Part 1.
The following morning came and went, and Aurora found herself still lying in the bed in her corner room, with no inclination to change anything. Regardless of the new sensations she had felt, thanks to Salana, she clearly understood just where she stood. She was a political tool, tying her father to the emperor. Already the idea of setting her father free was coming to mind, it would break his heart, but he could rid the empire of a madman in the process.
Memories of her silly stubbornness came back to her. Her naïve idea was that she would only take the hand of the man that could best her in combat. It was her illusion of choice, that she could decide her suitor, and in most cases, she would have been able to normally, and there had in fact been good men that had come to ask for her hand, yet she had refused them all. All that freedom, all that pride, had been completely disassembled with a single, undeniable command. She felt a choking sensation in her throat and noticed water clouding her vision. Anger was building up, anger for the emperor and his stupid order. Anger for her father who was too much a loyal soldier to protect his own daughter. Anger for the system and the role she was forced to play. Lastly, anger with herself, for being so naïve about the world around her.
She could hear sounds coming from the other side of the curtain, which served its job as a flimsy barrier, dividing her room, her new world, from the greater part of the palace. She couldn’t make out what it was exactly, nor did she truly care, she was busy wallowing in misery at her existence. She then thought back to all the people she was introduced to last night. In her head she was trying to think back to their names and faces, questioning the point of it. They were likely already dead, they would be corpses by now, maybe ghosts or skeletons in the future if they were simply left to rot. At that point, their old names wouldn’t even matter, not to close friends or even remaining family spared the emperor’s wrath, their loved ones would be unrecognizable monsters now, servants of the dark god, Hecktorus.
“My lady, are you up?” came a voice from the other side of the curtain. Aurora recognized the voice clearly. It would be a voice impossible for her to forget anymore, and a numbness built up in her chest open hearing it.
“I am awake Salana. But I don’t wish to get up.” She replied with a lingering bitterness evident in her voice. She questioned how someone could do so much to another person, and then in the middle of the night when that person was asleep, simply get up and leave.
“That is not good my lady. Let us get you dressed, you should eat something, and then we can take a walk around the garden.” Salana responded while entering the room.
What she found was a very naked empress lying under thin sheets, just like she had left her early this morning, long before there was any light in the sky. The empress had let her long hair down, and the strains, which now resembled tendrils, spread out all over the top of the bed. The silk sheets were light and thin, and even with Aurora having a less-than-feminine form, it still contoured to her and accentuated what few features she did have. She was, regardless of preferences, still a beautiful girl, and in Salana’s mind, more than the emperor deserved.
“Come miss, laziness is no good for you. I am sure you know that, being the general’s daughter after all.”
“Where is his highness this morning?”
“Morning is nearly gone, and he is still at court.”
“Who is there with him.”
“My lady, politics are beyond the scope of a simple servant.”
The answer caused a pause in their conversation. Aurora was looking away, facing toward the closest wall, inspecting it for any paint that had yet to dry. Or at least that is what it looked like from the other person’s perspective. Salana used the moment to move in and pick up the dress that had been left on the floor from last night.
Aurora, from the corner of her eye, watched her move across the room. A part of her felt that she was being silly, but the other part of her felt that Salana deserved it. She hadn’t even been kissed yet, being it wasn’t a requirement for marriage, also considering that Caligia had skipped over the part of the ceremony where it would have taken place, she had never had another person’s lips touch hers, well not on her face. With that, and images coming back from last night’s soiree into the undiscovered realm of her sexuality, her face became bright red with embarrassment.
“My lady-“
“Hi!” Salana’s voice had caused her to jump out of her skin. She turned back around toward her servant. Salana was bending down over her, and her already loosely hanging dress hung even lower, revealing more of her bosom, Aurora couldn’t help but stare.
“Let’s get up and get you something to eat.” She said with a smile. It felt less like a request and more like an order, and Aurora, who was the empress, didn’t have to heart to argue against her.
The ladies worked together and made Aurora look presentable for her station, and together, with Salana two well-timed steps behind, walked into the dining hall for a late breakfast.
After a light meal and at Salana’s behest, they went outside and took a walk through the garden. Garden strolling was an activity that was exclusive to women of nobility. It allowed the women to display their elegant grace as they browsed through the sections of ornamentals, looking for the most perfect of perfect to present to a person that they deemed worthy. While on the outside it seemed harmless, however, it also had a hidden ulterior motive. The individual who would receive the flower would no doubt come and thank the lady for such a kind gesture, presenting her with the opportunity to speak with them privately. It was at this point that any woman equipped with guile and tact could make the most use of their time, plying for information and planting seeds for whatever plot she deemed appropriate. For women of nobility, Garden strolling was just one of many weapons in their arsenal.
Aurora on the other hand had never taken any lessons from her mother, so she lacked the tact and guile to pull off such a stunt. It hadn’t even occurred to her that there was such a meaning behind it, all her weapons had only ever been swords, shields, spears, and bows. It was a far more obvious, and conventional style, one that made her incredibly out of place in the current environment.
As they were walking around the corner of the palace, to the area facing the front gate, they saw in the distance the emperor walking quickly toward another man who was just now getting out of his carriage. This was something that would normally be considered a great insult, all mounted persons or people who were in carriages were normally required to exit at the palace gate and walk the path the rest of the way. It was a sign of humility and respect toward the Imperial family, and it wasn’t as if it was a terribly long walk, making the precedent quite reasonable. The fact that this man was just now dismounting from his carriage spoke to his standing with the emperor.
The two women, doing their best to look interested in the flowers of the garden, moved closer to the small crowd of people.
“Lord Averis, I am happy to see you return!” said the emperor to the man.
“My Master. I will always come when you call. I am just sad that I could not return in time for your wedding.” He said with a deep bow.
The man looked young, just slightly older than Caglia himself, but far better looking. He had short well-groomed hair, and a clean shaved face, his irises were the color of sapphires. He looked lean, but for Aurora who had worked with military men her whole life, she could tell, even from this distance, his body was nearly all muscle. He also wore strange clothing; most nobility usually wore a kind of cloth robe that would be bound with a colorful belt that would fit their station. He on the other hand was wearing a white skirt that came all the way down to his ankles, and all along the bottom was gold meandering, he had a white top that was cropped to come down and meet the top of his skirt perfectly, though when he bowed or would lean back, his waist was visible. He also wore an overcoat of many different colors, it was also short-sleeved, a must for the hot humid weather of the capital, and spanned from his neck almost down to the floor. In other words, in the presence of the emperor, he stood out far more.
“I do wish you had been here, but I take no offense, it was a spur-of-the-moment idea.”
“I still feel bad your honor. Please accept this.” He said, pointing to two chests that had by now been removed from the back of his carriage. Inside one was a mountain of gold bars, and the other was gold coins. “My present for the happily married couple.”
“What a splendid gift! Did you bring this all the way from your trade negotiations in Methloda?”
“Unfortunately, no. Trade negotiation never took place. I had only just arrived when I was informed of your marriage. I left negotiations to an acquaintance of mine and sped back as fast as I could. When I arrived both horses that had been pulling my carriage fell over dead from their non-stop run. Sadly, even with their passing, I arrived a day too late.” He said with a solemn bow.
“I can’t possibly have that!” exclaimed the emperor. “You there, get two of the finest racing steeds we have. They are to be escorted to Lord Averis’ villa.”
“You honor me, my emperor.”
“Nonsense, loyalty should be rewarded as such. Now come, we have much to discuss.” He moved to turn and walk toward the palace.
“They will be here within the day, my liege.” Said the man from his still hunched-over position.
“They… they will?” questioned Caglia.
“Yes, per my intel. They should be coming via the relic.” He said standing back up to full height. He looked to his left, he had known that there had been eavesdroppers to the conversation, but the fact that they were out in the open like this meant he didn’t care who heard him. He flashed a devilishly handsome smile at the two women.
“Is that your new wife my lord?”
“Indeed, she is. More of a brute than a woman really. She lacks in charm but makes up for in usefulness.”
“That is not proper sir, she is still your wife, and as such, that makes her a proper lady. If you feel it necessary, you could always send her my way, I will make sure she is educated in all the ways to make her a befitting empress.”
Caglia looked in Aurora’s direction, and back at Averis and smiled. “If I am in need of your services, I will request them. For now, though, it is best that she stay within the palace grounds. The people need to see us together for now.” He said as he walked back toward the palace, followed closely by Averis, then their entourage of guards and aides.
At his moment, Aurora had broken into a cold sweat and was shivering in the hot midday sun. The look she had gotten from both men had caused her blood to freeze. To them, she was nothing more than a piece of meat, and her only value was her blood connection to her father.
“My lady, are you okay?”
Aurora snapped back to reality and turned toward her attendant.
“Yes, thank you Salana.”
“Shall we go back inside? You are looking pale, maybe the sun is too much?”
Her tanned skin said differently, but she understood that Salana was just trying to be polite and accepted her offer to return to the palace. But they walked very slowly. To aurora, the palace was nothing more than a den of monsters waiting for their opportunity to pounce and tear her apart.
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Part 2.
“What do you mean we are heroes?” asked the other boy in the room.
“Well, as I said, we need your help to save our world. Our foolish neighbors have summoned the Demon Lord. He will undoubtedly destroy the world!” responded the high priest. “Since you are Heroes, you will have been given great powers by the gods before coming to this world.”
“What gods?” shot back the young woman.
“Well, Ms. Hina, the one you should have met before transferring over.” He replied with a weak smile.
“Never saw any. I did hear a voice though.” Replied the second boy, who was larger and better looking than the first.
“I didn’t hear one. All I remember is that I was on my way to the dojo, and then next I was here.”
Everyone looked at the girl. No one would have guessed that she would be going to a dojo. She looked like a proper young schoolgirl. Her skirt was down just over her knees, her blouse and bow tie were in perfect order, and her hair was well-kept. She was very pretty for her age, like a modest young Japanese woman, but with a touch of something wild and foreign.
Tachibana couldn’t help but glance over in her direction, his mind was imaging himself taking her and enjoying her until he had his fill. He wanted her took look back in his direction, for them to talk and get close, for her to fall for him, just so he could break her heart. He was sadistic and he reveled in it. Yet for some reason, this girl had yet to even give him a side glance, let alone turn and look at him. It was beginning to irritate him, and his real nature was threatening to leak out and expose him.
“Well, then maybe that means I was the one who was ordained by the god here. That makes me the leader.” Tachibana said proudly.
“Oh, Mr. Tachibana, there are many gods here. Not just one.” Eigel said with a laugh. “My Lord. How do you wish to proceed.” He said looking up at the balcony.
The man peered down at them. His beauty was unsettling and alluring all at the same time. He gave a stretch across the banister and then said, “Have them sent to the tomb, there they can prepare for departure. They will need to head to the capital at some point, young Maru needs the sword there. So they need to be ready.” He stood straight after giving his response, his eyes floating between Tachibana's and Satō Hina’s.
“Great suggestion holy father!” came Eigel’s response after an awkward amount of time had passed.
“You’re going to summon us and then throw us directly into a tomb?” questioned Furuya.
“For training, yes.” Said Eigel pleasantly.
“One question. Is there an overly sexualized Lolita vampire in there?”
The question came from Hina, and for the second time in the span of five minutes, everyone in the room was looking at her questioningly.
“What is a Lolita?” ask Eigel.
“It doesn’t matter!” roared Tachibana.
“We were summoned to another world. You don’t know what is here. If she is there, I am not going into that tomb.”
“The tomb houses no vampires. Only weak ghouls and skeletons, basic undead. It is used to train priests for exorcism duties.” Said the man from above.
“Ah. Then no worries.” Hina then looked at Eigel, “Then I guess we should get prepared and learn about our abilities.”
“Ah… yes.” He said, shocked by how well she was taking in her new surroundings. The records had stated about the previous heroes being greatly confused and even feeling homesick, but Hina had been straight-faced, and all business and it unsettled Eigel just slightly.
Eigel ushered them forward into a side door that led to a large chamber. The room was an armory, from wall to wall there were shelves and cabinets of weapons of many different kinds, sizes, and styles. Down the center of the room were racks of armor, most of them looked leather-based but some also were constructed of steel. The two young boys let out gasps of surprise and their faces showed large smiles. The only image that came to Hina’s mind was a small child in a candy store, then another image of her father on their first trip to a candy store came to her mind, he had made the same face, and she couldn’t help but give a quiet smile too.
“I don’t mean to break your hearts, but not here. Please continue with me.” Eigel interrupted them. They went through another doorway, this one leading to a small room, but its worth far exceeded the armor that they had previously been in. There was treasure, gold and gems, and such, in this room, but there was also other equipment to be found. It was not neat or orderly like the last room had been, the equipment had been thrown into the pill, and some of it was even half or mostly covered by the treasure. The difference between this equipment and the ones from the previous room was that this equipment was obviously enchanted to some degree. There was an air of magic that surrounded it, while the three couldn’t tell what kinds of enchantment they were, they knew without effort that it was.
“We pick from here?” Tachibana asked.
“Yes. There are enchantments on the gear in this room, plus there are relics here too. Please pick whatever feels right to you.”
“I see, just because it feels right, it will be the right gear for us?” asked Furuya.
“No, master Furuya, that would just be silly. Please pick what feels right, then ask me and I shall tell you, its effect.”
“Idiot.” Laughed Tachibana.
Hina had already started to dig into the pile, she had decided that what she would look for would be some lightweight bracers. She had trained in dojos for three years now, and she had started sometime after her father had abandoned them, at the request of her mother. Since that day, the two of them grew incredibly close, and would often spend time outside the city, camping out and being active. At school, she had studied hard, and had gotten into Ochanomizu Senior, an all-girl national high school.
“Were you preparing me?” she whispered to herself. “What am I thinking?” She said dismissively. She continued to dig through, finding something like what she had been looking for. She gave it a quick look over before going back to the priest. He also examined it, except that it appeared to Hina that he was pouring some kind of energy into it. “Ki? No, mana? Probably.” It was like she was running some kind of a checklist in her brain.
“These are bracers that are enchanted with a strength buff. They will be useful for Tachi-“
“I’ll take them.” She interrupted.
“Hina, I should tell you now, but you are a mage, you should find gear suited for raising your mana-“
“I said I’ll take them. Mage or not, self-defense is important. Plus, I am a better fighter than him.” She said bluntly.
“What are you saying!?” roared Tachibana.
“From what the fat man says, you are some kind of warrior type. This means you may have skills and stats for fighting, but have you actually ever fought? Have you ever watched the blood fly, and felt bones smash together when you smash your fist into their skull? The sound of bones cracking when you force it the wrong way?”
Everyone again stopped and stared as she started listing off different ways to hurt someone. The other two boys began to wonder what kind of girl had come along with them, and Eigel had wondered if there had been a mix-up in the summoning.
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“Hey, Satō, have you ever… killed anyone?” asked Furuya nervously.
“No way. I never went that far, but I have been in actual matches, not just point-sparing. In those fights, they don’t care if you are a girl or not. You fight to win, and hesitation will just get you hurt.”
“What kind of dojo did you join?” asked Tachibana.
“It was one that belonged to one of my dad’s friends. He came out to see him, but that was after he went missing. It was very spartan-like.”
“I see…” Suddenly the images of him taking advantage of her started to turn into images of her hurting him in different ways.
“So, you understand now, I’ll take those. I’ll make sure to find things that will boost my magic, but I want some strength to defend myself.”
“I understand.” He said, handing the bracers back to her, fearful of offending her.
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Part 3.
Once they had taken the time to completely gear up, they made their way down a staircase toward their intended destination. A large crypt ran underneath the church, reserved for the elite members of the city. It was well maintained, so any undead that did emerge should only be weak skeletons and ghouls.
Tachibana was in a suit of mostly heavy and medium armor, a metal helmet, a set of pauldrons that were enchanted with projectile deflection, chainmail, gauntlets of endurance, metal greaves, a necklace of strength, and a ring of warding to protect against curses. He also had a larger kite shield that could protect against any attack, regardless of power, twice a day, and a sword that dealt extra damage to unholy, undead, creatures.
Furuya wore a light chain mail under his tunic, the tunic itself provided increased movement speed for 30 minutes a day, usable in increments of 1 minute or more. He had a pair of leather boots that allow for quiet movement when he crouched. A ring of premonition, allowing him to, twice a day, sense surprise attacks before they could happen. He had two daggers, one that could inflict continuous fire damage on contact, while the other could inflict a freezing effect, but both effects could not occur on the same opponent at the same time, or at least it never had before. He was also given a pair of leather pants, a bow, and some arrows that he had no clue how to effectively use.
As for Hina, she had her bracers of strength, a necklace of mana capacity, a robe of warding, boots of swiftness, a belt of defense, a staff of greater magic that allowed her to use stronger magic for less mana cost, and a ring that she hadn’t had Eigel analyze.
At the door to the tomb, Eigel stopped and gave one last look back toward them.
“The monsters on the other side were once humans, but they are not anymore, they are monsters and should be treated as such. Do not take them too lightly though, individually they are weak, but that is why they gather in groups. The more that they gather, the stronger it makes them, and can even cause more powerful versions to emerge. Again, be careful. Move methodically and clean the area before pushing onward.”
Tachibana clicked his tongue behind his teeth, but the other two listened intently. Regardless of how he looked, he was still the high priest, which made him second to the Pope. Ignoring the advice of someone who had come before would be the height of stupidity. Both Furuya and Hina nodded their heads intently and promised him to be careful.
“Let’s just go already. It is just some lowly monsters. WE are HEROES. This should be simple for us.”
“Stop raising flags, Tachibana.” Said, Hina.
“Whatever Satō. Let’s just go.”
The tomb was dark and humid, with the scent of death hanging heavy in the air. The entrance was devoid of any life, or un-life for that matter. They were in a large square room that had three exits, the one that they just came through, one directly in front, and one to their right. Along the walls were shelves that had caskets placed upon them. In the center of the room, there was a large sarcophagus that had had its lid removed, which had broken to pieces when it met the floor.
Furuya and Hina stopped and listened, while Tachibana moved up toward the stone coffin, checking for any possible remains.
“Hear anything?” whispered Hina.
Furuya had been determined to be a ranger or thief-based class, as per the equipment that Eigel had recommended. Knowing this, Hina was trusting his ears, believing that he may have some sort of innate ability to detect things.
“No. Just silence.” He responded.
“Then we need to pick a round and move quietly till we know more.”
“Hey, you guys! This is empty.” Tachibana shouted from the center of the room.
“How did we get stuck with this idiot?” Sighed Furuya.
“Even idiots have their uses.”
“How so?”
“Meat shields.” Hina smiled when she said it, and it sent a chill down Furuya’s spine.
“Come on guys!”
“Be quiet, we don’t want to alert the enemy. We don’t know exactly how strong they are.” She scolded him.
“Good point. I am not too worried about it though. We just handle it as it comes along.” He said waving his sword through the air.
“Don’t say that. You can only say that if you can back it up.” She shot back curtly.
“You worry too much, I got this. Remember we are heroes.”
“Do you even understand what that is supposed to mean?”
“And you do?”
Hina was taken aback by him for the first time, in her mind that had been the first honest thing he had said since coming here. She didn’t have an answer for him, but thanks to her father, who was an avid reader, she knew about heroes. She had read classic tales from literature and plenty of light novels he had collected. It had been a way for her to try and reconnect with him after he had vanished, and she began to question why he had so many. Most of them followed a similar plot line, so it was like reading the same story over and over again, but now, for the first time, she was glad she had read all of those books, she felt more prepared to handle unexpected situations.
“Honestly, no I don’t. I can tell you the ideals of one, but I have never had to make choices that can affect the lives of an entire world.” She said in a patronizing tone.
“Guys, stop the bickering, you are just going to attract them,” Furuya whispered.
“Point made. Let’s go.” Finished Tachibana, as he walked through the door to the right.
The other two followed him but kept some distance between him and them. He was their team’s tank, and it only made sense for him to move ahead, and gather their enemies, while they attacked from a safe position. At least that was their reasoning, and it made sense from the perspective of a game or fairy tale, but whether it would prove effective in real life, they couldn’t be sure. Eigel hadn’t warned them against it when they told him of their plan, but they weren’t sure if they could honestly trust him yet or not. This would be their first chance to test out the powers that they were supposed to have received from some god that they had never met.
They quickly came to another room, this one was more compact than the first one, it had shelves with caskets on their right and left, and a doorway across the way, but other than that it was empty. After they double-checked their surroundings and took a moment to stop and listen, they proceeded onward. After only two steps forward, Furuya’s voice came clearly from the back.
“STOP!”
“Huh… what is it?” Tachibana demanded.
“I don’t know, but I just saw something bad happen to us. When we stepped into the center of the room, there was a flash, and we were attacked from all sides.”
He was pale and shaking when is said it. His eyes were focused on the ground at Tachibana’s feet, but from their hollow appearance, he was staring into the void rather than at the ground.
“What is he talking about?”
“Probably that ring of premonition. He must have seen us trigger a trap that caused us to be ambushed.” Said Hina flatly. She then placed a hand on Furuya’s shoulder, “Thanks to you we are still okay. Now we know, so we can be more careful, but you need to focus.”
While the pep talk wasn’t reassuring in any way, it was honest and proved to be enough to snap him back to reality. ‘SMACK’! He had smashed both of his palms into the sides of his face and renewed his determination. With rosy cheeks, he said. “Yes, let’s do this.”
“Took long enough.”
“Well, now that we know about it, how do we proceed?”
“Did you see how many enemies?”
“I didn’t get a good count, but there were a lot, and more seemed to be racing toward us.”
“Then let’s not activate the trap. We should wait till we have more experience.”
“Agreed.”
“You guys were thinking about still activating the trap?”
“Sure, now that we know about it, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“I agree was Satō. But now that you say there were so many, we should move forward.”
“Why would there be a trap like that in a place for training new priests.” She thought.
After a moment of silence, they continued, paying very careful attention to avoid the center of the room. Before continuing through to the next hallway. There were vast portions of the catacombs that were empty, even the caskets in the rooms now were empty, their frames shattered, and whatever body that had been there was spirited away.
Eventually, in one of the hallways, they came upon a single skeleton. There wasn’t much to describe it, it was bleached unnaturally white and was missing a single toe on its left foot, other than that it was featureless. It carried no equipment and wore no armor; it was the simplest of opponents that the group could start with. When it saw the group, it began slowly shambling its way toward them.
“Are you telling me ten of these were enough to beat us?”
“I never said they beat us, I just said that they ambushed us… and there were ghouls too!”
“Shut up, both of you. Tachibana, you first.”
He clicked his tongue behind his teeth but stepped up in front of the other two. He held his sword out to the side while bringing his shield up to cover as much of his front as he could. He slid himself forward instead of picking up his feet and walking, trying his best to maintain a sturdy foundation to deflect whatever kind of attack the enemy would use against him. It took a while, but Maru eventually felt a weight smash into the shield.
He looked over his shield, there he saw the skeleton slowly pawing at it like a harmless kitten in a box on the side of the road. He couldn’t understand why Furuya had feared them, if ten of these attacked him alone it wouldn’t have been a problem. After a few seconds of the light pounding, Maru swung his sword down on the skeleton, smashing the skull in. Inside there was a crystal, rotating where the brain had been, something called to him, like an instinct, and he broke that as well. It caused the skeleton to cease all activity and crumble to the ground, eventually turning to ash before his eyes.
“Well… that was… anti-climactic.” He said turning back toward the other two.
“That was not the behavior in the vision I saw.”
“Sure, sure. Or maybe I am just that good, and you just didn’t realize it.”
“I am telling you; those monsters were different from the ones I saw.”
“Can’t be that much different, it was just a skeleton.”
“No, they were probably different.” Said, Hina.
“What makes you say that, Satō?”
“That was a level 1 skeleton. Probably the weakest kind of monster here.”
“How do you know that?”
“Just a guess. It was all on its own, coming from the broken caskets. It probably hasn’t been long since it appeared.” She said as she walked over toward the ashes.
“What are you doing?”
“Collecting the bonemeal. You never know if it can be used for alchemy or not.” She scooped up as much of the remains as she could with her hands, then put it in a sack on her waist. She then wiped her hands, covered in the dark ash, on her robe. “We should push forward. In the meantime, Tachibana, was there anything you noticed about the monster?”
They pressed forward together, more relaxed than before. Tachibana went over in detail what he noticed. It wasn’t much, but some information was better than none, especially regarding the crystal in the skull. He also stated that after destroying it, he felt more powerful. Hina summarized that it probably meant that he had acquired something like exp, and maybe even leveled up.
Throughout their journey, they encountered a few more skeletons, just like the one Tachibana took down, they all moved in a slow shambling motion, and when they struck the bones, the creature felt weightless. Each time they made sure to crack the skull open and destroy the crystal, making them all feel more energized and stronger in the process.
After what seemed like a few hours in the tomb, they came to a large room full of enemies. This time there was a group of skeletons, six in total, and four other creatures, they were like a mixture of a beast and a zombie that stood bipedal. Hina and Maru looked at Toshiyuki and he confirmed their suspicions with the word, “Ghouls.”
There was one other monster in there that none of them could identify. It was large, not monstrous in size. While the other creatures were moving from side to side in a rhythmic motion, it stood motionless in the center of them. They couldn’t make any features because it was facing the opposite direction, focused on whatever was making an ominous purple light in the background.
“Guys, I am getting a bad feeling, we should turn back.” Said, Hina. The fear in her voice terrified the others. This entire time she had been the only one calm, but now even the cool and collected one was worried. It was causing the others to want to panic.
“Yeah, definitely,” Furuya said, turning back, only to find the door that they had entered closed behind them. “Shit! The door.”
“What the!? Why didn’t your freaking ring know about this?”
“I don’t know!”
“ARGH, you’re useless!”
“Hey you guys, shut up!” roared Hina. Her face was pure white, and sweat was on her brow. Their arguing had attracted the attention of the denizens of the room, and even the large creature in the middle had turned to see what the commotion was all about. It stood a good two meters taller than the ghouls and skeletons; its face was slightly human-esque but more beastly. It had a long neck and long limbs. It appeared to shrink down into the crowd, but then with incredible speed, it shot back up, jumping over the entire crowd that had started to move in their direction.
“What is that thing?” cried Maru.
“I don’t know!” answered Toshiyuki.
“Get ready guys!” responded Hina.
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Part 4.
Their first couple of fights had in no way prepared them for this. It was like playing on easy mode for a bit and then suddenly turning the difficulty to the highest setting. In the confusion that followed the beginning of the engagement, Tachibana flung himself at the unidentified creature, lifting his shield to defend himself and the other two. The hits this time were heavy, even for the new and improved him.
Even with only six fights against the six single skeletons earlier, it had been enough to level them up a few times, even if they didn’t know it. Their stats had shot up quite a bit in the process, so the hits he was deflecting now, compared to the love taps from the skeletons earlier couldn’t possibly be honestly compared to one another. Yet, he raised his shield, he kept a firm foundation with his footing, and shielded the attacks as they came.
Furuya Toshiyuki pulled out his daggers, deciding instinctively that with his speed and the enchantments on his daggers, the ghouls would be a better option than the skeletons who would be more susceptible to blunt damage instead of the slashing or piercing he could perform. He made a wide circuit around the large creature, attempting to stay out of its range and avoid grabbing his attention. Spotting the four ghouls, he made a straight shot for the nearest one. With a blade in each hand, he jumped into the air toward the creature. It too jumped to meet him, but the hero was faster.
Furuya’s blade met the flesh of his opponent. First, there was a slice, and Furuya could feel the blade cutting into flesh and muscle, then his right hand felt warm. The fire enchantment had gone off and a fire was entering the wound burning the creature on the inside. Then in his left hand, where the blade had ripped into its flesh, his hand grew cold. This time instead of it entering the body of the creature, ice began covering it, turning it into an ice sculpture of sorts. The mix of cold on the outside and hot on the inside caused the ghoul-shaped ice sculpture to crack and shatter into many pieces on the floor. Without wasting any time, he turned and made his way back toward the next one.
During this time Satō Hina had also made a break away from the main fight, her target was the mass of skeletons. She was far more equipped to handle them than either of the boys. Whether it was magic or blunt force trauma with her trained fist, she was a natural enemy to the skeletons. The fact that they were the easiest of the enemies here would also allow her to quickly return to aid Tachibana in his fight against the only real threat. This was going to be their first real test as a group.
When she made it to the first skeleton, she lowered her staff. She remembered back to her first skeleton fight, they had each taken their time to learn what kind of abilities they had back that. So, she knew that she had to channel the mana in her body into her staff. She could do it into her hands if needed and still use magic, but if she did it through her staff it would allow her to use the next tier of magic for the cost of the one below it. Knowing that her staff poured out a column of fire that spread across the battlefield, engulfing four of her opponents all at the same time. The fire was so hot that it caused the bones to crack and break and finally turn to ash right before her eyes. She didn’t bother checking for any crystals this time, she had already felt the energizing feeling, and knew that they had been shattered as well.
Since they were creatures without intelligence, the other two continued to move forward toward her, shambling about. They willingly entered into the fire that separated them from their prey but made it through before they could shatter. They continued forward, now flaming skeletons, clacking and creaking as they charged. Dropping her staff to the side, Hina launched herself forward, using her momentum to add to her attack. When she got near one of them, she dropped her left foot forward, placing all her weight on it, and set her right fist forward straight into the face of the nearest skeleton. She hit right above the nose, causing the nasal bone, now brittle from the flame to shatter. Her fist continued, penetrating the hollow skull, where she felt herself connect with the crystal inside. It too fell victim to Hina’s violence, and with that, the three heroes were hit with another dose of energy.
The other skeleton met a similar fate, this time to the heel of her left foot. After punching through her enemy, she planted her right foot down, shifting her weight to that side, and launched her left leg into the air with a spinning backheel kick. The burned brittle bones provided no defense against the power of her well-trained strike, and the fight was over before it had even started.
With all her enemies defeated, she looked for Furuya, who was tangling with the last two of the ghouls. They moved much faster than the skeletons did, but that wasn’t any sort of standard to go by. Even outnumbered, the most sheltered of the three proved to be more than a match for his enemies. One of the two fell to its knees and finally to the floor after a graze from Furuya’s blade caused him to light on fire, and a second slash cut opens its throat. Its higher intelligence was apparent when it made attempts to defend itself from Furuya’s renewed offense, its only fault was that defending against magic without magic was simply folly. When Furuya’s left blade stuck against its claws, they chilled, when his right stuck, there was warmth. The back and forth between the elements wore it down, and finally, it also fell to the floor. Once they were helpless, he knelt and finished the job, plunging his fire-enchanted blade into the bodies, holding it there, watching as heat moved about under the flesh, waiting for the moment he felt the sensation that said that the crystal had been destroyed.
“Nice work, didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Neither did I. I just sort of moved on instinct.”
“Hmm… interesting. I guess this is part of being heroes. It is like our bodies just know what to do.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Don’t know, we will have to worry about it later. Looks like Tachibana could use some help.”
Furuya nodded, and the two of them made for the rear of the main opponent.
While the other two had been dealing with their targets, Maru had been holding off the other creature. It was an easier-said-than-done kind of job, each time it slammed its fists into Tachibana’s shield, his legs wanted to buckle under the force. He was amazed that the shield had yet to give out and prayed to whatever god had brought him here before each impending strike. The real saving grace had been the other two going out to take care of the other monsters. Each time a monster had been killed and its crystal destroyed, he felt a little stronger, and each blow by the giant creature felt lighter and lighter. Once all the others had been wiped out, and he had taken in all the extra energy, his legs no longer buckled, but the hits still felt just as powerful.
When Hina returned, she took a spot behind Tachibana, pointing her staff directly at him.
“Don’t move!” she shouted.
“What are you doing? Don’t shoot me!” he roared back from behind the shield. He would rather have taken a smack from the creature instead of one of her spells. “Where’s the other guy!?”
“Behind! Now shut up and focus.” She yelled at him, as a light at the end of her staff went off.
He was expecting to feel some kind of horrid shock or to be cooked in his armor, but instead, he was feeling lighter and stronger than he had ever felt in his life. The strikes from the large creature felt like when he had first fought that skeleton. They were pathetic strikes to come from such a large creature.
It raised its hand again to strike back at the shield, but instead, it reached around itself as it roared in a cry that sounded like pain. There was a burning smell in the air, and then Furuya emerged to the side of it.
“Got it.”
“What did you do?”
“Stabbed it in the back. I don’t know, just went with my gut.”
“I see.” Tachibana looked down at his sword and then back up at the monster, who was trying to get at whatever was causing him discomfort on his backside. Maru lifted his sword in his right hand, placing the left hand on the grip below his right. He began to imagine his sword in his mind, thinking about it lighting up, and becoming more powerful. When he opened his eyes, to the right of his face, the blade of his sword was now shining a bright yellow. He zeroed in on his enemy, who was still preoccupied with his back, and then rushed forward.
He jumped into the air, and when he neared his target, swung the blade down with all his might. The slice was easy, like a warm knife cutting through a stick of butter that had been sitting out, there was no friction as it sliced from the creature’s left shoulder, coming down at an angle. The slice was so smooth that the full cut happened too fast for anyone else in the room to react, the blade left the creature’s flesh just as fast as it had entered it, causing the top part to separate from the lower part. It had been divided into two, nearly human-sized, pieces, but there was no feeling. Worried about the possibilities, he turned towards Hina.
“Satō, finish it, the crystal!”
There was a red and yellow flash as a large wall of flame ripped across the room, engulfing the pieces of the creature. She kept up the spell, turning up the heat as much as her mana would let her until the tingly, energizing sensation came across them, signifying that the creature was in fact slain.
Once the battle was over, all their enemies were vanquished, and they dropped their bodies to the floor. They weren’t physically tired, but for the two boys it had been their first real fight, and for her, it had been the first time she had ever engaged in deadly combat. That means that, regardless of their having had the upper hand the entire time in battle, they were incredibly mentally exhausted.
“We can’t sleep here, guys. If we want to rest, we must turn back.”
“Shut it, dipshit.”
“Cut it out, boys. Furuya, we can’t go back, the door is still closed.”
“What are we supposed to do?”
“Maybe that portal behind you. But first, I want to rest, like Tachibana.”
“You can always-“
“Shut it asshole. Just because I want to rest, doesn’t mean I want to do it with you.”
With their enemies vanquished, they took a moment to themselves. The room itself felt secure enough, the only concern being the portal that had opened after the death of the creature. It was on the other side of the room though, and they felt that they could properly react in time if something came through it, or at least that was their excuse.
They waited and when they felt they had rested enough, got up and inspected the gateway.
“Where does it go?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“Then go in.”
“Why should I have to?”
“You are the scout. So, scout away.”
Not waiting any more time Hina walked in without a word, her form swallowed by the light of the portal.
“HINA!” they shouted together before following her inside without hesitation.