Chapter 3

Good thing Monsters aren't very bright.

We walked out of town...or is it a city? Well regardless, we walked out of the place where people live as Ottava stopped for a moment. Crossing her arms for a minute before speaking.

"Wait, wait WAIT! I just realized that I don't know your fighting potential. I just can't go around with complete beginner, I have pretty high requirements on who I fight with!" Ottava puffed up her chest as I examined my rather basic sword.

Ottava stared at me, expecting me to show off. I looked at my blade for a moment as I took a deep breath, I held my sword...and then a memory entered my head. I dragged my sword against the ground, and it produced a shock-wave a rather pathetic one. My face turned somewhat red, it really wasn't very impressive. I doubt I reached any of Ottava's expectations.

"A level one arte..." Ottava closed her eyes. "Oh no! You've met all of my requirements!"

For some reason that didn't feel me with confidence that our little excursion was going to go well. Still, as long as we avoided combat, I was sure that it wouldn't be too bad.

We walked along the rocky cliff sides. Honestly, everything looked kind of the same, even more now than before. I wondered if we would even realize when we entered the Meggiora Highlands. As we continued walking, small patches of grass started to appear on the ground. It wasn't much, but the green broke up the constant red and browns of the area.

I gave a small sigh as I noticed the mountain sides started to become more like cliffs and plateaus. I think we were in the Meggiora highlands, it certainly looked different than the rest of the areas.

"Hey, what are we looking for anyway?" Ottava gave a pretty good question as my lips twitched slightly.

"Well, you see...I actually don't know that yet,"

Ottava looked at me for a moment before her eyes narrowed before giving me a small pout. "Gosh, I'm really glad I went with you now! I do know about some super secret ruins here. Usually there is only one way to access them, but I know a secret path!" Ottava gave a large laugh as I smiled.

Despite her obviously being younger than me I did feel a certain ease while she was around. I could tell...she was the type of person that would never leave anyone behind. At least that is what I assumed about her.

We continued through the area before a large roar echoed through the air. I almost felt the ground shake as I shivered, that was no doubt the monster that Ottava was talking about. As the roar finally left our ears a small group of monsters appeared before us. By small group, I meant two. Two bird like creatures with axes for beaks.

I looked at them holding my sword. My eyes narrowed as Ottava tapped her lip.

"Gosh I wasn't expecting to fight like this...alright now it's time for me to show off a bit! Hyu Hyu Hyu!" Ottava laughed as her belt of small dolls fell to the ground. The monsters grew near, but before I could strike I noticed the once limp dolls starting to twitch.

"Eh...?" Perhaps it was because I was stupid, but I actually never expected dolls to move on their own. But they did, they shot up, all entering tiny battle potions. Ottava was moving her fingers ever so slightly, as if she was playing an instrument. Without notice, the dolls scattered and attack to two creatures.

I wondered what they were made of, considering a punch from the small doll was enough to cause them to reel back. After a few blows the Axe beaks slowly backed away before escaping. It seemed I didn't need to fight whatsoever.

"T-that was pretty cool Ottava! Where did you learn to do something like that?!"

"Hyu Hyu Hyu! I am pretty great huh?" She paused for a moment, a soft smile slowly appearing on her face "Ah...we friend helped me out, she taught me all about doll construction and fon-machines. Well, it was more that she had a bunch of books on the subject,"

"Is she the friend that you're visiting today?" I asked as Ottava nodded before she laughed.

"You're pretty observant, after we are done with this I really will take you to meet here!"

We continued on our path, or rather I was letting Ottava lead me to wherever she we were going. Honestly, I didn't know what she was doing, but it seemed she still knew the layout of the Highlands better than I did.

After a few more minutes walking she took me to what appeared to be a random entrance in the side of the hill. She tugged on my arm, dragging me inside the area as my eyes lit up. I nearly flipped out, it seemed we were standing on what appeared to be red tinted glass. I tapped my foot on the ground, it was far harder than that though.

I continued to examine the area, noticing there was a few red blocks scattered around with what seemed to be a giant torch right in the center. The room had a dark tint to it. Like it was nighttime despite it clearly being daylight outside, the room had no windows and small light particles were floating in the air.

"Hyu Hyu Hyu! Pretty cool huh? I visited here before, there are about 3 or 4 others just like this. These react to fire I think, but not the fire you use to cook, but the type you create from Fonons. Though I am only good with fon-machines myself," I looked around before scratching my head.

I examine the blocks as I pushed them. I really don't know what the point of these things were, honestly I had a sickening feeling that they probably were completely worthless. At least to use at the current moment, I glanced back at Ottava who had her chest puffed out with a large grin. She obviously was looking into these for awhile, I didn't have the heart to tell her that this didn't help me at all.

"Um...thanks, I think I found out a lot about myself!" I smiled as Ottava laughed.

"Hyu Hyu Hyu! I know, I am always happy to help. Maybe we can visit my friend and all three of us can look into it!"

Before I could reply she grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the small room.

We were outside again, maybe there really wasn't anything in the Highlands? Maybe I was just wasting my time? Despite both of those things being a possibility, I didn't mind. It was better than just sitting around doing nothing.

"So, where are we going ne-" I was cut off by another loud roar. It echoed through the air, it also sounded far closer than before.

"On second thought, we probably should just get out of here..." I stated nervously, I really wasn't in the mood to fight a giant T-rex after all.

"Y-yeah, I'm so nervous even my skeleton is shaking. We can come back later!" We both made a dash towards the exit of the twisting and turning highlands. It really didn't help that everything in the area looked exactly the same. Not only that, but despite us running the roars simply got louder. Even the earth beneath us started to shake.

"W-we are getting close to the exit right?" I said, perhaps my nervousness was getting the better of me as Ottava gave a rather weak laugh.

"O-of course, I totally wouldn't have lost my sense of direction because I was too scared. Nope never, Ottava would never do something so silly," that sentence made my heart drop. Not only that, but all the monsters that ad been in the area had completely vanished. The roars had stopped, replaced with only a low rumble as the ground shook.

"Ah..." I held my breath, the ground continued to shake. As if a giant was slowly walking towards us, and then it just stopped. Both me and Ottava remained silent for a minute, expecting something to happen.

"M-maybe it got scared and ran away...I am pretty ama-" Before Ottava could finish her statement a large creature jumped out from behind a hill. And by large I mean huge. It towered over both of us, its eyes completely white. A large blade sticking out of its back, it's somewhat small arms dangling on its side. This was most likely the T-rex that Ottava was talking about.

I winced, I debated on running away, but it would have been pointless. The moment we turned our back on the creature it would kill us, "I guess we have to fight..." I took a deep breath as I drew my blade, Ottava swallowed harshly as she placed her dolls on the ground. The creature let out another roar before it charged us.

I quickly grabbed Ottava and rolled out of the way. The pink haired girl then moved her fingers, ordering her dolls to attack the beast. They were effective against other monsters, so they had to be effective against this one...right?

No I was wrong, despite jetting their bodies towards the monster like rockets they simply bounced off of it like it was nothing.

"Damn it!" I bit my lip as I put down Ottava. I ran my blade against the ground, "demon fang!" I had no idea why I shouted the attack. I probably should stop that, regardless the shock-wave slowly traveled towards the monsters foot...and it was completely ignored.

"Well...you tried your best!" Ottava smiled.

"Bah, don't say that! And we need to focus! We have to find a way to take this thing down," so what our attacks didn't do any damage. So what it could probably eat us in one bite. I just had to keep my head held high no matter what happens, I gripped my sword. Trying to find some way to make this work.

"Oh my, it seems that you two could use some help," I flinched slightly. I knew that voice from somewhere as both me and Ottava turned around. A familar brown-haired woman stood before.

"Adagio?!"

"Adagio!"

We both said her name as I looked at Ottava. "W-wait, how do you know her?"

"What are you talking about? I was going to ask the same thing to you..."

Before any more questions could be asked, the large monster gave a loud roar as Adagio smiled. "We can save proper introductions for later, for now let me take care of the problem in front of us!"

Adagio cleared her throat for a moment as she started to sing. At least that is what I assumed she was doing, it was a strange song that carried an echo with it. It sounded like a hymn sung by a goddess. Once she finished singing, the sky turned dark for a moment, at that moment rays of light fell from above. Striking the monster repeatedly. Dust kicked up as the barrage continued.

After a minute, the smoke and debris cleared as the large monster lied broken and battered. The sword that was once in its back fell out as it staggered to its feet limping. It would have been the perfect chance to finish it off, but Adagio simply watched it walk away. I was somewhat relieved at the fact, regardless of the situation. We were the ones that were imposing on its home, we had no right to kill it.

Both me and Ottava gave a small sigh of relief as I walked up to the blade and picked it up. I felt a strange jolt, like something was crawling in my brain. I examined the blade, for a moment it looked like it twitched. Like it was alive, which was silly, swords can't be alive! Regardless, I placed the blade on my back before turning to Ottava and Adagio.

"Gosh, I am so happy to see you Ottava! We probably would have been a pink and white sandwich if it wasn't for you!" Ottava smiled as I nodded.

"Yeah, but what are you do here anyway?"

Adagio blushed slightly before replying. "Well, it occurred to me that I had completely forgotten to tell you about the giant monster that lurks. So I decided to follow you just in case. Good thing I did, now, shall we head back to my home. There are things I want to talk about, and you two are probably hungry! Maybe some cake?"

Ottava frowned at the thought. "Adagio, cake isn't healthy for us at all, why not tuna instead?"

"Oh, well tuna is fine too," the both smiled at one another. I once again examined my newly obtained sword. For some reason they were resonating with me, I would ask Adagio about it later...

Author note

A slow chapter this time