Magic Association Magic Association - Task Reporting Board

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

  1. AliceShiki

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

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    "Here, the badge showing completion..." *gives it in a gloomy mood*

    Produce a simple enchanted item
    "That guy! He completely ignored my question about a cheap place to eat!!!"

    "Well, it shouldn't be that hard, we just need to look for a shabby place and it should be fine." Firia replied calmly.

    "Muu, I don't want to eat on a shabby place though..." I got hit on the head... Why!?

    "If you want cheap food, you need a cheap place! Baka!" D-don't get angry at me!

    "Ah, the clouds are getting darker..." I looked up after she hit me, and ended up seeing it...

    "H-hurry it up then! We need a place to take shelter in!!"

    I started flying with my brom at a fast pace with Firia on my shoulder, I had to go a bit higher so as to not hit any passerbies, but I couldn't go too high, or I wouldn't see what any of the places around us were! >.<

    "There! That one looks good!" Firia pointed towards one... It seemed more like a house than a store though... Well, it has a plaque with a knife and fork on it though, so it should be alright.

    I flew into it hurriedly and it took like, 2 seconds for the rain to start afterwards!

    "Phew... We made it..." I sighed in relief before a girl that seemed to be 8 years or so came close to me.

    "Welcome Onee-san, do you wish to have a meal or a room for the night?" She said in a happy tone... Onee-san though? Uhn... I wonder if it means I'm a customer...

    "Ah, a meal please! The biggest and cheapest one you have! I'm really hungry here!" She smiled pretty happily and answered.

    "Right away! You can pick any table to eat in!"

    Looking around, the place was pretty empty... I chose an empty table a bit far from the window to sit down on, Firia stayed on my shoulder since she didn't want to burn anything with her body.

    It took a while for it to get ready, but I could see the girl running back and forth from the inside and bring food for the few customers that were here before me, so I think they were simply preparing it...

    "Feels a bit too empty, doesn't it?" I asked Firia while we waited.

    "Well, only a single person for the reception and for serving the tables, big waiting time that is probably because they have only 2 or so cooks, and a place that looks more like a house than anything... Seems normal?" Firia gave a way too through explanation... Was I imitating her back when were going after the bridge?

    "Oh, I see!
    ... Why wouldn't they hire more people though?" *tilts head*

    "Too little customers, too little income, not enough work to make a new worker worth it, which leads to no new customers, income doesn't grow and workload keeps the same... In other words, a business that has little room for growth." I wanted to laze off and stop paying attention because it seemed like it was going to be a big explanation again, but it was Firia, so I made sure to pay proper attention to it!

    "Ah! Firia is really amazing after all!!!" I hugged her tightly and rubbed our cheeks, it's great she doesn't complain about this kind of thing anymore! \(^^)/

    I think some of the surrounding customers were looking at us weirdly, but I didn't care at all! I was with Firia and that was plenty!

    "Here you go Onee-san!" Ah, the food! My stomach rumbled loudly and I quickly let go of Firia.

    "Food! Tha-thank you very much!" I said while almost drolling... The dish was a pretty big portion of noodles... Oh, I will enjoy it~

    I started eating very very happily, Firia gave a weak smile and just watched me... Sometimes I wished she could eat with me, but elementals don't eat human's food is what she said, so it couldn't be helped.

    The girl looked at me a bit amazed as I devoured it, but she seemed to realize something and looked away, going back to the counter.

    When I got to the middle of the dish though, I made sure to order a second one... And a third one when I was in the middle of the second one... I also ordered some water at some point since I got thirsty.

    Aaaah, I was stuffed, this was great!

    "Thank you very much! The food was awesome! How much is it?" I asked while very pleased~

    "Each of those meals are 10 Small Wooden Coins, and the amount of water you drank costs another 3 Small Wooden Coins, so it will total to 1 Large Wooden Coin and 8 Small ones." she asked while doing the math... So amazing, she was so fast at doing it! >.<

    "Firia, I have 2 Large coins only, how much do I get back?" I asked.

    She hit her face with her hand. "Didn't I tell you to learn some basic math at least?" Her tone was a bit bothered...

    "B-but math is hard! And boring!"

    "Haa... You will get back 17 small coins back." Firia said tiredly.

    "Thank you Firia! You're the best of the best!!!" I super duper rubbed my cheeks with hers.

    After a bit of cheek rubbing, the girl ended up intervening... "Uhn... Onee-san... Wh-what is her?" She asked a bit figety.

    "Firia is Firia of course!" I said as proudly as I could!
    ... Which led me to receive a smack on the top of my head... Owie...

    "I'm a Fire Fairy, I was summoned by this dumb girl to help her out on a task a few days ago. Pleased to meet you." She said in a polite tone... Why is Firia only mean to me!? >.<

    "Ah! I-I see..." The girl seemed flustered, I guess she never saw a fairy so amazing as Firia! Hur hur hur~

    "Why are you looking all proud like that as if you were the one being looked at with bewildered eyes? Hurry up and pay!" Firia intervened on my happy moment... *pouts* Well, it's okay because it was Firia.

    "Ah, right! Here!" I gave her the coins.

    "Thank you very much! I'll get your change in a second! Do you wish to stay for the night?" She asked.

    I looked outside and saw that the rain showed no signs of stopping, and I couldn't really go out with Firia when it was like this, so...

    "Sure! How much is it?"

    "It will be 10 small wooden coins please, should I deduct it from your change?" She asked with a very cheerful smile.

    "Ah, sure, please do that!" I answered her cheerful voice, but...
    I got head smacked again! >.<

    "Stop shouting in public! You're bothering the other customers... Seriously..." Ouchie... Firia can be a big meanie at times...

    The girl looked a bit flabbergasted, but she got on her feet and hurried to the counter before bringing... 1, 2, 3... 7! 7 small coins back! And a key too.

    "Here you go! You can use that room in the back, have a nice sleep!" Her smile was sooo cute! Not as cute as Firia's of course, but still~

    "Alright, thank you very much!" I bowed and went to the room with Firia accompanying me.

    Inside it was a pretty simple, but well cleaned space, it had no broken parts or anything of the last inn... Ah, it was great~

    There was a bit of smoke coming out of the bathroom, so I went to check, only to see the bath was already prepared... So great! They're very wonderful inn owners!!

    I undressed and sank myself on it. Firia stayed atop of my head since hot water is still water after all, it isn't good for her.

    "Aaaaah, this is great... It's definitely a wonderful place to stay in..." Honestly, I can't understand why would someone choose that fancy place over this one... Aside from needing a place to sleep right there and then that is.

    "You're dirty poor again though." Firia reminded me... Muu, you can keep those things out of my head for a bit, can't you?

    "It can't be helped it can't be helped, let's take a new task tomorrow and get some money then!"

    "Alright, but make sure to take something you won't need to use much Mana, yours is running out and I still need to get my reward for accompanying you to those... Ugh, sewers, seriously..." She was cringing at the very memory... Well, it was a bad memory for me too. Though I think the aftermath was a pretty happy one. Sometimes being alive can be pretty happy by itself~

    "Hai! I'll take something easy then!" We kept on talking while I washed myself, she got out of my head when I was washing it, but got back once I was done... Mmmm... Firia's company really is the best after all~

    After finishing the bath I decided wiped myself off and laid on the bed naked, I didn't need to wash my clothes this time since they were just made, but I didn't want to put any wrinkles on them while sleeping. And they could get sweaty too if I slept with them, so it would be bad! >.<

    It was a warm night even with the rain, so I didn't put any blanket, Firia casually laid between my breasts and we comfortably slept on that nice inn room~

    On the morning I woke up with a knock on the door.

    "Breakfast is ready, would you like to eat here?" The girl from yesterday asked.

    "Y-yes!
    ... N-no Wait! I-is it included on the room fee?" I hurriedly asked while remembering that extortion from last time.

    "Huh? Of course it is... I-I mean! Yes! You can eat without paying the breakfast!" I knew it! I was scammed!

    "Haai! I will be going in a bit!" I heard her footsteps going away... Now, I just need to wake Firia up and-

    I looked at my breasts and she was already up... Muu, I wanted to see her sleeping face... Well, her sleepy waking up face is also cute, so it's alright!

    "Morning... You're loud as usual, aren't you?" Firia asked me... Aaaaawn, I can't get enough of this!

    "Sorry sorry, well, breakfast is ready, so I will be moving, alright?"

    "Sure, go ahead." She flew out from the space between my breasts and got on top of my head again. I got up and dressed myself up before leaving the room.

    The breakfast's food was pretty delicious too! It was wonderful to eat cooked food instead of raw fruits and herbs all day! \(^^)/

    Now to get the task at the association and earn some money! Good thing the rain stopped for now!
    "Producing a simple enchantment huh? Aria, do you know a thing about enchanting?" Firia asked me.

    "I know! I made my broom and my gloves after all!" I answered triumphantly

    "And how many tries did each of them take...?" She asked on a scolding tone... Muu...

    "Many..."

    "Haa... They won't provide you many materials for you to keep going through trial and error, you know?" She seemed like she had already given up on me... D-don't give up Firia! >.<

    "I-I will make do somehow! I'll definitely do it!" >.<

    She breathed a heavy sigh. "Try your best then."

    I walked to the enchanting room of the association... I wanted to fly, but Firia said flying through the hallways was rude... *pouts*

    Arriving there, an old man greeted us. "Oh ho, another aspiring enchanter I see?" He read my mind!?

    "Stop looking this flabbergasted Aria, anyone looking at your outfit would know that." Ah! Right! I wear a witch's outfit after all! Teehee?

    "Y-yes! I'll do my best today!"

    "Oho? An excited one then! Let's see..." He rummaged through some letters. "Why don't you try this one?" And handed me one.

    "Firia, what is written on it?" I asked her.

    "It is asking to produce a staff that improves the natural regeneration of one's body..." Firia looked at it with a bit of a pensive face.

    "I can't do that!" I promptly replied.

    The old man patted my head. "Good good, that's good, it's important to know one's limits, don't take more than you can take, it's the first step to become a good enchanter." He said with a friendly smile.

    "So I wasn't wrong when I thought that it was too complicated for a novice..." Firia said with an approval tone... Eh? He-he tried to trick me into it!? Don't approve of this kind of guy Firia! They are bad! Bad!!!

    The old man said with a kind tone. "Correct, it was a test, which your master wonderfully passed-"

    "I'm not Firia's master! I'm her friend!" >.<

    He calmly replied, "I see, I apologize-"

    "Take it back!" I said angrily.

    "I-"

    "Take it back, take it back take it back! Nobody is Firia's master! Apologize to her!"

    "Aria, you don't need to-" Firia tried to calm me down... No no and no!

    "Yes I do! He was rude to Firia! He needs to apologize!!!"

    "I see... My deepest apologies Firia-dono, I made a grave mistake." He bowed a bit... Good! And don't repeat it!

    "I... No, you shouldn't need to go that far..." Firia seemed embarrassed... Don't forgive him this easily Firia!!! >.<

    "Great! Don't do this kind of thing again!"

    "Of course, I definitely won't." His tone was still kind... At least he learned his lesson, so it's okay. "Now where were we... Ah, yes, you can pick any of the simple requests we have, there is a pile over there." He pointed to many letters.

    "I can't read!" >.<

    "Ah, but you can ask for your friend's help, can't you?" He said smiling.

    "I can, but..."

    Firia interrupted me this time. "It's okay Aria, it's nothing much. Let's go." She got out of my shoulder and flew while holding my hand, so I followed her... Ah, she is holding my hand... How lovely~

    Once we got a bit far from him, Firia said in a low tone. "Aria... The next time you embarrass me in public like that, I'm going to make sure you regret it!"

    "E-eh? But I just-"

    "No buts!" She said angrily and flew to the front my face. "Did you hear how loud were you talking? Everyone in the room was looking!"

    "B-but to Firia he-"

    "What did I say about no buts!? Listen here, it's a common misconception about elementals being summoned as servants of the summoners, you can correct that, but doing what you did is unexcusable. You'll properly apologize to him later, you hear me?" She was so angry... Why? I did it for...

    "But Firia..." I could feel my eyes getting wet...

    "Did you hear me!?" D-don't be so angry with me...

    "Y-yes..." I said crying... "I'm sorry..." Sorry for making you angry Firia... I didn't...

    "Haa... You're so hopeless..." She flew near my eyes and wiped my tears with her hand... Some smoke came out.

    "Fi-Firia!?"

    She flew to the other eye and wiped it out again. "W-why..." I asked her... It must be hurting her hands now...

    "Because tears don't suit your cute face~" She said smiling... Fi-Firia called me cute... Aaaaaah Firia... I- "Come on, let's get this done with." She flied back to my hand and started dragging me one more time.

    I followed her with a blissful smile... Today was turning out to be a wonderful day... Aaaaaaaaah...

    We got into the pile and I started picking the papers, and Firia read them out for me.

    "Boots that make you ran faster with the wind." "No wind magic..." "Right." I put it away and picked another one.
    "A sword that can cut through time and space." "Is this even possible?" "Probably another test request, it's pointless." I also put that one away.
    "Gloves to raise flowers easier." "No nature or earth magic..." "Yeah..." Another one gone, next...

    We kept on going through the list of requests one by one, but... We couldn't find anything I could do.

    "Hmmmmm... Is there a problem?" The old man asked.

    Ack! When did he get behind me!? I hastly turned aound and almost bumped with him.

    "Oho? Sorry for the surprise, I couldn't help but seeing you two still looking at it, and thought that maybe there was a problem." He still said with a kind tone.

    "Uhn... I'm only good with Fire Magic... We can't find anything I can do here..." I said while looking a bit down... Somehow it felt embarrassing to look at his face...

    "Fire? Hmmm... Indeed, you won't find any of those here, since it's dangerous, we don't leave it for novice enchanters..." He said with a tone of a troubled person.

    "Then..." I tried asking, but he stopped me.

    "But, since the little miss can only handle it, I'll have to make an exception, I'll fetch the fire enchantments for you." He said with a smile.

    "Tha-thank you very much!" I bowed a bit... Firia nudged me on my shoulder... Ah, right... "And uhn... Sorry for before... I... I shouldn't have done that..." I meekly said...

    "Hoo...? Apologies accepted, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be right back." He went up a few stairs.

    "Good job Aria." Firia flew and caressed the top of my head a bit... It felt nice...

    "Uhm... I'm glad it worked out in the end..." I replied before we heard footsteps again.

    The old man came back from the stairs with a single letter in hands. "You think you can do that, little miss?"

    Firia went to look at it. "Fireproof gloves... You never tried anything like it, did you Aria?" She asked me.

    "I didn't..." I looked down a bit dejected... I really can't do it after all?

    "It is no problem~
    This is a place for new fledging enchanters to improve the basic skills they learned at the academy. It is a place for you to try these new things, you should not need to worry about it." He said with a teaching tone... Eh? Really?

    "Ah, right, it was on the task description that it was a chance for new enchanters to gain experience." Firia said, and the old man nodded... It was!? I don't remember the receptionist saying that!

    "Well?" He asked.

    "I-I'll do my best!" I took the letter on my hands energetically.

    "Do your best! You can use any materials you find in this room, just make sure it's not something another enchanter isn't using already." The old man said while waving.

    We walked towards the center of the rom and started looking around for things... Well, mainly things that seemed worthless though.

    "Oh, this works!" I picked a random piece of wood.

    "So? How will you do it?" Firia asked me a bit curious.

    "Well, I have no idea actually!" She hit her face with the palm of her hand. "But, if I can try some different arrays on this piece of wood, and then throw fire at it, we'll find something, won't we? Sooner or later the enchantment should work!"

    Firia sighed. "You're really hopeless, aren't you?

    But well, it's one of your charms though~" She smiled... Oh dear Lucky, did she just say I have some charms?! Thank you thank you thank you dear Lady Luck! Today is the best day ever!

    I hugged Firia very tight! "Thank you!!!!! You're the best of the best of the best of the best Firia! I love you!!!" I kept on rubbing our cheeks while saying that.

    "Agh! Stop shouting so close to my ears! You're too loud!" She complained, but I was happy anyway, and she seemed to be too~

    "Ehehehe, let's get started~"

    I took out my totally not stolen knife from one of my pockets and was about to carve on the wood, but... What will I carve anyway?

    Muu... Let's see... I usually make right-to-left spirals to create fire, so... Maybe try left-to-right spirals?

    ... Why not? Let's try that!

    I carved the fireball array on the inversed shape on the wooden board, though I removed the things related to the range, explosion radius and all other complicated stuff.

    "Yosh! Now let's try it!" I put my glove near it and made a small fire... And the wood started burning... Failure... T.T

    I threw the wood on the ground to get rid of the fire.

    *pouts* "It didn't work at all..."

    "What were you even trying to make?" Firia asked doubtfully.

    "I thought that, since I usually make some spirals to cast fire, it would repel fire if I reversed them-" I got a flick on my forehead... Iitai...

    "Baka! What kind of simplistic thinking is that!? Did you put any command on the array in the first place!? Of course it wouldn't work like that!" Ah, it made sense... "Didn't you learn something like that at the academy? You need to put an order on your enchantments..."

    "I skipped the enchantment classes! They seemed boring and weren't compulsory!" Firia hit her face with her palm again... Then flew and kicked my head!? Gah! I fell on the ground... orz

    "Don't skip the classes that are actually useful for you! Hmph! Try again this time!" She scolded me.

    "Haaaai..."

    I got near the piece of wood and started carving a new array on it, well, on the non-burnt part at least, good thing it was a fairly big piece of wood.

    I tried carving with the revesed spirals again because... Well, I didn't have much of a better idea, and I added a few of the things I use on the fireball, to push the fireball farther, essentially. I didn't put anything else.

    "Okay... Here goes~" I used my gloves to start a small fire again, and moved it closer to the wood... Hey! It was pushing the fire back! Yay!

    "Ooh, it's a start Aria, good job!" Firia patted me! I was so happy! "Now try a stronger fire on it."

    "Ah, okay!" I threw the piece of wood on the ground and got a bit back. I was about to throw a fireball, but...

    "Not there you idiot!" Firia scolded me! >.< "What if something goes wrong and the piece of wood flies towards someone! Be more responsible!"

    "Ah, sorry... Then... There!" I put it pointing towards a more empty spot. Firia nodded to me, so I made the arrays for a fireball and...

    It perfectly hit the piece of wood and burned it very well... Muu... It's not working right...

    "Seems like it still needs improvement, doesn't it?" She asked me with a kind tone... I nodded and got back to it... Well, that piece of wood was too burnt now though, so I had to take a new one. Good thing they seem to be pretty cheap pieces, so it doesn't matter that much.

    I looked at it again with knife in hands... It was probably lacking in power... Then... Maybe add the array for the fireball traveling long distances?

    I tried it and approached my glove to it... And the fire connected again... Why!? It didn't connect last time!!! >.<

    I threw it on the ground angrily and it broke a bit. "Grrrr... Why didn't it work this time?"

    Firia laid down on top of my head and started playing with my hair. "Aria, how do you usually make your arrays work?" She asked me.

    "I... Power them with Mana?"

    "Correct!" She said. Yay me! I did it! "Then... What do you think this enchantment you're putting in the wood will power itself from?" She said with her teaching voice.

    "From... Mana too?"

    "Right again, and where is it taking this Mana from?" She asked once more.

    "From... The wood itself?" She stopped playing with my hair for a second before she sighed and resumed speaking.

    "You didn't pay any attention to Mana Theory classes, did you?" She said with a hopeless tone... Aaaawwwwn... Don't talk to me like that Firia!

    "I... didn't..." I confessed.

    "I know..." She patted my head a bit before going back to play with my hair. "Well, essentially... You don't use Mana to cast spells."

    "... I what!?"

    She giggled a bit before continuing. "This it the kind of reaction I expected... But yes, you don't.

    Essentially, you convert the Mana into Magical Energy and you use the Magical Energy to cast spells, alright? They are similar, but different." Firia's teaching tone was so charming... Aaaaaah...

    "I see! So...?" I still had no idea what this had to do with my enchantment failing! >.<

    "You see... If you need to convert the Mana into Magical Energy for your spells, you can assume that it also happens for your enchantments, right?" I nodded a bit, but not much to not trouble her. "In that case, where do you think the enchantment would take Magical Energy from? It surely won't be from a dead piece of wood, it would never convert it." She finished her explanation kindly.

    "Ooooooooooooooh, so it is lacking Magical Energy!" Firia patted my head approvingly! \(^^)/ "But... Why did the other enchantment work then?"

    "Good question!" Firia praised me! Yaaay! "And the answer is... From your array, the carvings you made have a few Mana converting and gathering functions, so they can power weak enchantments by themselves." Firia told me while still playing with my hair... Her fants felt really nice~

    "Ah, I see! Then... The new enchantment was too strong to be powered by that array?" She patted me again! I knew it!

    "Yep! So... What do you need to do now?" She pushed me a bit.

    "Uhn... Make a... Better Mana-refinement array?"

    "Ding, correct again! Now get to work!" Firia cheerfully told me while flying away from my head... Muu... I liked her there...

    "But... I don't know how to make one?"

    Her flight stopped and she sighed. "I forgot that for a moment... Ask the old man, he should have a book with some diagrams."

    "But I can't read..."

    "You can't, but I can, and I can show you which pictures you need to follow, now come on, we don't have all day, do we?" Firia said smiling... Aaaaawn, I knew I count on you Firia! Firia is the best! The best of the best!!!

    "H-hai!" I raised my fist up in the air and ran towards the old man.

    "Excuse me! Do you have any book on Mana gathering or refinement?" I asked him.

    "Oho? I thought you didn't know how to read though..." He asked in a curious tone.

    "I can't, but Firia can! I need to make some arrays for it in the gloves, or the enchantment won't work, so can I take look? Can I, can I?" I asked him a bit eagerly.

    "Of course, there should be something..." He turned around and moved to a bookshelf nearby. "Over... here." He picked a book out of it and brought it back to me. "Take good care of it, alright?"

    "Haaai!"

    I carried the book to an empty table and put it there, then I laid down on the table myself.

    "Aria... It's rude to lay down on a table." Firia said sighing.

    "It's okay, it's okay~
    Rather, read it to me Firia! Read it to me!" I was really looking forward to it.

    "Haa... You're hopeless... Alright, open it up." She flew near my head and I turned the first page open. "Next, next, next. Good, it's this one."

    This one? "But... There are no pictures?"

    "Ah, it's the summary, it tells me where the pictures are." She ruffled my hair lightliy... Firia is really smart, isn't she? I looked at her reading figure a bit entranced... "Uhum... Okay, it's this one. Turn around half of the book for me please." I had to look away from her and back to the book though... *pouts* I turned around that much. "A few more please." I turned a smaller chunk. "A bit more..." Turned. "No, you passed, go back." A bit less... "Hmmm, this is good enough, turn them one by one now."

    I turned them one at a time and Firia gave them a quick glance before asking me to turn them again... This was boring... I started doing it mindlessly while looking at her instead... Aaaah, much better...

    "Here, this one! Take a look Aria!" She said enthusiastically.

    I looked at the book and saw a few pictures on that page, as well as some text near them.

    "This one here is about gathering Mana, and this one over there is about refining it into Magical Energy... What do you think?" She pointed me the pictures and asked me, she was still enthusiastic though... Does Firia like books?

    "They seem... Big? I don't think I could put that on a glove..." I pondered...

    "I don't think so either, we'll need to adjust them to fit smaller things then!" She said we she said we she said we! I love you Firia!!!

    I hugged her and started rubbing our cheeks. "H-hey! What's up with the sudden hug!?" She seemed embarrased, but didn't push me away~

    "Hmm... Nothing~" I answered teasingly... Teehee, I'm keeping this one for myself Firia!

    "Well, it should be fine... Let's get back to it though!" She was still enthusiastic... I don't remember seeing Firia like that before... I'll make sure to remember it!

    We went back to the piece of wood to get working... It was... Very fun.

    Firia was happily helping me this time around, I guess she wanted me to experiment a bit by myself first to see what I wanted to do, but now that we had a plan, we were working together on it!

    The arrays for those things were... Putting it simply, too complicated, they had too much stuff, so it was really hard to make them in a small size without losing the details, and without the details it wouldn't work... So we had to play around with them quite a bit, trying to erase stuff at times, at others trying to merge some stuff with some other arrays, at others making a huge mess combining everything in a single space... It was a lot of fun!

    After a few hours we made one that was able to push most of the small fire from my gloves away perfectly, and that almost completely protected it from my fireball!

    ... It still didn't completely stop it though... Still... I don't think I could do much better... Maybe it would be alright? The burn marks were pretty small after all, and they only scratched the surface at best. It should be okay, shouldn't it?

    We went to the old man and held the sleeve of his mantle. "Hey hey! Take a look take a look! Is this good enough?" I asked him.

    "Oho? Let me see... A... Wooden plank?" He asked a bit doubtful.

    "Not just any wooden plank! Take a look at that!" I made the fireball array and shot it to the plank, which again, only left very small burns on it. Though I think there were a few more than the first time... The first burn marks might be interfering... Mmmm... The amount of uses against stong fires is limited then...

    He blinked a few times before talking... "This was... Quite unexpected... Let me take a look..." He walked towards the plank before inspecting it... "What enchantments did you use?" He seemed to be confused... Well, it was a big mess over there~

    "Right, it's like this." Firia flew over and started pointing them out. "This is Aria's unique fireball array that..." While she was explaining it, I just entranced myself on her voice... She seemed so so happy... I wanted to see her like this more... I definitely wanted it... It was a really captivating sight... Ah, Firia, why did you never show this side of yourself to me before... It was so... Lovely.

    "I see... It is a very interesting concept, I never thought I'd see an enchantment of this strength on something of this size." His voice pulled me out for a bit.

    "Th-then... Did we pass!?" I asked eagerly.

    "Of course... If you actually make some gloves like this that is. That is the task, remember?" He said on a casual tone.

    "Ah! That's right! It's okay! It will definitely be alright! There is nothing I can't do if I'm with Firia!" I hugged her tightly and rubbed our cheeks again... She rubbed them back this time... Oh dear Lucky, she rubbed them back!

    "Uhm... I can do it for as long as it is with Aria..." She said in a soft tone... You really can!? Firia, that is...

    That is... Why can't you do that then...? Firia said she couldn't... Not with me...

    "Aria? You alright?" Firia flew near my forehead and asked worriedly... Ah, I worried her, I was never one to stop the cheek rubbing suddenly like that, was I?

    "Ah, I am, I was just... Reminiscing..." I told her while trying to hide my feelings... I wasn't that good at it though, I knew that much...

    "Aria... You know I-" She tried to explain, but I didn't want to hear it... I already heard enough of that.

    I shook my head and gave a completely fake smile, I'm sure she knew it was fake, but it didn't matter. "It's alright, I know it Firia... Rather, let's make that glove!" I gave an artificially cheerful cry to throw that matter out.

    "Right... Let's..." She seemed downhearted, but she didn't pursue it any further. "There was no material specificed in the form, did the requester give any preference?" She asked the old man.

    "Material...? Something that was comfortable on the hands I guess~" He told us... He was a bit farther than before... He can sense the mood at least.

    "Okay! We'll do that then! Thanks for the help!" I bowed to him. "Come on Firia, let's do our best!"

    "Right, let's..." She sat on my shoulder while I walked towards a table and sat down.

    I picked a few threads that were spread on it, until I found a few good ones. Then, I started knitting.

    It wasn't too hard, but knitting wasn't particularly quick. I had to add a lot of details to them too though, as those details would be the magic arrays.... At the same time, I needed to add some other details in a way that wouldn't mess with the whole thing, while making the glove look pretty. I didn't know who the requester was though, so I couldn't make it too pretty because it could be a man... But I couldn't make it too bland as it could be a girl... It was a bit hard.

    But I did it after remaking a few points a few times, it was done, and looked pretty nice!

    I tested with the fire from my gloves and it was fine. I threw a very weak fireball at it and it also resisted perfectly... Good, this was enough.

    I got near the old man and delivered it to him.

    "Here you go!" I was smiling quite a bit.

    "Oho? They look pretty nice, did you test it already?" He asked.

    "Haaaai!"

    "Then, it is done, thanks for your hardword... Aria, right?" I nodded. "Here is a badge that shows you have completed the task, just bring it to the association and you should receive your reward." He said with a kind smile.

    "Okay, thank you very much!" I bowed to him and took the badge for myself.

    I turned around and started walking away, but... "Ah, and Aria." He intervened as I was about to leave. "It is not good to hang too much on the past." He said in a worried tone.

    I turned around and gave him a week smile, but said nothing, and then I left.

    Since the moment I started knitting the glove, Firia and I didn't exchange a single word.
    It was already night while we walked (Firia on my shoulder) through the association.

    We were walking in silence... We didn't feel like talking much... Until...

    "Ah, I guess time's up." Firia suddenly said... Time? Ah! My Mana!

    "W-wait!" I didn't want to part like that... I didn't want Firia to go away from me like that...

    "You know I can't simply wait when your Mana runs out..." She looked to the side, avoiding my gaze.

    "Your reward! You still didn't tell me your reward! I need to give you one!" I cried desperately... There ought to be something... Something to make things better...

    "Ah, that...? It's okay, you don't need to give me anything." She said on a gloomy tone... "Rather, Aria... I think it's best if you don't-"

    "A book!" I didn't want to hear it! I didn't want to hear it I didn't want to hear it! I said the first thing that came to my mind, the first thing that came to my mind when thinking of her smile. "I can give you a book! Whichever book you want! I'll make sure to get it by the next time you're here!"

    She dug her nails on her hands... She was shivering... "Aria... I can't touch a book... What can I-"

    "Then read it for me!" I shouted! "Read a book for me! I'll listen to everything you say! I'll hold it for you! I'll pass the pages for you! We'll stay hours and hours reading together!" I desperately clung to it... I clung to this stupid thing that seemed like my only lifeline.

    "Read... Together?" She gave a weak laugh... It seemed mocking, but I wasn't sure... Not this time... "You can't even read! How can we do that?"

    "I... I..." Please don't say it... Please don't say it...

    "Fine. I'll look forward to it, alright? Make sure to get a nice book for me." She said smiling... It was weak, but it was definitely a smile... Firia is smiling... Firia is smiling at me... I'm so glad...

    "Got it!" I said with tears on my eyes... I was holding them back, but I couldn't hold them any longer... I was crying my heart out... "I'll be sure to..." *sniff* "To get the best book ever!"

    "Make sure to~" She said smiling, her body was starting to fade, and a warm light came out of her. "See you again, Aria."

    "See you! De-definitely!" I shouted at her disappearing body. I hugged her tightly, and felt her hand caressing my cheek for a single instant... Before she was gone.

    Aaaah... Why can't I have more Mana...? I wish I could always keep Firia with me... Forever and ever...

    I walked towards the reception board gloomly... It just wasn't the same without Firia. I wanted to take a bath and sleep...
    ((If you read Nigotta Hitomi no Lilianne, you might think that the way Aria talks to Firia is somewhat close to the one Kuti talks to Lily... If you didn't... Well, my bad, it was the kind of feeling I wanted to pass though! >.<))

    Aria made some (mostly) fireproof gloves with Firia.

    Firia got back to the Elemental Plane.

    Aria is basically out of Mana for now. She'll recover it soon though.

    ((6513 words if you ignore the notes... *totally thought it wouldn't reach over 5500, but said 6000 for safety*))

    @Haxagen
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2018
  2. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    ((Thank god I'm a fast reader.))

    Noticing the rather sullen mood, the receptionist couldn't help but to put down the report, before leaning across the counter to pat Aria on the head.
    "You will meet again eventually, I believe. For that reason, don't feel so down. The farewell is only temporary, and I believe she won't want to see you sad, either."
    The receptionist sighed, putting a bag on the table.
    [ 1 L. Wooden coin and 10 S. Wooden Coins | 10 Merit Points ]
    "Get some good rest tonight, okay?"
     
  3. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    @The Everdistant Utopia
    OOC: Sorry, I have put it at the wrong place earlier... Q.Q
    In these familiar grounds, two persons happily walked beside each other, it was Umbrum and Niris, who were still with the same basket, Niris said as Umbrum was ready to take only Blue Leaves.

    “I will hunt a boar once again.” Umbrum waved at her who was entering deeper and deeper into the forest.
    Walking loudly, Niris looked at the boar who noticed her since a long time, she waited that it charge, after a few second, it did charge silently, Niris sighed and hit the ground with her feet, creating an ice pillar, diagonally hitting the boat’s throat, it was quite fast and simple.
    It couldn't breathe because its throat was crushed, Niris, after a sigh, lifted the boar and put it on her shoulder as she began walking back to the carriage, she was going to cook while…

    Umbrum was peacefully picking up Blue Leaves, there wasn't anything special about them, they were just like last time, blue, easy to notice. This time, he will be finished in two days, since he knew that in one day, he could fill half of the basket with herbs, it was just that this will be filled with the Blue Leaves he is currently picking up swiftly, cutting their the stem and putting them in the basket.
    When the day fell, Umbrum came back to the carriage and saw that Rinis was sleeping, next to the campfire, next to a skinned boar corpse.

    Umbrum sighed and began cutting the boar himself, slashing the muscles, ripping the flesh, while he was doing that, Niris woke up and silently looked at the meat that will be left, she touched and it and used a spell to lock it into an ice cube.

    “We can keep it for a longer time.” her words were the same as usual, as Umbrum finished to cut in pieces the boar, then Niris began to grill the meat, so they can finally eat something.
    After eating, Niris and Umbrum both said at the same time.

    “I am going to bathe~” they looked at each other, Niris snickered while Umbrum averted his eyes, nevertheless, both of them went to take a bath since the water source could be seeing as separated because of the rock in the middle of the water source.

    “Hmm… quite cold…” Umbrum couldn't help but mutter as half of his body sunk into the cold water, meanwhile, on the other side, Niris replied, appreciating the this temperature.
    “It's better this way, it helps calming the mood and it isn't harmful for the body as long as you don't stay too long in it.” Umbrum shrugged and couldn't deny sent her, with hot water, you will feel comfortable and stay too long in it after all.

    “Anyway, I am going.” After wiping his skin and drying his hair, Umbrum stood up, to take his clothes and dress himself.
    Niris thought that to mock him a bit for fun, she could peep but unfortunately he was already gone. Her face didn't change despite these thoughts, as cold as ever, she continued to relax in the water.

    _____

    The next day, as usual they ate boar’s meat willingly and cheerfully since it was as tasty as usual, fortunately, the ice preserved preserves the meat, there might still be some left for another day.

    Whistling, once again Umbrum continued to gather Blue Leaves as Niris was doing nothing and was simply looking at him doing his work.
    Cutting the stem, removing it from the ground, putting it in a basket, Umbrum repetitively did his job, cutting, gathering, repeating.

    He thought that it was the easiest way to finish this task, since the Blue Leaves were easy to find and quite common.

    “We finished~!” Umbrum said as he noticed that Niris looked a bit sleepy, nevertheless it seemed like she was trying to hide it by forcing her eyes to be open.
    Umbrum smiled and didn't say anything as he heard her talking while they were going back to the association.
    “...I should have slept…”
    That was because she stayed in the water for too long.
    "We are back !" Umbrum's voice seemed to be quite... Cheerful once again. Then he handed his report as he continued to talk.
    "Here is our report~"
     
  4. Exitiumm

    Exitiumm Well-Known Member

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    Task: Help Appraising Items at the Government Office
    "Thanks, Sorgre!" Luke says as he remembers the way to the government office, soon he jumps up and turns towards the exit of the association building and heading outside.

    "I wonder what I'll appraise at the government office? Last time I found this useful tool." Luke mumbles while grabbing the sheathed sword hanging across my hip.

    "I doubt I'll get as lucky as last time though, for some reason I've had a persistent nagging feeling in the back of my head ever since I took this task, maybe I've ate something bad but I don't have a good feeling about this..."

    "Oh well, whatever happens happens I suppose, and it's just me appraising items what's the worst that could happen? I accidentally stub my toe while appraising? Haha." I say before realizing I've arrived at the government office and head over to greet the receptionist.

    "Hey, your the guy that bought the sword last time right?" The receptionist says as he notices Luke.

    "Yep! Is there a problem?" Luke curiously asks.

    "Ahh, no. Why are you here again though?"

    "I'm here for the task again, is there still a need for appraisals?" Luke says in a bored tone.

    "Oh, yeah, head to the appraisal room, we're still swamped in requests for appraisal." The receptionist replies before doing whatever he was doing before.

    "Mhm, okay." Luke says before heading towards the room behind the receptionist desk which holds atleast a few hundred items waiting for appraisal, bored Luke picks a few up and examines them before writing the effects down.

    Object: Crystal Ball
    Enchantment: Projection Magic ( Active )
    Magical Power Cost: 1% of Magical Power from an average human a second.
    Usability: Useless except for con-artists.

    Object: Monocole
    Enchantment: Increase Sight ( Passive )
    Magical Power Cost: <1% of Magical Power from an average human for every minute.
    Usability: Good for fancy people that have blind vision and wear tophats!

    Object: A Cookie Jar
    Enchantment: Create Cookies ( Active )
    Magical Power Cost: 15% of Magical Power from an average human per cookie.
    Usability: Good for people who love cookies.

    Object: A Collar
    Enchantment: Tighten ( Active )
    Magical Power Cost: 1% of Magical Power from an average human for every second.
    Usability: Great for Sadists!


    "What an odd assortment of items..." Luke says with a chuckle.

    "I suppose this means I'm done with the task? I'll tell the receptionist!" Luke says as he exits the appraisal room and accidentally bumps into someone.

    "Ahh, I'm sorry!" Luke says as he looks up after bumping into someone.

    "You damn trash!" A voice roars out as Luke looks up towards a fat old man wearing expensive looking clothes and noticing it's an official.

    "Mr. Official, please forgive my folly!" Luke says with a desperate voice as he notices how bad the situation is, but he spoke too late as a palm was already landing on his cheek which dazed Luke.

    "You dare and try to weasel your way out of this, you trash?" The fat official says before slapping Luke again, this time making him stumble and fall onto the floor where he proceeds to get kicked again and again.

    "Please stop!" Luke says as he curls into a ball while being kicked as tears form at the ends of his eyes while recounting old memories.

    "Trash, I'll show you some benevolence and let you off with just this." The fat official says before spitting on Luke and walking outside of the office, soon the receptionist rushes over and helps Luke up.

    "Are you okay!? I'm sorry that I couldn't help." The receptionist keeps repeating like a broken record as he helps Luke up and uses a part of his sleeve to clean a bit of blood near Lukes mouth off.

    "Thank you, but I'm fine... This isn't the worst thing to happen to me anyway." Luke says with a sigh as he stands up and makes the receptionist back off.

    "I need to turn in my report, so I'll be going then..." Luke says as he dawns a cheerful smile soon before heading towards the door to leave.

    "What a sad kid... So scarred even at such a young age..." Someone behind the receptionist says with a sigh...

    Before Luke arrived at the Association he went back to the inn to clean his clothes and make sure no one can recognize his injuries before heading over to the associaton and turning in his report.

    "Ahh, right, Sorgre you mentioned something about a Rank-Up task, any idea when that will be?" Luke says with his same cheerful smile.

    OOC: *Note* The report he gives to Sorgre doesn't mention the official or him getting beat up. *Note*
    I honestly have no idea what to have put here for the last few tasks...
    @The Everdistant Utopia
     
  5. The Everdistant Utopia

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

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    "Well done. Here are your rewards..." Sorgre put down 3 L. Wooden coin, two merit tablets with the 10 number and a bundle of Blue Leaves.
    "Welcome back, Luke. The Rank Up Task should be coming soon. Probably once we've collected the information we need for the Sewer problems." He placed down 3 L. Wooden coin and 10 S. Wooden Coins and two tablets of merits with the 10 number.

    ((Sorry for the wait... and for the short answers... I got a bit troubled with my sleeping schedule....))
     
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  6. The Everdistant Utopia

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

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    Carrying a basket, a girl started prying inside a bush. Her hair tangled with the leaves, making her frown and carefully take it out before searching for a new bush. She was more than willing to tie up her hair, but she didn’t had anything which she could use to tie it.

    Trying to keep her hair in check while searching for the herbs was not an easy task, and even made her consider cutting her hair once she was back. But then she remembered that she had no money to afford a haircut, or even a scissor to cut it herself.

    Sighing in resignation, she decided to just continue looking for the herbs she came for today.

    “Why is this so difficult...”

    “That’s of course. You’re trying to search for Liar Flowers, which probably don’t grow around this place.” A man’s voice whispered in Elae’s ears with a reproachful tone.

    “How I am supposed to know… I’m not exactly an expert on herbs.”

    “Well, it makes no difference now.. You should just give up and collect anything kind of herb, since collecting a basket of Liar Flowers will prove to be hard.”

    The girl shook her head while checking another bush. “I can’t do that… at least not before I can find at least one of them. I need to save money with ingredients...”

    “You wouldn’t need this if you had just not sold your book away. I can’t help by agree with that young man from before.”

    “Edgard… You know that I’ve made my mind from the very start when I decided that.” Sighting something, she opened a wide grin. “Found it!”

    “No matter how many times you tell me that, it’s still painful to see a nightingale sever her wings to flee the cage.”

    The girl giggled a bit as she crouched down to see the plant before her. It was a rather small bush with some vivid red flowers, or so they looked like. “You’re too dramatic as always, Edgard. It’s not like I’ll die of starvation just because I sold off my book.” Touching one of the red flowers, instead of feeling like petals, it felt like leaves, confirming what she thought. “So it’s really Liar Flowers~”

    Liar Flowers were a kind of plant that grew sparsely near the academy. A strange plant that grew red leaves in the shape of a flower. As for why it did that, it’s probably because it doesn’t has the ability to spread if not by tricking the polinizing bugs into thinking that the leaves, filled with the ‘seeds’ of the plant, were flowers. “With this, I’m sure I can make my Spirit Crystals.”

    She was still lacking some ingredients, but as long as she at least had the Liar Flowers, it was enough for now.

    “You seem awfully excited. I hope it does works this time.”

    “Don’t worry. It’ll work this time.” Elae started picking up the red leaves from the bush and putting them inside her bag, rather than the basket. “I may not be the best transmutation alchemist, but I am confident that I’ll be able to make it this time.”

    “And where does this confidence comes from…?” Edgard asked curiously as she finished collecting the leaves.

    “The thing is… You remember our first task, right? The one to produce a potion. Although the one I did wasn’t perfect, but I at least knew the basics on how to make after seeing it being actually done.” Elae said as she happily walked through the forest. “You know, back in the Academy I never saw someone actually doing a Spirit Crystal, so my knowledge was mostly based on books… But the few books that dealt with necromancy were quite inconsistent… That was one of the reasons why my essays were by many times rejected, as they either relied on a single work or on what they called ‘baseless assumptions’...”

    “I see...”

    “But if is here, I think I can give a shot in making them!” Making a guts pose as she reached a clearing in the forest she was. “Uh…?” She let out a small confused sound and widened her eyes. “Those are…?”

    “Giant Forest Hogs.” Edgard said as Elae stared down at the three fallen boars in the clearing. Aside from them, there was what looked like the remains of a dead young stag.

    “What the heck happened here?” Approaching the fallen boars, all of them seemed to be dead, but there was no visible wound in their bodies.

    “I can’t say for sure but… Giant Forest Hogs are usually herbivores, but when needed, they scavenge carcasses of dead animals… chances are, they came to eat that stag, but ended up dying of food poisoning.”

    “That means...” Frowning a bit, she looked back at the dead boars. “... if they have poison in their bodies, they aren’t edible.”

    “That’s quite obvious.”

    Sighing heavily, she sat in the ground dejectedly. “And here I thought I could get some food...”

    “You might have gotten something better, though…”

    “What do you-” Noticing finally, she slammed her fist in the palm of the other hand. “I got it! Luckily, no necromancer appeared before I did!” She quickly got up and walked to the boars.

    She firstly checked if there were no other beast nearby that could interfere with the ritual. As she saw nothing, she proceeded to grab a bit of dirt to draw the symbols in the boars.

    “Oh!” While scooping out dirt, she also was pulling out the grass, and ended up finding something she recognized. Silent Grass, a type of grass that was used in necromantic rituals and grew in many places, mixing up with the normal grass and other kinds of grass.

    Since she thought that it would be a shame to throw them away, she started filling the basket with as many Silent Grass as possible.

    After filling the basket, she walked to the boars with the dirt in hands and a bitter smile in her face. “I wished I could take you guys back to the Association… I’d prepare many many catalysts to strengthen you… But as I can’t even carry one, let alone three...” If she recalled it correctly, the average weight of a Giant Forest Hog was two hundred kilos, and as two of those were already old boars, with one being a great old boar, and judging by their fairly healthy appearance it was safe to say that they were around this weight, or even beyond.

    Drawing the symbols over the boars with dirt, Elae started chanting.

    [​IMG]

    “Wake up,

    Hear my call,

    Answer me, thou of the unseeable.

    I welcome the defeated, the aged.

    Gather, gather, gather, gather.

    Four times gather, one for each element.

    Gather for me,

    Surrender to me,

    Learn from me,

    Obey me.

    I hold the silver key in my hands.

    Let this key be your liberation.

    Ghost Summoning!

    After finishing the chant, strands of white light started to drift from the dead boars, forming three spheres of light floating near the bodies. They were the ghosts of the three boars, brought out of the bodies through Elae’s magic.

    Without losing much time, the girl took out a butchering knife from her bag and started marking the chest of the boars with a small symbol as she chanted yet another spell.

    [​IMG]

    “Let here be made a new life.

    Your heart is twisted in madness,

    Your body is devoid of life,

    Your soul is empty of meaning,

    So I shall make you anew.

    I shall give you a new heart, new body, new soul.

    So that your flesh can serve under me.

    Lesser Undead Creation!

    Finishing the chant, Elae felt an incredible exhaustion assaulting her as she watched the three ghosts being crushed and twisted and mixed with the dead boars. As the process ended, the three creatures twitched a bit, then started moving slowly and getting up.

    “It seems the result isn’t as bad as I expected.” Edgard pointed out, seeing the boars walking and gathering around the girl.

    “Of course… I’m a genius after all...” Elae smiled while trying to stay conscious.

    “Okay, genius. Let’s head back now. We finished the task anyway.”

    “That’s true… But I’m too tired...” She said that as made a sign for the bigger one of the three boars, which approached her and lowered his body. Climbing up his body, she asked Edgard to give the boar the directions and ordered the other two to follow up.

    After some hours, she reached the city, going directly to the inn to eat a loaf of hard bread with water and take a bath before heading to the Association while leaving the undead boars at the Inn Keeper’s hands.
    "Umbrum, I'm back!" Elae said while showing a basket full of Silent Grass.

    @Naraku
     
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  7. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    "Elae~" Umbrum said while smiling brightly since she came back. After some seconds, expectantly, he began to read her report.
    Minutes later, Umbrum adjusted his glasses, starting to talk with a simple smile after finishing to read the report.
    "Hmm... It's great that you found something useful to you ! You did great work, fortunately, you didnt touch that stog... Anyway, here are your rewards !" Smiling as always, Umbrum put in her hands 3 L.Wooden Coins, a Bundle of Silent Grass and a tablet of 20 merits.
     
  8. Exitiumm

    Exitiumm Well-Known Member

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    Task: Collecting of Herbs Near the Association
    After gaining approval for the task Luke walked out of the association building and headed towards the outer-layer of the city in a bored manner, before arriving at the gates.

    As he arrived at the gates he noticed a bit of commotion happening between one of the merchants and the guards, curious he tries to listen in out of boredom.

    “Sir, please listen! We have to search your cart!”

    “Hmph, call your captain out and let me talk to him.”

    “Sir, the captain is currently away.”

    “So? What about your Vice-Captain, is he gone as well!?”

    “Yes…”

    “What is so important to require both your captain and vice-captain and when will they be back!?”

    “A security meeting about the sewers… The captain and vice-captain will both be back tomorrow, sir.”

    “Hmph, I’ll just wait here then until they are back!”

    Luke dawns a curious expression as he continues to listen to them before sneaking past them and towards the merchants caravan that has a tarp over it, curiously he lifts the tarp before being greeted by a few crates, disappointed he lowers the tarp and leaves.

    “How boring~ Oh well, might as well get on with what I was doing before.” Luke says while walking towards the start of the forest, as he places his first step into the forest he’s suddenly greeted by fresh air, far better tasting then the air in the city which smelled like faeces and urine everywhere.

    Happily he takes a deep breath of the sweet tasting air as a smile slowly dawns on his face as he continues to walk, sometimes jumping over a log in the way, as he continues he remembers the memories of when his Mother took him out to train his ability.

    Luke never figured out how she learned some of the things she knew, but always was curious on how she knew so many things, sadly he never got the chance to ask her before she disappeared like a fleeting wind.

    As Luke continues to remember old memories naturally the sadder ones surface as well… With a sigh Luke dismisses the train of thought and goes back to concentrating on the wilderness, which seems to have a voice of its own when a howl suddenly rings out, as the naturally curious person he is Luke goes over to investigate, only to find a pack of wolves tearing into the small carcass of large four-legged animal.

    “A Daybreak Elk…” Luke says with a sigh as he remembers the details of the creature which is said to bring about daybreak, soon he turns his attentions towards the wolves and notices it’s a pack of Direwolves.

    In boredom mixed with fascination, Luke continued to watch the direwolves drag their prey away to their den to feed their pups and let the largest one amongst themselves eat the heart and some of the guts, while the others begin to eat in turns after the largest took his turn, soon a scrawny and small Direwolf that has a different coat pattern then the others walks up to the corpse and eats the remnants.

    Luke curiously watches the small direwolf with the different coat, soon he realizes it’s a different species of wolf and seems to have good affinity for mana but he can’t tell what species this one belonged to, perhaps it wasn’t from this region and wandered from somewhere else, either way taming wasn’t Luke's specialty so he just continued to watch the scrawny wolf for awhile, soon the little wolf truly surprised Luke as it did something unexpected, it actually casted a spell!

    “A minor wind spell with some similarities to self-enchantments, how interesting… Perhaps I could learn a thing or two by watching how this little fella.” Luke says with a small chuckle as he continues to observe the wolf in how it casts its spell, carefully observing everything the wolf did, the slight fluctuations in the creature's mana/magical power, the small movements the wolf made while casting its spell, soon the spell finishes and the wind seems to gather around the wolf like a parent holding their child, soon a slight smile appears on Luke’s face.

    “Heh, thanks little wolf.” Luke says before sneaking away from the den and back to the wilderness, soon after walking he notices the sound of a stream and notices that he needs a bath, so he towards the sound.

    Soon he reaches a small stream with crystal clear and trees arching over the water, the sight alone is breathtaking and gives off a relaxing aura as if it’s inviting you in, detecting no potential dangers Luke steps closer to the stream and fills up his canteen before placing his bags on a nearby rock, and taking a bath.

    After taking the bath he decides to finally do the task and puts his clothes back on and walks along the stream for a while until he notices some beautiful water lilies floating across the stream, curious he grabs one and realizes it’s Moonwater Lilies, a semi-rare herb due to it only appearing near streams that have enough moonlight. This rare herb though has some good properties, it can calm someone down almost instantly and is a good conductor for both Light & Darkness magic.

    Luke grabs some of them to take back and continues to walk along the stream while whistling in a bored fashion, soon he turned around and headed back towards the gate wondering whether that merchant stayed here or not, after arriving though Luke is surprised to find a large amount of guards on surveillance, curious but seeing how he needs to turn the task in Luke ignores the guards and sneaks back in and heads towards the magic association.

    “Hey, Sorgre! Completed that task.” Luke says with a grin as usual as he heads over to give the receptionist his task report.
    *Cough* Seriously no idea what to put here. *Cough*
    @The Everdistant Utopia
     
  9. The Everdistant Utopia

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

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    "Ah, welcome back, Luke!" Sorgre smiles as he takes the report to read. "Hmmm.... It seems all okay. It's concerning that there are wolves so near the Association, but it's good to know that an expeditionary party took the investigation task."
    "In any case, here are your rewards. 3 L. Wooden coins, 20 Merits and a Bundle of Moonwater Lilies. Thanks for the hard work."
    Sorgre says as he sneakily whispers to a nearby staff to check on the guards' quarters.
     
    AliceShiki and Exitiumm like this.
  10. BB_Tensei

    BB_Tensei [Crystal Operator][Jack of all Trades]

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    @Haxagen

    Completed by: @TiggerBane, @BB_Tensei
    Task: Check the conditions of the Barrier at the Sewers of the Association (1st Level)
    Cadmium and Joan's misadventures in the sewers begin.
    "You know, just because I'm like cat, doesn't mean I like rats. The sewers sure are spacious, though~" Joan was monologuing in front of Cad as they were walking around the first level of the sewers.
    "Yeah you really seem to not like them" Sees rat hanging out of her back pocket.
    "Eh? Eeek! What is that bastard doing to my choco stash!?" Joan grabbed the rat with her claws, snapped its neck, drew a fire rune with its blood, incinerating it, and sighed in relief.

    "Wait, I can't save it now, can I?" The catgirl bent forward, crestfallen.
    "Anyway there is less waste in the sewers and the roof is fixed from last time also there appears to be less normal rats. Ohh no wait it's broken here. Cadmium is cleaning the sewer whilst walking along because he found it fun last time.
    "Doesn't look that old, are the rats doing the damage?" Joan asked to distract herself from the miserable feeling of losing some precious expensive goods. She then thought about taking an exterminaton task just for some petty revenge and stress relief, smiling visciously.
    Probably, because the association said that they had already fixed it last time that I reported it. It's either that or the rats are using hallucinogens.
    Joan just shrugged.
    Picks up the chocolate that fell on to the floor. "Why did you throw this out it's still fairly edible the wrapping paper hasn't even come off yet?
    "Feel free to take it, if you like it. I'm not eating anything that has been infested by rats. Rather grab a pigeon in public, than do that." She said with confidence.

    "Have you brought the materials I asked you for? My share is in the bag."
    Cadmium pulls a guards shield from his inquisitorial badge and returns it straight after. "Sure I have it. My item represents a guardian figure whom allows beings to enter and exit."
    "Sounds good." She nodded, then stopped in front of a circular opening on the floor, to the right of her. "The ladder down seems to have been removed. Can you find the exit if we jump from here?"
    Last time I came their was no hole to jump down to get to the end but if it's down here than yes.
    "Here goes nothing!"

    Joan then made a parabola in the air, disappearing into the hole, falling one floor, two floors, realizing there was a problem. She activated her claw strengthening tattoo, attached herself to the wall, then slid down in front of a horizontal tunnel, with a convenient ledge. She shouted out to Cadmium "Oi, throw down a rope, the tunnel seems to go a bit lower than expected!"
    Rope umm do you like water? Cadmium uses the water spirit rat to divert the flow of the sewers into a steady line connecting Joan back up to where he was.
    "Water is okay, sewage is a problem. Can't clean that, unless I take a bath. I miss Lee, she had cleaning magic!

    While I was hugging the wall, I think I heard something moving in the water below, and it's unnerving me slightly. Still, there's an entrance for the second floor on the way down here, let's take that."
    Sure but i'm going to send a message back to the entrance to make sure that they know of the situation by water spirit rat mail.
    "That spirit of yours sure is convenient. Saved us some trouble back at the compound as well. It has a name, right?"
    Well yes it does but I don't know what it's name is I don't understand water spirit rat also if we are going down a level it can help a lot more as it can allow us to take over rat kings brains if my mental strength is high enough to stop it's abilities.
    "Wait, wait! How many of those huge rats are there? I only brought my pistols, Chaos* and a few of the little ones this time around!"

    * Chaos refers to the oversized bayonet, that is usually on the handcannon (Called Mayhem). It's a bit shorter than a longsword, and rather wide.
    Hopefully a few hundred, if we are unlucky ten thousand this is rats of all kinds not just giant rats and some it might be good to bring the handcannon but for the giant rats and true rat kings it's just a waste. However the good thing is we only have to kill a few specific rats to stop them from bothering us. Poison rats, Rat kings and battle-scarred giant rats.
    Joan's pale skin couldn't get any paler, but her voice betrayed her "B-but the barrier still keeps most of them out r-right?"

    She sincerely hoped so. She didn't simply hate rats, the number advantage on their side was simply too overwhelming for a party of two E rank magicians. Well, unless they specialized in wide-area attack spells. The catigirl instantly regretted the lack of familar weight, and its ability to shoot out large amounts of enchanted shrapnel, though objectively she had to carry a cart of ammunition with her, to actually deal any damage to such a number.

    But it wasn't characteristic of Joan to be a pessimist, so she asked the most natural question.

    "They can be killed with fire, right?"
    Cadmium facepalms. Are you trying to get us killed! This is a sewer if there is a lot of methane which comes from people's shit it can explode so no fire until you are told otherwise. Let us hope to the high heavens that the battle-scarred giant rats aren't up here or the true rat kings. Also no most rats live up here but won't attack us because they are to scared of the humanoid retaliation
    "I know, I'll just poison the whole sewer. Nobody needs the dirty water, anyway! Just the damned rats..."

    Meanwhile a loud splashing sound echoed from below.
    You can't that will only make it worse as more poison rats will appear which means that more deaths will occur down here. Further what are you going to poison over 300 L of continuously running water. I thought Glace was the idiot.
    "Like this" Joan pulled out a pistol, infused the bullet with a toxic spell, and shot something down below. A loud screech could be heard, followed by a couple more weapon discharges. The splashes grew weaker, then more distant.

    "That didn't sound much like a rat, though~ I'm relieved. I thought one of them was going to bite me again... I'm going to the second level. If this keeps up, I won't be okay. Come, Cad." Joan threw Chaos at the second level tunnel, then crouched down strangely, found her balance and jumped straight into it.
    Does she even listen. Bye Bye bullets hello poisonous rats. However I hope that wasn't what I thought it was. Please be a swamp beetle. Please be a swamp beetle.
    Joan waved from the darkness below, unaware Cad might not be able to see in the dark. Or she just assumed he did.

    "Are you coming or not?" she shouted, as she demonstratively walked slowly into the tunnel.
    Just wait I'm making a bridge so I don't fall straight down to the bottom of the sewers.
    Cadmium lays down 5 metal poles created with his magic metal rod creation then creating a magnetic current he places the poles so that he can walk across. Upon reaching the other side "Missy I think you should remember our last adventure where I fell straight down into a pit of water but for me jumping and staying in the air after the energy runs out is nigh impossible I will always need something to grab onto just before the upwards swing stops."
    "Sorry Cad, I was out of line. I've got it together now, so let's move on."

    The tunnel was rather short, ending perpendicular to a larger one, where the sewage was dried up. It would seem the area nearby was closed off to water, and an obvious left headed towards a source of pale blue light, that colored the dung in an almost pleasant dark hue.
    It's fine Missy I never explained this properly. Cadmium is beginning to see Joan further and further as a young girl with 0 practical expertise whom needs someone to show her the basics of adventuring. Life though he will never second guess her on.
    Joan watch out here comes some rats from up ahead it's fine to light things on fire here their isn't any methane here but don't shoot too far.
    "They are still out of effective range. It will hit..."

    A bang rang out, a fire bolt growing larger in the air, until it exploded into the crowd of rats.

    "But I can't do any critical damage. I count around 20 in the front. I hope there aren't more!" Another two firebolts burned through the air, and into the rat crowd. "Can't we just electrocute them somehow? It's getting harder to breathe in here."
    Wait till they get within 10 meters but try to clear as many as possible. Then I will release a large amount of lightning luckily my water spirit rat is back.
    A small explosion occurs in the background right on top of the rats the walls gain many fine cracks throughout. The rat tide appears to be made mainly of Battle-Scarred Giant rats however there is one small rat in the back the total amount of rats is 50. The small explosion has killed 15 rats and the 3 other fireballs and shots have killed 7 others.
    "Aye! Cover your mouth, the next one is an imperial special from the South Sea!" Joan infused the worst fire spell she knew. It was recently developed as an anti-ship weapon, and dubbed by its unfortunate pirate victims as "Deathglue", or more often refered to as sticky fire. Once she became a mercenary, she vowed to never use it on a sentient being, but rats were fair game.

    A pistol was qucikdrawn, glowing with runes, engraved on the barrel, as did the full moon on her left wrist. The sound of strong wind blowing could be heard from the device, followed by a cracking one, as the weapon produced a stream of flame, flowing into the rat crowd. The catgirl gave her best at a warcry, to cover up her panic. Somehow it didn't get worse, as she currently felt Cad would support her, if things went wrong. Still, her lower lip was bleeding from getting bit on, and her eyes were fixated on the burning rats, as if she didn't believe the sight.

    The enemies cowered back, while the frontline was wailing in frenzy, rolling around the floor and walls. She finished it off with guns akimbo, shooting out an air blast to throw the flaming creatures back from a second pistol, while the first drew a firewall in front of her, and finally went out of steam.

    Huffing, Joan leaned on the wall, and turned to Cad "Your move. I need to recover mentally." At the same time, a battle-scarred giant rat entered through the firewall, screaming bloody vengeance, and all she could do, was prepare Chaos in a battle stance, aiming at the rat's throat.
    The flames caught the majority of the rats leaving only 7 rats alive.
    It's fine up to here leave the rest to me. Cadmium proceeds to stab the face of the Battle-Scarred Giant rat coming at Joan. He then sends a lightning arc through the fire and into the smallest rat. Channelling a small amount of lightning into his sword he fires it through the final 5 rats not completely caught by the fire.
    Missy you should move backwards away from the flames I'll be fine breathing isn't much of an issue for me you see so I almost forgot about smoke inhalation. I'll get the proofs for the rats so we can get a bigger reward and prove a point about the rats as these guys really shouldn't be here.
    "I'm fine." the catgirl nevertheless moved towards a place with more air. She resumed leaning on the wall, and absentmidedly loaded her guns with bullets.

    "It would appear we're near the chamber underneath the barrier formation."
    Yeah we should be near to it but we will know when exactly if any snakes show up. Cadmium says whilst slowly stripping the rats and telling the water spirit rat to collect a large amount of water.
    "Are you really fine in there? Is your body perhaps modified in some manner?" Joan asked, curious if Cadmium was under permanent enchantments or other kinds of magic improvements. It was a topic that fascinated her.
    Not at all I just have no need to eat or breathe as often as the beastkin or humans and what I breathe is denser then Carbon Dioxide anyway so this has little effect on my breathing. Further my skin only takes proper damage from fire at 322^O C. Cadmium carries the skeleton of the true rat king and the 2 other rats over towards the sphere of water created by the water spirit rat and submerges them within it.
    "A shame for not eating as much, it's one of the few true pleasures in life. This changes things up a bit, My mana is almost back up to full capacity, so I can fry the snakes as well, if it's no problem for you. For some reason here is a more mana rich environment. Isn't that weird for a sewer?"
    If you had thousands of mana infused items entering into one location everyday would you expect the ambient mana to be greater in that area. By the way I have no taste buds at all so eating isn't very pleasurable and is actually quite annoying for me though. Also it's good that we killed all the rats in that group so they can't bring a larger group back. Just wait for me to summon a few more helpers please. Cadmium starts chanting the summoning ritual on the rats in the sphere bringing out 3 new water rats the original one gains a crown upon it's head.
    "Also mana infused shit, I guess. Must be why the rats are mutating so easily. Such a waste for all this energy to go rats, don't you think? There must be a good engineering solution. Hmm..." Joan began to piece together an idea. Sadly they didn't give out merit points for research proposals to magicians on active duty, as far as she knew. This was an oversight, she thought.
    It's because there is little point in humans getting it as they don't reproduce anyway near fast enough for it to have such a significant effect on mutations and the like. Think of it like this in 10 generations of humans there are 10000 generations of rats that's the true reason for their mutation. Also as I believe at the lower level their should be something collecting the mana so it doesn't spike to levels where tears in reality occur. Unless that's something from a previous generation. A massive headache has struck Cadmium and a rat swarm is inbound the rat swarm contains 100 rats that are either giant rats or poison rats. Roughly 10 of the giant rats and 10 of the poison rats turn and attack their neighbours due to the water spirit rat king.
    "You are thinking too hard about the effect on living things. Ambient mana can also be used for devices... Is anything wrong?" Joan's ears the picked up screeching from the rat horde's general direction. She completely forgot about the conteporarily groundbreaking notion that mana pollution could open tears in reality. It simply hadn't happened yet on this continent. "If it wasn't for that blocked tunnel, we would have been out by now! Damned rats!"
    The infected rats kill 35 other rats before dying leaving total amount of rats at 45.
    45 attacking rats of which 5 rats at any one time can be held off by the 2 water spirit rats which aren't protecting Cadmium. There are 20 normal sized rats however they slightly glow purple and 25 rats anywhere from the size of a medium sized cat to a large dog.
    Joan waited a little bit, before the rats came into range, and opened fire, infusing ball lightning into the bullets. One of the bullets got stuck in to the target, the lightning evaporating the target from the inside, then grounding, whilst the other passed through, and threw arcs at the surroundng rats, but ended up heading down as well. "Tsk, I like the smell, but it isn't as effective as fire in this dry environment."
    5 giant rats are immobilised and 3 poison rats and 3 giant rats died from the effects of the 2 bullets
    34 rats left.

    The rats were closing in fast, Joan decided to shoot a final round, then go by Cad's side, as to not get in the way of his abilities. If I only had something to multiply the lightning's range! The catgirl suddenly spotted the rats tripping at their paralyzed bretheren, and got a completely different idea. She aimed at the giant rats, and shot another ball lightning at the ceiling above them. She then quickdrew another pistol, began to load a bullet, but the hand holding the weapon was surprisingly shaky, so she jumped back to her comrade, managed to load the bullet, and shot out another air blast, then switched to holding Chaos with both hands.
    The spark shot hits the giant rat arcing into the poison rats nearby to it killing another 6 however it's only slightly injured. The air blast knocks 5 rats unconscious and force 3 others to drown due to breathing whilst under water. All poison rats. The giant rats are only slowed minutely Cadmium is still unconscious. The final 3 poison rats are being held down by 2 water spirit rats and 3 giant rats. 15 rats remain in active combat stations.
    Joan didn't have much time to change tactics, so headed with a natural pace toward the approaching rats. She infused Chaos with ball lightning, whilst activating the Dragon Tattoo's active effect. Electricity arched down her arms, following the body's general shape to the ground, electrifying the surrounding water. Once the first giant rat was in sight, she sprang off the ground, and slashed horizontally at its body, pulling back the blade in front of her, then slashing vertically toward the water on the floor, whilst amplifying the effect of both the lightning infusion and the insulation enchant with a blazing Full Moon. She leaned on the oversized bayonet, low on mana. Mages that relied on power bursts had problems of their own.
    Joan was sick of wasting mana on the damned creatures. She counted 9 rats remaining, stood up, and vented her frustration on the stragglers.
    "You."
    She threw a standard bayonet.
    "Stupid."
    And another.
    "Sea damned"
    And more.
    "Scum"
    "Sucking"
    "Bottom"
    "Dwelling"
    "Faeces"
    "Eaters"
    3 Rats die from bayonets the remainder are killed by the water spirit rats.
    Joan didn't have time to celebrate, while collecting her bayonets from the filthy corpses. She wiped them on a cloth, which she afterwards incinerated while infusing the bayonets with a basic flame spell to sterlize them.

    "Oi, Cad, are you fine?" She shouted.
    Who are you exactly and who are you calling Cad. Cadmium looks around. Well from the looks of things I guess I must be Cad but who are you catkin?
    "Erm, I'm Joan? Did you hit your head badly? Try to remember anything from last week." Joan was actually concerned, whether she had electrocuted his brain, but dared not admit anything.
    Last week I have only just woken up my mind must have fragmented greatly after I fell asleep back then.
    "Ah, so you don't remember me in particular. We're on a task for the Association, right now. We have to check out a barrier that keeps these nasties" She pointed to the corpses on the ground "away from the levels up above. Do you remember how to do something like that?" She was also rather practical minded.
    Not really but well I will be forced under the surface soon enough anyway so it doesn't really matter anyway. Anyway what do you specialise in exactly I may be able to give you a small amount of help in progressing forwards.
    She decided to humor him "Magical engineering and enchantment, though my specialty is making things go boom with the help of both." She didn't really know how to explain her other power, nor did she want to expose it to somebody who didn't sound reliable at the moment.
    This is actually my speciality as it is my major hobby but I can see that this isn't all you can do but I can't help you with that anyway, I don't have enough time.
    Joan began stripping proofs off the rats, with the help of a small bayonet.

    "Sure, I'll hear you out." She was fully convinced Cad's unusual change was going to spit out something he simply saw somewhere, and would pay attention to spot any bits that came from her own exploits. She had seen something like that before, with people going mad from traumatic experiences. Patience was one of the few things one could apply to such situations. At least as far as she was aware.
    Well first I will tell you of a few natural phenomena which you should watch to further develop the imprint of explosions and the differences between them. Explosions of natural gases being released from pockets, the expansion of ice crushing a rock and forcing it to explode, Asteroids hitting into sub zero water creating an explosion, Lava escaping from a volcano and the death and birth of stars. Cadmium goes into heavy detail on each of these things not just listing them.
    "So those super novae are capable of extinguishing the world? And it's when stars explode? Then aeons pass and the aftershock can still hit us and intefere with mana?" There was a curious cat awakened. Though it sounded like tall tales, she referenced some of those phenomena from things she read in the past. Most of it was rather new, however, and she didn't even know what an asteroid was. She did like the notion of stars falling from the sky as solid objects, burning and crashing into the ground, due to their speed, though. It gave her an idea, she just didn't know how to make something fly that fast, while not ignoring natural laws due to the effects of magic. "Also, how can I make something go so fast it catches fire and causes a crater?"
    It's preferably that it doesn't hit the ground but into water at sub-zero temperatures actually but if you can an asteroid the size of a village can destroy about half of this continent from my last calculations. However house sizes may have changed.
    "Okay, so when things fall down from far above, they go faster and hit harder. I understand that. But is there a way to speed up a cannonball horizontally so that it works the same way? As in, can it be made to fall forwards?" From the ongoing conversation she got that she could actually use a number of methods to propel and explode things, but that would require some further experimentation, and she instinctively felt, it just didn't produce the firepower of starfalls.
    Well it can be done to an object but that then requires a mountain for it to impact into gravity reorientation isn't something that you can do and I would advise not trying to get things moving that fast just yet and for a faster cannon ball purer explosives and larger quantities as well as weight reduction magic can be applied. The weight reduction magic can then be made to stop as soon as it exits the cannon/gun to decrease wind inaccuracy. Anyway you should focus upon magnetism for your studies by yourself so you can reshape the bullets that you use.
    Cadmium takes a break and collects 2 poison rats and 2 giant rats and throws them into a sphere that has been created.
    Next these are some simple natural items which can be used to create an explosion with no mana involved in the process. BellowGardian Bean cans placed in a fire, gunpowder, Bellifer fire(Greek fire), Molotov cocktails and fireworks.
    These final examples are just some ways using pure mana to create explosions without chanting a spell and only using your mental strength. Compressed mana creating tears, Creating hot and cold mana in the air, Items with too much mana infused into them, Rapidly pulling mana out of an area and putting mana of three different types into a ball and rapidly mixing the three together.

    Joan scratched her nose, she remembered seeing a powerful mage explode on his own, when a rock hit him, while gathering mana for a spell. It was from a time before she awakened as a mage. A short time before that, too.
    "Thank you, that was rather educational. You sure are energetic, though, considering we just went through a couple of tough fights. I'll need some time to think and meditate, hopefully restoring the mana for the ritual. Let's change locations, before the rats smell the corpses and come over here." Joan was now both physically and mentally tired, but her mind wouldn't calm down. Who was Cad, anyway? This task was getting way too complicated. She would have to ask later, once they were out of the sewers.
    Huh what just happened why are you looking at me so respectfully Joan? Ugh what exactly happened?
    Cadmium does the water spirit rat summoning ritual getting 2 dirty water spirit rats(black water) and 2 pure water spirit rats.
    "I'm just in awe of your ability to switch gears so quickly. I guess you're back? Our shortcut through level 2 was quite the shortcut, and we're about to reach the barrier. We should go soon."
    That's because of my DID one of the eccentric sections of my mind must've come up oh well I'll figure out later what he said. Cadmium follows after Joan
    "I see."

    The pair walked through into the light filled tunnel. Before them was revealed a dome-like chamber with a huge magical array spread over the ceiling, from the center to the midsection of the dome. Part of the ceiling was collapsed, revealing a hole that lead up to level 1.

    "I think they should have called construction workers, not a barrier magician. It's a wonder it's still holding out!"
    It truly is a wonder. Cadmium responds to Joan's remark a few snakeys proceed to drop form the ceiling and king rats crawl out from the floor calling to their subordinates. Well this was unexpected.
    "I'll need to save up my mana for the ritual as we discussed. I can give you a simple boost, though, but it's your turn to shine this time!"
    Just start your preparations for the ritual and keep an eye out on the snakeys the rest have no importance in this fight. Cadmium proceeds to order 4 of his rats to engage in a formation surrounding Joan and the rest are free to hunt.
    The king rat approaches from the tunnel, along with his 35 subortinates. A snake crawls out from the hole in the ceiling. A couple more snakes slither past the rats. The king rat stops, points his snout at Cadmium, and the rats charge. 3 more snakes are in hiding. Rat reinforcements are unknown.
    Water Spirit rat king begins deuling for the control of the rats creating messages in their heads the other 3 water spirit rats (2 dirty and 1 impure) attack the snakeys.

    Monster Name: snakey
    Clade: Ophidae
    Monster Type: Monstrous Beast
    Element: Fire
    Monster Rank: D

    Description: A monster that is closely related to snakes however it isn't actually a part of the Serpentes sub order. They have a venom which has the purpose of confusing the senses of the opponent rather than having a direct effect upon a persons body leading to death. Snakeys generate a massive amount of heat after wrapping around a persons body to kill them as they prefer cooked meat to raw meat. They are actually fairly friendly so long as you have cooked meat on you prefering to eat that then attacking you.
    Cadmium focuses on to the snakes rather then bothering about the rats channeling lightning into his sword and seperating it into 5 arcs to hit the snakeys attacking from the roof.

    The front line is glamoured, with 3 of the rats entering a berserk state, attacking their allies, 5 enter under your control. The Rat King screatches loudly, and regains control over 2 of the rats, one of them berserk. He orders the non-berserk rat to subdue the berserk one. The rest of the rats are under the effects of a Fearless state.

    Rat skirmish total results: 3 dead berserk rats, 1 of your controlled rats dies from multiple bites, 10 enemy rats wounded, 2 additional enemy rats heavily wounded. 5 enemy rats are dead.

    The snake coming from the ceiling is heavily wounded, and slithers away. Stray lightning hits one of the flanking snakes, and paralyzes it. The other approaching snakey is half-way towards your location. The snakes in the shadows are still in hiding.

    Joan took freshly prepared vial of rat blood and gulped. Once she opened the stopper, the foul smell of it cased her to stop breathing for a second, while cheap copper powder was added to the mixture. The metal was chosen for it's properties as a minor repellent against the unnatural, though not one capable of purification. She carefully took out a brush, and began drawing the magic circle for the ideal projection on Cadmium's shield. At the center of it was drawn a small stylized shield with a jagged mouth of teeth. This was to be the symbol representing the simulacrum, while the first circle would represent the function, and the second would contain the spell. She remained concentrated on the task.
    Cadmium tells the rats to continue fighting each other and charges his lightning within the sword till he is sure that he can instantly kill the rat king. He decides to search out the snakeys and throw down his bags of powder at them so that they can be poisoned and set on fire.
    The Rat King feeling the killing intent backed off instinctively, which caused the frontline rats to charge directionlessly forward. The combination of rat spirits and converted rats fights with better cohesion and loses 2 rats for 6 of the enemy. 4 other enemy rats succumb to wounds. The remainder of the rats hold the line, while the Rat King summons reinforcements. In the distance 25 normal rats approach, aided by 5 poison rats.

    The snakeys in the shadows slither out and prepare to assault Cadmium, unexpectedly for them, getting covered in powder. Behind him the flanking snakey slithers, carefully aiming an attack.

    With the base component complete, another property needed to be added to the barrier generator. The simulacrum would hold both the properties of defender and trap, and thus the magic engineer set to add a bear trap to the shield, both to cover the magic circle, and to give it the additional property. She armed the trap, then took out a bayonet, infused a shaped burn spell, and amplified the effect with her Full Moon Tattoo, until she had a welding tool, perfectly capable of melding the two steel objects together. The process would take a few minutes of careful work.
    One of the rats guarding Joan jumps onto the back of the snakey behind Cadmium and claws out it's throat the 3 that have come out of hiding get lit on fire and poisonous fumes fill the air but are forced to go towards the rats. The sword is now fully charged and so is the metal rod that Cadmium had made to be used as a bridge earlier. The lightning strike smashes into the rat king directly and the sword blasts off a sort of chain lightning bouncing through all the rats that have just appeared.
    All the rats near the Rat King are in various states of burn wounds or paralysis, the latter foaming at the mouths. The snakeys are defeated as well. An additional snakey, hiding inside the crack nearby slithers away.

    A rumbling sound is heard, and a gigantic ferret, covered in rat blood enters the dome, blasting through the floor, bearing a battle-scarred giant rat in its mouth, that was bleeding its last.


    "Whew, it's properly stuck on!" Joan exclaimed, completely oblvious to the surroundings. "In the name of the Moon, transgressors to your domain will be punished. You are the light in darkness, the gateway between above and below. Upon you I pour the blood of your enemies." Oh wait, I don't have any snakey blood! Huh, there's a corpse over here. Joan quickly drained a vial of rat blood, then squished the snake corpse over the trapshield. This may turn out to have better results, than I thought. "You shall trust those bearing the souls of humanoids, and reject all those who don't. Upon you I offer their flesh" Joan cut off a small layer of skin, and dropped it ontop the object. "You are the tunnel between worlds, I name you Lepus Foramen."

    The shield glowed golden, then shifted its hue to green, floating in the air. Joan decided to test something, and extended her mana in a thread, connected to the object, ordering it around. It floated by her will upwards to protect the hole in the ceiling, suddenly spreading a transparent green pulse all around. Somewhere in the distance rat screams could be heard.

    From the hole in the ground a number of rats could be seen running towards the party. Joan was rather surprised at the giant ferret, and suddenly made a realization. "Would you perhaps have a man's soul?" She asked it.

    Meanwhile a battle-scarred giant rat crawled out of the hole, only for it to stretch a green film of barrier, that suddenly shaped itself around the rat, grinding it inside.
    A smoke came off of the Ramidreju and all the rats and snakeys started running further and further away from it as if they were scared. "I believe I should be thankful to you two for freeing me from my shackles when something dropped right on top of it." A metal plate with a shackle attached to the plate is still placed upon it's back. "Something strong has appeared down here and I will advise you two to follow me to leave this place we can talk more on our way out."
    Missy I believe it would be wise to trust him he seems to be related to the association in some way if I am not mistaken and the poison on his body seems to only affect non-humanoids.
    "Sure, but I need to make Lepus power himself, before I run out of mana. Give me a minute" Joan took out her enchanting wand, and began to carve runes on the back of the shield part of the simulacrum, as it was suspended in front of her.
    Okay then I guess we will have to spread it's name around and the meaning behind the name to increase it's power. Anyway what exactly are you and why were you chained up? Cadmium turns from Joan to the Ramidreju whilst talking.
    "I am one of the Ramidreju I myself am a poisonous Ramidreju due to living for far too long within these sewers. I used to guard the 3rd floor and keep it clear for experimentation by mages. I also cleaned the water of the sewer with my holy affinity of my body lessening the affect of sickness upon the lands through the power of my skin and the return of water to the lake. However something has evolved and taken power throughout this sewer it beat me instantly in a surprise attack and I still have no clue what it was but I know this and that is that it's very smart and able to manipulate metal in some way." The water spirit rats creep up Cadmium's robe and bring up a sphere of water so Cadmium can do one last ritual with the snakeys.
    "Cad, something is wrong with Lepus, he seems to be under severe strain, and that can't happen with rats! For now he's draining the old barrier formation, and the mana is supple, but the elemental affinity is bad... We've got at most ten minutes."
    That's not good but it was a patchwork job anyway you may as well remove it if you can as it works better then the previous one ever did. Cadmium finishes summoning forth four water Snakeys. "Yes it is a better measure then the previous one the magic association placed there as they didn't account for the massive increase of power that has occurred in the ambient mana down here overheating the formation long ago."
    "Yeah, our lives are worth more than a couple of large wooden coins. I'll concentrate the shield on this area, and ourselves. When we're up, somebody else can get back in here and restore the barrier range permanently."
    That should be fine I hope it doesn't break.
    "When you are done you should climb upon my back so that we can leave rapidly."
    Joan didn't need to be asked twice, she nimbly hopped onto the Ramidreju, and made herself comfortable.
    "Lean down and cover yourself we are going to be going very fast and may have to rush through a few road blocks to get out."
    "I like your style!" the catgirl exclaimed.

    The ramidreju broke into a run after jumping through the hole and in 2 minutes it had blown right past the blockage and all the way back out into the light of day Cadmium and Joan were unable to talk as their words were so far behind them by the time that it had moved to the other person.
    Encountered blocked entrance to level 1 area. Went through level 2. Successfully restored barrier at first, but had to modify the barrier generator item to hold off an unknown threat. Sewer guardian encountered and rescued party.

    "This task was more than we bargained for. It is my personal request, that both party members get the full merit point reward each. We nearly lost our lives down there to bring you this report."
     
  11. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    The receptionist glanced through the report, frowning as she took in the contents.
    "A Rat King...And something that could beat the 3rd level guard instantly...This is troubling news. Thank you for reporting it."
    Nadia seemed deep in thought.
    "As for the merit reward...I think it should be fine. In fact, the news you have brought back is more than important enough. I'll check with the guildmaster later, but it should be fine for both of you to get the same rewards."
    Nadia reached under the counter, and brought out two bags.
    "Take these, and then go get some fold and rest. You two have earned it. Meanwhile..."
    She got up, taking her flute with her.
    "It seems like a few things are in order..."
     
  12. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    @The Everdistant Utopia
    “I thought I said I didn't want to go make this task ?” said Niris as they were going back to the Government Office, honestly, true it was a fast job but somehow it was an irritating one because they were inside a building, but she quickly gave up when she saw that people were going to talk to them as they entered in the office.

    “You came back ? That's perfect, there is still many items to appraise, go to where both of you were appraising objects last time.”

    Silently, they did as he told, they went into the office with an overflowing pile of items that were slipping out from the desk.
    Niris pushed Umbrum on the side as she said with an annoyed voice, picking up a random object, it's not like she was going to be picky after all.
    “Don't do anything, I will do everything quickly.”
    This is why Umbrum took this task, he wanted to simply do nothing and only watch this woman does the work that was needed, in fact, he is been a sloth.

    Niris had a shield in her hands, she seemed to think deeply about it since it was an enchanted shield, she threw it then used the effect there was in it. The shield stopped mid-air, around 1,5 feet away from Niris sighed an picked it again, she threw it again and used her mana to activate the enchant, and the shield stopped mid air once again, at three feet away from her.

    “Spell ‘Stop’ is enchanted on this shield, it can be utilized at three feet around the user… well it makes one on three.”
    Umbrum only listened and continued to observe lazily with a childish grin.
    Then Niris picked another book, it was named… well Umbrum wasn't sure, he only heard her whispering after reading a bit of it.
    “...the unnamed one…” Then she turned toward Umbrum explained what kind of books it was.

    “In short, it is a history book or not, you know there is a woman who is probably among the strongest magicians, also a squirrel lover for unknown reasons, and this is a book of her life from the start to the middle, it was written by herself, weirdly, on this book, the cover was ripped, so I needed to read a bit to know what it was, nevertheless I am not sure if it's a recent copy or an old one, but does it matter ? It doesn't, the book is called “The Unnamed One”.” Umbrum didn't know how to react, just how much did she knew about such random things ? To an enchanted shield to a book which cover has been rip.

    He was just speechless as he continued to look at her working efficiently, he was a bit ashamed to be doing nothing however he remembered that she wasn't doing something except having fun by hunting so he didn't have any regrets.
    Picking up a jewel, Niris exclaimed loudly as she put it next to two others appraised items.
    “Oh that's an Onyx again.” It made three items but she picked another object on a whim because why not after all ? She took a pencil that was there, of course it was enchanted, she sighed and explained its obvious use which was.

    “It's to write.” Umbrum narrowed his eyes until he hears the next of what she wanted to say.
    “To write by simply using magic, that's all, it can be good to write economically, as long as you have enough mana or mana crystal, you can write as long as you want to.”
    Umbrum nodded agreeing with her point of view, it could be quite useful, especially to write report.

    “Niris ! Gimme the pencil, we will be able to write peacefully the report this way !”
    Niris handed the pencil to Umbrum who began to write their report, since he was going to be busy for a while and won't move, a last item won't hurt right ? She picked up a potion and quickly said after smelling it.

    “Trash…” It was an mixing of different potions, probably someone who wanted to put many different effects in the potion… it has the scent of a Paralyzing Potion, the color of a Poison and the substance of an acid.
    And the effects were somehow canceling each other because they are seriously differents, and it had the worst scent you could smell, even cures doesn't smell that shitty, it even made her sneeze.
    “...urg… I think I am going to puke…” After seeing such a terrible, pathetic and disgusting potion, she tried to change her mind by noting on sheet of paper what has done during this time.

    After finishing to write what kind of items they or mostly she appraised, Niris put all of the items in a box, including the pencil, for sure, Umbrum didn't steal anything for sure. Since he had already stolen a carriage, she was a bit wary.
    Normally they have done a good job.

    “Hmm… seems good to me.” the employee said as he looked at the items that were appraised, it seemed to be good quickly he put the items in the stocks and didn't even talk to them afterward.
    “Have a nice day~” Umbrum said as he left peacefully, he didn't mind this seemingly rudeness while Niris stayed silent and seemed to care a bit more than this fool actually, she sent a glance to this scoundrel before leaving.
    "We came back !" Umbrum said as he handed over the report that he wrote while Niris was doing all the work. While Niris was sneezing beside him while cursing internally at a certain person who is making her sneeze like hell.
    "...damn you..." She didn't know who this "you" was, but if she met him or her, she/he will be sure to be met with a good little old punch.

    OOC: I had ideas for items... Still short 1K words... don't know how to make a task like this longer though ? Except by side-tracking which I wasn't doing since... well I had no ideas but for the next I have~
     
  13. The Everdistant Utopia

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

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    "Ah, Nilis, Umbrum! Thanks for the hard work... both of you..." He smiled wryly as he said the last part. "In any case, here are your rewards. 3 L. Wooden coin, 10 S. Wooden Coins and 20 Merits."
     
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  14. BB_Tensei

    BB_Tensei [Crystal Operator][Jack of all Trades]

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    @The Everdistant Utopia

    Task: Collecting of Herbs Near the Association
    "It's granted. You can ask a basket to the Quartermaster, but you'll need to bring it back without holes or severe damages. Alternatively, you can buy a basket in the city. That's all. I wish you the best of lucks. Godspeed."

    Joan didn’t like his attitude, but wouldn’t waste time arguing with a receptionist, especially considering this guy’s reputation. What had happened to Nadia, anyway? She took another look at the task description:

    “The Association has a constant need of herbs for cooking, healing and experimentation, but the Greenhouse doesn’t provides enough to completely deal with the demand. Your task is to collect a basket of a single herb near the Association.”

    There was a mistake in the description, that even an outsider to the Central Continental Common could spot, or was that a Northeastern Nuffian dialect? She had never been in that part of the country, so she didn’t know. They said it was like maiden laid sideways in the sun, as in half of it had been burned, and the other half luscious and pristine. The reason for that were the annual forest fires, that slowly expanded the plains toward the Belgard border.

    There were many theories as to why this was so, one of them being that a dragon lived in the area, that sneezed each autumn, but the most common one among the locals was sabotage by the Lzarier. For this reason, the local lord received multiple petitions by the villages under his charge to send patrols in search of any would-be saboteurs. As of recent the aristocracy of the country has been changing generations, thus the new lord, aiming to popularize himself with the people, made it a mandatory annual event to conduct a military drill, gathering wizard units, knights and local temporary recruits to train in searching and defeating would-be invading saboteurs, spies, and other such subversive types of outside attack.

    This event proved to be so popular with the locals, that their neighbours to the south had a fad, where each time the military drill failed to locate any sort of real infiltration, they would burn a scarecrow in the town or village center, tell each other jokes about the northern “ghost hunters”, whose main achievements were catching old maids in the woods, and drink the night away, singing and dancing at regular intervals.

    Oh, I arrived at the quartermaster’s. Should have asked for directions, though with how the signs were placed, I guess the mages here don’t really know left from right!

    “Hello there! Do you work here?” Joan asked a young blonde and blue eyed boy with a rather naïve expression.

    “Erm-eh? Ah, y-yes, I’m responsible for the general goods section. C-can I help you with something?”

    Joan was unsure what was with the boy, who looked rather unnerved, blushing and looking away at the door behind her.

    “I’m looking to get a simple basket. You know to hold… And put things in?” Joan didn’t want to waste time here, but tried to keep a good tone of voice, at least.

    The boy then blushed even further, eyes swimming. What’s with that guy?

    Then she noticed he was staring at her chest area, looked disappointed, but then became fixated somewhere between her thighs. She considered slapping the little bastard, but made a fist and calmed down.

    “Eyes up. Yeah, just like that. So where can I get a basket?”

    “M-may I see your magic association badge?” He was looking so hopeful.

    “If you want my name, you can just ask. It’s for the ledger, right?”

    “Err, right. I’ll bring it right away!” he darted into a side room. Out came a large middle aged man with a scar on his face. Now that was proper quartermaster material.

    “What do you need?” despite his looks, his voice sounded courteous. Must have been a non-magician.

    “Ah, somebody who actually does work around here. I just came for a basket.”

    “Gathering herbs? Must have just started out? Oh I don’t mean to pry, just need to write down your purpose for requesting the item, as well. Don’t look at me like that, I haven’t seen your face around, so I assumed you’re new. Ah, Tony! Good, give that to me, I’ll do the registration process for you.”

    “Thanks, I’ll tell my dad you’ve been very helpful!”

    Joan wanted to roll her eyes, but just silently gave her badge to the old man, wondering who gives such a snot a powerful name, like ‘Tony’.

    “I’ll bring the basket to you in a moment. Wait here. Tony, can you bring the ledger back? It’s proper procedure.”

    “Ah, I understand…” the boy dejectedly brought the book back into the room. If you are going to act like that, at least have a spine, when it counts, you…



    A few minutes later a slightly peeved catgirl magician exited the Quartermaster’s and headed for the Botanical Garden. It was early in the evening. The facility was placed slightly outside the main building, in a large walled off area, with a decorative garden outside of it. The park was commonly used as a resting area for higher ranked mages, while the lower ranked plebians were generally chased out by their seniors. This was done both for amusing harassment, and to make sure the newbies knew to respect the area, and not damage or litter inside of it, even when they ranked up.

    Her sensitive ears picked up a distant bang and the sounds of glass breaking, when she bumped into one such high rank persona.

    “Excuse me!”

    “Watch where you’re going. Hoo? Is that a basket in your hand? I understand. Work hard little one. Hehehe~”

    This was Joan’s limit. Today was just full of annoyances, and she only took that task to scout out the area for a more important one. A flash of moonlight headed at breakneck speeds toward the laughing man’s ribs. It hit slightly underneath them with pinpoint accuracy, and the help of magically solidified punch.

    Seeing the aftermath on the ground weeping, she suddenly realized what she had done, and darted off into the dark.

    Wow, those seniors could sure take a hit. A normal man would have died there. I’ll need to omit this from the report…


    A few minutes later, while hiding in the bushes, a large pillar of flame was seen extending to the skies, along with an angry shout. Then another and a third. After that was a scream of pain, and distant whimpering.

    She could hear people running and shouting, and snuck in to see what was going on. It would seem the senior managed to burn himself somehow, and a couple of uniformed mages were carrying him off gently, but quickly toward the main building. Wow, what an idiot.

    Joan nonchalantly went into the botany garden, put on a concerned face, and shouted.

    “There’s a fire in the garden! Quick somebody help!”

    “Oh shut it, this kind of thing happens all the time. All that will happen will be the Botanist Head kicking the poor mutt who did it all the way to Bellifer and beyond.”

    “Oh, okay…”

    “Ah I see ya are here for the herb gathering quest. All of ya new mages look rather eccentric, but most of ya have the right mindset. We’re currently in need of Blue Coriander. Do you know what it looks like?”

    “I’m familiar, yes. It’s like the one in your hands. The taste is rather not to my liking, but they keep putting it into meals down south.”

    “Huh? Why waste a perfectly good healing herb in food?”

    “You tell them! So I just need a basket full of these? All of it, or just parts?”

    “We usually collect just the leaves, but today we’ve got a request for the roots, so you might as well bring them in whole, since I don’t know what else they might need. Since the amount would be below the usual quota, you’ll need to bring two baskets, instead of one to complete the task. Is that fine?”

    “Well, frankly, no. I bought this with my own money, so I’d rather not waste more on a single task. They don’t pay E ranks that well.”

    “Why don’t you get another one from the Quartermaster’s? It’s not like you’ll encounter any beasts while searching for this particular herb.”

    “The boy over there looks at me strangely, and seems to be trouble. I avoid him on principle.”

    “You mean Tony the new guy?”

    “Don’t tell him I was here. Please, don’t even mention me to him.”

    “Okay, okay. Fine just bring back one basket, it’s what’s written in the request anyway.” And in a smaller voice he added “And wear something less revealing if you don’t like the attention.”

    “I just dislike creeps, that’s all. Good men are allowed a look.” She winked.

    “… Just go, I’m busy, as you can see.”

    “I’ll see you in the morning!”

    “Yeah. Good luck!”


    Outside of Head Quarters it was a steep walk down under the moonlight. The night was filled with quiet natural sounds, that harmoniously surrounded Joan, and filled her with bliss. She wanted to hunt. She would have to gather herbs instead. Or maybe hunt a bit while gathering herbs? She had a dilemma, and it would be solved soon, but for now she had to enter the wilds.

    A kilometer down the road there was a fork in it. One lead to the highway that eventually crossed the capital and went into Schattenlicht, the other was toward the nearby villages, and eventually the mountains. It was obvious which one to pick, but something caught her attention, before she could take that road less travelled. Something was glowing in the dark night, looking a pale purplish flare. The light noticed it was being observed, shook a bit, darted left and right, then disappeared into the fields.

    Joan gave chase, instinct overwhelming her. The light was so damn fast, she had to power up her Half-Moon with her Full-Moon to manage barely catching up! Soon she entered a forested area, and the terrain became steep. Jumping up the slope, she stepped off tree trunks, barely touching the ground, as the wisp in front of her seemed to dance around to taunt her.

    She jumped at it, trying to claw it down, only for it to explode in her face brightly, pushing her down on the ground. She blanked out for a second, and when she came to, she was facing a beautiful maiden, made of pale purple light. She wore a dress of white flowers, that fitted close to her body, only to spread out from the waist down and disappear into fog, inside which her bare legs were visible.

    “Hahaha! This was fun! You are fun, I like you!” the spirit spoke in voice feminine voice, with a hint of childishness.

    “You! What are you anyway?” Joan asked in surprise.

    “I’m the guardian of this place. Or at least I think I am, I was recently born after all, so I don’t really know~”

    “So these plain plains are in fact so pristine and pretty? I’d have never known.” Joan stalled for time, trying to think. What was with this situation? She got lost in thought about geography, and suddenly she was chasing after a light, only to end up on her back, with a pretty girl on top of her. That’s not how it worked for her, she was the one on top. This had to be corrected.

    The following action made the glowing girl giggle, and she disappeared into a mist, only to reappear behind Joan. When the catgirl turned, she received a deep kiss.

    “I have given you my blessing. So long as you are not too far away from here, you shall be under my protection. You can now safely run, dance and rest underneath the moon, even in winter, so long as you’re within my domain.”

    Joan raised her basket. “I’m sorry, I only came into your domain to gather some Blue Coriander. Just enough to fill this basket.”

    “This is fine, my good friend! Here, I’ll fill it up for you, and then we can play some more!”

    Joan didn’t have a reason to refuse the fun, but had a final question. “So where does this domain of yours extend to?”

    “It stretches from the river the east, to the other side of the mountain to the west, south up to the lake, where my sister dwells, and north up to the horizon that can be seen from that large stone thing over there.” She pointed at the Association Headquarters.

    “Do you know of the creatures below that?”

    The spirit shook her head “No, I only care for the surface. Recently I wasn’t able to see much around, as my sister’s domain suddenly expanded into mine. Now there are all sorts of new lives under my care, but they don’t listen to me for some reason. It’s sad.”

    “What lives?” Joan wanted to obtain more information quick, this would help her in her next task.

    “Nevermind that, let’s play!”

    “But-“

    “Don’t you like me anymore?” the spirit asked with earnest sadness. Joan had to quickly correct herself.

    “Of course I do! Let me show you something nice!”

    Joan demonstrated a strange fluid dance, with motions, that demonstrated more power than grace.

    “Oooh, I don’t know that one!” The spirit caught Joan’s hand and spun around her in a much more feminine motion, clapped and giggled. Joan stood still for three more claps, before understanding the rhythm, and joined in, vaguely beginning to hear music in the background. What felt like thirty minutes of dancing, was in fact a long time, lasting until sunrise, as they danced, then drank some strange honey wine, that made Joan blank out, and then danced again.

    When the whole thing was over, and the morning sun rose over a thin layer of fog, Joan was left wondering why she accepted the spirit’s invitation so easily, but scratched it out as stress relief, and turned to face her companion.

    “I will have to go now, but I hope we meet again.”

    “We can always meet; you live inside my domain.”

    “That is true, but you won’t suddenly enter my room in the dorms will you?”

    “If it pleases me, I will!” She laughed “Don’t worry, I don’t like that large stone. It has unnatural energies all around it. Take this before you leave!”

    The spirit gave Joan a flask. “Once every seven suns it will be filled with the mead we drank tonight. I hope it will remind you to visit. You can also summon me, but the way how will be revealed to you later on. Goodbye, my friend. Until next time!”

    “Thank you, I will come again!” Joan smiled in response.

    The way back was in a haze, but she vividly remembered the sight of the morning dew shining underneath the rays of the sun. It was like she was seeing the nature around the Association anew, and it was mesmerizing.


    “You sure took ya time.” A sleepy botanist met Joan in the Garden.

    “I brought everything. They are still fresh.”

    “Good. Let me see… Yes everything seems to be in order. I don’t know what ya did with the rest of the time, but good work nonetheless. Go take this back to the receptionist.”

    “Okay!”


    Joan carefully snuck back at the Quartermaster’s, left the basket there with a message whom it was from, and cheerfully took the note to the receptionist, thinking about how she was going to end a good night with some sleep in the sun.
    Recieved a basket as instructed, left during the evening, met with a strange creature, that identified itself, as a nature guardian. Recieved a magical flask as a gift.

    "This is for you from a botanist. Thank you for the tips."
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2018
  15. Exitiumm

    Exitiumm Well-Known Member

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    Task: Search for other Storage Areas at the Sewers of the Association (1st Level)
    “Thanks, Nadia!” Luke says with a smile before leaving the association and heading towards the sewers.


    After arriving at the sewers he began his tireless search for other storage areas.


    “Maybe I should go this way?” Luke says as he notices other unexplored paths before heading down one, soon he arrives upon a dome-like area and marks it down on the map and goes to search for more.


    After searching for around 3 hours he only came up with 2 storage areas and marked them on his map, curiously he goes to storage areas he previously found and found most of them were only half-full compared to yesterday.


    “Could something of incentived these rats into rushing all the waste into a different area?” Luke curiously wonders as he notices the storage area was far more emptier this time.


    “It doesn’t make sense, though? How could they transport such a large amount in such little time without being noticed?” Luke says before noticing a small rat going into a tunnel on the sewer wall.


    “So that’s how huh? You tricky little rats.” Luke said before writing it down into his report and noticing nothing else around heads out of the sewers and back to the association to turn in his report.
    OOC: Small report because I just woke up and forgot to do it yesterday...
    @Haxagen
     
  16. The Everdistant Utopia

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

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    "Welcome back." Sorgre started reading the report and the note given by the botanist before handing it to a nearby staff. "Thanks for the hard work. Everything seems okay for me."
    Smiling, the receptionist added. "Ah, it's good that my tip was useful, so let me add another tip..." Taking out the leather pouch with the rewards, he placed it over the table. "Next time you need to vent off you anger, do it in the Training Grounds. You never know when there could be watching eyes nearby." Although he had a full smile in his face, his eyes weren't smiling at all. "That's all. Your rewards here are... 3 Large Wooden Coins, 20 Merits and a bundle of Blue Coriander. Have a good day."

    ((You know... there are Watchers inside the city taking note of trouble caused by mages, so I'd advise you to beat up your problems in a black alley, or just don't...
    Condoned for the yuri, though.

    Also, wonderful story, but I didn't quite caught with the part of "wrong description"... I mean, you went in a complete tangent...))
     
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  17. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    ((I see.))
    Reading through the report, Nadia frowned.
    "Tunnels...We may need to either launch a mass rat extermination, or use earth magic to seal up the holes, or this will only get worst..."
    She took out a bag from under the counter, placing it on the table.
    "Here you go."
     
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  18. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    @The Everdistant Utopia
    "Hmm ? I am fine~ Niris is just taking a rest~" replied Umbrum at Sorgre's question with the same smile.

    Going toward the library, Umbrum was alone this time, he was smiling as always.because he had nothing else after all.
    He was alone because unexpectedly, Niris was sick since apparently the potion had a terrible effect on her nose, or maybe she just wanted to take a rest. He didn't really know but whatever, he will just do his work as usual he will be slower but he didn't really care.

    “Hmm ? Umbrum was it ? You are alone today ?” The librarian asked with a polite smile, Umbrum bowed slightly then replied on a simple tone.
    “Yes, Niris is currently sick so she can't help. I will be alone.” The librarian patted his shoulder with a smile as he pointed at a pile of books, a hundred. Since he already knew what to do, he smiled and went toward it silently.

    “Well, she will get better so don't worry too much about it.” As he put the first book into a shelf, he heard the librarian talking to him.
    “...What's your name ?” asked Umbrum after nodding and smiling in relief. Hearing that, the librarian stayed silent for some seconds before replying with the same tone as earlier
    “Irel, Irel is my name.”
    As he put the tenth book on a hundred, he stayed silent as he continued to work quietly and slowly, contrary to when Niris was there, it made quite a great contrast, Irel narrowed his eyes many times when seeing his face, especially his eyes who seemed to be… empty. There was nothing in there, there wasn’t any kind of emotions except maybe a certain loneliness.

    “Since when do you know Niris ?” He couldn’t help but ask, to him, it didn’t seem like the both of them knew each other since a long time. Nevertheless, considering how much this boy seemed desperate, he thought there was something.
    As he put a seventeenth book in a shelf, Umbrum replied on in a perplexed tone, he didn't understand why this middle aged man was asking that.

    “Hmm… a bit more than one or two weeks I suppose ? Well, that's not really important.” Hearing that, Irel continued to think about why this young man previously so cheerful seemed to be so gloomy, did he have a crush on Niris ? It didn't seem so when thinking about his lack of reactions or intensive emotions. There wasn't anything, he just seemed to be lonely.

    After putting a thirty-first book, Umbrum sighed and continued to do his job silently while Irel was bothered by the lack of life he was expressing at the moment. Honestly, that was depressing there was someone yet no noises except the ones of cold and harsh book that are slowly getting back into the shelves.
    Umbrum decided to take a break after sixtieth book, he sat and began to read a book that was about the gods who abandoned the world, normally, the librarian wouldn't let someone read without asking or authorisation, but since he has been working, he let him to do and also his attitude wasn't really pleasant right now, talking with him will put Irel in a bad mood somehow.

    “...abandoned…” Umbrum muttered as he read the book concerning gods, his pupils became astray as he thought about this word more and more until he gets out of this short trance.
    “Ah ! Irel ! Sorry for taking this book without asking ~” Hearing his voice, Irel seemed to be quite astonished about his sudden change of attitude, wasn't he all gloomy earlier ? And now, when he looked at Irel, his face was smiling once again, his voice is high tones once again, as the previous situation seemed to be non-existent. He couldn't understand why.

    “No need, it's not like you stole the book or something else, you just took a short break and read a book that needed to be put back correctly in a shelf.” he implied that Umbrum wanted to be sure if the book was going in the right line of books, Umbrum smiled cheerfully as Irel took a book that was regarding psychology, the author was named Elae Vaodia, he began reading earnestly because he wanted to understand this boy’s attitude.


    “Irel ? What are you doing ?” Umbrum asked as he began once again to organize the left books, he was curious since Irel seemed to be quite agitated, he was making a bit of noises which contrasted with the silence he showed earlier and last time.

    “Reading a book about psychology.” Since they weren’t near to each other right now, Umbrum didn’t even know that it was book of Elae otherwise he might have talked far more than that. Instead he just continued to organize the book in a… suddenly… no, there was no mood actually, he was just doing his work simply with a serious yet… calm look, it seemed like nothing could disturb him no matter what happens.
    A few dozens of minutes later, Umbrum was still working, silently and slowly, taking his time, he finished putting the eightieth book, there was only twenty left, he sighed and heard Irel’s voice once again.

    “You seem to be quite gloomy today ?” Hearing that, Umbrum furrowed his brows, he thought that his mood was just like usual actually, well, he shrugged and replied on a cheerful tone which was… now expected from Irel.
    “I am not though~? I am just like usual~” Listening to those joyous words seemingly without any flaws, he sighed and stayed silent since he didn’t really want to indulge himself into his personals matters, at least, he guessed that it wasn’t related to Niris since he had no real reactions, it’s something else.

    Another dozens of minutes later, Umbrum had somehow finished his job, there was only a few books left on the table, nevertheless, he found one that was interesting so he began to read, it was about monsters, mostly undead, it was one who was called...Nightmare Vestige, hmm… he already had a nightmare and he saw this kind of monster in one of his dreams, maybe getting close to ghosts affected his subconsciousness a bit too much ?

    “What are you ?” He heard this same and never changing emotionless sentence, he didn’t even bother to turn back to look at the pitch-black cloaked man with an ever changing mask with normally eyes filled with fear that can’t be removed. Why were they filled with fear ? The first time he saw them fearful was when his academy suddenly disappeared, since then, they never changed and stayed fearful.
    Yawning, he continued to read, he didn’t notice that some of the fews books left were picked up by someone he didn’t look at, someone he ignored, someone he is actually afraid of but used to.

    A hand picked up the book and put it back in a shelf, slowly but surely, it still made a noise. Since that was only one, he only thought there was someone else here… but then he felt something moving behind him, and another book was put back into a shelf, the noise was far louder than earlier.

    This child couldn't help but then back and see that.
    That man who is there since more than ten years.
    That hallucination that is there since more than ten years.
    That intangible cloak who never could touch anything in more than ten years.
    That person he is afraid of since more than ten years.
    That individual who only knew three words since more than ten years.
    Those fearful eyes who appeared more than one year ago.

    Here he was.
    Holding a book that was left to be organized in the library.
    His cloak was the same as well, long and black.
    His mask didn’t have a fixed form, it didn’t change.

    He talked and said the exact same question that is haunting Umbrum since more than ten years.
    Falling harshly from his chair, Umbrum’s head bled because of the impact it had on the ground… fortunately, the chair wasn't broken.

    “What are you ?”
    “W-who are you in the end…?” Umbrum muttered as his voice seemed to be quite faint, no, he was terrified became he couldn't 'be a hallucination anymore, since he was touching something. He never was alone since the start but he always thought that this man was an illusion created by his own mind. But he wasn’t.

    Ten years, that was the time he fooled himself.
    Ten years, that was the time needed to realize this.
    Ten years, that was the time needed to give up on his goal.
    Ten years, that was the time needed to understand that he will be forever alone.
    Yet even if Niris is there, but he will still feel alone.

    “What are you ?” This question was posed once again as Umbrum’s body began shivering from it, the voice was different, he didn’t know what it was, but what changed made him scared, changing is one of the thing he is afraid of the most in the world, not one. It was the worst thing in the world from his point of view.

    “...because you appeared… my family disappeared…” that was just a coincidence, he didn’t make them disappear, they disappeared at the same time he appeared, nevertheless, he needed to blame someone, even if this someone wasn’t quite communicative… As his body trembled more and more, and his body was slowly disappearing, becoming fog…

    “...when your eyes became fearful… the academy disappeared… all your fault... “ All of your fault, his body was slowly becoming back what he was, corporeal and completely human. He didn’t care.
    His fear gave birth to anger.

    “Why… appearing…? Why changing…?” Nevertheless, that anger disappeared quickly as his tone became pitiful, lamenting. Actually, he wasn’t the kind to yell at someone, he wanted to, but he couldn’t, he just had a weak mind who couldn’t support a frenetic fury.

    “What are-”
    “Umbrum…?”
    Passing through the cloaked man peacefully, Irel didn't notice someone else than Umbrum who fell on the ground and was bleeding.
    Realizing this, Umbrum despite trembling and feeling like he could disappear anytime, quickly get up.
    Taking a hold of himself, his smile on his face seemed to be quite natural and foolish yet fake, however, Irel never noticed despite all of his suspicions.

    “Sorry~ I slipped~ anyway that's the last book, I will put it back~” His voice seemed to be quite carefree, almost like nothing happened, but the man was still there. Faking calmness, Umbrum passed through him and put the last book in the right shelf, except this he did nothing.
    Then, Irel asked as he touched Umbrum’s head, not really asking actually, he just wanted to make him notice.

    “You are bleeding, you finished your job, now go take a rest.” his tone still had a sort of soft emotion, Umbrum bowed thankfully and left, however, he wasn't going to give his report, instead he was going to see Niris who was probably in the carriage, sick or not.

    Moments later, in the carriage, Umbrum entered. His smile was at first non-existent but then it suddenly became cheerful when he saw that Niris seemed to be in daze and still sleepy.
    “Still sick~?” his voice was.. as cheerful as not so ever anymore, nevertheless, it still seemed just like usual to Niris, this voice was as irritating as ever. How can someone be so joyous everyday ? Honestly, this time angered her but she stayed silent and well, he literally came back to see if she was still sick or not, it will be rude to grumble at him.

    Before she could talk, Umbrum sat next to her with a tender smile as he poked her cheek with a silly smile, of course, with this kind of actions that are fitting to his character, so as always, her voice was cold and blunt.
    “I should be fine now, just still exhausted.” Hearing that, Umbrum smiled softly and exited the carriage as he said while walking and writing his report.
    “Alright~ I am glad now so I can give my report~”

    Seeing him leave like this, she felt… sincerely speechless, she was lost, she didn't know how to react, instead of giving his report, he went to see if she was better. The distance between the carriage and the library is at least ten times bigger than the distance between the carriage and the receptionist desk. That's quite stupid but his fact made her feel better.

    Nothing was wrong from her eyes, she didn't notice that he was tremulous.

    “What are you ?” The man was still there and the child was doing his best to ignore this hallucination who actually wasn't a delusion.
    Nevertheless, unlike in the library, this time, he wasn't touching something, it became what it was, just like before.
    The only thing that changed was that the voice somehow slower but louder, it seemed like he was whispering to his ear.

    Shuddering.
    Biting his lips, he couldn’t help but before giving his report, sat behind a tree… put his hood and closes his eyes, he didn’t want to see anything, he didn’t want.
    That was enough.
    Enough, enough, enough, enough, enough, enough, enough… he muttered softer and softer as the voice became louder and louder.

    “What are you ?” “What are you ?” “What are you ?” “What are you ?”

    Just hearing this question four times in a row was enough to break him, he was too weak.
    As his eyes were bloodshot, he stood up, took his bow, prepared an arrow and opened his eyes as he stared at the cloaked man in front of him, who was only at half a feet from him, he pulled the string and released it.
    The arrow flew and passed through him, nevertheless, that wasn’t the end.

    “Disappear…” Another arrow passed through him, then not even after a second passed, another arrow was launched, another one who was useless. His breathing became rough and agitated, his hands sweaty and trembling, his face red and uptight.
    A drop of blood fell from his lips as he continued to chew his words who were filled with frustration.

    “...disappear… disappear… I ask only one thing… to freaking disappear... Disappear disappear... Disappear.... Disappear...” His arrows stopped yet he was still there, in front of him, haunting him, nothing changed, ironically for the worst, nothing changed, just nothing.
    Curling into a ball, he closed his eyes and screamed into his knees the loudest he could, nobody will hear him anyway, so he could scream as much as he could.

    Nobody will hear him as his body disappeared and a fog appeared in the forest, a black smoke that seemed to be alive, circling around the cloaked man who was as immovable as a statue, fearful like a puppy, expressionless like ice, noisy like fire, he didn't care anymore, he wanted to see, to hear, to smell, to feel only one thing.

    A void.
    Where he couldn't hear or see.

    “What are you ?” But he couldn't even hide or escape, he was still there, he wasn't away, he was… just there. Even if none of his five senses were working, he would still hear him, those three senseless words, this meaningless question. Even like this, it won't change.

    “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!” As he appeared once again, he screamed once again until he couldn't even utter a sound, tears streamed along his cheeks, that was stupid, stupidly ridiculous.
    When he thought about it, he thought he was being a fool, why was he screaming like a abandoned child ? Why was he crying like a left alone baby ?
    Just because something he thought as a hallucination wasn't, it could touch objects, it had meaning but nothing else, why was he worthlessly doing all of this ?

    Why why why why why why why why why why...?

    There was no reasons to do that, he was just reminiscing the past and venting ten years of frustration that is still there despite his acts… nothing changed. Why was nothing changing ? Why couldn't he be the one to disappear ? Why is he… away now ?

    Just like this, the cloaked man disappeared like he never existed, but now he knew that he existed unlike before when he thought during ten meaningless years that he was nothing else than his head messing up with him.

    “...ahahaaahaa…” he couldn't even talk anymore, he couldn't shout or yell, he could only weep like a pathetic whimperer. When his sight wasn't blurry, when he wiped of the water that was sticking to his glasses, he looked at the tree in front of him who was filled with arrows all of them are quite near, it seemed like someone was aiming at a center that wasn't there, heh. Someone who passes by will think that it was probably someone training while it was just a child trying to shoot at the head of a man that can't be touched, of an irrational child who who screamed while shooting arrows vainly at someone who...
    Standing up, Umbrum gave up, he decided that no matter what happens, he won't try to make the man disappear, he will… he will just ignore him as always in spite of that he is actually, probably real but he shouldn't care.

    Yes, even if he can be considered as real, did he personally affect him ? Yes, in the past but not now except for the fact that he also put back two or three books in the shelf, nothing else.
    ...he shouldn't care but he was… standing up in a quaky way, his steps were unsteady as he thought, trying to force an usual smile.

    ‘Let's just… give the report then have a rest…’ As he became ready to give his report excluding some details, Umbrum once again had now a natural smile, indeed, it seemed like he was happy when he is far from being happy, he needed to change his mind and acting was a good way to do it.

    “...ha...ha...ha...haha…” he couldn't even laugh properly, how was he going face up Sorgre this way ? Unexpectedly, he was concerned by this fact, nevertheless he still moved forward even if internally he took a step back.
    Trauma related to a supposed hallucination who isn't one actually.
    Trauma is only perceptible by him.
    He did his job more slowly than usual, but it was alright nevertheless he read some books and got delayed.
    "Sorgre..." Umbrum coughed and then handed over his reprort along with a paper on which it was written 'Sorry, I hurt my voice, it should get better after some hours'
    Nevertheless, his smile still seemed to be quite cheerful, as always, it is flawless. At least, that's what he thought.

    OOC: And here we go for 3K words~ not that long but better than my previous reports~
     
  19. Haxagen

    Haxagen Fallen's|Addicted to Gacha

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    Nadia walked in, and headed for the receptionist counter.
    "Finished. Here's the proof of completion."
    She placed it on the counter.
    The Half-Undine headed for the Association's Left wing, where the Enchanting Rooms were.

    "Oh, Miss Nadia, you're here again."

    The receptionist on duty greeted her.

    "Mhm. The usual room, please."

    "Understood."

    ......

    "Let's see. Resistance Enchants, Weaponry Enchants...I guess I'll do the weapons today."

    Nadia picked up an iron dagger in her left hand, and a sheath in her right hand, placing both in the enchanting circle.

    "Materials...Blue Feathers, Elm Wood...Tsk, this cabinet is still unorganized."

    *Knock knock*

    "Enter."

    The receptionist earlier walked in, carrying a tray with a sapphire on it.

    "Miss Nadia, the sapphire you requested."

    Nadia stared at the sapphire carefully.

    "Okay. Thank you."

    The receptionist bowed, and left the room.

    ......

    "This goes here, this goes there...and...Done."

    Finished with arranging the materials, Nadia took out her flute. Using it as a medium, she started enchanting the dagger and it's sheath.

    Enchanting is difficult.

    Nadia never once thought that. To her, enchanting was somehow easy. It felt like playing a musical instrument; just press the right keys at the right timing.

    She gently lifted the flute to her mouth.

    *Toreador March*

    With every chorus, every phrase, the matetials glowed ever brighter. Finally, as she reached the end, the knife begun floating in the air, and the materials all fused together, glowing brightly.

    "Finished."

    She reached her hand out just in time to catch a sheathed blade. Just to check, she unsheathed it.

    The blue sapphire twinkled, from the centre of the blade, and a blue feather hung from the newly replaced hilt.

    [D-ranked (Flowing Sapphire Quickspike) created. Quality: Superior]

    Nadia walked out of the room, passing the sheathed dagger over to the receptionist.

    "Another good item, Miss Nadia. Thank you for your work."

    She nodded, taking the proof of completion with her, turning to leave.

    "Still, you come out to help around here all the time, Miss Nadia. Without it, we would have hit the limit long ago."

    The Half-Undine stopped.

    "No problem. I needed to practice my own magic, anyway. All those books I read everyday work fine for theories, but practice is needed to refine those spells. Also..."

    Her black flute glowed briefly.

    "Casting magic frequently strengthens this child too, so it's a win-win situation. Good afternoon to you."

    With that, Nadia went off, thinking about what to have for dinner.
    Produced one D-Ranked Knife. Enchanted with weight reduction and swiftness for quick striking and parrying.
    @Naraku
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2018
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  20. Naraku

    Naraku 『』『』『』

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    "Oh ! Nadia !" Umbrum exclaimed after seeing her coming, then he began reading the report with the same smile.

    After looking at the object she put on the counter, he quickly put it back on it and said on a odd cheerful tone.
    "Everything seems to be good ! Here you go..." After searching a bit in the drawers, he gave to Nadia 1 L.Wooden Coin , 10 S.Wooden Coins and a tablet of merit in which it was engraved the number 10.
    "Here are your rewards ~"
     
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