‘In such a diverse world as ours, it is important for all our students to learn the difference between a skill and a spell, as well as the importance of quick casting. A skill uses relatively little mana but is heavy on stamina, and can be cast immediately and repeatedly. However, skills can only be learned through repeated training, thus are most commonly found among the soldiers and adventurers of each nation.
Spells, on the other hand, are a much higher art and are learned from the experience and wisdom of our forebears. Access to such tomes of wisdom is a pursuit best left to the nobles who can attend our academy. They can be cast in two forms—full spells for maximum power and efficiency of mana, or quick casting at a much weaker potency. If possible, mages want to avoid quick casting except in emergencies in order to best preserve their mana and to get the maximum effect.’
–Archmage Tyrus the Bold, founder of the University of Sankore, deceased
“Hrmmmmm….”
Thistleman was musing to himself, while playing around with different illustration of people using the Greater Illusion spell. Getting Diane to take the ogre quest was one thing, but not getting her killed in the process of retrieving the book was another thing altogether.
Ogres are tougher monsters, so she would need some meat shields, and with the bulk of high tier adventurers gone for the copious well-paid mercenary missions, not many of the remaining decent adventurers wanted to hunt an ogre.
Now how to acquire said meat shields without using some form of mind control? The main issue was that while Greater Illusion could replicate sounds, and do a fantastic job at making an illusion look real, it lacked, however, corporeality, which could cause problems. Ah, what a headache.
Then, inspiration struck. What if he could make another demon? It has been a little while since the incident with the hornets, and enough of his miasma had regenerated… although testing this in the city would be troublesome.
It was time, therefore, to make a quick trip to the forest.
Now for a deep breath. He only had enough miasma to try this once. Focus. Absolute focus. Keeping the image of what he wanted to achieve clear in his head, the miasma poured in an uncontrolled manner.
“Damnit! This is harder than I thought! I need to focus!”
The process wasn’t perfect, but it started to work. Soon, a soft white hand began to form and reach out through the mist, then a slender arm rapidly condensing behind, followed by a soft and curvy torso, with long, firm legs. And a tail. And black wings. Thistleman started getting a little worried, but he tried to maintain his focus. Then, her face… a beautiful woman’s face, and long ears and small horns. Damnit.
“ Master! Thank you for calling me into this world! I am ready to follow your… ah… every order!”
She made a very clear attempt to look vulnerable, before she was hit in the face by a kimono.
“Get dressed. I have a very special job for you, as I am sure you already know.”
“Do you have a name for me, Master?”
“Yes, you shall be called Sayomi.”
Thistleman sighed as Sayomi finished getting dressed. It seemed that he would be running through a few more copper and bronze quests with Diane before he could get her to his book. Her growth was not going to go anywhere near as quickly as he hoped. Ah, may as well clear this excess miasma now too. He didn’t want to warp these trees and leave evidence behind.
image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/193f101c-37b9-4691-9e60-0ff690e3af8c/grid_0.png]
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This morning, I woke up just brimming with energy! Even though it was a cold winter morning, today was looking like a wonderful day! The sun was out and I was ready to take on my day.
I put a lot on him, and to be honest, I feel a little bad about it, but I am trying my best too! Every chance I get, I am taking on new quests. After all, I need to earn my keep! Plus, seeing how scary things are out there, I know I need to get stronger.
Today, though, I feel motivated to take on a new challenge! Should I try for an Iron Plate quest? My new Copper rank has given me a lot more sway, and Elsie seems to recognize me a lot more when I am in the guild now! She is even treating me nice. Maybe when I get a little richer and more famous I can hire her to make Thistle’s life a little easier.
Thistle still isn’t awake yet? That sleepyhead! Alright, I suppose he has earned friendship rights by now. I don’t have to always act like a noble around him.
“Thistle! Wakey wakey, sleepyhead!! Come on! It’s time for breakfast and we need to get another quest today!”
“Mmmhhmm… it’s that time again? Ughhhh…. Alright, alright! I’m up, you don’t have to drag me by my hair!”
Diane quickly dressed in her usual purple dress, now with many more stitches than before, and hurried down the stairs for breakfast. After scarfing down eggs and toast, she ran out the door with a second piece of toast in her mouth. She waved to Ryme and Jotuun, who smiled and waved back to her as the door swished shut behind her.
She was so focused on getting to the guild that she didn’t notice Thistleman giving a small thumbs-up to someone after the door closed behind him.
What used to be a bustling guild hall now only had a few copper and bronze plate teams, with some independent iron and bronze plated adventurers and a silver plate team.
I gave Elsie a nice wave as I ran up to look at the quest board.
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“Nyah! Welcome byack, Miss Diane.”
“Morning Elsie.”
As I was looking at the quest board, Thistle walked up beside me, giving the quests a good look over himself. He always asked me about a bunch of them.
“Hey Diane, what do you think about this one? It says something about some ogres?”
“Ogres? Well, I was wanting to try something a bit harder, like maybe an iron plate quest… but that one is a silver plate full party quest. I’m not sure I would want to…”
At that moment, the door to the adventurer’s guild swung open, and a desperate cry filled the room.
“Someone… anyone… please, help me! Some ogres tried to kidnap me while I was picking berries in the forest, but when my brother came to protect me, they took him instead! I beg of you, can someone save my brother? I will do anything, so please… help me!”
A beautiful woman had entered the guild, her eyes were full of tears and her torn and disheveled clothes emanated desperation. The guild quickly filled with noise. While the copper and bronze plate teams shared looks of fear, the silver plate team stood up and approached the woman, with their only female member trying to slow them down.
“Miss, we are the Avengers of the Dawn, and we will gladly help you save your brother in your time of need! My name is Gungnir, I am the team leader and a former knight, and these three with me are Efrain, our sorcerer, Fido, a magic swordsman, and Emily, our ranger! You are safe with us. Please, what is your name? And where do you need us to go?”
Efrain was a surprisingly muscular man for being a sorcerer and he carried a short sword. Fido was a wolf canian who used a two-handed claymore embedded with a single mana crystal to improve mana flow. Emily was a tall, plain-faced woman in green leather armor with a long bow and miniature crossbow at her side. She also wore a green cap which she kept all the way down, completely over her ears.
“Gungnir, stop! Think about this for a second! These are ogres we are talking about. We don’t even have a healer or a scout or even a porter. If we wait for Mythrandir’s team to get in, I am sure I can talk to him and Terra to get their support. This is too risky!” Emily said.
“Emily, every moment we wait, we risk the death of her brother! No man can allow a lady to suffer so!”
“Ahem! Excuse me? But I was looking at the ogre subjugation quest first, you all better not be thinking about stealing it from me!”
The nerve of these people! Even if I wasn’t sure I wanted to take the quest, the fact I was looking at it first meant I should have first rights to it. That is just common courtesy!
“Ruff, I see, you’re the little missy always causing a stir around here,” Fido said. “This is no place for a Copper. Let us men handle it!”
“Ah, but didn’t you say you needed a porter? Her and her friend are pretty small, but looking at his pack, they can definitely carry things for you. Please, my brother’s life is at stake!”
The woman took hold of Gungnir’s hand and leaned in closely with tears in her eyes. The view was too perfect. He blushed.
“No worries, we will definitely save him! But still, I am not sure about these kids, and Silver is the minimum requirement for this quest.”
As they were discussing the problems, Haraldr, now wearing a newly minted bronze plate, came running up to the group.
“Did I hear you needed a scout? I was the rogue for my… old team, and as long as it isn’t fighting the ogres, I can at least guarantee my ability to sneak and report to you!”
He subtly gave Diane a thumbs-up and a wink.
During these discussions, a robed and hooded man approached Elsie, before leaning to her ear and tapping on her shoulder, then walking away. Elsie jumped with a look of shock on her face, and then ran to the group.
“Nyah! There is nyo worry about her plyate, she is a special cyopper, her and her friends are allowed for this request!”
“What? She is a special rank?! Really? I wonder what her skills are like.”
The group of silver plates stepped back in shock, before their sorcerer, Efrain, spoke to her.
“She is definitely good, I can vouch for that. She managed to take out a giant hornet nest after all, and even escaped from dire wolves!”
“In my entire career, I have only heard about special ranks from other city guilds,” Efrain said. “I would love to see one in action.”
“Then it is settled! You have your porter and a scout, so now we can go save my brother! Oh, by the way, my name is Sayomi. I will be in your care.”
The way she batted her eyelids, the male adventurers couldn’t help but follow her out of the guild, accompanied by the jealous stares of the lower ranked adventurers. The only person who was showing any apprehension at the current chain of events was Emily, but she wouldn’t abandon her team. They had been through too much together. She could only hope that her intuition was wrong.
It was a bit of a hike until we reached the ogres’ cave. Thankfully, we were able to make it there without much incident. Although it was cold, like getting really cold. I definitely needed to ask Thistle to buy me some winter furs when we get back in to town!
The whole time Sayomi seemed so scared that the men just kept doing all they could to comfort her. The only ones who weren’t caught up over her were Emily and Thistle, which is probably why we ended up being our own little clique.
Apparently, Emily had been part of this group for a few years, and they had gone from Copper to Silver in a decent amount of time. Their party had never hunted down ogres before, but they had lots of experience with all manner of other creatures. Emily wouldn’t say where she was from, but I started to notice that she seemed… really light, and her features seemed more refined than a normal person’s. Was it just me, or had my eyes been getting sharper?
We were able to identify the lair well before we reached it, due to the nasty smell. We had Haraldr sneak up to confirm it, and outside were various bones and piles of… filth. Sayomi also spotted a small beaded bracelet in the bushes, and she tearfully insisted it was her brother’s. This really seemed to whip up the men.
We had Haraldr move ahead of our group, while we followed shortly behind. He seemed proud of his new spell–Concealment. With the help of the darkness, it made him almost disappear!
Inside the cave, the smell of rotten flesh was overwhelming. The silence within was broken only by the drip drip drop of water falling from the stalactites. After what felt like an eternity creeping through the darkness, Haraldr quietly hustled back to the group. He spoke in a hushed yet urgent whisper.
“I found them! Three ogres are currently eating something in the room ahead.”
“Ruff. Are they armed?”
“Two wooden clubs and one crude stone axe. There was one standing at a large table while another was tending a pot over the fire. The one with the axe is sitting by the wall on the far side.”
“Then a quick ambush may be our best bet,” Gungnir said. “Kill them before they can call for help.”
“I don’t like this,” Emily said. “Maybe we should find a way around to get Sayomi’s brother and just get out before they notice us?”
“You know, she might be right,” Thistleman said. “You can never be too careful around here.”
“We don’t even know where the other paths lead, and if Haraldr is right, we don’t have time! They might begin to cook him before we can find a way around,” Efrain said.
“Also, do we want to risk alerting other ogres,” Thistleman said. “What if this isn’t all of them?”
“No, we strike now, hard and fast. Efrain, take the far ogre with one of your spells. Emily, assist him. I will go for the ogre at the table. Haraldr, stand back as support for me. Fido, you go for the ogre by the cooking pot with Diane as support. We are the Avengers of the Dawn!”
We stealthily moved to the entrance of the chamber and Gungnir gave the signal.
The speed with which he and Fido stormed forward took me by surprise, and it took everything I had to keep up with Fido. The front ogres hardly had any time to react!
“Shield of Stone! Bull’s Rush!” cried Gungnir.
“Bestial Fury! Lion Strike!” bellowed Fido.
“Chains of steel, born of magic to bind my foes, I call upon thee! Bind Monster!” Efrain called as he wielded his magic.
“May the spirits of nature guide my arrow,” Emily said, “strike true with the guidance of the wind! Elemental Arrow!”
I felt excitement coursing through my veins. I couldn’t wait to show off some of my abilities too! However, I failed to notice something I had not seen in a long time… a look of concern on Thistle’s face. He kept looking back at the path we came from.