"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.
'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.
(One hour later.) = Time skip.
~Yo, it's God.~ = Phone call.
"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.
[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.
{Gate} = Spell name.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(At the [Old Royal Capital Ruins].)
"Take this!" Elze yelled, rearing her fist as she connected her punch with the crystal cricket. Though she didn't anticipate for its shell to be this hard. The impact vibrated through her as she felt the aftermath of her punch.
"Ow! That's gotta be one tough shell-" Before she could even finish her sentence she was immediately forced to dodge to her right in order to avoid getting skewered. Backing off she watched as another one of her sister's spells ended up getting absorbed by the cricket.
"Not again!" Linze complained, watching as her spell was harmlessly absorbed by the crystal menace.
"Get down!" Elze yelled, tackling her sister to the ground as they narrowly avoided the outstretched appendage of the cricket.
Elze quickly hoisted her sister back up and helped her avoid more attacks from their enemy, she was able to grab one outstretched leg and proceeded to karate chop it, succeeding in chopping the leg off and throwing it away.
Though she was able to block and parry most of the thrusts, one was able to slip through and went straight for her. Fortunately, Linze was able to cast an ice wall to help block the attempt. Saving her sister and returning the favor.
'If I can't use magic offensively, I'll use it defensively.' Linze frowned. Calling forth another wall of ice to block the path of another series of attacks from the crystal cricket.
While it was distracted, Yae went on the offensive, slashing away at the cricket as it tried to recall its leg and block the attacks. Her slashes, while connecting, only did superficial damage, despite this, Yae pressed on. Even if her swings were not cutting through the skin it would at least stagger the beast enough to create some distance far from her comrades.
Yae brought her sword up, deflecting a thrusting attempt from the cricket and redirected the force into a swing towards it. The slash was strong enough to actually leave a mark on the skin but was quickly healed just as fast as it appeared - still, Yae persisted. Another series of slashes sent towards the cricket, all either bounced off or was ineffective at harming it other than just further staggering the crystal monster more.
It leapt into the air and slammed multiple limbs towards Yae, the samurai was fast enough to avoid the attacks and narrowly escaped around them. Debris and dust kicked off from the impacts and she took this moment to strike at the still airborne crystal cricket, unfortunately, it was able to block her attack and push it aside.
Frustrated, Yae backed off, avoiding another thrust from the cricket and prepared to charge in once more. But in the corner of her eyes, Elze was able to somehow sneak up on the cricket while they were fighting.
Not needing to say a word to her, Yae opted to nod slightly, knowing just what Elze wanted to do and so she would follow. Taking the initiative, Yae lounged, her sword poised to stab deep into the cricket.
As she foresaw, the crystal monster avoided the attack by jumping backwards and right into the path of Elze's gauntlet-clad fist, the impact created a small shockwave and even a few cracks appeared on the skin. Not wanting to waste this opportunity. Yae closed in.
She swung her sword. The swing was able to slice clean through, aimed at the already damaged sections of the crystal skin. Meanwhile Elze started bashing and smashing whatever was still intact so as to weaken it for Yae or to smash it herself.
However, while she was doing that, she neglected to be aware of her surroundings and so an outstretched appendage of the cricket slipped through her vision and was aiming straight for her head. Elze noticed it too late and realized that she had no time to dodge.
"Elze! Look out!" Linze yelled, hoping her sister was fast enough to dodge the attack heading for her.
Luckily for the sisters, Yae was. The samurai proceeded to deflect the thrust away from Elze's head and retaliated with a swift slice, cutting through the leg. Elze stepped back, the prospect of her almost dying finally settled in but shook her head, now's not the time to think about it.
Elze, in retaliation, sent a fist towards the cricket, it connected and cracked a bit of the skin, helped massively by {Boost} and {Power Rise}, the force of the punch sent the cricket flying. It dug its legs deep into the ground to stop itself from being flung further. However, it left itself vulnerable, which Yae took full advantage of.
She slashed fourth, her sword was gradually cutting through the skin that was once impenetrable before now nothing more but crumbling to her sharp blade. She sliced off a leg and parried one away. Angered, it tried to shoot out two of its legs towards the samurai only for them to be grabbed and restrained.
Elze smirked, holding the legs in her hands tightly, making sure they couldn't escape from her iron grip. Yae took this opportunity and sliced both legs. The cricket let out a pained screech. Which was promptly interrupted by Elze as she punched the cricket, the force sent it flying through the battlefield.
At the same time, Yae began to close the distance, not letting it even a sliver of rest, the samurai sliced and slashed, each one steadily chipping away the hardened crystal skin of the cricket. It tried to get Yae off of it, but she quickly answered with parries and redirections, using them to further damage the cricket.
Seeing as it was outmatched, the cricket made a hastily retreat, backing away as it healed the wounds it was inflicted with. The red orb deep within its skin glowed red and its wounds quickly healed, as if the damages it sustained were nothing more but a fever dream.
"Damn it!" Elze cursed, watching as the work she and her friends did was undone in seconds as the cricket healed them easily, "Just how much damage does this thing take?!"
"That, I do not know, Elze-dono." Yae replied, fixing her stance as she prepared to charge in again. "But we must not falter. There must be a way to defeat it."
Elze sighed, groaning as she got into position with Yae.
"I just hope the others are doing better than we are."
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(With Touya, Sally and Yumina.)
"Dodge!" Sally yelled, saving Yumina's life as she held back the crystal snake's charge.
The impact created a large shockwave. She gritted her teeth, the snake was a lot stronger than she thought it would be but she held on. With a mighty shout, she was able to throw it off her and swing her scythe, denting the body.
She didn't stop there, Sally kept up the onslaught, not giving the snake any room to recover nor counterattack. She swung her scythe in a wide arc and batted the snake's head away.
It backed off, surprised to find out that a mere human was able to pierce its thick shell, but it was quickly replaced with anger as it tried to lunge again.
This time, Touya came into play as he threw his spear, colliding with the snake's head, the weapon bouncing off while the force of the collision threw off the snake's course.
Yumina let loose her arrows but despite that, they merely bounced off the snake's skin. Frustrated, she added her magic into the mix, it helped pierce the skin but it nullified her enchantments on her arrows and just only did minor damage.
The snake would have responded in retaliation if it was not busy fighting off Sally and Touya at the same time.
"My arrows can't pierce its skin!" She yelled, even if she kept doing it, she was merely nothing more than an annoyance.
She dodged out the way of a tail slam, standing next to Sally as she prepared to re-engage in combat.
"Can't you summon anything to help us?" Sally asked.
"No, none of them are going to be able to harm that monster, much less dent it." Yumina shook her head.
Touya meanwhile kept the snake's attention off of his teammates, engaging it in a duel, opening up with a fist to its head, powered with his gauntlets and buffs, the force of the punch sent its head back, giving Touya the chance to thrust his spear into its skin.
However, he was forced to forego the assault as the snake quickly tried to tail swipe him. He dodged but the wind generated from the swing blew him back a couple of feet away. This was exactly what the crystal snake wanted, as soon as it was able to regain its bearings it lunged once more.
Touya dodged of course, but he suddenly found himself trapped as the lunge was a decoy for the snake to wrap its tail around him and repeatedly slam him into the ground. Touya groaned in pain as he regained his bearings and used {Gate} offensively, when the snake tried to slam him into the ground again he tricked it and closed the spell, severing the tail from its main body.
It screeched, angered as it lunged towards Touya, he dodged the lunging attack by leaping high into the air, causing the snake to collide into the ground he was previously standing on. Touya lifted his spear overhead and slammed it back down, the shockwave generated from the force of the slam kicked away dust and debris along with shattering the snake's body, essentially cutting the thing in half.
Though despite its predicament. The crystal snake persisted and even willed the other half of its body to attack Touya, surprising him. He brought his spear quick enough to block the incoming tail but he was punted away as the force behind it was something he forgot to account for.
Twisting himself in the air, he landed on his feet, just beside Sally and Yumina as they prepared to re-engage their crystal foe. However, they did not expect it to have something up its sleeve. Or, in this case. Scales?
The snake stopped attacking and a second later, it started regenerating all the damage it had acquired, the cut of tail from earlier reattached itself with the main body. The three adventurers' eyes widened as they saw how their attempts at damaging it were all for nought.
"That's so unfair!" Sally whined, but then noticed how this reminded her of her fight with Yae and Touya.
"Huh, so that's how it feels." Touya quipped, he did not expect the snake to regenerate itself, but then again, self-healing was not uncommon with high-level magical monsters.
'This thing can heal itself, its skin is tougher than anything we've encountered so far, and on top of that, it absorbs magic… Just how are we supposed to defeat this thing…' Touya pondered, trying to figure out the crystal beast's weakness and how to exploit it. 'Wait, I may have something.'
"I don't know if this'll work… But here goes, {Slip}!" Touya chanted the null spell, interrupting the snake's regeneration and causing it to slip, somehow.
He duly noted how hilarious it looked for a snake to slip.
"That's it! Don't use direct magic! Use magic indirectly!" Touya yelled, hoping that the other group could hear him as he brandished his spear and charged again.
At his behest, Sally and Yumina attacked. The former joined him with his charge while the former provided firing support. Boosting himself with {Boost} and {Power Rise} he then secretly buffed his two other partymates with {Heat Riser}. With his newly acquired buffs he started thrusting and swinging away with his weapon. The snake tried to counterattack but he was just too fast for it to keep up.
It tried again and again, hitting nothing but air as he was faster than it ever hoped to achieve, frustrated, it swung its tail in a wide arc, hoping to throw him off but Touya just simply flipped over the swing and continued his assault.
He thrust his spear forwards, the stab going deep into its skin and just as quickly as he stabbed it he retracted his spear and did it again, each thrust faster than the one before it and just as dangerous. To the untrained eye, Touya attacks were a blur.
The snake hissed in pain, it intended to back off but Touya wouldn't let it, he pressed on, keeping the pressure on the crystal snake. Yet as it was desperately trying to retreat it forgot one crucial fact. He was not alone in attacking - Sally came from its blind spot and started hacking away with her scythe. The blade easily pierced through the crystal shell with no problem. It tried to swing back with its tail but all it hit was nothing but air and Sally's afterimage.
She slammed her scythe deep into its shell and used the force to lever herself upwards. Using the momentum from her swing to launch herself into the air and landed next to Touya. They both wordlessly attacked once more, synchronizing with each other. Weaving around the snake's attacks perfectly and efficiently.
Touya leapt over a tail swing and landed on it, he raised his spear and brought it downwards, slamming into the tail and forcing it to the ground, Sally took the initiative and ran up to the snake, it was distracted by Touya's denial of its tail that as soon as it turned around to meet Sally she was already up its face.
The former assassin swung her scythe upwards, slicing off a chunk of the snake's head section and it fell to the ground, the impact and weight of the crystal monster created a big dust explosion and debris flying everywhere.
Yumina, who was watching from the sidelines, decided to chant an earth spell and a giant rock began forming over the snake's head. Touya smirked, watching as the snake groggily tried to get back up, its face healing and restoring some of the damage inflicted onto it only for a giant boulder to fall and smash into the snake, disorienting it.
His smirk widened as he took the opportunity provided by his fiance and charged straight ahead with the intent to finish this thing once and for all. Sally joined him, one of her swings managed to slice the head section of the snake, and continued hacking away with her scythe as the two tried to destroy as much of the snake as possible.
Touya maneuvered past Sally as he began to take his time picking apart the snake. A last ditch effort to save itself from destruction it tried a desperate last swing with its tail, but Touya just effortlessly blocked it with his spear and redirected away. And thrust his weapon into the tail and then pulled it out, destroying the segment and everything attached to it.
With the danger out of the way, Touya and Sally began to hack away, trying to destroy the body of their foe as fast as they could before it had the chance to regenerate its wounds. Once they did, all that was left was merely pieces and a red orb.
"Nice work, now let's help the others-" Touya tried to finish his sentence but stopped midway as he tackled Sally to the ground, narrowly avoiding a tail swing.
They looked back and saw the snake was once again regenerating back its body. Its 'eye' glowing an ominous red as it began regenerating most of its injuries.
"Now that's just bullshit." He cursed.
Once it was halfway complete, it tried to pounce on them only to collide with its brethren, the crystal cricket, slammed into it and they both ragdolled into each other.
The two crystal beasts slammed into a nearby ruined structure, destroying it and everything else near it. Touya eyed them carefully as he watched the things try to get up from their collusion. Looking to his left, he saw the other three as they ran up to them.
"Are you guys alright?" Elze asked, taking a stance as she watched the monsters slowly get back up.
"Yeah, but those things just won't stay down." Sally nonchalantly replied, shrugging as she spun her scythe and pointed it at her enemies.
"I hear you, that cricket almost stabbed me If Yae wasn't there to block it." Elze nodded, the aforementioned samurai smiled, but then focused her gaze over to their opponents.
"Think nothing of it, Elze-dono." She replied. Keeping her katana's blade pointed at the beasts.
"Anyone have a plan on how to kill these things?" Touya asked.
"I may have an idea." Yumina caught their attention, she took and arrow from her quiver and aimed it at the crystal beasts, "When Touya and Sally were able to destroy parts of its body - I notice that every time it tried to heal itself, its 'eye' always glowed, maybe that's our ticket to killing it."
"Yeah, when that cricket was regenerating itself. That red orb started glowing alot." Elze added in. The rest of the group agreed, it seemed plausible enough and from what they saw, she may be right on her observation.
"Then we'll just have to crack their shell and destroy the orbs." Linze commented, preparing another spell in advance.
"Guess so." Sally shrugged. Her white flames began to manifest into her scythe as she crouched into position and prepared to charge the crystal beasts once more.
"Touya-Dono, what are your orders?" Yae asked, readying her blade.
"You, Sally and Yumina take on the cricket, Elze, Linze. You're with me, we'll take care of the snake. If any of us kills our target first go help finish off the other one." Touya ordered. Brandishing his yari as he boosted up everyone with {Heat Riser}, "And remember, use indirect magic!"
He dashed forward with Elze following suit and Linze not far behind, going for their target leaving Yumina, Yae and Sally with theirs to deal with.
Touya threw his spear at the cricket, intent on separating the two from each other while he retrieved his weapon quickly and used it as a lever to toss the cricket far from the snake and him as possible, the other three will handle that bug, he has a snake to kill.
The feeling seemed mutual, as the snake wasted no time in lunging towards him, though its attempts at harming him were thwarted by Elze's fist smashing against the snake's head. The attack gave Linze time to cast a spell and a giant block of ice appeared and slammed into the snake's head, shattering and disorienting it.
Not giving it time to recover, Touya and Elze pressed the attack. The two were in sync with their attacks, when one backed off the other would pounce and vice versa. The snake had a harder time combating the both of them at the same time.
It tried to slither away but before it could its body was frozen in place. Linze chanted her spell as it was able to wrap around the snake and restrict its movements. It tried desperately to slide away only for it to be bashed in the head from Elze's massively buffed punch.
The older silverette pressed on, a series of punches and kicks shattered and broke pieces of the snake's body, with a final kick that separated the head from the main body. Elze was about to punch the cut off head but she was forced to dodge as a tail tried to paint the ground red with her body.
Despite it being frozen in place, it still had enough room to will its tail for an attack, but being forced in one spot restricted its range. Nevertheless, it effectively gave enough time for the snake to get the two adventurers off of it for the time being. Once it did. It activated its red orb, using the magical reserves it had to rejuvenate itself and heal.
However, Just as its head and body began to reattach to one another, Touya recalled a certain spell that would've helped massively if he remembered it earlier.
'Well, it does look small enough to fit in my hand. So it should work…' Touya mused as he held out his hand, aiming it at the red orb deep within the crystal snake. "Good time as any, {Aports}!"
And wouldn't you know it. It worked, the red orb that was originally inside of the snake was now in Touya's hands, the young man smirked as he dropped the orb to the ground and crushed it with his boots.
The snake let out an ear-piercing hiss, before its skin suddenly starting cracking everywhere, it zoned in on Touya as it saw the remains of its red orb, with one last glance, it tried to lunge at him only to shattered like glass, effectively dying with the orb to sustain itself.
"Wow, Touya, you did it!" Elze praised, glad to finally kill one of the crystal beasts for what seemed to be for good this time. She rushed to his side as she intended to get him ready for the last one left.
"Amazing… Touya what spell did you use?" Linze, who was trailing behind, came to Touya's left, the sole male of the party answered their questions, how he remembered that {Aports} was a null spell that was exactly what he needed to get the red orb without trying to get through the skin first.
"Aha! So because {Aports} wasn't a direct magical attack spell, it was able to bypass their magic absorption?" Linze echoed, Touya nodded as he turned to his right and saw Sally and Yae easily handling the cricket with ease. Yumina on the other hand was finally able to be more useful as her arrows were able to dent the cricket better than it did with the snake.
"Yeah, that's right, now come on. Let's finish this." Touya ordered as he held out his hand to Elze, the older twin raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering what he wanted, "Gimme your hand Elze, I'm going to throw you at that thing, don't worry, I'll boost you with my magic so the impact doesn't hurt."
"You're crazy, but I trust you, you better be sure this doesn't hurt!" Elze nodded, grabbing his hand, Touya smirked as he cast {Heat Riser} and spun around to get some momentum going, and with his might, flung his friend towards the cricket, she met it dead center with the heel of her boots.
The impact quite literally shattered all of the cricket's defenses, breaking everything and flinging it backwards, ragdolling across the area as it tried to stop itself from further harm. Digging its legs into the ground as it skidded to a halt. Elze adjusted her landing and fixed her eyes on the slowly recovering cricket, to her left, Yae and to her right was Sally, Yumina was behind them, her bow already with an arrow at the ready, they were prepared to bring this thing down once and for all.
Wordlessly, Sally made the first move, sprinting towards the cricket, her scythe poised to slice the crystal monster in half, it tried to dodge, but by doing so it was within Yumina's range. The first princess let loose a series of arrows, each one accurate and precise, hitting the skin of the cricket and cracking them.
While it was busy trying to dodge the arrows, Yae came up from behind it. The samurai sent out a series of slashes, each one denting and slicing the legs off of the cricket, finding itself in danger. It tried to fight back only for it to be fruitless, as Elze grabbed the outstretched limbs and used them as a lever to slam the cricket into the earth.
The impact was so hard It bounced off the ground - and Yumina thought this was the perfect time to throw a giant rock at it - and so she did, the rock connected with the cricket, the collision further ragdolled the cricket and flung it towards some shattered ruins, destroying them upon impact.
The cricket weakly tried to stand up, the damage it sustained was now too much for its orb to regenerate at a fast pace. Nevertheless, it tried to heal the crucial areas and anything not too damaged.
Not a second later, Sally came about, appearing exactly behind it and swung her scythe upwards, flinging the cricket into the air. The former assassin crouched and jumped. Reaching the cricket midair and swatting it like a fly with her scythe, it collided with the ground, destroying a portion of the ground and kicking up dust.
Sally twisted herself in the air. Using the momentum and raising her scythe overhead, quickly coming back to the surface and slamming it down. The following attack further kicked up dust and shattered what was left of the cricket's crystal skin.
It tried to regenerate its limbs back, desperate to preserve its life only to be sliced off by Yae's katana, Elze walked towards it, kneeling down as she raised her fist and began smashing the downed cricket. After several fists and beatings, along with the occasional slash from Yae, only its orb was intact and exposed to the elements.
Quickly, Elze grabbed the orb and slammed it into the ground before stomping it with her boots, the orb shattered and like with the snake, the cricket let out a shriek before the rest of its body broke down until it was nothing but broken pieces of glass.
"Good riddance." Elze dusted her hands off, relieved to finally kill off these pests after a long battle. She let out an exhausted sigh, tired after going through two quests and exploring and fighting these crystal monsters.
"Indeed." Yae nodded, sharing Elze's sentiment as let out a sigh herself.
"Still, what were these things?" Sally inquired, watching the cricket slowly dissolve into dust. She had fought many things in her time as an assassin but this was one of the more unique ones she encountered.
"Is everyone alright?" Touya and Linze caught up to the three as Yumina came around seconds after.
"Yeah, just tired." Elze yawned, stretching out to get rid of her stiffness, "Man, I'm beat…"
Linze ran up to her sister, checking up on her as she pulled out some refreshments from her bag and handed it to Elze, Sally on the other hand stuck up a conversation with Yae.
'That was exhausting… But at least we killed… whatever those things were.' Touya frowned. He watched his companions talk amongst each other after partaking in a battle that they didn't expect to have. 'Whatever they are, the King should know about this.'
He let out a sigh and turned to lock eyes with Yumina. Wordlessly, she nodded, knowing what he wanted to ask her without him even saying it.
Touya smiled and nodded back, he can always just tell Tristwin tomorrow. Now he and the party deserved some rest.
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(In the Royal Castle, at [Alephis].)
"I must say, I didn't expect to see you two here so soon. Did you miss your father that much, Yumina?" Tristwin teased, sipping the tea prepared by his servants, the older man laughed at his daughter's pouting.
"Uwaaa- Father, please don't tease me like that!" The Princess of Belfast huffed, Touya found her pouting face cute but decided to not comment on it and let the father and daughter interact after not having done so in days ever since.
"Yes, yes, do excuse this old man for wanting to hear his daughter's voice after days of not having so. Though, I must say, your timing is impeccable, I was just about to write a letter to ask for your audience." Tristwin switched the topic, going from a father to a king, his tone serious.
"Oh? What would you need our presence for?" Yumina asked, raising an eyebrow at her father's request.
"Two things, firstly, I want to reward you, Touya." Tristwin dropped a bomb, Touya raised in eyebrow in confusion. Seeing his confused face, Tristwin continued, "You said you wouldn't want to be rewarded for saving my life, however, I cannot in good conscience let you go without a reward. In this case, a noble title would be in order."
"Though, I know that I cannot convince you with a noble title, usually this would be the reward for saving my life, however, I can grant you a monetary reward along with a residence as a base of operations." He pulled out a scroll and a pouch of platinum coins. Placing them on the table.
"Eh?" Touya was dumbfounded, he was going to refuse the offer of a reward once again, but he was taken back by Tristwin knowing that he would refuse and then turning that reward into money and a home. Which to Touya, was something he definitely needed.
Given that he was an adventurer, having his own house instead of staying in an inn should've been something he had done, but with how busy he was, the idea kept slipping further into the back of his mind. Now - with things starting to calm down he finally got to think about it and was planning on doing it after saving up money from quests.
Tristwin basically just saved him the trouble by offering a home, along with money that he would've spent buying said home - it was a win-win situation that Touya found himself not wanting to decline.
"I… I can't refuse… I was actually planning on finding a home - Thank you?" Touya thanked, not knowing what words to use, so he just awkwardly accepted the rewards.
"Think nothing of it, Touya, this is the least I can do for saving my life after all." Tristwin chuckled at his reaction.
Yumina unwrapped the scroll and read its contents, her eyes widened slightly as she spotted a familiar line of letters written on it.
"It says here that the mansion is situated in the western district of the capital. Isn't this the same residential area as Uncle Alfred?" Yumina asked, rereading the letter before handing it to her soon-to-be husband as he began reading it himself.
"Indeed, I figured if I could not see you often. Or if you want to meet up with family, Alfred would be there for you, and with how close Touya and my brother seemed to be, this was the best course of action." Tristwin nodded.
Touya sighed, but chuckled, he does enjoy the Duke's company, so he didn't complain, plus he was already given a home to call his own, asking to change it would be too much in his opinion.
But then, Touya perked up… He just realized that a mansion was overkill for 6 people, meaning he would have to find other people to help with keeping the house clean while they were out adventuring, and that also meant he would have to pay them for their services, which he didn't really mind. It's finding people for the job that he was worried about.
"If you're worried about hiring people, I can arrange for that, Touya." Yumina smiled, placing a hand on top of Touya's.
"Yes, Touya, trust Yumina to find very capable people. She has a knack for this sort of thing, after all." Tristwin smiled before moving the conversation onward, "Lastly, the second reason why I asked for your presence here."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he intertwined his fingers together.
"As you know, the ambassador of [Mismede] is currently within our borders." He started, his usual tone gone and in its place was the King's. "Despite the efforts of… Some undesirables. The meeting with the ambassador and I was a success and I've decided to finalize the acceptance of a formal alliance with the [Kingdom of Mismede], and in two weeks, the ambassador will be returning to her home kingdom."
"What does that have to do with us?" Touya was puzzled. While he was glad the meeting went okay, he failed to see where he and Yumina fall into all of this.
"I would like to ask you a favor, I want you and Yumina to be the representatives of [Belfast] and travel to [Mismede] to deliver this letter of acceptance." Tristwin snapped his fingers and a butler who looked like an even older version of Leim appeared, handing the King a letter. Tristwin then handed it to Yumina.
"Wait, shouldn't it be better if you send an ambassador of your own instead of us?" Touya inquired.
"Usually, that would be the case, however. An alliance between human and demihuman kingdoms is unheard of. By sending my daughter, they will be under the impression that I put a lot of trust into the alliance. Assuring them that I genuinely want for this to go well." Tristwin answered, he already thought and pondered over this, both with his advisors, his closest confidants and his wife. "Especially now, with the rising tensions of the world as well as the tense ceasefire with [Regulus Empire], having allies will be key to the survival of both kingdoms."
While Tristwin doubted the current Emperor of [Regulus] would pursue war with [Belfast] that doesn't mean there weren't people who still wished for a continuation of it, especially when both sides claimed to be the 'victor' of said war. But such a war was not something both kingdoms needed nor was it a priority, doing so would leave them severely weakened to an attack from another kingdom.
He sighed, even though [Belfast] was not a vengeful kingdom, he knew there were those who wanted war with [Regulus] as well, and he did everything he could to not make that come into reality.
"I see what you mean…" Touya nodded at his explanation, "But what about security? Since this is the First Princess, I'm guessing we'll be escorted there too?"
"Yes, in addition to the ambassador's escort, you two will also be escorted by the [Knights of Belfast]." Tristwin smiled, "You may also bring your party as well, and don't worry, you will all be paid for your work."
"That's not exactly a problem I was thinking of…" Touya chuckled softly, he appreciated the compensation though.
"Don't worry, Touya, I'm sure everything will be fine, with the escorts of both kingdoms as well as our comrades, nothing short of a fool would dare attack this conveyance." Yumina boasted, she then wrapped her arms around his and locked hands with Touya and stared into his eyes, "And you'll protect me, after all, right?"
"Yeah… Yeah I would. No doubt." Touya answered, still not used to having a fiance. Yumina smiled as she snuggled closer to him and he heard Sally giggle inside of his head, Touya mentally told her to shut up.
'Sorry, Master, but it's just too funny to see you flustered so easily!' Sally teased, her giggling getting louder inside of his head.
Touya sighed and just mentally cut her off, not wanting to deal with her for now.
"Ah, to be young and in-love, this takes me back to when I met your mother, Yumina, you acted just like her when we were first engaged." Tristwin began, recalling the times Yuel showed her affections for him.
"But enough about reminiscing about the past, let's discuss why you came here, surely you must have something important to say for visiting me personally." Tristwin pressed.
"Yes we do, Father." Yumina nodded, asking Touya to show her father what she meant by that. He nodded and pulled out his phone, flipping through the apps until he landed on the camera app and opened it up, showing the picture to the King.
"What a peculiar object, what is this, Touya?" The King asked, fascinated by the device that he didn't give attention to what was on the screen.
"It's a smartphone, it's a part of my null magic." Touya said, giving enough information to satisfy him, which it did, he then brought Tristwin's attention to the image on the screen.
"When we went to handle a [Dullahan] in the [Old Royal Capital Ruins], we went treasure hunting which led us underground and came across this after a while." He pointed at the door on the screen, "We saw this door with ancient writing and inside of it were crystal monsters disguised as statues."
"They attacked us and we were able to defeat them, though they were a lot more difficult than we expected." Touya explained, closing his phone and placing it back into his pockets, "We were hoping if you know about this and if Charlotte can help with encrypting the writing on it?"
Touya finished, the King hummed, thinking about it and nodded, he would gladly help. Chances are, there may still be things that his previous predecessors may have forgotten when they moved the capital to where it is now.
"While I can say I'm fascinated by this discovery. Charlotte should be able to help you with this. May I ask if you can copy this painting of yours? If that's not too much to ask." Tristwin inquired, Touya nodded, saying that all he needed was a sheet of paper to fully recreate the picture on his phone. Within a second, a paper was laid on the table, courtesy of the butler by the King's side.
Touya recreated the picture and copied it onto the paper, handing said sheet to Tristwin who thanked him, "With this, Charlotte should be able to encrypt it, and just to be sure, I can send an expedition to the old ruins to get a better look. I trust that the doors should still be there?"
Touya tried to recall if the doors were still there, he couldn't really say since the screech from the crystal monsters did cause a tremor underground and they didn't really have any time to think of the doors, too busy trying to not get buried underground.
"I can't say, when they first attacked, one of them let out a loud, ear-piercing screech that caused the room to shake, we were too distracted trying to leave." Touya answered. While he did see the door still standing from the brief moment he saw it through his {Gate} spell he didn't know whether or not it still stood now.
"I see…" Tristwin nodded, taking in the information. "Well, rest assured, I'll have my men get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."
He then clapped his hands together. "Now, is there anything else you want to discuss?"
Soon enough, the three would get lost in their conversation, up until the King was needed for his duties. He said his goodbyes and told the couple to enjoy the rest of the weekend before they prepare for the journey to [Mismede].
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
(The Royal Garden, inside of the Royal Castle.)
"To obtain a summon contract, you must first draw a summoning circle." Yumina explained, drawing a circle with a star in the middle along with other writings on the ground with a piece of chalk.
Before they left the meeting room with the King, Touya remembered his request to Yumina about how to summon a beast to make a contract with. She smiled and was excited about helping him and suggested starting now while they were still at the Royal Capital.
"The creature summoned is usually random at times." She finished writing on the ground and turned to Touya, "Though some say that a caster's magic can help determine what creature is summoned or that it might be a reflection of the caster themselves. No one really knows."
"And in order to successfully contract with a monster you've summoned. You must complete the conditions the summoned monster requires." As Yumina explained, she then summoned one of the silver wolves from before, the one with the scar shaped like a star on its forehead, "The requirements are different from monster to monster. Some are simple enough while others are near-impossible to complete. It's all just a matter of luck."
'So like a gachapon?' Touya thought, the more he heard of the requirements the more he compared it to gacha that he sometimes heard about.
'Master, what's that?' Sally asked, wondering what he meant about 'gacha'
'Nothing, don't worry about it.' Touya dodged the question, fully reverting his attention to Yumina's explanation.
"My puppies' requirements was to feed them until they were full. Hehe, this one's name is Silva." She knelt down and rubbed the head of her wolf, Silva barked happily as his master patted him, "However, be warned, if you fail the conditions for the summoned monster, they'll disappear and never return. You only have one chance to meet their requirements. Fail and you'll never get a second one again."
"Well, what if the summoned monster attacks me, wouldn't that be dangerous?" Touya queried. He was confident he could handle fighting anything he summons, but he was worried about the amount of property damage that could happen. Plus, he didn't really want to fight right now, he had enough of that yesterday with the crystal monsters.
"With no contract. They can't step outside of the summoning circle. So you'll be fine." Yumina assured him, "Long distance attacks won't work either, the only way for the summon to cross is to make a contract."
"However, the one exception is when the summoner goes inside themselves. Doing so will cause the summon to make the conditions a test of one's fighting prowess." Yumina explained, recalling some instances from Charlotte, "While I doubt you'll do that, just be careful okay? Never know what could happen if that were the case."
"Yeah, I'll be careful, though I doubt I'll have to fight. But if I have too and couldn't handle it I can always just decline the challenge and let it return home." Touya shrugged, thinking about it, but he was too tired to fight though that wouldn't mean he wasn't going too if push comes to shove, he rubbed his hands together and outstretched his hand towards the circle, "Let's do this!"
He recited the words Yumina told him to say in order to summon a monster, and when he did, the circle began to glow, its light shining brighter and brighter until an overwhelming aura started to envelope the area they were in. The summoning circle shot up a bright purple pillar as a black shape began to form.
"Are you the one who summoned me?" It bellowed, its voice slightly distorted and echoey. The light died down until all that was left was a smoking trail and a large white tiger. Its crystal blue eyes intimidated Yumina and Silva. The latter whimpered underneath the intense gaze of the newly summoned monster.
"I-it can't be- This aura…" Yumina choked, the aura of the white tiger was overwhelming her along with its gaze, "A white tiger… You're the [White Monarch]!"
'So, the rumors were true…' Sally mused, even when she was in the shadows they did not help suppress the overwhelming aura, she still felt it. Which speaks volumes of the [White Monarch]'s power...
'Rumors? What do you mean, Sally?' Touya asked, wondering what she meant about the rumors being true.
'...Back when I was still human, I heard stories of a divine beast named the [White Monarch], but since no one has been able to successfully summon it for decades, at least in my time. So I just brushed them off as rumors and superstitions.' Sally explained, remembering stories about the divine beast from her fellow comrades and assassination targets while she was undercover, 'But now, with the [White Monarch] being here in the flesh, its hard not to believe them, even I can feel its overwhelming aura from here, Master… Be careful.'
Touya took her warning to heart, if the aura alone was enough to unnerve Sally, then he would have to approach the situation as carefully as possible. The [White Monarch] turned its gaze towards Yumina, she hugged Silva tighter in response.
"Oh? Someone knows who I am, huh?" It hummed.
"Could you stop that." Touya retorted. While he was a bit startled, seeing Yumina cowering set off his protective instincts and it was telling him to stand up to it.
"You're pretty calm. To think you would still be standing after being subjugated by my gaze… Impressive." It offered Touya its praise, there weren't many who could still stand after being so close to it.
"I'll admit, I'm a little nervous, but despite your power, you can't leave that circle unless I step into it or I don't meet your requirements." Touya replied, meeting the [White Monarch]'s gaze, the staring contest lasted a second before the divine beast chuckled. Seemingly amused by Touya's defiance.
"T-Touya- That isn't just any normal monster- That's [White Monarch], one of four the strongest monsters you can summon- It's the guardian of the west, main streets of the cities and ruler of all beasts- It's a divine beast!" Yumina explained, her voice shaking as the feeling of dread filled her body, Silva shared her sentiments as he tried and failed to stand up to the [White Monarch]'s aura.
"All I need is to enter a contract right? That shouldn't be a problem." Touya added, keeping his eyes forward.
"You wish to form a contract with me?" The [White Monarch] inquired, chuckling as the human standing before it looked confident in achieving such a task, "Do you not know how important this is? Are you making light of me?"
"Not really, you seem to be really powerful, but if I can't form a contract it's not like I can't move on." Touya shrugged, [White Monarch] raised an eyebrow in confusion but then hummed as it felt something emitting from the teenager.
The divine beast stared into him, trying to get a hint of whatever the teenager's aura was letting out, but the [White Monarch] couldn't figure out what it was, "How strange… I sense an unusual power within you… [Protection of Spirits] perhaps? But that would… No."
Touya raised an eyebrow at the [White Monarch]'s words, while it was right about him having protection, it was not from spirits but rather from God. Though he did worry a bit, he would have to learn how to surpass this 'aura' around him, it might cause some problems in the future if he left it unchecked, maybe God might have an answer for it.
"Whatever it is, it seems to have caught my interest." The [White Monarch] shook its head, "Very well, then I would like to see the quantity and quality of your magic power. You wish to create a contract with me, yes?"
"Place your hand on my forehead and pour as much magic as you can! Keep going until you can't anymore. Force every ounce you can muster and pour it all! If by then you can still stand then I will form a contract with you!" The divine beast ordered, Touya shrugged and did as he was told, hovering his gauntlet-clad hand over the [White Monarch]'s head.
"So, I'll just distribute as much magic as you want me to?" Touya asked, already gathering some of his reserves and was waiting for the signal to start pouring it all, 'It's not like I'm desperate for the contract, I guess if I feel like I can't take it anymore I'll stop… Though I'd hate to fail.'
"Yes, channel it all onto me, let me see your power, however in advance, if you collapse due to exhaustion of magical power the contract will be null." The [White Monarch] warned him.
"Alright, I'll start now." Closing his eyes, Touya took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Then the area around him and the [White Monarch] started to dim, the only light source was Touya's mana, being poured onto the divine beast, the wind came to a halt - like it was suddenly stopped by an unseen force.
Despite being in broad daylight, even the sun's light was engulfed by Touya's mana, its quantity and quality soon overwhelming the [White Monarch], it felt as if it was drowning in an ocean of magic.
"Wh-what's this?!" It exclaimed, struggling under the weight of Touya's reserves. It didn't make any sense! It was the [White Monarch]! It was one of the four sacred beasts! The one that all land beasts worship! And yet - Its legs were starting to give way - It could not handle the sheer amount of mana this human was pouring out yet its pride would not let it yield.
While this was happening, Yumina watched in awe as she saw her husband-to-be's magical power overwhelming the [White Monarch]. She never felt this way before, not even when she trained under Charlotte. She knew she wasn't as skilled as her or Linze when it came to magic, but even she felt the mana Touya was pouring onto the [White Monarch], If she were to compare it with her own it was akin to a lit candle while he was a raging inferno.
'Touya… Just how much power do you have?'
The sentiment was shared with Sally, even while she was hidden utmost the shadows, even she felt the incredible power Touya's mana held. It was exhilarating, to be next to Touya's side while he poured his magic out. This was nothing like the time they fought, the sheer volume of the mana was overwhelming to her.
'You get more and more interesting, Master. Just what else do you have up your sleeve?'
With Touya, he was not even feeling anything, despite what was happening in front of him, he had no idea just how vast his power was and what it was doing to the [White Monarch], instead, he was focusing on how much mana he was using and how it was affecting him.
'Hmm… If I remember correctly, Linze said something about this before.'
"What's with this power- How-"
'I mean, she isn't wrong, I haven't felt a thing when I use my magic…'
"This- This shouldn't be possible-"
'I should be feeling something drain a little, but I don't even feel a thing yet.'
"S-stop! I yie- I yield!"
'Wiat, nevermind, now I feel something.'
"Touya!" Yumina called out to Touya, forcing him out of his thoughts and opening his eyes. On the ground was the [White Monarch]'s body, twitching and spazzing out, Touya winced a bit as he realized he went overboard without realizing he had already passed.
"Sorry about that. Come forth Light! Soothing comfort, [Cure Heal]!" He knelt down, hovering his hands over the [White Monarch]'s body and chanted a healing spell. Moments later the divine beast recovered from its injuries. Standing up, it bowed its head.
"You have completed the contract. I am now yours to command, however, I have one question." The [White Monarch] asked.
"Sure, ask away."
"That magical power you poured onto me, you still had a bit to spare right?"
"Nope, I still had more, hell even my reserves weren't touched yet. And as we speak I just recovered all of it just now." Touya nonchalantly answered, as he felt the small missing amount of mana in him recover. 'Now that I think about it, that might be the reason why I don't feel tired whenever I use my magic repeatedly. I have to ask God about this when I get the chance.'
Yumina and Sally's eyes widened at Touya's proclamation, even after all of that, it wasn't even scratching the surface of his magic reserves?
"What?!" The [White Monarch] exclaimed, flabbergasted that such a human with that much power existed, who's mana capacity far exceeded its own and made it yield. The prospect of such was… terrifying.
And yet, the [White Monarch] was proud, proud to know that such a being would be its master, so while its pride was wounded, it meant nothing if the one it served was this powerful.
"Let's not talk about that for now, so, about the conditions of your contract?" Touya dodged, derailing the question before they could delve into it any further.
"And your name is?" The [White Monarch] asked.
"Mochizuki Touya, Touya is my name." Touya answered, as casually as he always does.
"Touya Mochizuki." The [White Monarch] repeated. Burning the name into its mind and then the divine beast bowed its head respectfully, "I have crossed no path with anyone more suitable for the role of my master than you. I would be pleased if you would form a contract."
"So, how do we do this contract?" Touya asked.
"Give me a name. That should be enough to be contracted." The [White Monarch] answered, "It will also be able to let me exist in this realm."
"A name, huh?" Touya mused, he eyed the [White Monarch] carefully, humming as he tried to come up with a name. Well, it had to be something related to the divine beast in front of him, 'Well, for one, the [White Monarch] is obviously white… And a tiger… Aha! I got the perfect name for it!'
"Kohaku." Touya smiled, repeating the word once more, "Kohaku, what about that? Should be perfect right?"
"Kohaku?" The [White Monarch] titled its head in confusion.
Touya asked for the chalk that Yumina had, she happily handed it to him as he wrote a set of Kanji on the ground, pointing at it. "This part is a tiger, and this part is white, and next to the both of them means king."
"The white tiger who stands beside a king. A worthy name! It represents me perfectly!" Kohaku, formally [White Monarch], beamed, "Thank you very much, Master. From now on, please call me Kohaku."
"You're amazing Touya! You managed to make a contract with the [White Monarch]!" Yumina cheered, amazed that Touya's first summon contract would be one of the four sacred beasts. Silva barked happily before dispelling and disappearing, likely back to wherever he came from.
"Hey, young lady. I'm no longer the [White Monarch], call me Kohaku." Kohaku insisted.
"Ah, alright, Kohaku." Yumina bowed respectfully before the divine beast.
"Do not bow to me, I'm but a humble servant of Master. However may I ask, what is your relation to my Master?" Kohaku questioned.
"Ah, I'm his fiance." Yumina beamed. Answering the question with a smile.
"Master, is that true?" Kohaku turned to Touya, the young man nodded slowly.
"Yeah, more or less." Touya clarified.
"I see. Ah, yes, Master, may I request something?" Kohaku asked.
"Yeah, sure, what is it?" Touya raised an eyebrow.
"I would like to remain in this world." Kohaku explained. "We can only exist in this realm for as long as our summoner's mana allows it. We consume mana to simply remain in this realm, so the stronger the summoner's magic, the longer we can stay."
"Being one of the four sacred, I would be too costly to even summon for a few seconds let alone for an entire conversation. But your mana has not even dropped since. Which is why I would like to continue walking through this realm indefinitely if there are no problems with that." Kohaku coaxed.
"I don't mind you staying here, however…" Touya assured the divine beast, "You going around town as a giant white tiger might draw unnecessary attention, can you change that or…?"
"Ah, then that's not a problem. I'll turn into this for the time being." Kohaku answered and a second later went poof. A smoke covered the divine beast and when it cleared standing, or in this case sitting, before Touya was a chibified version of Kohaku.
"With this form, I shouldn't be noticeable right?" The higher pitched voice of Kohaku said, Touya suddenly picked up the small tiger and held the divine beast up.
"Yeah, this is definitely a lot better." Touya nodded, taking in Kohaku and thinking how cute the white tiger was.
"Thank you very much, so with this form I can-"
"Kyaa! How cute~!" Yumina blurted out, snatching Kohaku from Touya and hugging the divine beast. Kohaku struggled to breathe from the princess' death grip of a hug, squeezing the life out of the divine beast.
"Hrk- Yumina- Please I beg of you! Let me go-" Kohaku begged the princess who didn't hear it as she continued to hug the small tiger in her arms.
"Hey, lemme try." Sally interjected as she suddenly appeared at Yumina's right side. She too snatched Kohaku from Yumina's hands.
"W-What the-?! Who are you?!"
"I'm Sally, also a 'humble' servant of Master Touya! Nice to meet you [White Monarch]!" Sally stated. A wide grin on her face as she hugged the soft fur of Kohaku's.
"Huh?! What do you mean?! M-Master explain this- hrk-" Before Kohaku could finish that sentence a tight grip caused the white tiger's breath to be knocked out of their lungs.
Touya didn't say anything and silently pitied Kohaku, who was having the life squeezed out of them.
'Well, things sure are getting hectic.'
=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=
Hi there, long time n update huh? Well I have to say it's because of school and life, but that's so cliche though it's why I wasn't able to update the story for so long. That and I was busy trying to write AND fix the script of this fanfic. That and I had to rewrite this chapter so many times because some of the scenes didn't work with each other and this was the best I could do.
So, now Kohaku has joined the group, Tristwin has asked Touya and co to go to Mismede, making our way to the second arc of this fanfic, next chapter is a relaxation chapter and the conclusion to the first arc.
Also I don't think you know, but Kohaku is a girl. All of the Four Beasts are girls except for Kokuyou, who's a guy but is a girl at heart, lmao.