Magic Association Magic Association - Task Reporting Board

Discussion in 'Roleplaying Games' started by The Everdistant Utopia, Jan 15, 2018.

  1. The Everdistant Utopia

    The Everdistant Utopia Honorary Maou | Part Time Writer | Crau's

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    "Welcome back, Nana." Sorgre handed her the [Proof of Completion: Task Cleaning the Sewers of the Association (1st Level)]. "Also, about that crown like thingy, I'm sorry, but I can't give you an extra for it. You may keep it, if you want. You did a good work, as always." He smiled at her. "It seems like it's a Rat King's crown, so it might have some kind of effect... or none at all. The Association provides appraising for 1 Large wooden coin, but you might find someone that will ask for a lower of higher price."
     
    Way, AliceShiki and SilverFeather like this.
  2. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    @The Everdistant Utopia

    Entering in the Association to report his task, Umbrum didn't seem to have changed that much except that he was missing one arm, the sleeve was hanging with nothing in it. His flesh wasn't there.
    "...heeh... that was troublesome writing the report with one arm~" his voice still seemed cheerful and careless, he was also accompained by a masked person who was still nameless.
    "Just remove your spell." their voice wasn't even giving a hint about what were their gender.
    "Remove your mask, it looks rude~!" The child retorted with slightly a pouting face, he didn't want to use the last bit of mana he has to dispel Shadow Devouring.
    And this person removed it... their face were pale, their red eyes, their smooth skin and their blond hair... nevertheless, there was a problem, Umbrum still couldn't guess their gender...

    After a sight, he gave the report with a cheerful smile and talked on a tired tone.
    "Anyway, here is our report~ this person is there to be a sort of witness..." Umbrum also remembered that there was the scum, tied and unconscious in the carriage.
    He will maybe talk about it later, after he finishes reading the report.

    With @AliceShiki and @Fossil
    A book was closed as a young man wearing a oversized black coat was looking at each requests the task board.
    "...what should I take...?" He said before whistling a song he always heard in his childhood until he notices a certain limited task which seemed to be interesting.
    "Investigate the Situation at the Novelias-Nyllia Bridge...? It seems amusing, I never went to Nyllia !" Exclaimed loudly this person as he readjusted his glasses.
    "Oh no... I need comrades but I..." he sighed and muttered sadly under his breath.

    A dragonkin, Blaiz, overheard a mumbling man. Something about a bridge a Nyllia was all that he heard. Suddenly his cloak was pulled on. "Master, I think we should help the man with his quest." Ruby told Blaiz. Hm, it might be worth checking out. It would also be nice to meet a new race.

    Blaiz walked over to the mumbling man and started talking. "Hi, my name's Blaiz. This cute little girl here is called Ruby. We'll be able to help you on your quest if you'll accept us."

    Looking at the persons who talked to him and hearing their words, a smile appeared on his face as he began to talk, before, he noticed that Ruby didn't seem to be a member of the association.
    "Pleased to meet you, my name is Umbrum ! That will really help me out if you join, now all that's left is one person and we will be able to take the request !"

    ____

    Haaa... Travelling is surely fun... But I guess it's about time I go home?

    Hello everyone! I'm your favorite witch, the one and only Aria! And I flying above the skies of Nuffia! Or... Novellas Forum... Or was it Novelias Forium... I never get that right... In any case, the great me is glorifying this country with my presence, ain't I great? Ohohohoho~

    ... Alright, I guess I am bored already, seems like a good time to go back to Nyllia, I miss dealing with the people there and... *puts hand on pocket* I guess I'm out of money? Great... Let's drop down somewhere to rest, I guess I can use a house's roof or something.

    *slowly fies down* *starts hearing people talking down there*

    "Hey, did you hear anything from Nyllia recently?"

    What a particularly convenient topic... *leans a bit closer while flying above them*

    "No, not really? why?"
    "Exactly! Apparently the rain made all contact with the bridge be lost, the mage's association put a request for-"

    ... Oi, for real? Those bunch of useless folks can't even maintain the contact because of a bit of rain? Hmph. Alright, let's fix that...

    "Isn't this a priority though? Why did nobody take the quest?"
    "Seems like it's a joint task, so that bunch of loners didn't do it yet..."

    Joint? Oh, c'mon!

    I flew quickly above the streets to the conspicuous Magic Association building, good thing they made it so obvious over here, I would miss it otherwise.

    I flew a bit down and kicked the door open!

    "Hey! I need two lackeys-" *coughs* "Two people to go with me on the task to investigate Nyllia's bridge!"

    ____

    "Lackeys...? Ah, you used the wrong word, it's comrades !" said Umbrum as he approached her with a smile, no matter what she said, he will always try to see it at the bright side, at least most of the time to fool himself.
    "Anyway, we were searching for a last person to investigate Nyllia's bridge~ and here you are, we didn't need to wait too long, so that's perfect ! Ah right, since we have enough people, could you wait a second ?" he didn't even let her the time to reply as he excitedly went to the desk to officially take the task.
    "And I am back~" Streching his arms with three tokens in his hands, he smiled widely but then his face distorted of shame, quickly he bowed.
    "Ah !! I am sorry for being rude, I forgot to ask for your name ! My name is Umbrum" he presented himself, then did the same for both of his 'comrades' that he found earlier.
    "His name is Blaiz ! And his lovely sister's name is Ruby !" Then he gave a token to each Blaiz and Aria, explaining their uses.
    "It's to prove that who we are and that we are the one that took the task and to ask help from the soldiers if needed."
    After rubbing his nose with a foolish smile, he asked, ready to leave any when.

    "Hey! I am not Master's sister, I am his one and only servant!" Ruby said while sticking onto the wrong part of the sentence.
    "Ruby, that's enough. Umbrum clearly didn't recognize you as a flame elemental. Don't get angry over such trivial things and instead help prepare for the quest." Blaiz scolded his elemental causing her to pout a little bit.

    " I see, then I am sorry, I won't make that error next time~" his voice seemed to be quite lively, more than earlier, maybe because he wasn't alone ?

    Turning to Umbrum, Blaiz said, "Sorry about that. Ruby really likes being referred to as my servant and gets really defensive whenever the subject of conversation is about me."

    "Ahaha, excuse me... but isn't being his sister better than servant...?" He was a bit perplexed but after hearing Blaiz, he shrugged with an immortal smile, nevertheless, he thought

    ___​

    What's up with that guy...?

    And... Sister? *looks at the flame elemental* Oh dear Lucky, did you abandon me and make me meet a guy that is nuts? I swear I'll pray more at your shrines when I'm back...

    "Right... I'm Aria!

    So... Helping soldiers out!? Such a joke of a task! I thought we'd need to do it alone! What are we waiting for? Let's grab this easy cash already!"

    "No no no, the soldiers can just assist us if we need !" Umbrum corrected Aria on a cheerful tone which can be considered as irritating, anyway, he quickly agreed with her, going out of the building to walk toward the east, toward the Queendom Of Nyllia.
    "You are right, we should just hurry."

    "Yoooosh! Let's go!"
    Blaiz grabs Ruby and turns to follow Umbrum. "It's because I can't marry Master if I'm his sister!" Ruby says with a face that seems to be staring off into space.
    "Ruby, we've been over this. I'll marry you if you still like me even when you're a high grade elemental. Until then, stop bringing it up." Blaiz said disapprovingly.
    Turning to Umbrum, Blaiz said, "So what road are we taking to get to the bridge?"

    "Road!?" *looks at them up and down*

    "... Ah, right... You guys can't fly..." *pouts* "Uhn...

    ...
    ...
    ...

    I'll let you guys decide!" How am I supposed to know any roads!? Why didn't they bring brooms!?

    "No, I can fly." Blaiz points to the wings on his back. "I can also carry Ruby. However I'm afraid that we'll still need to find a way for Umbrum to travel. Normally I would suggest teleportation, but I haven't been to the bridge before, so that won't be of much help to us now. We also need to accompany the soldiers, so we probably can't fly even if we wanted to." Blaiz tells Aria.

    "Ah! Those are real...? My-my bad!" >.<

    "Huuh... I am jealous..." Umbrum muttered under his breath when looking at Aria and but quickly looked away as he coughed, then he began to walk taking the main road.
    "Uhm... should I run ?" Honestly, he didn't want to waste his mana by using Physical Enhancement because he doesn't want to slow them down, maybe he can run without it, but it won't be for long.

    "Nah, let's just walk, I have been flying for a while and need to recover Mana anyway.

    So... Where are those soldiers?" *tilts head*

    "...Right, the soldiers. Perhaps we should check the barracks first?" Blaiz said in a question-like manner.

    "They are at the Bridge~ it will be too cumbersome to have too many people travelling~" said Umbrum as he continued to walk on the main road, then he took a book and began writing on it as always.
    "Hmmm..." After finishing, he began playing a dagger while walking, he may be careless and trip if something unexpected happen.

    "They went ahead first!? Why do they need help then!? Such a bunch of crazy scouts!?

    Whatever! Let's go!!!" *raises fist in the air and starts walking*

    ... This feels a lot less pleasant when moving at this pace…

    Meanwhile, Umbrum was humming quite happily, travelling with people made him quite people, even if they were mean to him, he will still be joyous.

    "Ah. Does anyone have any money to get a carriage to take us there? Or are we stuck walking for...how many days was it again?" Blaiz asked hoping to not have to walk.

    "Money!?" *stomach grumbles*

    "Thanks... You just reminded me of something I wanted to forget..."

    "Well... I don't have any money, so... hmm... if only we could meet bandits in a carriage and take their carriages by saying it's stolen..." He always thought that stolen objects won't be retrieved to their owners, so let's use them for good means

    "Rob someone's stolen carriage.... I'm up for it, but I'll only be able to use melee attacks since fire isn't the most friendly of magics. Heck, we might even be able to retrieve a bounty if we take care of some bandits!" Blaiz said while looking excited at the prospect of battle.

    "Right... You want us to simply find a bandit carriage running in the middle of the road? Just at the moment we need one? Lady Luck is a kind goddess, but she isn't omnipotent!

    Haaa... I would love to find one though..."

    "I know that it's not possible... it was just a wishful thinking... if we need to eat something, we can just hunt... maybe we will find some charitable soul passing near ?" Umbrum continued to talk, hoping honestly that something happen, it would be odd but maybe logical, since this route is going toward the bridge which is a link between two regions, so many people should pass near.

    "Can't we pick some fruit from the trees? And would it be good if Alice or I flew up to see if we could find a carriage?" Blaiz said while trying to be helpful.

    "That would be good too even if I prefer meat actually, but wouldn't you be wasting mana ? That..." Umbrum was quite careful when using mana since that was the thing he was lacking the most…

    "Flying consumes stamina for me, not mana." Blaiz says while once again pointing at his wings.

    "Hunting and picking food from trees would be good! And I think it wouldn't hurt to fly and see if we can-" *hears a thunder*

    "Oh, not again..." *starts raining* "I hate this season... If Lady Luck could give us a carriage I would really appreciate it!!" >.<

    "Not that it matters anymore. Ruby, come under my wing so that you don't get sick, okay?" He tells his summon.

    "Well... look like the plan of flying to find carriages has been dropped..." Umbrum sighed as he put his hood... as usual, it was over-sized, and it fell on his nose, he needed to lift it, maybe one day he should get a coat which fit him...
    Suddenly, he heard something crashing, who knows maybe it's a carriage ? But he didn't mind and care as he continued to walk, the rain was quite nice, he always loved this weather.
    "Hmm~ mm~ mmmmm~!"

    "Hey... What is this noise...? Shouldn't we check? It could be something interesting!" *glittering eyes*

    "I swear, if I stumble upon a dragon for the sixteenth time, I'm just going to teleport back here and continue on with the quest. I do not want to have to face a dragon again after Ruby almost died because of them last time." Blaiz said while holding the confident looking girl with his wing.
    "Don't worry, Master! I'm stronger now! I'll be able to kill that last dragon with one hit now!" Ruby said with a smug look on her face.
    "Still, I don't want to have to worry about you getting hurt again, Ruby." Blaiz replied with a worried look.

    "Huh ? Wasn't it a ghost ?" Umbrum tilted his head but then tried to remember what kind of noise it was... hmmm... it couldn't be a ghost.
    "Yes let's go look ! What if it's food ! Or even a carriage ! Pfff..." The last part was said in a joking part, obviously, he didn't believe it may be a carriage.

    "Alright... For the adventure! For the possible food, carriage and dragon! For the sidetracking when we have a job! And for the sake of doing something to avoid the bother of the rain! Leeeet's goo!!!"

    *runs on the direction of the noise*
    *slips on the wet ground and falls*

    "I... Hate... This... Season..."

    "Are you alright ?!"
    Umbrum immediately approached Aria and helped her to stand up as he almost tripped... then he saw a place where there was an impact, it was... a broken carriage...
    "...let's search inside it then see if... ah, does someone know how to repair a carriage...?" he asked on a awkward tone, he didn't notice that there was people inside the carriage…

    "I'm fine..."

    "Haa.... Next time you should wear proper boots so that you don't slip. It shouldn't even be that slippery since it's only been five minutes since it started raining!" Blaiz said while helping the clumsy Aria up.
    "Anyway, let's go investigate. It's only a little out of the way anyway."

    "I usually fly! Why would I bother with boots that are good against slippery ground!?"

    *looks at the direction they were looking*

    "Just what the... There really IS a carriage! I knew Lady Luck hadn't abandoned us!!" *totally didn't see the people in it*

    "Master, there seems to be people in the carriage. Shouldn't we try to rescue them first?" Ruby asked while seeming concerned about the people inside of the carriage.
    "Ah, yeah. I guess that I'll do that since I'm the only one that won't slip." Blaiz said while heading towards the broken carriage. "I'm just glad it wasn't another bloody dragon." Blaiz mutters under his breath.

    "Huh ? There is people in the carriage ?" Umbrum approached while being a bit behind Blaiz, he didn't have any concrete offensive spell except Physical Enhancement, but honestly, using his curse seemed like it will be more effective.
    When suddenly, people exited the carriage, an old couple and a young man, the oldies seemed to be injured while the young man was simply annoyed by this accident.
    "Hello~"

    "Ah! There were people there... I mean, obviously there were people there, why else would the carriage crash...?"

    *approaches* "Hey there!

    ... Where are the horses?"

    There was one horse who was still there, it was slightly harmed. Not caring at all this sight, Umbrum approached them and asked directly.
    "Excuse me, could we take your carriage ?" The three of them were outraged by their words and quickly replied.
    "What ? You are kidding ? Is this..."
    "Oh well, we shall leave you here, injured then and probably lost." his voice didn't contain any arrogance, it was just a casual one, nevertheless, he didn't gave them a choice.

    "Just follow the road to the west and you should find a city, of course, you can take your own belongings." If he knew that there was too much in their carriages and that actually, they couldn't bring everything, maybe, he would have been kinder, but he won't, because he think that even a mere helping should be rewarded.

    They didn't have a choice and only took their money and clothes, the rest will be left in the carriage.

    "The horses probably ran off because of the lightning. We shouldn't expect to find them easily. For now we should focus on getting the trio to safety." Blaiz said while Ruby nodded in agreement. Not that anyone expected her to disagree in the first place.

    "Well, the carriage crushed so the ones who left are probably injured, so finding them shouldn't be difficult." said Umbrum as he shrugged.

    *blinks at the exchange*

    "I think we shouldn't have taken it like that...? Uhn..." *stomach grumbles* "I wonder if there is food on it though...?

    *goes rummaging the carriage* "There! Food!!! And it's dried food, so it doesn't even need cooking!!!"

    *happily eats*

    "...Yep, this group just screams misfits. Oh well, I'm one myself so I won't complain."

    "Maybe...? But if we weren't here, wouldn't they be staying there out of nowhere, in the rain... there was a lot of chance to get plundered, I mean, it's not like they could do much... it didn't seem like they will have move in the rain." Umbrum tried to explain but then lightly hit his own head since he thought that he was stupid, as he decided to look at the carriage's wheels...
    "...not broken...? Just the pieces were misplaced I suppose...? Does someone know how to put them correctly ?" He was actually scared that he will break it if he touched it... considering how clumsy he is.

    *is still eating*

    "Does it look like I know a thing about carriages? I usually fly!" *lights up a small flame from her glove*

    "Ugh, it will take ages to dry out like this, but I can't make a bigger one if I don't want to burn the carriage... I hope I don't get a cold..."

    "I don't know how, and neither does Ruby. Sorry about that. Do you see any manuals for installing the wheels? I can read it quickly if there is." Blaiz said trying to at least seem helpful

    *gasps* "You can read!?"

    "Didn't you learn how in magic school? And Ruby should be able to help warm you up, so feel free to make use of her."

    "Of course not! Why would I? I had better things to do than to go bother a priest to teach me this kind of thing! Like getting money! To buy food!!!" >.<

    Umbrum sighed, why would there a be a manual about how to make carriages here ? It wasn't like they looked like commoners or crafters... anyway both of them seemed to be fighting over nothing while he was observing the wheels...
    "...fortunately, it doesn't require precision..." Otherwise, he would have given up.
    "...this... uhm... goes there...?" Umbrum sighed, why did he need to do that ? However, a response shall not be heard, because he didn't have a choice.

    One is a flying witch who can easily be agitated.
    One seems to have a monstrous strength.
    While him... well, he was only clumsy and had a bit above average strength.

    "OUCH !!" He finished repairing a wheel as he stuck his finger between intersection, he removed it and had a sudden urge to scream... that was even worst than a knife...
    "...haaa... my finger... anyway... it should be alright now..." Quickly, he sat into the carriage and decided not to move, he did enough.

    "Oooooooh, thanks for the hard work!" *is sitting closer to Ruby to warm up, while wondering how she isn't burning the carriage*

    "So... Dragonman is going to be our coach and drive the carriage? Someone needs to control the horse!"

    "I suppose I can be the driver, but I might get us into danger. My luck tends to be like that." Blaiz said while cursing his own luck.

    "No no ! Then, I will be the driver and nothing will happen until we reach the bridge !" He immediately sat and began to control the horse, normally, he should have a good luck...
    "Okay, I'll just sit on the other side of Ruby and we shall wait. ...Actually, do we even have the horses yet?" Blaiz said, glad that he isn't the one driving.

    "So... How did you two learn how to drive horses? I was pretty surprised when you both rose up to the task!" *is chilling out now that she stopped eating*

    "I learned how to drive them in my hometown. It was fairly common practice there. How about you? Where'd you get your broom?" Blaiz asked while feeding Ruby some snacks.

    "I made it! Nothing was better than laughing at the people with no Arcane affinity on the Flight classes! Go on! Try to make wind strong enough to make you fly you annoying Ojou-sama!!!

    Aaaah, fun memories~"

    "...huh... That is something I don't want to remember... Every times I emptied my mana and became exhausted... I needed to make some physical efforts, and sometimes there was riding horses... And carriage drive when I was exhausted both physically and magically...nevertheless it's useful ! So I can't complain !"

    The sun slowly fell as the night rose.

    "That said literally nothing!!!" >.<

    "... Ah I guess we better stop for today? The horse might hurt its leg if it walks during the night..."
    "We should probably start setting up camp soon. And decide who's going to be on firewatch detail first."

    "You have anything to set camp? I don't... Ah! The carriage might!" *rumages through stuff*

    "There!" *brings some tents and sleeping sacks out*

    "I'll take the last shift!"

    Umbrum yawned as he adjusted his glasses, he lied down and said as he closed his eyes, his whole body being sunk into his oversized coat.
    "I will take the second sh-"

    "Okay, Ruby and I will take the middle shift, so Umbrum, you'll be on the first shift."

    Blaiz then proceeds to help Aria out with setting up the tents.

    *clumsily gets more in the way than helps*

    "At least it stopped raining..."

    "True. Ah, Ruby and I will sleep in one tent since we're used to that. Also, Aria, could you make me a broom like yours at one point in time? Preferably fire-resistant. It would be for Ruby since she doesn't have her own means of flight." Blaiz asked with a look of hope on his face.

    "A broom? And fire resistant? I will need to think for a while on how to do that... I never tried putting fire resistance on anything...

    I will try though!"

    "Two against one... I guess I won't rest right now then." He sighed and began to read his book which he already knew every words instead of helping setting up the tents.

    "Ah, you can rest now if you want and we can take the first shift. I just thought that you would prefer it if you didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night."

    "Ah, no, that's alright, just take the second, I will manage, I can continue for some hours, just go to sleep and I will wake you up later..."

    "Good luck then!"

    *goes into her tent and sleeps*

    "Thanks! That will be really helpful! Anyway, have a good sleep! Ruby and I will be back soon!"

    "Alright, Ruby and I will be heading to bed once we wash ourselves off."

    Blaiz then flies up to search for a river to bathe in.
    "We should head East for the river, Ruby, so let's get going now."
    "Alright Master! I'm right behind you!"
    They then disappear in the forest.

    Breaking out of the forest, Blaiz and Ruby started to take off their clothes before they entered the river. Sitting next to each other, they started to talk.

    "So Master, what's your opinion of Aria?"
    "I think that she's a clumsy character with a good heart. Though she's a bit of a glutton. She's quite useful when it comes to making magic items, though. Why? Something you don't like about her?"
    "I was just worried that I would have competition down the road, but I'm glad that that's not the case. How about Umbrum then? That overly-optimistic kid."
    "He's fine, rather skilled in everything that I've seen so far at the very least. Umbrum seems like a rather dependable team member so far."
    "So I can't burn either of them?"
    "We've been over this before, you can only burn the wildlife and, in extreme circumstances, my enemies."
    "Fine, I'll let them live for now."

    Suddenly there's some rustling in the forest before a red ball-like creature comes flying towards Blaiz. Afterwards a pack of wolves comes creeping out as well.

    "Ruby, can I entrust you with this while I check on the creature?"
    "Of course, Master! Leave it to me!"

    Ruby then creates a dozen fireballs and launches them at the wolves. Five of the wolves catch fire and run to the river to extinguish themselves while another wolf successfully dodged the attack. It must be the pack leader. Seeing as such, the elemental decides to use a more powerful spell.

    "Inferno!" She shouts as flames rain directly onto each of the wolves. A few moments later and all that's left are six piles of ash.

    "Master, I'm done! How's the creature?"
    "The creature, which appears to be a fire dragon hatchling, seems to be perfectly fine. We should probably take it back to camp though just in case."
    "Okay! Let's put our clothes back on and head back now!"

    After which Blaiz, Ruby, and the hatchling, which is comfortably sitting on Blaiz's shoulder, headed back to camp before going to sleep.

    After seeing them come back, Umbrum yawned and walked around the tents, circling it pointlessly yet surveying the surroundings, and he began whistling happily.

    Sometimes, he made somersaults since he was incredibly bored, he couldn't simply stay in place, but he didn't care as he began to play with his enchanted dagger.
    He threw it and when the distance between him and the dagger was above around 60~80 feet, he tried to teleport it... Nevertheless, instead of appearing in his hand, the dagger appeared around his armpit, fortunately, it was the handle that crushed against his armpit when the dagger fell on the ground, otherwise he might have cut himself.

    "...bad..." Umbrum muttered to himself as his smile twisted, he sighed but continued to train motionlessly.

    Some hours later, Umbrum didn't move, he was still standing but there was many impacts on the ground, and a bit everywhere excepted his face was a bit harmed, all of those cuts should be healed tomorrow after sleeping except around his right arm, near to his shoulder... Fortunately his coat could repair itself because if it didn't, he would only have shreds as outfit.

    As always, he wanted to empty his mana and half of his mana crystals before going to sleep, they will fill themselves naturally after two or three dozen of hours each of them had around half of his pitiful mana reserve, so it was like, he had 5 times more his original amount...
    Nevertheless, it wasn't really that much, for example, his spell Shadow Devouring could be used to trap half of an enemy body two times before emptying his mana, it means, he could use it 12 times before being somehow defenseless, after if his enemy use a certain amount of mana to dispel it roughtly, they can just get rid of it, if they were calm of course.

    Some could just protect themselves against it before it comes.

    When he began training at the academy, emptying his mana was trapping a hand, now it's two time half of a body, even if he only aims at the heart, even if the heart is trapped, the body will stay alive, somehow still linked to the heart despite its absence, everything was flowing correctly, it only make the bearing away and the skin paler.
    Though that may be useful to trick an enemy, a creature without a heart, isn't it a monster ? What if his allies notice their friend becoming paler yet still alive like nothing ever happened

    As he was thinking about how to use this supposed harmless curse, he sighed and just stood near to Blaiz's tent, saying a few words on a suddenly cheerful tone which didn't fit the previous atmosphere when he was alone.
    "Time to shift~" Of course, he removed every drop of bloods, he was used to it.

    Blaiz woke up groggily after hearing that it was time to change shifts. He reached over and shook Ruby awake so that they would go out together. This in turn woke up the baby dragon who decided to perch itself on Blaiz's shoulder once more.

    "Thanks," Blaiz told Umbrum, "We'll take it from here." Blaiz noticed a few bruises on Umbrum's body but decided not to let it show. Everyone deserves a few secrets, right?

    After seeing Umbrum off to bed, Blaiz and Ruby decided to gaze at the stars while chatting amongst themselves.

    "So what are you going to name the hatchling?" Ruby asked to start up the conversation.
    "We don't even know what gender it is yet, so we can't give it a proper name until we find that out. Can you identify its gender Ruby?" Blaiz asked hoping to sort this out before they met up with the soldiers.
    "Probably," Ruby said before picking up the dragon and checking its body. "I think that it's a female dragon, so how about the name Flappy?" Is what the elemental suggested, clearly showcasing her bad naming sense.
    "...Ruby, I know that you're trying to be helpful, but please never try to name something ever again. That was just horrible." Blaiz said with a deadpan.
    "Fine, I'll try to come up with a better name. ...How about Scarlet?" Ruby proposed again, this time with more confidence.
    "Better, but I feel like I'll run into another Scarlet if we go with it. Maybe we could go with Mira?"
    "That sounds good! Let's go with that!" Ruby said with obvious excitement on her face.
    "Okay, then it's decided. It also seems like our shift is over, so let's go and wake up Aria. Hopefully she's not too surprised when she sees Mira." Blaiz said only just realizing that it might have been a bad idea to bring the hatchling back to camp.

    Walking over to Aria's tent, Blaiz said, "Aria, it's time for you to be on watch." He then waited until she got out before heading back to sleep.

    Blaiz woke me up for my shift and went to sleep... So lazy... Haa... Well, Let's do our best!

    I made sure the fire in the middle of the camp was well lit, so as to stop any animals that were nearby, and also looked around for anything on the surroundings... There was nothing. Guess I have some free time then. They won't mind if I go away for a bit, right? Right? Well, no voices against it, so it's a yes!

    I went to the nearby river and took a quick bath, I wanted to have a longer one, but I didn't have that much time... Aaah, I needed this... The problem of flying all day and sleeping on top of trees is that I rarely have a good opportunity to bath...

    After bathing I also used the river water to wash my clothes, it's a shame I had no soap, but it couldn't be helped.

    Finishing that, I went back to camp and hanged them near the fire to dry... Good, no wild monster appeared and wiped them out! It would totally not be my fault if one did! >.<

    It felt weird sitting naked near a fire... If any of them woke up now, I'd have to kill them, so I appreciated the fact the sun hadn't risen yet~

    Once my clothes dried out, I dressed, and still needed to wait around an hour until dawn... Guess I'll see if I can cook something?

    There was a bit of meat on the carriage, nice~
    The smell might attract some beasts though... Oh well, more food for us then~

    It was about done when dawn came... Yosh! It's about time!

    "Wake up you maggots! It's time to depart! I'm hungry and there won't be a single speck of meat left if you take too long, so hurry up!!!"

    I started eating before they got out of their tents... Teehee~

    Blaiz woke up from Aria's screaming and decided to take some food out of his storage. Yes, he had food with him the entire time Aria was suffering. But he would never reveal it to that glutton. After eating a bit, Blaiz shook Ruby awake so that she could eat too. Afterwards he fed Mira a little bit of jerky. Finally the trio left the tent and greeted Aria.

    "Good morning." Blaiz said to Aria.

    "What are you ?"
    As he wandered in a random forest, Umbrum felt chills his spine and turned back as the light didn't seem to enter in the forest, becoming darker and darker. Sometimes he could feel fingers grasping lightly his frail neck.
    He gulped each time and turned back, but there was nothing except a deeper yet familiar fog who began to surround him more and more.
    "What are you ?"
    This question was heard again, as his right arm disappeared once again, then it was his left arm... and nothing else, he only looked around him then closed his eyes as he held his book in his arms.

    ____​

    And when he opened his eyes, he looked around him and saw that he was inside the tent... he sighed in relief, that was just a nightmare, but then, he looked above and saw a cloaked men in black with a white ever-changing mask, asking this same question.
    "What are you ?"

    "Shut up." his voice wasn't as cheerful as when he was talking to Blaiz, Ruby or Aria, because that wasn't a person, he literally passed through him and exited the tent... and his attitude changed, he came back to the always smiling, overly-optimistic and childish young man...
    Hearing Aria, he walked hurriedly with the same smile as always, ignoring the daily hallucination of this person he "met" for the time more than ten years go, his voice was similar as always, cheerful.
    "Good morning~ Is there still some food~?"

    "Morning sleepyheads! There are some leftover crumbs," *there is still a decent chunk actually* "so hurry up! There is still some time left to reach the bridge!

    ... I think. I don't recognize this place from the ground..."

    Nodding 'happily', Umbrum began to eat while he talked on a joking tone.
    "You should be down to earth sometimes~" Of course, he didn't have any regrets as he continued to talk, seriously this time.
    "Hmm... Well, I will just drive, you can just observe the surroundings~"

    "That's why you shouldn't fly all the time. Slow down, enjoy nature, and only resort to shortcuts when they are necessary." Blaiz said while trying to impersonate a wise old man.

    "Walking is tiresome! And slow! I have way more important things to do than to walk around aimlessly!!!" >.<

    Umbrum shrugged at their words and finished eating with a satisfied smile, that wasn't much, but as long as it was meat, he loved it.

    "Yosh! We're all set then! Let's disarm this camp and get moving!"

    *goes disarm it as clumsily as she did when she was making it*

    "Alright~" He just removed everything that was preventing the tent to be removed and folded it messily, trying to do the more quickly possible, then he put the tent in the carriage, not knowing where to arrange it and when everyone entered the carriage, he didn't wait for them to say something as the horse began to gallop casually.
    "Here we go !"

    "Feels cramped with it like this... Oh well, I'm happy as long as it doesn't rain again!

    Please don't rain again..."
    Humming happily, Umbrum looked above and immediately laughed until he shut his mouth and said, still restraining his laugh.
    "Pff... it's raining..." He heard her prayers, and it wasn't answered, what an unexpected lu- shame.

    "Of course it is... Did I ever say I hate this season? Yeah, I think I did...

    Haaa... Oh great, the road ahead is all muddy... Who was the genius that didn't maintain it...? Such a bother..."

    "Well... it hasn't been a long time that the horse began galloping so even if it's muddy, it should be able to continue well... some hours, unfortunately, not a dozen though." Umbrum sighed as he continued to drive the carriage, putting his hood because washing his glasses because of the run will be honestly irritating.

    "Can a horse really gallop for long while carrying a carriage alone...?" *feels skeptical*

    "Ahhhh... right... huu... then around three... no two hours then we let it rest two hours and do it again... fortunately we didn't forget to feed it..." Umbrum sighed on a depressed tone but quickly came back to his colors, smiling once again.

    As Blaiz was in the carriage, he was petting Mira while trying to ignore the fact that her parents might be chasing after her. Hopefully they don’t notice or were killed. Them being killed would also explain why Mira was running away. Either way I won’t give her up. She’s too cute for that!

    Umbrum couldn't help but look back and sigh, honestly, he didn't want to ask how did he get a dragon here where there is probably nothing... he just kept on making the horse galloping, trying to ignore this hatching who was getting patted by Blaiz.

    "... Since when you have a lizard with you?"

    "Uh...well a lot happened last night."

    "... Please tell me the parents are dead."

    "Well, I rescued it from wolves. So maybe? But I have no way of being sure at the moment." Blaiz said looking a tad guilty.

    "... Better pray that luck is on our side and the parents are dead. Pray with all your might!" *smacks his head*

    "Maybe Mira will be able to communicate with its parents and say that I rescued her?" Blaiz said with obvious worry in his voice.

    "Yeah... That's as good as praying for a miracle... Haa...

    Oh well, what's done is done, I wouldn't want the lizard dropped off anyway!"

    "...I just hope there won't be trouble and they are mindless... and hot-tempered, yeah, if they come of course..." Somehow he wanted to make horse accelerated but he sighed and drove quietly in the rain. Then he muttered to himself.
    "Hmm... one hour left..."

    *feels bored* "Aaaaah, just how far is that bridge anyway!? It didn't take long while flying!!!"

    "Hmm... on horse and at our current speed, I suppose... three hours ? But now we need to make the horse rest for one or two hours, anyway... so there is still four hours ? You can take a nap..."

    "It's okay, if we run into any dragons I can teleport us to safety and leave Mira with her parents. We'll get set back a little bit, but that should be fine."

    *blink blink* "This thing... Is not a lizard...? It is... A...

    Oh dear Lady Luck, please let its parents come after we have already separated, I'm too young to become dragon food..."

    "Mira needed someone to care for her! And I have plenty of practice escaping dragons anyhow, so you have nothing to fear." Blaiz said in a defensive manner.

    "..." Umbrum stayed silent and preferred to ignore their conversation, thinking that he heard something he shouldn't... maybe, he could just make disappear this thing ? She won't be hurt... just scared because she won't be able to feel, hear, smell or see something.

    "Talk for yourself! I'd be very happy if I could spend my whole life without meeting a single dragon! What's your problem with trying to lure one in! What if it decides to follow our tracks and destroy the villages near the bridge!? You're going to completely ruin them!!!"

    "...Well if no one says we lured them, then it gives us the opportunity to make more money. Of course, it's best if it didn't come to that. If you really want to escape, tell me. I'll be able to teleport you away and then I can return to try and negotiate. One of the perks to being a dragonkin is that you can speak dragontongue as well."

    *looks a bit flabbergasted*

    Just what is on the head of this crazy guy...? Money? For having a dragon destroy villages...? Give me a break...

    "You know what? Whatever, I'm going to sleep, do pray for whoever god you believe in for this to not cause us more trouble than it should!" *turns to the side and closes eyes grumply*

    "Fine, fine. I'll just talk to Umbrum instead."

    "Lalala~ la ~ lala~ lalala~" Umbrum was humming loudly, trying his best to ignore this conversation while he hesitated whether to take his dagger or not... but then he thought, he shouldn't do something so barbaric.
    "I didn't hear anything~"
    He stopped the carriage to let the horse rest.
    "So what are we going to do about lunch? We can hunt, use the food in the carriage, or pick some food from the trees."

    "Hmm... been a while since I hunted... yeah, hunting~ Hmm, does it bother if I go alone ?" Umbrum asked on a skeptical tone, he always preferred to hunt alone or maybe that was because he was used to it ?
    "Or do you want to come~?"

    "You can go alone. I'd be useless since my magic wouldn't leave any corpse behind."

    "Alright~" Umbrum bring out his bow and entered in the first forest while humming happily, it seemed like this forest was filled with animals... it's been a while since he ate rabbits or boars.

    "What are you ?"
    He heard this same question as the cloaked man passed beside him, walking and disappearing when he wants to.
    And then, he saw a boar sniffling a bit everywhere.
    "<Edax Umbra>" Even if it was easier to say Shadow Devouring, honestly, he didn't like this name, he preferred to say Edax Umbra which approximately mean the same thing.

    The boar's leg disappeared at the same time a part of his shadow disappeared, then instead of using his bow, to save up mana, Umbrum sprinted toward it and cut its throat, slowly, it fell and died.
    Instead of taking the corpse, he just climbed on a tree and looked around... that's when he saw two rabbits, hanged to a branch wit his legs, and his cloak falling, reaching his chin, his hood sinking even more in the hair, he readied his bow as he felt quite comfortable and nostalgic in this situation.

    This bow had no arrows, it could create a sort of arrow with mana, nevertheless, it had a limit, first, it's only one arrow per arrow, the mana put can't be more than a certain amount otherwise the bow will break.
    The arrow isn't stronger than any regular arrow, it's just like a true one, who is just limited to its wearer's capacity.

    "Wooo~!" An arrow flew and it pierced into the rabbit's head as the other began to run away, unfortunately in the right sense.
    "Hmmmm~ I should go back otherwise in four hours I will still be here~" His father was a hunter, and honestly, hunting is something he loves, so this bow is something very dear to him.

    At last, he just came back with a boar and a rabbit.

    Meanwhile Blaiz was busy setting up a campfire with Ruby’s help so that they could cook the food Umbrum caught. He also asked Aria to gather some vegetables to with the meat. Hopefully she was doing her job.

    Just what is up with that guy? He brings a dragon, a dragon! A dragon!!! Why did he bring a dragon with him!? Does he want to kill us or something!?

    Why did I need a party for this... Haa... In any case, he didn't even let me nap in peace, as he one-sidedly decided I should pick some vegetables? Seriously? Go gather them yourself! I was napping!

    Honestly... Luckily, there were a fair bit of edible herbs nearby, so I didn't have to search much... Now if only it stopped raining... Haa... I hate this season...

    I came back with the vegetables, but my shoes were already dirtied again... And I just washed them yesterday.... Gah.

    Blaiz didn’t know what else to do as he waited for the two to return, so he decided to start experimenting with some magic to see if he could use his fire magic to clean his clothes. Of course he didn’t use the clothes he was wearing and instead pulled some out from his storage.

    After about ten minutes and ten piles of ash, Blaiz finally succeeded. He can now clean his clothes without needing to get them wet! Heck, he could even use the magic while he was wearing the clothes! This was probably one of the more useful spells that he has created since leaving the academy.

    Alas, he then succumbed to boredom once more since neither Umbrum or Aria had returned yet.

    "I brought the vegetables! Where is the food!? I'm starving!!!"

    "We're using the food you gathered to cook!"

    Whistling happily and coming back in a laid-back attitude, Umbrum put both the rabbit and boar next to the campfire, as he began to skin them quickly and strangely skillfully, then he began dismantling it as he said on casual tone.
    "Could someone bring something that can hold the meat while we are cooking it in the fire ?"

    "Ah, just put it in the pot of water above the fire. We're having stew."

    "Alright~" Plunging his hands into a pool of blood and organs, he slashed the sinews and took the flesh away, but quietly yet surely, he took the rabbit for himself and said as he gave the boar meat to Blaiz.
    "I will eat less of the stew~ I will grill my rabbit~" he kissed the bloody piece of meat as he had with a childish smile.

    ... Just what kind of weirdoes did I get myself involved with...?

    "Here..." *gives them the vegetables*

    "I'll be taking a nap at the carriage, do tell me when it is ready."

    Brrrr, cold, I hate rain.

    Taking the meat and the vegetables, Blaiz starts on the stew. An hour later and it’s finally finished. Mostly. Stew is supposed to go for six to eight hours usually, so Blaiz decided to use Slow on the food so that he didn’t need to wait that long. Surprisingly it worked! Magic principles be damned, creativity can sometimes spark a new function of a spell.

    Being that the stew was done, Blaiz decided to call for Umbrum and Aria before he served Ruby, Mira, and himself.

    “The food’s done!” Blaiz yelled hoping to wake Aria up. After which he started serving out the stew to everyone in bowls that he always kept with him.

    *wakes up*
    *sneezes*

    I hate this season...

    "Coming!"

    Where did he take these bowls from...?

    There must be some on the carriage I guess, oh well~

    *happily eats the food*

    Finishing to eat the rabbit, Umbrum took the smallest bowl who seemed to have the less stew since he already ate a bit.
    "Thank you~ and let's have a nice meal~" and he began to appreciate the plate he has gotten with the same smiling face.

    “So does anyone have any possible ideas of what the trouble at the bridge could be?” Blaiz asked while eating the stew.

    "Hmmm... Bandits I suppose ? Rebels ? Or simply nothing~ the bridge maybe hasn't been made well that's all !" There was no need to think too deeply about that, or even try to believe at a unreasonable scheme.

    “Bandits wouldn’t be able to stand up to the guards, though. I’d say that rebels are more likely.”

    "No idea, I'd bet it's something dumb like 'the road has been so poorly maintained and the ground because so so muddy that the scouts got stranded on it because of fear of sinking in the mud'... It would be pathetic though."

    *sneezes*

    "Makes one wonder why is a commercial route so poorly maintained... Is Nuffia going broke or something?" *never memorized the proper name of Novelias Forium*

    “...Why do I feel like that’s more likely than any of Umbrum’s suggestions?”

    "Well, probably because the only way they wouldn't know what happened already, is if the scouts were wiped out by the bandits/rebels, which is unlikely considering that they should be good at moving.

    All contact was lost with the region though, so something might be blocking the path and stopping people from coming back to deliver information, I don't think any living being would be able to do that, so it's probably something with the environment."

    ... These sentences totally didn't feel like me... Am I going crazy by staying too much with those 2?

    “We should be seeing some signs of that soon, then. Since we’re only a couple of hours away.”

    "Well, we shall probably see that today~" said Umbrum as he continued to eat happily, honestly as long as he gained a bit of cash, that was fine by him.

    After finishing to eat slightly in advance, Umbrum yawned and stood up as he said, going toward the carriage to close his eyes for some dozens of minutes, a bit more of rest never hurt after all.
    "I finished, tell me when you are ready~"

    “I’m ready to go now. How about you, Aria?”

    *finishes eating a few minutes after*

    "Alright! Wake up coach! Somebody needs to put those horses to walk! And I don't have a clue on how!"
    “Well, he doesn’t seem to be waking up. Should I drive with my bad luck? Or do you want to chat while we wait?” Blaiz asked

    "I'm not sure that's a very-"

    "What are you ?" Hearing this same sentence,
    Umbrum opened his eyes and realized that he slept, quickly he took the driver's place and began to drive as he shouted.
    "Excuse me~ I will begin right now !"
    And the carriage began moving, only three hours left.

    "Oh, thank you Lady Luck, I'm glad you did not abandon me yet.”

    "Hehe then it looks like Lady Luck is quite whimsical~" Umbrum couldn't help but comment at her words as the carriage continued to advance until some words echoed.
    "Oh, looks like it stopped raining." That was a great new, they will arrive in advance, or were they already late ? It's not like they asked for a precise time for when the investigation should be done after all.

    Ah, you woke up. Guess that means that I don’t need to test my luck! So how far away is the bridge?” Blaiz asked.

    "Didn't you say we were only a few hours away!? How come you don't know?!" >.<

    "Hmmm... I suppose there is only around two hours left ? And since it stopped raining, we can overwork a bit the horse, it probably won't fall..." Umbrum didn't think much when he answered, honestly, he didn't know a thing about horses except how to drive or ride them.

    "Finally! Being in a carriage is too boring!!!!" \(^^)/

    “I don’t know because my sense of time is usually messed up a bit. I constantly have a spell that slows down my sense of time on me, so please pardon me if I’m off by an hour or two. My mind is still getting used to it, after all.” Blaiz said in a matter of fact tone.

    "How was I supposed to know that!?"

    “...Whoops? And you weren’t.”

    "...constantly... constantly..." Umbrum muttered on a depressed tone, obviously, he was affected by those words... his way of using mana can be called the contrary of constant using... no wonder he has so many mana crystals which were given by his seniors, his master, won through a tournament and others things.
    He sighed, his mood has been dumped with only these words, though, he was still smiling but bitterly.

    Oh dear Lucky, he just went crazy…

    “It needs to be constant if it’s going to be useful. Since the spell helps boost my reaction time, I can use it to dodge out of the way, or teleport away. Sadly, using any other spell interrupts the spell.”

    "Why... how can..." Umbrum sighed, giving up and continued to drive, trying to forget everything he heard just a few seconds ago, concentrating himself on the road.

    “I don’t know either. I just pay for the initial mana cost. The spell probably uses ambient mana somehow.”

    "I think it's better to give up understanding what the dragonman does..." >.>

    Trying to change the subject, Umbrum simply said on a cheerful yet weak tone.
    "Only one hour left~...

    *starts fiddling fingers boredly*

    After another fifteen minutes, an ominous feeling fills the air.

    "Hey... Can the carriage pass through that?" *points at a steep muddy slope ahead on the road* "Feels like the kind of thing that would make the carriage go completely wild and break..."

    Umbrum looked and sighed as he said on a grumbling tone because he wanted to keep the carriage.
    "...there was supposed to be 30 minutes left, we walk for let's say a few hours or we search another road ?"

    “I vote for walking.”

    "If there were 30 minutes on carriage, we can probably arrive in an hour at most... Rather, I'm surprised by how fast that horse was moving anyway, it will probably die of exhaustion soon.

    So... Let's just walk, it should go well enough!"

    “Walking it is! So...am I supposed to carry you two since you’ll definitely slip in the mud?”

    *hops atop the broom*

    "Carry him instead! Hentai dragonman!"

    "I will walk by myself, that's alright." Umbrum shrugged, it was just a bit of mud, nothing that could hurt.

    Umbrum sighed and put the carriage on the side of the road, he tried to drive it slightly.in the forest when.he decided to use Shadow Devouring on it, fortunately, it was easier to do it on inanimate objects than living beings.
    The carriage disappeared as the mana in four mana crystal were emptied along with his own mana.
    Then he freed the horse.

    "...all that's left is to find a horse when we want to go back." Nobody is able to touch the carriage anymore since it doesn't concretely exist now, even Umbrum as long as he doesn't dispel his spell.
    Then he began walking as he felt like something was heating in him, it wouldn't work correctly, probably his Mana Channels which have been overworked.

    "Oh my... This is... This is nice...

    I didn't know this kind of spell existed!"

    "Normally, I think it was meant to use it against enemies or oneself... I noticed that most people had trouble learning it when I let them read Edax Umbra..."

    “Okay, we can also just teleport back to the capital instead of grabbing a horse, but traveling is fun, so let’s go with the carriage anyway. Anyway, let’s move out!”

    Ignoring this absurd comment, Umbrum began to walk towards the bridge.

    How can he just use long distance teleport like that...? Who are those 2?

    *descends the slope on the broom easily*
    Marching on, the trio starts to see glimpses of the bridge.

    "So... Any idea why we still haven't found any of the scouts we were supposed to meet up with?

    ... Ah, it's raining, how wonderful... Can't we have a single non-rainy day!?"

    "Odd... Where are the soldiers...?" Umbrum muttered, there wasn't anybody near to the bridge, it was like, nobody was ever here, just like a place haunted by a ghost.

    “Perhaps they are on the other side of the bridge?” Blaiz suggested.

    "Please tell me they weren't eaten by a dragon..."

    “...If they were, then it’s not my fault.” Blaiz said with a face of innocence.

    "Let's pray that luck is on our side and I am just overworrying all this...

    "..." Umbrum tried to ignore his fears as he began walking on the bridge, who if someone saw it from other perspective, he... Would have a totally another reaction.

    "Hey? What are you doing...?"

    "Investigating...?" He seemed to force his smile, honestly he didn't want to walk on it.

    Blaiz decides that if no one else is going to walk on the bridge, then he will. He steps forth and walks a few steps, leaving Ruby and Mira off the bridge. Halfway across the bridge the dragonkin turns around and says, “See, it’s fine! Now let’s continue onwards!”

    As the three of them were walking on the slippery ground, Umbrum almost slipped but then noticed something weird on the ground, one of the stone seemed to be easily movable, it made him somehow worried about how could a stone like this be there ?
    And suddenly, there was shapes climbing on the bridge's flandges, as the stones on the bridge suddenly crumbled, making this young man fall like the fool he is.
    "Traaaaaapppp !!" This is what he screamed as he was falling on the platform under the bridge.

    On the bridge, there was around a dozen of bandits and... unexpectedly, three mages were also there, ambushing the three mages, nevermind, now two or less, depending if someone fell along Umbrum.

    Oh great, why didn't learn how to-

    Flapping his wings, Blaiz took to the skies hoping to find Umbrum. He saw him falling, so he rushed towards the man. Catching him mid-fall, Blaiz managed to save Umbrum. The dragonkin then flew out of the trap and glided back to the safe side of the bridge where they reunited with Aria and Ruby.

    “That was close.” Blaiz said while gasping for breath. “Are you alright, Umbrum?”

    "Fly! Good job dragonman!"

    *flies to the back a bit*

    Ruby starts glaring at the young magician as she said that.

    "I am alright~ thank you~" While both of them came out of the trap, a fireball missed them, it was coming from the same trap.
    An ambush into a trap into a ambush.

    Despite almost falling into danger, Umbrum smiled widely, as he walked and looked at the enemies who were startled to see a dragonkin yet they seemed to be even more eager to kill the persons that entered the bridge.
    "Heh... Wouldn't that sell quite well ? Not everyday that we see that..." they were looking at Ruby, the elemental, and Blaiz the dragonkin. While Umbrum and Aria were put aside in their minds, after all, they seemed human, so worthless in others words.

    "Three mages... Then one per person~?" Honestly, he didn't think that the bandits will be hard to beat, only the mages will. After all, he could just make them disturbed by making then disappear an hand.

    Just what is wrong with these guys!? Hello! I'm a healthy and young girl! You aren't even considering me as good selling material!? How rude! I'll beat you all down until you learn how to properly treat a girl!

    “Sure, let’s go with that. The bandits will probably be cleared out with the collateral damage, but Ruby can take care of them. Anyway, shall we start now?” Blaiz asked while rushing towards his magician

    Why are those idiots so cocky!? We're at disadvantage here! Think with your head for once!

    They seem completely confident though... Haa...-

    I received a huge blast of wind and almost fell off my broom "Waaaah!!"

    I held onto it with both my hands while I quickly approached the muddy ground... No no no, no dirt again! I just cleaned those clothes!

    I was able to make the broom take flight up and avoid clashing... Phew, that was dangerous...

    So there is a wind mage among them... Just my luck, I hate those, now what do I do...?

    Blaiz dashes towards the magician at high speeds. He notices that a spell is being casted, appearing to be of the water attribute.Hmm, how about I keep running for now. I'll dodge the spell at the last moment. After that I should be in range to use Slow on him, afterwards I can use Inferno without worry. Hopefully by then Ruby and the others will be done with their magicians.

    Thus the dragonkin continues to run, but the magician seemed to cast a spell that sent a homing ball of water at him! That scoundrel! He must have realized that I needed to get close for one of my spells! No matter, I'll just have to be faster.

    "Inferno!" Blaiz shouted as he dodged the ball of water. The spell targeted twenty meters in front of him, so a few of the other bandits were caught up in it. Unfortunately the water magician managed to react in time and put up a wall of water around him, thus rendering Blaiz's spell null. What's worse is that Blaiz also used a spell, so his Slow buff was no longer active. That was a problem. Now he had to create a new plan, and fast.

    His only option now was to try and slow his enemy down now, which would mean that Blaiz had to improve a spell on the fly.Damn, how do I-! Wait, what if I slowed down the ball of water instead?! Blaiz thought, finally realizing a new possibility. Slowing down the spell means that I can escape from it and continue on to the magician! Then I can Slow him as well before continuing with my original plan of Inferno! This should work!

    "As you slow down, I remain the same. As I slow down, you freeze. Slow!" Blaiz shouted at the top of his lungs before racing towards the magician and starting the chant again. It succeeded and the enemy magician starts to become slower.

    "Inferno!" Blaiz screamed as he watched the flames spray onto the water magician, before he finally became nothing more than a pile of ash. Finally he can relax and help Ruby out with the bandits!

    "Ah, Master! You're finally done?" Or not. Apparently she finished a while ago and is now busy petting Mira while watching Aria and Umbrum fight.

    "Oh? You already finished, Ruby?" Blaiz asked while sitting down next to her. He must have decided to watch the fighting as well.

    "Yep! I finished up around the time that magician launched his magic at you. Anyway, you should probably start casting Slow while you wait since the magic takes so long." Ruby suggested. She also noticed that the ball of water was still following her master, but she wasn't going to mention it. It would be funny when it hit him! Just a few more seconds and....

    "Ah, you're right, I'll star-" Blaiz started saying before the back of his head was hit by a very slow water ball. He didn't look very pleased when he saw his companion giggling to herself, but decided to let it slide. Sighing, he started the long chant for slow as he waited for the battles to come to a close.

    Okay, so... Wind magic... That one annoying thing that throws flames back to my face... How to deal with that?

    I was high enough in the air to not be harmed by any spell they cast on me, unless it's a hurricane or something that is, but I don't think someone that can cast a hurricane would become a bandit... But then, I can't really do anything from this much of a distance...

    Ugh... Ah! How annoying! Let's just beat them down somehow!

    I flew on their direction and they... Grinned? Oh dear Lucky...

    I turned my broom up, but a gust of wind already hit me from above, throwing me down... Agh, I hate those instant cast things! And one that can come from any direction at that!? Ridiculous!!!

    I didn't have much time to complain though, as arrows were flying towards me... Those bandits, I didn't see any bows with them...

    I let go of my broom and used my hands to quickly draw a fireball in the air, I shot it and it rained down on the arrows, burning them to a crisp... Luckily, it surpised the mage, so it had no time to make the wind turn towards me... I feel I won't have this much luck again though.

    I held unto my broom that was falling with me and did my best to reduce the speed of my fall, the speed was still too big though, and that strong wind didn't help in the slightest.

    I fell with force on the ground and rolled, my entire body was in pain and... Ugh, I think I broke some ribs... Well, I'm still alive at least, it's a start, now how to stop the next volley of... Arrows?

    The mage wasn't grinning anymore, I was too far to have a good grasp of it, but I'm pretty sure he was almost wetting his pants... I mean, who wouldn't at this situation?

    All his comrades were being burnt to death, while he barely stopped the flames with a wind shield...

    Hey! I wasn't the one to do that! Who did it!? Don't tell me it was all by that single Fire Elemental! That's ridiculous!

    I wanted to scream my frustations out loud, but I was in too much pain to do that... I think no rib pierced my lungs though, so it's not that bad.

    And luckily, or maybe obviously, the mage wasn't paying much, or any attention to me... I couldn't see the other 2 mages, the elemental, the dragonman and the weird guy though... Where are they?

    Well, as long as nobody comes from behind to ambush me or something it should be okay, Lady Luck wouldn't abandon me now of all times... Right?

    They didn't even have the time to begin the fight that flames spread everywhere. Both the mage and Umbrum needed to protect themselves.
    Instead of running away, Umbrum literally stuck himself to his opponent by running the fastest he could, the mage was startled, there was a wave of flames, so they needed to protect themselves yet their opponent wasn't doing this.

    That was when the mage realized their situation. This young man was forcing them to use their mana otherwise both of them die.
    "Excuse me, protect me then you will live~ we will fight after~" his cheerful voice irritated this masked mage, they gritted their teeth, this mage specialized in ice magic.
    It was despicable trick, the mage could feel the dagger at their neck as they were trying to protect both of them, then after the flames... From an external point of view, it is a peculiar scene, a young man hugging his masked opponent with a dagger in his hand, this young man had a sweet and cheerful smile as they were protected from the flames by an ice half-dome...

    A tide of arrows fell from the sky, the mage began to grumble as a thin pillar of ice pushed away Umbrum under this calamity.

    "Those son of a bitches... That wasn't part of the plan..." And then they jumped in the trap that was almost making Umbrum fall earlier, this same mage screamed as they were falling.
    "CODE FOUR !!" So the hole was both of a trap and an entry to the bandit's hideout, meanwhile, Umbrum decided to follow his opponent, for two reasons, to save up his mana and escape the arrows... Well, he would use too much mana if he tried to protect himself so he would only stick to the mage the more time possible.

    "CODE FOURR !!!"
    He repeated what his opponent said as he felt an arrow sinking into his shoulder.
    That is how a weakling entered in the bandit's hideout.

    The flames finally subsided and the mage seemed a bit relieved... However... I still couldn't find anyone else... Where did those crazy guys go? Did they die on the flames or something?

    No, that wouldn't make sense, this fire was probably caused by that elemental, so they should be safe... Ah, the mage is... Going back? Where to...?

    "CODE FOURR !!!"

    Okay, so... What is that guy saying? Aaaaaaah! I'm so sick of this trip!!! Why are there bandits here anyway!? Shouldn't this place be heavily guarded or something!?

    Let's move slowly... Okay, like this... Now here... Agh! No, not this way.... There! On top of the broom! Hooray me!

    Now to slowly fly upwards... Slowly and... Eh? I can't see anyone? *looks around*

    Oh! The Dragonman is there! And the monster elemental too!

    Better the crazy allies than the enemies I say! I got close to them both, and the elemental seemed to see me and look with a really annoyed face... Sorry if I can't simply wipe out a bandit group all by myself!

    "Hey! Where did the weird guy and the other bandits go-!?" Gah... Okay... No shouting... Shouting hurts with broken ribs…

    ___​

    Falling, Umbrum caught once again his opponent who shouted as they were still falling... Why was there water at the bottom ? Wasn't it the platform ?
    "Release me you scum !"

    Of course, he didn't release this bandit as his dagger was touching their neck once again, is it going to become a habit ?
    "Just act like I am one of your who was greatly harmed, if one of my arm is lost, is that alright ?" His voice wasn't the same cheerful, it was somehow angry because of the pain he felt, he could feel his enemy nodding.
    As his enemy did this, his smile widened as they fell into the water, no actually, it was part of the platform. The water was put to actually enter carefully in the hideout.

    Using Shadow Devouring, he used what was left of a mana crystal to make one of his arm disappear while he was being carried by his own opponent. Entering smoothly in the hideout.

    ____​

    Blaiz couldn't reply as he was still chanting, so Ruby decided that she might as well be helpful in her master's place.

    "Umbrum fell down the hole again. This time it seemed intentional, though. I'll go with you to check it out since Master can't do anything in this state." Ruby said while getting up. Mira, sensing the motion, hopped off of the elemental and crawled on top of Blaiz's head.

    "He fell!? And inten-" Guh... No shouting... "Got it... I'll be counting on you then..."

    *weakly smiles and follows her into the hole*

    "Any idea why he fell though...?"

    “I think that I saw some bandits coming out of there, so maybe it’s their hideout?” Ruby guessed while hopping down the hole.

    "Maybe?"

    *sees the water down there*

    How does she not even mind it...? Nevermind, she burned all those bandits, she is fine...

    Ugh, I didn't want to go into the water though... Here goes nothing! >.<

    *enters in as well while slowly falling with brom*

    "Great! I don't need to actually touch the water! The-" Ugh... Seriously, who was the person that decided to put the ribs near the lungs? It's so bothersome! "the water seems to be there just to make the fall easier...

    Where to now though?"

    I wonder if the wind mage entered her as well, he kinda disappeared... Well, of course he did, where else would he go to? Such a bother...

    "How about we follow the trail of water? That should lead us to Umbrum." Ruby said while drying herself off with her flames.

    *looks at the clear trail on the ground*

    Wow, I should have thought of that... I'm dumb.

    "Good idea! Please lead the-
    Ouch... Ugh... The way..." *slowly follows while riding them broom*

    "Sure, no problem." Ruby says as she starts walking. The path starts to evaporate, so she starts running to make sure that she can follow it.

    Ah! She is running! Why is she running!? >.<

    I tried flying after... Okay, seems like this speed isn't enough to shake anything too much... Phew, I guess my luck hasn't run out yet, thanks Lucky.

    _____

    Acting like a man on the verge of death, Umbrum was being carried, there was around four bandits and one mage on this platform.
    "What are you doing ?" this mage, wearing a coat and trying to hide his face behind bandages, it couldn't disguise his voice which was a middle-aged and low-pitched one, his tone seemed to be disdainful toward Umbrum's opponent.

    "An Elemental and a Dragonkin, most of your slaves, or subordinates as you like to call them." Umbrum's previous enemy replied on a cold tone, it seemed to be filled with hatred, hearing this, the child was still closing his eyes, trying to act well unconscious.
    "I see, then... kill the injured, then kill yourself." The mage's tone seemed to be disappointed as he activated a certain spell, the "carrier's" body seemed to move on itself, it didn't have the choice after all.
    Slave Magic... Umbrum already heard about it but he didn't know the spells about it, probably something like Slave Seal Formation, Slave Order, or something along those lines.

    Instead of keeping on acting, Umbrum knocked out the carrier and put them away from his new enemies.
    "Ahahah, well, look like there is a real bad person behind all of it~"The tyrant was stunned by this person who was acting casually despite only having one hand, and he realized that it wasn't one of those bandits or wandering mages he enslaved. Because he was learning Slave Type Magic, he couldn't learn something else, that was the condition to use this forbidden spell.

    "Wait, there is another mage now ?"
    Umbrum couldn't help but exclaim as he noticed someone who was on the bridge, a mage, it seemed like he was injured and couldn't move, fortunately, he doesn't seem to be able to use spells in those conditions, so that's just perfect.
    There was four bandits, quickly, since the tyrant had no mages to defend him, Umbrum drew out his bow and aimed at the bandits, trying to incapacitate them and not to kill.
    So he aimed at the legs or shoulders, an arrow in the knee.

    One was shot, the bandit was going to move but he didn't have the time before getting temporary crippled.
    A second was shot, the second started to move, drawing out a sword but like the first one, he got crippled.
    A third was shot, the third tried to hide instead of attacking, he was trying to fight against the seal, thank to this, it was easy to cripple him.
    And a last one was unlucky, because he was madly running toward Umbrum, he couldn't aim properly and the arrow killed him, sinking into its neck.

    "...hey, why aren't you throwing spells...?" He couldn't help but ask to the mage in front of him, who wasn't doing anything except searching weapons with a panicked face.
    Unfortunately, to enslave someone, he needed physical contact, so right now, he literally couldn't do anything. He was just like any human.
    "...Surrender or I will kill all of the enslaved people, including the guards and citizens that are hidden a bit away."
    Hearing that, Umbrum was perplexed but he couldn't confirm if it was bluff or not, so he waited and stared him doing nothing, what could he do ? He didn't know if it was a lie or not, he didn't want people to die because of a foolish decision, so he was trembling from fear.
    "Give me your weapons and handcuff yourself." He threw some handcuffs at him, but Umbrum didn't do anything, trying to see a fault in the mage's acting.

    ____

    As we went through, a voice echoed through the path.

    "Give me your weapons and handcuff yourself."

    ... Seems like someone is trying to do something to our partner...? With the way that guy looked crazy though, I don't think I need to worry too much.

    I wonder how close are they though... "Hey, you think they are nearby?" Maybe she has an idea... I don't really know how to read distances from echoes.

    "Probably." Ruby replies before using her flames as rockets to run even faster. I heard someone shouting about enslaved people. Perhaps I should just use Inferno and kill the one shouting? Yeah, let's do that.

    "Inferno!" Ruby shouted and flames sprayed down on top of the slave magician.

    *looks flabbergasted at the pillar of flame appearing some distance in the front*

    How is she even pinpointing that...? Just what is this girl!? >.<

    I hope she got it right though... Well, we'll be there soon... Though she is running faster now, isn't she?

    ... I'm not going to increase my flying speed, thank you very much, my broken ribs deserve low speed flight.


    Turning back, Umbrum noticed a huge fire going to burn to death the mage, but, nevertheless, if he dies, who would tell them where are the enslaved people ? What if they were starving right now ? What if...
    At this moment, he knew what to do.
    He ran toward the stunned mage and did one thing, he knocked him off by knee stroking him in the head while jumping, he sighed and pushed away the unconscious bastard.

    He decided to take the fireball, nevertheless, he used Mirror, copying the spell in weaker and sending it against Ruby's spell as he restrained himself to scream from this horrific pain, taking only 1/4 of the original fire spell that was launched...

    "UUUUUUUUUU!!!" He was firmly closing his eyes as he bite his lips to the blood, honestly, he learnt Mirror for one thing, to attack and defend, even if it brings such terrible pain, one that is fake but worse than the original one that he is feeling from the fire that was burning his back.
    Curling on himself, he closed his mouth and more blood began to flow from his lips... fortunately, his coat was self repairing despite the huge damage.

    Ruby felt like her spell wasn’t hitting her intended target. Umbrum probably stopped it. Haa, if only Master was here. Then the enemy could be slowed down and then no one would get hurt. Thought Ruby as she finally reached the room. I was right, she thought, it was Umbrum who stopped my spell. Let’s help him subdue the magician.

    *arrives a bit after because Ruby was running too fast*
    *didn't hear anything she said*

    Alright... Let's try to understand the situation...

    The weird guy is on the ground burnt.

    There are some bandits in pain spread all around.

    There is on guy in front of the weird guy, and he is unconscious... Did he just beat all those down and when he finished it, he was sneak attacked by the fire girl?

    Just how much bad luck does he have!? She should aim properly!!! >.<

    "Oi, weird guy, you still alive?"

    “He’ll be fine. Now he’ll me out with this guy! We need to interrogate him!”

    *looks at broken ribs*
    *ponders about known spells*

    "How...?"

    "...fortunately..." Umbrum still seemed to be in pain as he replied, honestly, he didn't have the courage to stand up and face Ruby for on reason, he will shout at her, only because of this, if she... she killed him.... what would have happened to all the people that were captured...? Just thinking about this made him mad.
    "...I am... still alive..."

    For some reason I really want to smack Umbrum right now.... But then the magician would get away. Choices, choices....

    "Well, that's something... Good job in beating all those guys out and..." *looks around* "You even got the Wind Mage, amazing..." Tsk, bunch of ridiculous folks, how can they do this kind of thing so easily?

    "So... I guess we're done? The contact was lost because of a group of bandits that was just defeated, and because nobody could run from them due to the poor road conditions... The fix requires better security at the bridge and a better road maintenance... Probably that?

    Though interrogating this guy doesn't seem like a bad idea, was he a leader or something?" *looks at Umbrum*

    "The wind mage...? You mean the one who was already on the verge of death when I arrived...? No no... I didn't beat him, he just fell unconscious because of his wounds who were already there..." Umbrum's voice seemed to be quite weak, he still continued to talk.
    "...the other fours were just normal bandits who can't use magic, while this... guy... didn't, or couldn't do anything, I don't know..."

    "...this guy was I don't know what type of spells, but enslaving people through magic... he said that he will kill them all if I don't surrender so, nevertheless I guess it was a bluff..." he sighed and approached the 'tyrant', tying him up while he is asleep with ropes that was on the only dead bandits here.
    "...so well... how to start...?"

    "You think I know a thing about interrogation?

    ... I don't. I'd just deliver him to the association and let them handle it..."

    Ruby kicks the bandit and yells, “Wake up, maggot!”

    "Or we do that..." She is practical for sure.

    Ruby blinks for a moment before saying, “Oh right! We can give him to the association! Let’s do that. I don’t want to dirty myself with his blood.”

    "I guess so, are we done then!?"

    Hearing both of them, Umbrum decided otherwise, they didn't even know where were the captured ? Like he thought earlier, what if they were starving ? Was he the only one who thought like this ,
    Immediately, when he saw that his eyes were slowly opening, he didn't even let him the time to speak as he touched his eyes and used Shadow Devouring.

    "AH ?!" He couldn't see anymore, his eyes were completely gone, like they never existed in the first place, he was going to scream but someone stopped him with icy and sharp words.
    "Tell me where you hidden them. Or your body will become like your eyes, non-existent." It didn't have any hesitation, he could threaten him gradually, making him see his body disappearing... but he didn't have enough mana to do that, so he only did the eyes.

    And he began to wait for the response, as he was thinking about taking his dagger, this person didn't deserve life.
    But... why was he ? There was a weird symbol on his back…

    "Apparently not... Hide what though...?" *totally clueless*

    “Haa, I’ll just go back to Master and wait for you two there.”


    "The contact, the guards, the scouts, the soldiers... Where are they ?" What else could he ask ? Right, how were they going to prove that they completed the task without a witness ?

    "T-They... Are... Three quarters... Are dead or sold while the others are at the bottom of the room behind me... There is also the treasu-" After hearing this, Umbrum had an urge to steal this worthless life, to destroy it into pieces but he stopped himself and knocked him off again as he went toward the room while talking on a depressed tone.

    "I will go search for them... We need the contact to confirm the task..." That wasn't why he was doing that, but it was an excuse.

    "Ooooooh, I has just assumed they were all dead, nice thinking!"

    *follows*

    "...I see." Umbrum didn't comment much as he opened the door, then looked around and noticed that there was cages and unconscious people's at the end of the room. There were also two doors at their aide, around the entry of this "prison".

    "I will free them for now then search the others room later~" Seeing that there was survivors, his cheerfulness came back as his smile became joyous. It's lifted his mood

    "Alright! I'll be counting-" I'm already tired of this... Pain pain go away... Haa...

    "on you..." *sighs*

    *sits down atop her broom without really doing anything*

    "...six... Only two..." On the six, four had starved to death or can't be saved, his throat felt awfully dries at this moment, he removed their handcuffs, yet they couldn't move because of their exhausted, he began running toward the first roon, fortunately, it was a kitchen, he took the dried food and water to feed them, one by one.

    After some minutes, their bodies seemed to get better.

    "You truly do work hard, I'm amazed...

    Though I don't think they have enough strength to get back on their own... What will you do then?"

    "That's nothing... I will just be... Carrying... What else can I do ? I will also force the still alive bandits, or rebels to carry them... Maybe even get a carriage and horses if they have some, they must have some right ?" Umbrum laughed bitterly at his own words, that will be hilarious, they will really rob a stolen carriage, how amusing.
    There was still one room to search, he entered and noticed there was chests.

    "Carry? Up there?" *sighs*
    *gets close just as he opens the door*
    *smacks his head*

    "Don't get too ahead of yourself. Free them and leave them, we can just tell the association to fetch them, they should survive for as long as they have food, and the kitchen should have rations."

    Just what's up with this guy...? Does he want to be a hero or something?

    "On another note... Treasure~

    I wonder what is in it~"

    Umbrum's smile twisted but he didn't say anything as he opened the chests, searching what could be useful, it seemed to be quite organized with names.
    "Forgery...? Unpure Peony...? Ah... They are counterfeits..."

    Then he searched into another chest.
    "Iron swords... Iron armies... Useless... Leather. Maybe it can be useful..."
    And another.
    "Small Wooden Coin ? There is only one that is true for a model while the others are fakes..."
    Again.
    "Hmm... Old wine ? How worthless... Why is there 7 bottles... Haaaaa... Maybe it can sold..."
    And again.
    "Hmm... Books ? Oh... None are related to magic... Well books are still rare... Most are basic education..."
    And again...
    "Oh ? A list of names ? Each of them... Hmmm..."
    Each name represented a person who was enslaved, killed, captured or sold, there around twenty twenty five names...
    "I should give that to the receptionist..."

    "Anyway, let's make a resume... Only the decent stuff, there is a lot of fake impure peonys, but there must be one true as a model, so one impure peony, six small wooden coin that are unexpectedly true, some books about basic educations, seven bottles of old wine, potions I dont know what effects it has... a somehow decent bow along with 20 arrows... And there is a lot of foods in the kitchen... Which can be considered as the most important." At this moment, the masked mage that carried Umbrum entered in the room and said, leaving again.
    "I will accompany you." Well they needed a witness after all...

    "Huh...? A bunch of useless stuff... Well, guess we're good to go then!" Agh... Just stop prickling my lungs you annoying broken ribs!

    "Lead the way..."

    "That's right..." Umbrum sighed and almost tripped before taking the six small wooden pieces, one unpure peony, the arrows, the leather and the letter.
    "Let's join Ruby and Blaiz~" and he began walking, trying his best to ignore the Burn's pain which was showed through a forced smile and unsteady steps.

    "Sure, let's~"

    *follows happily atop the broom*

    "... I want to rest but...so much~" his voice was exhausted yet still joyous, he didn't have any mana left except in one mana crystal which is only half-filled.
    As he said that, he noticed that the mage that carried him was waiting outside, he still didn't know their name or even their gender because of that mask, that hood and slim body.
    "And we will need to get back the carriage and horses..." he said while he saw the unconscious tyrant being carried by his previous opponent.
    He began searching for Blaiz and Ruby.

    "Ah, there they are."

    *points to the location she had found them before*
    *waves at them without shouting because her ribs hurt*

    "I will search for horses." He let the person who enslaved them lying on the ground, while Umbrum shouted at Blaiz and Ruby on a cheerful tone.
    "Blaiz ! Ruby ! Here we a-" nevertheless, he coughed violently, after saying this, he still seemed alright though.

    "Why couldn't you two have taken longer?!"
    Ruby asked in an irritated manner. She and Blaiz seemed to have just finished laying down dishes for a picnic of two people.

    "It's okay, Ruby. We'll just have our picnic when we get back."
    Blaiz said while swiping his hand over the picnic. All of the food seemed to disappear after his hand passed over it.

    "Anyway, we're ready to go, right? Then let's march onwards!" Said Blaiz as he stood up and started walking towards the carriage.

    Umbrum sighed as he was carrying this stinking scum, he was walking toward where the carriage was "devoured", so where they became non-existent.
    "... I do not have enough mana to dispel Edax Umbra..." Umbrum muttered as they were where in front of the non-existent carriage... His face have traces of despair... If only he didn't use all of his mana crystal, right, there was probably leftovers but not enough.

    He sighed loudly.

    “Didn’t the bandits have some magic crystals left over that you can use?” Blaiz asked.

    This makes no sense, no sense no sense no sense no sense!

    But... I don't want to search for a horse and to spend and more days with those crazy people!

    "Hey, dragonman! Didn't you say something about teleporting!? Why dln't
    Gah... I mean... Why don't you jjst bring all the way back...?"

    He can't teleport us all the way back, can he...? But I wanna go…

    “Sure! That’s much easier than teleporting short distances, after all.” Blaiz said. “All that you two need to do is make sure that you’re touching me. After that I’ll start chanting.”

    He really can... Haa... Just what is wrong with those people...?

    *puts hand on his shoulder*

    "Ready when you are..." *heaves a sigh*

    “How about you, Umbrum?” Blaiz said while Ruby started hugging his back.

    "Heh... But I wanted to keep the carriage... And..." Honestly, he couldn't trust that supposed 'teleportation', since when short teleportation are... He didn't want to think more about that as he facepalmed and heard the voice of the mage he fought on the bridge.
    "I brought two horses." Their voice was cold as they were leading two horses, since he overheard the conversation, he gave a mana crystal to Umbrum.

    "It's only one usage." Heaving a sigh of relief, Umbrum immediately absorbed everything it had and felt a bit better. He looked at his 'empty' arm and hesitated nevertheless he still used all he had to dispel his own spell.

    And the carriage reappeared just like before it disappeared.
    "...can I keep the carriage after the task...?" Umbrum asked in a slightly anxious yet exhausted voice, he wanted to keep it because sometimes he didnt want to walk when travelling.
    Also because they will have to separate after the task, he would like to appreciate the company they represented.

    "Sure! I have no use for one anyway!" ^^)/

    Now hop on and hold the carriage or something! I don't-"

    Iitai... "I don't want to travel all the way back with a carriage..."

    “So I’m going to teleport the carriage too? ...Yep. My mana will be completely exhausted when I finish. Ruby, please make sure that I don’t collapse by supporting me, okay?” Said Blaiz with a defeated look.

    Of course, Master!” Ruby said with a chipper tune.

    Dear Lucky, he really can do it... Haa... I can't be the weird one here, right? They are the weirdoes! They are the ones that make no sense!

    "Do your best!"

    “Haa.... Umbrum, are you ready?” Said the dragonkin. Blaiz looked like he didn’t care what happened anymore.

    "..." Umbrum really didn't want to, it was far too suspicious, what if the spell wasn't working well ? What if they were teleported at 100 feet about the ground ?
    Inhaling and exhaling, trying to calm himself, he put his hand on Blaiz's shoulder as he felt a hand touching his own shoulder, it was the mage who brought the two horses, they were still nameless who was also holding to the carriage.
    ...it seemed like they have the same feeling.

    "...Yes, I... or I suppose we are ready...good luck..."

    Chanting the spell, Blaiz teleported the group right outside of the capital city. They were perfectly on the ground with no injuries whatsoever.

    It really did work... I'm amazed.

    "Well, that is that I guess... So, we just report it and it is done...

    Haa... I need a rest..." *slowly flies into the city through the gate*

    "You all coming or not?"

    Looking around, Umbrum had an urge to vomit because of the teleportation... nevertheless he restrained himself, holding his belly with his sole arm, he didn't have enough mana to dispel Shadow Devouring on his arm.

    "Yeah... let's just report~"
    • Loss of contact with the Bridge because of bandits (maybe rebels), the leader had a weird symbol on his back, that may be something, that may be not. Who knows ? Maybe some outlaw organisation ?
    • Some randoms items were found : 6 Small Wooden Coins, 20 Arrows, a bit of Leather, 1 Unpure Peony, and... a carriage.
    • Some dozens of people died or were sold somewhere we don't know, there is a list that Umbrum has.
    • Blaiz got a dragon named Mira that was going to be eaten by wolves.
    • Aria needs a healer, because her common sense and ribs have been broken.
    • Umbrum needs a psychologist because of hallucinations and shock.
    • Ruby needs to talk to a psychiatrist... or not, we don't know what might happen to him if he talk about Blaiz.
    • Blaiz needs to read a "Guide on Common Sense", let's just hope that this book won't be burnt
    [​IMG]
    OOC: THIS IS A TRUE REPORT !
    At least half is sidetracking though...
    Anyway ! 15K words ! Have fun~ :3
     
  3. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    I'm back! With a job well done! *grins*

    Task: Help out in the Library

    So... Let's recap a bit...

    I came to Nuffia's HQ thinking it was about time I returned to Nyllia.
    Then I coincidentally found a task to go back to it, so I could do it while also getting some cash.
    Then, I had my common sense challenged by some crazy folks...
    Then I broke some ribs...
    And now I'm... Back here in Nuffia... Aaaaaaah! Why did those people have to be so crazy!? You made me forget my original goal!!!!

    In any case I'm back here, so... Let's... Take a task...? No, let's go to a healer first...

    I slowly flew into the HQ's healing office and was immediately called out on it.

    "Hey! Don't go flying in the middle of the office!" A doctor cried, she seemed like a middle aged woman.

    Annoying... "Fine, carry me then!"

    "What...? Go and walk by yourself! Use your two feet!" She seemed flustered... Is this how you talk to a patient?!

    "Yeah? And how will I endure the pain of my-

    Ah ah ah ah, it hurts... Of my broken ribs then...?" Ugh... Stop poking my lungs already...

    "Oh! You're a patient then! Then it's alright! Come here come here!" She seemed to have a sudden change in mood and smiled quite a bit, she held my hand and carried me to a closed room. Why is she so happy?

    There was a bed there and she pointed me to it after closing the door. "Lay down there, I'll take care of you~"

    I was starting to get afraid... But, she is a healer, so I better hear her out...

    I slowly went off my broom and laid on it while making sure not to make any rough movements.

    "Alright, I'll take off your shirt to take a look at it~"

    It was a bit embarrassing, and the grin on her face was scary, but... Well, I let her do it anyway...

    "Now let's take a look... Does this hurt~?"

    "Agh! Y-yes! Yes it does! It hurts a lot!" Why did she put her hand on the broken parts!?

    "I see... Then over here?" "Gah!" "And here...?" "Stop it!" "What about here~?" "Ah this... This is actually okay." "I see..." Why does her voice seem disappointed...?

    "Yosh~
    Let's get started~!" I was really afraid now... Is it okay to run away? Wait, I can't run with those broken ribs... Oh dear...

    She put her hand on my belly and "Oh dear Lucky please stop!" Her smile seemed scarier than ever....

    "Now now, don't move so much~" I felt my body going numb and I couldn't move properly... A paralyzing spell!? Seriously!?

    "Now where were we...? Oh yes~" She put her hand on my belly... Oh dear Lucy, it hurts so much... She moved it and... Agh! Is she holding my broken bones with her hand or something!? She is crazy! Let me go you crazy woman!

    And why am I feeling so much pain!? Shouldn't this have made my belly numb as well!?

    Aaaaaah, she is not stopping!!!!




    It was a pretty hellish experience, but essentially, she seemed to manually put my bones in place, then she started using magic to stich them together.... I never thought I could feel so much pain and stay awake at it... Oh, it hurts... At least it seems to have ended...

    "You feeling better now~?
    Your smile is really lovely, you know~?" She is a sadist! This doctor is definitely a sadist! She is totally enjoying this!!!

    "I'm... Fine..." Her grin just got a bit wider... "Great! It will be Five Large Enchanted Wooden Coin then!"

    "... What? I have to pay for it?" She must be joking... After all this?

    "Of course you can! How do you think the association gathers funds~?" Her smile was really really annoying me already...

    "I don't have a single coin on me right now though..." I looked a bit away.

    "Oh dear, such a terrible thing~
    In this case..." I heard her making a step closer to me and I looked back towards her at a hurry... I shouldn't have done that.
    She put her hand back on my belly and smiled the creepiest smile I had ever seen in my life. "You better get to work to earn it~
    Otherwise... I may not be so nice the next time~"

    This was her being nice!?!!?!??!!?!?!?!

    "G... Got it." Was all I could reply.

    "Good!" Her smile got back to normal, she got a bit of a distance and clapped her hands. "I'll be eargerly waiting for you then! Give a bit of time for your bones to settle down, so avoid doing any rash movements, alright?"

    "U-understood..."

    I dressed up and went out of the room... Lady Luck, did you abandon me? Or did I simply spend all my luck on that joint task...? Haa... I better get to work.
    I decided to take the task that looked like the easiest one around, since I honestly needed to relax a bit after that experience, I went to the library and met with a receptionist.

    "Hi hi! I'm from the Association, I'm here to help out a bit!"

    "Ah, good, take these books and put them in alphabetical order on the 8-A section then." The girl said while pointing towards them, but she didn't even look up from... Whatever she was doing.

    "8-A? Alphabetical order?" I tilted my head asking.

    "Yeah! Just go do it already, I don't have all day." Her tone was bothersome... I was slightly annoyed...

    "What are those?" I asked while trying to keep a calm tone... I came here to relax after all... No stress...

    "What do you mean what are those?" Her tone was clearly annoyed... Tsk, I am the annoyed one! "Just read the names of them and bring them to the right section! How hard can it be!?" She finally looked up from her paperwork, but....

    "I don't know how to read!" How does she expect me to do that!?

    "Y-you what!? Why did you even get the task here then!?" She seemed to be completely astonished, as if I was the weirdest thing she ever saw in her life.

    I was about to reply when... I felt a fist knocking on my head, and on hers as well.... "Stop. Shouting. At. The. Library." A harsh voice echoed, I looked towards it and saw an old lady looking down on us... She is tall.

    "Sorry..." We replied.

    "So... What is the problem anyway?" The old lady asked in a kinder tone.

    "The girl wants to help, but doesn't know how to read." She shot me a vicious look... Hey! Why am I the one being blamed here? She was the one to start shouting!

    "So...?" The old lady seemed to expect her to continue.

    "So... Uhn... That is... That's it?" She seemed confused... Go old lady go!

    The lady sighed. "Dear child... Do you really think there are that many mages that know how to read? If books about magic were a common thing, they wouldn't have needed to spend a few decades to learn how to cast spells again."

    The girl blinked a few times. "Then..."

    "Then you will go with her and tell where she needs to store those books. She has magic, she should be able to put the ones on the high shelves a lot quicker than you~" Oh, I know this tone! It's the one that a kind teacher gives when they are admonishing their student!
    ... Seems so weird to be a bystander when seeing this kind of thing... I was always the one to receive those lectures.

    "A... Alright... Come here then." She looked at me again and raised from her seat with a few books in hand. "You take those." I did that and quietly followed, while showing a look of thanks towards the old lady~

    When we got a bit of a distance, she talked again. "I still don't like you." Hey! What's up with that!?

    Haa... So tiring... And here I thought I would relax...

    The job itself wasn't so hard though, she gave me one book or another and told me where to put them, I flew up on my broom and put it there, sometimes she needed to correct me because I put it between the wrong green and red books, or between the wrong very thick and very tall ones, but it wasn't something that took very long.

    ... We didn't have a single moment of idle chatter though... Just what's up with this grumpy person...?

    When we finished with one set of books, we would go back to the counter and take some more... It was a bit tedius after a while, so I decided to just strike a conversation anyway.

    "Hey, I have no idea why you said you didn't like me, but... Thanks for keeping everything tidied up here?" Her eyes seemed as if she wasn't believing what she just heard... Come on... I'm trying to be nice! It's a rare thing! Be grateful!! "I mean, I don't have any idea on what is on all these books, but there are a lot of them... They must be useful for someone, right?

    I feel like it is nice to see those good things being properly taken care of..." I didn't have much of an idea of what I was saying to be honest, but... It makes sense, right?

    "... Maybe... Not all illiterate people are bad." What's up with this reply!? Seriously!? I was being nice! Nice I tell you!!!

    We came back to the counter and there were no books on it this time.

    "I guess those are all for today, thanks for the hardwork." She bowed... Uhn... This is embarrasing! >.<

    "Ah, uhn... Thanks for the help too..." I looked away... It was hard to reply...

    "Here." She shoved a piece of parchment in my hand. "It's a letter to tell you finished the job properly, just bring it to the association and they will grant your reward."

    "Oh, alright! Bye bye!" I took it and walked away while waving... She waved back!? She is crazy! Crazy I tell you!

    ... Just what's up with all those strange people I keep finding...? Oh well, one job well done!

    ... I still need to do more to pay that sadist healer though... orz
    I don't know what to put in here!!!! >.<

    A job well done I guess! \(^^)/

    @Way
     
  4. Way

    Way Crimeless Raubritter

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    Marc looks up and nods slightly.
    "Ah, that's good. Here."
    From nowhere,a Large wooden coin rolled onto the table.
    "One Large Wooden Coin, and 10 Guild Merits to spend. Keep it up, and even if you remain as an E-rank member...you'll have a roof and food, at least."
    He coughs a little, as he realised just how encouraging those words were.
    "Ah,don't let my words discourage you. After all,the statistics...ah,shouldn't say that much,eh?" He coughs a little more. "Just a regulation,no worries. Anyway, have a nice day!"
    His rather flat tone and nonchalant face as he continued to sort out documents while saying that reeaaly didn't sound like it, but hey.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2018
  5. The Everdistant Utopia

    The Everdistant Utopia Honorary Maou | Part Time Writer | Crau's

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    ((@Naraku @AliceShiki @Fossil))
    Sorgre groaned as he saw the amount of papers in the report. He wondered what in tarnation led to such a long report. After carefully reading it once, he groaned once again and stared at the three people who had just came back from the Task.
    "I am without words... I have many points which I'd like to nitpick about... Possession of stolen goods, using fire magic in a forest, picking up of Magical Beasts from unknown species..." He sighed. "But, you guys did a good job, overall. I'm happy you're at least alive. As for the treating of the Aria girl..." Calling one of the staffs that were nearby, he handed a piece of paper. "You may go to the Healing Office for better treatment. This staff will accompany you, as the Association will cover for your treatment fees."
    Looking at the book they had brought, he frowned. "This book will be enough, but I don't have the time to check it now. I'll contact the Capital about it, but it's mostly sure we won't be able to have access to Nyllia for the next coming months... at least not legally."
    "In any case, it's a job done, so..." He placed three leather bags and a single wooden tablet in the desk. "In total each of you got 3 L. Wooden coin and 20 S. Wooden Coins, 25 Merits and about your special Reward... it'll be prepared accordingly in a later date."
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2018
  6. Fossil

    Fossil 「Spooky」「Scary」「Skeleton」

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    Walking up to the counter was a dragonkin, a flame elemental, and a dragon hatchling. As the dragonkin reached the counter he started talking, “I’m Blaiz. I’m here to claim my reward.”
     
    Kysil and The Everdistant Utopia like this.
  7. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    *comes back soaked and shivering*

    "Here... The herbs..." *puts them atop the counter*

    Collecting of Herbs Near the Association
    Okay, so... I just need to collect a basket of herbs? This seems... Really easy. Hooray for easy money!

    Well, I have no basket though, so... Let's see... How will I carry those?

    ... It really is a bother to have no basket... Oh well, I guess I'll take one from the association's storage, they probably won't mind it, right?

    *casually walks in as if she is a part of the cleaning staff with broom in hand*
    *takes the basket and goes out humming a happy tune*

    Security over everyday goods as bad as Nyllia's! Basket obtained succesfully! ^^)7

    Hopping on my broom I flew to the surroundings at a reasonable pace, that sadistic healer said I shouldn't overdo it after all...

    Now, to get some herbs... Let's see... This is just grass, it won't work.

    Those herbs are... No, I ate those once, they're poisonous, better not to take them with my hands...

    So what about those...? No, that's just grass too...

    Oh, look, fruits! I was hungry! *happily takes a break to eat*

    ... Ah! I should be collecting herbs! >.<

    What else what else...? Ah, I remember this one! A medic used it on my wounds before! If only that sadistic healer also used those... Let's take it anyway!

    There aren't many of those around though... Let's keep searching!

    ...

    Oh, another one!

    ...
    ...

    Yay, over here!

    ...
    ...
    ...

    Found one!

    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...

    Ah, and another one... Wait, the sun is setting already!? *stomach rumbles*

    Why did I choose such a hard to find herb?!?!?!

    Ugh, let's look for... Is that a wolf? Oh, it is a wolf~ *licks lips*

    Lucky me, unlucky you, it's the law of the nature~

    Firebal!!!

    Boom!

    And now to cook some wolf meat~ *hums happily*

    *cooks* *eats* *yum yum*

    Aaaah, refreshing... It's already dark though... Let's find a place to sleep.

    I flew on my broom for a while, until I found a tree with plenty of foliage and thick branches... Okay, now to make a very small fire to look at the surroundins, but without burning the leaves... Okay, no snakes, seems like... Ah, bees. Next tree!

    This one... Ah, a snake.

    More bees...

    Shoo shoo monkey!

    Haa... Another beehive...

    Oh hey it's a-
    No, it has a snake.

    ... Really? No more bees? No snakes? No monkeys here? Nothing?

    Great! Now to just... Ah, it's raining again... At least there are plenty of leaves on this one...

    I sat on a branch and leaned my back on the tree chunk. My hat was more or less protecting me from the rain, so... It would work out somehow.

    It was a very cold night... I hate rain.


    The morning came, and the sun was still hidden by the clouds... Great, I need to find herbs under this, right? Perfect...

    Flying on my broom I took a few fruits from nearby trees as breakfast, I guess it was a good thing from this season, it wasn't very hard to find food.

    *sneezes* But... I hate rain.

    ...

    Ah, another herb, even with those clouds they're still out there somewhere.

    ...
    ...

    Hm? Oh, goodness, the herb!

    Teehee, the basket is near full now~
    Just a bit more~

    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...

    *sneezes*

    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...

    Why can't I find any more of those plants!? *sneezes*

    Ugh, I'm going to catch a cold at this rhythm...

    ...

    Ah! There we are... Yosh, with this it's completed! Time to go back!

    Brrrrrr, I really hate rain... *flies back to the city*
    The plant she found is a small bluish green plant with round leaves, it generally looks like a small branch filled with the leaves surrounding it whole.

    Its general usage is to make the leaves into a paste to spread over wounds.

    ((I was totally going to add a Locust Swarm to the report on the moment she is happy because she was almost done, but I googled it and locusts tend to swarm in dry weather apparently... Lady Luck didn't abandon Aria! \(^^)/))

    @Haxagen
     
  8. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    The receptionist glanced at the shivering Aria, and put down the book she had on hand, tossing it neatly onto the pile beside her.
    She then reached for the bag of herbs and lifted it, as if weighing it.
    "Understood. Your request has been completed. Here is the reward for completion."
    Reward: [ 3 L. Wooden coin | 20 Merit Points | Bundle of Herbs ]
    As of remembering something else, Nadia took out her flute, and started playing. A piece as warm as the summer sun. The air around Aria grew warmer immediately.
    "There you go. A temporary heat shroud to keep you warm, but make sure to change clothes quickly. A fever is no laughing business."
    Having finished up, Nadia went back to her books.
     
  9. Kysil

    Kysil [Progenitor of Sloth][Sloth Demon]

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    " hmm... Should I have just cut and bring the heads or the whole body? No matter, it is done after all... And food for later... "

    "Silvia Slaughterdoll, Reporting for the Request."
    Cleaning the Sewers of the Association (1st Level)
    Receiving the request, Silvia Exits and asks around for a service tunnel or an Open Manhole to enter the sewers.

    Entering through a Maintenance Tunnel around the northern side of the Town, Silvia Starts Roaming around, searching for the Targets.

    Turning Left on a 'T' shaped crossroads, Silvia Encountered Two Lizards that looks like a comodo dragon and a bit Bigger than a Dog, and another lizard Covered in Scales and twice bigger than a dog. Eating a Corpse of dog sized Rat looking beast.

    Silvia Threw a Chantless Lightning Strike while aiming at the smaller Lizards's head, which stunned both of them. Dashing towards the Bigger Lizard, Silvia Brandished and Struck down at the neck. Cleaving and Sliced the head clean, Decapitating the Scaled Lizard.

    Silvia then dashes towards the Stunned Lizards and Decapitated them both with her Warscythe.

    Silvia Cut the tails and stabbed them on a stick before she retrieved the corpse of the rat and burned it with a slight spark of her Lightning spell. She then also starts to Roast the Tails-on-Stick.

    Moments Later after she ate two of three skewers, she heard Footsteps, Running towards her. Looking towards the source, she saw 5 Dog sized Rats running or Charging towards her with red eyes, they looked thin so they must be Hunger Driven madness. Heeding the Staff's advise on not eating the Rat meat, it wouldn't matter if the body is Minced Meat, Ground Meat, Diced or just Sliced, Burned or Medium Rare. She grabbed a Crytal Core from her Pocket and Chanted, Before she threw it towards the Sewer Water.

    Moments Later, A Water Golem(Morphling in Dota2) Rises and Grabs 2 Rats, making them drown using the Bodily Structure of the Golem. Silvia dashes towards the 3 Remaining Sewer Rats and Slashes at them, hitting the Head of the Rat and Also hitting the leading rat at the abdomen, Silvia then Kicks the remaining Rat towards the Water Golem and it was Absorbed at the Stomach part, Drowning the Three pitiful Rats.

    Planning on heading back, Another Group of Lizards Appeared near the Temporary Camp, Sniffing on the Still-Burning rat corpse and roasted tail. Silvia then Threw A pair of Lightning Spells without holding back.

    Thunderous quake erupted and Holes appeared on the 3 Now dead Lizards. Thinking that She already reached the quota, Silvia Cuts the Tails and stuffs them on her inventory while she also Retrieved the heads, she stuffed them on a Rucksack and started walking back towards the exit. Silvia didn't forget to Retrieve the Core from the Water Golem.
    Lizard tails x3, Lizard head x6, Rat Head x5, Scaled Lizard Core x1
    @The Everdistant Utopia @Haxagen
     
  10. Exitiumm

    Exitiumm Well-Known Member

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    Task: Search for other Storage Areas in the Sewers of the Association
    "Another mage huh? I doubt it, the sewers are comparable to the size of the city, I'd be unlikely to meet anything down there except rats." I say with a sigh as I leave the Magic Association with a wave.

    "I currently don't need anything, for this task." I say with a sigh as I begin to map out a plan for entering the sewers...

    "I never fully explored the Sewers on the right side did I? I only followed the main path, there's at least a dozen branching paths and some even branching off the branching paths, not to mention the left side, this may take awhile." I sigh out as I begin mapping out the sewers in my head.

    "Haaa~ luckily I've always had amazing memory." I release a sigh as I remember the complex winding paths of the sewers.

    "Oh well, might as well get this over with." I say with a sigh as I begin to head to the entrance of the sewers, soon I reach the entrance that emits a foul smell...

    With a sigh I step into the sewers and head towards the fork in the road, soon I reach a unexplored path and follow it, after a while of long and winding paths I reach the end which has a small dome-like area as well, I mark this area down and check another path, this one ends with a dead-end, after checking another dozen paths I find 4 more dome-like areas and 8 dead ends, I mark these dead-ends down on my map and head back to the magic association.

    "Here's the report for the task, there seems to be quite a lot of storage areas, most of them weren't guarded as well as the main area, perhaps they're currently transferring the waste?"
    Luke entered the sewers, Luke explored the sewers, Luke returned with his report.
    @Haxagen
     
  11. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    *comes back in a happy mood with a fire fairy on her shoulder*

    "I'm back! Any place I can eat a lot for very little? I'm really hungry! Ah, here are the results of the task!"

    Check the conditions of the Barrier at the Sewers of the Association (1st Level) (7 days)
    After getting my reward for my last task, I decided to hear the receptionist out and go get a change of clothes... Well, not quite, as I didn't have a spare set, so I would just put this one to dry. *sneezes*

    Guess I really will catch a cold like this, even with this... Strange warming magic.

    The inns around the association all seemed pretty fancy, so I avoided them all usually, but I really needed a place to take a bath and wash my clothes in, and I couldn't use a river because of the rain, so... An inn it was.

    I entered it while still soaked, which obviously gathered the attention of the receptionists... I think I did not look like their usual customers... Ugh, the inside is even fancier than the outside... Please Lucky, tell me that they have a promotion today and that I can sleep cheaply.

    "Welcome! Do you want to stay for the night?" The receptionist looked bothered by my appearance, but she didn't tell me off... They know how to treat customers for sure.

    "Y-yes! One room for the night please!"

    "It will be two Large Enchanted Wooden Coins." She said with a smile... My jaw almost dropped... This must be a joke...

    "T-two large..." "Would you rather go back to the rain my dear lady?" Her smile was so... Agh, they're extorting me because they know I have no option! How could they!?

    "F-fine..." I gave her 2 of my coins... This left me with 5 Large ones left, but I owned this much to the doctor, so... My money... orz

    "Your room is right over the corner~" She smiled a and gave me the key... Such a horrible person inn owners are, horrible, absolutely horrible! "Should we prepare a bath for you?"

    "Yes, Than-" *sneezes* "k you..."

    "You can wait on that table then if you please, we'll tell you when it is ready."

    She pointed towards a table at the far off corner of the entrance room... I guess she doesn't want any customers seeing me... Haa...

    I went there and sat down... And waited.

    From my place I could barely see a thing on the inn, so I didn't really know how things were going... I was just... Cold. Cold and sneezing. Brrr, why are they taking so long!?

    Time kept passing yet nothing, I felt that magical warm was long gone already... I was about to raise from my seat when someone approached me.

    "The bath is ready young lady." Oh, thank you Lady Luck! I was freezing out here!

    I gave her a quick bow and hurried into the room. As soon as I got inside, the first thing I did was to enter the bath and undress, the tub was already filled with smoking hot water, so I entered it right away.

    Hot! it's too hot! They heated it way too much! I wanted to get out!

    ... But if I got out, I'd be naked out there in the cold... Aaaah, such horrible service!!!

    I buried myself in the near-boiling water hoping for it to get cooler soon... Well, they provided some soap at the very least, so I could wash myself right now...

    Still, it really was too hot... Uuuuuh... So bothersome... Why can't fire mages have a natural resistance to fire or something? T.T

    Once I finished washing myself, I immediately got out, wrapped myself and my hair with a towel and started washing my clothes on the tub... Ah, good thing they gave me some excess soap at least...

    After washing them, I needed to hang the clothes somewhere... I mean, I need to dry them by tomorrow, and with the humidity here it won't be very easy, will it? Let's see...

    Looking around, I realized that they probably gave me the worst room on the inn... There were a few broken parts in it, and it wasn't nearly as pretty as the outside... Well, it was clean at least.

    Luckily, it did have a fireplace... With no wood on it.

    Well, this was the easy part though, I just needed to pick some broken pieces of wood that were scattered around the room and put them there, I arraged them with a fireball array and put a bit of Mana to lighten it up... Good!

    After hanging them near the fireplace, since they luckily had at least a hanging place for me to put them in, I used the towel to properly dry myself up and then took it off and laid down on the bed naked.

    Hopefully tomorrow will be a rainless day...



    *sneezes* I woke up, and my nose was running... I felt a bit hot, and my body was aching... Great, I caught a cold. So much to avoid that... Haa...

    I got out of bed and steped on the ground, only to feel a huge pain on my body as I moved around and touched the sheets and ground... Taking a proper look at myself, I saw that I was kinda red... For real? I got burnt with a hot bath? And got a cold?! I'm a fire mage for Lucky's sake!

    Haa... I want to stay on bed all day... But I then I'd need to pay another day staying here... Better get to work.

    I got up, I was feeling really sluggish and was really *sneeze* in pain... Haa... This inn should just burn down!!!

    I put my clothes on and got out of the room, the receptionist greeted me.

    "Morning! Would you like to eat breakfast?" Her smile was still bothering me...

    "Sure." I said somewhat grumply and said on the corner table of yesterday... Breakfast arrived after longer than I thought was normal, but I was kinda expecting it already... Haa...

    The food was kinda good though, and it wasn't cold... Uhm, it was good~

    After finishing I raised and was about to leave, but...

    "You aren't going to pay~?" Her smile seemed really scary right now...

    "W-what!? The breakfast isn't included on the night lodging!?"

    "Of course not~" She grinned so much... Ugh...

    "How much is it...?" I asked in resignation.

    "20 Small Wooden Coins~" She is totally scamming me. I already ate, so I need to pay... Great... I took the money out and gave her, then left wordlessly... I'm never coming back here.

    Now where to... Ah, right, I need to pay that sadistic healer again... My money is running out already... orz

    When I got in the healer's building, the first thing I saw was that sadistic healer that took care of me... I felt shivers going down my spine as she smiled and approached me... Creepy!

    "Oh~
    You didn't run away, how wise and... Unusual!" She clapped her hands. "Did you come here to get healed over this red skin~?"

    "No, please no! I have no money for that!" *sneezes* "Here." I gave her all the money on my pocket. "5 Large Wooden Coins... It's settled like this, right?"

    She gave a bit of a mischievous smile. "It is, but... Are you sure you're okay like that sweety? This cold and burn marks must be soooo uncomfortable~"

    "N-no-no-no-no! I just got out of debt! I don't need another one! I'll" *sneezes* "Handle it somehow."

    "Such a pity..." She looked dejected... Scary. "I was looking forward to treating you again~" Scary! Very scary!!!

    "I-I need to go now!" I turned on my tails and ran away.

    "Come again~" I heard her voice behind me, but I didn't turn back to look.

    Okay, so... I'm poor again. And I don't really have a place to sleep, and I'm- *sneezes* in pain... And cold... Haa... Let's take a task or something, I need to take my mind off things.

    *goes into the association and takes the task*

    Alright, so... Barriers on sewers... Uhn... I better make sure I don't mess up on this one, so... It's been a while since I last called Firia. She hates this season after all... But she might be okay with sewers?

    ... Nah, she will hate me... But I need to be sure of it! >.<

    I casually strolled through the streets and picked some fallen leaves of trees all around, after gathering enough, I went to a relativaly empty place and arranged them into the usual array, then started pouring my mana in.

    "Hear my summon and answer my plea. By the divine contract I call upon thee, Firia! Spirit of Fire, bestow thy blessing upon me!"

    Usually speaking I don't need chants, but elementals think it's very rude to call them without one, so I made sure to do it appropriately.

    The array shone with a red light that slowly got brighter, then it gave a huge burst of brightness and a sound similar to a small thunder echoed. As usual, I closed my eyes at this instant.

    Opening them up, I could see Firia there, she was a small Fire fairy that was around as big as my hand, I liked being with her as she didn't really ask for much, and was a nice convesation partner... Oh, and her body's flames didn't burn me for as long as we had a pact~

    "Oh, c'mon Aria! Didn't I tell you to not summon me on the rainy season!? Why did you-
    What's up with your face? It's all red!" Firia was really cute by the way!

    "Ah... I got into a bath that was too hot and-" *sneezes* "Got burnt..."

    She looked at me as if I was the biggest idiot in the world... "Idiot!" Ah, and she said it too... orz "Get out earlier in that case! Or wait until it cools down!"

    "It was not my fault! I wasn't the one that prepared it and-" *sneezes* "if I didn't go into it right away, I would catch a cold..." I tried defending myself, but...

    "Iiiiiiiiidiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooot!!!!! You can't not catch a cold if you receive a thermal shock like that!!!" I tilted my head at the strange words, "Ah, right, I forgot you're an IDIOT! And doesn't know what a thermal shock is!" She hit my head with her tiny hands... It didn't hurt physically, but it was a huge mental blow on me... orz

    "Sorry sorry! I just never heard of that!" >.<

    "Agh, whatever, so... What did you summon me for? There better be a good reason to call me amidst such humidity!" She seemed a bit grumpy, but not really angry...

    "Ah! Right! I need-" *sneezes* I hate this cold... "some help in checking the barriers on the sewers! I don't understand a thing about barriers, so I figured I would call for your help!"

    She blinked twice... Then she massage her forehead with her fingers. "If you don't understand barriers... Why did you take a task to check barriers!??!!?!?" She flicked my forehead this time, it almost threw me off my feet! Be careful!

    And it hurt a huge lot too... I hate being burnt all over... T.T "Because I am good at checking arrays... I can at least identify if there are any failures on it or something..." I pouted a bit... She didn't have to be this mean...

    "Haa... I guess you can do at least that much... So, what is my part? I will need to go to some sewers after all." Her mood seemed a tad better! Yay!

    "I have nothing!"

    Aaaand, her mood seemed to take a dump again... Oh, please Firia... "You! Damned! Idiooooooot!!!!!" This time she did a flying kick on my neck that properly threw me on the ground! It hurts! It hurts a lot! My body is burnt! Please take more care with me!!! "Why in the world would you summon me for this kind of thing without a proper compensation! I won't accept just Mana for this!!!"

    "I-I figured I could try getting something you wanted later on!" >.<

    "Just what kind of spirit accepts a deal to get a reward later!?!?" Eeeek! Stop shouting so much on me!!!

    "The kind that... Is my friend...?" I asked hopefully...

    She breathed a heavy sigh... "You're hopeless... Fine, but you'll get me whatever I want, got it?"

    I smiled as brightly as I could. "Got it!"
    We entered the sewers through a tunnel... It stinks, it stinks a lot.

    I was atop my broom, while Firia was atop my shoulder, none of us wanted to touch that dirty ground...

    Before we flew for long, I could spot a rat, I didn't want it to get in the way, so I started casting a fireball, but...

    *sneezes*

    I messed the array up and it disapparead, it also called the attention of the rat and of other nearby rats... Ugh...

    "You're hopeless... Quick! Cast again!" While the rats approached, she made a small fire wall appear in front of them, they could honestly just jump above it and ignore it altogether, but it gave them a scare... it was plenty.

    I drew another fireball and threw it at the rat cluster. "Explosion!!!" Boom! Now we have a bunch of burnt corpses there... How great! I don't even need to dispose of them!

    We flew for a while and killed a few more rats on the way, it was pretty easy to be honest, and I had enough Mana for it anyway... Though maintaining Firia here also consumed more Mana... I needed to find something for her soon... Well, hopefully she doesn't ask anything too troublesome...

    After the 8th or so group of rats, we were finally getting close to the barrier... Or at least Firia said we did... Did I ever say I looooooved Firia? She was amazing! She knows so much stuff!!!

    "Hey, isn't that a group of serpents?" She pointed to it.

    "It seems like it... Well, just-" *sneezes* I got their attention... *sighs* "burn them like usual, right?"

    "Yeah! Quick! Burn them down!"

    They quickly moved towards us... It wasn't very scary because of the distance though... I just threw another fireball and they were done with.

    "Troublesome..." Firia said with a pensive face.

    "Hmmmm? Why? They died pretty easily."

    "Because..." Her tone seemed angry at me... What did I do this time!? "They were supposed to be only from the second floor onwards! It's on the basic details of the sewer tasks! You should know of it!"

    "Eeeeeeh? Really? Firia is amazing! I would never know without you!" I hugged her body with my hands and rubbed my face with hers.

    "Agh! Seriously? You should be more attentive to those things!" Her tone was still reprimanding me though...

    "But Firia..." I pouted a bit. "You know I can't read, how do you expect me to remember all this information? The receptionists talk too fast! I only heard of this one" *sneezes* "once when I was asking what tasks they had available on my first time here..."

    "Haa... It's fine... In any case, the barrier seems to be in worse shape than they might have thought, to have second floor monsters already leaking in is... Troublesome." Her tone was a bit worried...

    "Then let's do our best to fix it!"

    She gave a kind smile to me for once... Aaaaawn, I love you Firia! "Yes... Let's~"

    We flew a bit more and reached the point of the barrier, I could feel a strong Mana signature from it... Wow, really, this is a big deal, for even me to feel it, this barrier is strong...

    There were lots of engravings on the ground in which the barrier should be... But...

    "It's dirty." I said.

    Firia nodded. "Very dirty... We can't simply use your broom to clean this."

    "I-I wouldn't use my broom for cleaning! It's not easy to-" *sneezes* "Make a new one, I don't want to damage it!"

    "Yeah, I know... Still, the amount of litter is unusual, even if they didn't cleaned it regularly, it shouldn't reach this level..." Her tone was pretty pensive. "Hold on, let me try something." She made a small fire near the litter and melted it... The smell was horrible... Ugh.

    Still, this was a relatively elavated point compared to rest, so the molten littler went down to other parts of the engravings.

    "... It is damaged." I contemplated.

    There were scars, like... Small scars, things that would probably be made by rat nails, they were all over the engravings, but only below the pile of litter.

    "Piles of litter to mess with the magical array, and plenty of scars on the engravings themselves, but hid below litter, so as to not be easily seen... This is definitely intentional." Firia's tone was a troubled one... I could understand though...

    "Then someone is controlling the... Rats!?"

    There were rats... Like... Many rats. Many many rats. Lots and lots of rats rather. A few hundred at least... How did we not hear them coming at all!? I get that we were busy looking at the engravings, but this is ridiculous!!!

    "Aria, burn them down!" Firia ordered.

    "But from this close range-" "Now!"

    I hurriedly cast a fireball, the rats came close from all directions... Please lucky, give me your blessing.

    "Go to hell!" I was very happy that I didn't sneeze while making this one.

    I threw the fireball directly below me. The sewers had a very low ceiling, so I couldn't quite fly up to avoid the impact.

    Firia made a fire wall in front of us.

    The fireball exploded, the fire spread across the narrow space, and I was sure that all rats died with it... And it came towards us.

    The flames quickly went through Firia's wall and started burning me, it hurt... It hurt a lot... I made sure to close my eyes to not lose them.

    I fell. I fell and felt my entire body feeling a pain much worse than before...

    "Aria... You're still alive, right...?" Firia asked worriedly, I could barely open my eyes, but I still saw her there...

    "Yeah..." My throat was hoarse, it was so painful... It hurt so much...

    "Aria... If you don't heal... You're going to die." She said bluntly, but full of worry on her voice...

    Firia was one of the few people that knew of it after all... It can't be helped, can it? I don't want to die here...

    "Hold my hand?" I asked her while crying.

    She tried to give a reassuring smile, but she didn't seem to be able to. "Of course." She held my right elbow... I didn't understand and tried looking at the place she was in now... It was hard to move my neck to look at it... It hurt... And...

    There was only 1/2 an arm there, full of black marks on it...

    I heaved a deep breath and moved my left hand slowly, each movement pained me a huge lot... And it took quite a bit... I wasn't able to move my arm, but my fingers were still moving at least... Good, it was done...

    "Hold me tightly Firia..." I could only hear a small gulp in reply, but I could feel her touching what was left of my right arm.

    I casted my Healing Flame. I didn't know what part of my body was hurt, and I had no way of checking, so I had no choice but to cast it on my whole body. I made sure to close my eyes and endure it.

    It was hell. There was no way of describing it but hell, I felt everything burn, every little part disappearing, my entire body disappearing... And slowly reforming itself... While burning, it was burning and reforming at the same time, and endless cycle of pure pain that I thought that was impossible to be felt... Ah, I understand why she abandoned me after going through this... Who wouldn't?

    I don't know how much time passed, I know I didn't faint, that pain wasn't something I could feel while fainted... After some time, I simply heard Firia's words. "Aria, stop! It's enough!"

    Silence. I felt silence... There was so much noise until now... I realized that I have been hearing my own screams the entire time... They were loud.

    I got up. My entire body was in a huge huge huge pain... It was a lot smaller than what I was just feeling, but it was as if I was still burning, even though I wasn't... I was sure I was fine, and yet the pain didn't get away in the slightest... And I was naked. Of course I was, I just burnt myself whole...

    "Haa... I'm alive, aren't I?" I asked Firia... Somehow I felt I needed confirmation.

    "Of course you are..." She flew into within my breasts and hugged me... I put my hands on her and just enjoyed her presence there...

    "We better go back." She told me.

    "Yeah..." I weakly replied... I felt really tired already, and wanted to rest.

    I looked around for a bit until I found my broom... Burnt and broken, I guess it was too damaged from the fireball, and couldn't withstand the fall afterwards... Great.

    "I guess we're walking!" I told her.

    "Yes we are." Her smile was weak, but was genuine... Somehow we were happy, both of us... I was literally stripped of everything I had just now... Naked without a single belonging on a dirty sewer... But hey, I'm alive aren't I? It counts to something.

    We walked back without a hurry, we found a lone rat or two on the way, but Firia killed them herself. We also found a single group of rats, but we avoided them... We took our time, we somehow felt it wasn't going to be a problem... And hey! Burning myself cured my burnt body and my cold, so it was something!

    After getting near the sewers entrance, I finally discovered it was already night... Thanks Lady Luck, your grace is still with me.

    I walked out of the sewers while making sure to avoid anyone passing by or any source of light. I slowly moved around towards the nearby river and bathed myself on it...

    "It's not enough, is it?" I asked.

    "Definitely not." Firia answered.

    I got out of the river and she carefully made small fires around me to dry me out. I sneaked towards the city and got close to a house... And opened the window. Yosh. I'm in.

    I got into the bathroom, got some soap and a sponge before quickly sneaked through the window again... Lady Luck is truly wonderful, to think they forgot to close it before sleeping...

    I got back into the river and washed myself thoroughly, I hated bathing with a sponge actually, it really pickled my skin, but I just got out of a walking through a dirty sewer, I needed a through bath.

    After properly bathing this time, I didn't really have the courage to go back and deliver this, so I just left it near the river... Soap was a tad expensive, but they would survive while losing it, I didn't take that much after all.

    The next step was sneaking into a clothing store... It obviously had locked windows this time, so I covered the lock with my body to make sure no light would leak out, without touching it of course, and Firia burned the lock down.

    After getting in, I took a some needles, a broom, a knife and threads before sneaking out again... Good thing I'm not the only fire mage on this city.

    After getting out of the city and into the nearby forest, I used some tree leaves to make an array for my "Jump!" spell, I used it to climb a tree and started making my clothes atop a branch while talking to Firia, it wasn't a quick process for sure, but well, we weren't really in a hurry.

    I got pretty sleepy during it, but talking to Firia kept me awake, and luckily, no rain came while I was at it... Sure, I got hungry as well, but I endured it.

    After finishing the clothes, Fiery Gloves included of course. I used the knife to carve the arrays at the broom, it was pretty complicated to be honest, and I had only done it once, so I wasn't that sure I could replicate it... However, I did remember all my multiple failed attempts, so I did make do somehow. The broom worked properly, which was a huge relief, I didn't have a spare one to make after all... Come to think of it, that crazy dragonman did ask me to make a broom for his elemental... With fire protection at that... I should try it out later.

    It took me 2 days to get that done, my fingers were aching a lot and so were the entirety of my hands, I was really uncomfortable for staying in about the same position on top of a tree for this long, and I was dead tired, thirsty and hungry... Haa, what a way to come back huh?

    Still, I needed to make at least one more thing, used the leftover threads to make a coin purse, I wouldn't be able to carry money otherwise.

    With my totally non-stolen goods with me, I flew back to the association to report my findings, not before eating some fruits to reduce my thirst and hunger of course. I'd probably still need to eat a good meal in a cheapt place though.

    Ah, it might rain soon... Well, at least I'll be under a roof when it does.
    ((The official report she gave, obviously didn't mention a word about her almost dying, healing herself, getting naked and stealing things to get her some clothes and a new broom, it would just say she killed hundreds of rats near the barrier. It would also say she took long to return because she was preparing the things for Firia's summon.))
    • The barrier is weakened and some monsters from the second level are leaking to the first one.
    • The array that makes the barrier is filled with an unusually big amount of litter that is getting in the way of the array's function.
    • The array is damaged by marks that are clearly made by rat claws, the damage was hidden by the litter.
    • The amount of rats near the barrier, and on the way to the barrier, is a lot bigger than the amount on the rest of the first level of the sewer.
    • Rats are probably being controlled by someone, possible reasons are currently unknown.
    ((4486 words if you count the notes section, the spoiler tags and the text before the report itself. Not counting this exact OOC message because I wrote it after counting the words... Teehee?))

    @The Everdistant Utopia
     
  12. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    "Welcome back."
    The receptionist checked through the items and the report.
    "It's all in order. This request has been completed. Here is your reward."
    [ 1 L. Wooden coin and 10 S. Wooden Coins | 10 Merit Points ]
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2018
    Kysil likes this.
  13. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    Nadia glanced through the report, her eyebrows scrunching together.
    "A lot of storage areas, huh...That could use some further investigation..."
    Then, looking back up,
    "The request has been completed. Here's your reward. [1 L. Wooden Coins and 10 S. Wooden Coins | 15 Merit Points]"
     
  14. The Everdistant Utopia

    The Everdistant Utopia Honorary Maou | Part Time Writer | Crau's

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    Exiting the Task Applying desk, Elae decided to head to the place where she would make the assignment. For her first task, she had decided to pick one which she would be able to do.

    For her, it would be a piece of cake to make a simple potion, as long as she had the ingredients to.

    She was walking to the laboratory where the orders were handed with a large grin on her face. Entering the place, it was full of other alchemist busily carrying papers around, crates with ingredients and finished potions.

    A strong foul smell of the mixed fumes, coming from the cauldrons at the back of the building, invaded her nostrils, forcing her to pinch her nose and try to hold her breath for a bit.

    “What the...”

    She was truly dazed by the scene unfolding in front of her. The chaotic building with people coming and going with tired looks in their faces and the strong smell was completely unlike the orderly alchemy laboratory of the Capital’s Magic Academy.

    One of the alchemists that were running around spotted Elae in the entry door and called her out.

    “Hey, you!”

    “Huh?! Me?” Elae confusedly pointed to herself while tilting her head.

    “That’s right! You! You’re here because of the task, right? Then take this, and come back with it done!” The alchemist said as he shoved a piece of paper at Elae’s face and left.

    Ignoring his rudeness, she took the paper and checked the contents.

    “Request for a…. Healing Potion… lowest grade...” Elae read it carefully before grimacing. That’s because. “Uh… how does one makes one of those again?”

    She was an apprentice alchemist, but only for a hobby and to support her needs as a necromancer, so had no idea how to make a Healing Potion, even though she knew how to make Spirit Water, the component needed to summon ghosts.

    “So you don’t know how to make one.”

    A low pitched voice whispered something in her ear. She frowned slightly and answered as if natural. “So you’re awake, Edgard… I thought you were well aware of this.” Edgard was the only ghost which she had a contract with, at least the only human one. For a necromancer, finding a human material was really hard because of the laws. Even more for her, who was so picky.

    To the moment, the only human she had summoned a ghost and sealed a contract was Edgard, while the rest of the ghost she had were of animals, but those she had turned into “slime” material, so Edgard was both the only human and the only ghost left for her. But…

    “I’m well aware of it, I just woke up to laugh at your fooly.”

    “That’s it! I’m turning you into slime goo!”

    “W-well, let’s not be hasty! Your task, that’s right!”

    “What of it?”

    “The Healing Potion, I think I have an idea as to how we’ll make it.”

    “Huh? When did you learnt alchemy again?”

    “Of course I don’t know myself, you damned fool!”

    “Then-”

    “Just listen to me. First, let’s go inside… We’re attracting attention.”

    “Ah...” Just then Elae noticed that she had been standing like a statue, seemingly talking to herself as others couldn’t hear Edgard’s whispering voice.

    Some of the other alchemist there were staring at her, or at least stealing glances, probably thinking that she was a bit bad on the head.

    A bit embarrassed, she started walking while Edgard explained his plan.

    “If you don’t know how to do, let’s just watch someone doing, then mimic it.”

    “You do have a point, but will we be able to, though...”

    “Not we, you. Leave me out of it.”

    “You...”

    “Good heavens, look at the time! It’s time for my tea. Good luck.”

    Saying this, Edgard stopped speaking, leaving Elae to her own demise.

    “I guess I don’t have any option...”

    The man hadn’t given any time limit, so she would use her time to learn how to do while he was at it.

    She started looking around the area where the cauldrons were, searching for someone making healing potions. She happened to catch a glimpse of a paper over a table that was the same as the one in her hands.

    I found it! Elae shouted in her head as she checked over the woman preparing the cauldron. She had yet to start, which was a good sign. This way she could observe the whole process.

    The woman started to place some ingredients over the table. A pot with a blue powder, which had a tag saying Powdered Blue Coriander, a bunch of leaves, which had a tag saying Morning Leaves and a small flask which said Liquefied Mana.

    She first threw a bucket of water inside the cauldron and waited until it started to boil, then added the whole flask of Liquefied mana. She then started to grind the Morning Leaves with a mortar and pestle. After finishing grinding, he added it to the cauldron and left it boil a bit. Surprisingly, it started to dissolve in the water.

    Not finishing there, the woman started to grind more leaves and add them, making the liquid get thicker and thicker. After becoming like a soup, she started adding some of the powdered Blue Coriander. She left it boil for a bit before taking the cauldron off of the fire and adding a bit more of water, roughly a quarter of a bucket.

    The final product was a bluish-green liquid with the same thickness of a juice. She then started picking it with a ladle and pouring inside the flasks for potions.

    Feeling a bit confident, Elae bowed to the woman and… “Thank you very much!” … thanked her wholeheartedly.

    “Oh, my...” Finally noticing her, the woman tilted her head, confused, but Elae didn’t minded much and soon ran off to pick up the ingredients before making it her own.

    Some odd minutes later, she finished the assignment. The result wasn’t perfect, but at least was accepted by the rude alchemis from before. After picking the paper he gave her, she headed back.
    Learnt how to make Healing Potion (Lowest Grade)
    Elae arrives at the desk and handed the report to Umbrum. "I'm back~"

    @Naraku

    ((Now I'll eat, then read @AliceShiki's report.))
     
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  15. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    "Elae~ let me see the report~" After finishing to sip this weird drink which he didn't know the name since his companion just brought it to him without any explanations, Umbrum began to read the report with his usual smile.
    No matter what was the content, his smile didn't change except maybe when it was about the rude alchemist, his brows furrowed weakly before immediately getting back together.

    Reorganizing the report after messing up a little with the papers as he made his fortunately empty cup fall, he began to talk on a cheerful tone.
    "All of it is good ! As long as a potion was made properly, it's good ! You have done a good work ! So let me give you your reward !" His voice was still joyous when searching into the drawers, it lasted a few seconds until he takes one large coin and ten who are smaller.
    "So your rewards are 1 L.Wooden Coins, 10 S.Wooden Coins and 10 Merits Points !" After giving the rewards, Umbrum took out a book and continued to write on it.
     
  16. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    @Haxagen
    "Here is our report and the herbs~" Umbrum handed over his report and the basket with a cheerful smile, it seemed to be brighter than earlier somehow.
    Whistling cheerfully and holding a basket, a young man wandered in the forest near a certain magic association, he was accompanied by a cloaked person with blond hair, red eyes and pale skin.

    The young man was at first careless, but then his attitude became more serious as he lowered himself near a tree and began scraping the roots, when he was going to pluck these out, he heard this cold voice interpellating him.

    “Isn’t it saying herbs ? So why are you... “ Nevertheless, they shut their mouths after reading a bit more than just the title of the task paper; they slightly coughed and let the young man continue to cut parcels of the roots, so the trees won’t have problems afterwards.


    “What’s your name ?” As the dirt on his hand became more and more important, and the roots in the basket became to be visible and less insignificant, it was still far from being enough, his voice seemed to be quite serene.

    “Niris.” Hearing this answer, Umbrum nodded and seemed to be cheered up, at least, they told him their name, he still couldn’t guess their gender though. However, he didn’t care about that.


    At a moment, Umbrum separated all the roots in two part, since he didn’t know which one had what effects, he needed to test, at least, he knew how to differentiate them, by touching them and feeling that the matter wasn’t the same, by the form, by what kind of trees they were coming.


    Randomly, he took one root and slightly touched it with his tongue, but immediately removed as he said loudly and spitting uselessly. “Paralyzing…!” his face seemed quite ugly as he threw this root away.

    “Pff…” Niris made a weird sound while Umbrum was rubbing his tongue since he wanted to remove everything that was related with this paralyzing root… but then, he realized how stupid it was and stopped.

    Averting his eyes, he began to think to himself as he tested the other type of roots he picked up and did exactly the same thing… however, he coughed violently and slowly removed this one as once again his thoughts talked by themselves.

    “...bitter…” this time, it was only because of the taste. Niris sighed and decided to stop about think about how they ended up in this situation.


    “Well… for now, let’s just go to sleep, you didn’t even fill half of the basket and night is also coming.” Niris said as they helped Umbrum stand up, right, compared to before, he had his two arms so that was alright.

    Fortunately, this child didn’t reproach them to have done only watching since he has started getting parcels of roots from the trees, otherwise that would have been bothering and also annoying. They were finally free, so they didn’t want any restraints, however, they didn’t have anywhere to go. Actually, both of them were like this, they had nowhere to go, except the Magic Association or the carriage…


    “Yeah, let’s just do that… so… those roots are paralyzing, while the others are bitter…” Respectively, he pointed at the first root he tested which was a bit horned and rough, while the other one was roundish and a bit flabby.

    “The paralyzing one is called Yellow Root because of its color and effect, the paralyzing effect is quite weak though, no more than a few minutes by consuming a dozen of grams, while the second one called Dark Bitter Root, the second one is used for cooking while the first for experimentation or healing.” Umbrum looked at Niris and blinked many times before getting flustered and a bit mad.

    “Why didn’t you tell me before ?!”


    “Because you didn’t ask.” Their response was direct and curt, Umbrum didn’t know what to say as both of them entered in the carriage with no horses to sleep, there was still leftovers of food from the last and first task Umbrum made, so he decided to eat them with Niris who stayed silent until they said as they closed their eyes.

    “I will sleep, do too.”

    Umbrum did the same thing, it was weird from his point of view, someone should keep an eye on the carriage when they were asleep, but well, if he could sleep a bit earlier, he won’t mind at all.

    So he fell asleep as Niris’s eyes opened suddenly.

    “...so… he trusts me…? Despite the fact that we tried to kill each other… how strange… it’s true that I was forced, but does it mean he can trust whoever who comes…?” After a sigh, Niris thought about how they started the quest, they first tried to move by themselves the carriage, with their hands so they can use it to rest while they are picking up the herbs needed.


    But the most important was that the person that enslaved Niris, the one that was unconscious and tied up wasn’t here anymore, both of them didn’t know what happened, but quickly, they forgot about it, he couldn’t do anything significant considering the state of his body after all, yes, while Umbrum was careless and unaware of his surroundings.

    Niris crippled the scum’s body, right now, he could even be considered as more worthless than a human who can’t even use magic.

    After an exhausted sigh, Niris fell asleep as they sat a bit away from Umbrum who was sleeping loudly and taking quite a lot of place, his members spreading in every possible senses. Such a stupid child.

    “What are you ?” This voice was heard as Umbrum woke up and saw the blinding sunlight, he exited and saw Niris preparing food, their hands were stained with blood, it was probably…

    “We eat boar.” So, they woke up before and hunted an animal so they could take a breakfast ? How kind of them ! At least, they won’t need to think about the two or three prochain meals, a boar is quite an huge beast after all.
    After, Umbrum quickly washed himself to a nearby water source, Niris probably already did it since they woke up earlier.

    Moments later, Umbrum and Niris were wandering in the forest near to the association, and every time he saw a dark green plant with nine smooth blue leaves, he picked it up, honestly, he wasn’t careful at all, on the contrary, he was casually taking it while humming happily and childishly.


    Blue Leaves, they are quite used to cure someone from a cold or a fever, at least, that’s the use for when they are consumed raw, in Alchemy, they are something like just a basic plant that is used for the weakest cure or something alike.” Once again, those words shocked Umbrum who was quietly and peacefully picking up the “Blue Leaves”, honestly, he wanted to ask only one thing, and he did.

    Why do you know all of this ?” His voice seemed to be honestly interested in what they will say.

    “Illegal manufactures who are probably destroyed from now… been a while since I went into one… and that’s better like this.” Obviously, the child was flabbergasted and didn’t know how to react, so since he didn’t know, he only continued to pick those Blue Leaves all the day.

    They were often growing in groups, so when harvesting them, you can’t take more than ⅓ of them, otherwise, it might have a negative effect that is destroying slowly but surely the source that is making those plants growing. That’s another thing that Niris said to Umbrum who didn’t know anything about that, he picked up this task because it was ranked D… and he knew forests very well, a bit too well actually.
    But that’s how a hunter is after all, he always need to know every place of the forest.

    “The last one ! And now the basket is full !”
    As the plant with long stalk was cut from the ground, Umbrum put it in the basket and loudly said as his hands were simply dead tired, despite knowing a bunch, Niris didn’t even help a damned second, Umbrum felt a bit angry but not that much since he was a pushover and had a stupid habit which was forgiving easily his acquaintances even if they tried to kill him once. He did the same for his despicable master who was often kicking him, training him until he faints… no, even after he was awake because of this coat which was removing the tiredness against a price.
    That was so barbaric that he doesn’t want to think about it anymore.

    “Hey… Umbrum, they were asking for a single herb in one bask, not three…” As he heard this… the child facepalmed and decided that he will continue the next day.
    Once again, Niris cooked the meat and both of them ate silently but peacefully together, they were happy this way, at least, Umbrum was, because he wasn’t alone, nevertheless… even if Niris disappears like the other, his heart won’t be moved because of two reasons.
    It hasn’t been that long since they met, they weren’t that close yet. He doesn’t even know their gender.
    And it wouldn’t be the first time.

    “Well, let’s sleep… last night was cold.”
    Umbrum couldn’t help but mutter as he curled his body into his oversized coat, hearing this, Niris sat next to Umbrum and that’s all, it was better than nothing.

    Calmy, Umbrum leaned on them and slept as he discovered their gender thank to this soft feeling and sweet interaction.

    “Hmm… and to say that we only have four years of difference… “ They only had the basic informations of each other, Niris was a woman of twenty one year old while Umbrum was seventeen year old, but both of them were somehow lonely and thought they didn’t need anyone like fools.
    And… indeed they were fools.

    Honestly, they were shameless and didn’t care about decence and seemliness, one was literally a slave while the other was in lack of “warmness”, why would they mind such useless and bothering ways of thinking ?
    Snoring softly, a cloaked man with an everchanging mask was walking in circles and always staring at the same place, at a carriage where two people were sleeping soundly, he was muttering words with those everchanging pupils which never had the same color, but they always had the same feeling.

    Fear. It always has been fear.
    What are you ?”

    The voice was as emotionless as a doll created from pieces, but the eyes were filled with fear that couldn’t be understood by anyone in this world yet. Those three words were the only things he ever said to this Shadow believing to be a human when he isn’t completely.

    As it said one last time this question.
    “What are you ?”
    The man disappeared like a fog.

    Next morning, they did exactly the same thing, just before they put the Yellow Root and Dark Bitter Root into the carriage since they only needed one herb for the task, so they can keep them for themselves right ? After all, the forest isn’t a protected place, everybody can enters and picks those.
    Unlike the two previous days, Niris helped to pick up the Blue Leaves, so they went twice faster, they were picked up quite fastly, at a moment, Umbrum looked at his hands and saw that there was a scratch made by the dagger used to cut the plants.
    He sighed and continued to fill his basket with a cheerful smile as sometime he was peeking at Niris who seemed to be on a bad mood since she didn’t want to pick the plants but she felt like she needed to.

    A few hours later, the basket was finally only filled with Blue Leaves, they took more than two days for this task… well fortunately, there isn't any kind of time limit so that's alright, they can take all the time they need.

    “Since we finished, let's just go back.” Niris only nodded with an indiscernible smile, of course, before they go, Umbrum used Shadow Devouring on the carriage and everything that is in. So in fact, the only difference that is present from before they begin the task is that they have a basket full of Blue Leaves
    Nothing really happened, they just brought back a basket of Blue Leaves after misunderstanding a little the task.
    OOC: That's probably one of my shortest report ever... Only 2K words... *shrugs*
     
  17. The Everdistant Utopia

    The Everdistant Utopia Honorary Maou | Part Time Writer | Crau's

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    "Ah, Aria. Welcome back. I see you're... better, I guess. It took you a bit long to come back, though." Sorgre said as the girl arrived with her report. After finishing hearing it, he sighed and stroked his chin. "Ah, I see... So you was summoning this... Firia, was it? I see... But, that's quite a grim situation... If even creatures from the second floor are escaping, even if sparsely... And the state of the barrier seems worse off than what I expected... Thanks for informing it, Aria." Placing two large coins and a wooden two tiny wooden tablets, one showing the number 10, and the other the number 5, Sorgre said. "Here it is, your rewards. In total 2 Large Wooden Coins and 15 Merit Points. You did a good job."
    After handing her the money, he wondered for a moment why did she paid the Inn fee, but decided to not mind. He didn't thought that anyone wouldn't know that anyone wearing the Association's Official Uniform would be exempted of any inn fees, except for meals. Even those who were unwilling to use the uniform could always request for an Association Badge, which would work the same way. Waving her goodbye, he went back to his work. It seems things are getting messier down there, and he hadn't been contacted by the staff in charge of contacting the Warden in the 3rd Floor.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2018
  18. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    Nadia gave the report a small once-over, and took out a smaller sack from under the counter.
    "I see. The request has been completed. Your reward is [ 3 L. Wooden coin | 20 Merit Points | Bundle of Herbs ]."
    Before returning to her books, Nadia gave a small reminder.
    "Some herbs may be fatal to the taste, so try not to go around tasting them. There are books about herb types, so do read up beforehand."
     
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  19. BB_Tensei

    BB_Tensei [Crystal Operator][Jack of all Trades]

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    Produce a Simple Enchanted Item
    The production department of the Magic Association was located in a separate bulding from the central facilities in almost all of the branches that have one. This particular branch was in a small town in the vicinity of the Capital, the Makers’ area was actually outside of town, uphill inside a forest on a local mountain. As such, it took Joan a good couple of hours to get there.


    It then took another half hour to learn that the head enchanter was taking a break at the lounge, even more time to find where that lounge was, and nearly no time to identify who the head was out of the room, since there was nobody else there.


    “Joan Tensei, reporting for the E rank enchantment task. Should I wait a bit?” She asked, trying to be courteous, but failing the tone.


    “If you are a cat, you should sleep in daytime! Go over there and let me rest properly.”


    She had no reason to not do as told, other than general restlessness, over her first production oriented task. Most of her life was spent fighting, and tinkering with magic items and devices was more of a hobby, that complimented that lifestyle well.


    “Is the work here exhausting?” Joan asked.


    “All work is exhausting. If you don’t get tired doing a job, it’s not a job.”


    Joan noticed the dark circles underneath the man’s eyes. “Ah, so you were burning midnight candles. I can come back later, but I doubt that will raise the reward. Or can it?”


    “Do as you please, just shut up. This room only gets good sunlight in the early afternoon. Won’t waste that for any trivial reason. If you are so eager, go to the third floor, it’s the door on the right. There’s a book on the desk by the small window. Read it, make the catalyst circle from the alchemic tools chapter, and leave it where you found the book. That’s all you need to do, got it?”


    “Fine then, enjoy your sleeping time, Head.” Joan would have felt disappointed, if this wasn’t actually more suited to her style. She left the lounge quietly, then hurried up the stairs. The building was getting narrower, as one went up, and on the third floor there wasn’t even a corridor, and the platform ended with two doors on each side, a window inbetween them. The catgirl got curious, and entered the left room instead.


    Inside was another set of stairs, that lead up to an attic. It was rather well maintained, or perhaps just new, as there wasn’t any dust anywhere. She sneaked up, getting excited over the prospect of encountering something interested, yet was betrayed when the attic turned out to be a simple warehouse for magic item components. She was going to have to come in here regardless!


    Taking a few parts she considered might be necessary, along with some that just seemed useful, she went into the enchantment laboratory. It was rather small, or at least appeared to be, as it was tightly fitted with varying shelves, cupboards, small tables, and a desk, all filled to maximum capacity with devices, materials and various pieces of paper with scribbles on them, along with several old parchments, that appeared rather faded.


    I guess this place is also used for researching old texts. Heh, the Head here seems to be a proper magician, despite his sleeping schedule. Ah, I miss sleeping through the day.


    On the other side of the room was a small circular window, which was the only source of daylight for the lab. Joan carefully walked around the tables, reaching the aforementioned desk, and took from it a dusty tome. The title was actually faded, and it would appear this was one of the earliest editions, as it didn’t even had the year of publication noted down, which was a recent practice, replacing this being done in the starting chapter. One recent fashion of book writing present was the inclusion of an introductory text, however. She skipped that, and quickly turned the pages, looking for the enchantment formula required of her to use.


    She thought perhaps the catalyst item was made to be sold, since using older methods for common market item production was a natural side effect of national defense policy. Then again, alchemical catalyst disks were a rather rudimentary, as far as enchantments went. At least the general purpose ones. They were mostly used for elemental reactions, as the more complex alchemical, and by extension herbalist and medical transmutations required a specialized circle, that aligned with the proper stellar bodies, that represented the property, each of the starting materials for the particular item required, as well as a complex pattern, that reproduced the phenomena and environment, specific to the transmutation phenomena occurring.


    Often times in the history of alchemy nothing happened, despite using a proven method. It was later found out that the missing requirement was the level of ambient mana, which is how the first general purpose alchemical catalyst was developed. This one contained a similar function, in that it stored mana inside the magic circle center, that would be redistributed via artificial mana channels around the pattern, speeding up all natural processes. An additional conditional check was to be conducted that would differentiate living and non-living targets for the field, as another circle placed inbetween the mana capacitor and the reproduction pattern. It was almost entirely made up of an appraisal spell, that could only differentiate between a certain organic compound present in all living beings, and everything else.

    Such a simple thing was nevertheless the most expensive part of the device, and needed to be covered up by a protective layer of natural rubber, which was provided in turn by alchemists themselves, while the metal disk was engraved by jewelers, who used alchemical acids in the engraving process, which were in turn mass produced thanks to exactly these kinds of catalysts, only on a larger scale.


    The enchantment was finally completed by a central rune, that actually made the whole thing function, and was the real purpose enchanters were still involved in the production process. Due to the function of the catalyst circle, safety required that the circuit was made with an organic substance from a still fresh source. What was usually used for such purposes was crushed plants with high mana density, and therefore higher mana resistance, making the use of another tool for the process inefficient, thus a living source of mana, the magician enchanter, was required to actually conduct the first activation of the device, before it could begin to recharge itself with ambient energy.


    In Joan’s case however, she could only use blood. What she had on her was actually collected from a nearby slaughterhouse, but would do the trick regardless, as low level enchantments weren’t picky between the blood of one mammal and another. Though most enchanters didn’t really make any difference between animal types, only species, so it was generally accepted that a specific species’ blood had to be used with higher level effects, and changing the formula was too risky and expensive for all, but the most fervent of researchers. She brought out the vial, mixed in some iron, thinking of avoiding polluting the blood with an element uncommon to it, used a brush to carefully paint within the engravings, and chanted the words, specified in the manual.


    Whether the device would function properly required testing, but Joan was now bored, after reading all of this pointless trivia, just to get to the enchantment procedure, so she left the device on the desk, left the book as well, and exited the building for a stroll in the nearby forest.


    On the way back, the Head was waiting with his arms crossed, resting by the entrance.


    “Oh, you’re back, I see. I checked out your work, and it’s fine. Works as it should, though I find your choice of medium rather disturbing. I doubt anybody would want to buy a bloody catalyst disk.”


    “But it works fine, right? If it does, and I don’t get a fail, everything should be in order.”


    “It works fine, but if it gets out that blood makes stronger catalysts, we would have a problem. There were manablooms in the lab, why didn’t you use those?”


    “I can only use blood, it’s a property of my magic.”


    “I see. That’s rather unorthodox. It will be tough on you in the future, if you can’t do it properly.”


    “That’s just the way things are. Can I go now? I’d rather get down before night falls and it gets too cold.”


    “Sure, but take your product with you. It won’t be sold, and it’s disturbing me, to say the least.” The Head Enchanter, who apparently was also the only enchanter in this branch, threw the disk casually at Joan, who caught it, and turned around to leave.


    “Ah, wait a bit! Bring this letter along with you, as well. The recipient’s address is written on it. You will find her easily, she’s the short one with the blond hair. You can also find her in the Lucky Rabbit Inn. Do that, and I’ll make sure to give you a full pass on that task. You owe me some catalyst disk components, after all.”


    Joan thought this was slightly unreasonable, but agreed nevertheless. The task was worth its merit points, but she felt E rank tasks were still just too unrewarding. She lamented her career choice for a moment, before getting distracted by the tasty sound of birds chirping an hour before sunset.
    Recieved an Alchemical Catalyst Disk.
    "I was going to report this in the local branch, but had to postpone it, until I got here in Central."

    @Haxagen
     
  20. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    Scanning through the report, Nadia nodded.
    "It should be fine. Of course, some people may not want to buy that due to appearances sake, but mages are generally a practical lot. Here's the rewards for the request."
    [ 1 L. Wooden coin and 10 S. Wooden Coins | 10 Merit Points ]
    Having finished up, Nadia put aside her books in a neat stack.
     
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