Chapter 8
Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun
Cover: LousGndiner
"Alright, who wants to explain first?"
At Illya's proclamation, the Emiya Family – among other additions – simply shifted in their seats, either out of nervousness or out of some minor discomfort.
After Illya had vented her heart out last night and fell asleep relatively quickly, the ghost that followed her had opted to spend the night in the guild hall's attic, which was odd seeing as they didn't even know that the guild actually had an attic.
Initially, once Illya had fallen asleep, the ghost was met with utmost suspicion from the family, but they noted that Illya was at least comfortable with its presence. It was from her lowered guard around the spectral entity that the rest of the guild decided to hold their tongue and hope for an explanation in the morning.
Which was what they were getting now.
"I think you should go first, midget," Rin said as she sat in a chair by the rickety dining table, biting into an abhorrently tasteless loaf of bread with a frown etched onto her face. "After all, you had a 'guest' follow you back here."
Said 'guest' was currently floating behind the little Einzbern midget. Only his upper torso was visible to them, alongside a stern yet befuddled expression taking shape on his visage.
"Oh, do not mind me," The 'guest' chattered. "I'm just an observer."
"That'll take some time, so I'll do that later," Illya excused. "Small issues need to be dealt with first… such as yours, Rin. Where did you get all the elemental stones from? Those things cost a lot more than what we earned the last time we went out."
Considering that they got one or two gold for each monster they killed last time, they only earned around twenty to forty gold. There was no way in hell that it was even nearly enough to purchase any of these stones. The cheapest Illya had ever found in her life was three hundred!
"… You didn't steal those, right?" Illya asked with suspicion.
"Of course not!" Rin exclaimed in abhorrence. "What do you think I am, some thief?"
Shirou sighed from his seat as he placed a hand on the twin-tailed magus' shoulder. "When it comes to gems, we had to stop you from hypnotizing the jewelry clerks back in Fuyuki, remember?"
"Those guys were trying to scam us!" Rin argued. "Those rubies were not worth that much! They could've broken with ease, barely even able to hold any prana in them!"
"Not the point," Illya interrupted before the magus went on a rant, again. "Point is, we want to know where and how you got them."
Rin snorted. "It isn't that big of a deal, I managed to get a friend to loan them to me."
A friend?
"Was it Ferlna from the Arcadia?" Sakura asked as a slow confused tilt to her side soon followed after. "How did you manage that, Nee-san?"
"It's a give and take relationship, Sakura," Rin explained with a smirk. "She helps me with my research and I help with hers. These stones were just a bonus."
Well, that answers one question... kinda.
"How about you, Onii-chan?"
Shirou shrugged from his seat. "I don't have a story like Rin. Melhia just gave it to me. She said that apprentices are paid if they do well enough."
"So you basically have a job, again?" Rin raised an eyebrow as she reiterated. "Meh, I guess we can start saving money now."
Illya nodded in agreement.
She wasn't always going to have money to support the guild. She had money, a lot more when compared to her other guild mates combined, but she wasn't the type to hoard her money to herself.
She would often buy a whole load of potions and use them as much as she could. If she had saved her money since day one, then she'd probably be quite rich… but then she wouldn't be here, with this kind of gear.
"Alright then, Sakura," Illya called. "You seem to have a wolf pup with you as a pet. Care to explain why?"
"Well…" Sakura started, rubbing the nape of the very relaxed wolf pup. "I found him when I went into the forest–"
"You did what!?"
"That was dangerous, Sakura!"
"I'm sorry… I just didn't want to feel like a burden."
Both Rin and Shirou had exclaimed in fear and worry. Illya couldn't fault them for it, they still didn't know if the respawn system would work a hundred percent of the time so death was something to be avoided.
However, right now they needed to focus. The two of them berating Sakura about her carelessness was nice, but not helpful right now.
"You two, calm down," Illya ordered – which felt really liberating for some reason – and gestured back to their seats. "Sakura hasn't finished her story yet."
The two of them seemed to disagree, the need to berate Sakura for her frankly out of character decision taking a high priority despite her apology, but nonetheless settled back down to listen to their family member.
"After I went in the forest," Sakura continued as she twiddled her fingers around the pup's fur. "I found lots of fur from slain monsters. Around the time the items disappeared, I heard barking in the bushes… and I wound up finding this little guy hiding there."
"Was it the pup of the slain monsters?" Rin asked out of mild interest but still irritated at Sakura's decision.
"I think so," Sakura somewhat confirmed. "I felt bad for it so I decided to bring it here, where it's safe."
"Not sure about that…" Illya muttered. "If some adventurers saw you with that, then they'd probably try to kill it for some EXP if they were petty."
Which most players were, Illya could attest to that based on all the idiotic decisions she had seen throughout her time in Elder Tale.
"Wait…" Rin muttered. "You found that puppy near monsters? That means it's also a monster, right?"
Illya widened her eyes.
That was true. It was still a monster, so how did Sakura manage to get it through and into Akihabara? Based on the lore, the city itself had a defense matrix designed to keep any and all monsters out of town, making it a safe haven for players and Landers that sought safety.
Illya took a glance at the wolf pup one more time.
Was there something about the wolf pup itself, or perhaps a flaw in the defense matrix that they didn't know about?
Illya hoped it was the former. The thought of monsters getting into the city was a horrifying one.
"The magical wards around the city keeps hostile monsters out, but this wolf pup seems to be quite a friendly one. If she tames the creature then all should be well."
The group collectively turned to Krentelfal, who had spoken up after several minutes of silence.
"What do you mean?" Illya asked for clarification.
"Ah… I suppose that the Kunie clan wouldn't explain," Krentelfal muttered. "All the magical wards surrounding the cities of Yamato act based on the natural intent of the monster. If they are inherently hostile, as these monsters are, then it will prevent them entry."
"Alright…" Rin muttered. "Then what about that taming thing you mentioned?"
He raised a brow in moderate surprise as he gazed towards the magus. "I had thought adventurers such as yourselves would be aware of this. Your kind has tamed monsters and made them your allies for centuries now. Why in fact, it was said that there were adventurers who took creatures from the foulest reaches as their allies."
Illya blinked.
"Isn't that only restricted to the Summoner class?" Illya asked for clarification. "I doubt a Druid or a Swashbuckler can tame a monster."
Krentelfal shrugged. "My memory might not be the most faithful, but it cannot hurt to attempt it, am I not right?"
Well, when you put it that way.
"Alright, we can try that later once we learn how," Rin interrupted as her eyes focused on the ghost that spoke. "Small issues are out of the way now, right? Let's focus on the bigger, old, translucent, and floating issue at hand."
"What an odd way of describing an issue."
"Shut it ghosty."
"Rin, that was rude."
"Shut it ghosty, please."
Illya sighed and raised a hand to gesture to Krentelfal.
"This is Krentelfal. He's the Lander that helped me get my axe in the first place." Illya explained. "He used to drain mana from a fountain to stay in this plain of existence, but since it was broken and destroyed, he's draining it from me to stay alive."
Rin narrowed her eyes. "So he's a parasite?"
"I like to think of myself as a grasshopper, they produce the loveliest of tunes."
Illya sighed once more. "Technically he's absorbed more than enough mana to wander anywhere and one-shot anything with a single hit, but a parasite is an apt description."
"Are you okay with that, Illya-chan?" Sakura asked as concerned as ever. "Wouldn't it be a burden in fights?"
"Not to worry," Krentelfal decided to interject. "I vowed to stay out of all of Illya's battles. It is a very dishonorable act to even ponder of doing so!"
"The way this guy talks is starting to get on my nerves…"
"Nee-san."
"Fine, fine."
Illya coughed to regain their attention. "No, Krentelfal won't be a burden on me in battle. Yes, he's draining my mana but if you look at my status bar, I'm not actually losing any mana," She narrowed her eyes. "The reason for that… is a bit tricky so I'm going to be blunt about it. Keep quiet about this, that includes you, Krentelfal."
At the nod she got back, she spoke.
"As it turns out, I have the Third Magic Heaven's Feel."
Cue the silence… and then–
"WHAT!?"
There we go.
"Hey midget, what do you mean by that!?"
"Calm down, Rin! You're breaking the table!"
Krentelfal leaned over to her. "For what reason does she label you as 'midget'?"
Illya sighed. "Personal reasons."
A long time ago, 'midget' would have been an accurate description of her. However, after drinking that appearance changing potion, she could safely say that she was at least just as tall as Rin.
Unfortunately, that meant that she was the same height as her dear brother. Being just as tall as Shirou meant that piggyback rides would be tedious to even consider doing.
She'd still try though.
After they had calmed down, Illya took the time to explain it in greater detail about how she couldn't see the skill in her menu and couldn't access the reservoir of mana no matter what she tried. Krentelfal, on the other hand, seemed to be able to tap into it with apparent ease, but that was all that was possible so far.
There was a chance that skills directly affecting her mana would tap into the Third Magic on accident.
In theory, she'd become an infinite reservoir of mana when used in a party or raid of any size with an Enchanter using Mana-Channeling, which takes all the mana of party members and redistributes them equally.
Mana drain effects would have no effect on her but still give the mana to an opponent too.
Having an infinite reservoir of mana that you couldn't access was a huge bummer. However, it was from that first theory alone that Illya knew she couldn't go on a raid with anyone other than her party anymore.
If she did, then it was likely that the skill would be revealed.
And then she'd be the most sought after player in Akihabara.
"Fuck," Illya muttered at the realization.
True Magic was broken as all hell.
"That was certainly rude." Said the ghost that could probably one-hit anything in sight.
"Illya-chan, cursing is bad." Said the girl who could keep her summons up for an infinite amount of time without drawbacks.
"Meh, at least we learned about it now. It would have been bad if you were actually in one of those raids when we found out." Said the hypocrite with the freedom to seemingly create spells on a whim.
"We'll have to talk about your language later." Said the brother who could forge swords from legend, and probably a reality marble if what the description of Unlimited Blade Works said was true.
Fuck.
"Alright then… So all of us have super secret skills that we can't show to others and need to level up as soon as possible so that we won't be taken advantage of." Rin muttered. "Am I right so far?"
At the consecutive nods, Rin growled in frustration.
"Right, we need to level up. Everything is easier when you're stronger… let's do that," Rin turned to Illya. "Any idea where we'd get the most EXP from farming?"
Illya nodded. "I forgot about this when we went grinding earlier, but can you all check your inventories for EXP potions?"
At the prompt, everyone but Illya herself took out a rather bejeweled blue potion, ignoring Krentelfal's cry about the indecency of grinding. They'd have to explain it to him later.
"These potions, when drunk, give a boost to your EXP gain for several hours…" She sent a glance to Krentelfal. "… It's generated in our inventories automatically if our levels are low, in order for other adventurers to grow in power at twice the usual rate."
She completely forgot to keep the realities of players from Krentelfal a secret during the talk. Hopefully, he'd simply attribute whatever they talked about to adventurer lingo.
Rin swirled the container. "Interesting… Illya, do you mind if I kept some of these and not use them? I want to run experiments on them."
Illya raised a brow. "For what– oh for the love of– you can't possibly mean to–?"
"–I'm gonna try to replicate them."
"Right, that's it! Follow me out of the guild room! We're heading over to a goblin cave and killing everything there!"
She had enough of the bullshit here! Killing is going to be very cathartic for her, soothing even.
Anything was better than listening to this twin-tailed magus!
Illya once heard her asshole of a grandfather say something about situations like these when his subordinates fuck up in the biggest way possible. She hated to emulate the Einzbern patriarch, but it was a very apt way of describing her mental situation.
To fucking hell with this family.
"So… Why this cave in particular?" Rin muttered as her feet dragged across the soil.
She wore new robes that Illya had found in her journey. They were named [Torn Cultist Robes]. A really shitty drop that she had gotten yesterday.
As the name implied, they were ripped in a few places, revealing just a bit of her naked skin to the world. However, for some reason, they provided more defense and increased magical attack power than her original robes, which led the pragmatist within Rin to wear it.
Illya decided that it would be funny if she didn't tell her that she got it from the dead, butchered, and bloodied cultists, even if the twin-tailed magus herself had an inkling as to where she got it from.
"The monsters here are level ten to twenty, perfect for our level range," Illya replied as she activated the teacher system, lowering her own level to a suitable fifteen. "Since Krentelfal didn't want to help us EXP leech, this is the next best thing."
Damned old ghost.
She liked the guy, she really did, but the moment she brought the idea of going into a huge raid dungeon and have him one-shot the monsters for them to level up nicely with the bonus of experience potions, the old ghost outright denied the idea of it. He said that it wasn't an honorable decision and basically went back into Akihabara.
Who in the world needed honor anyway!?
Illya took a calming breath. It wasn't a good idea for them if she, the only one with enough knowledge of the world, broke down in frustration… No matter how much she wanted to.
At least Krentelfal agreed to go on a few errands for them while they were away.
"But aren't we level seven and five?" Shirou asked. "Wouldn't it be dangerous for us?"
"Don't worry about it, you guys have enough battle experience to deal with these enemies…" She said as she gazed at Shirou… and then turned her gaze to Rin. "… Or just obliterate them with overpowered spells."
"What about me and the little one?" Sakura asked as she gestured to the wolf pup draped on her shoulder. It barked as the young woman scratched its head.
"If you just stick with me, it'll be fine," Illya reassured. They really needed to name the thing, because calling it wolf pup, puppy, or some other form of variation wasn't efficient at all. "Alright, I'll take point since I'm the tank. You guys remember the formation?"
"Yeah, we remember," Rin said, speaking up for everyone else. "Just need a little refresher."
"You guys remember aggro, right?" Illya asked. "That's going to be more important for us here. I'll need to take all of – if not all then most of – the aggro to distract them. Sakura, you heal me. Everyone else will need to take out goblins one by one."
Shirou hefted his two swords, noting the look of the cave they were entering. "It's quite narrow and dark… there won't be a lot of room."
"Yes, it is…" Sakura muttered, her wolf pup barking in agreement. "It will be hard to fight without seeing anything."
Rin held up a finger, a burst of flame appearing on its tip. "I can make us some light."
Illya equipped her newbie armor and flimsy hatchet. "No need, you need to save your mana." She tapped around in her menu. "Let me handle this. Lumine Light."
Suddenly, a small but fluffy orb with a smile grew out from her fingertip.
Rin blinked.
"What is that."
"A reusable spell in the form of an item that I got from an event," Illya explained. "It creates a ball of light to help give vision in battle. Admittedly, Mage and Healer classes get better variations of the spell as they level up, but all other classes are either stuck with this item or need to use torches. You don't see a lot of veteran players using it, but it's a pretty popular item for beginners so there are a lot of cosmetic items for it."
Suddenly, two fox ears popped onto the orb as it stuck a non-existent tongue out.
"I got that one in a different event."
"It's quite cute," Sakura noted as she poked it, watching as its expression remained the same as it drifted away. Its newly added tail and ears were also wiggling as it did so.
"Don't worry, it gives enough light for us to see clearly. Goblins are nocturnal monsters and don't need light to see properly…" Illya said. "Besides, other than Sakura, if any of you manage to get beat by some goblins of all things, then we truly have no hope of surviving in this world."
Despite the jab, Shirou and Rin felt no ill will there. Compared to the Holy Grail War, all these smaller monsters felt significantly less dangerous than a servant such as Berserker.
After some time, the four of them entered the goblin cavern, which was located to the side of a nearby mountain. It took them a while, but as they went deeper within, the light that Illya's fluffy blob produced grew in tandem, revealing a few scratch marks on the side of the cave walls alongside a few animal bones.
They were a thematic choice by the developers to make it seem like the goblins actually did something in these caves. Although Illya wasn't sure if they actually did eat anything, that sort of information was irrelevant.
"The path diverges here," Illya informed. The cavern had split with a path curving to the right and another going upwards slightly. "The one on the right is full of the goblins we're after and the one going up is a path to the top of the mountain."
"So we're going right?" Rin asked.
Illya nodded and walked along, the rest of the family following without issue. It was a long and tedious trek, one that Illya was put-off by.
She was used to the occasional patrolling monster or two getting in her way whenever she wandered into a cave like this, so what did that mean when no monsters made a single appearance?
They should have met at least two patrolling parties of monsters before they even reached the intersection, and even after the intersection, there should have been another patrol party soon after they passed it…
… Something isn't right.
Illya halted in place, canceling the teacher system and equipping her usual armor for better protection.
The action prompted her family to halt with rising caution.
"What's wrong?" Shirou asked as he narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his purchased scimitars. Illya reminded herself to make him go buy higher leveled ones later because right now they would hinder his damage output.
"There should have been a lot more enemies when we arrived here…" Illya muttered, keeping her voice as quiet as possible yet loud enough for her guild to hear. "… Normally that wouldn't be cause for concern, but there haven't been any signs of battle yet."
"Do you think that other players got here and killed them all…?" Rin asked, sending a wary glance deeper into the cavern. "… How likely is it that they'd attack us?"
"If they were PK– player killers, then they wouldn't be here in a low-level dungeon at all…" Illya added. "… A lower leveled party would be a safe assumption, but then we should have caught up to them by now."
There were two possibilities, either a high-level party was bored and decided to clear out this low leveled dungeon – which some players did despite the fact that they wouldn't gain any levels – or the monsters themselves didn't spawn at all…
There were other possibilities, but Illya didn't have time to think on them right now. The fact remains that it could be dangerous to proceed further.
"Should we head back and try another area?" Sakura suggested. Thinking of the unknown danger that had suddenly arisen, Illya agreed.
Just when Illya was about to voice out her agreement, the sound of scuffling in front of them took hold and ensnared their attention.
Illya cast another fluffy orb of light and sent it deeper into the cavern… only to watch as a dozen beady yellow eyes reflected the light.
"Well… we found the goblins," Rin muttered as she counted the number of tribal creatures slowly crawling forward in caution, most likely due to Illya's much higher level. "… A party of goblins consist of six of them, right?"
Illya nodded as she twirled her Golden Rhapsody.
"Well, I think we found the missing parties."
The goblins collectively screamed out in bloody murder as they shot a wide volley of arrows their way.
Illya charged forward and held her axe to the side, blocking the majority of the arrows. It wouldn't have damaged her anyway due to the defensive stats that her armor gave her, but it was more or less an action to protect those behind her.
A few arrows bypassed her defense, but Shirou swat them aside with ease.
Suddenly, a goblin cry echoed across the cavern. Soon after, a few goblins behind the large group retreated deeper into the dark depths. An obvious conclusion was reached from the action.
They going to call for backup.
Not that Illya or any of the others were worried in the slightest.
Illya was familiar with the cavern and knew that there were no other exits once they went down this path. They would have met up with the rest of the goblins sooner or later, so letting them escape would save time.
Although it meant that Illya couldn't really turn the teacher system back on, lest she risk the safety of the guild. She could probably handle a whole horde of goblins by herself at her normal level, but if she was level ten or twenty, the sheer amount of these goblins would eventually overwhelm her.
She couldn't really say the same with her guild though. Rin and Sakura might get overwhelmed but Shirou could probably cleave his way through. Probably. Illya wasn't really sure about that.
After all of that, it just left one more question… why were these goblins this deep within the cave in the first place?
Is this the Novasphere Pioneers expansion's fault again?
In an instant, two bursts of electricity – were those another variant that Rin created? – flew around her and crashed into the group of goblins. Illya withheld any comment she had about the twin-tailed magus as the two goblins that were directly hit cried out in pain, shattering in an instant into bubbles of experience.
The goblins, in a rare display of intelligence, retreated further into the cavern as their archers shot volley after volley.
Illya noted it as a minor hindrance. It appeared that Shirou thought so too and simply battered them away.
In a single leap, both of them applied reinforcement upon their very bodies, bursting forward and cleaving through a goblin each. They didn't stop there as Illya threw her axe, cleaving through several of the remaining goblins.
In the end, only one remained, only until Rin walked up to it and kicked it.
"Alright…" Rin cackled out. "I always wanted to see if this could work. Stand up."
Without warning, the goblin stood on its two feet struggling to move otherwise.
"Looks like compulsion magecraft work on monsters," Rin noted. "Neat, I could perform live experiments like this."
While the monster couldn't actually perceive what the twin-tailed magus had said, it could feel the intent wafting from her, judging from how it seemed to increase its struggling.
"We can experiment on monsters later," Illya chastised, although she was very interested in the act if it could alleviate frustrations that were piling up on her. "First, we deal with these goblins. Their behavior isn't normal."
Illya looked at her guild. "While this isn't the best time, I suggest drinking the potion now. The number of goblins here should help you guys gain levels quickly."
"Fine~" Rin drawled as she ordered the goblin to kill itself with a nearby rusty spear.
After they had drunk the potion, the guild made their way deeper into the cavern. Not once did they encounter a goblin along the way, only more of the same scratch marks and animal bones. Repeated textures to save budget probably.
"We're nearing the last room," Illya said. "It's going to be an open cavern so there should be enough room for us to fight freely."
"Can we do whatever we want?" Rin asked while she played with a hovering amalgamation of elements to her side. "I could get a lot of data from this."
"Go wild."
Illya slowed her pace once she noticed the cavern widen.
"We're here," Rin said.
Close to a hundred beady eyes stared back at them.
Shirou twirled his scimitars. "So are they."
A loud cry came from a goblin standing at the very back. They were only just able to see it wearing a dog mask on its head… while riding a dire wolf. In response, the multitude of goblins around him cried out in tandem, a sonorous roar of defiance.
"That one in the back is a Goblin Tamer," Illya informed. "He's far too strong for any of you guys to take on so deal with the other guys. Make sure to kill them all, okay?"
"How strong is that Goblin Tamer, exactly?" Sakura asked, a hint of both curiosity and worry in tone.
"As strong as a level forty-one…" Illya muttered. "Which doesn't make sense, seeing as this goblin cave has a level range of ten to twenty. It shouldn't even have a goblin tamer in it. Only a few shamans at worst."
"No use complaining about it now," Shirou said as he holstered his scimitars. Instead of using those low-level weapons, a familiar pair of black and white Noble Phantasms took their place. "It'd be bad if any other party of players ended up here."
"Right then, extermination sounds fun," Rin drawled unconcerned, but afterward she sent a polarizing concerned glance to her sister. "Sakura, stick with me okay? I don't want you to get hurt."
Sakura – and her still unnamed wolf pup – nodded in agreement as they stood behind her. "Alright, Nee-san."
"Everyone ready?" Illya asked. At the nods of confirmation she received, she turned to the horde of goblins. The fluffy orb of light beside her bounded upwards towards the cavern ceiling, expanding until it exposed the entire room in light.
All the goblins were completely visible now.
"Everyone, kill."
Illya's body lurched into the air, the movement of the ever-familiar skill Slam taking hold. She bounded over several goblins and landed in the center of the horde, cutting a goblin in half. There wasn't any gore like she was used to, which was a welcome relief as she turned her axe sideways.
It shone like a bloody red light.
"Onslaught."
Illya swung her axe around her like a whirlwind of death. For each enemy she struck, an icon appeared in her menu, signifying an increase in attack power.
Such was the effect of the Onslaught skill, the strongest attack a two-handed Guardian can have. It provided a buff if the attack was successful, sometimes it was a defense buff and other times it was an attack buff. Truly a random side effect but one that Illya wasn't complaining about.
Once more Illya cast Slam to blast herself over the remaining goblins towards the Goblin Tamer.
In the meantime, Shirou parried a spear aiming for his heart and cleaved the head right off the attacker. At the same time, he kicked a nearby goblin away and severed the arm and leg of another goblin.
He wasn't used to fighting creatures as small as they were, but Kanshou and Bakuya's anti-monster properties aided him greatly. Goblins fell in a single sweep of his blades, as expected of a Noble Phantasm.
Eventually, the goblins chose not to attack him out of order as they usually did, charging at him one or two at a time. Instead, they swiftly encircled him and searched for any weak points in his defense.
They found them but Shirou knew that.
The fighting style he was borrowing exemplified the control and use of fake openings.
A fire ball the size of their television struck a bundle of goblins as an eager Rin stared them down. She didn't have as much mana as she would have liked, but she wasn't helpless in the slightest.
The cultist robes she wore gave her just a bit more mana regeneration, as much as it didn't make sense to the twin-tailed magus, so she was able to use just a bit more of her spells.
She was still conservative with her mana expenditure though. The fireball that she had sent out did not dissipate but instead curled around them like a spinning top, taking out any goblins that tried getting near.
Most did not die instantly, but the burns that they had alongside the impact of the orb momentarily sent them into a panic, more than enough time for the flaming sphere to return and deal the remaining damage.
"Do you need any healing?" Sakura asked, unsure of what she was supposed to do.
"Not really," Rin mentioned. "Do you have anything that deals with mana regeneration? I can make do with the one fireball but I'd like some more if possible."
Sakura scrolled through her list. "None so far. The closest level that I'd get something mana related would be at level thirty."
"Still a long way to go…" Rin muttered, reinforcing her leg and kicking a goblin's head off. "Well, these guys aren't tough at all so no need to worry there. Want to try killing something?"
Sakura pondered it, but once she glanced at the spiraling orb of fire destroying goblin after goblin, she shook her head. "You look like you have everything handled…"
Rin shrugged. "Alright then."
Illya cleaved through the last goblin standing in her way as she approached the Goblin Tamer. It growled in its native goblin tongue, the dire wolf under it doing much of the same.
She didn't really see it as a threat. She was well over it in levels thanks to the cultists she had killed yesterday, which brought her up to level sixty-nine, as degrading as that level sounded.
It was a monster so there was no use in discussion. She felt that it would have been too repetitive to use Slam again – not that she could see that it was on cooldown – so she opted to forgo skill usage altogether.
Once more she threw her axe, watching as it spun as fast as it could towards the Goblin Tamer. However, the high-level monster managed to dodge the whirling death and chose it as an opportune moment to charge at the supposedly defenseless adventurer.
Pffft, yeah right.
Once the Goblin Tamer was upon her, the dire wolf beneath it opened its gaping maw and prepared to crush the adventurer between its fangs.
Too bad Illya was at a higher level and had the benefit of reinforcement.
Instead of tearing into her and ripping her into shreds, the fangs shattered as Illya grabbed its skull, crushing it as well.
For a seemingly big boss monster, it sure was weak as hell. With the dire wolf dead, the Goblin Tamer might as well be a regular goblin. It reacted in pure surprise and confusion, not even retreating after witnessing the feat.
It gave Illya enough time to grab him by the throat and hoist him into the air. Soon after, she threw it down onto the stone floor and rose her iron boots over it –
"Bye bye."
– And crushed its skull, letting it burst out into rather harmless bubbles.
Hmm… Not as satisfying as humanoid mobs.
The goblins around her reacted once they noticed the fact that their supposed leader had perished, either squealing in confusion and terror or growling in hatred.
It didn't matter now.
"Shirou!" Illya shouted. "Don't let any of them escape out of the cave!"
Before the goblins noticed, Shirou had placed himself with a burst of reinforcement between them and the only exit.
Illya turned to a twin-tailed magus while catching her thrown axe, only now just returning to her. "Got a big explosion spell Rin?"
"Yeah! Do I use it?"
"Go for it!"
The goblins, seemingly being able to sense a huge accumulation of mana, charged at Rin in an attempt to stop whatever was going to occur, only to be met by a fiery death as the orb surrounding her prevented their approach.
It was even more apparent that they wouldn't be able to reach her when the orb of fire expanded into a wall of fire.
An orb of electricity, albeit small in comparison to the size the flaming orb had been originally, floated atop of Rin's fingertips. Embers of accursed wisps hovered about it, a clear sign that her ever favorite Gandr was also used in the spell's base structure.
Even though Sakura had pride in her sister, it didn't stop the exasperation that she felt when she saw that very same sister cackle like an evil villain.
"Take this!" She shouted, most likely in a rare display of sadistic glee. She raised the finger with the orb of electricity, not as her usual stance when using Gandr but as if she was about to flick it. "Finn Volt!"
As it turns out, the shape and apparent weightlessness the orb had translated well when you flicked the orb towards the center of the goblin horde.
The moment the spell impacted a goblin, it imploded.
The orb spun in on itself and shrunk until it couldn't do so anymore before expanding outwards in a display of blinding light, overshadowing the brightness that Illya's own fluffy ball provided.
When the light died down, there were only bubbles of experience left behind.
"Well, that worked better than expected," Rin commented, as she tried to blink away the few dancing dark spots in her vision. "Although, if I had controlled the output more then it would have a longer charge time and a larger radius. Something to work on later I suppose."
"How much mana did that take you, Nee-san?"
"All my remaining mana," She shamelessly said. "But don't worry, the firewall doesn't really require mana to keep going."
Illya felt her eyebrow twitch as she approached the rambling magus. "… and why is that?"
"If I keep the mana within the spell active, then I have full control over its shape, form, and radius until the mana within the spell itself runs out," Rin informed. "I could've kept the firewall going for maybe half a minute or so."
Illya just stared at her.
"Right…"
At this point, she just learned to live with it.
She still got a headache from it though.
"Illya," Oh, that was Shirou calling. "Come and look at this."
Illya turned on her heel and headed to her older brother, only to blink in subtle confusion as he was standing right next to where she had killed the Goblin Tamer.
"What is it?" Rin asked as she walked over, Sakura following behind as she cast a helpful Heal on Illya, as meager as it was.
Shirou leaned down and picked something up. He held it out towards them with a wry frown.
It was a piece of paper with scribbles on it.
"Is this… supposed to be a monster drop?" Rin asked as she winced, trying to understand what it was. "The guy dropped a bunch of scribbles. That's… nice?"
Illya looked at it and shrugged. "I have no idea what it is. It might be a rare drop so keep a hold on it. Maybe someone else will know."
Shirou nodded and placed it in his inventory.
Sakura gazed around the now empty cavern.
"I guess we continue farming?" Sakura suggested.
They had gained a few levels from that whole endeavor, especially from Illya's kill. They were all at level eighteen – with the exception being Sakura at level fifteen – thanks to the EXP boost the potion provided, but it could have been greater if Illya reduced her level.
No use in complaining over spilled milk, Illya supposed. They had still gained quite a few levels from it, so it was all fine and dandy.
At the shrugs of agreement, Illya nodded and prepared to plan a path to the nearest farming zone until the sound of her inbox dragged her attention.
Out of curiosity, Illya opened it up to read the message.
"So," Rin asked. "Where are we going next?"
"Change of plans," Illya said, looking over the message again. It was sent from her former guild master Woodstock, so it had some reliable credibility to it. "We're heading back to Akihabara."
"Why?" Rin complained. "The potion is still running. It'd be a waste to leave now!"
Illya looked at the message for a final time, making sure she had not misread the message, before closing her menu.
A smile took hold.
"This is far more important."
After all, that person was back in town.
The Villain in Glasses.
Atop the clouds, wyverns flew free and unimpeded. No foolish adventurer had come close to them, as was intended.
Here, they ruled. So long as no adventurers decided to sign their pledge of death, all would be well.
Those were the thoughts of the dragonic creatures, perched on the side of the mountain or soaring above the clouds. All of them focused on nothing but their leisure and the possibility of adventurers harming them.
So it was a no-brainer that they ignored the metal bird flying through their skies.
It made no sound and no other creature – be they animal or monster – gave it a second glance. It flew unimpeded towards an unseen direction. Over the clouds, over the mountains, and over the forests that others would have traveled through to reach its destination.
After countless hours of continuous flight, the bird descended beneath the cloud line, revealing a mystical city. One covered in enchanted ice as far as the eye could see, an Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice.
This was its destination, the capital of Eastal's league of free cities, Maihama, or rather within the palace of ice.
The bird dove and flapped its semi-mechanical wings, preventing the package beneath its clawed feet from swaying very often. It entered the palace, once more being ignored by the creatures and Landers that lived within its walls.
Once the bird flew towards its destination, a mystical library filled to the brim with knowledge both past and present, only then did it rest. It sat upon the mailbox filled with unread letters and invitations, watching as none of the Lander maids and servants batted an eye as they walked past it.
The Landers ignored it, but there was only one that did not.
A veil of fog rippled beside the mailbox, allowing a hunched robed figure to step out of it. He gazed in curiosity at the amalgamation of metal and unknown magic staring back at him.
"Excuse me, are you the Sage of Miral Lake, Regan?" The bird spoke, yet its mouth did not move. Only a gem on its chest shined brightly with the voice. "This automaton will only accept yes or no as an answer."
The hunched figure stared, his fingers twitching and clasping together in a form of unhindered and unadulterated excitement at the unknown creation before him.
Oh dear… was he breathing hard again? Judging from the smoke he let out from his nostrils… Yes, he was certainly doing so.
"Yes…" He intoned, breath racing once more in long forgotten excitement. "I am Regan, the one who inherited the title of Sage of Miral Lake… and what exactly are you…?"
A/N: THAT'S A WRAP. I FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER OUT BEFORE THE MONTH ENDED! (Ignore the fact that its literally the last day of the month of October) Part of the reason the chapter came out this late (early?) was that I liked farming in Warframe and FGO (Why does my phone always struggle to update Oniland?). That's it, I got no other excuse (Other than the fact I decided to finally play Skullgirls).
It's a bit shorter than the previous juggernauts, which is probably why it came out in time... ugh. This chapter was meant to ease the story into the next arc so that it doesn't seem jarring. This chapter set something up for later but I'll let you guess what it is. It's pretty obvious, kinda.
Also, as you can see we have a new cover. The Logo is missing because my brother outsourced that for a friend to do, he doesn't like doing logos. If you can give your honest feedback about it, that'd be appreciated. Also feedback about the chapter itself because that's how an Author improves, one of the perks of uploading online by chapter as opposed to the regular writer formats I guess.
The next chapter will be next month as always so I guess that's it–
*Looks and sees that my semester break ends in a few days*
Ah... well, it was fun while it lasted.
Kappa
