Chapter 41: Alchemists and Raiders
Itsuka Kendo surveyed the area around them.
There had been reports that one of the members of the Enlightened Evil had set up their base somewhere around the sandy areas of the Rupes Desert. Now, technically speaking, the SREU had visited this desert before (back during their first expedition), but when they went through it, they had gone down the southern region, where there wasn't a single grain of sand.
And up on the northern end, well… there was sand, just not a lot of it. She wasn't a geologist, but if Itsuka was gonna guess, she figured that there was less than a foot of sand between her and the rocky floor she was familiar with during her last expedition. So, thankfully, anyone who decided to cross this region wouldn't need to alter their tire pressure to drive through here.
But that being said, she couldn't find anything but sand and the occasional rocky crag poking through. Hatsume's elves had reported seeing some sort of ziggurat around here with some seriously bad vibes, but Itsuka had some serious donuts about whether or not that structure belonged to anyone from the Enlightened Evil, much less anyone malicious.
Aside from the fact that she hadn't even seen it, there were no reports of anyone inhabiting the place, not even going in and out of it. Also, these sorts of structures tended to be the tombs of historical figures back on Earth, and she didn't like the idea of either her or anyone else on her team accidentally tomb raiding a structure that should probably be left alone.
"Alright, I think we can mark off this spot from the map."
"About time," Komori huffed. "I feel like I'm gonna wilt away out here!"
Uraraka gave her a funny look. "Can mushrooms even wilt away?"
"Yeah, after you harvest them," Sato said, handing out some water bottles to everyone. "What I'm more interested in is the fact that Komori self-identifies as a fungus."
Komori narrowed her eyes. "You got a problem with that?"
"No, I just figured you'd identify as a plant, given you have a whole botany degree."
"Well, both plants and fungi can wilt, so –"
"Will you guys stop?" Itsuka asked, as she put away her binoculars. "Come on, we've still got a few more places to check. All the elves gave us was a general location of this supposed "tomb," and I'd rather not spend another night out in this scorpion-infested desert. Let's get going."
"Would two giant scorpions even count as an infestation?" Kodai asked.
Itsuka didn't even bother entertaining the medic's question, as she entered the passenger seat of the LAV. The rest of her team followed suit, as Sato took the driver's seat, and the other three took the back. And with a quick start of the engine, they were off again.
As the desert sands blew behind them from the speed of the LAV, the orange-haired woman wondered how long she had truly been out here. Logically, she knew it had been less than six days, but her spirit made it feel like she had been here for at least a year.
The only things that they were able to do out here were drive, look around the sands for something, constantly remain hydrated to not die out there, and sleep with one eye open during the cold nights so no nocturnal predators would be able to break into the heated LAV.
In all honesty, Itsuka was ready for a change. Any kind of change.
"Uhh, Sergeant Kendo?"
"Mm? What is it, Sato?"
"There's something ahead of us."
The orange-haired woman snapped out of her half-awake fantasies and looked ahead to see that there was… a wooden vehicle, a wagon, ahead of them. Judging from the man that was waving them down, it looked like he was in need of some roadside assistance.
"Alright, let's stop next to them," Itsuka said. "If he needs help, we help him. If it's a set-up for a bandit attack or some sort of monster that creates illusions, we kill them. Simple enough."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sato said, as he stepped on the breaks.
Stepping out of the vehicle, Itsuka took a good look at the situation in front of her. The wagon in front of her seemed to be one of those prairie schooners that the pioneers used to travel the Americas a couple centuries back (she took an American history elective back in college), if the wooden frame and cloth bow above it were anything to go off of. And it looked like one of the wheels on the man's popped off, causing it to go off-balance. Seems simple enough.
"Need a hand?" Itsuka asked, as she looked over to the driver.
He was short. Not as short as Mineta, but definitely below the human average. Despite that, he had a bulky frame, which somehow complimented his short, ice-blue hair and nervous expression. He also seemed to be dressed as some sort of cross between a cowboy and a wizard, if the tall broad-brimmed hat, along with the trenchcoat and belt buckle were any clues.
"And who do I thank for coming to a poor dwarf's rescue?"
He's a dwarf? That certainly explained his height and build, but Kendo didn't think that was an option due to the obvious lack of a beard. It was probably best that she kept that part to herself.
"WHOA! Is that a giant hamster?!"
Itsuka looked over to the front of the wagon, to see that the creature pulling it was, yep, a hamster. A nine-foot-long hamster with a mix of white and golden fur, that seemed to be a mix of confused and terrified at the sudden cuddle session it was getting from the three girls.
"He's so fluffy!"
"Mm. He's cute."
"He's adorable!"
"He has a name and it's Yuwai," the dwarf said, before turning back to Itsuka. "Anyways, my name is Nirengeki Shoda. And… you must be a member of the JSDF, aren't you?"
"Uhh, yeah," the orange-haired woman said. "How did you know that?"
"I remember seeing you at the public award ceremony back at Yuuei-Shiketsu. You have my thanks for taking down the Cult of Gigantomachia," the dwarf said. "Anywho, I heard about the economic opportunities at the Collibus Hills, and decided to try my luck there, but…"
"...your wheel came off," Itsuka said. "Don't worry, we'll do what we can."
Well, they certainly did everything they could.
The orange-haired human, Kendo was her name, admitted that they weren't experts on vehicles, much less beast-drawn carriage, but they claimed to know how simple machines worked, at least. All they needed to do was re-tighten the wheel and axle, and…
"There!" the big-lipped man said, wiping off some sweat. "It's done!"
"Thank you, my tall friends!" Nirengeki said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a jar of one of his concoctions. "As a token of appreciation, I would like you to have this! Holy water!"
"Holy water?" Kendo repeated. "What's it made of?"
"Water, insect jam, liqueur, salt, sugar, along with slime liver and mint, for taste!" Nirengeki said proudly. "While it may not be as elegant-looking as the holy water you can purchase from a church, I do believe that it should have the same effects as the genuine article!"
"Ah, I get it," Kendo said, snapping her fingers. "You're an alchemist that's been trying to reverse-engineer how the clergy makes theirs, and you want us to test this out."
Nirengeki gave a half-hearted chuckle at that. "Yes, if it's not too much to ask, I would like your personal thoughts on it, should you ever use it. After all, as a soon-to-be resident of the Collibus Hills and your neighbor, it's in everyone's interests that our products are the best they can be…"
"Alright, alright, arm successfully twisted," Kendo laughed. "We'll let you know if we use it."
"Excellent to hear!" Nirengeki said, as he quickly climbed back up to the seat of his wagon, grabbing his reins. "Well, until next time! Come on, Yuwai, off we go! Hyah!"
With a whip of his reins, his giant hamster got the message, and began pulling his cart again, off the Collibus Hills, leaving the humans behind. Fame and fortune, here I come!
"Well, he was certainly a nice fellow," Uraraka said.
Itsuka looked over towards the back of the LAV. Kodai was still staring at the jar of holy water in her hands like it was the coolest thing she had ever seen, despite the fact that Itsuka was pretty sure holy water wasn't supposed to glow, much less have rainbows mixed with the deep blue.
Hell, water wasn't supposed to have such a deep blue coloration unless you were in the middle of the ocean. And considering they were in a desert, the water in that jar should be a regular clear. Speaking of which, wasn't holy water just supposed to be water that was blessed by a religious figure, with a pinch of salt added in for flavor? By all accounts, it seemed like Shoda mixed together a bunch of different shit when the original version seemed a whole lot simpler.
Why? Was he trying to get rid of some sort of monopoly the local religions of the world had on holy water? And if the answer to that was yes, then again, why? The dwarf was an alchemist, he had dozens of other potion options he could make, what made holy water so special?
Itsuka knew that she needed more info.
"It's so pretty…" Kodai whispered.
"Is it? No offense, but it kinda looks like he just stuffed a bunch of gem-shaped candies into a jar full of bubble mix, dumped in some blue paint, and called it a day," Sato said, still driving.
Kodai looked at Sato like he just said something insulting. "Aren't you supposed to be a chef? Isn't your whole policy not to judge something by its looks, but by how it tastes?"
"We're not taste testing that," Itsuka said, putting her foot down. "Holy water isn't meant to be drunk by people back on Earth, and I'm pretty sure the same rule applies here. Also, I wouldn't recommend drinking something whose ingredient list includes a jam made out of bugs."
"Why not? Insects are worshiped by various cultures and religions. Not only that, but Shoda said that he added mint slime liver and mint "for taste," implying that it can be consumed."
"That's another thing!" Itsuka pointed out. "Slime liver? As in the organs of a gelatinous monster that would try to eat us if it had the chance? That would be basically using a bear back home! I'm pretty sure he was just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what would stick."
"Are you accusing him of being a snake oil salesman?" Komori asked.
"Not exactly. I do think that he's an alchemist, just like he claims, but I think that he might actually be an amateur alchemist," Itsuka answered. "He said that he was a dwarf, right? Well, I didn't see a beard on him, nor did it look like he had shaved recently, implying that he isn't a full-grown adult just yet. He's probably still learning the ropes, experimenting with what he has, kinda like a college student mixing together some chemicals to learn what they do."
"Now you're sounding like Bakugou," Uraraka snorted.
"No, I'm not –"
"Uhh, Sergeant?" Sato spoke up. "You might wanna take a look at this."
Itsuka looked back to the front window of the LAV, and her jaw dropped. Quickly motioning for Sato to stop the car, he did just that, and the orange-haired woman opened the door.
Stepping out a few more feet from the vehicle, Itsuka kept staring in astonishment at what she was seeing, as the others exited the LAV and followed suit. Out in front of them, a few hundred meters away was a ziggurat. While it may have been less than half the size of the Pyramid of Giza, it was far more extravagant. There were massive, bird-like statues on each side of the square-shaped architecture, golden balconies, giant curvilinear triangles functioning as glassless windows, and round pillars of marble standing above the staircase made of ivory surrounding the entrance, almost as if they were inviting people to come in. And yet…
Itsuka couldn't help but feel unsafe. This structure in front of her, despite looking so extravagant, gave her the vibes of something decrepit and dark. Now she understood what those elven scouts were talking about when they believed that a member of the Enlightened Evil set up shop here, they would be the only ones who would willingly make this place their base of operations.
This wasn't some kind of palace… It was a goddamn tomb.
"Radio in for backup," Itsuka ordered. "Now."
Neito Monoma was excited to see his girlfriend again.
What he wasn't excited for was seeing her in the middle of hostile territory.
About a day after he and the others came back from delivering the magic mirrors to the lizardmen (and killing Geten in the process), there was a new mission waiting for them, one that involved the rest of their team at the Rupes Desert, and it involved a ziggurat.
Lieutenant Yaoyorozu and the rest of her team weren't able to come due to the fact they were still doing whatever nautical nonsense they were up to, so, the only ones who could come to Itsuka's aid were himself, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Rin. So, in total, out of the fourteen members of the SREU, four extra soldiers were coming to aid the five that needed help. Sure, why not?
Landing down the skyship as far from the Ziggurat of Bad Vibes TM as they could, Neito stepped out to see that Aizawa didn't bother sending Itsuka's team with one of the skyships, but just with an LAV. And sure, he supposed it made sense: The area they were in was the north-eastern portion of the Rupes Desert, as opposed to the south-western area where they found the Corallium Forest, which was only a two-day trip as opposed to a whole week, but still…
Slapping his face, Neito dawned a face of professionalism, and walked up to the rest of their team. "First Sergeant Major Kendo, it's good to see you and your team are alive and well."
Itsuka smiled. "About as alive and as well as we can be, Second Lieutenant Monoma."
The two of them shook hands and hugged, allowing them to drop the professionalism and return back to their usual state of casualness. "Alright, so, about this ziggurat…"
"You felt it too, didn't you?"
"Absolutely," Neito said. "It's already giving me the creeps, and I'm not even inside it. I wouldn't even be surprised if the bricks from this place were made from solidified human blood."
"That's a jolly thought," Rin deadpanned. "So, what's the plan?"
"I'm going in," Itsuka simply said.
"What?!" Neito exclaimed. "No way!"
"The scouting team needs a leader, I'll be going into potentially dangerous territory. If anything happens, it's better that it happens to me rather than the highest person in command –"
"Well, as the highest person in command, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of those below me. And even if it means pulling rank, I'll make sure that nothing happens to you –"
"Neito! You've already proven yourself. It's my turn now. Please."
The blond stared into his girlfriend's teal eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. He already proved he could handle himself against the Enlightened Evil (even if it was Geten), it would be hypocritical of him not to give her the same chance. But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to give her the biggest advantage he could. "Alright, you can go in. However…"
After some deliberation with her boyfriend, Itsuka and Neito came to an agreement: He would give them thirty minutes to investigate the inside of the ziggurat with her makeshift team. The roster ended up being composed of her, Bakugou, Uraraka, Kirishima, and Rin. Everyone else would stay outside to act as a secondary team in case anything went wrong, which included giving Monoma the choice of either going in to save the others or to call for backup.
It was actually kind of odd for the two of them to argue about mission details like this. Most of the time, Yaoyorozu or someone of a higher standing would give out all the orders, and everyone else would just follow. And during active combat, there was always that one guy you had no choice but to listen to, despite the fact they sounded completely batshit insane.
The argument about who would go in was a mix of both scenarios. And while their arguments may have been sloppy in comparison to the popper military protocol they were supposed to follow, love did have a degree of compromise with your partner about wants and needs.
Itsuka wasn't sure if that was an apt comparison, but she really didn't care. Walking up the ivory stairs, the orange-haired woman took a quick peek inside. The inside of the corridors seemed to have been constructed with some sort of golden material, but it didn't possess the same luster as the actual element. However, the statues inside did seem shinier, with green runes on them.
Maybe they're emeralds? It's a shame that Kaibara isn't with us…
"Remember, thirty minutes," Neito said. "And be sure to radio in constantly."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said, quickly giving him a peck on the cheek. "I'll be fine."
"You better be," the blonde chuckled. "Good luck."
The orange-haired woman nodded, as she turned around to look within the dark entryway. The others were ready and were now waiting for her. Sighing, she took the first step…
"Kendo, hold on," Kodai said, the jar of holy water in hand. "Take this with you."
The martial arts expert looked at the glowing concoction. As much as she wanted to refuse, she knew it was better to be safe than sorry, so she reluctantly took it. "Thanks, Kodai."
"Mm."
And with that last interaction out of the way, Itsuka and her makeshift team slowly walked through the first corridor of the ziggurat, as Neito and his group headed back down the stairs and towards the LAV and skyship. Tucking the holy water into her back pocket, Itsuka kept walking through the corridor, taking in every detail of the architecture. It looked so mythical…
"HOLD IT!"
Everyone suddenly froze, as they looked at Bakugou.
"Look at the walls," the demolition expert said, pointing towards a bunch of small, triangle-shaped holes. "If we step on the wrong tile, a bunch of darts will come flying out."
"And… how do you know that?" Rin asked.
"Seriously?" Bakugou gave him a funny look. "You never watched Indiana Jones?"
"Okay, let's just assume you're right, Bakugou," Kirishima said. "What do we do?"
"Not step on the wrong tiles, obviously," the ash-blond said, pointing down at the circle-shaped tiles. "But then again, they could be designed to catch your eye, so when you avoid them, you accidentally press on the tile that triggers the trap. If only Monsterfucker #1 was here…"
"You mean Kaibara?"
"Uhh, I have a suggestion," Uraraka said, raising her hand. "We could use magic."
Everyone looked at her, as Itsuka asked, "What kind of magic?"
"Well, I've been training with Kurose-sensei to gain some more spells, and one of my new ones is able to negate the effects of gravity," the brown-haired astronomer explained. "If we apply it correctly, you could just push yourselves off the ground like you're on springs, and then…"
"...we make it to the end of the corridor without triggering any of the tiles."
"Yes, exactly!" Uraraka said. "So… Do we go with that?"
The orange-haired woman nodded.
"Okay, here we go… Murak!" A light purple field of energy enveloped everyone who Uraraka tapped while she chanted for a second, before suddenly it disappeared… and they felt lighter.
"Aight, I'm gonna test this out," Kirishima said, bending his knees. Before anyone could tell him to hold on, he launched himself forward, gliding through the air like some kind of weak rocket, before slowly coming back down to the floor, and on the other side of the corridor.
"...Well, I guess that's one way to know how it works," Rin deadpanned.
One by one, the other members of the team jumped across the ancient hallway, making sure to both not step on the tiles or accidentally scrape the ceiling, as they reached the other side.
"Okay, part one done," Itsuka said, as the spell faded.
The five of them continued on their way, noticing that there was now a fork on the road. The door on the left was sealed, and the door to the right was opened, revealing another corridor after a small set of stairs and… a bunch of skeletons lying in the middle of the floor.
"Alright… place your bets now if they're gonna rise up and attack us."
"Uhh, Bakubro, I think that these guys might have died tomb raiding this place."
The blond looked towards his friend. "What makes you say that?"
"They all have the same injury," Kirishima said, pointing towards their skulls. "Look, they all have holes on the top of their heads, almost like their skulls were all bashed in by something…"
"Something from above…" Itsuka realized, as she looked up. "Another trap."
"Great," Rin groaned. "So, what's this one's gimmick? Another pressure tile?"
"Probably," Bakugou said. "But given that these skeletons are just lying not just in the middle of the floor, but also on the sides, that probably means that the entire ceiling is rigged."
"So, we die the second we set a foot in," Itsuka surmised. "Uraraka, could you…?"
"I could probably use another Murak spell on all of us, but I don't think it would be as effective, especially considering how small this corridor is compared to the last one," the astronomer said. "Plus, there's walls surrounding these doorways. It'll be a lot harder to make it through."
Itsuka nodded at that logic. During the last trap, all they had to do was get across. In this one, they had to do that without touching the sides, and even then, they didn't know that wouldn't prevent the ceiling from just opening up and dropping blunt-force death upon them.
"There is a different spell I could try using," the chestnut-haired woman said. "It should theoretically pull in whatever traps there are into its orbit, before… exploding."
Everyone looked towards Uraraka, before quickly backtracking out of the stairwell, and into the safety of outside the doorway. Once that was done, she was given the signal to cast.
"Gravitatis missilium…"
Out from her hands came an orb of purple and white light, flying through the middle of the corridor, as massive spiked balls and sculptured stalactites falling out of the ceiling and getting caught in the orbit of the light, and when it reached the end of the hallway…
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-POW!
…it exploded, sending debris everywhere.
"Well," Itsuka coughed. "That was very effective. Well done, Uraraka."
The five of them walked through the now-destroyed trap and towards the next room. And the next one. And the next one. In every room, corridor, and hallway, the pattern was the same: Stop, identify the trap, disable the trap, and then move on to the next room, repeat.
"Hey, it's been fifteen minutes," Neito's voice came through the radio. "How're you doing?"
"We're fine," Itsuka radioed in. "We're just speedrunning through this tomb."
"Alright, well, be careful. Over and out."
BOOM!
Itsuka tucked away her walkie-talkie, as she watched Bakugou disable another trap with a small explosive. When the wall was blasted, a massive boulder rolled through, hitting the wall.
"Okay, see that?" Bakugou said. "That shit was in Indiana Jones."
Rin gave the demolition expert a funny look. "A big… round rock?"
"Kaibara would have your head for that one, dude," Kirishima chuckled.
The five of them kept walking, until eventually… they reached a massive room. It was bigger than even the initial corridor. There were stairs on every wall, all of them in the direction of something within the middle of the room, that was sitting on a floor that was hanging over a seemingly bottomless chasm. And the only way to get across for Itsuka and her crew was the single bridge, and right above it, on the ceiling, was a rectangular, box-like trap.
"I bet it's live snakes," Bakugou said.
"Let me guess… that was also in Indiana Jones?" Rin asked.
"Hey, look at you, you're learning."
"Hmph. Well, if there are live snakes in that box, then I guess it's my time to shine," the zoologist said, as he took off his shoe, and threw it at the first tile he found on the bridge.
KLANG!
The mechanism triggered, and the box above them dropped an enormous pile of snakes, all of them with red, yellow, and black colors. "Okay, everybody, step away from the pile."
"What are they?" Kirishima asked.
"Those are coral snakes," Rin answered. "If they bite you, you'll die. Painfully."
"Okay, how do we get rid of them?" Itsuka asked.
"Well, there are a number of ways we could do that," Rin said. "We could wait for them to slither off, or we could shoot them, maybe throw them off the bridge with a stick…"
"Uhh, I might have something that'll make it painless for them," Uraraka said.
"You know what? Sure," Rin said. "Just make sure to keep your distance."
"Right!" Uraraka slowly walked towards the pile of snakes, but made sure to stay far enough away from them so they wouldn't attack, as she cast her spell. "Cavem nigrum…"
"Huh? Hey, wait, isn't that spell the –"
In an instant, a small black hole appeared above the bridge, sucking up all of the snakes (and some of the bridge tiles) within its gravitational pull, before simply… disappearing.
Everyone stared in astonishment at what just happened, as Rin looked back and forth between Uraraka and the now-snakeless bridge. "You… crushed them in a mini-singularity…"
"It was quick and painless!" Uraraka defended herself.
"You took my shoe with them…"
"You can get a new one once we're back at base, come on," Bakugou said, as the five of them pushed onward, getting past the bridge, and making it to the heart of the ziggurat. In the center of the room was a golden casket shaped like a man, and somehow, all five of them knew that the bad vibes they had been getting this whole time were emanating from there.
"...That's a sarcophagus," Bakugou said, before quickly pulling out a cigarette lighter from his pocket. "Shitty Hair, you got any of that Axe Body Spray on you? And don't lie to me."
"Oh, uh, yeah, here," Kirishima said, handing it over. "Why do you need it?"
Hoyo Makihara could feel the scarce sunlight hitting his face. There was only one reason for there to be light shining down on him. Someone had opened his sarcophagus.
Opening his eyes, he expected it to be Nine, the mage who promised him a position in his new world order should the mummy help him, but instead, he comes across five humans, all of them dressed in matching uniforms. They obviously weren't part of the Enlightened Evil.
"You dare disturb my slumber…?!" Rising from his sarcophagus and charging up his curses, Hoyo watched as some of their faces contorted with fear. Good. "You will all die –"
"Yeah, no."
FWOOM!
"AAAGGGHHH! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Before Hoyo could even finish his sentence, the blond human lifted up two cans, one of them spraying some kind of gas, and the other igniting it aflame. Hoyo's mind screamed in pain as the flames kept burning his face, and to make matters worse, they were somehow traveling to the rest of his body. How is this possible?! HOW?!
"Dude, that is not how you use body spray!"
"Shut up, Shitty Hair, it's better than how you've been using it!"
BODY SPRAY?! WHAT THE HELL IS BODY SPRAY?!
"Bakugou, stop, you're hurting him!" the orange-haired woman yelled, as she picked up a jar full of a glowing substance. "Holy water is a liquid, right?! This should put out the fire…!"
HOLY WATER?! WAIT, WAIT, WAIT –!
Hoyo felt the burning sensation of the holy water splashing his face and chest, the liquid eating away at his flesh, the steam of the water and the fire coming together to fill the air with one of his weaknesses. He could feel it reaching his heart… Damn, he should have put it in a jar!
"I'm melting… I'M MELTING!"
"I'm melting… I'M MELTING!"
As the clothed man screamed in pain, Itsuka could only watch in horror at the realization that, one, the holy water Shoda gave her was potent, and two, it just made the situation worse.
"I BLAME YOU, GIRL! I BLAME YOOOUUUUU…"
The mummy pointed his finger at her, before the body melted away completely, and his voice went silent. The only things left behind were whatever wrappings and jewelry he was wearing, and the five soldiers who stared at their handiwork with varying expressions.
"You had holy water on you?" Bakugou asked. "Nice going, Kendo!"
"...I just murdered that man," she whispered.
"Nah…" Kirishima shook his head. "When it's an accident, it's called manslaughter."
That didn't make her feel any better. But now, it was official: When they got back to the Collibus Hills, Itsuka was going to have a long chat with a certain dwarven alchemist.
Author's Note: I don't remember clearly, But I'm pretty sure I was gonna use the entirety of the "I'm melting" from the Wicked Witch, but decided against it since it didn't completely fit. Also, yes, I did use the manslaughter joke from Monster House.
So, the first half of the story came from one episode of the 2011 Thundercats show, with the traveling potion-maker the gang was chasing after. The second half (story-wise) was the opening scene from the heist episode of Rick and Morty, with the architecture of Maru from Disenchantment. And for those curious, the giant hamster is a reference to the giant space hamsters from D , while the holy water the gang got in this episode is directly lifted from Dungeon Meshi. Why did I make Shoda a dwarf? Well, physically, he's the most stocky of the cast, and given that he's only 5'5'' and whatnot, I figured, why not? Besides, this fantasy world could use a little bit more diversity. And of course I made the Villain known as Mummy into an actual mummy. Anyways, comment time!
Shin: Kaminari always comes in clutch. Also, thanks for clearing up the whole lizardman horns theory of yours. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing Gabiru from TTIGRAAS (the slime isekai) having horns… along with a mane of fur…? Feathers…? Whatever, you get the point. I'm ready to move on to a different discussion, ya dig me?
Juliasimon77: …Are you trying to entice me into an art collaboration?
Tykronos: The Curator was actually a reference to the Kraken from the second Atlantis movie, from how it behaved, down to the fight and its death. Close, but no cigar.
Grieflord_101: Okay, you should be able to put my work in your collection now!
valkrus: Flect Turn is gonna be around for a while, so prepare to feel uncomfortable for a long time. I also hate to break it to you, but Stain isn't gonna be here for a while, either. I also fixed the typo in the last chapter, but I did notice the accidental pun it made.
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.
If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.
Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore