“So, you’re telling me—woah—that there’s the possibility that another Warbringer is coming at us?” I asked in exasperation as I parried a rapier thrust with my tail, giving me a window of opportunity to strike with my glaive.

So many annoying things! I complained to myself as I still felt annoyed from what happened yesterday with the demonkin of envy. Still, I was training right now and my sparring partner wouldn’t let my mind wander without any consequence.

“Not a possibility! A certainty!” Vifi rebuked as her prosthetic arm surged with purple lightning before she molded it into a lightning halberd.

Using it, she tried to block my swing, but her lack of control over her new arm meant I could break through. However, rather than being thrown off-balanced, she used the momentum to send a roundhouse kick at my head, forcing me to use my wing to block her strike, giving her the chance to grab my wing with her free arm. She dispelled her halberd, morphing the lightning into a gauntlet to send a left hook at me.

Before it could hit my hastily made scale barrier, a kick came from below me, hitting Vifi’s arm out of the way. This gave me just enough time to move my tail, slashing Vifi’s right arm and forcing her to let go of me.

Staring at the minor scratch, her head snapped up as Sis moved to engage her with [Gale Steps]. As her scaled kimono fluttered, Neill sent a kick at Vifi, forcing her to block it with her lightning gauntlet. The latter quickly unsheathed her rapier, thrusting with it, but Neill dodged it without fail and sent a barrage of fists and kicks at the demonkin.

Sadly, without my buffs, Neill’s agility wasn’t high enough to land a hit, but neither was Vifi’s high enough to hit Neill. Neither were using their signature abilities—dragon paths and voltaic lightning—as both were wanting to settle this through martial arts. Sadly, the first to be forced into using their ability was Neill.

Mana seams appeared on her leg, spreading them on the ground as she began to slide along it as if she was skating. They then appeared on her scaled arms before she launched an attack at Vifi, forcing the former Warbringer to use her red lightning to dodge. Like a jagged bolt of electricity, she zigzagged around before she ended up behind her, ready to strike with her rapier, only to leave her back facing me.

I slammed my burning glaive on the ground, setting off a chain explosion with my scale-dust and neutralizing Vifi’s ability to use her super speed due to a conflict of mana. That magnetic force propelling her forward couldn’t be activated, allowing us sisters a moment to double team her.

With only a glaive and some fisticuffs, the two of us dueled Vifi as she wielded her arsenal of weapons. She conjured up all six of her elemental weapons—rapier, warhammer, halberd, gauntlet, staff, and crossbow—to retaliate before she decided to debut a new weapon Grimnir had made for her—a manatech crossbow.

Working like a lever-action rifle, Vifi would knock an arrow almost instantly through a quick hand movement, even able to reload the weapon with only one hand. A bulky bolt holder was attached to the bottom of it, which would have weighed the weapon down if it wasn’t for the long metal stock. A normal person would need two hands to wield this weapon, but if you had the strength, then you would be able to use it how the creator intended it to be used.

As the mechanical cogs turned, bolts were shot at us. She even materialized her lightning crossbow for an akimbio style, dual wielding the weapon to send a hail of physical and magical projectiles.

Showing her the same courtesy, my mechanical weapon’s cogs turned as well, activating the three runes on it as the scale-dust inside the head exploded. Flames gathered around my red catalyst before I raised my weapon and used [Dragoon Jump] to shoot myself up to the ceiling. With Neill preoccupying Vifi, I [Dragoon Dive]d with the loaded weapon, crashing onto the ground like a meteor to send Vifi flying away.

“Ahaha, I told you two that neither of you could defeat me alone!” Vifi shouted with a wide grin as she landed on the ground. Bits of her black hair were lit on fire as they slowly turned yellow and red, a sign her emotions were rising, increasing her stats and elemental prowess. “So, yes! If you can’t beat me one-on-one, how do you think you can beat up my senior who’s been in service for 30 years! Ever since he was a damn kid, just like me!”

“You know full well I won’t fight all by myself, right?” I replied while calming my breathing.

“You do your thing, I’ll do what I want!”

Neill scoffed. “Oh, shut it, we know you’re doing this for the kick! Donuts not enough?”

“Donuts are always okay!” Vifi shouted. “I just need to actually fight somebody here and there. You want me to get all rusty and useless?”

“Haha!” Outside the training field, a woman was laughing. Glancing at her, I saw it was Yorshka. “See? Just like you back when we met. No, wait, you’re still like that, Asaka.”

“Shut it!” A blue-haired girl scowled as drank some water, looking exhausted and dirty from a morning of fighting. “I’m more direct than the drama queen over there. Oh, ‘I just need.’ She really means she finally got the courage to ask people to spar with her after Grimnir did her a good one.”

“She hasn’t asked anybody else,” Yorshka’s husband, Farron, said. “You shouldn’t be too harsh, kid. People just need time to get accustomed. Do you think she would have enjoyed the awkwardness or your attitude?”

“Eh, I guess.”

The three of us ignored them as we continued our fight, training ourselves until we finally got hungry. After we settled down, I sighed as I noticed that none of my skills increased in levels. Still, I felt better; the feel of rushing blood was energizing.

As I cleaned myself off, Master came over for my daily magical training, bringing up the custom spell he had made for me. “Quartz Fire,” he called it, and it was a combination between [Corrosive Fire] and [White Flames], using both empty vessel magic as the foundation for the spell. Just like [Sun, Consume All], it was a double circle spell so I could use the features of my purple and white flames at the same time.

“What do you mean you aren’t fighting?” I heard Neill speak as she was eating a sandwich.

“You want me to fight my own people?” Vifi replied. “As I said, Lord Greed probably saw me when we fought Maagneil. They all know I am a traitor at this point; I’ve fucked up my chance to live away from everything because I just had to meet all of ya. That brat Franz has some connection with the Yanderu Eluseuss, so even if his threats won’t work now that Bole’Taria knows I’m alive, they can just track me down too easily with their network. You know my situation, and you still want me to fight?”

Neill looked up to the ceiling, nodding nervously. “I guess that’s true. That would be rough. Which just makes me question what you are actually doing, since you’re telling us all of this, helping us train, and just being mostly normal, despite being ‘forced’ into this place. I thought you supported Hestia’s goal for peace? You don’t make much sense to me.”

“You don’t need to know that much.”

“Father’s horn, of course I do,” Neill insisted. “You’re confusing, you know. That’s why people dislike being around you. They don’t know your intentions and it makes them scared that you might backstab us.”

“She’s right,” Asaka interjected. “You’re like some cloaked figure haunting a dark alleyway to all of us. Tamae and the others don’t want to be rude, so they’ll mostly avoid you unless they need you for something. To make you feel more comfortable, but I guess it’s more awkward and unfriendly, right?”

“Seems like you know about it. Outcast?” Vifi raised a brow.

“Got experience. Feel different from everybody around you, think you can’t get along with them—that, right? We can’t stop acting like this if you don’t do the same. You’re lucky Grimnir is the type of person who doesn’t care what others think, and is more concerned about helping us out.” She pointed at Vifi’s prosthetics. “You won’t use that?”

Vifi stared at her left arm, crossbow, and rapier—all the things Grimnir made to allow her to fight—before taking a bite from her donut and cupcake. Drinking her iced fulinoe tea, I couldn’t help but complain about how much of a sweet tooth she had. It made me believe she was a stress eater.

“Ow!” I yelped as I felt a wooden slate hit my head. Massing the spot, I looked over to an annoyed saurian. “Sorry, Master.”

“Don’t be, curiosity for others will earn you no chiding from me. God Istari would understand, right? However, as your teacher, I still expect a young scale to listen to me.”

He seems so impatient, recently. I noted ever since we had that discussion in the hot spring. Master was a passionate teacher, but even during the Elyonda siege, he never sounded this forceful.

“Master, is something wrong?”

Master was silent, stroking the plumage on his head. As such, I urged him to speak and turned my party bracelet’s notepad off to show I wasn’t willing to learn until he answered. He sighed.

“Do you remember what the goal of the Tide Watchers is?” he asked about the order he belonged to, to which I answered that they were wandering justicars, but more similar to bounty hunters. “Correct, and I had my party join you as we are doing just that, but with more support. The attack on Elyonda, Maagneil’s crazed wish, and now to purify the Church of Aurena of somebody who doesn’t respect the integrity of faith! I feel fulfilled here.”

“But?”

“But I also feel like I am not heeding my god’s wish. What Xohulotel wants out of his Saint. Grimnir performs acts of creation in Chihiro’s name, Asaka is growing as an adult, Saori is going on a path of strength, and you, my dear apprentice, are growing into your role so magnificently! I feel proud to have led you in your journey as a mage, I feel proud that I met you back in Carine village. I am happy you three were my first real students. It is one of my fondest memories …” Master frowned after his confession. “I, on the way, have forgotten about my service to Xohulotel and my people.”

“I am paying you though,” I said, knowing his wish to help his race financially.

Unfortunately, he shook his head, looking even more troubled. “The money is sufficient. I always send most of it back to Caedhul. But, I am supposed to be a Saint of Xohulotel. You know I am a ‘priest’ only in name alone, as I’ve never really preached. I’ve never led more than my fellow saurians back in our Aelozonia, nor have I spread Xohulotel’s name and faith.”

Master suddenly let out a loud sigh, looking distraught as his tail laid limply on the ground. “I must ask myself now, why has he chosen me? What makes me special over the other saurian mages or shamans? I am confused, young scale. I’ve never been a proper priest, what am I to do? And now we have an impending war before us, and I feel compelled to fight with you as your master. Everything is moving so fast for my old scales to react to, ha ha … ha …”

Master … He was so against how I handled the summit at first. Was he just worried I was trying to do too much?

“I might be a Champion,” I began, laying a hand on his shoulder. “But I’ve learned how to act as a blessed from Theodore and Eshe—they are my religious mentors. I can speak with you and tell you how I feel about my duty. It is also what compelled me into leading this faith war, because I feel like I need to do what my heart is telling me is the correct way. The war between the humans and demonkin will never end in a proper way if I don’t do this; at least, that is my impression as an outsider to this conflict.”

“And I am glad you are. God Istari as well, I assure you. In fact, I do feel better now that we talked. I think … once we’re finished with the Prince of Envy, I think I will leave you and return to Caedhul to enter proper priesthood, to learn what I have to do. You will be needed to restore Aureolis and the Church of Aurena. I will … find my own path for this future you are seeking, my apprentice.” He smiled. “However, for that to work, we must both survive the inevitable battle! So, learn, my student. We must better ourselves and assure we take every opportunity we can possibly take!”

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‘Every opportunity,’ huh?

The lesson turned a bit awkward from here, as the both of us had trouble focusing. Therefore, Master suggested I take my lunch break to prepare for later. Once I was done, I took a bath with Neill, Asaka, and Yorshka, while Vifi still was too apprehensive to join us.

After we were done, it was finally time for me to act upon what we learned yesterday. Saori, who was responsible for tracking the cloaked figures, and Ellaine, who was demonkin hunting with Klea, were in the living room, waiting for us. From the stench coming from their clothes, I could already guess they’ve been working a ton.

“Gael got us a meeting with the Blackreach Guild. They will show us the rest of Shaturein,” Saori reported. “Who’s coming?”

Tasianna couldn’t as she was occupied with Grimnir’s request to turn some of his arcane crystals into catalyst, while Ellaine tagged out, exhausted. Asaka declined and I couldn’t ask the students, as they weren’t strong enough in case there was an accident. As such, the only people available were Saori and …

[“We will co—”] Shay was about to say but somebody else came forward.

“I will.” To my surprise, Vifi raised her hand. “I’m a street rat, you guys forgot? As long as I keep my emotions in check, I look like any other human, so nobody will find us out. Just give me a cloak and we’re good.”

Well, I guess there is no need to reject her offer …

Once I nodded, the twins shrugged and moved forward, [“Then—”]

“If she goes, I’ll go. I’m not leaving my whelpling sister with Miss All-Depresso,” Neill forced herself into the party.

“I’m not gonna hurt her if you’re that worried,” Vifi scowled.

“Ha, not when I’m around, that’s for sure!”

“That is for sure.” Saori chimed in. “Three Territories should dissuade any attempts. Still, we might have Gael with us, but having the perspective from a former slum dweller would be good.”

[“Better keep her within our sight, I say …”] Belzac said.

Vifi just shrugged, looking unperturbed by what was said. Returning our attention to our companions, Saori looked as if she was awaiting a few more. Meaning, it was finally their turn.

Shay and Beth stepped forward, bowed, and—

“All right, kitted up.”

My ears perked up as I looked around, trying to find that voice before I looked next to me—it was Grimnir. Fully armored with his blasthammer sheathed on his back, our blacksmith adjusted a set of new gauntlets and sabatons, looking different from just a month ago.

“If we’re getting into a brawl, then I need to test something out. Can’t always use the dummy, gotta use it in real battle, eh?” Grimnir explained his decision to come. “Just like all of you, I can’t let myself get rusty. As the first arcanatechnician, this is the best time to get some field results!”

We couldn’t argue. Grimnir, as a member of Aurora, had all the right to fight and as our blacksmith he probably wanted to make sure his creation worked for us. Sure, he was more of a crafter, but he was still level 98. He was almost a rank A through level alone, but his equipment always boosted his stats and combat prowess by a ton.

So, that made Saori, Vifi, Neill, Grimnir, and me. That was five.

[“Then, we would—”] Shay bowed once again and spoke, but this time, Saori interrupted him.

“I am sorry, you two. Gael told me to not bring too many people with us, as we will go into less hospitable and controlled places. We do not want to attract too much attention, and it supposedly is quite claustrophobic in some sections.”

The wyvern twins had their mouths agape. I did listen to King Drangleic about bringing bodyguards with me at all times and I couldn’t ask for anybody better than Saori, my sister, our tanker Grimnir, and Vifi. It was a shame, but Shay was okay with it, telling us he would watch out for Mom. Beth, on the other hand, was invited by Yorshka and Asaka to go shopping.

With that, our group was settled and everybody who was coming made a party.

Name: Vifi’Yok Level: 150

Health: 10341 Mana: 7392 Stamina: 9871

This was the first time where I could see Vifi’s stats aside from her level, and to my surprise, they were lower than I thought, especially her mana. Vifi still didn’t want to show us her entire Profile and, while this quenched some of my curiosity, only knowing her health, mana, and stamina wasn’t too helpful. I wanted to know her strength and intelligence, the stats which mattered for damage!

Regardless, now ready, we left the subspace and Helvas mansion for the red light district. Entering through Shaturein’s entrance, we descended into the undercity of Griffonpeak where Gael, Farron’s vice-guild master, met us. As always, the spy master looked rather unkempt and cheerful, waving at us with a bottle of wine.

“Here!” He threw it over to Saori. “Couldn’t greet them for Origdiviel, so hand that to Farron and Yorshka, yeah?”

“Got it. Any news on the Edjurl sympathizers?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Nothing happened after you left just now. I am pretty sure they know the spy you got is dead.”

Now with our contact, Gael led us towards the center of the undercity, passing by multiple downtrodden districts. Things hadn’t changed much since we last came here or when we made the alliance contract. Looking at my companion, it seemed Neill couldn’t take the smell of the place too well while Vifi, surprisingly or maybe not, was breathing in as if it was fresh air. Was she that used to this where she came from?

Jeez. Not enviable.

With cloaks covering our faces and figures, we entered the Blackreach guild, making me feel like I had just entered the den of a bunch of well-off Yakuza. Thankfully, nobody bothered us as Gael simply said, “Mr. Vangrim’s VIP” and we were allowed up to the third floor of this small mansion.

Once inside, he stood up and greeted us. “Lady Hestia. Welcome back to Shaturein. This must be your sister, yes? Vangrim Blackreach, one of the three pillars of Shaturein. Leader of this small guild. An honor, Lady … ?” he trailed off, silently asking for Sis’s name.

“Fargryneill. Lay off the address, we’re not here for any politics. Let’s get down to business and go?”

“Fine by me.” Vangrim put on his coat and hid his face before letting Gael lead us down. There, he told his subordinate to watch over the guild in his stead.

“Yes, Boss!” all of them shouted before they told Gael to make sure to protect their boss.

We then left the organized central district with Gael and Vangrim telling us to enjoy the rather peaceful and clean space, as it would turn 180 really soon. Considering a majority of the city was filled with trash, homeless, and sewage just close by, then where we were going must be even worse.

Although the roads were filled to the brim with people, to the point we had to force ourselves through, I asked Vangrim about what happened as I hadn’t been able to speak with Saori about what she found. I was especially curious how a demonkin spy entered the city so easily and replaced Cardinal Theodore’s attendant. So much information must have been leaked.

“Do you remember about International Desires?” he asked.

“That’s the guild of that prick Hamil, right?” I replied, remembering one of the conspirators of the attack of Griffonpeak, and indirectly a reason for Eshe’s death. “Now that I think about it, weren’t they fully responsible for the export and important or illegal or rare goods? Weren’t they Shaturein’s biggest earners?”

“Yes, but after Hamil’s escape, the guild was destroyed since we had to purge those who knew what Hamil did. Some fled after he did, while we managed to handle those who couldn’t. However, a guild is essentially just an organized gang, so there were plenty of gangs below Hamil’s main operation. Those we believe didn’t do anything wrong to the city were left to handle the scraps,” he explained. “Still, those responsible for slavery or the deportation of people got their heads cut off without any leeway, even if they didn’t know anything about Hamil. They knew how Shaturein stood concerning slaves, and they decided to go against what our founders believed in.”

Good riddance …

“As such, our channels for everything were kept intact, since the contacts Hamil worked on over the years were still accessible. Nobles and merchants still bought their stuff, so I just took the pay cut for protection services. Helps keep an eye on them.” He then pointed towards a group of people. “With the channels open, people from wherever can enter the city. It was a haven in the past for refugees and former slaves, although nowadays it just made our home smell more. Too many mouths to feed, and it gets even worse on the edge.”

“You aren’t taking care of them? I mean, at least do something if you’re complaining about it.”

“If they don’t work, they get nothing. In this city, if you aren’t even willing to pull up a wooden stick to defend yourself from spawning monsters, then you don’t deserve our protection. That’s how Shaturein works.” It was a grim answer, but realistic. “Well, with our alliance, the mana contamination has been severely reduced, so we barely get any monster spawnings now. We lost a bunch of hedge mages, but we got proper people from the mage’s guild working down here now. Gotta say, it’s easier with people with some form of integrity. Damn shame though, since our endless source of meat is gone.”

“Thought you signed the contract to help your people out. Keep the passageway open so you can send people up to help out. How’s that going, akong?” Grimnir asked.

“Good, but we only send people we trust. Gotta have worked with one of the pillars, first, yeah? Besides, can’t fill Griffonpeak with our dredge, or that king will only get complaints from his nobles.”

A food shortage that got worse since monsters aren’t spawning as often here. I don’t serve any free food any longer, but maybe there is something cheap we can offer? So cheap it won’t cost us much? How about cut-off bread crusts but fried?

… Now that I think about it, I haven’t had any people from Shaturein join my concerts yet. It’s just too risky to leave a set of [Room] runes here. Maybe I’ll ask later.

Once we got out of the city, we entered through a tunnel with a stench so impossible to breathe in, I had to cast [Air Shield] around my party to prevent the smell from killing our noses.

“This is the way to the sewers,” Gale said. “Or, better known as the third pillar of Shaturein—the Sewer Maintenance Guild. Rafka Qus is the boss, if you remember that from the first guide, but we won’t need to meet him. We just need access to the river.”

“River?” I asked.

He nodded. “The Sallorn river.”

“Oooh, the river running next to Griffonpeak, right? So it goes through the ground.”

“Right, and it’s connected with the Vistari river to the north that runs through the Morgiana and Equevanna duchy. However, what we’re interested in is the one going down south, towards the Olivus duchy. There is a lake right on the edge of it that is connected with Aureolis’s border.”

Once we went deeper, the smell of the sewage slowly disappeared as we passed through a bunch of mages. Earth and water spellcasters ran past us, cleaning up the area and maintaining everything, in addition to running a potion shop here. When we were about to leave the place, some of those alchemists did come up to us, offering us a weird, smelly liquid.

“Fuck off!” Gael shoved them away. “Offer that ‘swain’ to someone else!”

Swain? Mana Eyes.

Horrible.

We left the path and entered something resembling a small harbor. As Saori warned us, it felt a bit claustrophobic with the seven of us, as only three people could walk forward side-by-side. Stopping before the river, I dispelled the air bubble as the smell had gotten mildly better. Tolerable.

“The rest of the river runs above, so we can’t make the path larger otherwise we’ll cause flooding,” Gale said. “This is one of the ways for people to enter the city, but you have to get past the mages guarding the place. There are easier routes to enter and exit which the smuggler uses, but this one was surely the quickest.”

“And how do you expect us to get through it?” Neill asked, looking at the empty docks. “Can’t say I’m a fan of swimming in this mess.”

“I can’t swim,” Grimnir said nonchalantly.

Well, he could, but his armor was heavy as hell. Also, being a Taz dwarf didn’t make him the best.

“Usually, there is a small boat here which the water mages use to travel us down the lane. Sadly, the last one has already departed. We need another method,” Vangrim explained. “That is why we had Saori pick all of you up.”

Speaking of my friend, she tapped my shoulder. I looked up to her and cast, “Unheilige Engel.”

Purple flames were produced from a brown magic circle, heating itself up until it was yellow before it cooled down, turning itself into obsidian. I raise its temperature until it transformed into a slime and had it turn into a boat small enough for the river. Once everybody was on, I had the boat “fly” us forward.

“Welcome to the maiden voyage of the USS Obsidian Flare!” I called out as if I was a ship announcer. I wasn’t exactly sure what “USS” meant but a ton of ships back on Earth had them, so I decided to call it as such. “Please stay safe and enjoy the trip. We will soon hand out some snacks and refreshments.”

The trip didn’t take too long as our destination wasn’t actually the Olivus duchy but another undercity close by to Artorias. It wasn’t anywhere close as large as Shaturein, but it was still a popular place for black mercs and criminals to hang out as it was one of many slavery operations. The place was just south of Griffonpeak and inside the border of my next concert location—the Lecartiglio duchy.

Once we got off the boat, Gael gave us a warning, “If somebody offers you a ‘swain,’ don’t accept it. Ignore them and go pass. Even if they threaten you, just run—”

“Or punch them,” Vifi finally spoke. “They will come at us anyways, so why make it harder on us? Beat some bastard up and make him take us to their boss. Crush the headquarters and we’ll have their territory to ourselves as we search for our quarry.”

“No,” Vangrim shot the idea down. “We aren’t here to cause trouble. We don’t want people to know we are here. Atadoro informants are here and I don’t want more stuff to leak.”

“Really acting like Griffonpeak’s allies here.” I shrugged. “In any case, you guys haven’t explained why we are here.”

Gael nodded. “Our informant recently found out that the leaks around the Theodore were being sold in this place. Those spies you wanted us to find supposedly went down south, so this is the only place they could be. If they’re resting here, we’ll find them, otherwise we’ll track down the leaked information. If we’re extra lucky, we’ll find some clues on who exactly sent them to us and maybe get some dirt on them for your plan.”

Sounds good. A bit more adventurous, then.

With our plan settled, we entered the place … only to be immediately surprised by what was happening.

“Monster break! We got monsters charging in from the outside!”

“Rank B! Shit! Shit! Run!”

A monster break? This isn’t a dungeon so is this just slang for invading monsters? Oh, whatever, we should—

“No,” Vangrim grabbed my shoulder. “No saving. We will not fight and attract attention! Haven’t I just said that?”