Valeria tapped her arm with her fingers.
“You know, there were people who paid fortunes just to be in my presence.”
I moved my fingers. Fuck, why did skin getting ripped hurt this much?
“Maybe they did. But you already acknowledged me as your equal according to the Sacred Sword of Selection. So you must trade if you want to know how we defeated you.”
She puffed her cheeks. Despite her intimidating figure, that made her look cute.
“What do you want? As you know, I have been dead for a long time. I don’t have any worldly possessions.”
Lily looked at me with questioning eyes. I knew he wanted to crack jokes but his curiosity seemed to overcome it for now.
“I just want knowledge and insight. You see…”
I told the situation we were in as fast and simple as possible. She started to laugh when I finished my story.
“You are really shy, aren’t you? You could just ask me for my help and I would tell you everything I know. You don’t need to pull this kind of trick, Junior.”
“I am not shy.”
I objected to her with a monotone tone.
“The word you are looking for is “tsundere”.”
Lily added.
“I am not a tsundere.”
“That sounds like something a tsundere would say.”
I backhanded Lily.
“Hmm. Just drawing monsters somewhere is not something special. A druid or a magician could do it with a proper ritual and material.”
I looked at Nocturna for confirmation.
“I never learned that kind of magic.”
She shyly said.
“Of course you didn’t. What kind of madman would draw a large number of monsters in without a plan?”
“Do you think he could control all of them?”
I asked.
“He doesn’t have to. Do you bother creating a controlled fire if you want to burn all of the forest?”
My expression turned grim.
“But the fact that he was able to draw in a wurm… That requires a lot of power. Dragonic beings have an innate resistance to mana and naturally to magic. Even though a wurm is one of the weakest dragonic beings it should have resisted whatever magic that man used. And you said he was turning beastkin into mindless monsters?”
Valeria stopped for a second before stomping the ground and creating a crater. The shockwave was so strong that I flew into the air a little.
“This reeks of demons. Have you guys fought against demons before?”
Nocturna shook her head.
“I stopped a ritual for… What was his name? Asmoneal?”
“I killed Eleventh and Twelfth Apostle of him with Morrigan.”
Lily added.
“That bastard is still alive and scheming? Yeah, this suits him.”
Nocturna took several steps back.
“Asmoneal? One of the Demon Kings?”
She sounded afraid. I can’t say I blamed her. Demon King Asmoneal. Motherfucker sounded like a final boss alright.
“Do they have any weakness?”
“Divine power and light-based attacks. If you manage to get the approval of the First you should be easily overpowering low-ranking ones.”
“Is there any way to reverse the transformation?”
Nocturna jumped. Normally she was reserved but I could understand her feelings. Valeria gave us a sad expression.
“I am sorry. If the transformation is as severe as you mentioned they now belong to Asmoneal. With their body and soul.”
“But that’s not fair.”
“I am sorry little one. That’s how demons are. Cruel and unfair.”
Valeria sounded genuinely sorry. Nocturna bowed her head. Despite her attempts to hide her tears, everyone saw them falling to the ground beneath us. Gökbörü slowly walked to her and headbutted her leg gently in an attempt to cheer her up. Valiera too stepped to her and pulled Nocturna to her embrace.
“I know no words can lessen the pain of your own kin being killed and desecrated but know that one day, those villains will pay for what they did.”
She looked at me.
“We will be sure of it.”
I nodded to her words.
“If hitting his mask hurt him, hit harder this time. If your numbers are not enough like you said focus on him. It is possible they will lose focus if they were to lose their leader.”
Well, she didn’t say anything we already didn’t know but I appreciated her support.
“So. How did you guys manage to make me bleed?”
She asked with her eyes sparkling.
“We didn’t. Nocturna did it.”
Valeria looked at me then turned her head down and looked down to Nocturna. She repeated it several times.
“What?!!!!”
She lifted Nocturna up like a child and examined her. Nocturna looked at me with eyes begging for help.
“Please let the poor girl go. I’ll explain. It was sound waves. Your muscles, bones, and skin may be denser but your insides aren’t. While reaching to your guts may be impossible for us, your ears which are designed to take in sound are an easy target.”
“Sound magic? Back in my day, there was nothing like it! Mages must be working hard, huh?”
Valeria let Nocturna on the ground. Despite looking a little shaken up, Nocturna looked at me.
“How did you know? Did Amaterasu tell you about it?”
She asked me with great interest.
“No, she didn’t spill any secrets. I just had the clues. The inner ear is also responsible for maintaining your balance. When Valeria missed her punch I realized it was because her balance was off. The fact that she held her ear and blood came out of her ear also made it very obvious.”
Lily put his hand on my shoulder.
“Nice deduction, Sherlock.”
“Shut up Watson.”
Nocturna and Valeria looked shocked.
“You were able to gather all of that while fighting me? I see why Aliera has her eyes on you. The First is going to like you.”
“Speaking of him, do you have any advice that can help with his trial?”
Valeria shook her head.
“Even if I told you about him it would change nothing. Just be yourself and you should be good.”
She shook her hand and a sword appeared on her hand. It was a massive great sword but she held it easily with her one hand. It was her Sacred Sword of Selection. Even though Rodrick’s sword was broken and I didn’t know its proper shape, I was sure it was different than Valeria’s. So this is what he meant by it shaping according to its user.
“It is time to go. You said you are in a hurry.”
“Too bad. I would love to have a drink with you.”
I shook Lily to stop him from flirting.
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We nodded to each other before touching her sword. Before I could open my eyes…
(Your Spark is sealed.)
(Your stats are sealed.)
(Your skills are sealed.)
(Your titles are sealed.)
(Your items are sealed.)
Wait, no. This is horrible. I opened my eyes. I looked at my body and realized I was wearing very simple clothing. It looked like what a peasant from the Middle Ages would wear. I tried to form my armor and failed. The sword I received from Arslan and my bag of holding was also gone.
Name Poyraz Karabulut Strength 10 Agility 9 Vitality 10 Mana 1 Charisma 6 Defense 8 Spark Sealed Spark Skills Sealed Personal Skills Full Combat Mastery D (Passive)
Combat Sense B(Passive)
Iron Will A(Passive)
Sealed Titles Sealed
What the fuck do you mean?!!!
My body felt sluggish. Considering my stats were equal to what they were when I came here without my Spark it was normal. I noticed Lily and Nocturna looked at themselves with an expression similar to mine. Both of them wore clothes similar to mine.
“Awww, what a fashion crime! It took my clothes!”
“Is this what you are worried about? Not that our skills and stats being sealed off?”
“Of course, I am worried about my clothes! I paid a lot of money for them! Also, clothes make the man, you know!”
I flipped off Lily and looked at Nocturna. She seemed to be stressed.
“Are you okay?”
She answered after fidgeting for a second.
“Yes. I just don’t feel… Comfortable without my hood.”
“Poyraz had that phase too. He even wore hoodies in summer.”
“Hoodies are cool and comfy. Fuck off.”
I sighed.
“Nocturna, it is okay. Nobody except us is going to see you. And we have been together to be friends. We don’t judge you. Hell, if I wanted to judge someone I would judge Lily’s horrible fashion sense. But I don’t even though everything he wears looks horrible.”
“Excuse me?”
Nocturna smiled, looking better now.
“Bark!”
I looked down and saw Gökbörü.
“How are you holding out buddy? How are your stats?”
“Woof.”
Gökbörü let out a sad sigh.
“Guess it hit you too, huh?”
At least he didn’t have a lot of skills and stats to lose.
“Man, just as we gained those extra stats too.”
Lily said while stretching.
“What extra stats?”
I asked.
“The ones we got from clearing the trials. +1 to every stat? You didn’t get them?”
I looked at Nocturna.
“I also got them.”
“Bark!”
So I was the only one who didn’t get them?
“Guess it is fair. You guys get the stats, I get the cool sword. That’s of course if we managed to clear this one too. Let’s observe our status. We were in the middle of a forest. There is nobody here. Valeria came to us in the previous trial but maybe we have to find The First in this?”
Lily shrugged.
“Nocturna what kind of magic you can cast now?”
“Only the most basic ones. Most are useless in combat.”
“It is okay.”
I reassured her as I broke three branches. I handed them Lily and Nocturna.
“Use them to help hiking or if anything comes close, smack them. Better than fists.”
I looked at the trees to see if we could climb them to get a better view but it seemed unlikely. All the trees were equal in height and thickness. It gave a sense of uncanniness. Guess it made sense since this place was most likely closer to a dream.
“Let’s try to find water or better, a settlement.”
After being used to using Enhanced Senses returning back to normal felt suffocating. It would also helped greatly here too. Sigh.
“I hate hiking.”
Lily spoke after 10 minutes of walking.
“Just imagine yourself in Lord of the Rings.”
“I did. It doesn’t work.”
“Umm. What is Lord of the Rings?”
Nocturna asked. Of course, she didn’t know.
“Oh, no. You activated him.”
Lily started to talk about Lord of the Rings for the next hour or so.
“Multiple races working together to defeat an evil overlord. I understand why you guys are willing to help us. Your culture is different than that of other humans. I am sure they were much more tolerant compared to this place.”
Lily and I looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Nocturna’s face reddened.
“Did.. Did I say something wrong?”
“I am sorry.”
I answered since Lily was still laughing.
“Where we came from wasn’t really tolerant. It was just… Stories usually depict what reality should be, rather than what it is actually. At least hopeful ones do. So that we could look at them and take them as examples. Friendship is magic, good always wins, honesty always gets rewarded, etc…”
“Guess even the other worlds are the same…”
Nocturna bowed her head. Oh, I forgot. She was there when Rodrick called me an Ourworlder.
“Oh, that. We haven’t had the chance to talk about it. Thank you for being so understanding. Even though we hid that you still trusted us.”
Nocturna shook her hands nervously.
“I mean it is not something you can just tell everyone! I understand! I just….”
Nocturna fidgeted around before speaking again.
“As a mage, I can’t help but chase after knowledge. Can you tell me about your world after we get to a safe place?”
“Of course. That’s the least we can do for a friend.”
Nocturna’s face reddened again.