I experienced a brief wave of confusion when I opened my eyes to find a ceiling encrusted with gold, gems, and colorful paintings of angels in serene meditation. For once I had woken up before Moonwash, and I just processed the rest of the room we’d rented for a moment, complete with the most comfortable airflow, air conditioning, soft lighting, and enough enchantments to win a small skirmish. I did not realize how much more affluent Gildora City truly was until we reached the upper districts.

Money flowed here, like water in a river.

I tossed Moonwash in the air.

Her eyes snapped open, she woke up flying, almost touching the ceiling, and then I caught her on the way down with my body.

“Aha! Good morning!”

“Good morning. Did you have to do that?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.” She grabbed a water wand and soaked the both of us and the bed.

“Hey! These sheets are expensive!”

“And they’ll wash it. I made sure not to damage them,” she sounded almost offended, even though none of her expressions had actually changed. “We won’t be staying here for another night anyway, right?”

“Well… We can, but the cost is hard to justify even if we can afford it.”

“I agree. There are so many other things we can buy with it. Then again, I like their enchantments. There was real skill that went into these paintings, and embroideries, and everything else. It might not be so bad once in a while.”

“I’ll treat you to one again then next time.” I gave my girlfriend a long morning kiss, and then carried her princess-style to the baths that could pass for a public one with how big it was, but was actually just our own.

~~~

I stepped out of the Gilded Hotel with my friends to find streets lined with pristine white tiles. The enchanted streetlamps were plenty, and they each looked made by a master artisan. The buildings were gaudily decorated, built with marble, jade, and more. Earth magic could move a lot of minerals, but some certainly easier than others, and the rarer and more precious ones were straight-up impossible to conjure. Though maybe there was a specific element for diamond and the like which I could use to crash the economy and bring about true anarchy!

“I want diamond,” Moonwash said after I’d unveiled my evil plan.

I blinked. “Oh… you mean like, uh, for marriage and stuff?”

“What?”

“What?”

“If you want to give it to me as a gift, then that’d be great. I want to make herokane.”

“Oh. OH! Okay, I think there’s been a miscommunication here. It’s customary to give a diamond ring when you like, get engaged with someone back on earth.” There was of course a sound barrier isolating us from all the… rich folk around us as we walked along the templar-protected streets.

“I see. I would be happy to honor those traditions if you want.”

I chuckled. “Nah. Not my thing. Never my thing. Though the same goes for ever getting married… But I didn’t know diamond was a necessary ingredient for herokane! That sounds so much more awesome than a ring.”

Herokane was the metal of heroes. Grandpa’s own personal gear was made from the thing. It was widely regarded as the highest level of material one could possibly obtain, though I had my doubts. There were still higher steps of power beyond my grandfather.

“Golex gave me the recipe. I would rather do that if you’re not at all attached to your own traditions.”

“Sure, yeah. I don’t know how much I want a ring anyway. Maybe we could something else, like get matching tattoos?”

“That would be lovely. Although it would be a challenge to draw it on myself.”

That was a problem I never considered. “Hmmm…”

“We’re here,” Angerly said once we’d arrived at an almost modern-looking building. Our first stop was a museum.

“Sorry, but there are no weapons allowed,” the guard said, barring me specifically from entry. My friends had some wands among them, but those weren’t confiscated. They were just informed not to use magic inside.

It annoyed me a little, but I surrendered my fantastreel sword without pulling the Golex granddaughter card. My real one was hidden in our wagon anyway, and I would find out if someone tried to steal it. They’d be screaming for my attention.

We paid the entirely too high fees, and then entered the well-air-conditioned building. The first thing we saw upon entering was a truly massive painting of Eden being crowned by the Angels Adamo and Evel, only this time the audience was composed of centaurs.

“The Coronation of Eden: Queen of The Plains.”

“Whoa. It’s so big,” Berry had to crane her body up to see it all. She was amazed by the beautiful architecture as well, for she had never been in a place like this before. She ended up leading the way as we explored the rest of the museum holding many pieces of art that would each be world-famous back on Earth.

~~~

I snorted, but kept myself from laughing as I stood in the middle of a circular room whose walls were painted by a single panoramic battle without break. We were actually underground, for the entrance was a looping staircase connected to the ceiling of the room. The painting in question was that of my grandfather leading the charge against the forces of the dwarves and harpies. Our own soldiers slaughtered them mercilessly in a one-sided battle that shook the whole of the Impenetrable Barrier Range.

The artist did a great job, and it all looked so epic… but this was a war that we ultimately lost. Everyone knew that. I’d heard it straight from the Grandpa’s mouth. And that was so funny!

~~~

We came across a painting that I didn’t really understand, but my girlfriend loved. It was almost just one blue color, but subtle differences apparently depicted the terrors of the deep. People were creeped out, they felt a sense of dread… but I just felt like a kid staring at the clouds in the sky and guessing which one looked like a duck, and which one looked like a dick.

Granuel and the rest seemed to think it was neat too, so maybe I wasn’t made for art…

Oh well.

~~~

“So this is what they once had…” Granuel said as we looked at a set of embroideries in one corner of the museum. He looked around, and held his tongue, knowing that we weren’t supposed to cast spells here, thus no anti-sound barrier. But my friend had talked about some of the true history of the plains before, it was something he was very passionate about. So I knew, that in these fabrics, the great centaur ancestor was depicted.

No one could ever agree on who this great ancestor was, all the city-states had their own version, and they all believed that everyone else was wrong and they were right. Eden had clamped down on all this worship, but they never really understood it, so echoes of the quasi-religion had made it into possibly the biggest museum on the continent.

~~~

“I wanna watch it again,” Angerly said, and Granuel forked out the gold. We were currently at an enchanted exhibit that showed illusory holograms of two centaur armies fighting each other. Honestly, the quality wasn’t even that good. It was understandably difficult to depict a sequence of 3D images in one enchantment. But someone had done it anyway, and we had to pay to see incredibly wispy figures charge and shoot what might be arrows at each other. Illusion mana did not come cheap at all.

~~~

“Hmmm,” Therick examined a sword held in a stand. It had engraved patterns of roses and blood on its glimmering blade. “It looks pretty, but…”

“It’s just made of steel, and it’s probably not actually that good in a fight,” I nodded. I felt no extra power from the weapon. It looked more decorative than practical.

“It says here that it was once owned by Katane the Bladereaper though. Gifted to her by the famous smith Articore.”

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“She once owned it. It was gifted to her. And then she gave it away.” I smirked. “She’s a master swordswoman. Someone who has allegedly reached the level of anatomical mastery. This sword really seems too clean and… whole, for someone like that.”

“Not everyone is as reckless with their weapons as you, Haell.”

“Sure, but not to the extent that it sees no damage! That’s absurd!”

~~~

Our tour neared its end as we walked down the hall of portraits. It was one long corridor filled with paintings of important figures both new and old. Queen Eden was here in her almost pirate-like dress, then Hero Golex, Swordreaper Katane, General Horian, and more.

Therick slowed down as he looked at the most important ones with keen interest, and the rest of us also slowed to match his pace. My friend looked contemplative, almost longing. I, on the other hand, stared at the smiles on their faces, ranging from subdued to boisterously joyful.

I couldn’t wait to wipe those ugly smiles off their faces.

Not Grandpa though! Or anyone else who might be cool. But I reckoned I’d clash with most of the people here in the years to come.

~~~

We had a late lunch after we were finally done at the museum. Food was not allowed in there either, so I couldn’t even snack on anything while we walked around.

The pizza we ordered was great, along with the cheesy bread, and many more! We explored the rest of the mall afterwards, Moonwash got acquainted with the kinds of materials that could be sold here, and then we checked out some of the cheaper stores to get an idea of what was truly valuable and rare and what was not.

Granuel too took some notes, likely to better plan what quests we should prioritize. Berry was more hesitant to spend large sums of cash, but she was rich now too, so she bought some pillows and accessories for herself. Therick asked Moonwash if she could make some things for him, then bought the metals and leather required. Angerly chatted someone up in a bar, and ended up separating from our group.

It was overall a very fun day. Our endless journey was not just about all the fighting and killing, but also these great moments in between.

~~~

A few days later.

I found myself at the bottom of a gentle cliff roughly an hour's ride away from Gildora City. Granuel had come with Moonwash and I, and together, we built her a temporary forge to her liking. I carried whole stones over in a cart, while the two of them worked their earth magic. We installed premade grates and metal supports, until the structure was whole and stable.

“Thank you.” Moonwash took out her illegal materials from the wagon, once her pop-up forge was complete. Granuel climbed back up the cliff for elevation and to keep an eye out for trouble. I settled in to guard my girlfriend as she began to work.

~~~

A level 10 bison strayed towards us, and I killed it in one strike.

A wormcawl crawled on its four hands, and I used the curseflame construct I was playing with to kill the abomination with fire and prejudice.

A herd of zebras crossed the plains in the distance, and I watched the majestic sight.

A nudertle approached me next, and I set my sword on fire.

This was my new technique, which honestly took an embarrassingly long time for me to try. Infernal mana weaved a connection from my bloodstream to my sword and back, instead of the element of wrath. Even the handle of my sword was mildly on fire, for I was still working on my control.

The pale orange flames winked out, and then flared again, just before I swung toward the massive fat lizard. The blade went through the tough flesh easier thanks to the heat, and the remaining flames hampered its blood magic healing. I then deactivated the fire in my sword again as I jumped back to evade the creature’s beak.

This seemingly nonsensical process of turning the magic on and off again was because the fire needed fuel, and that fuel in this case was my mana. It would just be consumed for no reason if I kept it turned on at all times. It was a problem hardly shared by my wrath magic, because it was… a more reactive and automatic thing that would only apply its effects when necessary, whereas a burning fire would consume something or else it would die.

I jumped back into the action, taunted the creature, slashed its leg, and then ran in the opposite direction. The level 20 monster was faster than one would assume because of its internal magic, but I was still faster. My magic was better, and my body was better built for speed.

I used my fire sword a few more times, just to confirm what I already knew. It was hardly more effective than just slashing normally and then throwing a fireball. Wrath was so much better, from how it synergized with a violent weapon like a sword, to how its effect could wreak havoc on someone from the inside. Fire would be overwhelmed and extinguished by a creature’s flesh and blood, and the flesh of weaker creatures might even get cuaterized, whereas rot and dismemberment would only spread from the slash wound.

Using the two elements together was not possible. Not yet. The magic would only fall apart upon the mythril of my blade.

Additionally, all these results remained similar even when I used a normal sword, instead of my cursed sword, which was admittedly an extremely biased source. Fire sword was possible, though it was harder to accomplish at first, but there were few reasons to use it over a curse.

“Wait, I fucked up,” I said as the nudertle slowed down. It had progressively grown more crazed, but now it had no hope of catching up to me.

I shouldn’t have used it to play around. I should have killed it before it could use up all the blood mana in its veins!

Hindsight was a bitch, but I did not give up. I knocked the creature out by punching it in the face repeatedly, and then I healed it just enough for it to survive the next few hours. I’d kill the animal once it had regenerated all its mana.

~~~

I settled back down and watched the grass sway along an unseen wind. Birds flew in the sky, insects buzzed about, and a herd of rhibras ran and grazed at their own pace. This herd moved roughly in our direction for a while, until they were finally heading right for us.

What was it with these animals and choosing death?

I put down the bison leg I’d been eating, which was admittedly a bit burnt by careful applications of my infernal flames. I stood up to meet this bellowing charge, and my aura exploded out of me as my true eyes were freed to deliver the gospel of my wrath.

The herd hesitated, but it did not stop. They were clearly afraid, however, so I just killed one, and then another, until they finally decided to cut their losses and run.

I let them go only because we could not bring them all back with us when we went back. I would feel bad about all that waste.

~~~

“Haell! An eagelessia!” Granuel announced from above.

“JUMP!” I shouted back to my friend in response and he complied. I too did the same, only I rose while he fell, and my wings pushed me further.

“Ow!”

I caught Granuel on the way down, but it seemed the impact still rattled him some. No matter.

I hovered back down, just in time for the big monster to alter its course and come for us down the cliff. The sun shone blindingly bright when I looked up, and I knew this was because eagelessias were covered in feathers that somehow caught and stored the sunlight, redirecting it down with every flap. The flickering lights made the monster very noticeable, but also very hard to pin down

I shaded my eyes just a bit, I determined when it should be right on top of us, and then I let loose the wave of infernal flames I’d been holding.

A massive gust of wind followed, along with an outraged shriek. Granuel reported to me that the monster had fled and was mildly on fire.

Moonwash’s hammer continued to strike at metal and carapace, uncaring for our woes.

~~~

“Here.” My girlfriend presented me a new set of armor. This one was extremely dark and foreboding, radiating malice in a way that was both visible and not. It looked organic, like the chitin plates of an animal, and that’s because it was. This was cursed armor built from the remains of a cursetacean.

“Thank you!” I gave Moonwash a hug and a kiss, and then I stripped in the middle of the great outdoors.

My armor clattered to the ground, replaced by another one, and I immediately felt different the moment that I put it on.

First, it looked unbearably cool.

But second, I felt another pressure in my mind to join the cacophony that it already was. It wanted to answer every slight, retaliate until the whole world had gone blind, and it wished to avenge things that happened a literal lifetime ago.

I remembered how much I’d suffered under the people who only called themselves my parents. I was reminded of the uncaring world that allowed me to suffer once I was on my own. I recalled the face of that vile man who ended me just when I was at the top of the fucking world.

I shrugged. I didn’t react. It was a child screaming in the middle of a bloody war. Get in the fucking line. Pleas unheard by anyone.

This was nothing compared to the painful sensations that coursed through my mind and body with every pump of my hearts. Even the constant eldritch attention of the greater magic ground this new influence into dust. My ego was a fortress that could never be breached.

Annoyed and vindicated, I walked to a nearby tiger crouching in the grass. The creature swung its claws at me, and I just took it. My armor was chipped, but so too did a wound blossom in my attacker’s paw.

The animal tried to run away after only that single clash, but I blasted it with a taunt, and so it struck again.

The results were the same. My armor was damaged, but so too was the one who had dared to assault me. I became engrossed in this experiment with my friends.

I eventually concluded upon the corpse of my foe that my armor dealt less damage than a live cursetacean would, but it was more potent than the dregs of one that had already fallen.

The armor had connected to me somehow the moment I wore it, so I then had the thought to make the connection stronger.

Like the limbs of a sinister god, my wrath mana quested out of me and seeped into my organic armor. I weaved it over the material, just like I always did for my sword, and I found little difficulty with this activity despite that target being a larger and more complex object. I just needed to exert a little effort, less than it took to learn how to wield a fire sword, until finally, eventually, I succeeded.

Wrath mana flowed into my armor, and then back into my body, in an endless cycle of debauchery.

I walked forward with barely a word, then found a lone qwarker to bully. The monster was a heavy flightless brown quadrupedal bird, and I enticed it to attack me at its best.

The animal opened its beak, and bit down on my guantlets. A small portion of my wrath mana was consumed by the armor, and blood spurted from the qwarker’s face.

The thing had suffered greater backlash damage than we anticipated.

“It works!” I jumped for joy, uncaring of the creature that still wanted to fight. “This armor has successfully turned my wrath magic into a vengeful force. Just like the cursetaceans!”

A chip fell from the carapace that made up my bracers.

“It’s also, um, falling apart. Ahahaha!”