slept great but… well… Darius woke us up the same way he did the morning before. This time both me and Cassandra passed, but we were constantly teased the entire day. I mean sure we should've seen it coming, what with us sleeping together. But honestly our trainers took it a bit too far. You see when we went to the guild for our next quest that evening everyone congratulated us. For apparently Garus told everyone we were now a couple. Even Darkness and Chris, the latter of whom knew why we slept together, gave me praises for scoring the beautiful elf girl.
At that point we decided to mess with Chris, and both I and Cassandra talked about how she was also with the two of us. May have taken that a bit too far seeing how she ran out the guild a red steaming mess. Got even more laughs out of everybody, but she should've known better I say. That day we also fought a freaking Morvudd! Had actually got myself cursed and had to spend a hundred k to remove said curse. On the plus side I copied the remove cure spell and can now do such things myself. Set my finances back quite a bit though…
The encounter also gave me and Cassandra even more horrific nightmares, so after a couple of days of trying to deal with our nightmares ourselves… we slept together again. We were then teased once more the following day. Eventually we simply stopped caring about the teasing and just ignored it.
But speaking of sleeping… at some point during the last month, Cassandra just seemed to move into my room. I honestly didn't care, and we quickly got over any awkwardness there may have been. Now thinking of our relationship… I was beginning to see how others believed we were a couple. At this point I kind of accepted that we were together is some form. Not that the two of us had ever really talked about it. No we just basically became snuggle buddies of a sort.
Though I don't' think that I'd mind being in a stronger relationship… Looking over to Cassandra who was once again daintily devouring her lunch I shook my head. Eh I'll just talk to her about it on our next break day. Don't let it ever be said that I was oblivious or even a coward. Honestly I knew we had something, but we were always too tired to even try and talk about it. Oh well if it happens it happens. Shaking my head I went back to finishing my meal, simply hoping that tonight's quest wouldn't involve any more horrifying monstrosities… cause seriously… that was all we've been facing since we've started! Oh you two did so well against the Leshen and Morvudd? How about you go and fight a fanfreakingtastic Bruxa?! And that's not even mentioning the Mula or the Katakan!
Unable to help it I shivered as I next thought of the Hym. Oh was that wraith the absolute worse! Almost drove my poor elf princess insane until I used my new remove curse spell on her. As I finished up my meal I heard the door to the guild open. Out of simple habit I looked over… and immediately regretted it. Because there standing next to some Japanese guy in a green tracksuit… was the very being that sent me to this world in the first place.
Okay… just why in the halibut is Aqua here?! I couldn't understand it… there was no reason for her to be here. Not to mention I had absolutely no idea who the tracksuit guy could be. My mind simply couldn't comprehend it. As I was being distracted Cassandra had noticed my confused face. Looking over to where Aqua and the tracksuit guy was she narrowed her eyes.
Turning back to me she tapped my shoulder before speaking. "Do you know those two?" Blinking I looked back to her before grimacing with a nod.
"Sort of… you see before coming here I had met that blue haired girl over there." I then sighed before whispering to her. "She is awful… like truly awful." That got Cassandra to give me a look of surprise as I elaborated. "You see while Aqua over there might have given me the idea to come over here. She is absolutely tackles and incredibly selfish and dimwitted. I honestly just hope she completely forgot about me." My elven friend could only give me a grimace and a nod hoping for the same. She seemed to trust me on my opinion on the so called goddess. If only because this is the only time I've hoped to completely avoid someone.
Then continuing my observations I saw the tracksuit guy talk to the Mohawk guy… honestly I had no idea who the latter's name was. I had asked but he simply brushed me off with a laugh. I felt a little bad about it but decided not to push for his name. I then heard what he said to the tracksuit guy.
"Oh is that so? Well then welcome to hell!" I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Over the last year I've heard him give that advice to every newbie. Of course only after our botched dungeon mission did I understand the true meaning of his words. It was a true welcome to the hell that's known as the adventuring lifestyle. But like myself at the beginning of my journey, most simply brush his words off as a joke. This new guy was the exact same. Though he was cockier about it than most other newbies. I couldn't help but shake my head at that but turning back to Cassandra.
"I don't believe he'll survive too long unfortunately." Though a bit sadder about it my cuddle buddy nodded her head.
"True… he doesn't quite seem to understand what he's getting into." She then looked back at them only to scowl at Aqua. "Though she seems even more clueless than the man does." Looking back over I could only nod my head with a sigh. The false goddess was looking as if what her companion was doing was amazing at the moment. At this point the two of us couldn't help but watch them as they went over to Luna. We then shared a small laugh when they couldn't pay the application fee. Though we both couldn't help but feel a bit bad for it.
Shaking my head I got up. "Well… even if she was awful about it. Aqua did help me out a bit so I might as well help them out of this mess." Cassandra gave me a beautiful smile while nodding. Smiling myself I went over to the two newbies. "So saw that you couldn't pay the fee, maybe I can be of some assistance?" Looking at me with hope in his green eyes the man in the tracksuit spoke up.
"REALLY?! Please at this rate we won't be able to find a place to stay!" I simply nodded while keeping at least one eye on Aqua. Thankfully by the way she was looking at me; the useless goddess didn't seem to recognize me.
So with a clearer mind I answered her companion. "Sure but let's make a small deal." Sitting down I explained how much the initial fee was. I then talked about how much a room at the guild was. "Alright now that you know what the prices are I'll offer you enough Eris for both your application fees, and also enough for a two day stay here. In return you pay me back that much plus twenty percent more. I'll give ya a six month period to pay me back. Sound fair to the two of you?"
The brown haired man was about to speak when Aqua interrupted him. "Pay you back? But I'm a goddess you should just give me the money as a tribute! Do so and I'll make you my prophet!" I couldn't help but give her a bored look as her companion groaned. After a moment he spoke up completely ignoring her.
"We'll take your offer, and please just ignore this delusional women next to me." I simply nodded as I got out the money, both of us ignoring Aqua as she threw a literal hissy fit. "Thank you very much for this. Oh yeah I'm Kazuma, Kazuma Sato. Might I ask your name?"
I nodded my head as we both stood up. "Michael Smith, a top adventurer around here. So if you need advice feel free to ask me." Kazuma nodded his head and thanked me as we both went our separate ways. Sighing as I sat down next to Cassandra once more I put my chin on the table. "Well… seems as if Aqua really doesn't remember me, least her friend Kazuma seems more level headed." Cassandra simply hummed in agreement before rubbing my back. I couldn't help but smile at that. "That feels nice." Cassandra giggled as she continued. Looking up a bit I watched as Kazuma and Aqua got their guild cards. As usual Luna spoke their stats out loud. At this point while I didn't think she meant to do that on purpose. More than likely she simply just wasn't paying attention to how loud she was.
As it turned out poor Kazuma only had good intelligence and extremely high luck. Everything else was quite literally average. Couldn't help but pity the poor guy as he got the adventurer class. A class that was mutually made fun of by everyone, if only because the weakest class people ever got it. Aqua on the other hand…
"Oh my goodness! While your luck is abysmal and your intelligence is below average, all of your other stats are incredibly high! You could be almost any class with these stats!" As Kazuma cried in the corner everyone praised Aqua as she chose the Arch priest class. She then turned around and told Kazuma to praise her for being so super. Both me and Cassandra could only sigh at this.
I wonder if anyone would care if I fed her to a giant frog? Oh if only I knew the irony of that thought.
Boo I'm ghost line break!
For the next few weeks, I and Cassandra saw both Aqua and Kazuma running around town doing construction work. It was usually during our morning food runs, and while Kazuma seemed to struggle with the physical work. Aqua for some reason seemed to be a natural at break work and painting. It was rather odd… When I was curious enough to ask them about it, they simply said with all the monsters around town being already exterminated. There just weren't many jobs that they could take.
That made some sense to me, seeing how unlike me they didn't have any equipment for even sewer extermination. In the end we decided to just let them be. Seeing how they didn't seem to be doing all that bad at the moment. Two days later I along with Cassandra and Garus were saw a strange request up on the board.
"What in the world is this?" Picking it up me, Garus, and Cassandra looked it over. "I've never been happier? Aqua Sama cured me of my sickness and made me popular? Hiring requirements any advanced job? Just what is wrong with that woman?" The three of us turned to look at said woman as she and Kazuma sat on at a table. Seemingly waiting for someone to come and join their party. I couldn't help but shake my head and put the request back before turning to Garus. "Alright ignoring that inane request what do you have for us today?" Now while I did feel bad for Kazuma I simply couldn't be bothered about Aqua. Looking at Cassandra I could tell that she felt the same about it all.
Unfortunately for us… Garus had a different thought and gave us an evil grin. "How about a little challenge instead?" Both me and Cassandra couldn't help but look at him warily at that. Grinning evilly Garus picked out another request while also grabbing Aqua's. I did not like where this was going. It got even worse when Darkness came over to say hi only for our teacher to grab her arm. "Perfect timing little Ms. Crusader! I've got a job for you and my two students!" He then laughed while dragging her over to Kazuma and Aqua… who now seemed to have some red and black clad girl with them.
Cassandra was the first one to speak up about this. "I think we might just die on this one love…" I couldn't help but nod my head at her words.
"Indeed my lovely princess… indeed." Yeah like I said before we definitely had something between us. But for the moment we were more focused on our impending doom. For while I know that we could rely on Darkness, seeing how she has greatly improved her abilities sine our first job together. I did not trust the other three who were no doubt about to join us. Ten minutes later we were all sat down at the table Aqua and Kazuma had commandeered. We had learned that the wizard hatted and eyepatched wearing girl was named Megumin. Apparently she was from a tribe of powerful magic users called the crimson demons. Looking at her she looked no older than fourteen at most.
I would've thought on it more when Garus started giving his proposal. "Alright… now I can see that you two have been struggling quite a bit." He then looked at Megumin. "And you young lady was quite literally starving just a few minutes ago. So I think you could use my proposal as well." As she ate greedily Megumin could only nod as Garus turned to Darkness. "As for you… well you simply have worked with Michael and Cassandra in the past. So you're just here to help out and reap the rewards." Though still slightly confused on what was going on, Darkness still understood what he meant by helping us.
So she gave a fist pump and spoke up excitedly. "But of course! I'm always available to help my friends! Especially if they-" Thankfully Garus cut off her off with a laugh before turning to Kazuma and Aqua.
"Excellent! Now as for you two… well like I said the both of you are struggling heavily." The pair became depressed at that as Garus continued. "Now before I give the proposal let me explain a couple of things first." As they perked up in attention Garus then explained who he was, and what he was doing for me and my princess. After he explained that he finally got to his plan for the day. "Now while this would normally be too difficult for you four." He gestured at the others before continuing. "I want all of you to go on the job I'll be sending out my students on. Your job will be to support them and observe them. They in turn will be doing their best to not just defeat the bounty, but make sure none of you come to harm." Kazuma was about to say something when Garus cut him off. "Oh and did I mention the reward will be split five ways? A fifth going to each of you and only a fifth to us? Oh and the reward is about three hundred thousand Eris."
As me and Cassandra's eyes widened at that, the others began to talk excitedly about the money. I quickly turned to Cassandra with a grimace and she did the same. You see the reward… well it was the absolute most we've ever done so far. As we shared a look of concern Aqua stood up with greed in her eyes.
"So all we have to do is support them and not get in their way? PERFECT! So what's the job anyways?" As me and Cassandra looked with caution the others looked on in confusion.
For as he put down the job he grabbed Garus laughed. "Hahaha! It's a simple extermination of an undead! Or an evil spirit if you wish to be more accurate." As he set the request onto the table I and my elven friend grimaced even more. On the request was a picture of some shadowy humanoid, it had a skull like head and sharp jagged teeth. "This everyone is a Pesta! A wraith that possess people into make terrible diseases and plague cults!" Kazuma seemed to freeze at that while the other three seemed to get excited. "Now while it's undead minions will be easily taken out… the Pesta itself will be a bit more tricky. But I'm sure all six of you can handle it. And if you can't… well don't worry I'll be observing to bail you all out just in case you need saving." That seemed to calm down Kazuma though both me and Cassandra only got more worried.
This is not going to be easy in the slightest definition of the word. Shaking my head I decided to speak up and ask a few questions. However I didn't direct them towards Garus, no instead I turned over to our new… acquaintances to ask them a couple of questions. I first turned to Megumin seeing how she was the biggest unknown at the moment.
"Alright so if we are to party up for this… I think we should know what we all can do. So Megumin since you're a crimson demon I assume you have a lot of powerful spells. Any that you think would be good in this fight?"
The young girl grinned before tipping her hat and holding a hand in front of her eyepatch. "But of course! I! Megumin! Have the absolute pinnacle of magic might! For I can cast the glorious spell known as explosion!" At that Garus gave her a look which worried me. Thus causing me to ask her something I deeply regretted asking.
"Sounds pretty useful… but know any other spells?" She actually looked offended at my question.
"How dare you suggest that my explosion spell isn't enough?! Why with one simple incantation I could destroy an entire castle!" That honestly only made me worry more.
So instead of talking back I tried to placate her. "Okay… well we'll just simply use that as a last resort then." I quickly then turned to Aqua. "Okay what can you do then?"
Like I expected her answer was rather haughty. "Well as the glorious goddess that I am! I can use turn undead, heal others, and destroy my foes with God blow! And to top it all off I can do amazing party tricks to entertain and entrance everyone around me." I blinked for a couple of seconds before turning to Kazuma.
"Alright and what can you do?" This got a loud HEY from Aqua but that was ignored as Kazuma rubbed the back of his head.
"Well… honestly I haven't been able to get any skills quite yet." I could only give him a friendly nod as I turned to Darkness.
"Okay while me and Cassandra know what you can do. How about you tell them as well so we're all on the same page?"
My masochistic friend nodded with a smile before turning to the others. "I am a crusader! And while my offensive skills still need some improvement. My defensive abilities are absolutely peerless! I have skills to make enemies attack me, and my magic and physical defenses are the highest there is! So trust me to be the shield and take all the blows any of you would've received!" Before she could continue I gestured over to Cassandra who began speaking.
"Yes we can truly trust Darkness to keep us protected. You can also count on me for while I might not be a crusader. My class is mystic knight. Now this just means I can enchant my equipment with various effects. I also have high physical and magical resistances. Though I lack the anti-magic skills Darkness has."
She then turned to me and I began speaking. "Well my class is ranger, though I've taken it much farther anyone else has. You see I have spells from all the magic classes. I also have skills from the thief class, and my skills with the blade are moderate." Now that got our three new companions attention… especially Megumin's.
"Wait! That means you can also learn the explosion spell right?!" I gave an uncertain nod at her question, though this didn't douse her enthusiasm. "Amazing! This means when you see me in action, you too can then follow me along the path of explosions! It'll be glorious!" I gave an uncommitted nod before turning to Garus.
Seeing how we were all done he stood up. "Alright now that you know each other let's hit the road!" He then went to Luna who hesitantly signed the approval papers. As she did so she looked at us with some pity. Seeing this I only gave her small wave as Garus came back to us. "With that out of the way let's get going!" With a cheer from Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin we left the guild hall all the while me, Cassandra, and Kazuma trailed slightly behind everyone else. I knew this was going to be a tough one. That's when I felt a hand wrap around my left hand.
Smiling I looked at Cassandra gratefully. "Heh thanks for that." She returned my smile as Kazuma looked at the both of us before asking something.
"Wait… so are you two together or something?" We both turned to Kazuma and blinked before answering at the same time.
""We aren't too sure yet actually."" Kazuma seemed to give us an annoyed scowl before hurrying ahead of us. The two of us while confused only shrugged at each other as we continued forth. However Kazuma's question did bring up a reminder that we did need to talk to one about our relationship. However once more we both decided to simply talk about it later, thus we continued walking towards what will probably be… yet another nightmarish experience.
I frowned at that thought. We'll never be able to get over our traumas will we?
Boo I'm ghost line break!
It took us about two hours to reach our destination, by then the sun was setting giving the small village we arrived at a more unnatural feeling. Though if I were honest… it probably wasn't nearly as bad for us as it was to our new companions. In fact I could only wince when looking at them… for more than one reason. For while Kazuma and Megumin were hugging the life out of each other in fright. A completely reasonable response if you asked me. Darkness seemed slightly turned on by the repressive aura, and Aqua seemed to not care in the slightest.
In fact… "Hohoho! You think you stupid undead can scare me?! I the great Aqua Sama with send all of you to the afterlife!" Yeah she was taunting an evil spirit that could probably rip her apart. To my side I could hear even my princess sigh while holding my hand a bit tighter. The sigh was from exasperation and her grip was from some fear.
I was about to say a couple of things when Garus spoke up. "Alright kiddos! Time for y'all to head on in now! Though remember I'll be watching in case you need to have someone bail you out." It was a small comfort, and one Cassandra and I took to heart. I would've tried to see everyone else's reactions, but Cassandra once more being the brave one put on her helmet and started walking. All the while still holding my hand, though I honestly didn't mind at all.
Now with the two of us heading right on in the others followed, after twenty feet of walking all of us felt it. It was a familiar feeling to myself and Cassandra. But everyone else had no way of knowing just what they were feeling. Activating my Lyb'Craeft just to make sure I nodded my head. We were once again in another creature's realm of influence. I myself had actually managed to partially copy the magic to create my own domain at this point. The spell was called lesser territory creation… and I couldn't use it. The blasted spell used more way more magic than I could currently produce. I honestly couldn't imagine how much magic it'd take to use something like greater territory creation. Shaking my head I let go of Cassandra's hand and took out my bow, knocking in a fire arrow just in case.
We were now in dangerous waters and I quickly spoke up. "Alright greenhorns listen up!" Everyone turned to me even though Aqua complained a bit. "What you just felt was us crossing over into a creature's domain. Or their territory if you will… in other words the Pesta now knows we're here. So make sure to stick together and follow me and Cassandra's lead. We have quite a bit of experience in territories. With that said let's keep going." As Cassandra took out her sword and shield, everyone else got ready as the two of us continued forward.
Taking a breath I made sure to look out all around myself. Letting my senses reach out, observing every detail in the split moment I looked at it. That's when I saw it… quickly stopping I pulled back my arrow and fired it off into the distance. Though Kazuma was about to say something at me in anger, an explosion and terrifying screech stopped him. That's when some shrouded shadowy creature charged us while flailing around on fire. As it got near Cassandra struck at it with her sword only for it to phase right through the creature. Thankfully with my eyes active I could see what it had done. As it came directly for me I used my right hand to quickly unsheathe and sheathe my sword.
The only evidence of my attack was a clicking sound and the evil spirit being split in half. I had struck fast enough for the spirit to not have enough time to phase through my blade. Cassandra also could've done the same, however she simply didn't expect it to go through her attack. So while she simply nodded her head at my attack having seen what I did. Everyone else gaped a bit, having not even seen me draw my blade.
Kazuma in particular seemed rather vocal about what happened. "Geez! I didn't even see you move! And was that a katana?! I had no idea they existed here!" Looking back at him I shook my head.
"It's actually a tachi and I found it in a dungeon. But enough about that! We need to keep up a constant vigilance while we're here." He was about to respond when we all heard an ear piercing shriek. Though again Cassandra seemed the most affected, and I could only frown as she took off her helmet and held her ears. Looking around and notching in an explosive arrow this time, I turned to the source of the screeching… only to sigh heavily. "Great… seems as if this Pesta has turned the entire town into zombies and evil spirits." I quickly took note of where the undead horde was coming from. Figuring that it was where the real enemy was currently hiding. Smirking I turned to Megumin. "Alright I guess this is your time to shine. Go ahead and cast an explosion spell at that horde there."
She grinned maniacally at my words before pointing her crooked staff at the undead. "Finally! I'll show all of you the majesty of explosion magic!" She than began chanting as a magic circle appeared underneath her. I will admit to being curious so used my eyes to copy what she was doing. "Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson. The time of awakening cometh. Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as intangible distortions!" As she continued to chant I couldn't help but let my eyes widen.
That spell… That spell is… that spell is horrible! The damn thing uses ten thousand Magic points! I barely had over a quarter of the magic needed for such a spell. Looking at Megumin herself… I had no doubt that she had nowhere near the magic needed for the spell either. And now I've added that useless spell to my repertoire… great… Hell that spell is more than three times the cost of my territory creation spell!
As I was having a bit of a crisis Megumin had kept chanting. "Return all creation to cinders, and come frome the abyss! Explosion!" If anything the spell definitely had the kick to back up its magic cost. As the mini nuke went off, I could feel the shockwaves from the attack all the way over from where we stood. The wind blew over all of us and we couldn't help but cover our eyes. At the same time Megumin fell flat on her face. As the explosion settled down, I couldn't help but give the brown haired girl a bored look.
"While powerful you have quite literally become dead weight." I heard her chuckle nervously from her position. That's when everyone else looked at her; very quickly did Kazuma and Cassandra also give her various looks of disappointment. Unfortunately Aqua and Darkness simply heaped praises onto her.
Giving out a glare of disappointment Cassandra spoke up. "If you're done condoning poor use of magic we still have to keep moving." Aqua and Darkness looked sheepish at her glare while Megumin gave a small squeak. Cassandra was a little angry, and while she didn't yell at them she had this… tone that screamed disappointment. "Darkness please carry our now out of commission arch mage please. Kazuma and Aqua you guard them from the sides." Having used as I dubbed her princess mode, the three quickly did as Cassandra ordered. Nodding in satisfaction my princess turned to me and gestured to keep marching forward. I gave her a small smile as I proceeded to do as directed.
Taking the lead I continued our trek into the village. Eventually we reached the explosions crater where I couldn't help but sigh. The spell while having dealt with the entire horde had also damaged most of the buildings. Not to mention the smell of rotten zombie flesh was horrid in its own right. Of course it also reminded me of the time the airplane landed on all of us.
Quickly shaking my head from such thoughts I led us around the crater to where the town hall was. I could feel the very presence of our enemy stronger than ever in there. Taking a breath I decided that since the Pesta already knew we were there, that stealth wasn't too important. So turning to Cassandra I gestured at the double doors. Seeing what I was getting at, she walked up to the doors and quickly kicked them both in as I aimed an arrow inside. Seeing our shadowy enemy I didn't hesitate to let loose my explosive arrow. I wasn't about to let it get a chance to attack us. However I had my reservations about such a move, for one I didn't believe it'd be enough to take it out. Secondly I didn't know if there was anyone alive in the building.
Shaking my head I decided to deal with whatever consequences after dealing with the threat. The noise it made upon the explosion of my arrow made my ears bleed, and once more was Cassandra holding her ears in pain. Deciding to try and help her I added my hands to her own, it seemed to help if only slightly. At my gesture Cassandra gave me a pained yet grateful smile. As the screaming stopped I let go while putting away my bow and unsheathing my sword. Though I did have a stray thought of trying to find magic earplugs for my elf princess.
She definitely needs them… what with how many times we've fought screeching undead. Refocusing on our enemy I stepped inside along with Cassandra. In front of us I saw the Pesta fly out of the fire my arrow created. It then stared at us and that's when I felt it… I tried to keep it in but I quickly emptied my stomach onto the floor. Cassandra looked at me in worry calling out to me.
"Michael!" I waved her off while casting a restoration spell on myself. Getting rid of the disease the spirit had given me.
Breathing heavily I told my companion what had happened. "It can give you a disease or sickness just by looking at you! We need to kill this thing quickly!" Her eyes widened before turning back to the Pesta and charging it. Getting up I quickly did the same. Thankfully its gaze seemed to take a bit of time to recharge. Unfortunately as Cassandra reached it her attack simply phased right through it. Gritting my teeth I swung with all my speed, only to have the same happen to me. "Not good… this wraith is definitely a cut above the rest of the monsters we've faced." Cassandra could only nod grimly. That's when it seemed to breathe out a black miasma that spread throughout the room. Using my Lyb'Craeft I could see that it was a literal cloud of magical disease.
Seeing what was happening I looked around and spotted a window. Deciding to take a chance I picked Cassandra up, and as she yelped I jumped through the window back first. Making sure to protect her as I shattered the glass and wood, I quickly hit the ground hard. I could only groan in pain as I felt the impact. Thankfully I wasn't cut by anything thanks to my enchantments, but it hurt!
Quickly standing up Cassandra fussed over me. "Michael are you hurt?! Why did you do something so reckless?!" I couldn't help but chuckle before giving an answer while standing up.
"Would've warned ya but the miasma magically held every disease ever known. I didn't want that touching either of us, so I took the quickest route out of there." Her eyes softened at my explanation… before glaring at me and punching my arm. "OW!"
Ignoring my shout of pain she kissed my cheek. "Still not happy with you but thank you for saving me." I couldn't help but chuckle before becoming serious as the Pesta flew through the wall. Seeing my gaze Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "It is rather persistent isn't it love?" I couldn't help but nod in agreement at that.
"If I'm honest I'd be disappointed if it wasn't." I then smirked to her. "So… ready to teach it a lesson my princess?" Cassandra giggled before nodding with her own smirk. As one we turned back to the evil spirit, having already decided on a new strategy. Once more the evil spirit began to breathe out its black miasma. However now that we were outside I simply raised my hand and blew it away. Using the concussive force spell I gained from one of the demons we fought way back when. Seeing its attack simply blown away caused the spirit to shriek once more. Sick and tired of that I used my own black fire blink spell to get behind it. Swiftly cutting into our enemy's back. Taking advantage of the distraction I caused Cassandra rushed forwards, stabbing the creature from the side.
Screaming in anger and frustration the spirit phased through the sword and looked at Cassandra. I will admit I panicked a bit when I saw my princess's silver eyes turn white. Causing her to yell in panic, however with another restoration spell her eyes turned back to their normal colored. She was breathing a bit heavily but sent me a grateful smile. Nodding with my own I turned back to the spirit in absolute anger.
This thing tried to blind my princess! Gritting my teeth I raised a hand and used my black fire spell to light the damn thing up. As it screeched in pain Cassandra winced but struck at it. This time her sword made actual contact. However it still wasn't enough as it phased through my flames to get away from us. Then with a blackened clawed hand it swiped at Cassandra. It missed her barely, but I could see that even touching the thing would bring about a foul disease. As I grit my teeth I jumped forward and swung at the spirit. As I attacked so did the spirit, arm and body phasing through my attack. However right when it was about to touch me I blinked behind it.
Bringing my blade up I cut through the Pesta's back. As it screamed and focused on me, Cassandra took her own swipe further wounding the spirit as we both jumped back. As it once more breathed out a cloud of disease, I again blasted it away. I was now starting to feel the strain on my magic pool. All the spells I've used so far are rather resource heavy. In fact I had already used more than half my total energy pool. I knew we had to find some way to end this quickly. Lest it simply kept cursing us with diseases to kill the both of us.
"GOD BLOW!" I had heard it but didn't quite understand what had happened… until Aqua had run face first into the town hall's wall. Blinking at her I shook my head as I refocused on the enemy before us. Though I did appreciate her trying to help… it was just how poorly Aqua enacted her plan that was the problem. As I was about to think of a new plan I saw Darkness run up and slashing away at the wraith. Once more it simply phased through her attack. Although I couldn't help but note how far she had come since our first quest together.
As I thought of what to do Cassandra yelled out to our comrades. "Be careful! A single touch can give you a horrific magical disease! In fact it can do that simply by looking at you! And whatever you do don't breathe in the cloud it can produce!" With the warnings now given Darkness jumped back as the Pesta breathed out its miasma. Deciding to take a chance I shot a fire ball from my hand at the cloud. Thankfully this caught the whole cloud on fire making the spirit scream.
That's when I heard it. "SACRED TURN UNDEAD!" There was a bright light followed by another horrid scream. When the light died down I looked back at our foe. This time I was surprised to see the creature actually looking hurt. That's when it looked directly at Aqua… only for nothing to happen. In fact it seemed as if Aqua was simply immune to its gaze. Grinning I once more took advantage of the distraction.
Raising my sword up, I covered it in black flames and blinked right next to it. It could only look at me as I cleaved it in half. This time however, with the sacred light from Aqua's spell. It wasn't able to escape me and was finally destroyed. For as finished my attack, the Pesta shrieked louder than ever before violently exploding into black smoke. I being the closest to it was blown back.
"Michael!" As I stopped skidding on the ground Cassandra ran to me. I was in incredible pain for I was sure I had broken a number of bones. In fact a rib was actually stabbing my left lung. So as I coughed out blood and started to heal myself, my elven princess put my head on her lap. "Is there anything else I can do for you?!" I simply shook my head as my magic fixed my rib and lung. Though I did see Kazuma giving me a rather jealous look… a look I could only roll my eyes at. I knew he was simply jealous of how I had a beautiful girl worrying over me. Though I for one didn't care, honestly I would've probably liked Cassandra even if she was ugly, simply because I knew her so well at this point.
As this went on Aqua yelled out "her" victory. "YES! Praise me because it was my spell that ended the menace!" While the both of us agreed that Aqua did help, both I and Cassandra knew that we were the ones to do most of the work.
In fact Cassandra spoke up a bit angrily. "Aqua…" The blue haired "goddess" froze at the tone being used. "While it is true you were an amazing help in the end… know that it was a team effort. Do not go around singing your own praises for simply casting a single spell." Aqua gulped before bowing over and over again while apologizing. I simply chuckled before looking over to where Kazuma was carrying Megumin. He seemed to be alright though Megumin was still out of commission. Sighing I stood up while I sheathed my sword before addressing everybody.
"Okay seems as if we're done here, so let's head on back home." Everyone gave a small cheer at my words and quickly followed in my steps as I started heading towards Garus.
As we met up with him I couldn't help but interrupt his congratulations. "YO! Good to see all of you-" I punched him in the face shocking everyone. "ARGH! Why did you do that for lad?!" Clicking my teeth I answered him.
"That's for sending us against another stupid ghost that could make our ears bleed!" Garus gained a look of sheepish understanding as I shook my head. "Seriously… I know you said we weren't supposed to complain. But I think that we at least deserve to be upset at partially losing our hearing again."
Garus let out a sheepish laugh before nodding. "I suppose that's fair… especially because our lady elf." He then clapped his hands once. "Alright I'll at least warn you before sending you after a shrieking demon. Sounds good?" I knew that was the best we were going to get so I simply nodded. "Alright with that's done lets go and turn in the job!" With that he marched off with the rest of us following. Stepping next to me was Cassandra who again took my hand and kissed my cheek.
"Thanks for looking after my hearing." I simply chuckled as we kept walking. When we finally arrived back in Axel, it seemed as if most of our companions were asleep on their feet. Or in Megumin's case actually asleep on Kazuma's back, not that I was surprised she did literally waste her magic after all. Shaking my head I simply continued on to the guild building, where we got owe then got our reward money and bid each other farewell.
Today's been a very… very… long day indeed…
Boo I'm ghost line break!
When we arrived we were greeted by Darius who simply chuckled at our appearance. "I see you two were put through the wringer today." We couldn't help but glare at the man, something Darius only laughed at before pointing at the mansion. "Well come on then, I think the both of you deserve a break. In fact since it's been a while how about the two of you take tomorrow off?"
I quickly perked up at that… despite knowing he was buying our continual favor. "Sounds great." Next to me Cassandra also yelled out in agreement.
"YES!" All three of us looked at her a bit surprised causing my princess to blush. "I mean… that sounds splendid, we shall take you up on your offer." I couldn't help but laugh a bit along with Darius and Garus. Hearing us Cassandra blushed even more, and so taking some pity on her I simply patted her head before taking her hand. She didn't resist my gesture and simply followed me inside. Once inside we all settle down for some of Marus' cooking.
Taking a bite I nodded my head. "You know… if it's one thing the three of you share… it's that you all can cook pretty well." That got our teachers to laugh a bit before Garus spoke to the two of us.
"So… did the two of you learn anything from your mission today?" I was about to respond sarcastically, basically mentioning something about knowing when we partied with crazy people. But I stopped myself to really think about what had happened. As it were, before I could think of an answer Cassandra spoke up.
"Well it was either a lesson on truly knowing your parties capabilities… or it was a lesson on how everyone can have useful abilities?" I blinked at her before turning to Garus who seemed to grin at her answer.
"As expected of our genius elf maiden! The answer to your question is actually both!" As I hummed in thought Garus continued. "You see… you won't always be with people that you know are competent. However everyone has something that can be useful. For example… though she was useless afterwards, that crimson demon girl was able to destroy an enormous undead horde. This allowed the two of you to save your strength for the big bad." I blinked at that… I simply didn't think of it that way. "Another example is despite how useless she seemed… that Aqua girl was able to use her own spell to help defeat the Pesta in the end. So let this be a lesson to use everyone's talents accordingly… no matter how useless they may seem."
With his piece said Garus went back to eat as the two of us contemplated his words. They had made a surprising amount of sense… and I was disappointed in myself for the way I saw Aqua and Megumin. Well not so much with my disapproval in their attitudes and the way they fought. No I was simply disappointed in how I thought them useless in battle. It was a lesson that would stick with me for the rest of my life. So sighing I finished my meal and then started helping with the cleanup. As it was my turn to help Cassandra went and got herself ready for bed first. When I was done I had quickly done the same, still thinking of my actions but more importantly my attitude that I had this day. I was actually a little ashamed for everything… ashamed at what I both said and did towards my temporary party members.
Honestly now that I think about it… it's not like I use my magic to the fullest either. Plus I think I was just projecting my annoyance for Aqua on the rest of them. Shaking my head as I lay down on my bed I simply looked up at the ceiling. My thoughts a bit jumbled with the day's events. Though that didn't stop me from wrapping an arm around Cassandra as she joined me.
For a bit we were silent before I spoke up. "I think… I think I should apologize to our new friends tomorrow." Cassandra nodded before commenting.
"True… I do believe I should do the same." Looking at each other we both smirked before laughing a bit. After settling down once more Cassandra spoke up again. "You know… I think I was getting a little arrogant in my skills." I looked back down to her as she continued. "I know that we still had a long way to go before we could stand against Nel'Ren… but I had honestly started to believe we were the strongest adventurers. Or at the very least the strongest in the city… I suppose this was our all of masters ways of getting us to stop thinking such things."
I hummed before agreeing. "You're probably right about that… heh once again you've proven to be smarter than myself." Cassandra blushed a bit before laying her head on my chest.
"No… I very much doubt I'm smarter than you. It was you who first sought to find teachers after all." I shook my head at that before giving a counter argument.
"Maybe… but you're the one who picks up on all of our lessons the fastest. In fact you're much further along than I am in your learning."
This time Cassandra pouted before sitting up and looking at me. "I'm only further along because I'm not learning multiple things at once! In fact I'm not that much further than you are!" Looking at each other once again we couldn't help but laugh, then while lying back down Cassandra made a comment that made me pause. "We certainly are a pair aren't we love?" Thinking on what she said I gave an airy sigh before nodding as she continued. "But… well… I have been thinking of this for a while. And with what Kazuma asked us earlier… well I can't help but wonder just what kind of pair are we? To clarify, I know for certain that we're at least more than friends." I couldn't help but blink in surprise, having not actually expected Cassandra to be the one to bring this up. But then I knew that she was the smarter of the two of us… despite anything which she might say to the contrary.
After getting my thoughts sorted I gave my own question. "Well… is there a kind of pair you'd want us to be?" This got her to blush as I continued. "Because well… if I'm honest while I'm fine with anything you'd decide, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be something… well something much more with you." I was now blushing as my thoughts went a mile a minute. By Eris what am I saying?! I mean sure this is the first time I've ever talked about a romantic relationship with a girl… but why do I have to sound so lame?!
"I… I think I'd like that to…" Cassandra's voice brought me out of my thoughts as I looked down at her. Her face a reddened mess as she clarified her words. "What I mean is… while I feel the same about being willing to have us being any sort of pair… I think I'd also like us to be something more…" Seeing how embarrassed she was as well kicked me into gear. Now while I still didn't have any idea on what I was doing. I did decide on some sort of action.
So with that in mind I kissed her forehead before speaking again. "I'm fine with that… in fact… how about we do something together tomorrow after we apologize to our new friends?" Cassandra blushed even more heavily at my words and actions. In fact I was beginning to wonder if she would explode. That was when I figured out that I had deeply underestimated both her courage… and her just how bold she was. For her next action almost broke me… you see my princess looked up at me, leaned up, and kissed me on the lips. I will admit… my eyes nearly bugged out for the ten seconds she kissed me. As Cassandra pulled back she laughed at my face.
She then laid back down on my chest before speaking. "I think I'd like that very much my love." I could only make a mhmm sound as my brain tried to reboot itself. Of course this only made my princess laugh more. Though I do believe she was just trying to hide her own embarrassment at her actions. Eventually she did fall asleep as I finally turned my brain back on. Though looking back at my sleeping elf maiden made me smile.
Heh… I'm smarter huh? Well at least I know one of us will be the bold one in this relationship. Kissing her forehead again I cuddled her a bit more. "Thanks for everything Cassandra." It was then that I finally figured out that I was in fact… in love with this silver eyed and white haired elven princess. I guess coming to this world was the best choice I could've made. With that thought I myself finally drifted off to sleep. Though this time when I dreamed I dreamt of a happier life in the future.
Boo I'm ghost line break!
Argentum: And another chapter done!
Cassandra: And another lesson learned.
Grel'Slyfer: And another relationship formed eh?
Argentum: Yeah… though I think everyone saw it coming. Speaking of which… I'll be making a poll to see what everyone's opinions on a certain topic.
Kazuma: Lucky bastard…
Argentum: Says the guy constantly running around with three or more beautiful girls at a time.
Grel'Slyfer: Also not our fault you're too cowardly to actually try anything with them.
Kazuma: Shut up! I was traumatized at a young age! Plus I would rather die again then ever consider Aqua a love interest!
Cassandra: That is rather fair…
Argentum: Mhm… oh yeah just thought that I'd mention that this is the longest chapter for the story so far! Woo!
Grel'Slyfer: Yeah… whelp how about you finish us off Kazuma?
Kazuma: Yeah sure whatever… This has been a Dark Guard production now signing off.
Everyone: Goodbye!