Year 574 on the New Kaledonian calendar. In 2 days, I have my assessment but I’m not happy. Tania is harassing and taunting me every day. I think she is using the network of her Daddy to keep finding which quests and assignments I am given where they need water users. I had some that were quite far from Ainahs since I was eligible for C-rank. It seems the creature we got caught was useful in restoring the water supply of a neighboring country.
Their capital seemed to love water and the creature played a crucial role in helping them so we got gold from that even though it has been almost a month ago since we caught it. Yes, we got gold!
Each of us got paid 2 gold for catching that creature and they sent us an invitation to meet but I don’t feel like doing that it specified there was no time limit and to just hop by when we had time. We also got the notification that it got sent to try and turn a desert into fertile land. I had nothing going on today. Yesterday I did some blacksmithing and boss music on the plaza. And I’m earning quite a lot with those besides adventuring, even though I don’t need all this money. Anyways I decided to relax today and do nothing because to be honest I probably don’t have to work for a very long time. I spotted a bar and heard someone yell out terrible puns. For fucks sake is Ted drinking again? This is really a bad habit of his. I went into the bar and dragged Ted out.
Hey! You can’t do this! Oh hey, Agnis! I got a good new pun! What am I if I stand on a bar? A Bar-Bear-ian! I dragged Ted to a fountain and threw him in.
You need to sober up! Such a sour-fox! I dried Ted and dropped him off in a dojo he joined recently. I have gotten some lessons there with Ted before to polish my martial arts but I wasn’t planning to do that now. It was 19:32 when I left the dojo after dropping Ted off. I wondered what to do. I normally don't spend my time outside after the sun has set. Normally I’m either still blacksmithing, adventuring, or in my hotel room. I learned that cities don't necessarily get quieter as night falls. It's a big difference with Boshi town since after 6 there’s hardly anything to do in Boshi town. I saw groups of adolescents walking around and hanging around. Even young adults. I actually have no idea what these people do normally. I followed them and they went into bars and a thing that was referred to as a club? What are they clubbing? Is it like whack a mole? I got closer to this club and heard the music getting louder. Wow, this is terrible music! I activated my Elgards eyes and looked inside. I don't get it they're just dancing, drinking, and socializing. I don’t see anyone clubbing something. I don’t get humans.
I get away from this place with terrible music and continued wandering the streets. I suddenly remembered something and looked around. Great no alternate version of this city. I almost forgot that bad things happen when I walk alone on the streets. Hmm, nothing bad. Although. I saw a shady figure moving around in an alley 2 blocks further up. It doesn't seem he noticed me or is looking for me but he might be part of our group of kidnappers. I used [Shadow cloak] and shadow melded towards this shady character and tailed him in stealth. There haven't been any spies or assassins in Ainahs for some time at least those that seemed to look for us so I was curious what this guy’s objective was.
This guy was quite good but not good enough. He had no idea I was tailing him. He seemed to be transporting something and he was treating it with care. I guess he was just delivering something. I followed him to the industrial area of Ainahs and became interested in what he was transporting. I looked inside the small container he was carrying and I was shocked. Inside was a small-sized medium lightning spirit. I don’t know how or what but humans have found a way to detect and catch spirits. This container seemed quite special and had the property to interact with spirits. I wondered if I should free it now or follow this delivery guy and follow him to his destination. Maybe he will lead me to more captured lightning spirits. He leads me to the electronium power plant. Ah, I see… I see where this is going… He looked around and went into a secret gate and I followed him. I got onto the terrain and instantly noticed there were anti-shadow magic guards. I almost got caught once before because I didn't know these were a thing but now, I know. There are only 3 on this terrain.
Every guard is letting this guy through and he dropped his sneaky act. Mine wasn't over though, unfortunately, these guys are anti-shadow magic, not anti-illusion so after dropping a 7-layered illusion I could casually walk past all these guards. I feel like such a cheat character now. I followed Mr. Sneaky into the building and after some corridors, he headed toward the elevator. Well, this sucks. I shadow-melded and sat in his shadow. He didn't seem to notice. I followed him to wherever he went now because I was shadow melded in his shadow. This is quite a low-risk high-reward method of following someone. It’s just… uncomfortable. He got out of the elevator and I got out of his shadow and followed him manually. Following manually... This sounds weird.
We entered some kind of lab and I saw over 100 pods with minor and medium lightning spirits inside them forcing them to give off their lightning which fed an electronium generator to feed mana to all houses appliances and anything that needed mana to function. I spotted 5 empty pods and the spirit got handed over to 3 of the workers here. I faced a dilemma now. If I ignored this the spirits would keep suffering but the city would have power but if I saved them the city would be without power. This sight disgusted me so I didn't give it more of a thought. I made a shadow clone and it shadow melded in the shadow of the delivery guy. I would use this to [shadow swap] away from here after I free the spirits. After everyone was gone, I got into action. I made a [lightning orb] to stagger the blackout with when I release the spirits. I broke them out and they thanked me. Most of them were very weak. They all asked me to send them back to the spirit world. I told them I could bring them to a power spot if they wanted but they didn’t want to deal with humans for at least a good 2000 years. They didn't seem to feel malicious or hold a grudge against humans which made it even worse. These kind creatures got abused for who knows how long and they still have it in them to not hold anything against humans. I drained their spirit energy with a heavy heart. I used [Shadow swap] and ended up in the delivery guy’s shadow. He was somewhere in the middle of the city so I could get out of his shadow and head to the hotel.
I woke up the next morning and it seemed I underestimated the power of the lightning orb I left behind because everything was still working like normal. I spied on the electronium power plant with my Elgards eyes but it seemed that there is no sign that they know that the spirits are gone. The lightning orb I left behind seemed very weak so it might fizzle out at any moment. I guess this will cause chaos. I guess I will do some grocery shopping before that happens. I did quite the grocery shopping. I might have bought too much. I looked like a packing mule and everyone was looking at me strangely.
A kind man helped me on the floating platform station to get all my bags onto my platform. At moments like these, I miss using my dimensional pocket. Spatiotemporal magic affinity seems quite rare so using it recklessly will draw attention. I thanked the man and rode the platform to the hotel where I went pack mule style and got everything into our room in one trip. Oof this was exhausting, maybe I should do something about my physical condition. It is not bad but when I go to the dojo, I notice that it’s inadequate. It is superior to most humans there but the problem is… I’m quite light and apparently weight also matters which I don’t have, so I need to compensate for my lack of weight by becoming stronger. What a pain. In the case of these groceries though… definitely my fault for getting this much. I was alone in my room so I chucked things that we didn’t need anytime soon inside, which was almost everything. Now I’m completely resupplied. There is room for much more but at the moment I have enough for us to be traveling for half a year or more. I wonder how adventurers make long trips without someone who has dimensional pockets, that sounds like a royal pain. I got some rest and went outside again.
I wanted to take the floating platforms but suddenly all power got cut. Ah right, I knew this would happen, but now I have to walk… I walked towards the adventurers' Association amidst the chaos. It seemed these city people aren’t used to anything. They were acting like it was the end of the world. I stepped inside and things were calm in here. Things were working. It seemed a bit more hectic than normal but it was as if the power didn't drop. Do they have their own supply? It always did give off a feeling of being in a different city. I have to say this Association really is something but that probably means they’re enslaving spirits too. I didn't feel like going out of my way to save them but if I encountered them, I will save them. Most of the people in here didn't seem to notice the complete chaos outside. I dove into a magic tool shop because I spotted Tania. She was talking to Shania but I didn’t feel like dealing with her.
“Good morning, how can I help you?” Oh, I’m just hiding from someone.
“Oh, so you need tools to hide yourself, let me see what I got.” Wait, no that's not what I mean! Hmm actually never mind I’m interested, let me see what you got. As far as I know, all weapons, techniques, and tools are allowed in tomorrow’s assessment as long as they’re not of the forbidden kind. Magic tools were limited to only 1 per fighter though. I have never used any so it could give me an edge. Also, since I love to do my assassin things it could be useful. Assassin things generally don't fit in being a water user. So, I could use this tool to cover that.
“I have a cloak that makes you invisible, it doesn't work well against light and shadow users for obvious reasons.” Hmm, I see but this doesn't erase my presence, does it? So even those that can’t use light or dark magic could detect me.
“Oh, so you do know what you’re looking for, my apologies, let me find something more useful.” The man went to the back of the shop and came back with 2 more items. “These don’t necessarily hide you but might be useful. This item removes your presence beside sight, it isn't super useful but it could be useful depending on the user, this item makes it very hard for someone to lock on to you. Unfortunately, both of them are quite expensive.” Hmm, these are interesting. How much for them?
“This item that erases your presence almost completely goes for 95 silver and the other for 50 silver.” Hmm, they are pricey but depending on your skillset they can have strong effects. I will go with the one that makes it hard to lock on to me. I got some more instructions on how to use the tool. It isn’t a tool that works at all times when equipped. It needs to be fed a sizeable amount of mana to create its effect for half a minute. Despite that, I still decided to buy it. It seems I’m probably the first person that buys this tool. It isn’t exactly a strong tool but it is annoying to deal with and that is right up my alley. It is a pseudo stealth. And since I’m fast and specialize in CC this becomes even more useful and annoying. Hehe, Tania is going to get the match of her life. In general, when fighting most people have a type of household magic that helps them lock on to targets to more reliably hit them. I don’t need it because I have my Elgards eyes, Raishin doesn't use it because… I don’t know why. Ted doesn't need it because he mainly fights in close combat.
Gregory is the only one who really uses it. It is something that can be disturbed and interrupted but it's so easy and fast to reactivate that there is absolutely no point in messing with it. But this tool messes with it, but not from the side of the opponent. I think it mimics stealth without being invisible and stuff. If I could use my regular stealth there would be 0 reasons to use this but I’m pretending to be a water user. I just tested it out after buying it. It took quite an amount. In a realistic battle, I could probably only use this 4 or 5 times before it would become a danger to my mana pool. I don’t have my tails or frost magic to use as mana reserve or gain mana so I have to do things like humans would. At least it makes me understand them a bit better. I got outside of the shop proud of my purchase and forgot why I dove into the shop.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Ah, I found you! Are you ready to get destroyed by me tomorrow?!” Please be kind to me.
“I practiced a lot to make sure your tricks don't work on me! Look I got leggings immune to freeze!” She showed off her new leggings.
“Uhh, Tania, you shouldn't show your legs and ass off like that…” I agree with Shania… is it even a good idea to tell me this…
“Hmpfh! It is to make sure you can’t complain that you lost because didn't know about this fact!” Right… in that case I practiced making my water extra wet so don't complain that you lost because you got wet!
“Extra wet? What does that even mean?” No clue, I don’t think I have anything to say that is going to make it less unfair to you after I humiliate you.
“Hah dream on kiddo! I will show you the power of…” Your Daddy?
“Yes, wait no!” Hmm, makes sense there is no ‘C’ in ‘Daddy’ so he can’t help you anymore.
“Ugh, so annoying! Shania say something!”
“I couldn't make it to C-rank for this assessment so I will be cheering you 2 on, make it a spectacle!”
“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side!”
“Why? You’re a 17-year-old girl bullying a 13-year-old guy, why should I be on your side?” She has a point you know this is straight-up bullying! I don’t feel safe anymore!
“Ugh, fine! Just don’t cry when I kick your ass tomorrow!” Tania stormed off and left Shania behind. I thought she was 16.
“She made 17 a week ago.” Oh, so that is why her Daddy tried to invite me to something, I was quite busy though. Do you think she’s upset?
“I don’t know, I don't know what goes on in that head of hers.” But you’re her friend.
“That is true, but do you know what’s going on in Raishin’s head?” Fair point. I split off with Shania after a short chat. She had a quest that required her to be away for a good 2 months which started the day after the assessment. Producing great results on this quest will boost her up a lot and she might be eligible for a C-rank assessment after she completes it. Raishin wanted to go with her but his rank was too low which made him sad and made him take adventuring more seriously. Who knows maybe he will reach D-rank soon but not in time to be with Shania for her quest. I looked at some people that were just practicing magic and having duels.
“Uhm, excuse me, are you Agnis?” I looked at where this voice was coming from and a young blonde woman with a large staff addressed me. Uhh, yes, can I help you?
“I’m Sally, I’m also a water user, I was wondering if you could watch the duel I have in a bit. I’m trying to become better offensively and maybe you got some tips for me.” She seemed quite timid even though she was way older than me. I estimate her to be slightly older than Tania, so like 18 or 19 years old. She had a blue frilly dress which didn't seem suitable for fighting. You are a healer, right?
“Yes, but I want to be more useful by becoming better at offensive spells.” Hmm, no offense but that dress is going to be a problem, I don't know how being a water-based healer and support is but as an offensive water user you will have to submerge yourself in water and the like, you will get wet. I’m assuming your mana control is great because you wouldn't make it far as a water user without but this won’t prevent you from getting your pretty dress wet so if you have time, I would suggest you get something more suitable. Or something you don’t mind getting wet and dirty.
“Ah, is that so? Thank you very much, I will find something more suitable and change!” she gave a polite bow and walked away. I started to become concerned for her, her timidness, frame, and politeness didn't seem to make her suitable for being an adventurer. Most of the adventurers I encountered were quite rough. I wonder how she has survived this long, although she and I are 2 of the 3 skilled water users this Association has here in Ainahs so I guess she got some protection from the Association. 15 minutes later I heard her call me and wave at me. She was wearing something casual. I went over to her and she showed me in which arena she would be fighting.
I saw a lot of adventurers look at her. I think I understand a bit how she survived this long; it doesn't seem she realizes what is going on. I sat down in a spectator seat and this duel arena was filled with more people than the others. These duel arenas have seats for spectators but you can also look through some glass from a distance at the battle and decide in which duel arena you can take a seat, kind of window shopping. The duel started and she faced off against an unimpressive-looking guy. She formed a water ball and shot it at him but it looked quite weak. It was a bit sloppy but maybe it is because she normally isn't in an offensive role.
The guy pretended to have difficulty dealing with it but evaded it in the end. Yeah, she is not going to learn anything if her opponent is holding back. He sent a moderately strong fireball at her and she blocked it neatly. The match continued and she was quite skilled at defensive skills. She did try to add variety and I saw she was uncomfortable with some defensive skills she used which caused her to be hit several times but she could easily heal herself up. I don’t know why she wants to become more offensively oriented because I was quite impressed by her defensive skills. I don’t think she is a liability, as a healer you want to be the last one to go down. And even though this guy was holding back I could see that her going down shouldn't be an issue.
The match didn't go anywhere because her offense was extremely weak so she wouldn't knock that guy out, and the guy wasn't pressuring her. To be honest he probably wouldn't be able to win even if he was serious. After 10 minutes the guy gave up and everyone cheered ‘Sally’. Right, that was her name! She smiled and waved at the crowd but I could see on her face that she wasn't really happy. I guess she isn't that delusional to think that she won because of her own skills. I got up and left but met Samie after leaving the arena.
“You’re right, I’m soaked, so what did you think? Pathetic right?” You might want to dry yourself off.
“I did, I will go to my apartment and dry myself off, can you wait for me here? I want to hear your feedback, I heard you’re quite blunt so maybe there is something you can tell me that others don’t “ Why do you need to dry yourself off in your apartment? I removed the water from Sam and dried her off.
“Ooh, thank you! I can’t do that so well… Oh by the way I heard that I have to keep introducing myself to you because you are bad with names! My name is Sally!” Ugh, I’m sure that is Shania’s doing…
“So, what do you think?” Hmm, that guy you fought was certainly holding back, your defensive skills are almost flawless, even the ones you seemed to be uncomfortable with. It shows that you have great mana control, although I guess using water offensively requires more mana control. May I ask why do you want to become more offensive? There is nothing wrong with how you do things.
“Well, uhm… I have the feeling people don’t take me seriously because I’m a woman, a water user, and a healer, I thought if I become good offensively, they might at least take me a bit more seriously.” Hmm, I think the most important thing is that you should just be a bit more aggressive, personally, I think you are too nice to be an adventurer, I’m assuming people like to push you around, but having some offensive power might be beneficial for you, I guess. My guess is because you are a healer you don’t want to hurt others, I didn't feel any intent to do damage or win in your attacks. I think that is the most important.
“I see… I knew asking you was a good idea! But how do I become more aggressive?” That I don't know but without intent to do damage you won’t become good offensively. I have a C-rank assessment tomorrow, maybe you could get an idea of how to use water offensively.
“Oooh, congratulations! I have actually never seen you fight! I will make sure to not miss it! Thank you!” Milly bowed politely. “Don’t forget my name is Sally!” I guess these people are really trying their best to make me remember their names. I decided to archive her name. I have a very good impression of her which is the problem, I think to be a good adventurer there must be something wrong with you somewhere, nothing seems wrong with her and maybe that’s why she is struggling.
She might be better off becoming an idol or something. Some adventurers look at me and I can detect some envy. Yup, she definitely would be better off being an idol or something. She reminds me of someone I met in the past. Anyway I have to prepare for tomorrow mentally. I stayed on the 4th floor and visited the annoying loud and proud blacksmith to steal some tips from him. It’s not really stealing but he is convinced that his skill will eventually cause me to want to become his student. Dream on!
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Assessment day came and I wasn't feeling it. The city was still in chaos. As I walked out of the hotel I was contemplating skipping out.
“Ah, there you are! Because of the chaos in the city due to the power outage, the vice president arranged for transport so that you won’t get late.” I cursed under my breath and stepped into some weird vehicle. It looked like a fancy floating platform but with a roof and bigger. I guess I won’t be skipping this. The fancy platform stopped at a side of the Association I never saw before. We entered and took the elevator to the 6th floor. You know I appreciate it but I don’t need special treatment.
“Oh, we do, you’re our only C-rank water user in the city” Wait, isn't the point of this assessment to determine whether I'm strong enough for C rank or not?
“Yes, but let’s be real, I've heard the report of the Aurelia cave quest, you were crucial for the success of that quest, and Albert and Bea described the amount of skill you displayed in controlling water. Even if you fail this assessment, you will still be promoted to C-rank.” So, if my C-rank is assured can I leave?
“We still have to go through the proper procedures, we can’t show that we are playing favorites in your case.” Daddy said after entering the room. It seems he overheard our conversation. Or, you want to see a water user in action.
“He got us, boss.”
“That’s no problem, I don’t think there was any way he wouldn't find out. He is quite smart for a 13-year-old.”
“Hey is it true that the recent improvement in the quality of daggers and swords has been because of you?” I have no idea what you’re talking about. I guess I should go easy on bringing daggers and swords on the market. These guys all know I’m a blacksmith so they will find out eventually, I guess. They told me to wait in the next room while they finished the last details of setting up the assessment. They brought me to the next room but it didn't seem to be empty. Geh, you again? Stop stalking me!
“I’m not stalking you! I’m waiting till Daddy finishes his business.”
“Be nice to him Tania.” They left me alone with her. Tania started to talk to me and talk and talk. I tuned out and activated my Elgards eyes to see what they were doing. There was a huge arena with some parts of it looking like a piece out of various places, a piece of the arena had a forest another a desert another was only water, there was a snow part too, and many more.
“Hey, are you listening?!” No, they’re done, let’s go.
“Huh, what? How do you know?” I walked to the door and it opened and the men came in.
“Oh, we just came to get you.” We got led into the area for the assessment, and then to the area assigned to the ones participating.
“We have a lounge here where you can relax and socialize with the other participants but there is also a room for each of you if you don’t want to. Here are the keys. We got our keys.
“We will start in half an hour. There is a screen in your room, it will show the timetable and the matches in real-time so don’t be afraid to miss out on anything.” Aight, off to my room cya!
“Wait! Who am I supposed to talk to then!” Didn't you talk enough?
“But you didn’t listen!” I have no idea what you're talking about.
“That's what I mean!” Aight cya! I sped up and went to my room—ahh peace and quiet. I relaxed and brushed my tails till it was time for the assessment to start.