Hello, ITalkToSky here.
Welcome to the new crossover project between Touhou and Log Horizon. This is simply a side project to prevent me from burning myself out with Mahouka. Don't worry, Mahouka is not being abandoned. I will bring you a few chapters out first just to gauge the reaction.
If anyone is wondered about timeline, I made the timeline for Touhou and Log Horizon the same to avoid some confusion like my first story. I am probably going to regret that later because my knowledge about the most recent bulk Touhou sweet lore is quite anemic. But I am making the leap of faith anyway.
Elder Tale expansion happened on May 3, 2018, the same date as when Touhou folks transferred in. This is after Antinomy of Common Flowers (ACF) and a few months before Violet Detector. In term of print work, it was a few months before the conclusion Wild and Horned Hermit.
In this game, any human main characters will be more advance in age. Case in point, Marisa will be 23 years old in this story. According to the official timeline, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil happened in universe in 2003. I will just say Marisa solved the Scarlet Mist Incident at the age of 8, she will still be in her early twenties by ACF.
You can see that we have a lot of lore that I might not make full use or miss due to sheer volume.
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Nobody understood the true origin of mana. Whether it preceded humanity or humanity created mana, no one agreed on a definite answer. Yet, it was clear that mana existed in the early days of humanity. Armed with intelligence and self-awareness, early human lacked both strength and knowledge. It was only natural that they had fears, of unknown terrors, of fickle gods, of the end.
Ironically, it was these fear that gave birth to supernatural being. Mana was a fundamental power, operating with its own rule but capable of bending reality to a degree. As a sapient species, human had stronger pull on the power of mana. In a sense, it was possible that human belief tugged slightly at the fabric of reality itself. But that would be giving human too much credit. It was only due to their sheer numbers like millions of raindrops forming an ocean. Nevertheless, it was human belief that gave birth to supernatural entities, actualizing their existences onto the canvas called reality. For thousands of years, the human and their indirect creation existed in tenuous balance.
Belief was a fickle thing. Just as it could bring imagination to reality, it also was perfectly capable of expunging the creation back to oblivion. As the world became increasingly scientific, beings that were created and subsisted purely through belief and fear like Gods and Youkais fell by the wayside, literally driven out of existence. Even the mana was annihilating itself, since the people believed that they did not exist, prompting them to respond.
Facing with waning power and extinction, many tried to shut themselves off in their little world, like a pocket of resistance against the current of changing eras. Gensokyo was one such bastions of fantastical beings. Like a Youkai reservation, the residents were shielded from the encroachment of common sense by the Great Hakurei Barrier. But as powerful as the sages of Gensokyo and the first Hakurei Miko were, even they could not fully anticipate the passage of time.
Human's march of progress continued to grow faster, pressuring the magical side of earth to the limit. Maintaining and repairing the barrier would cost more and more, while the total mana and magical resources on Earth dwindled by the years. The denizens of Gensokyo could no longer afford playing catch-up. They needed a permanent way out.
Yet, something like that could only be described as a miracle.
Certainly, they needed a miracle of creation.
And there was one species uniquely suited for the role.
Beside the gigantic lake covered by thick mist all year round stood a western style mansion, constructed of dull red bricks. Its walkways were paved with stone slabs, polished to grayish sheen, and flanked with beautiful flower beds, trees and miniature maze. Beyond the garden and fountain stood the mansion proper. Taller than most buildings in Gensokyo, not even including the clocktower, the mansion emitted a commanding and foreboding atmosphere, especially when shrouded by the mist. However, for the inhabitant, the mansion was truly the most comfortable home they could have asked for. With all the amenities they could ask for and good company, a century could pass by in a blink of an eye. Yet, like all things in creation, idyllic lifestyle marked by a few exciting incidents had to end someday. And that day was now.
In preparation, a new annex was added to the mansion. Rather than a proper annex, the perimeter wall was simply busted down and rebuilt to accommodate a moderate size greenhouse. Including the expansion and renovation of the underground dungeons into warehouses stocked with as much materials they could hoard in half-a-year, the residents were ready for a trip that would take them far away from their stomping ground. They did everything they could, and all they had to do was wait.
"So, it has started," said a young girl bared her excitable grin. Her crimson eyes twinkled in the flickering candlelight. Her small frame was dwarfed by the comparatively large back rest and concealed almost entirely by the table. To most, she would appear like a doll-like little girl with pale bluish hair. Yet, her vertical pupil gave away her inhuman nature. Remilia Scarlet was a vampire, the mistress and the namesake of Scarlet Devil Mansion. The vampire wanted to see how elaborate the handiwork of the most powerful gods could be. They best not disappointed her as Remilia intended fully to get her investment back along with ample profit.
Sitting demurely on the luxurious couches, Remilia crossed her legs and nursed her tea, waiting among her trusted servants, friends and comrades. Sakuya never left their cups empty, dutifully refilling their drinks from the few pots she brought on the trolley. Cladded in blue maid outfit reaching down to her knees with cute white apron, her silver-hair was braided neatly with small bows. An epitome of elegance, Izayoi Sakuya maintained her poise in every moment, worthy of the Chief Maid title.
Seated next to Remilia was a man who could pass as Sakuya's brother if not for his blatant Caucasian features. His long silver hair stopped a little above his mid back, tied into a simple ponytail, leaving a few bangs on the side. Like Sakuya, his eyes were also blue but a few shades brighter. Yet, that was where the similarities ended. Lunaire's eyes were a peculiar pair, appearing not as one solid color. Depending on the viewing angle, a hint of purple could be seen, shimmering prismatically in the light.
Lunaire Vivian Meister, a new resident Youkai magician of Scarlet Devil Mansion, stared at the ripple in his teacup, almost in trance. Tuning out the disturbance and honing his focus, he waited patiently for the appointed time.
Patchouli, not the one to fancy idle conversation, dug into her couch and buried her nose in her thick grimoire. Her voluminous dark purple hair draped over her favorite lilac nightgown. Covering her head was a mob cap, decorated with silk ribbons and crescent moon icon. The chatter did little to pull her focus out of her work. Unless the sky fell, or maybe if even the sky fell, Patchouli could easily continue reading without a care in the world. Of course, those who knew her well would know that the resident magician and librarian occasionally made moves of her own accord when something intrigued her.
Talking about the chatter, three girls derived comfort from their genial talks. Textile, tea and magic mushroom, their conversation flowed from one topic to another, only scratching the surface of each. Their mind wandered, keeping themselves occupied and trying not to think about uncertain times ahead.
On one side, sporting shorter hair was Alice Margatroid, a seven-colored puppeteer and a Youkai magician. Little adorable dolls frolicked idlily around Alice as if they had minds of their own. They looked harmless but anyone who had ever fought Alice could attest to their danger, packing various pointy instruments and sometimes explosives for the poor bastard in their way. Typically, Alice resided in her house, deep in the magic forest. Considering their extraordinary circumstance, the puppeteer moved all her belongings to Scarlet Devil Mansion, settling in for the long haul.
Another blonde, Kirisame Marisa, was in the same situation. This girl in stereotypical western witch outfit draped languidly on the couch, not giving the impression of a human magician capable of carving swath of destruction into the terrain of Gensokyo. The Ordinary Magician was nothing if not extraordinary.
The most boisterous girl of the three was the one in checkered Kimono. Her animate red eyes, normally radiating excitement and cheerfulness, darted from side to side, appearing restless. Soft chime could be heard from the bell adorning her twin-tails whenever she shook her head. After a tireless effort to convince the girl to temporarily part with her collection, Motoori Kosuzu reluctantly agreed to join their mission. Lunaire almost gave up at one point from her stubbornness, but persevered, knowing that her unique expertise could certainly be used in the future.
Curled up on the seat opposite of the three was a rabbit. Unlike one would expect, this rabbit was not covered from head to toe with fuzzy, cuddly fur. Sipping her tea quietly, the girl appeared normal. Only the floppy long ears poking through her hair gave out her true nature. Not a normal rabbit either, Reisen Undongein Inaba was the famed moon rabbit and an apprentice slash pet to the one and only Yagokoro Eirin. Dispatched by her master, the moon rabbit came to assist in their endeavor. Eirin and her princess had vested interest in the continual existence of Gensokyo, so it was hardly a surprised. Although the fact that Eirin sent her apprentice to uncertain ground that she dared not tread herself made Lunaire pity Reisen somewhat.
Last but not least was a little girl, sporting bright blue hair and eyes. Dressed in matching hiker outfit and green cap, the girl's youthful air combined into an adorable package. Next to her seat was a gigantic green backpack, marking her as a member of Kappa youkai. Kawashiro Nitori was not a simple Kappa but served as the supervisor for the Kappa workers on site, for what that was worth.
Kappa were known equally for the fickleness and their savant affinity for technology. The residents of the mansion surely needed the latter, not so much the former. Unfortunately, beggar couldn't be chooser. They already had magicians in spade, so a supplement of natural engineer was required to patch a hole in their roster. The Kappa were the best Gensokyo had to offer on that front, as long as one could grab their attention. Lunaire and Marisa agreed that if not for their cripplingly short attention span, Gensokyo could have reached space age already, spitting in Lunarians' faces in the process. But that was neither here nor there.
"Here it comes," Lunaire braced in his seat, feeling unknown sensation washed over the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Unconsciously, his small hand clenched onto the hand rest in a death grip. If he possessed the unholy strength like Remilia, he would have gotten a vicious crack and a handful of splinters.
The chatter died down instantly. Even Kappa that was not known for her magical prowess detected the change. Her sky-blue eyes darted around alarmingly, trying spot every minute change in the room. She felt a breeze ruffling her hair. During daytime, most windows in the mansion were shut tight, covered by the thick curtain, so the wind was highly unnatural.
Before Nitori could pursue the thought further, the next moment made her regret opening her eyes so widely. As if the sun appeared in the room, her vision blinded and colored pure white. The rest, as unprepared as Nitori, fared little better, grunted from the stunning flash.
A clank, everyone heard clearly. Yet, none find their bearing and composure to address the issue, busy tiding through the strange sensation that intensified in their guts. To Lunaire, it felt like seasickness, altitude sickness and hangover all bundled up into a single disgusting package. Holding onto his breakfast took most of his effort and he reckoned the rest felt the same.
At last, the sensation subsided and the first among them opened their eyes hesitantly. The crimson curtain unperturbed, the furniture untouched, nothing appeared to change at all. Lunaire sighed, relieved that nothing too outlandish happened to them. Each still had two arms, two legs, a torso and a head. The fact that all of them curled back into their seats not flailing about helped.
Sakuya, knowing that her mistress was safe and sound, directed her glare at the offending porcelain shards on the ground. Nitori, who was the slowest to notice the disturbance did not place her cup on the table, shattered the precious teacup. The silver-haired maid smiled and Lunaire gulped nervously. While her bangs obscured her full expression, Lunaire knew that the smile did not reach her eyes. When Sakuya rolled out a tea set, she expected them to return intact and did not take to kindly to someone breaking them, even by accident. Lunaire wouldn't volunteer himself to face her ire for the Kappa, ten times out of ten.
Then again, letting Sakuya turn the Kappa into pincushion was counterproductive. Lunaire snapped his finger, naturally activating the mending spell. Exquisite as they may be, the cups were not magical artifacts, so the simple mending spell would suffice. As if the time reversed itself, the shards flew together, glowing gently as the cracks sealed together. On top of that, cleaning magic returned that the crimson carpet to pristine condition. Not the faintest stain remained.
"Argh," Lunaire grunted and clenched his teeth as his temple throbbed, turning himself into the center of attention.
"Lunaire," Remilia called his named worriedly.
Lunaire raised his hands, placating his friends. The throbbing subsided to a manageable level and his gears started turning properly once more. Unless he made a colossal screwup out of the simplest of spells, there was no way the headache came from a misfire. Also, Lunaire had never heard that a mending or cleaning spell could misfire like that. At most, it would ruin the items beyond repair. More likely than not, the spell would simply fizzle out.
No malicious interference either, his friends surrounded him. They would be jumping around if that were the case, making it unlikely to be an attack. Lunaire looked inwardly and felt something nostalgic about such pain. A spark of recognition appeared in his bluish eyes. Lunaire life could not be considered long, only in his thirties chronologically, but he could hardly remember the sensation caused by mana deprivation. After becoming a Youkai magician, mana was never in short supply unless in the direst of situation when he had to squeeze out every ounce of his being just to live. Such situation was virtually nonexistent in the peaceful backdrop of Gensokyo, so he did not recognize it immediately.
Then again, that brought even bigger question. How in god's green earth did a youkai magician run out of steam from a mending spell?
"Are you alright," Alice asked worriedly, barely audible among the ruckus from Nitori finally realizing that she shattered something.
"No, I am not very used to being seasick," Lunaire evaded the question, hopeful that the mention of sea would distract them. It was not as if he could admit running out of mana just to fix up common items. That would be so humiliating, comparable to wetting his bed at his age.
Lunaire glanced at the restored cup on the floor and sighed. At least they turned out alright. Not risking casting anything in such condition, Lunaire bent down to retrieve them manually, trying to appear natural.
He wondered whether the transfer drained their power, because it could partially explain their disorienting nausea. At this thought, he closed his eyes and gauged his mana vessel, finding the tank alarmingly empty and hollow.
"Hmm," Lunaire blinked.
It was still there, so he blinked again.
Okay, now this was bad, Lunaire thought. Since Sakuya was the one preparing the drink, there was little chance that it was the magic mushroom tea from that time. Marisa sat quite a distance from the trolley and had little chance to slip anything in. So, why was he hallucinating?
The gaze directed at him grew more and more concerned as his eyes seemed to wander in and out of focus.
Rather than focusing on his friends, Lunaire paid more attention on the mysterious black plates hovering in front of him.
Lunaire glanced around to his compatriots, noticing that their eyes only focused on them. They did not notice any mana movement, indication of magic spells, nor could they see these black translucent plates. If there was no mana flow, how could the strange clearly magical projection maintain itself, he wondered.
Appearing in the center of his vision, no matter where he turned his head, was a large hexagonal plate, depicting a cute stylized staff. Haphazardly to the corners of the central plate were different banners or maybe labels. Skills, equipment, quests, items, friend list…Lunaire understood the meanings, but could not fathom the reason that it appeared in front of him.
He glanced up to the largest panel on the upper right. Almost like a passport or identification card, his surprisingly clear photograph was displayed prominently along with his name. Scanning down the lists, Lunaire mused quietly.
Race, human…It would be more accurate to label Lunaire as a Youkai magician. After using abandon food magic among a few others, a human magician ascended to the rank Youkai magician, gaining longer lifespan and no longer required sustenance. Yet, in a way, the information was arguably correct because Youkai magician was simply a transformed human. Apart from their lifespan and obscene magical power, they were as close to a simple as any youkai could be.
Reading the next line, Youjutsu-shi or the one who uses Youjutsu, Lunaire craned his neck and frowned. Youjutsu translated literally in Japanese to Youkai techniques, a catch-all term for the abilities used by Youkai or exhibiting unnatural property like Youkai. The title was dubbed as Sorcerer, which caused a scowl deeper from the magician. Lunaire believed that the term Majutsu-shi, magician, described him much better.
Below the grossly inaccurate title were two bars, green and purplish blue. The number above green bar showed 120/120, while the purplish bar under displayed 10/207. Just what was HP and MP, Lunaire felt the urge to tear at his hair. The more he read, the more incomprehensible it seemed to him.
Lunaire was not going to touch the blank sections called guild affiliation and party at this point. Either his sanity or his friend's patience, one of it would give out first.
"Lunaire!"
Apparently, it was the latter. He felt his body shook, feeling the firm grip on his shoulders. His eyes focused on the blonde before him while the weird plates faded away as if on que.
"Oh, Alice, I," Lunaire squirmed in her grip, unsure how to answer without appearing insane. Lunaire tried moving his shoulders, but Alice soft hands hid surprising level of strength, firmly resisting.
"You look really confuse, ze. Tell us what is eating you," Marisa chimed in from the side.
"I am quite confused. It is not everyday I see these huge…panels in front of me," Lunaire chuckled bitterly. For whatever reason, the transfer was unkind to him, hopefully him alone.
"That doesn't sound good," Reisen watched Lunaire critically, like a doctor examining her patient.
Reisen noted previously that while Lunaire's eyes appeared unfocused, they retained clarity. His mind was clear and sharp, simply directing his attention at something they could not see. The rabbit sniffed cutely, smelling no medicinal scent around, tentatively ruling out poisoning.
"Can you describe it to me?" Alice watched him closely. Her olive-green eyes shimmered in the dimly lit room.
"I," Lunaire started making gestures, pointing to the area in front of him. "I saw a large hexagon in front of me and different labels with strange things like quests and friend list on it…"
He trailed off, concentrating on the image he saw in his mind. As if responding to his thought, the earlier panels shimmered into existence. Very strange, he thought.
"I have a feeling for a while now, but you finally went off the deep end," Remilia bared her toothy grin. Her voice went up a pitch. Kosuzu giggled.
Hearing the mockery in her tone, Lunaire chuckled derisively and rolled his eyes in response. He felt the hands leaving his shoulders and moved up to his face, drawing his attention back to Alice.
"Hmm, do you mind if I examine you a little?" Alice inquired.
"Please do," Lunaire sighed, "this thing is creeping me out as well."
Alice muttered her spell under her breath, followed closely by a wave of mana intruding on his body. Lunaire relaxed and let her spell washed through him, once, twice and then thrice.
"Hmm, Alice, even I will feel self-conscious if you keep holding my cheeks like that." Lunaire smiled wryly, sparring a glance from his attempt to decipher the purpose an origin of these strange objects.
Alice withdrew her hands while shaking her head. "I cannot find anything wrong with you, apart from abysmally low mana. What happen?"
As a magician, they should be the one most aware of the mana level in their body, so Alice inquired such.
"I think that the transfer siphon off the majority of my mana," Lunaire explained. At the same time, he activated his mana sense with little drop of energy he had left. "I believe it is not just me as well."
Remilia's chaotic and predatory crimson aura remained, but the magnitude was dampened significantly. He doubted that even the new blood would sport such a weak signature. It was the same for everyone else. Their aura maintained the same impression he had in his memory, but much weaker, flickering slightly like candlelight.
"Now that you mentioned it," Marisa, someone who constantly pumped her Hakkero with power, quickly felt the atrophy in her mana store.
"Interesting, most interesting," Patchouli mumbled before inquiring, "you mention seeing these shapes and writings yes, something about friend list?"
Rather than waiting for a response, Patchouli jumped in her seat a little. Her lilac eyes widened and blinked repeatedly. Her dainty hands rubbed her eyes, reddening them slightly, but the strange sight in front of her persisted.
"I think…I see what you are talking about," Patchouli deadpanned, her voice filled with surprise and curiosity.
"What, you see it too?" Marisa snapped her neck to the bookworm.
"Um, just a little bit different," Patchouli mumbled, almost to herself. "Drag in the name to add them to your friend list."
Patchouli also saw the large staff image, but another board appeared on top of it, titled friend list. The bookworm simply read the instruction on the plate out loud. Moving her focus back to the occupant in the room, Patchouli blinked again, feeling the world grow less and less logical.
Everyone in her line of sight now sported a small sign near their head. Marisa-adventurer, Patchouli read the one closest to her. The sign was accompanied with a bright green bar, which purpose she could not determine. Following her curiosity, she reached out toward the sign, wondering whether this was the "name" referred in the instruction.
The bookworm felt a feedback as if her soft fingertips pressed firmly again a glass pane. The girl dragged the Marisa's sign, feeling satisfied when it moved with her hand. Letting the sign go above the black plate with the instruction, Marisa name quickly appeared in the list with a label called pending.
"Wah!" Marisa jumped, hearing a strange ringer directly in her head. It was a strange sensation to say the least.
"Don't surprise us like that," Nitori, who was lost in her daydream, turned around, annoyed.
"But, look, this thing here suddenly popped up and make noise," Marisa protested.
"I don't see it."
Marisa growled and swung her arms to the side, about the say something, before she heard a crisp chime like a bell tolling. Her hand appeared to have hit something solid.
"Patchouli, are you pulling my legs?" Marisa inquired. Her cheeks puffed up as the ordinary witch held down her stomach, suppressing her giggle.
"What?"
"Is this the panel or sign you are talking about?" Marisa gestured in the air, making rectangular and hexagonal shapes and earning a quick nod from both Lunaire and Patchouli.
"You see them too," Alice raised her voice a pitch, alarmed.
"Yeah, and it said Patchouli wants to be my friend, do you accept?"
"Patchouli, quite desperate, aren't you?" When Remilia finished, she burst laughing unreservedly. The thought that the taciturn magician was cripplingly lonely made her feel indescribably tickled.
In a moment uncharacteristic of Patchouli, her expression darkened as she leveled a resentful glare at the vampire. Of course, all it did was egging Remilia on with her teasing.
"Well, isn't this just distasteful," Remilia spat.
"I wonder how they built it that tall even if they looked disgusting," Nitori tilted her neck. A glimmer of interest could be seen in her eyes.
Sakuya turned to the shorter Kappa and asked the question that her mistress left unvoiced. "Can they be demolished?"
"We sure can do that, but if you want that done quick, you might want to ask Marisa."
Yukari's seemed successful with the transfer. Everyone was alive, albeit with strange deterioration to their power, and the mansion stood relatively intact. As a testament to the fact that they were no longer in Gensokyo, stony rectangular towers, which dwarfed anything they had seen before, replaced the lush forest nesting Scarlet Devil Mansion. Green moss and vines snaked around the crevices of these towers, giving a ruined and aged impression. Remilia could only regard them as gigantic ruins. The misty lake and its perpetual blanket also disappeared. Small rocky flat ground, covered vegetation, unfolded in front of their redbrick gate. Overall, the new dreary atmosphere displeased Remilia greatly. Flanked on three sides by monolithic ruins, the only positive she could think of was the shelter they offered from the sun.
"Wait. Let's see where we are first," Remilia said as she swept her eyes across the landscape.
"Great, I thought I have to beg you to keep it up long enough for us to study," Nitori's thirst for knowledge shone through.
"You Kappa can go ahead and study it to your heart's content. Don't expect it to stand there too long," Remilia made her intention to do away with the towers as soon as possible clear.
"Please be careful," Sakuya added dutifully.
"Don't worry about us Kappa. We know when to run," Nitori snickered and gestured theatrically toward the mansion. "Even if we are weaker, I am sure that the magical defense is still up to snuff."
Remilia grinned and laughed uproariously. Looking toward the western perimeter, the vampire regarded a group of girls busying themselves. "Otherwise, I don't even know why we bring so many magicians," she said haughtily.
"My lady, please note that their current magic power is severely limited," the maid reminded her. While it pained her to contradict her mistress, Sakuya was not completely heartless as to ignore unfair comment to her comrades.
"How very unfortunate," Remilia huffed and walked to the front gate.
Light parasol shielded away the offending sunlight, so a vampire like her can comfortably walk around during the day. Having gotten enough sleep, Remilia felt no hurry to return to bed. She had just arrived in the new world and determined to make the best use of her first day.
Since her mistress made her intention clear, Sakuya did her best to accommodate. Swiftly opening the iron gate, the duo strolled out to the devastated landscape of modern city.
After ascending the tallest building near the mansion, Lunaire sighed. If his memory served, he left for Gensokyo around the turn of the century. He was no stranger to high-rises, even if it had been a little under 20 years since he saw one. Seeing them again dug up some nostalgic memory but did not cause the surprise he felt.
Spreading across his eyes was a modern city or what was left of one. The morning sunlight illuminated a cityscape ravaged by time and vegetation. Just the one he currently stood on, there were many other high-rises around, in various state of disrepair. Some looked abandoned but relatively intact, while some were crumbling apart, exposing the rebar steel and piping to the element. He could not tell whether the damage was completely natural running its course or partially from human hands, so he looked toward Reisen. The rabbit had nothing to say. In the end, they only knew that they arrived in the ruin of modern city without a clue about the cause of its destruction, not an assuring realization, given their weakened state.
There was one strange feature about the city that stood out. To their west, a wall was erected, separating the city with the wilderness outside. Rather than concrete, heavy stone bricks and cobblestones made up the entire structure, giving off different feel comparing to the ruin it surrounded. Outside the wall, a deep and wide wet moat could be seen surrounding the city. City wall and moat were considered obsolete even long ago with the advent of hot weapon. The fortification belonged to a completely different era than the city, but also much newer. This could only mean one thing. Someone set up shop in this ruined city.
"See anything?" Lunaire said nervously as he raised his spyglass back to his deep blue orb. Without his ample mana for scrying spell, they had to find a high perch and rely on the primitive Kappa's spyglasses.
"No. This thing is very hard to use. I can't see much with it at all," Meiling complained but she kept scanning as thoroughly as she could with the spyglass's limited field of view.
It was one of the charming things Lunaire found about Meiling. Although she sometimes complained lightheartedly, she usually tried her best with her task. As a reliable teammate, Lunaire did not find her wanting.
"Nothing at the moment," Reisen answer half a beat later.
With a click, Lunaire folded back the spyglass into the cylinder and somehow stored it in his inventory. Lunaire wondered how the strange interface could do such thing and where was the power source. For now, he shelved the thought and pulled up his friend list awkwardly and tapped on one of the names.
After a ringing chime, a voice could be heard in his head. "Yes, Lunaire?"
"Remilia, we don't see anything moving in the surrounding. But don't relax just yet, because we can only see so much from up here. There is also a sign that someone set up shop in this city. I am not sure whether they left or are still here…"
"Hmm, so I was right choosing patrol the surrounding."
Lunaire raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure you are not just bored?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Remilia giggled.
Lunaire could imagine her cocksure grin on the other side of the line. Then again, nothing could be done at this point anyway. If she was bored and wanted to use helping as an excuse to play, he would not stop her. The vampire could take care of herself. He hoped.
Just as he was about to cut the call, he heard, "there are people over there."
"Where?" Meiling jumped on the action immediately, grabbing onto Reisen's shoulder.
"At the end of the alley, beyond the red sign saying Akiba game store, there are a group of people walking around?"
Lunaire turned and walked toward Reisen, noting the sign she was pointing at. His eyes widened slightly, considering how close it was, merely a few blocks away. He raised his spyglass up and observed in silence.
"They looked like villager," Meiling noted their similarity with the people she saw at Human Village in Gensokyo.
"I don't see any weapon," Reisen spoke plainly, not wanting to jump to conclusion.
Lunaire felt his head dizzy from the loud voice ringing in his skull. "Hey, what is going on over there!"
Remilia was not the one to appreciate being left out. She most likely heard everything from start to end and wanted in. Unfortunately, Lunaire decided not to humor her.
"Sorry Remilia, you will have to sit this one out."
"Not a chance!"
"We cannot leave the mansion undefended. I need someone I can rely on to protect everyone and keep the Kappa in line. Please, Remilia," Lunaire implored softly.
"Fine, but I want in on the action later, preferably soon. Soon, you hear?" Remilia hammered her words and pouted, not that Lunaire could see.
"Let's go," Lunaire said calmly before yelling, "wait!"
Both his hands latched onto Meiling shoulders. Digging his soles on the ground, Lunaire winced from the feedback and forward momentum imparted onto his body.
"Lunaire-sama, what are you doing?"
"No, no, what are you doing?"
"I am jumping to the other building," Meiling tilted her head in wonder, not understanding the reason Lunaire was looking at her with such critical eyes.
Apart from losing their prodigious magical output, especially vexing Lunaire, their physical ability regressed significantly. Lunaire had middling strength and dexterity among grown men, so he did not suffer too much regression. On the other hand, Meiling suffered quite a severe downgrade. Rather than the explosive strength she prided herself with, Meiling was hardly different from a typical human, maybe a little on the upper bracket.
After thinking for a moment, confusion cleared from her eyes and Meiling chuckled nervously. If Lunaire had not stopped her, she would be plummeting to the ground. Not wanting to test the durability of her regressed body, cold sweat drenched her back.
"Come on, we are flying. Reisen, take the lead, bring us closer." Lunaire trusted her military training to know where best to land and observe the crowd.
"Understood."
Peering over the edge, Reisen craned her neck back at Lunaire, who blinked innocently. He unashamedly evaluated himself as higher than average on the look department, but if she could tolerate his presence for the past few years, he doubted that she was suddenly smitten with him. Also, she stared deeply at his forehead, not his face. So, he tilted his head curiously. Seemingly satisfied, she turned back over the edge.
"People of the land," Reisen mumbled.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, he peaked down the ledge to the bustling street below. Unlike the completely deserted area around the mansion, people could be seen milling about. Merchant and shopkeepers yelling over each other to promote their wares, keeping wary eyes for customers and possible thieves alike. Without the information on the total population of the city, the significance of this street could not be evaluated. A major thoroughfare, shopping district or a small market, it was still up in the air at the moment.
Lunaire focused his man on one of the men behind the vegetable stand before a familiar interface popped. However, unlike the ones on his friends, the border was teal green, not purplish blue. Next to their HP bar, the word "people of the land" was displayed. So, somehow, these people differed from his merry band, Lunaire concluded.
"Do you think we should go talk to them?" Meiling scratched her head.
Lunaire hummed softly. "People of the land and adventurer…it doesn't sound like these two titles have any conflict with each other."
"We never know," Reisen countered. Sometimes, just belonging to different group was plenty for a bloodbath or two.
"Can you eavesdrop from this distance?" Normally, moon rabbit's boasted good hearing. But unsure how much of that remained, Lunaire asked anyway.
To be honest, it would be best if they did not get any closer. Not only could the pedestrians see them easier, the ones overlooking from the windows might spot them as well. Estimating from his mana pool or the so-called MP bar, concealment magic from his part would last eight second tops. Reisen, closing her eyes in concentration, could not see the gleaming expectation on his face.
"Where did those adventurers go?"
"I don't see a single one of this since early morning."
"Then what am I supposed to do? These fruits won't last until the evening in this heat."
"When are they when we need them the most!"
"I will pay double for the one that appear right now!"
"Then I will go."
"Let alone a slime, you dimwit can't even kill a chicken without getting hurt."
"Hahaha!"
Having heard enough, Reisen relayed her finding to her two teammates. A sigh of relief spilled from her lips. Her worst fear did not come to pass. Rather than their nemesis, adventurers were simple mercenaries. While Reisen did not recall signing up for the job title, she shrugged.
"They have jobs for us to do?"
"It seems so."
"I am already the gatekeeper of the mansion though."
"We will need the local currency, just in case we need to buy grocery." Lunaire offered.
"Right, Sakuya…" Meiling trailed off, thinking about her colleague. They had a healthy store of food stocked up before the move, but that wouldn't last them forever. "Let's just hear the man out first then."
Reaching an agreement, the hopped down from the rooftop they perched upon, breaking their fall with appropriate application of flight spell. Since dropping down like superheroes in the main street was too eye-catching, they jumped down to the alley, surprising the few eyes of fewer passersby.
When they cleared the alley, Lunaire felt eyes focusing on them from all direction. Cold sweat dripped down his brows. In this vulnerable state, he certainly did not appreciate being the center of attention. Within the stares, he could sense relief, curiosity and derision. Only thing stopping Lunaire from retrieving his weapon from his inventory was the mere fact that none displayed overt hostile intention.
"Oh, there they are…finally," one of the stall owners scoffed under his breath, mistakenly thinking that they would not hear him. He continued harshly. "Oi, you three, do you think you can help me with something."
His disrespectful attitude elicited a frown from Meiling. She promptly smoothened her face the way Sakuya taught her when dealing with insufferable guest. To the rabbit credit, her expression remained unperturbed, brushing aside his rudeness. Lunaire's sarcastic gland was tickled, only slightly, so he let it go. Since the man called out to them first, the three humored him.
When they neared the stall, the man unceremoniously said, "I need help urgently. I need around 2 pails of clean blue slime. I am willing to pay to 6 gold for them if I can get them before noon. What do you think?"
6 gold coins, Reisen wondered. Her red eyes veered slightly behind the counting, catching a glimpse at pile of small coins. Even if gold was not as valuable in Gensokyo, it still was not something that a fruit stall could fork out so easily, especially six of them. This meant that the value of gold here was abysmal over here.
Looking at the price of the fruits and sparing a glance at the different stall around the area, Reisen roughly estimated that the man offered a reasonable sum. If she had to guess, it should be enough to buy a cheap lunch for one. Of course, the final verdict depended on the task involved.
"Clean blue slime? Just what do you need that for?"
The man stared back at Lunaire in astonishment. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes slightly as if he could not believe his ears. Lunaire stood firm when the man leaned in a little closer.
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh, nothing, I just need them to keep these fruits fresh."
Meiling did not want to ask how this clean blue slime could keep fruits fresh, adopting an innocent look and egging Lunaire to keep talking.
"Where can we find that?"
"Don't ask useless question you…wait, are you new?"
"Yes, so excuse me for not knowing much."
"Well, fine," the man turned to the side and stretch out his hand. "Down that street, you will see the south city gate. Wander around the area a bit and you will find some blue slime rolling about. Just knock out its core, cut out the dirty part and bring the rest to me. Simple for a newbie like you, yes?"
"Sure, you want it quick?" Reisen asked, covering her eyes, and looked up. The sun halfway up to the zenith gave them ample time to work with.
If the slimes were not too difficult to find or dispatch, it would be worth the effort. Not that they had anything better to do other with their time. Stalls and stores on the street, built mostly from wood, offered little in term of protection from elements and active threat. The mansion should be safe, alleviating the main concern of their excursion.
"Right," he grunted. "Where did all of you folks go this morning?"
"Us, we are on a different job, but I think that is not what you were asking." Lunaire answered nonchalantly.
"No, not just you guys. How come I don't see any adventurer since morning?"
"I don't know."
The stall owner let out a snort at the unsatisfying answer, not knowing that Lunaire became interested in the whereabout of the remaining adventurers. It seemed that the stall owner fully expected them to be around to accept his errand, meaning that they should be quite common.
"So, you are going?"
"Sure," Lunaire shrugged.
As he said that, the trio heard a refreshing clink in their mind. At the corner of their vision, a small quest tag pulsed. Reisen was the first to press on the tag, opening a quest menu. Much to her surprise, a crude memo of their assigned task appeared. In easily digested format, the information they acquired off the trader was logged directly in there.
The merchant called out again after the three turned away. "Are you guys in a party?"
"Yes?"
"Then you should accept more quest from these folks. Even when I bumped your pay a little, 2 gold won't feed each of you."
"Thank you,"
"Whatever…but I want my stuff before noon, you hear me!"
Why did it not work?
In a moment so outlandish for her, Sakuya slammed the metallic bowl loudly into the sink, adding another to the pile. The thunderous crash spilled the vile content, mixing with the filth from the previous batch. Thick blackish-purple sludge congealed at the bottom of the sink, being another testament of her failure.
Sakuya glared at her hands as if it had betrayed her in the worst possible way. They were trembling. Sores and blister tainted her previously flawless hands. Yet, the physical pain fell short of mental ones. A volatile mix agitation and desperation ravaged her heart like fire that could not be put out.
Hearing the familiar charm in her head, Sakuya almost slammed her fists onto the tabletop. There, in her peripheral was a small label. As if in mockery of her previous failure, it displayed that she became a level 18 Perfect Maid. What perfect maid, Sakuya rasped. For the one such as her who could no longer bake a simple cake, calling her perfect maid was equivalent to spitting at her face.
Her mistress asked for Sachertorte, something perfectly within her capability just a few days ago. Yet, why was it that her batter always turned into eldritch slime?
It was an absolute impossibility for a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar and butter to end up that color. Sakuya's mind refused to comprehend it that she tried again and again till her hand blistered. Popping some of them carelessly, she wrapped them up roughly, uncaring of the potential scarring.
Her raison d'etre was serving her mistress, Remilia Scarlet. She desired nothing beyond that. Her other happiness was merely a luxury that she would discard without hesitation. Sakuya never doubted that her service to the scarlet devil would conclude with her death, giving her life for Remilia, so an ending like this was truly unacceptable. Her path ending simply because she failed so fundamentally as a maid, how laughable and shameful would that be?
No, Sakuya did not yield. Her eyes took on a craze glint when her hand snatched the next glass vial from the countertop and down the content. Mere moment later, Sakuya felt mana essence searing through her vein, but bit down the pain. Shifting her concentration up to her forehead, a familiar interface appeared and confirmed that her MP returned to 150.
Before Sakuya could activate her time dilation spell to speed her next trial along, soft footsteps echoed down the hallway. Such light impact could only mean one person, causing her silver eyes to fill with despair.
"Sakuya?"
"My lady, I…" Sakuya bit her lip so deeply it bled.
"Sakuya, what is wrong," in a flash, Remilia rushed in, seeing the haunted look from Sakuya. It had been forever since she had seen such expression from Sakuya.
"My lady, it is my fault," said Sakuya.
Remilia flapped her wing, lifting her of the ground, and grasped lightly onto Sakuya's trembling hands. Her vampiric nature attuned her to the physical wellbeing and blood flow of any organisms. Not a glance was needed to confirm the sores and blister marring her maid's hands. A pair of crimson eyes swept through the room sharply the first target to obliterate from existence.
Remilia came down to the kitchen because Sakuya disappeared for so long. No matter how difficult or unconventional the dishes, Sakuya would complete them in a jiffy. Even when deprived of her signature time manipulation, Remilia trusted in Sakuya's cooking proficiency and experience to deliver. Only major trouble worthy of her intervention could delay Sakuya in her duty.
The crimson eyes drawn toward the haphazard pile of bowls in the sink. She asked curtly, "is this the failed cake batter?"
"Yes, my lady,"
"Sakuya…do not insult your intellect like that."
"I am truly sorry."
"There is no way a normal cake batter can create this sludge," Remilia gestured at the congealed slime. "Even if you burn them to a crisp during whisking, such a thing cannot happen. Even if I haven't made one myself, I at least know this much."
Hearing consolation from her mistress, Sakuya smiled bitterly. As a goal-oriented individual, resulted mattered more to her than the process in the end. Above all else, it was an undeniable fact that she failed to meet her mistress expectation and more unforgivably, still did not know the way forward.
"Sakuya, do you still know how to make Sachertorte, even just in theory?"
"Yes, I do."
"Hmm, this world is more unreasonable than I thought." Remilia rubbed her chin. "Is it simply impossible to cook in this world? That is horrible!"
"…" Sakuya could not help when her smile broke out. Without a word of doubt, Remilia accepted her answer fully. In her mind, Remilia would rather question the world than believe that the maid simply forgot her cooking skill.
"…My lady, are you up for some Sunny Side Up?"
"Oh, maybe this time I will understand Lunaire's fondness for them," Remilia chuckled and sat down on the table.
Ignoring her mistress ill-mannered conduct, Sakuya swiftly dug up some intact eggs from the ingredient pile she prepared. Blue flame billowed up from the magical stove. A flick sent a slice of butter onto the skillet with practice ease. The hissing flame promptly melted butter, releasing the savory aroma.
One after the other, the eggs transformed into a glistening white gel with bright yellow sun in the center, under the surprise stare from Sakuya. Only when she properly decorated them on the plate did she release the breath she held unconsciously.
"Apparently, cooking is still allowed," Remilia mused and begun tearing the whites apart, savoring the taste of the freshy made sunny side up. "There is no problem with the taste either."
Spearing up another piece, Remilia offered her maid a bite. The hesitation Sakuya showed before finally relenting caused the vampire to grin teasingly. The pair of dark blue eyes narrowed contently. Rather than the taste, Remilia believed Sakuya was relishing on something else and quickly finished the quick oily brunch.
On a side note, Remilia tried to draw attention away from the fact that she left the yolks completely intact, slicing away the whites with surgical precision. She could not fathom why Lunaire was so fond of such foul texture. Sakuya, calming down, was content not to hold it against her mistress and scooped up the rest for herself, pleased.
"So, a simple food like this is okay, while a cake is a no-go."
As she said so, Remilia fiddled with the dial of the stove, producing a hissing flame from its opening. Sakuya responded with alarm, knowing that fire was particularly damaging to vampire like her mistress. Remilia waved casually. She placed the skillet above the flame and beckoned the maid for a few eggs.
Sakuya noted from the hissing that the flame was most likely too strong and turned it down before handing Remilia some butter that she forgot. A quick slice from the vampire tore a huge slab of butter into the pan. As soon as the butter impacted the hot skillet, they heard a strange pot instead of the expected sizzling. The slab of butter had transformed into the strange abomination.
"Well, isn't that just interesting?" Remilia tilted the skillet, rolling the congealed blob of black and purple around.
After a moment of silence, Sakuya offered her conjecture. "My lady, it might be something related to the strange windows that we discovered."
"What do you mean?"
"If I recall correctly…when I try making the cake batter, I kept receiving a small display, telling that my," Sakuya emphasized her next words. "Perfect Maid subclass has leveled up."
"Your subclass…is it related to the class thing we saw," Remilia opened her own and Sakuya's interfaces, eyeing the label Swashbuckler and Assassin, respectively. "I don't see subclass."
When the word subclass was uttered, a smaller panel revealed itself, displaying the title. Unlike for main class, the subclass menu was quite simplistic, not showing the stylized symbol. For the vampire, her subclass called Scarlet Moon was shown prominently, quite fitting in her opinion. The display included a string of text, but Remilia disregarded them as it was not the time nor place.
"I have a subclass at well. You might be able to learn something about your Perfect Maid subclass by saying something along the line.
"Subclass," Sakuya mumbled and scanned around the panel that popped up subsequently. "Perfect Maid Lv. 18."
"So, your number has increase. My number is only 1." Remilia shrugged. "Ignore the cake, just continue with your regular duty. Patchouli might know something about this."
Finally discovering an avenue to pursue, Sakuya relaxed the tension in her shoulders slightly. After discovering the possible source of the problem, she could put her effort into rectifying it, not sitting around feeling useless about herself. Comfortable to leave Sakuya to her own device, Remilia strode out of the kitchen confidently after she wiped the oily mark of her lips.
Reisen knew that the fruit stall owner meant well with his suggestion. Meager 6 gold was not enough for a livelihood. But he did not tell them that they would get swarmed before they started, no less, by the owners from the adjacent stores. To the surprise of only the trio, the other people of the land (Landers) relied heavily on the freelancing adventurers as well. Since they were the only ones available since the morning, the landers scrambling over each other to get their quests in, spooking Reisen in the process. If not for their benign intention, she would have flown away at the first sign.
While their quest log happily chimed away, their mental fortitude was tested constantly for the next half hour. They could refuse the quests forcefully, but the landers, knowing that they asked a lot of the trio, sweetened the deal with generous payment. While numerous, the three of them could finish by the early afternoon if they pushed it, netting them just a little over 100 gold.
After successfully evading the mob bombarding them with unceasing quests, the trio finally arrived at the south gate. The ravage of time stripped away the ornate features of the gate, leaving only the general contour. Outside the gate were a moat, filled with strangely clear water, and a wide stone bridge, offering wide birth enough for at least 4 carriage to travel side by side.
Reisen found the design to be most peculiar. Unlike most stone fortification, there were neither portcullis nor reinforced door anywhere. Instead of a proper drawbridge, the crossing was made of stone and offered no defensive benefit. For a city fortification, this was a fatal flaw for it allowed the enemy to waltz into the settlement unimpeded.
Leaving the city proper, the trio armed themselves with their weapons of choice, hidden in their armory. With that said, only Reisen and Lunaire brought weapons because Meiling preferred to let her body do the talking. He did not tell the gatekeeper that he brought extra pair of daggers, in the case that Meiling found it hard to beat anything regressed physical strength.
A long blue spear materialized in front of Lunaire when he pressed on its icon on the interface. Both the shaft and the blade gleamed in the sunlight, seemingly made of bluish glass or crystal. Instead of a short spear tip, Lunaire opted for a slightly longer blade when he crafted it to facilitate small cut. The area joining the rod and the blade was decorated minimally with lightly colored precious stone. In the core of the joint, a blue flame burned softly in the glassy material normally as it would in air. On the other end, the rod ended with a dull spiky protrusion that could do some damage with some heft and speed.
Although its shape resembled a spear and it functioned like a spear, the weapon was undoubtably a staff. Lunaire crafted it a while back as a proof of concept for a new technique. While it fulfilled its purpose quite well, the inferior materials marred it performance in certain area. Lunaire only brought them out to make them look less suspicious. Of course, he had his favorite and most powerful instrument ready in his inventory should things went south.
To his side, Reisen strapped a Wakizashi to her belt. Like Meiling, the rabbit usually did not favor carrying weapon into battle. But, given the fact that they were no longer in Gensokyo and her atrophied physicality, Reisen chose the smarter rout and sought out force multiplier. Another experimental results of the crystal forge technique, the wakizashi also sported a thing blue crystal for a blade. Crystal boasts superior hardness and retained the sharp edge very well but was brittle when forged so thinly. To counteract this flaw, spells were incorporated in to reinforce the integrity while lightening the apparent weight.
Reisen left her trump card in her inventory. Kappa's technical ability never failed to astonish them. Capable of reverse-engineering their own polaroid camera from outside world, Reisen supervised them to create her very own firearm. Previously being in the Lunar military force had its perks.
Hugging the side of the moat, they found the blob of sky-blue jelly milling about in the grass. These creatures appeared quite harmless, living without care in the world. Their body appeared to be quite soft, deforming with the undulation of the ground. Within its clear interior was a region that appeared darker than the other, most likely the core mentioned by the storekeeper.
On top of their jiggly bodies were the familiar labels, containing HP bar and name. Unlike the typical ones they had seen on themselves and the people of the land, the label was colored bright red. It also showed different information, including rank and Lv. Apparently, these creatures shared the "Normal Rank" and possessed different "Lv," meaning absolutely nothing for the trio.
"These things are either biological marvels or evolutionary mishaps," Lunaire chuckled, recalling the biology books he read a few decades back.
He moved closer to one of them. Although it had no discernable eyes, the creature had no trouble detecting him, sliding quietly toward him. Lunaire stopped and leveled his blade, aiming steadily toward the core.
Lunaire dabbled in many martial arts and knew a thing or two about most weapons under the sun, despite being a magician. However, he only ever claimed proficiency in three fields. One of which was spearmanship, used to reliably keep his opponent at a comfortable distance with a staff.
When the creature arrived within a few meters, it leapt at him. Unfortunately for it, this level of abruptness was hardly enough to daunt him. Adjusting the tip, Lunaire let the slime speared itself, piecing deeply to its core. Like a puppet with its string cut, the blob stilled. The green bar indicating its HP instantly vanished along with the label on its body.
"They are like rice dumplings, but meaner," Meiling chortled and cracked her firsts. Given the fact that they needed around 2 bucket worth of these slime, they needed quite a few, judging from their average size. "Let's get moving then."
"Sorry to rain on the parade, but I think I should finish them on my own. It is too much hassle walking around getting every one of them. We have other jobs to do."
Lunaire raised his freehand perpendicular to the ground. Reisen's eyes sway lightly in the wind, pulled in to Lunaire's palm. Feeling the appropriate amount of mana siphoned into his spell or a little under his current reserve, Lunaire confirmed all the targets.
Air Needle
Something clicked and the compressed near his palm condensed into white haze in the shape of numerous needles. These thin and long needles rushed out to a few dozens of slimes roaming the field. Each needle accurately pieced an unnoticeably small hole through the slime core, extinguishing their lives simultaneously. Like human, stabbing a long needle through their gray matter was rather devastating. As if the time had frozen, the slimes froze in unison as the information labels disappeared into motes of light.
"Let's clean them up and…" Lunaire's voice trailed off from the strange charm at the back of his head, following by an energized sensation deep inside his body. A label flashed incessantly on the peripheral of his vision. When he focused on it, the entire interface lit up.
You became a level 2 sorcerer.
You became a level 3 sorcerer, or so it indicated.
So, Lv meant letter, Lunaire concluded. Glancing down to the HP and MP gauge, Lunaire was shocked. Instead of halving, his purple MP bar remained the same. More importantly, the capacity increased. Gasps of surprised quickly followed among his friends as they surely discovered for themselves.
Lunaire paid condolence to the monsters in advance. If killing them could somehow raise his level, especially his mana capacity, they were dead, even if they hadn't realized it yet. Simultaneously, the trio broke into vicious grins.
In unison, the monsters in the zone shivered.
00000
Starting Status:
Name: Remilia Scarlet
Race: Human (True Ancestor)
Class: Swashbuckler
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Scarlet Moon Lv. 1
HP: 192
MP: 154
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Scarlet Moon is a unique subclass only permitted to Remilia Scarlet. Like Vampanella-subclass, it offers vampire-like skills and enhances her stats at night, but to an obscene degree, scaling with the level of the subclass. In addition, this unique subclass grants her powerful regenerative factor at night and to a lesser degree, during the day. This holder of this subclass also suffers more from sunlight, taking damage and debuff from direct contact. However, unlike Vampanella, daytime itself does not give any debuff, merely taking away the buff during the night.
Scarlet Moon also has one unique skill, not inherited in inferior version, to manipulate fate, an ability akin to divine providence. Reality bends to accommodate the wielder with appropriate cost. The ability specializes in manipulating macroscale events.
As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant a permanent subclass of High Noble Vampanella through a vampire kiss. The recipient will gain the same benefit as Scarlet Moon, but diminished, while taking heavier penalty in direct sunlight. They too can grant other the subclass of the lowest grade, Noble Vampanella. The third-generation recipient can no longer grant a subclass.
Name: Sakuya Izayoi
Race: Human
Class: Assassin
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Perfect Maid Lv. 1
HP: 150
MP: 150
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Perfect Maid is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Sakuya Izayoi. Rather than an occupation, Perfect Maid is more like a way of life. Like Maid and Elder Maid subclass, the skill-tree includes serving food, housekeeping and etiquette rivaling that of a high noble. But unlike the lesser counterparts, Perfect Maid's ability extends to time and space manipulation. The raison d'etre of a maid is to serve their master. Perfect Maid takes this to a degree that time and space bend to their will, so that their chores can be finished swiftly.
As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Imperfect Maid as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of Perfect Maid skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Perfect Maid by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Lunaire Vivian Meister
Race: Human (Youkai Magician)
Class: Sorcerer
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Fantasy Theorem Lv. 1
HP: 120
MP: 207
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Fantasy Theorem is a unique subclass only permitted to Lunaire Vivian Meister. This subclass tailors to sorcerer, enhancing elemental damage, survivability and versatility with its skills. This subclass also shares similarity with artificer, having skill-tree that gives bonus to using or crafting magical artifacts. In addition, the holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve existing ones, using the knowledge they accrued. Sounding lackluster on paper, the holder can bring tremendous amount of magical power to bear in an upfront combat, bypassing elemental resistance with versatile spell combination.
Fantasy Theorem has a unique ability to manipulate probability. Unlike luck that randomly hands out good outcome, the skills of this subclass require a cost to pick out a desired outcome among many other.
As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Senior Artificer as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering magic artifacts production skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Fantasy Artificer by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Patchouli Knowledge
Race: Human (Youkai Magician)
Class: Sorcerer
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Eternal Library Lv. 1
HP: 120
MP: 207
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Eternal Library is a unique subclass only permitted to Patchouli Knowledge. This subclass tailors to sorcerer, enhancing elemental damage, survivability and versatility with its skills. It also passively grants improved memory, instinctive grasp on most spells and increases magic-related parameters, such as mana regeneration. This subclass also shares similarity with Demon Book Curator, having skill-tree that gives bonus to using or crafting grimoires. In addition, the holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve existing ones, using the knowledge they accrued. Sounding lackluster on paper, the holder can bring tremendous amount of magical power to bear in an upfront combat, bypassing elemental resistance with versatile spell combination.
Eternal Library also has two unique aspects. The holder has increased affinity toward the five phases, sun and moon elemental spells. It will be much easier to mold and combine these elements to their whim. Eternal Library also confers buffs from being near books, scrolls and other paper-related objects. The buffs can scale to ridiculous degree depending on the environment.
As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Senior Arcanist as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to Fantasy Arcanist by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Flandre Scarlet
Race: Human (True Ancestor)
Class: Swashbuckler
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Diabolic Wave Lv. 1
HP: 192
MP: 154
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Diabolic Wave is a unique subclass only permitted to Flandre Scarlet. Like Vampanella-subclass, it offers vampire-like skills and enhances her stats at night, but to an obscene degree, scaling with the level of the subclass. In addition, this unique subclass grants her powerful regenerative factor at night and to a lesser degree, during the day. This holder of this subclass also suffers more from sunlight, taking damage and debuff from direct contact. However, unlike Vampanella, daytime itself does not give any debuff, merely taking away the buff during the night.
Diabolic Wave also has one unique skill, not inherited in inferior version, to destroy whatever she pleases. By conceptually moving special point of any object to her hand, the holder can pour in their mana to crush the eye, unconditionally destroying said object. As long as required cost can be met, the instant death effect will be evoked and can only be evaded with enough luck or equivalent power to defy destiny.
As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from this subclass. However, the holder can grant a permanent subclass of High Noble Vampanella through a vampire kiss. The recipient will gain the same benefit as Diabolic Wave, but diminished, while taking heavier penalty in direct sunlight. They too can grant other the subclass of the lowest grade, Noble Vampanella. The third-generation recipient can no longer grant a subclass.
Name: Koakuma
Race: Human (Devil)
Class: Summoner
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Familiar Devil Lv. 1
HP: 120
MP: 198
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Familiar Devil is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Koakuma. This is a subclass related to an occupation. As a familiar in the service of a magician, the skill-tree offers enhanced mental capacity, advance calculation and increase magical ability. The holder also receives mana as payment from their master. In return, familiar must obey all direct command from their master, lest they receive a powerful debuff and increasing level of damage. The devilish aspect of the title comes from the added ability to beguile mortal and conjure evil flames to punish their foes. The devil can also offer temporarily contract with any mortal race, like trading, but includes the intangibles like health and mana.
As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. This subclass can only be gained in a specific circumstance of being a devil and signing a familiar contract with a sorcerer. Devil subclass can be granted by a specific ritual involving a sorcerer and a devil, starting from level 1. The holder of Familiar Devil qualifies as one of the participants of the ritual. Familiar Devil subclass can then be gained by signing a binding contract with any sorcerer of their choice. Signing a familiar contract retains half the devil subclass level.
Name: Meiling Hong
Race: Human (Cultivator)
Class: Monk
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Rainbow Gatekeeper Lv. 1
HP: 207
MP: 120
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Rainbow Gatekeeper is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Meiling Hong. Unlike a typical gatekeeper, health and regeneration are increased to an ungodly degree, capable of soaking up even more damage. Specialized in defending an area, this subclass is equipped with supplemental crowd control and area of effect skills, atypical of warrior classes. This subclass also grants the uncanny ability to detect and track the enemies within immediate ability, offering serviceable defense against sneak attacks. In addition, the holder can also channel their mana as Qi into projectile or augment their physical prowess to a disgusting degree.
As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Tai Chi Chuan Initiate as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Rainbow Gatekeeper by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Marisa Kirisame
Race: Human
Class: Sorcerer
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Ordinary Magician Lv. 1
HP: 120
MP: 207
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Ordinary Magician is a unique subclass only permitted to Marisa Kirisame. While not sounding impressive, this subclass enhances aspects of the sorcerer, increasing spell potency and magic-related parameters. This subclass also shares similarity with Alchemist, having skill-tree that gives bonus to using or compounding potions. The holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve the existing ones, depending on the knowledge they accrued.
Ordinary Magician also has two unique aspects. Firstly, this subclass offers powerful buffs and upgrades in tough situations. Depending on the choices, the holder can easily stage a comeback from the jaws of defeat. Secondly, the holder is a hallmark of human endeavor to make the impossible act possible. It may have special hidden effect.
As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Eastern Witch as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Witch of Earth by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Alice Margatroid
Race: Human (Youkai Magician)
Class: Sorcerer
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Seven-colored Puppeteer Lv. 1
HP: 120
MP: 207
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Seven-colored Puppeteer is a unique subclass only permitted to Alice Margatroid. Other than powerfully supplementing aspects of sorcerers, this subclass offers skill almost like a summoner, but rather than summoned beings, the holder controls a legion of dolls. Able to construct and design their own battle dolls, the holder can use them in variety of purpose from common chore to combat. Like production subclass, Seven-colored Puppeteer augments competency as a dollmaker. Yet, it also increases the combat effectiveness when using said dolls. Increasing control limit and dolls' stats, lowering mana upkeep, enhanced field awareness are the least that this unique subclass offers. In addition, the holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve the existing ones, depending on the knowledge they accrued.
Seven-colored Magician also has two unique aspects. Buffs to mana regeneration and spell potency will be applied, depending on the colorfulness the attacks used or active on the field. Their dolls used by the holder also receive special improvement. When used in large number, their stats increase marginally. More importantly, they also gained rudimentary awareness, able to react more intelligently without the external command.
As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Senior Puppeteer as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Grand Puppeteer by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Reisen Undongein Inaba
Race: Human (Jade Rabbit)
Class: Assassin
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Lunatic Red Eyes Lv. 1
HP: 150
MP: 150
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Lunatic Red Eyes is a unique subclass only permitted to Reisen Undongein Inaba. This subclass grants the ability to manipulate waves and insanity. Passively, the holder is immune to any attack or debuff based on light and soundwave. In turn, the holder can manipulate light and soundwaves to great detriment of her foes, such as dealing direct damage or stacking various debilitating debuffs. Some of the more powerful ability require eye-contact. In addition, this subclass heightens agility and dexterity along with a bonus to substantial ranged weapons and potion production.
As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. The holder cannot grant any subclass related to wave manipulation. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship for specialist subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, focusing on scouting, medicine compounding and range damage. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to an Operative by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Nitori Kawashiro
Race: Human (Kappa)
Class: Bard
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Genius Engineer Lv. 1
HP: 158
MP: 150
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic: Genius Engineer is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Nitori Kawashiro. Like mechanic, this subclass deals with construction and maintenance of machines, but to a savant like level. Invention comes to them so easily that it completely negates the drawback of having no specific blueprint tied to the skill-tree. Their manufacturing process grants substantial increase to the stats of the machine they built. Genius engineer also has high affinity to any machine, especially the ones they built, receiving many bonuses to their equipment stats. As a cherry on top, the holder also has marginal increase in their strength, health and dexterity in the unlikely case of their invention exploding.
As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Junior Engineer as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of Genius Engineer skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Genius Engineer by their mentor, starting from level 1.
Name: Motoori Kosuzu
Race: Human
Class: Summoner
Lv.: 1
Subclass: Demon Book Curator Lv. 1
HP: 120
MP: 180
Guild Affiliation: N/A
Special Characteristic:
Demon Book Curator is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Motoori Kosuzu. Like scribe, this subclass allows for creation, processing and maintenance of paperwork and related accessory. However, its capability extended toward more complex magical books, especially demon books that are the namesake of the subclass. To be worthy of the title, the curator is an expert in handling demon books, which can be a frustrating and hazardous affair. An expert curator can decipher any writings and bring the capability of magical books to their full potential without suffering any drawbacks.
As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Bibliophile as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of parent subclass. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Demon Book Curator by their mentor, starting from level 1.
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And there you go.
This chapter starts out quite slow, because I want to capture the feel that all Touhou cast simply do not get MMORPG. I hope that the section with Sakuya is not too out of character. I see her as a very loyal individual and prided herself with her ability as a maid. To lose that all of sudden must be quite the experience for her.
If you are wondering where the other adventurers go, they haven't appeared yet. They will appear in the afternoon. According to the Harlem Lord manga…ahem…Nishikaze no Ryodan, the lander narrated that the adventurers appeared unconscious in Akihabara from the portal, the one they used in Call of Home.
Please leave suggestion or word of encouragement in the review. Those things get me going when I write.