Natsumi was walking along the side of the castle until she found a door that led inside. Just a few minutes ago, she was with Arata and Date and they all managed to secure a flying beast. After a lot of trial and error, the three of them managed to make the beasts fly up to the castle but they were separated.
Not only that, they were quite far from each other as well. Natsumi couldn't even sense their presence.
"How was a castle this large built here...?"
It would be one thing if she only looked at it from the ground, but the beast had actually flown above the castle walls yet she still wasn't able to see the peak.
As the door opened, Natsumi saw a large hall. Save for the pillars that held up the room, it was empty. If Natsumi were to liken it to something, it would be an empty throne room. Other than the door she came through, there was a large double door at the far end of the hall. She took a few steps before seeing a figure come out from one of the pillars.
"..."
The figure stopped in front of the door and made eye contact with Natsumi.
It was a figure she was all too familiar with.
Natsumi made eye contact with the figure that looked exactly like herself. They were wearing the same clothes and holding the same bow. The only difference was that Natsumi was disguised as a demon and the one in front of her was a human.
"A mimic..."
She recognized it. It was a monster talked about in the texts of the royal family. They replicated their target and used their own skills against them. Sometimes, it also impersonates them to attack their comrades.
It was a dangerous creature.
Not only could it replicate their target's mana, but it could also copy their memories somewhat. But, the biggest problem would be its stamina. A mimic wasn't like any other beast—or any living creature at that. It couldn't run out of mana and stamina.
It won against its targets through a battle of attrition.
After sorting her thoughts, Natsumi moved. She raised her bow and fired three arrows in quick succession. They were all backed with the power of wind and moved so fast that they whistled. Any normal arrow would break or fall apart at that speed, but the arrows cleanly flew.
The mimic put its hand forward and a barrier made of wind stopped the arrows in place.
Natsumi didn't let up. The only way she could beat the mimic was if she beat it in the shortest time possible.
Mimics took the opportunity when first encountering their opponents to study their moves. Right now, the mimic wouldn't attack her more than necessary because it was studying her.
It was trying to see how she was going to fight before using its power for real.
However, while Natsumi lost mana and stamina attacking, the mimic only grew stronger because it was studying her patterns.
She was troubled. There was nothing more she could do other than continue attacking. The mimic could react to anything she could react to. She was fighting another self.
Natsumi looked around the room. There was nothing she could use to get leverage against the mimic, but she couldn’t just rely on her skills when there was no chance of defeating herself before she ran out of mana.
She hesitated for a bit but made up her mind after a bit of contemplation. She attacked the mimic for a bit and made it defend before rushing past it and going through the door. It was dangerous, considering that she didn’t know what was behind it, but there was no use in waiting for her death.
The mimic followed her closely.
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Arata was more fortunate than Natsumi. The beast it was riding managed to reach one of the upper floors of the castle. He just broke through a window and stepped inside. After getting out of the room, he scratched his head.
“I knew that it was big from the outside but this is just ridiculous.”
Arata didn’t know what else to say.
When he stepped out of the room, he saw countless doors stretching towards the distance. Even with his enhanced vision, he still couldn’t see the end.
The castle on the tortoise’s back didn’t lose in size compared to the tortoise itself.
“...Is the flute in one of the rooms? I sure hope not.”
Despite the complaint, Arata began opening rooms one by one. After opening the umpteenth door, he just decided to use his ability and opened dozens of doors at once. Of course, the doors were all damaged, but that didn’t really matter.
Just when he could see the end of the rooms, however, there was a figure that stood in front of him.
“Eh?”
Arata muttered in confusion. Facing him was his human self. It even had his Enchanted Gear with it.
He didn’t know about the existence of the mimic, but he could at least tell that the mimic was hostile. He immediately moved to engage it in combat. They traded blow for blow but their bodies were so tough that neither of them dealt any real damage.
Arata knew that his attack power was lacking. Kei and Date were typically with him for that reason.
But, to think that he couldn’t even injure himself…
Arata raised his shield and knocked the mimic back a distance away.
Then, he created a giant sword of earth and slammed it into the mimic. His superhuman strength made the mimic crash into a wall and into one of the rooms.
After that, he created over a hundred small projectiles of earth and when the mimic stepped out of the room, he sent the projectiles forward. The mimic couldn’t react in time and was barraged. If it was anyone else but Arata or someone stronger than him, it would’ve been impossible to leave there unscathed.
Arata outstretched his arms to the side and took control of the walls in the room. He was sweating because of how much mana it took to move them, but he managed to trap the mimic inside the room.
Seeing that the mimic wasn’t moving yet, Arata began to run away. There was no point in wasting his mana with an opponent whose defense was similar to his. There wasn’t any way for either of them to be defeated.
But, just as he was about to turn and run, he heard something whistling. Then, without any warning, hundreds of beasts began flooding the area from every direction. Arata’s eyes widened and he immediately created a wall of earth to surround him from all directions.
Then, he hit the ground with all of his might and created a hole. He jumped down and sealed the hole before taking off in a different direction.
‘Was that the flute?’
He only heard it for a second, but it was definitely an unnatural sound.
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Contrary to the other two who had retreated from their mimics, Date was locked in fierce combat. The mimic had gone past the stage of studying his patterns and was fighting him with all its might.
“Ack…!”
Date suffered a gash on his shoulder and leaped backward.
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The mimic didn’t give him a chance and created a pillar of water right underneath him. He couldn’t react in time and was sent crashing into the ceiling before falling.
“Oof…”
Date barely managed to stand up and brandish his sword again.
‘It isn’t getting any weaker…’
He would’ve run away when he lost the first few exchanges, but he remembered why Kai had sent him here in the first place.
His Innate Ability.
He didn’t know what it was or if it could help him win this battle, but Kai said that it was indispensable for the future.
During the Tournament of Swords, he nearly unlocked his Innate Ability according to Kai, but he couldn’t get that final push he needed to unlock it.
Erina was pushed to the brink of death, Kei was pushed to his wit’s end, and Yoko was sick of her powerlessness.
They were all intense emotions that they had to go through to unlock it. It wasn’t like he needed to risk his life to unlock his own, but there was no better opportunity to become a better version of himself than defeating himself.
By fighting with the mimic, Date could tell that his abilities and his knowledge on how to use them were all replicated. And judging by the constant stream of attacks, it wasn’t running out of mana either.
The only way he could’ve defeated the mimic was to defeat it the moment they started the battle, or if he were to become stronger than who he was when he stepped into this castle.
It was easier said than done. He had trained for years to get to where he was. He hadn’t gotten his skills overnight.
The only time he became stronger in a short amount of time was when Kai had given him Emi’s mana. If he wanted to defeat the mimic, he had to experience something similar to that.
Like when Yoko couldn’t do anything against the Blind Swordsman but could suddenly keep up to a certain extent.
Power.
He wanted power.
He didn’t want to be on the receiving end like he had always been.
Kai believed in them. Believed in him.
Date steadied his footing and spat out the blood in his mouth. He pointed his sword at the mimic and glared.
“...Come at me.”
He didn’t know if the mimic understood his words or not, but it didn’t matter. The words he was speaking is for him and not for any other.
The mimic leaned forward and accompanied by a burst of wind, charged at Date. It jumped at him and raised its sword in an overhead slash.
“Ha!”
Date cried out and blocked it.
CLANG
After their swords made contact, Date bent his body sideward and held his sword in a reverse grip at the same time the mimic landed. He slashed at the mimic’s leg causing it to kneel. Date quickly capitalized on the situation and stabbed the sword through the mimic’s arm.
He would’ve tried to stab it through the chest or the head, but it had already raised its arm to block any lethal blows.
The wound that was on its leg had also finished healing. It stood up despite the heavy wound it was dealt with and stabbed Date in the stomach.
“Ugh…”
Blood dripped out of the corner of Date’s mouth. Despite the heavy wound, he gritted his teeth and headbutted the mimic causing it to lean back. He then removed his sword from the mimic’s arm and kicked him away.
The mimic’s sword was left behind in his stomach but it melted and left his wound open. Blood was flowing out of his stomach like a waterfall.
His consciousness was flickering but the grip on his sword was as tight as ever. There wasn’t anywhere on his person without blood. It was even flowing down his sword and dripping onto the floor.
What he could see was only a blur. He could only barely make out the mimic’s figure within that blur.
A sword also formed in the mimic’s hand.
“Ah…”
Date sighed and closed his eyes as if he was accepting his fate.
The mimic didn’t waste the opportunity and charged forward. At the last second, Date suddenly moved to the side and hit the mimic at the back of its neck. Of course, that wasn’t really enough to knock it out so after regaining its footing, it charged at Date again.
He still had his eyes closed but he moved as if he was facing a total beginner with the sword. The mimic slashed his left side and Date moved just enough to dodge it, then he stabbed his sword into the mimic’s stomach.
It retreated and cautiously watched him.
“I thought all Innate Abilities were revolutionary…”
Erina could stop time, Kei could multiply his power severalfold, and Yoko could move many times faster than sound. There was also Alteria’s first princess, Sachiko. She could use songs to influence her enemies and environment.
However, the Innate Ability that he just acquired really was underwhelming in comparison.
「Sixth Sense」.
It gave him a whole new perspective on the world. The attacks he could barely follow were as clear as day. It even looked like it was moving in slow motion. Not only that, even with his eyes closed, he could see the world around him perfectly.
The mimic wasn’t breathing, and he couldn’t hear a heartbeat either. But, he could see that there was a core-like object inside its body.
The wind was also moving quite weirdly, it looked like it was moving upward. To the peak of the castle.
All in all, Date didn’t receive any boost in power, just perception.
He sighed and walked toward the mimic who was pointing its sword at him in caution.
One step, two steps…
The mimic counted Date’s steps but as soon as it was about to count the third, Date vanished. It quickly turned around and saw Date a little bit away from him. He was sheathing his sword.
“Though, I guess it was pretty useful this time.”
Date muttered.
The mimic raised its sword and was about to attack again but it suddenly shattered.
There wasn’t any particular feeling in his gaze. He covered his wounds in water and although it was pretty weak, he still tried healing them.
“The two of them should be headed there too.”
Date raised his hand and traced it through the wind’s pattern. He couldn’t feel it earlier, but with his Innate Ability, all of his senses were heightened to a frightening degree. He could even see how many hairs were on his arm and could count them fairly easily.
He didn’t look at the mimic again, he just started limping towards the source of the flute.
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“Wow… so the hero’s world is filled with these ‘cars’ and they can become faster than horses?”
“Yeah, they’re also super comfortable. You can sleep like it’s a bed even if it’s moving.”
It was a complaint that Karen had often. Whenever she rode a carriage or a horse, it moved pretty intensely and she couldn’t rest at all. Her behind also felt sore because of the bumps in the roads.
The girl talking to Karen was Lauren Woodrowe, a petite girl carrying a pretty large backpack. She was pretty strong for how she looked, but she didn’t really have much combat power. She was an alchemist and a researcher, she was the tactician and intelligence of the group.
She didn’t look like she was much for fighting, but she was actually pretty good at devising tactics.
At the very least, Karen and Sophia felt that battles became much, much easier ever since she joined them.
She was someone personally chosen by the king himself.
Other than her, there was a girl wearing an entire set of black leather clothing. She had a lot of pouches and belts wrapped around her with each pouch filled with different weapons. There was a dagger on her waist and a gladius strapped to her back.
Her name was Lana Hawthorne, she was an assassin. The king chose her because he felt like the heroes wouldn’t be able to kill people when they need to. Raul agreed and welcomed her with open arms.
Their last member was the crown prince of the Styn Kingdom, Robert Styn. He was by far the strongest member of the group. He was already A-class and on the brink of being an S-class. He was pretty famous among their generation, Raul had heard of him many times before.
Even though he was reluctant to agree to him joining the party because he was obviously aiming for Karen, he couldn’t just deny the crown prince of a kingdom.
Other than those named, they were also granted a conroi of ten knights. They were the crown prince's personal friends and they had been training together since they were young. They were also pretty well-known for their skill.
This was the force that the king of Styn had created for the heroes. It wasn't particularly small, but it wasn't as if the knights were going to be with them all the way. They were here for odd tasks and the like.
"Wow! Something even more comfortable than a carriage like this, huh~"
Lauren was laughing while patting the carriage's soft cushions. It was a carriage from the royal family of Styn so of course it was going to be of great quality. It was the most comfortable carriage that Lauren had ridden by far. To think that there was something even more comfortable than this, it was pretty hard to believe.
Yet, the one speaking to her was a hero. She was from another world where magic didn't exist, but humans still thrived. They created many inventions that would've been impossible even with magic.
"Oh, there it is! Alteria!"
Lauren's eyes widened as she saw the kingdom in the distance.
"Alteria..."
Karen muttered its name. She couldn't believe she was here.
It was the forefront of many events that had happened in the past few years, and just hearing the stories were enough to give her a chill.
"Hey, Sophia, what was the name of that guy again?"
"You mean the youngest S-class?"
"Yeah, yeah. That guy."
"If I recall correctly... It was Kai."
"I wonder if he's from Earth..."
"I doubt it."
Sophia looked at Alteria's walls in the distance.
"I've heard that Alteria has names like that all over."
"Oh... That's kind of disappointing."
"Well, having other people than the heroes from Earth here would be quite weird, wouldn't it? I mean why would they even be here in the first place?"
"I guess you're right."
The heroes were summoned to defeat the threats looming over the continent, that's what they were told. It also wasn't a coincidence that they were the ones chosen, there was also a reason for that.
Though they may not know about it, there were more things that were moving than they could realize. That's what the two of them were told by the king.