A/N 1: I do recommend looking up 'The Benny Hill Show Song' and listening to it during their quest.
-OxOxO-
Yes. A beauty.
In fact, there were two beauties. One on the left. One on the right. They sat on the chest on the person who had tried to talk to Tanya.
Over the course of her life as a girl, Tanya had tried to suppress her hormones as much as she could by thinking about anything but sex and her situation.
It was actually pretty easy, back then. There were very few women in the Empire's army, and the only ones she interacted with on a regular, friendly basis with were a few members of the 203rd.
Her puberty was also not doing too much for her. That was helpful in a few ways – less distraction, she didn't have boobs – but also annoying in others – she looked like a twelve-year-old and had the height to match.
She still stole glances at other women occasionally – again, mostly with the 203rd – and if she ever got caught, she'd just glance down unhappily at her own body in an attempt to use its lackluster appearance as an excuse.
They'd given her all sorts of tips, and, along with the time she had spent in the hot springs of Bidin-Budin with Viktoriya, they created wonderful fantasies that Tanya wished she could properly 'take care' of.
These days, it was getting a bit worse. She now had a healthy diet that didn't contain leather or sawdust or tree bark, and the town of Axel was full of women who didn't mind showing off an inch – or twenty – of skin.
In this case, however, the mounds of plentiful flesh were just too much to ignore. They were huge. And not just 'I-have-chronic-back-pain' huge. This pair of breasts needed to have the armor that contained them shaped to fit them.
Armor wasn't supposed to work like that. That sort of thing was stupid, expensive, and doing so probably decreased the armor's overall defense. They were ridiculous, and underneath all that armor…
…They probably did the name 'breastplate' proud.
Of course, the person they were attached to wasn't bad. Beautiful, long golden hair that Tanya imagined her own hair could resemble if she ever let it grow out was pulled back into a ponytail, for the most part, and sharp, aristocratic features were the norm on her face.
Tanya shook her head, wiping the corner of her mouth with a nearby napkin. She set it down and cleared her throat. "Could you repeat that?" she asked, hoping her voice wouldn't waver or crack.
"Are you still searching for party members?"
Tanya nodded, and the woman closed her eyes and clasped her hands. "Thank goodness. I have been awaiting the arrival of someone such as yourself," the woman said, exhaling heavily at the end.
Tanya's eyebrows furrowed. Was she nervous or something?
The woman stood up straight, and made to introduce herself in halting sentences. "My name is Darkness. My calling is that of a Crusader. May I p-p-please join your party?"
Tanya surveyed the rest of her appearance. Heavy armor adorned her body, with most of it being centered on her chest and hips. The rest of her body was clothed in some sort of yellow cloth, and, if Tanya had to guess, she probably had chain mail underneath it all.
She was truly what came to mind when she thought of the word 'Crusader'.
Yes, she must have been nervous to be stuttering that much. Tanya also stood up. "My name is Tanya von Degurechaff. I am an Adventurer, and I am looking for a party to lead."
"Is it true that you take on quests several times over your level?" she blurted out, leaning against the table Tanya had been using.
Tanya shook her head in amusement. It was always fun to see newbies. She'd seen her fair share of new recruits whenever the General Staff had decided to move some of her group to other units, leaving gaps to be filled.
Tanya nodded in response to her question. "Yes. I've been trying to level up, but Luna wouldn't let me take on anything stronger than Squirrels."
The woman began to pant, and gripped Tanya's arm. She tried to pull away, but the woman's strength matched her beauty. "It's worse than I thought! For someone with such a low class to take on such monsters…"
She grinned. "As a knight, I cannot overlook such difficulty befalling someone of such a tender age!"
Twitch.
Tanya glared at her. "I am sixteen."
Her mouth was wide open, and the only sound that escaped it, instead of her continued ranting, was a strangled exhale of confusion.
For a moment, she just stared at Tanya, her face frozen in the decidedly odd expression the woman had worn while she was practically assaulting Tanya. Then, mutely, the woman slowly loosened her grip, stepping back and shuffling her feet.
"…I apologize."
They stood there, being glanced at occasionally by the patrons that surrounded them. Tanya smirked. Well, the woman would definitely would feel at least obliged to go with her on one quest, at least.
"Well, I am recruiting, so tell me a bit about your strengths."
The woman flicked the bow that sat at the base of her neck nervously. "Well, the truth is… while I am confident in my Strength and stamina, I am clumsy…"
"Which means?"
"None of my attacks ever hit their mark."
Tanya blinked slowly. She looked at the woman for a moment, before pinching the bridge of her nose, before shaking her head, trying to disperse any bad feelings she was getting. "That's fine. You're just starting out, right? You can learn eventua-"
"Oh no. I wouldn't ever want to kill something when I could just be acting as a shield."
Tanya blinked again, her forehead creased. Did she hear that right? She didn't want to kill?
"…Let me get this straight. You want to be attacked?" Tanya questioned, dread rising in her gut.
It wasn't possible. This place was still in Medieval times. The Eris Cult had to frown on such things. It didn't make sense, and Tanya hadn't even contemplated the possibility of such a thing occurring, but…
The woman made a lurid moan that convinced Tanya that yes, the woman very much would love to be attacked. She pinched the bridge of her nose again, leaving the woman to her fantasies.
Yes, the woman was a masochist.
And?
Tanya didn't have options. She wasn't willing to compromise on the leadership aspect anymore, which meant that no one would want to party up with her. But…
Tanya cast another look at the Crusader. She noticed, and proceeded to violate Tanya's personal space. "Please, do whatever you must with me! As a Crusader, my job demands that I work to lessen the suffering of the weak!"
Tanya pushed to woman away from herself steadily, straightened herself, and took a deep breath. She had no choice.
Sighing, Tanya said, "Alright. Since there are a ton of quests due to the Eris Thanksgiving Festival, we'll join one of those." She stood up to go to the counter.
The woman perked up. "As a Crusader who is a part of the Eris Cult, I would be happy to!"
Tanya paused mid-step. Right. Crusaders had something to do with religious wars.
Walking dejectedly to the counter, Tanya was already regretting her decision.
-OxOxO-
They'd decided to help protect the farmlands. Now, more than ever, they needed to ensure that the farmers were protected while they harvested all of the food that would be eaten during the festival.
Darkness had wanted to go to the forest, but Tanya had convinced her that they'd get in everyone's way, since she was only level three and Tanya was level eight.
They might be able to fight any insect monsters one-on-one, but neither of them could withstand a swarm. Darkness didn't seem to care about the danger, as she only grew more excited, and Tanya had needed to backtrack and claim the monsters on the farms would be better.
Tanya didn't know that, of course, but she didn't want to fight a swarm of insects. Her offensive magic couldn't really deal with targets surrounding her.
Her gun could, of course, but not her magic alone. Not without giving them more than enough time to kill her.
After deciding on when to depart, they'd parted ways. Tanya had gone to the blacksmith's and fitted her staff with her Seitengewehr. She could use it more effectively now.
She glared at the other adventurers that were eyeing the two of them warily. It seemed that both of them had a reputation. Tanya knew where her own came from – she'd taken on quest after quest, when most adventurers often didn't take more than three per week, and she'd taken on all of them alone.
Tanya could guess where Darkness had gotten her reputation.
Soon enough, they arrived at the farms they'd been assigned to protect. "Darkness. Be sure to show what you have. I'll need to know for whenever we're coming up with strategies."
The woman, suddenly serious, nodded. They'd passed a group of adventurers on their way back from defending, and it didn't seem like they'd have it any easier.
Snails as tall as Tanya were already beginning to encroach on the farm, and the rustling in the tree line told Tanya that more monsters were likely to begin to attack. The food was also beginning to emerge from the ground, ready to defend itself.
Shooting a glance at the others in their group, Tanya realized she was the only one who could use magic, if the armor and weapons of all the others were anything to go by.
"Alright. You all defend me while I defeat the Adaman Snails," she ordered. The others who had signed up for this quest looked at Tanya, mirth and ridicule shining in their eyes. Darkness just nodded her head, and began to charge at them.
Tanya watched her run and shook her head. If she was supposed to protect her, how would Darkness do that if she wasn't even near her?
Tanya gestured with her staff. "Explosive Vaporization!"
A ball of light sped off, nailing one of the snails on the shell. Those around her gasped in shock. "How'd you cast it so fast?"
Tanya just shrugged. Intermediate magic and Advanced magic was supposed to have some sort of chanting that preceded it. It seemed her magic hadn't gained that requirement upon coming here.
The others began to spread out, challenging the snails. Tanya nodded. It seemed they had thought twice about her order.
The one she'd fired at had a hole blown in its shell, but it seemed to still be moving. It, along with most of the other snails, seemed to be heading for Darkness.
For her part, she seemed to be trying to attack one of the snails. It was going… poorly.
Every time she swung her sword, she managed to miss. It hit the ground, or it swiped through the air, or the snail moved an extra inch to the left. No matter what she did, she couldn't hit a Snail. They might have been big, but they were slow, and not in any way threatening.
If she had had a phone, Tanya would have been tempted to play that Benny Hill song.
"Go! While they're focused on me, destroy them!" the woman cried out as she tried, again and again, to hit the slow, sedate snail.
Tanya sighed. She was distracting the snails, at least. One by one, Tanya sent an Explosive Vaporization towards each snail. They all hit, damaging their shells.
The other adventurers would swarm whichever ones she hit, stabbing through the cracks in their shells while avoiding their front.
Darkness, meanwhile, was now surrounded by snails, and she was still missing them.
"Unhand me, filthy Snails!" Darkness cried out as the snail behind her bumped into her knees. The woman collapsed to the ground, and the snails began to smother her.
Scared for her teammate, Tanya activated a small Reinforcement spell and hurried over to Darkness. The others seemed to be distracted with harvesting the snails to notice her sudden increase in speed.
When she got there, Tanya blanched. Darkness, pressed into the ground by the weight of a snail, was panting. Heavily.
Tanya lost the willpower to help her out, and began to take care of the ones surrounding Darkness, one by one. It seemed she was doing something to keep them focused on her, since they didn't react to her.
Her blade soaked in snail guts, Tanya finished soon enough. Darkness laid on the ground, blushing and panting.
"They're dead, you know."
Darkness turned her head to Tanya, and then looked at the snail lying on top of her in confusion. Indeed, Tanya had already gutted it.
Darkness pushed the body off of her easily, retrieved her sword from where it had fallen, and thanked Tanya, still blushing. Tanya nodded, much too occupied by the fact that it looked like Darkness could have pushed the snail off of her at any second.
Most of the snails seemed to be dead now, and the other adventurers met with them at the cart they'd brought, which was full of provisions to last them the next few hours.
"I can't believe someone with the Adventurer job can use such destructive magic," commented one. The others made various sounds of agreement, and Tanya accepted their thanks graciously.
"And you! You charged in and attracted so many of them with your Decoy skill. You're truly a model knight!"
Darkness blushed, and Tanya stared at the ground listlessly, her earlier praise forgotten. Model knight?
What kind of shield runs off and gets smothered in a Snail's slime willingly?
A moment's reprieve was all they got, however. The vegetables were growing bolder, which meant they needed to be harvested.
The farmers they had protected fought with them, and a few adventurers ran over to help them. In the meantime, large animals were beginning to charge out of the forest.
"Wild Boars!" exclaimed Darkness. Without hesitation, she ran to meet them head on. Tanya watched, fascinated. How did she think running directly at something with sharp, pointed tusks and moving faster than a regular human could run would go?
Arms wide, Darkness met the full force of the boar head on, grasping it by its tusks.
"You filthy pig! Are you going to subdue me and use your weight to hold me down while your friend violates me?"
Mouth agape, Tanya watched as Darkness threw it to the side. Another was charging at her, and both they and Darkness seemed to be anticipating the fight, if for different reasons.
Tanya just sighed. Even if Darkness could withstand their attacks, the Crusader couldn't deal damage with her sword.
She ran over, scepter in hand. Both boars, circling Darkness, didn't notice her.
She struck fast, ducking to the side of the one with its back turned to her and slipping the blade of her scepter between its ribs.
It squealed, turning around. Tanya plunged her blade into its side furiously. The other one charged Darkness, who cried out in glee.
Tanya backed up, eyeing the boar. It eyed her too, and began to run at her. Tanya ducked to its side, avoiding its charge easily and scoring a hit on its back leg.
It squealed again, and Tanya grinned, watching happily as its back leg trembled. It seemed she'd hit something important, and it was trying to stumble away.
She cast a quick look over her shoulder at Darkness. Darkness seemed to be relishing in the furious blows the boar was raining down on her. It seemed to have stopped trying to charge Darkness, and was now slashing at her with its tusks. Tanya shook her head and took off after the other Wild Boar.
Tanya caught up to her stumbling prey, and quickly sliced its back leg. It well to the ground, and Tanya finished its life quickly. Looking around the wet, battle-ridden field, it seemed most of the other adventurers had been able to fight off the rest of them. That just left the food and Darkness.
Tanya marched over, stabbed the thing in the throat, and glared at Darkness. "You… you can't hit anything! I thought, when you said you were clumsy, that meant you just hadn't taken a few skills, or that you just weren't steady on your feet," Tanya began, gesturing to the woman's feet with her scepter.
"Instead, it turns out you're just pathetic! I…should…" Tanya trailed off. Darkness's face had that same beet-red look it had had when she'd been 'trapped' under the snail.
"So brutal…" she muttered. Tanya spun around, resting her scepter on her shoulder.
Not worth it. How was she supposed to discipline her troops when they wanted to be punished?
She sighed. Well, she'd trained the 203rd. She could find some way to properly motivate Darkness, even if she didn't have artillery or pain or the backing of an entire nation to do so.
Looking at the other groups of adventurers conversing and congratulating each other, Tanya almost wished she'd chosen an actual job.
Tanya tossed one last glance over her shoulder. Darkness seemed to be enjoying herself, at least.
With a huff, Tanya began to trek over to the other group of adventurers. The crops needed to be finished, and as long as she wasn't covering for Darkness, she might as well help.
-OxOxO-
They crowded around the desk, making a racket, waiting for Luna to emerge from the counter.
She, along with everyone else there, were waiting for their reward. They'd done some hard work, and they wanted their hard-earned cash.
With how much the scepter had cost, she needed the money. She'd finally figured out how to best make most of the gears, which meant she could rest easy knowing she wouldn't have to spend any more money buying materials from the blacksmith.
She would also be able to finish off her loan.
The door to the guild burst open, and Tanya, like the rest of the crowd, turned. More adventurers streamed in. Some went to the eatery, but most of them joined Tanya in line, waiting for their payment. Tanya looked around for her teammate.
Tanya couldn't see her and frowned. Where was she?
Just then, a voice pierced the din of grumbling adventurers. "Everyone, payment is now available! Please form an orderly line, and-"
Before she could finish, people began to swarm the counter, ignoring the second part of her announcement and trying to vie for their money. Tanya was no better.
Utilizing her smaller size, Tanya slipped through the crowd, delivering a sharp kick to the shins of those who wouldn't move.
Being small had its perks, occasionally.
She arrived at the front. "Luna, the reward for me and another blonde-haired, blue-eyed adventurer named Darkness, please!" she hollered over the noise. The other receptionists seemed to be overwhelmed by the roiling crowds, but Luna was above it all.
Tanya passed the woman her Registration Card, and she quickly confirmed her kills. The system of confirming what adventurers had done with the farmers who hired them seemed to break down around this time.
Luna passed her two bags, and Tanya thrust one back. "Pay off my debts, please!"
Luna nodded, and Tanya fought her way back through the crowd, ignoring the grumbling, moody adventurers by her sides.
Soon enough, she found herself in the eatery. She scanned it, and found Darkness.
She practically threw herself and the bag down, startling Darkness. "Your money," she panted.
Darkness tilted her head. "What about yours?"
Tanya took a sip of the liquid Darkness had ordered and sighed happily. A bit of alcohol wouldn't hurt, right?
"I finished off a loan I took in my first week," she replied. This seemed to confuse the woman more.
"But I thought you were…" she said, the rest of her statement dying on her lips. Tanya glared at her for a moment, before sipping on Darkness's beer. The skeptical expression told Tanya she needed to get her own.
Soon enough, a waitress graced their table and Tanya ordered a meal and a drink. Darkness seemed to be thinking, and Tanya let her. She needed to do a bit of that as well.
The Crusader was… interesting. She – maybe literally – couldn't hit the walls of any room she stood with her sword. While a detriment, that wasn't even her biggest problem.
The woman across from her grunted in pleasure, and Tanya went back over her words. Had she said that aloud?
Taking more care to keep her thoughts private, Tanya went over that problem.
She was a complete and total masochist. The definition of the latter half of S&M. That was quite uncomfortable to be around, and it could be dangerous if Tanya ever got in trouble.
The last problem was, of course, religion. As a Crusader, she no doubt had very biased thoughts about her god, as well as non-believers like Tanya.
She would probably oppose Tanya if she ever found out about what she wanted to do with that wish.
However, she did have a disgusting amount of Strength and stamina. She could probably have beaten Tanya at arm-wrestling that first day she was there, and that she could easily move around Wild Boars and Adaman Slimes as if they were pillows was impressive.
Tanya gazed at said impressive woman again. Her armor had been slightly damaged by both the slime of the Adaman Snails and the blows of the Wild Boars she'd fought. The rest of her body, however – the portions where black cloth had been – were much more exposed, hinting at the muscle and flesh that lay beneath the armor.
Yes. She was very… attractive in a number of ways.
Tanya scoffed at her own thought as her food arrived. Attractive didn't cover it. Hot, gorgeous, voluptuous, and bouncy sure did, though.
She was also a local. Tanya didn't really have much knowledge of the world. Consulting with the Blacksmith and Luna could help, but Tanya didn't even know what questions to ask. Sticking with someone who did know had its benefits.
A question floated passed Tanya's lips. "Why didn't you get your money yourself?"
Darkness shook her own head. "Well, I had to go take a quick bath."
Tanya made sure to keep her face as blank as she could, even utilizing a few tricks that Viktoriya had taught her.
Well. That settled it.
Tanya didn't have to guess at what was beneath the armor; she would see it. A grin – carefully curated so that it wasn't lecherous – split Tanya's face, and Darkness shuffled.
"Well Darkness, I hope we can continue to do good work together, at least until the festival is done," she said. Darkness looked up from her food, her blushing face becoming serious. "You mean…"
Tanya nodded, rubbing the back of her head. "I don't exactly have many options, so how about we stick together?"
With that, the woman leapt up. "You won't regret it!"
Tanya nodded, and rose. She needed to get back to stable and crash for a while. The mana drain of using so many Explosive Vaporization spells was beginning to make itself known.
Tanya heard the muttered, "I know I won't," that came from Darkness's direction and sighed dejectedly. Any help would be good help, of course, but…
Why was she saddled with such depravity?
-OxOxO-
Tanya scowled at the board. Nothing good.
She'd been adventuring with Darkness for a week. She'd leveled a bit, and poured a few points into the Smith skill. She was confident that she could at least begin to experiment and figure out how to make a gun.
That, however, was the easy part. Yes, upgrading Smith took time, but she knew she could do it eventually. Her main problem was what went in the guns.
Cartridges – a bullet, some propellant, a cap, and casing – were needed. The bullet and casing were, like the gun itself, difficult to accomplish with the technology she had, but entirely possible.
However, she had never taken the time to learn exactly what went into the propellant. She knew that it wasn't black powder – the replacement of actual black powder didn't create smoke and allowed for more visibility on the battlefield, a fact which had come up during her time at the Military College – but she would have liked to have that much.
If she didn't get something explosive, her gun would become a fancy-looking stick, just like the scepter she was using.
She hadn't yet found anything, and she was beginning to think she'd need to invent chemistry itself in order to get something that worked. Gunpowder had sulfur in it, right?
Tanya shook her head, turning her thoughts back to the board. The festival was a week away, and no new quests had come up.
Darkness wanted to take on some of the harder ones. Tanya had promptly shot her down.
She might have been confident in her abilities, but even she didn't think that taking on hordes of Insect monsters alone was a good idea. She could only destroy so many at once, after all, and Darkness could not distract all of them, even if she did have that oil on her.
She'd made herself content with taking on small fry in the morning and working at the Blacksmith's in the afternoon. It didn't seem like there was much to do.
She walked over to Luna. "Hey Luna," she greeted. The woman smiled.
"What do you want Tanya?" she asked, and Tanya uneasily smiled. Luna knew her well.
"Have any Hero Candidates come in?" she asked. She didn't know when Being X would send in another person, but she had no doubt that he would after a week. He didn't give up easily.
She shook her head. "No, not yet. We can't even really tell, to be honest, unless they show the traits of one."
Tanya nodded, thankful that she had that going for her. She looked like anything but a Japanese person, and she had been saved from scrutiny due to that fact and that she hadn't exactly shown off her 'Divine' relics.
Tanya sighed. "Hey, can I- "
"No."
Tanya scowled. "I got a teammate, right? Why won't you let us take on stronger stuff? Or at least check my card?"
The whole reason she wanted a teammate was to move on to stronger enemies, and Luna still wouldn't let her. She told her as much every time she came to ask.
"If you need to ask, then you definitely shouldn't be taking it on," Luna said. Tanya pouted, but made her way back to the board. She'd level up soon enough.
Pulling a quest down, Tanya held it out to Luna. "Fine then. We'll take this, then."
Luna looked at it. "Just Giant Toads?" she asked, a genuine smile playing across her lips.
"Ha ha," Tanya replied sarcastically. "In all actuality, I want to try and get Darkness to learn to hit something."
Luna handed the quest back to her. "Good luck with that. I told her that for the first few times she came here over the past few months, when parties kept politely dumping her. I gave it up as a lost cause after that."
Tanya nodded absentmindedly, before whirling around, glaring at Luna. "You haven't told me to change out of the Adventurer Job in a while," she noted.
Luna just smiled.
A scowl now firmly in place, Tanya readjusted her hat as she sat down to eat. As soon as Darkness got there, they'd be gone.
-OxOxO-
Finally, Darkness had shown up. When she'd told her what they were doing, Tanya had written off her odd happiness. Darkness hadn't actually gotten to level up much, since she couldn't hit anything. She had apparently gotten to her current level from eating lots of food that was high in experience.
Giant Toads would be easy to hit. She couldn't possibly miss such a close target.
"Alright Darkness," Tanya said as one of them began to approach, roused from chasing after some livestock by their approach, "I want you to fight it on your own. You need to level up, too."
Tanya looked away from the bulbous blue frog that was looming closer, towards a… frantically undressing Darkness.
She promptly swore. She was not having another 'my clothing is too tight these days, let me bare my chest to you, another female' episode like with Viktoriya.
She could peep all she wanted in the bath houses, after all, and other people might see her out here. "What are you doing?"
Darkness had stripped off her heavy armor, and was just wearing the black bodysuit that was usually hidden beneath other layers. Tanya might have taken the time to ogle, but right now, danger was approaching.
Instead of responding, the woman ran towards the amphibian. Tanya groaned into her hands as she picked up what Darkness had dropped.
"What are you doing!" she repeated, shouting at the girl's back.
"If a Giant Toad sees any metal, it won't swallow you. They can't digest it!" she shouted back. That might have made sense if she wanted to convince it to close in on her so she could hit it up close, but Darkness had also thrown away her sword, making it rather obvious that she had no intention of fighting against the frog.
Tanya grit her teeth and picked up one of the pieces of armor that rested against the girls hips, holding it as if it were a shield. It worked well enough. She ran, trying to catch up with the woman.
She outpaced her, but Tanya activated a burst of her Reinforcement magic and caught up with her in time. "Darkness, if you want to level up, you'll need to actually kill it, right?"
Finally, they came to a stop before the thing. It seemed to be shying away from Tanya, thanks to the piece of armor she had picked up. Its bulbous eyes were glued to Darkness.
The long, sticky tongue shot out, and Tanya jumped in front of Darkness. Instead of her, however, the tongue got caught on Darkness's armor.
The tongue recoiled, as did the frog. Tanya grinned, and pushed Darkness's sword into her hands. "Now, try and hit it, at least."
Darkness seemed rather put out, but she grasped her sword anyway. The frog seemed much more reluctant, but as Tanya backed away, it seemed captivated by Darkness once more.
Tanya nodded, and cast her gaze about. It wouldn't do for the both of them to be surrounded while they were focused on this one. Nothing seemed to be approaching yet, and Tanya breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked back at Darkness, and-
Even as she groaned at Darkness's obsession, she tried to look on the bright side of things.
At least Darkness was enjoying herself?
She had, in the few moments Tanya had looked away, been swallowed by the frog. Her head was sticking out, and judging by the expression on her face, she was thoroughly enjoying the experience.
"To be eaten by a Giant Toad…" she said. Her tone told Tanya she was ashamed, but her face told her she was getting off to the experience.
She shook her head, took her scepter from her back, and slashed at the thing's gut. Tanya was showered with gore, and Darkness was flung out of its mouth as it died.
Tanya stared at her dispassionately. Darkness seemed to be in pure bliss, writhing on the ground and covered in the frog's digestive fluids. She glanced at Tanya, and she only seemed to fidget more.
Tanya shook her head and walked back to her partner's armor.
Only four more to go. Tanya picked up the woman's belongings, and trudged over to her. After a week of this, Tanya was beginning to lose hope that the woman would try to improve herself by her own initiative.
And Tanya really didn't want to break out military instruction. It might be effective in training people who had signed up for the army, but Tanya didn't think Darkness would stick around if Tanya was too harsh.
As Tanya dropped the woman's armor on her, she remembered that Darkness would probably enjoy anything Tanya could put her through.
She sighed again, and began to scout the surroundings for more frogs. They needed to get four more if they wanted to get it done that day, and she didn't want to be roaming the streets when the festival began tomorrow.
-OxOxO-
Tanya looked down the hollow tube and frowned. It still wasn't straight, and the grooves weren't defined enough. She threw it into a pile of similar looking tubes that were to be melted down later.
Tanya had gotten around to selling the sword of the Reincarnate she'd killed for a tidy sum. It seemed to just be a regular sword without its owner, and Tanya had sold it to the general store under the pretense that she had made it. After collecting that tidy sum, she'd decided to start trying to make her gun.
It was grueling work. She didn't think that any of these tools were used in her time, substituted for more modern, specialized ones. Still, she did the best she could.
That didn't amount to much, unfortunately, but she'd keep trying. She had to.
As it was, the festival was beginning today. Darkness had wanted Tanya to come with her, but Tanya had told her she wouldn't be participating. She had work to do, and this 'Thanksgiving' gave her the perfect excuse to do so.
The front door opened, and Tanya scowled. The Blacksmith had increased her pay and told her that she would man the shop while he was out celebrating. Apparently, there was some sort of open market going on, and he wanted to participate.
She'd just accepted his orders with the expectation that no one would be coming in due to said festival, but it seemed someone wanted something.
She came out of the back and sighed. Darkness, armor in hand, was studying the swords. "Hey. You here to get your armor repaired?" she asked her.
Darkness looked up. "Tanya? What are you doing here?"
She rolled her eyes and turned away. "My job. Come into the back, would you?"
This seemed to surprise the woman, but she followed obediently. "You have a job besides adventuring?"
"Of course," she said as she picked out another piece of steel, "you don't?"
Darkness, a single eyebrow raised, said, "Of course not."
Tanya glanced at the Crusader, but shook her head. There was probably some kind of cultural disconnect. "Anyway. What did you want? Does your armor need to be repaired?" she asked, gesturing to the armor she was carrying.
She nodded. "It's a bit specialized. It's made of very tough metals and-"
Tanya snatched it away before she finished. She didn't need to know.
The Smith skill was… quite baffling. You didn't need extra materials in order to fix it up completely, as long as your were a high enough level. The Blacksmith had even claimed that fixing it after it was broken could make it stronger, if you were as highly leveled as he was.
She sat down and got to work, gently tapping the armor and watching it reform.
It might have taken a blacksmith from either of her previous worlds hours to get this much done, but here, a few taps of a mallet fixed any holes, while a few brushes of sandpaper smoothed out what could take even more time.
It was amazing, and this speed was what had allowed her to get as close as she had to recreating the gun in only a week.
A few minutes later, and everything looked brand new. "Here you go, free of charge."
Darkness looked surprised at that. "No, I couldn't just take away your time like that," she said as she grabbed the bag by her waist.
"Don't bother," Tanya said as she began to heat the sheet of metal, "You're a friend, so it would be foolish to charge you for it."
The woman went quiet. Tanya worked, grunting in exertion. Eventually, covered in sweat and wishing she had more mana to fuel her Reinforcement spells with, she finished shaping the metal. She looked down the tube, and grinned. It seemed great.
She set it against the wall, and looked at Darkness. She tilted her head, eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"
Darkness seemed to be looking down, oddly serious. "Are you going to the festival at all?"
Tanya sighed. "No, Darkness. I already told you, I'm not going to the festival."
"But what about your family? Wouldn't they want to look at the shops with you?"
Tanya smiled gently. "I'm a foreigner, Darkness. My family isn't here, and even if I was in my homeland…" she trailed off.
"I'm also an orphan."
Darkness seemed floored. "But… you have…"
Tanya looked at her, leaning in towards the Crusader and waiting for more. But no more sound came from the woman, and with a shouted farewell, she left the shop.
How odd. She seemed to think she was from around here.
Shrugging, Tanya looked at her drawings of her gun. It wasn't good, by any means; she wasn't an engineer, and she hadn't ever been to art school. It was, however, enough to remind her of the look and feel of every part of her gun.
Trying to ignore the choir that was passing outside, Tanya continued working, unaware of the forces moving around her.
-OxOxO-
The second day of the festival had arrived, and Tanya was regretting staying up so late last night. She'd finished most of the bulkier pieces of her weapon, which just left the pieces with moving parts and pins.
She'd figured out how to make a proper spring early in the morning, and finally retreated to the stables after locking the place up. Unfortunately…
The shop had been broken into.
The Blacksmith, of course, didn't blame her, and it didn't seem like anything had been taken. All of Tanya's work had been under the tarp in the backroom, right where she'd left it. None of the weapons had been stolen either.
He'd reported it to the police, and Tanya had told the police what she could. A mystery seemed afoot.
That, however, wasn't the most regrettable aspect of this whole affair. The Blacksmith had decided to close up the shop, telling Tanya to enjoy herself. She had gone to the guild instead, searching for work. All of it, however, was gone.
"Well, we've killed off as many of the monsters we can without detrimentally affecting the monster population, so all quests involving monster extermination have been postponed," Luna explained. Tanya sighed, and went back to the board. Other quests weren't worth the effort.
An adventurer, regardless of job, wanted to gain experience. Doing menial labor like helping at construction sites or carrying luggage meant she wouldn't even get the satisfaction of experience for the pitiful pay she earned.
However, the Blacksmith was gone, which meant Tanya had nothing to do.
The doors of the Guild burst in, and Tanya spotted Darkness walk in. She smiled fondly at her disheveled appearance. She had probably run over to the Blacksmith's looking for her.
Tanya sat down and ordered a meal. As long as she had nothing to do, she might as well eat. That increased her experience, at least.
Darkness, after conversing with Luna, sat down across from Tanya. "I can't believe that someone would break into a store like that."
Tanya shot her a confused look, and Darkness looked just as confused. "I mean, why would anyone try and rob someone with so much work to do? Becoming an adventurer is much better than becoming a bandit or criminal."
Tanya made a noise of agreement. She hadn't thought about it, but that did make sense. With people so easily able to become powerful, it was a wonder why they'd want to do something like that.
"Well," Tanya said, pulling out her bag, "I don't have anything to do. I suppose I'll just sit around here."
From her bag, she pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. She'd been trying to figure out how to make gunpowder. She knew it had to do with sulfur – the smell of the spent cartridges told her that much – and maybe coal.
It had been called 'black powder,' once. Maybe that color came from something that burned?
Darkness leaned on the table. Tanya looked up, and saw a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
"We could…"
Tanya groaned. "Why? Why should I go out and participate in something so inane when I have so much work to do?"
"Well, there are lots of exotic products in the stalls, and everything is priced better since it's a time of thanks to Eris."
Tanya looked up sharply. Exotic products and good prices sounded wonderful. Maybe she'd even find a bit of gunpowder-
Wait. "Darkness, the festival ends with fireworks in two days, right?" she asked hurriedly, leaning into the table. Fireworks meant gunpowder.
Darkness, taken aback, responded easily. "Well, yeah."
Tanya grinned, stuffed her paper back into her bag, and shot up from the table. That settled it. "Then I'll go."
Tanya ran out of the guild, followed by a trailing Darkness. Unfortunately, they ran right into Dust.
"Hey, watch where you're...," the adventurer trailed off, staring openly at Darkness's assets. He shook his head and, with renewed vigor and no small amount of lust, continued. "Yeah, watch where you're going! Can't you see that I'm trying to get into the guild? I guess you two will need to apologize to me, right?"
Darkness, face blushing, opened her mouth. Tanya cut her off; they had a mission. "No. We're trying to get to the festival. I suggest you move."
He opened his mouth, but Tanya grabbed the scepter on her back and raised an eyebrow. "…alright, I'll just go in," he said.
"You aren't coming?" Darkness asked.
He let out a single "Heh," and then he turned to Darkness. "Even if I had the money to spend on that, I'd much rather get drunk in here; getting thrown in the police station is only good if I'm going to go to sleep."
As he stared at Darkness, something caught his eye. "Hey, what's the big idea?" he said, pointing above Tanya's head.
"My scepter?"
"Yeah, why have you got a sword strapped to it, as if it were a spear? And why let that mantle get in the way?" he asked.
"I have a bit of training in that area, thank you. Now, if you'll excuse us…"
With that, they left a contemplative Dust behind and set out for the festival.
-OxOxO-
Tanya peered around her curiously. People seemed to be giving her and Darkness a wide berth, for some reason. The shops they'd picked up food at – apples topped with some sort of sweet fluid for Darkness and something that resembled a kebab for herself – had seemed oddly deferential.
It seemed odd, but Darkness didn't seem to think anything of it, so she let it slide.
Tanya had looked around for the fireworks, but hadn't found anything yet. Maybe they weren't brought out until tomorrow?
Nevertheless, she continued to look. They wound through crowds, passing by stalls, to no avail.
Soon enough, they arrived at a wider street with fewer stalls. "Tanya, get to the side of the road!"
Tanya felt her arm get yanked by the Crusader. She was being dragged down a hall made of stone and red and flags and soldiers and a horrible thing and no no no no-
And she shook her head, opening her eyes and finding herself standing close to one of the buildings and not in the Russy Federation at all. People walked down the middle of the road, looking like something out of a parade in her first world.
People, dressed mostly in purples, yellow, whites, and always with some sort of winged motif, walked down the street. People began to call out.
"Oh, beloved Eris!"
"Thank you, Eris!"
"I pray for good luck, Goddess Eris!"
Mingled horror and confusion overtook Tanya's mind as she glared at those around her. Turning to Darkness, she bit out, "What is this?"
Not letting her eyes stray from the procession, she told Tanya, "It's the traditional Eris Thanksgiving Festival parade, duh. Every year, people dress up like Eris so that she may descend and walk among them."
Tanya scowled at them all, wishing that she could be anywhere other than watching a group of cosplayers. Why did someone have to rob the blacksmith? Why did she have to be here?
Tanya blinked away her anger. Right, she wanted to find the fireworks. As the crowd began to mingle with the parade, Tanya continued to walk on the sides of the road. She needed to figure out where the fireworks were.
Wait, maybe Darkness knew? She'd known that there would be fireworks, right?
"Hey Darkness. Do you know where the fireworks are going to take place?"
Darkness seemed thoughtful. "Around the bonfires, of course. Where else would the bugs be going to?"
The mention of bonfires had brought Tanya up short – why would you keep gunpowder around large, open fires? – but the mention of bugs derailed her thoughts entirely.
"Bugs?"
"Of course, why else" Darkness said, fluffing the stupid wing-thing on her shoulder, "would we shoot Blast and Detonation magic into the sky?"
Oh.
Once tensed shoulders now lax, Tanya began to trudge down the street, hoping to end this embarrassment. They didn't have fireworks; they just had some stupid Mages send magic into the air.
Now thoroughly discouraged, Tanya let Darkness lead them around. Games – throw something at something else to win a prize – were beaten handily, while nearly every stall they visited having nothing of interest on sale.
Darkness was unwilling to buy herself a shield, since she technically had a two-handed sword. That she didn't use it for anything didn't seem to matter to her. A weak glare was all Tanya could manage.
Various stones – that apparently had 'mystical properties' – seemed unappealing for their price, except for the Manatite. It was on sale, and her Observation spells screamed that they were basically mana in physical form, so Tanya had bought a bit.
With this, she'd be able to go for longer without having to take a break when using Smith.
Soon enough, Darkness had brought them to one of the open areas of the city. The city's park was near this one, and a large ring of stone was being constructed while people, most clad in robes and cloaks, loitered.
Darkness suddenly stopped and turned around. "You seemed pretty interested in the fireworks, so I thought we'd look at where one of the bonfires is."
Tanya nodded thankfully, and then began to talk to others there. Most of them were going to either be using Detonation or Blast to combat to bugs, or they were helping to create the large bonfire that would attract them.
Upon inquiring as to whether she could help, she was pointed towards the apparent foreman.
He seemed to have a stout build, and very little care for formality, judging by his bare chest. "Hey," she said as she walked towards him.
He looked down at her curiously and bent over a bit. "Hello there, little girl. What do you want?"
Tanya grit her teeth and didn't let her anger show. Their opinions about her stature didn't matter. She'd become used to others thinking she was a kid. "I want to help with the fireworks."
The man straightened up, laughing heartily. "Now, now, little miss. We can't have you doing that." He cast his eyes about, before they landed on Darkness, who seemed to be eyeing the stones surrounding the growing pile of wood speculatively.
"Why don't you and your sister leave this stuff to adventurers?" he said as he patted her on the head.
Dispassionately, she motioned to the scepter strapped to her back. "I am an adventurer. I can use Detonation. Please let me participate in the fireworks."
For the first time, he saw the scepter – clawed jewel, Seitengewehr, and all – and seemed panicked. "S- Sorry about that. We have more than enough people participating in the official fireworks, so I'm afraid that you'll have to join the rest of the non-hired adventurers in the defense of the city," he said, a hint of fear in his voice.
Tanya scowled. She wanted to earn something, if she was going to have to participate in this stupid festival. She looked at the numerous adventurers in the area, and then looked back at the foreman, idea forming.
"Why not make a competition out of it? The people who kill the most bugs, or who have the biggest Detonations, get paid, while those that can't keep up don't get anything," she suggested, smiling.
He glanced at her speculatively, not as if she were a little girl or a simple adventurer, but as a potential source of money. He bent over, eyes level to hers. "Keep talking."
Tanya grinned. "Additionally, you could force people who want to use Detonation to pay a fee for being able to use it over the city. You are, after all, giving them front row seats to some of the best experience they'll ever get."
The man grinned greedily, and Tanya smiled warmly, cackling internally. It seemed like she'd be able to participate after all.
He was still smiling, gray mustache quivering with excitement. "And if people don't participate because they don't want to pay, that means we'll have to pay fewer people, right?"
Tanya smiled benevolently as if she'd come up with the idea, and the man began to chuckle creepily. "I think I'll give you a cut of the profits for this one, if the idea goes through. Come back here in a few hours, and I'll tell you the results."
With that, the man rushed off. Tanya grinned. Another source of income was always good, and she was sure she'd be able to use more explosive spells than anyone here.
-OxOxO-
Tanya sighed as she sat on the bench. Darkness had wandered off somewhere else, saying something about helping with the preparations or buying something. Tanya had waved her off.
The problem of her gun was beginning to seem impossible. It had been decades since her last modern chemistry class, and she'd never touched the subject during her time in the Empire.
She took out her Registration Card. As always, several notices underneath her current job announced that she could easily change to another – Blacksmith, Archmage, Mage, Monk, Priest, Ranger, and Creator. Tanya sighed.
It was beginning to look like she might have to. Archmage would be best, if she wanted to continue on her quest to get that free wish. It would boost her magical abilities, and she wouldn't exactly need to have those Crafting skills if she wasn't going to be imbuing bullets with mana.
She shook her head. Until she could say that it would be unfeasible to make the stuff, she'd keep trying.
"Hey, Tanya. Fancy meeting you here," came a voice from behind her. Tanya shook her head at the drunkenness.
"What are you doing here, Dust? I thought you told us that you were just going to get drunk in the guild?" she asked, still staring up at the sky, trying to think of a way to make gunpowder.
"Yeah, well…" he trailed off. Tanya turned around.
She promptly shouted as the bench she was sitting on was pierced and jolted backwards, along with her guts.
Dust was not standing behind her. Rather, two people, one wielding the lance stuck in her guts, the other apparently normal, were smirking at her.
Neither looked especially impressive, except for that both had black hair. The one who hadn't tried to stick a large piece of sharpened metal into her guts had golden eyes, while the other had dark eyes.
They both must have been Reincarnates, then.
The one with the golden eyes opened his mouth, and the voice of Dust came tumbling out. "Thank you, Atheist. Your relics will be very helpful in our take down of the Demon King."
The lance was withdrawn from her gut, and Tanya gasped. A rather large hole now penetrated her organs, spilling precious fluids into the cold, cruel world.
The one with the lance high-fived each other. "Man, the pamphlet said she'd be difficult. That was easy!"
Tanya grit her teeth, letting their words wash over her. She needed to get away and get help. Killing the fools would come later.
"Now, we'll do as agreed. I couldn't have snuck up on her without your distraction, and you couldn't have beaten her with just your Shapeshifting," the one with the lance said to the other.
They began to discuss her relics, and what they were going to do. As if she were already dead.
Slumped onto the bench, a wide smile split her face. They were fools.
A mote of mana was born. Laboriously, it traveled through her soul, attempting to reach her head. Soon, it was there. Tanya lifted an arm.
Neither of them noticed. Tanya would have laughed maniacally, if she wasn't scared a lung had been punctured.
She pressed down on her head, and the mote flew towards the circlet resting on her head.
Tanya's grin only grew wider as she began to feel revitalized. She knew it was just the Pain-Reducing Reinforcement spell she'd doped herself with, but it was ffffffffiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnneeeeeee.
The Active Barrier she'd placed in her guts to stop the internal bleeding and the Flight spell, whose force was usually applied to her entire body, pressed down on her wound, staunching the flow of blood.
Both seemed to be making noise.
"Is that a halo?"
Sounds of surprise.
"I thought she didn't have that circlet?"
Bubbly, girlish laughter escaped her throat as she began to rise from the ground, propelled by yet more Flight spells. Who cared about the content of their words? They'd almost killed her.
Getting healed would come after a bit of revenge!
The scepter on her back floated into her hands elegantly, and a wall of blue sprung into life, thrumming with mana. She opened her mouth, tempted to gloat. Her eyes narrowed as they began to draw their weapons.
She didn't have time for that. She didn't have the physical capability to contend with them and keep herself together.
Barely grasping her staff – even holding onto something took effort – she leveled the worst glare she could at them. Reds and yellows poured from the top of her scepter, hurling towards them and exploding on contact with whatever they hit.
Both managed to dodge. She glared madly at her staff. She needed her gun. Bullets traveled faster than they could react. They'd be dead if she had that.
It seemed, from their attire, that both of them had been here much longer than the other one who'd tried to kill her.
It made little difference.
Eight years of fighting in a modern war outpaced any experience they could have had during the life of a student and their weeks playing at being a hero.
Both managed to dodge a few more spells, and Tanya growled. She didn't have the time for this. Biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, a plan sprung to mind.
She needed to kill the weak link.
Her gaze shifted to the weaker of the two. The one with golden eyes. The one who'd taken the Shapeshifting ability.
An angered scream tore out of her throat, giving both of them pause. The anguished expression on her face shifted rapidly into one of gloating pride, and an Artillery Shot flew from her staff.
Furious eyes boring into her own, he managed to dodge, but that was fine. It hadn't been him she was aiming for.
The bench behind him exploded, sending pieces of metal and wood in all directions. Including into his body.
He was silenced. She turned to her other opponents, only to see he was screaming the name of the one who'd died. She laughed a bit.
A furious glare was sent her way. "How dare you laugh!? I am Hideyo Yamamoto, and armed with the Bulwark Breaker, I'll avenge my friend!"
Tanya laughed harder. He was monologuing in the middle of a battle. What an idiot!
She giggled. Not that their efforts would make a difference. She would kill them anyway.
He began to run at her, screaming, and she let it happen. He couldn't do anything, not with the mana she was fueling into her practically opaque active barrier.
The tip of the ornamental thing touched her shield, and Tanya screamed, falling to the ground and writhing in pain. Her mana left her shield, flooded through her body into the spell, only to be consumed in the dissolving shield.
Faster and faster, mana left her body. In the few glimpses she caught of the man's face, in between the wracking pain, he seemed rather stoic. He wasn't even pushing the ridiculous thing into her shield; it was just unravelling it.
She cut off the mana flow out of her body. The shields, the pressure on her wound, the mana in her circlet. All of it stopped. The pain wasn't back yet, but she didn't think that would last long.
She gasped. She… she had to pray, to give in to Being X. It was her only option-
He leaned down and snatched her visible Type 95, breaking the metal cord tying it around her neck. He tossed it behind him and continued to glare.
She began to take in deep, gulping breaths. If she gave in, acknowledge him as her god, then she could win, even without the-
NO! Never, she'd never, never give in! Being X was lying! He'd never help her, even if she did give in! He…
He'd already proved that! He…
She calmed down as she realized that…
This was it. She had almost no mana left, and with its departure, she had no strength. She was done. It was even getting hard to think.
Heaping gulps of air entered her diminutive body, Tanya took a look at the person standing over her. A scowl marked his face.
"Well?" she asked. Logic dictated he should kill her. She knew humans didn't always work on pure logic, but it was obvious what he should do.
She wondered if she'd get to see Viktoriya before she was cast into whatever punishment Being X had planned for her.
"I was sent here to take out you and the Demon King. I will do that. I just want to know. Why did you do it?" he said.
Tanya didn't have to fight to keep the smile from her face. She was too tired to smile.
He was letting her talk? She took another few gulps of air.
"Do what?" she gasped.
She could guess what he meant. She just wanted time. Every second was another speck of mana she might get.
"'Do What?' What do you think! Why did you oppose the Gods! How could you possibly think they're not holy, after everything you've seen?" he shouted.
Another few gulps. What could she do? She was out of options, without any mana…
Wait. She'd bought that piece of Manatite, right? It was in her bag.
"Look at my biography, if you're so interested," she spat. She needed to play into his expectations of a defeated villain on the verge of death. She inched her hand towards the bag at her waist.
"How did you…" he trailed off. He shook his head. "I've read that a few dozen times already, thanks. I want to know from the source."
Tanya kept breathing. It was beginning to grow steadier. Tanya just hoped that it wasn't a sign of her dying. The effects of the Pain-Reduction Reinforcement spell could last a long while, so she wasn't exactly sure how much pain she should be feeling.
"At first, it was just the principal of the thing. Why would some grand deity descend and stop time on the part of one atheist? But…" she trailed off, and he leaned towards her, resting his weight on his lance.
"Then, it became a bit more personal. Their meddling caused nations to go to war; caused millions of people to hurl themselves towards their 'enemies.' Oh, I don't doubt that the countries of my last life would have gone to war eventually on their own; but too many things pointed to 'divine' interference."
Taking long gasps of breath between each sentence, it seemed the fool was actually affected by her speech.
"The death of my comrades was just icing on the cake. They died with me, and this whole excursion has been a sort of last 'hurrah' for me. I…"
She sniffled pathetically, and his gaze softened. Tanya almost grinned.
Then it hardened again. "Then I'm sure you can understand how I feel about how you murdered my friend."
Tanya let out a gasping chuckle, moving her hands towards her abdomen, hoping he wouldn't notice her moving her hands towards her bag. "You tried to murder me. That I lasted this long was amazing. Besides…"
She grinned viciously at him. "How do you think you'll explain this to the authorities? I've been here longer, and I have friends. You two probably broke into the shop last night, too. Murder, breaking and entering; I will have my revenge. Hopefully, you'll end up behind bars for a nice, long while, if you aren't executed."
He glanced around worriedly, panic overcoming his face, and Tanya slipped a hand into her bag. Frantically, she searched for the thing. Where was it?
He turned back to her, and she relaxed her posture. Even the slightest suspicion that she might be able to win might send a lance through her head.
He sighed, and leaned on his lance again. "Honestly, I don't even want your stupid relics anymore. You killed my friend, and they'll be tainted."
Tanya shrugged. Her hand had been moving around silently, searching for the Manatite. It still hadn't made its way into her hand.
"Stop right there, criminal scum! How dare you attack an upstanding adventurer! You'll have to face me and torture me in order for me to stay silent."
Darkness burst into the area from behind a tree in the direction of one of the entrances of the park, her breathing labored and her face red.
He turned around, still resting on his lance, staring at the beauty incredulously. Tanya took that as her cue.
With what remained of her strength, she lunged towards her scepter and swung in a wide arc. It slammed into the man's lance.
He crashed to the ground cursing, unprepared to have his weight swept from under him.
Tanya couldn't support herself. Lying on her back, she shakily pointed the front of her scepter at him and shot the weakest Explosive Vaporization she could at him. It didn't even wound him.
Much.
A chunk of his arm had been blown off, and the man began to scream, but Tanya ignored it. Tanya just grunted. Through it all, Darkness had watched, sword in hand, unprepared.
"What are you waiting for? He tried to kill me!" she shouted, dumbfounded.
Darkness shook her head and raised her sword towards the screaming man.
She hesitated.
Tanya snarled, pressed the mana she had accumulated into her circlet, and shot another three Explosive Vaporization spells at him.
The rest of his body was blown apart, and his blood and guts were scattered all over the area.
Totally spent, Tanya collapsed. She'd used too much, too fast.
Covered in his remains, Darkness rushed over. "Tanya? Tanya, are you okay?"
Tanya gave her a shaky smile, and she managed to register Darkness's shout for help as she passed out.
-OxOxO-
A/N 2: And there we have it! Tanya is pushed closer to utilizing the Type 95, and the Circlet is showing some side effects as well. She'll be alright, in the long run.
Probably.
I'm not promising anything in the short run.
Oh well. Anyway, would you guys like some OCs? I'm including them anyway, but would you prefer them?
Anyway, read on!