COI C23
Quail and Thean were arguing as they did before, they both don't know each other's culture and values leaving the both of them in tough conversation. First and Second were there including their employers. Thean introduces some areas throughout his sight-seeing into the city.
"Why most of these posters are usually young girls in an adult district?"
"That is not an example that you describe our city"
This was after being hired and need to cooperate during their introductions, different ideals, different attitudes, and others. Even longer than that before the students even returned from their quest.
Quail explained to him about her city and most of the district are for entertainment and varieties of stores, restaurants, and hotels. Horsin locals never seen an entire area for entertainment, let alone most religious buildings were not exist in their city. A bad example on his head but he can't understand the other world.
"Listen, if you believed those things what the city made are not true . . ."
"FALSE"
". . . I don't know if it effects other people, but it helps them going . . ."
"FUTILE"
". . . Listen, we just got hired and your resume didn't have a name yet"
"We never have this kind of requirement in our city states"
The Agathean man, he remembers it clearly. Quail acting arrogant of what she believes but never realized how their identity changes so fast and they abandon their old customs rather quickly. Embracing the new world without worries as they are above it all. He remembers his thought alongside with the others.
"FALSE, FUTILE"
She mention about being a good civilian inside the city but never seen it to the people who are below them like himself. Acting they are above of their survival, and he already accepted it but their ideals remained a dream. Such tremendous power hold onto them as their weak hearts satisfy on what?
Thean is already preparing his stance in mid-air. The rogue was provoked by him, given his chances to survive. Without any notice she already unleashes a fury of attacks surrounding him. She rained down countless knives to him in all direction including the cruelest of poisons. Thean moves his bodies to parry everything it comes his way, trapped and falling down, he dodges for his life and picks where the daggers hit him. He's not letting those knives hitting his torso or his head but his limbs. He bears the pain with the knives stuck to him. She continues the assault in range as he continues withstand the attacks.
He reaches his limit and the knives on his limbs began to absorb and transformed. Thean is now dodging the knives with his wind magic, encourage by the movements of his body to swing around and dodging it. The knives that stuck to his limbs are molded while he moves around. The rogue uses critical strike on him as she charges with a loudest scream. A banshee scream coming to his way where everyone heard her in a deafening sound. A scream reaches to him and dodges ever so closely from her dagger's blade. A trail of daggers followed her as a second attack, but he blocks it with the knives he took from his limb as he molded into chain like knives.
He uses the end of the chain to block it while the other end to attached her. Some of her knives can stick permanently of its effects, Thean managed to pulled it out using his mana. Draining so effectively by his magic to use it against her. She tries to escape but the chains already attached to her. She breaks the piece of the chain and she was free. Thean didn't given up on the chains and started to use the mana to reconnect it to her. The remaining chain link started to reattached as he moves closer and kept dodging the knives, then she started to pull the chain to bringing him up to her and prepared to take him down.
Thean being pulled up to her while he is busy dodging her, his chains didn't break and starts flying up to her. By pulling him up to her, with the enough momentum, he comes closer. She summons her magic trap, appearing from the air, and unleashed elemental attack. Thean swiftly slide away off the traps with himself parkouring it with his chain link knives. Sliding up to her, she throws her knives but quickly evade and reaching to his face. Thean counters by using his magic to force blast her away, he can cast it while parkouring towards pass her. Yet nothing happens.
It doesn't have any effect on her. A brief moment of time paused by his mind analyzing his attacks
"It is true, it is impossible the hurt them in the same magic they know, but these chains . . ."
Thean went around to her back and reconnect the chains. He endures the traps’ attack as he uses her as a shield. She got hit by her own traps as she was still surprised of him parkouring to her. She bears the hit as she stops and ask him.
"You just use my knives and my traps some kind of platforms. How?"
Thean leans to her shoulder staring at her in the eyes.
"Focus on the match, I don't need to explain while fighting"
The rogue was tied up by the chains, only her head is free while her body felt the blades near her vital spots.
"I never thought that you be any good. They say you are in a B rank from they said"
"Oh just fight already"
They kept falling as the time already set in closely. In 30 minutes time here in the realms, only 5 minutes have passed. The rogue didn't bother while her next move will be coming soon.
"Ok then, why can't you attack me? Cause am I a girl?"
He pulls his chains to where it should pierce into her.
"You already know"
She felt a small budge coming from the chains. The blades can't cut her, she giggles at him by his weak strength.
"Giggles* Then I can do all out with you"
She blows air to his eyes from her mouth containing dust magic to blind him. Thean quickly removes the chains went back to where he attached her like a leash. The rogue unleashed again with the same moves, but her magic starts to weaken of a all sudden.
"What!?"
Thean threw his two swords before, and one of them now is attached on her. He managed to bound it with her to his limits. His time was spent during their small talk, she made a mistake and she don't know what happen inside her mana. Both of them are connected with their mana pool, he is blind for now but her presence regarding her magic. He sensed it with no problem.
Surrounded by knives with no trouble to use his mana carefully. He is bound by her, if she knows the mana being link with him. She will use his mana exerting everything to nothing like some kind of a small magic pack. Thean dodges all the attacks as she raised more traps towards him, he can sense it appearing closer to him with her mana. He redirects it ever so valiantly as he focused. The rogue slowly loses her magic powers in repetitive succession, she is no longer using the same tricks and forced to use her magic arsenal.
"How? I can't use my magic anymore. Did he do something with me while I was tied up?"
The adventurers see her uses her magic item in such a rare occasion, but those are for monster slaying.
"Hey! Are you going to kill him?"
"Be quiet! The time limit is there I can't lose to him"
She picks a magic item, a gauntlet crossbow, containing explosive bolts or arrows and fire him. Thean is now kept hanging around with the chains as he prepared what he is sensing. She fires in close range, setting the explosives in a right time. He reacted by using the knives from the chains. She continues to fire as so as him, both of them didn't stop and persisting on. The rogue stops and didn't like she was seeing.
Thean is closing in, where the knives are kept using as a counter measure of her explosive bolts and he kept reattaching it without any delays. Thean is climbing his way to her, she felt a sudden fear as her rage was long gone by his surprises. Blind yet he knows where the targets are and continue to follow up, she closes her eyes in disbelief and tried to think. The adventurers saw her hesitating and look at Thean for any opportunity he is going to do. They discovered he is hesitating as well, as he held tight on the chain. They cheered on the rogue.
"The guy just stop, it’s your chance"
The rogue opens her eyes where Thean didn't move, as she kept looking at him. He began to climb up,
"Like hell he is hesitating"
She looks away and stare at her fellow adventurers, he then stops after she changes view.
"He stops again!"
She repeatedly following through the tricks Thean did and realized that he is using her vision to see.
"No, how can he do that?"
She changes ammunition into a seeking magic arrow, reloaded it to her gauntlet crossbow and fire away from him. The magic arrow redirects to the target and land a hit on to his head. Thean's magic shield reacted to it but it breaks and he barely dodges it. The adventurers told her
"It's a hit, only his magic shield"
She started to use another one, a hit, then another, another hit, and soon she realized he is using her eyes . . . but how. Thean is enduring magic arrow struck down on his head, remained blind and playing a trick on her mind. He faintly weakening the chains because of the magic shield is too much for his mana to use. The rogue again reloaded another magic arrow but stops in the middle of firing as she looks at her indicator that her mana is returning. She unequips the gauntlet and uses her magic again to curve her weapon at him without looking. Her confusion made her fear him as she can’t land a hit with her every best moves she has done.
Thean plays her mind as he is wasting many uses of his magic. Remained blind and senses her mana being cast away towards him, the faint chain link is still there preparing to stretch even further. He uses the magic shield again beside dodging the projectiles, giving her time to have relief, nothing much he could do to stall time. The rogue is firing for sometimes now and checks on the timer. 10 minutes left for this realm or more than a minute left in the real world, and this should be her chance as he only stays stationary for her critical strike but instead herself. She makes a clone of herself with her magic and charges him as she fires.
The clone dives down where he braces for impact. He can sense it and never would have thought she could use it before. If she uses it earlier, she could have be good as dead . . . but who is he kidding?
"I'm always weaker than them, if the switch works by using the bound. It would be just too easy"
The shield breaks and the clone already struck him on the back. The strike paralyzes him as he flew back as the chain stretches any further, it kept going and going, and his body can't move and blinded. All of this is too easy ideas made him forget his original plan. He has no choice to use his body as a slingshot.
The chain didn't break and started to get elastic. His mind kept focusing where the clone still held him and tries to break the chain. The rogue didn't look and wait for the results. It was a dumb plan keeping all together, he imagined those adventurers who are here in the realm in disbelief where a high rank girl easily tricked by a mana manipulation. If they know. What's more of it is the part of the girl's knowledge on mana in the Horsin World, now it is done. Both of their mana bound together and only him knew, trickery that he uses her eyes to see as he only uses his senses on her mana.
Pretending to hold on in one place for a melee attack after a failed ranged attack but surprised that her range weapons can redirect it for some reason, and finally the improvised reaction where she could attack him directly but decided uses a substitute. The result will be the same, the main objective is to stun her long enough for the time to end. He admitted to use her mana as he already drained by that critical strike. Either use the slingshot if she is persistent on range attacks or prepare to counter her in a melee attack, the stupid, don't look at me strat, with the slingshot will take place and he can't explain why . . . but "I have no idea" trick.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The moment to be seen through the air or sky, the adventurers saw it as the rogue didn't see. All of their eyes open wide and something about to happen, the chain finally sling towards her with a silent boom. The magic surrounding him erupt into a blast leaving the clone behind, she felt the clone's falling further away and finally looks at him. She quickly prepares to overthrown him as his paralyzed dummy body is thrown at her. The bound between them over surge as the rogue's magic suddenly breaks, because Thean is giving in to the paralysis. Her flight is gone and Thean's body smack on to her like a sling shot.
A loud smack of Thean's body to the Rogue, and the adventurers saw it in the distance like he is throwing his body at her in full force. A crazy counter measure, it was too stupid but entertaining to watch. The rogue is already recovered from that incident while Thean is paralyze and had nothing he could do but wait until the time is up. 2 minutes left in this realm. it should have been more if the rogue shouldn't have stare at him in disbelief. She didn't feel a bit hurt from her body thanks to her armor, she decided to watch him paralyze and said to him while they are falling down continuously.
"I have been into your world for more than a month or so, yet you played yourself"
He is blind and paralyze but he heard her clearly, can't even speak or do anything at the moment and he is still not beaten yet.
"I am trying to be the best and received an S rank in such a young age because I know my role very well"
Forced to listen her talking, he is going to listen to her in vain. He believed that she already given up, his stalling didn't work but then again, the bound kept her using any abilities. So, she deserves one of these Isekai Customs where every fight there is talking involved. Hearing from Quail about this is not real, but the rogue is doing it and he can only hear her.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you are paralyzed"
She laughs at his situation as he remained in the same falling pose.
"After this fight, you win . . . and I would like you to help me to become a real S rank. Please, I can give you my real name but called me differently in public, ok? It's like a trend for us isekais"
He has no idea those terms are; but he already accepted it anyway. Since telling her real name is a mix terms of superstition between different views. After this, he will tell her his name like she did in return. The adventures watch the timer as it ended. The agreement is opened up.
The magic realm ended as they return back to the dining hall. The time should have been 30 minutes have passed but it stated that it ended in 5 to 10 minutes minutes. The Agathean man couldn't believe it but the sphere is like that. He almost forgot about it because of the fight he had, he finally moves his body and the rogue reached out her hand and pulls him up. Both of them secretly whisper their names as the adventurers are recovering themselves what they seen. They exchange their names and the young rogue was more shock than him to speak her name so clearly. She whispers him again
"Are you isekai'd too?"
"Let's just say that they survive"
Both of them let go and she gives him a VIP card.
“I give you this card when the time I will be asking your assistance in the city guild. There are no problems when you can access our private facilities”
She views of him different now and kept her new found secret and sympathy before him.
“Well, thank you. Maybe I’ll be using it for sometimes”
The agathean man goes to the balcony with his meal on his plate. Once he opens the door, and saw them having fun even Altairrisck having a chat with Quail. Altair introduces someone to him
"Oh Illtended, have you met Thean?"
"No, I saw him recently, starting a fight with the rogue. Thankfully they stop"
The two greet and join back to the table.
Illtended laughs nervously whereas Thean noticed him as he turns around and giving him his seat. Quail was next to him. She uses her magic to enhance her strength and hold to his collar up to the air.
"What did you do to us?"
"Giving you an emptier stomach, you won't going to eat anything good with a full stomach"
Quail wanted to give him a smack but they got invited out of nowhere and the food they ate tasted so good to ignore. Their co-workers tried to be angry as well but the food won't let them. Altair and Illtended won't be helping but enjoy their lunch. Quail puts him down and reluctantly said to him.
"T-Thank you, but you should do it before we get in"
Thean sees the same expression she did in the infirmary, he didn't like seeing her like that and he already gives his trust on her.
"Ok . . . sorry, but I won't invite you until you ask me"
Their co-workers were getting riled up by his sudden change of attitude. Quail accepted it
"Ok, then I'll be bringing more people too"
Both of them dared to say such things and the others won't be having to say in this.
"Ok, but I always having to get into trouble because of my "values""
"They are just joking you know, stealing is a crime too"
"And my right to protect of what is mine will be applied as well"
Illtended once again breaks off the fight.
"Alright that's enough I could fail many times but I will do it again" T
hey quickly break it off and return to their seats.
"Well, that was fast. I would have thought . . ."
Thean brings him to his seat when he about to finish and he speaks to him
"There is no need, you are a friend of Altair. Your guild may have problems that's what I'm troubled about"
"I agreed"
Altair answered him directly and Illtended joins along as he doubted the city guild's motive.
"He is right, the guild has no real life experience regarding surviving this world. Because of these"
He shows them the device he recorded during his adventures.
Quail felt the same thing with those devices, her past experience made her remember how vulnerable she was during her quests. She stares at it both leisure and complicated, she continues to listen what they have in mind. Thean has no regards about those dungeons. Awkwardly, why is that the creatures he saw from the device are new to him? Illtended continues
"It is a little bit personal, but this device has cause convenience for the guild. Without it; you can't hunt, check the edibles, detect enemies, knows your overall stats besides the UIs. . ."
The rest felt like easy for them, but they still managed to fail for some reasons. Probably they didn't think through what they can do if they failed.
"Even they have so many luxuries happen in the city, many of them were not ready to face against them like this guy . . . your . . ."
"It's the Agathea . . ."
His co-workers quickly tells his name.
"His name is THEAN, ignore the whole Agatheus name"
Thean turns to them as they seriously don't like his made up name. All of them stare at each other like the name has importance.
"Like I was saying, I know Thean is from Agatheus city. I’ve been there. I also heard Altair’s rematch like a moment ago"
They know what is going, Illtended thought about the challenge.
“For the next challenge should be the last, I hope Gordon will win. If there is a chance for another match, I could think of teaming up with the Horsins”
“Really? How would . . .”
They remembered what Altair said. It was just recently said to them. Almost forgotten about it, they start to agree with him.
“. . . Yeah, you’re right. They know goblins more than our view of them”
“It is the same goes about the other situations like Alga’s light. Anyway, like what Altair said before, he needs the help he could get to beat an even more powerful creature what the goblin can do”
Altair remembers how agatheans tried to learned powerful abilities and magics to their limits. They were also given it as gifts to Isekai City because how they are using the same type of mana. Because it already proven how they brought the foundation under a few weeks. That massive size of an Egyptian looking floating obelisks. Even when the people of this people learned the basics of their magics. It is difficult for them to navigate to construct it. Just like that goblin, they don’t know how but Thean might know how to handle more than what he seen.
Back to Illtended
"I honestly believe with the Horsins joining the challenge, we could beat it. I assume they are as great as what we expect”
The co-workers recommended one of their colleagues.
“How about Haw and the others? I think they would be great challengers”
Thean disagreed
“No, those two agatheans are more into research and studies. I don’t know about Haw and his buddy. I doubt he could use his potions in a spar”
“Wait Haw!? He has that crys . . . you’re right. Will he use it on someone’s bet?”
Illtended shouldn’t treat Haw like some protagonist using all his abilities on a bet, especially the potions he had from Rune Isles.
Altair concludes their conversation and focus on finding some Horsins.
“Illtended, it would be nice to know someone who can join the challenge”
“Sorry, but I don’t have someone I know. They are just ordinary people doing business here. They are not fighters”
Thean responded
“Don’t worry we have time, if we are going to get desperate, let’s ask someone in Stranding Island”
“That’s a little bit too much, but I have a chat with the other guilds. There are a few people starts considering to join”
Illtended and others give their response.
“Then good luck”
“I hope you have chance to face that goblin”
“If anything happened to Thean when gets his ass beaten. Please recorded for me”
“Quail, you sure don’t miss your chance, don’t you?”
Altair was called out by the other adventurers as they needed help for someone nearby.
"Altair, I don't like spoiling the mood but . . ."
"The man started to acting up again"
"And because there is a guy mention about the traitors. We should have warned him about our friend"
The man hid himself with his other guild members, feeling a bit of worried as Altair saw him in his condition. The man started to use his device again to hear some music.
"He is going to play that song from the mountains again"
"Shh, he needs to calm down. At least he did what he can do to minimize his guilt"
The man's device is playing the same tune where his saviors came to rescue them.
"Hey, you can turn it up the volume if you need it"
He looks at him nodded as he still not recovered from his experience. The volume goes up where Thean heard it. The music playing and he froze when he heard it. Illtended and Quail notice him and said
"Are you okay?"
Thean only say one word
"Be . . . ne . . . dic . . . tus"
Thean turns toward the sound and ask Altair.
"How did you managed to take the songs of sanctuary?"
The man who is traumatized heard him as he laughs so sadly with tears in his eyes and understand how he is now here.
"Hic . . . That's how they found us"
Everyone didn't understand what the man said, but they continue to comfort him again. Thean is busy talking with them about that song as he explains to them that this is one of the crucial songs ever sang by them.
"They seem like they never left"
Thean thought they could leave that place. He continues while listen to the lyrics
"YES, seeking sanctuary, means those men might have cause a strong impression . . ."
The adventurers were trying to figure out who they are. They doubted that he knows anything new, figuring that there will always be another for them. More adventures join in as they have some debt with them.
After that, the conversation grew more serious and probably need more time to be discuss, where the visitors and guests will mind this intrusion. Quail and her co-workers were invited to go into a guild's hotel and have their rooms as they take in for the night. They heard them about the issues about the guild, they hope that they won't be involved. However, from what Thean said made them worry as they talk to each other
"Do you think?"
"I really shouldn’t"
"I never thought to say this but . . . we need shouldn’t let Quail get involved like that"
Quail is getting all surprised today, hearing more of her co-workers left and right about the east mountain, that is closer to the coast.
Quail had enough of the conversation, and she and her co-workers bring along the meals for dinner.
"The drink made us like this"
She touches her waist and felt a nice smooth belly.
"Now I know the women called it Aphrodite whatever. My body feels so fit"
They finished their day as they are preparing to watch the match tomorrow morning. In the meantime, where the rest of the adventurers as the others tags along with the higher ranks. An adventurer can't be recognized as she wears casual clothes like the rest of them, looking a charming lady with her magic force field treated like an umbrella.
"Silfa! You are here. This man is Thean from Agatheus City, he knows your favorite boy band"
Silfa twitches her eyebrow and meets Illtended in that persona since the elven robe analysis
"YOU! You kept changing personality when it comes to your stupid curiosity about Horsin . . . Altair, tell me what's going on and is he still hanging on?"
Altair sees the crying man she mentioned, everything is still a secret for him but she needs to know.
"Thean knows about those men in armor who saving our adventurers"
Silfa looks around who is this person is where Illtended already told her and Thean is beside him.
"Guess, I’ll be staying here for a while"
"Yeah, be careful though, she is REALLY into those boys you mention"
Thean is astounded to see them altogether, and many more adventurers to come when lunch is over. Needless for him to say, he listens their conversation
“. . . I was supposed to have my dessert, yet there was a commotion. More than once actually”
“Yeah, I heard it from Altair that there was a fight over a bottle again”
“Again? I thought it sold out after the lockdown”
“And one of our guild members having a breakdown”
Altair checks on the man and told them.
“He is getting better now, don’t need to get riled up now”
The man is already retired according by people around him. He is just here to cooperating and tries to live as he could.
Thean didn't know, but sees the traumatized man being broken that he probably facing worse that elves had face. He can’t describe anything happen below the east mountain, he thought he shouldn’t be involved in this but his new friends are. He hopes it is over then starts finding their own team. There are three women who follow Silfa, and the traumatized man recognized them as he tried to pulls himself together.
"Guys! How are you?"
They look regretful of seeing him again and one of them actually put into tears. She whimpered
"I'm sorry"
She almost ran as Silfa used her force field umbrella to block her way.
The traumatized man introduced him as he stutters.
"I - I . . . Th - D - This m - m - an"
The one who takes care of him held him and let him to tell her.
"That man with the twin swords knows about them"
Silfa stares at Thean in a serious look as he had no reaction by her expression.
"Is it true?"
Thean answered her as he barely knows or proven true what he heard before
"Your friend plays the songs of sanctuary, once they hear that song, they will find you easily and save you at all cost. The price in return according my side of the story is that their battles are orchestrated to those who hear them, believing it to be no trouble"
“And that’s it?”
“I am not dared to venture the east mountains where it guarded by the elves”
“Again, another fluke. We got the same clues over again . . .”
Altair and the others continue to stay in this hotel, along with the others having their time to enjoy this place. Thean was ask to stay for a bit longer, where the meeting to form a team will be held here. It was a strange day for him meeting the adventurers. At least for some time, Altair mentions about the challenge. One of the adventurers comes in from the chat he made. Let’s hope there will be more joining in.