COI C247

Tabitha begins to learn the meaning of attrition and survival. The pain of getting through the horde of ratmen and the crystal forest blocking their every route. The pain of wasting such resources and resupplying them on their own are abysmal at best. Using powerful tools at the least threatening obstacles are such a waste, even more so their time. Nonetheless, she wasn’t going to give up. She only wished whether they allow the citizens to come and helped them too. Sadly, they can’t. The dangers of East Coast had made the defectors trapped there. The fears she had in mind, what made the Enders stop rescuing them from the very beginning?

Her mind flashes back when she is preparing her journey. All of her friends are helping her to get ready. Yet, there is on little incident made her remember. She brings out her device and sees a recorded video done by Kiege. The video starts playing and her embarrassment begins. Yui is going berserk as she managing her magic items. The decks, her wand, and everything else needed for her to get them fix. Then she places them inside a box and chained it up inside Tabitha’s magic bag.

“Done”

Tabitha was at lost “You’re giving me powerful magic scrolls and gems, then lock it up and won’t let me use it”

“Let the grown-ups taking care of that”

“You’re not making any sense”

“I know you best”

“You’re not my, Mom!”

“Then your mom knows exactly what she is doing”

“Augh! Kiege stop filming us. This is so embarrassing”

“How so? Juela is doing her best to get you proper meals for an entire cycle. Who knew everyone is . . .?”

Kiege picks up a drawing. “Hey, this drawing. Who drew this?”

“Stop changing the topic. I don’t want that video in my own phone”

The video stops when it records the drawing.

Tabitha is trembling in humiliation to want to removed it. Then she hears again from Yui’s words.

“If you try to delete it. I’m going to spread about you and your little resolutions from your city. I will use my check this girl . . .”

She quickly screams inside her head. The way Yui said it like some mom wanting to show of her child with embarrassing stories about her. Her tone, at the last part, wants her to disappear. Tabitha raises up from her bed, a different inn at the center of the region. She looks out from the window as they could see the mountain hides the east coast from the other side. They are so close.

It was not that long for her to remember Yui’s box. There, she shows it to the Dexter Guild. The box is locked and chained. Their scanners and detectors see it through. A message hides in encryption. R-cord understood Tabitha didn’t learn of this language thanks to the UI and her devices. This encryption is made to avoid magic tools to read it. Yet, he wonders at Juela who knows about this. Why didn’t she explain it to her? Juela remains blank, and no need for Tabitha concerned about it, yet.

R-cord pretends to ask “What lies inside?”

“Yui gave me scrolls, gems, and parts of bits and pieces, I guess. I can’t seem to identify all my own. I expected you guys might know”

McS4 guessed it fast “Sounds like Haw is definitely going to do a lot of work for you. Guess our leader have ideas that you don’t even have in mind of making”

“Are you sure? Wait? Are you telling me I have to tell him what to do?”

“Giving him instructions won’t be your problem. It is the matter of using those resources be efficient for your plan”

Juela is worried “Can you really do it?”

Tabitha starts to sweat up. This responsibility as leader is going to be tough in her new environment.

From the other side of the inn, Secius handed over the wages to his team.

“This pay will be your night of indulgence. Tomorrow afternoon is the experience of any Enders have hired many Agatheans to do. There will be no rest, there will be no idleness, and everything else there will be breaks when you are down and you will be the one to carry yourself”

The five Agatheans are eager. Their challenges have already met their dangerous moves. The two who were downed by a massive crystal branch. Remained willed and strong, for their shares of 5sylvs each. It will be their luxury for only a few days.

The sounds of guests coming into their longue. To what men loved to hear the voices of wenches or prostitutes about their adventures. Their thought of them as rich men, but lied to have this event to come. Secius steps away from their time as the night will become their last of indulgence. Outside of the lounges, he sees the brothel becomes lively as they see him goes out. He remained preserved and be on his way. The inn and the brothel are right next to each other, magic persists to silence the noise of fornications. With his hands of sylvs, he goes to the street vendors to find his magic supplies.

It’s been a few days, and they move faster than what their Lords and guild master said to them. The assistance of the Agatheans is showing they are closed to the mountain side, if they delayed as they predicted it. Then it is a waste of their effort to hire them in the first place. One day or two, this is what R-cord guessed of their journey through the crystal forest. Tabitha prepares her cards as she is ready for to use it on the Agatheans. She reaches out to Secius

“Are you ready? I hope we discuss earlier to make this work without high tier spells”

“High tier? Apologies, heh. I am not sure what you are talking about”

Tabitha and her team had made a little adjustment going through the mountain. The forest is heavily crystallized and there are a dense amount of people going through helping them to go against the ratmen’s numbers. No people are there at where they stand, passing through the last village and town have their security well defended from the enemy threats. Now through the wilderness, they have to use every low-level resource they could find. The ratmen is waiting for them. Including the enemies, Circostons and monsters. The souls of the ratmen have called out the speaking ratman.

Chitters to the deep into the crystal forest. Ran here from the outskirt of Isekai City. They squander then collected from its presence. Stronger ranks beyond its line, there it stood see the skull remains of the thin ratman. It picks it up and wears it on its head. The skull turns twisted and a new mouth comes out from its forehead. Its head have two mouths teeth on the bottom mouth and the other mouth empty moving a tongue formed by glowing mist.

“Yes, yes, yes. They are must be wailers from the caves. They must know where the entrances are”

The crystallized forest is much denser than the ones close to the villages and towns. Many crystals rose form the ground as geysers like mana inside the crystals pushing up to the surface. Many were released causing pillars of crystallized shards. It still has more, ready itself to burst like a mini volcano. The Agatheans pointed out the remains they found at the shards. Without saying a word, not only there are plenty of ratmen’s bodies lying around but numbers of totemic creatures all around.

Their silence grew fear as Tabitha sees something is not right about those totemic creatures. Mix with strange fluid in black, the smell it releases is rotten and far worse she could try to resist it. Juela gives her a piece of her sash and sealed her mouth from the stench. Tabitha couldn’t resist of saying to her the possibility

“Are we going to fight goblins too?”

“Don’t try it. Shamanism is as strong as it is with their curses. The smell you breathe, even how rotten it is. It possessed plague rituals from their feral instinct”

Secius takes the first move. Already bringing the materials he bought from the vendors. He pulls out a fake doll. He calls out to his group to stay away. They followed and the others tightly hold their mana. The totemic creature shines down from the reflections of many crystals all around. The corpse body is still intact and the skulls it collected. Tabitha checks her UI to identify those skulls. The skulls were from the Circoston origin. She can’t express herself whether is relief or scared. She never thinks spirits had their hideous side.

The crystals begin to collapse as there is an edge appeared from the cliffs. It is Secius’ opportunity to throw the fake doll. As he throws it in the air, the crystallized dust tries to absorb what lies inside. The doll’s mana leaked and the leak whistles out with tremendous screams. The totemic creatures reacted and many more hidden both from the dark and the light. The spirits rose with endless horde. Many barely to be seen, physically moves just only to be thrown, the manifestations of its shamanistic form drawn only blinking out of its existence. Desperate, madness, and turmoil continue to chase a small doll.

A horde of spirits follow the screaming fake doll. The replicated horror and the dying release of mana craved by its insanity of their rival mana, the neutral mana, they go to the cliff as they follow down where the noise keeps their ferocity. Secius gives the sign and moves as fast as they can. They ran through the thickness of the crystals. The Agatheans are at the front, both Juela and Tabitha at the middle, and R-cord and McS4 are at the back. Within the valley of so many spirits roaming around, they see the crystals have sealed the rest.

A forest of crystallized trees, now they are the forest of crystallized dead. Goblin rituals and many creatures are made without flesh. This is where so many defectors have passed through. The idea of escaping like this is impossible. Shamanism is strong when the threat is beyond the balance of nature. They will become strong to balance out their threats. However, this is a waste of time for them to deal with. The Agatheans have provided them the easy way in. Tabitha is thankful at that, yet, Juela knows that they are not close where they are headed.

The Agatheans feel the dirt on their shoes, the soft texture on the ground is at ease of their hardened feet. They look around for any feral spirits about. They are none. They spark up their pebbles soaked with mana. A spell to make it like a tinder. The small sparks were enough for Secius to react. He confidently calls out to them

“Hold! We are out from their reach”

The Agatheans step aside as they need to find somewhere to rest their feet. The shards and the crystal are too hard for their aching feet to move anymore.

Tabitha and Juela made it and sees they are already resting. Juela checks on her shoes to see the harm what the crystals do to them. Mixed with fatigue curses and pieces of rituals in scraps. Juela goes to Secius and said to him

“We need to keep going”

“I understand, my group is not well equipped. To think for a horde of spirits are gathered in so many different beings altogether”

“That’s why we need to go as soon as possible”

Tabitha heard about the commotion. “Juela, are you sure? R-cord and McS4 are not here”

“They are fine, Tabitha. We are concerning about why are so many spirits are here”

Truly the spirits are here for a reason. There was something near them that cause so many rituals and many dangerous totems going by. The spirits are returning again as they brought other than the doll they found. Pieces of bones wrapped in their spiritual hazes, and one of them are sure of ratmen along with it. R-cord scans them as they keep a far distance from his team. McS4 is bringing out the ratmen’s corpses from their first encounter. He picks out a gem coming out from the ratman’s body. Converting it into his weapon, preparing something big

Stolen story; please report.

“Where do you think they are now?”

R-cord begins reloading the ivory bullets “They are already here”

Consecutive crystals shatter from where Tabitha’s group was. Their scanners traced exactly where they are. They are already in the middle of the chaos. An ambushed struck on Secius’ team. Secius was forced to cast his spell to pull his team close him. Tabitha reacts and pulled out her deck. She gives them each buff, and it boosts their body to have higher resistance. Then she plays a few spells on her hand whereas the field is form and pushes away all crystal sourced materials. Their enemies appeared before them. Goblins are attacking them carrying loots come from all enemies who ventured near the east coast.

Tabitha’s UI is giving her information of those weapons they brought. She takes a deep breath and quickly explain it to Juela

“They have weapons from Isekai City. Be careful”

“Looters! They must be those famines”

The Agatheans were attacked from one of them. Their sudden pounce throwing themselves as they are starved and with their spirits overwhelmed them with animal ferocity in their hunger. Famines are defined to those who are possessed in a strong sensation of hunger. Craving any flesh except for cannibalism of their own race. It is more dangerous when shamanism is also part in it.

The famine goblins surround the Agatheans. Juela takes Tabitha close to the wall with little room she could fine. They hear the crunching of the famines’ mouth going through Tabitha’s resistance card. The Agatheans are being pushed by the numbers. The spirits are piling in with their rituals bringing the crystals as the field waning down pretty fast. The hungers strike deeply into the spirit through the bodies of the goblin. Their breaths release the empty husk of their stomach leaving deadly curses of the dead. The Agatheans are being surrounded trying to take them down as the goblins’ body persist on feasting leaving their limbs and heads trying to gut them only pieces of them.

Secius’s spell gradually falling out. The spells he had cast are being eaten out of the goblin lost minds. Unhealthy to anyone who feast on mana. The spirits weren’t let them stop eating it as the mana is converting into the famines’ body. The body starts shaking and uncontrollable bulge moving inside their bodies. The concentration of mana is starting to release rituals too powerful for them to resist. Tabitha’s resistance on them finally torn off and the mana leaking out from their mouths and nose. The acidity touches them as they covered their mouth from the toxicity.

The famine goblins begin to explode left and right unleashing powerful rituals decaying everything all around them. The blasts reached Secius’s group. A strip of magical scroll flying over them from top to bottom. The writings on the scrolls begin to burn from the rituals release. The magic scroll reacts and pushes the toxicity around them. It releases Jigeram’s light and crystallized every shamanistic spell and curses in a flash. Few seconds later, Secius’ team is right next to Tabitha and Juela at the corner. Hiding themselves from Juela’s magic.

The piece of the scroll remains as it gathers all the threats coming at them. The pulling force both warped and merging into one. The famine goblins are crushed into a mini blackhole. It wasn’t how it looks like, the rituals enforced it in greater force. Together into one place, a void gate opens because of its beyond power. It tricked the spirits of a powerful threat and engulfed what lies there into the oblivion. They all disappear. Only who are left to witness it is Tabitha’s team. The team moves on, forcing their battered group to escape this trapped.

Secius casts his healing spell on his group “This is the beginning. I’m using my own mana to heal you”

Tabitha turns to Juela, she refuses

“There is nowhere else to find you would try to waste, Tabitha. This is the wilderness of both neutral mana and shamanism. The ship is not the same as in this forest or from the sphere”

Juela held her sash ripped from only a little bit of it. Tabitha sees how little things made Juela being very careful to use it. If this worries Juela, then how about Secius group already being beaten and using their own mana. And yet, never dared to use their potions.

It was not long until Tabitha had walked in such a far distance. There is nowhere safe to rest down nor hiding from them. The Agatheans, even battered tried to go multiple ways to escape from the chaos on this mountain covered in crystallized trees. Tabitha is not ready for this kind of hardship. Yui and Juela have taught her the basic but this one is not one of them. This is more advanced than she had learn. This picks out her device and review what she had learned back in Enders Bridge.

Yui: “The environment is not the problem here. No matter how much crystals or dusts or what else you are worrying about, Tabitha. The main issue is the chaos”

Juela: “Don’t teach her unnecessary trivia. Believe it or not, Tabitha is better to be experience in it as she is a citizen. Sigh* Myrrkei have so much knowledge about it. Is there any help from you?”

Dewn: “Jigeram is what many called as a deadland’s sun. This is your beginning to learn it. Add it with East Coast’s legends and myths, then you will know true might of each mana types”

Yui: “Sheesh, Dewn. She wasn’t scared adventuring inside a submerged ship. I admit shamanism is a bit weird. Sometimes spirits are as ugly if you don’t understand what they represent . . .”

Tabitha stops playing the video as this is what she can find so far. She starts thinking, they are preserving their resources very scarcely. That ambushed was countered and Juela saves them with only a tiny piece of her sash. It wasn’t a defeat from those famine goblins. If they ever gotten destroyed, what else they will bring to fight. This makes want her to know more, but the risks are too great. While she is thinking, one of the Agatheans pointed from the distance.

“Look over there, they’re back!”

The void gate opens and the remains of the famine goblin have been transformed into a hybrid ritual dummy. The spirits from the void had come out and created this abomination. It begins going to the same direction they are heading. The group stops out of fear, and Secius said to Tabitha

“We are still far to reach East Coast. The brutes are brought out from the spirit world. There could be a powerful enemy”

His one of his groups added the fear “That is one of the dead spirits. They are stronger than we could ever face. Fighting it will fuel their savagery”

Tabitha reaches out R-cord “Did you hear them?”

“Yes, and rightly so to be afraid. We are now closer to the madness”

“Madness? You mean the East Coast is nearby?”

“It still too far, we can’t resist them as they are feral. This is getting dangerous. We have to use our resources. Tell Secius and his group to find the spirits’ enemies. No matter how many they are, at least you won’t be messing with them”

“But what if they are more than we could handle?”

“Then we will be aiding you before that happened. Also, McS4 did a little scouting. I think this will aid you in case you failed”

“What?!”

R-cord cuts contact and begins to position himself.

The risk of their lives is taken place. They ventured through as the curse creeps in with every different measure of its lethality. The crystal shards may look the same, but how it cracks and shines are becoming ritualistic. The mountain path is deluded, dared to follow R-cord’s advice to find the ones who destroyed the spirits. The condition they are in, going into a secluded space, and venture forth to their doom. Tabitha is ready. Juela’s sashes shine as it readies to burn itself to cast a spell. Lastly, Secius. Openly dared to bring out his tome as it stained by the rituals.

Juela understands why the Agatheans are not going to face this threat. Secius’ book is already starting to rot. The magic forces here are deemed with demonic presence. Their equipment is no match into the densely presence. They are still willing nonetheless. The hope they would return alive and well will suited for the wage. But next time, this happened again. She would’ve brought U’ecin along the journey. A former hunter of his own guild shows useful. U’ecin, though he is important was not at the guild tower at that time.

A skull tumbled down on the floor. Wrapped with leather and scarred in writings, they see who are the ones fighting the spirits. Ironically, this is a rat skull. The same skull Secius kicked out from the fight. The leather peeled off and its scars removed. The rat skull returns back to its body. They watch the skull connected the body. Wrapped with more ritual items along the banner covered its thin body. The spirits drawn on the banner and turns the thin rat man’s mantle. Empowered it as its mouth breathing all life around it.

Secius casts smoke at the breathing thread of their life. His group being pulled in as their soul ripped and sown to the open. The stretch of their souls harmed their body. Their body turns light and skins paled. The smoke appears and pushes into the thin ratman’s mouth coughing out from its feast. It coughs out along with the spirits controlling it. The spirits reveal the same colored alike. The color of sands giving the way their Circoston’s origin. Tabitha calls the order. A shot fired, revealing the goblin in his nomadic clothes. Leathered with mostly monsters of this forest.

The small of his size and others followed together, neither of them tribal nor primitive. They are weaved into their long mantles, bigger than their normal size body. The spirits sown into themselves to the mantle preparing their ritual spells when needed. One of them jumps over throwing dusts at them from above. Tabitha pulls out a card, pulls the goblin down to the ground. The goblin’s mantle releases a ritual summoning a wind creature to take his place. It fell to the ground and gently disappears without any harm.

The dust falls to the ground, almost touching them. The thin ratman breathes again, and pulled the dust that the goblin dropped. The dust turns fiery where the souls be pulled again. The burns into their souls almost at reach and their body almost burned from within. The Agatheans continue to stagger from their soul being sucked away in a long stretch. Tabitha keeps shuffling her cards to find the right card. She throws some high resistance spells and gives them to the group.

Secius’ group is able to pull themselves together. They pulled out their weapons and fight back against the goblins. Juela ripped her sash, numerous spells in bind casted down at the goblins. Their mantles were easily burned away showing secret weapon hidden behind it. Looted weapons on their arms, tribal ritual wrapped in leather. They charge forward as the blow of their might go straight at them. The Agatheans fight directly at them as they stand their ground from the goblins’ elusive movements.

Elemental rituals in the goblin movements, shift as air and changes suddenly into storm. These goblins are well armed and their spirits are tamed or trained along with them. Their spirits heightened their powers to the extend as the resistance of the Agatheans are quickly weakening them down. The goblins keep pushing bringing up rocks and sticks covered with dangerous veins inside. The release of the curse from the tribes brought out wildly casts as bombs. The looted weapons were easily destroyed by one use.

Tabitha sees Secius’ group is faltering from the destructive assault. The Agatheans are not experienced fighting these kinds of goblins. They are not tribal. They are nomadic from how they look. They behaved like assassins, but more skilled with the used of their spirits. They are starting to realize how these goblins have beaten those feral spirit.

“Why are you bringing us to the dead trap?”

R-cord hears her contact “Keep going, none of you are not beaten yet”

“We need help over here. You have already taken the shot, why stop now?”

“Just wait a little more”

A ritual hits her. Her robe shields it and surged it down to her cards. Boosted from the effects of the rituals, she sees powerful attacks coming from it. She quickly plays it. The moment she uses on the Agatheans, she remembers McS4 and R-cord. If these people around her is not going to be part of her journey and has no knowledge of using this support spell. Then she quickly chooses to use it on who is going to be with her instead. But they are far away. Juela keeps trying to destroy their mantles. Though their mantles are from creatures that are magic proof, to have it to where the spirits lay there to be released as magic spell is very crafty in goblins’ hands.

Juela is starting to learn why. “Tabitha . . .”

“Yes! Those goblins are really not from here. The goblins are not easy to beat”

“I know, not even our magic will work”

“Agh”

Goblins made it through, but failed as it thrown out once it entered inside for a short moment. Their leathered mantle protects him from the attacks and slipped through by the help of his companions. They see they are getting tired. It is not for long when they are beginning to lose strength from the next soul drain.

The thin ratman breathes again. It is impossible for the group to fight like this. The trust in Tabitha’s companion starts to questions into her head because one dangerous possessed ratman.

R-cord finally responds “They’re here! Over there!”

Tabitha quickly flips up her cards activating a spell card on them. The spell card hits on the ground, but it lifts into the air as the spirits catch it. The spirits materialized trying not to get the card to use. Secius jumps in and self-cast himself to pushes the spirit off.

The spirits were knock back out of shock. They feel Secius’ powers wielding a ritual item hidden his equipment. The goblin reaches him and able to block it with his mantle. Exposed, the goblin is engulfed by Juela’s sash scroll, numerous spells putting into one body. He moves erratically then faded into bright colorful dusts. His body shines off from the spell. The goblins continue to push and use their fallen companion to chant a ritual.

The sounds of their howling voices from their throats. The spirits force into the dead body of their goblin kin. Spiritual ritual comes forth from the body, cleansing all soft flesh, blood, and innards together. With the dead goblin’s exposed spiritual hand, he grips on Secius and linked him and the rest of the Agatheans in a bound. The thin ratman breathes in to all of them, carrying the death whistle to their ears. Five times more as they shared it and they completely fell to the ground from the extreme group bound.

Tabitha couldn’t believe what she had saw, a high tier ritual spell devastated Secius’ group. Linking them by the ritual as they are bound all together sharing the same status effects. Her spell card is barely resisting it, and almost reaching to their deaths. This is shamanism, the spells of many curses and sickness. Tabitha with nothing to help her side for spell casters. Her previous card is still not played, block by the leather mantle of the goblin. With her wand, she deliberately slams it on the ground.

The quakes shivers as it was protecting by the rituals, hidden traps were lie waiting where she sees. But it looks like is being pushed back. The sight of a glow coming from the ground as there is another ritual holds it off. The quakes continue to push and reaches to her card. It finally lands on the ground and forced summon McS4. He appears in thunderous entry. Throwing nets left and right, accurately catching all the goblins in sight. His heavy weapon points at the dead goblin’s body, levitates it and shoots it at the thin ratman. Both of them crumbles in one shot.

The rituals suddenly stopped, and everyone is down. McS4 begins to carry the Agatheans. Juela’s sash got nulled from the heavy weapon’s shot. Without any spells from all sources, this is the final realization of her journey.

“Tabitha, let’s go”

“Ok, everyone let’s go!”

A command card pulls out from her hand. The spell card is struggling to release it. It looks impossible to use it, but then she places her card to McS4’s power armor. The card uploads into his battle system. It energized him the command card.

The goblins watch them escape and tried to break free. To one final attempt to chase them, they removed the leather on the thin ratman. The ratman is freed and left with a ritual cursed into its head. Great frenzy rose into it and starts chasing Tabitha’s team. After it left, a whisper coming from the spirits.

“More of them are coming, the Heroes are not giving up”

They stared at their fallen companion, died from losing his mantle. While they barely took a soul out from those Agatheans. The marked of their nomadic banner hidden from their leather mantle, showing the role as pilgrims. The weakest of the nomadic tribes.

Tabitha is pulling Juela’s hand. The limits of their physique are reaching into their breaths. Juela is running for too long reaching her limit, the Agatheans are almost being fodders from the elemental rituals, and lastly Tabitha listening to R-cord’s message to find the place they could escape. McS4 carries all six people is piling on his back made a stop as Juela drops to her knees

“I can’t”

McS4 sees something is still chasing them “We’re not out yet”

They turn around and sees the running thin ratman is still chasing them. The time to use their resources are nigh.