A Grassland somewhere, Border of Elion-Nosco and Veles:
"What were in those barrels and crates?" Ser Stryfe asked as he watched the workers carefully lower the heavy wooden boxes and barrels into holes they had dug into the ground.
"A task only I can do." The blond princess said. "There's only so much my Lord Father can entrust to a bastard human daughter like me, and I will not disappoint."
The gnoll knight nodded and held his tongue. It seemed that once again his King had entrusted his embarrassment of a daughter to something distasteful. Judging from the princess telling the workers to make sure they had washed themselves and never speak of what they had done that day had impressed on them that it was something dangerous. Something that they shouldn't mention especially to the people of Veles.
Veles and Elion-Nosco were not exactly at war with each other, but neither were they friendly. It seemed that whatever they were asked to bury on Veles' soil was some vile but necessary secret for their kingdom's sake. Something so distasteful that only Philia could do.
After the workers patted down the ground and made it look like there was nothing amiss, she quickly motioned for everyone to return to their camp and make preparations to return to Elion-Nosco quickly.
Meanwhile, the Princess had retired to her tent where her maids were waiting for her.
"It is done. I've completed my Lord Father's mission. We will return to Elion-Nosco tonight. Gwen, could you reach for my pen please? "
"Yes, your grace." As Gwen opened the wooden box containing the Princess' writing materials, there was an ominous click.
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At a courtyard at the Fenrir Guild Hall:
"Next, the Human, Ingrid Lily!" The Instructor called.
To Zefir's disbelief he heard the song "Pomp and Circumstance March" play out loud from the back of the crowd of waiting candidates. The crowd parted to make way for Ingrid as she strutted down the "aisle" of bewildered warriors, wizards, rogues and paladins. She was wearing those "snow goggles" she had bought from the Market earlier that morning on a whim and he now understood why.
As that iconic song played out loud, Ingrid marched with her arms held out to the sides, index fingers pointing out to people as she slowly turned around and soaked everyone's stupefied expressions with her head up in the air. Her Reeve-mount tassels also added to the Macho Man gimmick as she spun around with a big goofy smile on her face.
Cecil's Dialogue Window hovered behind her, he was vigorously waving a flag bearing the banner of a cookie. Something he had commissioned from a tailoring shop last evening when they went out shopping. As he did so he acted as Ingrid's announcer saying in a loud voice:
"FROM RIVERDALE NORTH CAROLINA, WEIGHING IN AT A SECRET NUMBER OF POUNDS…THE UNDISPUTED...! COOKIE-WEIGHT...! CHAMPYAAAAAN AAAV THE WUUUUURLD!"
Zefir buried his face in his hands in shame as the two goofed around. The crowd, obviously not getting the reference and some getting annoyed by this showboating and arrogance booed and jeered, hurling insults while others laughed, finding their theatrics so random and absurd.
Reaching their minotaur proctor, Cecil had switched off the music and pulled in the banner.
"Sorry coach!" Ingrid said, tossing her "shades" to Cecil. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I couldn't pass it up."
"It's Zardos" The minotaur gave a bovine huff. He was nearly seven feet tall, well muscled, and wore a gambeson and a breastplate. His limbs were well armored with steel while his feet were bare, ending in hoofs shod what was probably some kind of enchanted metal. He held a blunt-edged training sword and with his other hand he gestured at the rack of weapons off the side.
"This is a physical duel test. I'm guessing your slime familiar will be assisting you."
Ingrid shook her head.
"Cecil here won't be doing anything. His role isn't combat, he's my assistant for utilities. I'll be protecting him." Ingrid replied, putting her hands to her hips confidently.
Zardos narrowed his eyes, this human's battle aura was like nothing he's ever seen before. He's heard of the brutal training regimes that Elion-Noscoites put on their war-beasts, especially on their humans but Ingrid here displayed both the sapient intelligence of people, the discipline of a seasoned warrior (due to her aura), and the trappings of a drow warrior (her attire), the last one a testament that she had shown her strength and ferocity before witnesses. Why else was she wearing a Padloi from Ontala, and a Solenrala? At this point, he would have already passed her, but a test is a test and for once he felt like he could cut himself a little loose by sparring against her.
The minotaur gave a low bovine chuckle. "Very well, that won't be a point taken against your party. The purpose of this test is to see how well you defend yourself and Cecil. Swords, magic, use what suits you." He jerked his head towards the rack to the side. "You do not need to defeat me, you only need to show me that you can stand your ground when needed."
"I'm ready." Ingrid replied, after a pause she added "I fight with my fists."
Let's get this over with then, Zardos thought. He had long given up convincing candidates with their long list of novelties and considering everything that he's gleaned from Ingrid, she could back up her outrageous choices. As he readied his sword, Ingrid assumed a stance, she stomped her foot, taking a slight step back as she did, a wide steady stance that looked like she was about to pounce, although she was facing him sideways, her arms tensed and fists clenched and low.
But what got to him was the unexpected shockwave. Her foot had impacted the ground with such force he felt the ground shake as he felt her Aura flare out.
That was the other thing. Until she looked like she was ready to pounce, her Aura was unnaturally "quiet." Despite his years in the field he's never seen anyone else's like hers, It was flat and smooth, where it should be like a slowly burning flame. Ordinary people's auras around their bodies looked like how one would imagine if someone was slathered in a weak propellant and set on fire.
The more experienced warriors and mages were as if someone doused them in highly flammable oil. They naturally "burned" bigger and wilder, while the prudent ones used their mastery in control to keep theirs compressed to the same size as everyone else, sometimes a little smaller, but the "flickering" of their flame-like auras looked like time had dramatically slowed down, giving away their actual strength.
Ingrid's was completely still, an outline around her body. When he first saw and sensed her, he had half a mind to assume he was looking at either a projection spell or a spirit that was using magic to maintain a physical form, like an Elemental.
When Ingrid flared her Aura the outline around her thickened and rippled around wildly like a sack full of scurrying Swarm Mice, thick tendrils of energy whipped out but were quickly pulled back in, forming a forest of wriggling arches.
"I'mma stay out of this Ingrid." Cecil said,
"Zardos, don't hold back on me." Ingrid said "I'm a little out of shape you see, it's been a while since I've seen a real fight."
"Very well." Ingrid waited for him to finish speaking before she made her move.
Then before Zardos knew it, the human was right in front of him, her fist was brightly wreathed with Aura, it took the shape of a roaring lion.
It took Ingrid three bounding steps to approach the Minotaur. Cecil's squeaky voice had slowed and lowered to baritone levels as time dilated itself around her.
Her first focus however was the Minotaur's reaction, he still hadn't put up his sword in a position to parry.
"OK, turn it down a little bit, Ingrid." She said to herself and adjusted the angle and power of her punch. She didn't want to end the fight immediately and she still wanted to further test her abilities. Pulling her arm back further and further, she slowed it down just enough so Zardos could block it in time.
The impact sent him skidding back a good thirty feet, his hoof-shoes of orihalcum creating copious sparks of bright orange as it shredded the ground beneath him. Ingrid rushed again, her Argus aura calculated the trajectory of this sword strike and her Automata routine engaged. Sigils appeared on her joints and spine and moved her out of the way while simultaneously winding her up for a counter-punch.
"Looks like Automata and Nemea are working just as intended." Cecil said, referring to Ingrid's autopilot ability and her big energy lion boxing gloves.
"We'll see!" Ingrid replied as she met Zardos' sword strike with her Nemea.
The lion-like boxing glove around her fist impacted against his blade, she could have hit him before he put his guard up but Ingrid held back her power output; she wanted to test Automata's agility if it was still at the same level of proficiency as her previous life.
Zardos was clearly showing his skill, this man was no pushover and knew how to defend himself. He has to be, Ingrid thought to herself as the fight looked like the world's best boxer versus the world's greatest sword fighter in a stalemate, Zardos needs to be able to handle those annoying talented douchebags that show up once in a blue moon and put them in their place.
Neither of them were landing a hit on each other, they were either blocking, parrying, or dodging each other's strikes, the onlookers started cheering as this was the first time they've seen Zardos take the kid gloves off and show more of his real talent.
That Zardos managed to block that human's first high-speed punch in time gave him relief, but it did send him skidding back a good thirty feet.
It looked like this human had a way of weaponizing her own auras to create solid constructs. No wonder Ingrid didn't bother to carry weapons or armor. While not a mage himself, he knew that she was doing something that those silly cone-hats had been theorizing for centuries but never implemented.
It was also a while since he had to stop holding back and fight a little more seriously now, and he was sure that Ingrid was doing the same. Both struck each other at the same time, Ingrid was sent spiraling into the air while he himself crashed into a barrier that protected the inner walls of the courtyard.
Ingrid herself had suddenly collided with a barrier, but it wasn't from the guild, she made one in thin air and used it to catapult herself back to him. Zardos met her charge, letting loose more of his aura to enhance himself and the two clashed blows that created a dust cloud on impact.
Let's see how she deals with fighting blind, Zardos thought but Ingrid had no problem with this and soon the two were rapidly exchanging blows and parrying, creating a staccato cacophony that made it clear to the audience who couldn't see past the cloud that the two were furiously engaged in combat.
"Scale up! Zardos is getting serious!" Cecil cried, seeing that Zardos was moving faster to try to get another hit past her guard.
A strong gust of wind blew the dust cloud clear and everyone saw Ingrid was rapidly charging up her mana… no, she was doing the impossible, she was drawing the ambient ether around herself and converting into mana.
The crowd stared in disbelief as the girl before them performed the impossible; if ether rushed into one's mana it could cause a fatal mana burn that destroyed the mystic force the body needs to live. Yet here she was using it as a source of power, something that only the crackpot cone-hats talked hours about but could never do.
The gust of wind was pushing Zardos back, preventing him from rushing into attack. Mercifully it only lasted for a few seconds and Ingrid repeated her stomp-and-ready-to-pounce stance; this time her aura flared more brightly and her image distorted briefly as if one's eyes were getting drunk and seeing triple.
The two rushed at each other and it seemed to the audience that Zardos was now having the advantage; he was blocking all of Ingrid's strikes while he was landing one strike after another but to everyone's surprise she was completely unharmed and quickly everyone saw it was another stalemate.
Despite feeling on the backfoot, Zardos was definitely impressed with the skill that Ingrid was showing him. Her "mana armor" as he called it was equally impressive, it wasn't simply a static piece of armor like a regular barrier spell, it pulled and deflected his strikes and several times he was almost sure he was going to lose his grip when her aura grasped the edge of his (blunt edge training) blade and pulled it at violently, or shoved it in an unexpected direction; the leverage threatening to break his wrist.
Now that's what I call a true Warrior Mage the minotaur instructor thought to himself.
Another exchange of hits sent both skidding backwards; the minotaur and human both charged each other, with the latter showing new abilities.
This time whenever Ingrid punched and kicked, the maned effigies sprung in the direction of her fist or foot for a short distance, tripling her striking range, and that was before they detonated with concussive force. When she wasn't striking in a straight line it created crescent-shaped shockwaves.
All right, let's see if she can defend against THIS. Zardos empowered himself with his own aura, shrouding himself and his blade.
"Blade Overdrive!" the minotaur instructor bellowed in a war cry, becoming a blur and proceeding to strike Ingrid multiple times from all directions.
Meanwhile, as the watching adventurer candidates were wildly cheering and clapping, and more than a few wondering if they needed to amount to that much, and a few nervously sneaked out of the courtyard deciding that perhaps they're not worthy, with more than a few literally leaving with their tails between their legs.
"Take a dive! Take a dive already, Ingrid! I'm sure we passed this!" Cecil squeaked in panic.
Cecil's voice was a few octaves lower in Ingrid's ears as she parried one sword strike after another, due to Zardos' speed, she declined to have her Aura try to snag his blade and just let him do his thing uninterrupted.
She needed to do this, she needed to see how fast she could catch up in her Base Form.
She feinted again and again. But he wasn't noticing. So she intentionally parried the wrong way. Ingrid expected to be sent flying but Zardos stopped just as his (blunt) blade was barely an inch at the back of her neck.
"Sorry, I guess I messed up..." Ingrid laughed uncomfortably.
"Yeah sure... messed up." Privately, Zardos knew that even before he thought he had blindsided her, the Human's eyes were on him. More importantly, not once was he able to hit the portal that Cecil was on. It kept moving out of the way.
"Yup, you pass, just one problem now, Ingrid, the next test's for magic."
"Thanks for tip, coach!"
"It's Zardos!" The Minotaur called back. He then turned to the remainder of the candidates.
__
The Fenrir Guildhall was a huge diamond shaped building with a huge courtyard in the middle, with each corner being a circular structure. In the middle of the courtyard was an octagonal "keep" with extensions on all four directions connecting to the rest of the building, effectively splitting the massive courtyard into four.
A set of huge arches connected one courtyard to the next, giving the extensions from the octagonal keep to the rest of the main building the appearance of a bridge. It was under this arched passageway that connected the courtyard where the Physical Duel Test was being conducted and where the Magic Test would be held that Ingrid and Zefir met up. As they walked underneath this passageway, they both admired the vaulted ceiling with its painted frescoes of various heroes. Both of them had the impression that they were visiting some ancient prestigious university, like the ones that Ivy Leaguers go to. The archways even had doors leading into these extensions. One was open, letting a guildsman in and they glimpsed a set of stairs leading up.
"So how did your test go?" Ingrid asked.
"It went by much faster than yours, I even got to see your Macho Man bit there." Zefir laughed.
"Oooooh Yeeeeeah!" Ingrid said.
"Considerrr yerself luckee, you gott ta see the creeeeem ovv the croppp!" Cecil said, putting on his best Macho Man impression.
"Where'd you even get music, Cecil?" Zefir said, his voice still painted with mirth.
Ingrid stopped so Cecil could show it properly. He turned the room-side Dialogue Window around and moved over to what looked like a sideboard or buffet table; a short and squat cabinet low enough to also serve as a table. The front side however didn't seem to have any obvious cabinet doors or drawers and was dominated with fancy-looking baroque marquetry one would expect from a fancy-looking room like the one Cecil lived in. What was noticeable however were the sides which consisted of vertical veneers like those used as window blinds. They were open and behind them were what looked like a canvas sheet.
Zefir regarded the decorative-looking table quizzically, there didn't seem to be anything special about it besides looking fancy. Cecil then climbed over, doing so easily as he was a slime. The table had nothing laid atop it. Then he opened up a big panel at the top revealing an old-school record stereo device.
To one side there was a record player with the fanciest looking vinyl disc that had gold accents all over it. To the other was an array of retro, pre-digital era consoles featuring different knobs, sliders, buttons and all sorts of analog gauges.
"I'd say that's a 1970's console stereo, my folks back in Riverdale have one." Ingrid said.
"Yeah, but some of the machinery sure look a little more modern." Zefir remarked. "I guess when Cecil got reincarnated it allowed something as anachronistic as this, so long as it fit the aesthetic or something."
"Yeah, the wooden age of electronics!" Cecil laughed. "Anyway, it seems that I can set it to play anything, no need to change the discs, here check it out." Cecil had the stereo play a couple of tunes, yet despite the song changing, the disc continued to spin at its leisurely pace. He then stopped the music and looked at them. "Well it's not much, but at least something to make our more quiet moments a little more interesting."
"Please don't soundboard us." Zefir chortled.
"I'll call it the Muse Box. For its ability to Inspire." Cecil said.
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PARTY INFO
CECIL had discovered a new feature in his room
- Muse Box
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"So how did your dueling test go?" Cecil asked.
"Well, surprise surprise it was Roger who was my proctor, he didn't let me off easy. Nepotism isn't a thing with orcs after all. That said, I felt that I barely was holding on but yeah, I ended up getting a passing score."
"Wait, there's a scoring system?" Ingrid asked.
"Obviously for a hero like you, Ingrid, you probably got the highest grade." Zefir said. "But yeah, Roger said I'm getting one that's satisfactory enough. All that training from him back then really paid off. Just don't think I'm a match for anyone who fights for a living though."
"What about the Magic Test?" Cecil asked "I can understand being able to defend yourself but what sort of testing are we looking at?"
"Assuming they haven't changed anything… Zefir said "there's two kinds; one is for attack magic, that's your standard fireballs and lightning bolts, and there's one for other types of spells like enchanting or something like that. I'll obviously be taking the second one."
"I'll do the fireballs then." Ingrid said.
"Go get 'em, tiger!" Zefir said, playfully smacking Ingrid's butt. "With your tons of mana you'll nail this in no time."
"That's got nothing to do with mana though." Ingrid said, ruffling his hair in return.
"What?" Zefir asked. What did she mean mana had nothing to do with magic.
"What?"
"But you use mana for magic!" the catboy said.
"You do, but mana isn't everything." Cecil replied. "At least for the Starchasers, they use ether as well."
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"Ether?" Zefir's was slackjawed when heard the answer. He looked at Cecil and then at Ingrid but they looked serious. "You mean the arcane force that's all around us that was once everyone's mana after they've spent it?"
Ingrid scratched the back of her head, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "So that's what was going on…" she said. "I thought it was strange that Zardos was only using his mana."
"...and I thought that trick you did during the fight was some special technique or something!" the catboy exclaimed. "We can't do that here, I'm no real wiz but the few times I heard mention of using ether as a source of power only came from those cone-hat discussions, the tinfoil wizards I mean. I- MMMPPPH!!!"
Zefir's explanation was cut off when Ingrid hugged him, pushing his face between her generous bosom. "Sssshhh… just do your best at the test. Don't try what I'll do, not yet until we can get a proper wizard to look this over."
The catboy quickly relaxed in her grip and inhaled her wonderful scent, enhanced further by the perfume he had bought off the market for her earlier that morning. "Mhmmm" was all he could say before gently pulling away.
__
"Ingrid I want to be tested in this one separately" Cecil said. The balcony outside his room had some kind of outdoor cabinet, inside were various items related to outdoor comforts, and one of these was a big beach blanket now laying on the grassy lawn where Ingrid and Zefir sat on while waiting their turn.
Zefir's eyes were wide with wonder as Ingrid performed various yoga stretches to loosen up, causing the catboy's shorts to tent.
"Ummm… exactly why are you doing stretches for a magic test?" he asked. "N-not that I don't like what I'm seeing,…"
"Train your body, train your mana, that's how it goes." Ingrid said as she sat on the ground in a splits position, her limber body allowed to her easily bend from side to side and touch her toes. "Mana is generated by all living things, from humble bacteria to gods. Aside from the physical needs of the body like food, water, air, and vitamins, your body also needs mana flowing through them in order to live. With time and proper training, there's three metrics you can improve: Mana Potency, Mana Capacity, and Mana Efficiency."
Cecil nodded in agreement. He then turned to Zefir and continued for her "You mentioned that bringing up your hou- Autumnhollow takes a lot of you, with proper training it won't be the case. In theory you can train yourself to bring it up faster and not cost you so much, as well as increasing your total mana pool. Ingrid however is a different case. Her ability to make use of ether allows her to use the ether around her as the 'fuel' for magic, so to speak. Of course it will still cost her to channel such energy but with the use of ether, most of the mana she spends gets refunded."
"What about the time during the fight with Zardos where she was doing that super saiyan charging thing?" the catboy asked "Was Ingrid replenishing her mana?"
Cecil shook his head "No, she was temporarily gathering the ether around her and converting it to her own mana, but she can't hold on to it forever. It's the equivalent of gathering water in a big plastic bag with a couple of pinholes."
"If I hold onto it, I'll get mana burn, I'm sure you're familiar with that concept." Ingrid said as she ended up in an upside down headstand. Zefir nodded.
"Mana burn is when the protective covering of your mana…so to speak…gets damaged, causing the ether around you to rush in and forcibly convert your mana into more ether. That's that real danger of getting hit by an energy attack, besides the usual physical damage."
"Exactly." Cecil said. "As Ingrid said, do not attempt this, not yet at least."
"If you're having such a boner, Master" Ingrid said aloud "I'm right here."
"No, no no…" the catboy said flustered "I'm going to use this as motivation to work hard."
"Pfffft, he said hard." Cecil said.
Ingrid laughed.
"I'm glad you're immune to Ingrid's charms, Cecil." Zefir sighed.
"I'm a slime, Zefir. It's alien to me as you two seeing two bug or wolves in the wild mating."
"Awoooo" Ingrid said softly.
"I'm a cat!" Zefir corrected him.
"Are you that human's master?" A girl's voice said.
The three looked up and saw a pair of cute Garm girls. They had identical faces with large black wolf-ears with golden tips and fluffy tufts of white fur. Their eyes had the black sclera of Garm-folk with golden irises. Their black shoulder-length hair also ended with golden tips like their ears. One had her hair parted to the left and had a streak of dyed green running from the top of her head and down the right side, while the other was the opposite, with a streak of dyed red.
Both girls wore identical clothing. They wore stylized very dark midnight blue brigandine armor over a dark maroon long-sleeved padded jacket. Additional brigandine flaps over their shoulders reminded Ingrid vaguely of that Qing dynasty ceremonial armor she saw on a field trip to the Met Museum. It was back in her edgy highschool days though the Garm girls' armor it was much more compact and tighter around the body and much shorter around the torso.
Instead of embroidery of water dragons, it had more vague geometric designs that reminded her of the ones seen on tapestries and carpets in the countries that straddled Europe and Asia. The Garm girls also had big matching bracers that matched the design of their brigandines, as did the greaves (albeit red) worn over their black suede-like boots.
Underneath their gambeson-like jackets were cheeky bottoms that reminded the earthlings of gym bloomers. Both Ingrid and Zefir ended up staring at their smooth legs before the girls leaned over. One asked Zefir the question again while the other held out a hand.
"Shake." The girl with a red streak on her hair said. Dumbly, Ingrid complied and held out a hand.
"This one's cute." she said, shaking Ingrid's hand.
"Y-yes, I'm her master," Zefir said excitedly his eyes wide with recognition. "A-are you two by any chance-"
"I talk too… I mean, woof." Ingrid said. "I mean I was here to uuhhhhh-" Ingrid's eyes closed and she started purring as the girl gave her cheek rubs.
"You've done it with her." the red girl said to Zefir. "Can we borrow her later?"
"Do they wanna do me? If so, yes." Ingrid purred as the girl continued to stroke her hair.
"What she said." Zefir answered. "Only if you party up with us."
The two girls thought about it.
"I'm Kvaris Enthana" the red girl said, patting Ingrid's head. "That's my pup-sister Kinu. We're from Freid"
Zefir let out a fangirling "Squeeeee!"
"Who are you calling a pup? I'm a hundred and two just like you." Kinu snapped.
"Yeah well I was born first. That makes you, the pup." Kvaris smiled. As expected, the girls had sharp canines befitting a wolf.
"I'm Zefir Aargrove, I came from Ontala, originally from Earth, same as Ingrid over here."
Both girls tilted their heads questioningly "Earth?"
"It's a long story…" Ingrid said. "We got forcibly transported here by some witch."
"A witch?" Kvaris asked. Despite the strangeness of the human talking she kept petting her, which amused Cecil and Zefir in seeing a dog girl pet a human.
"Melrondia. Sometimes goes by the name Dark Queen Melrondia." Cecil answered. Both girls looked surprised to see the slime talk. "We think that witch might have been brought in here too so we're registering as adventurers to hunt her down before she causes trouble."
"And I want to pay her back for nearly killing me and Cecil." Ingrid replied.
"Hmmm…" Kinu thought. "What do you think, sis?"
"If our travels are profitable then we'll join. We're adventuring to earn money after all and help our sire-father. That old man's tail keeps wagging at wanting to go off on another journey despite breaking his hip bone. He's recovered now of course." Kvaris answered. "We'll join, if we pass this test."
"Well that's a relief that'll make u-MMMMPPPHHH!" Ingrid was surprised when Kvaris pulled her in for a kiss, but she didn't resist. As soon as she finished Kinu did the same to Ingrid.
"This is the reverse of 'kiss your dog and see their reaction'." he laughed.
"Wh-what?" Ingrid said, panting as the girls pulled away and headed off. "They're girls! They can't…"
"You probably didn't hear it because you were busy enjoying your cheek rubs but Kinu earlier said they wanted to play with you with their Priapus….whatever that means." Cecil explained.
"Magic light sabers." Zefir grinned. "And considering who they are, they probably know a refined version of the spell that makes them feel like its the real thing."
"You know them?" Ingrid said, looking back at them excitedly.
"The Enthana sisters, their father's real chad of a soldier, stories said he did what the 300 Spartans did, but solo and came back alive. A real hero like you." Zefir explained. "He's retired now, living his dream as a travelling merchant to see more of the world. They say any road he travels on, the bandits quickly abandon because he's just too strong. The best part? Those two have travelled with him since they were little. So it's no surprised if they can fight well."
"If they're staying with us, we should rename the house Ram Ranch." Ingrid smiled.
"That really rocks!" Cecil joked.
"Wait a sec... if they're that known then they already should've had a team, why come to us?" Ingrid frowned.
"Have you ever attended high school, Ingrid?" Zefir asked. "It's not easy trying to ask out Miss Popular."
"Oh, school hall politik. Yeah, I kinda get what you mean. Everybody's too scared to get near them."
"And they just approached a boy with a talking slime and a talking Nemesis-Stalker. They've set the bar really high now." Cecil reminded her.
___
Magic Instructor Millarna adjusted her glasses as she surveyed the row of thirty candidates.
"The dummies ahead of you are protected with a barrier, the requirement to pass is to breach that barrier within fifteen minutes. Any idea why?" she looked at her paper again. "Ingrid, any idea why we're doing this?"
"Spell power? To test how big our Mana Pool is? To gauge how efficient we are in spending energy? Something like that. That seems to make sense considering we have fifteen minutes to breach the shield, in my experience you're usually given one shot so I'm guessing these dummies have a pretty tough shield on them."
"Exactly" Millarna nodded, the human wasn't carrying a staff but she opted to go for this test instead of the Body Enhancement one which she found strange.
Well, not her problem. If she fails, she fails.
"Alright, get started! and remember, I see one stray shot and you are immediately disqualified!"
In rapid succession Ingrid channeled her Mana between her open palms, the ambient Ether was quickly drawn in from a vacuum-like effect and created a sphere of energy that rapidly grew until it touched her hands before she thrust both hands forward, firing off a blast of volatile energy.
The rest of the candidates stopped and stared in disbelief and even the currently testing candidates dropped their staves and looked at her slack jawed as her body blurred as she rapidly performed the motion again and again while she said something that sounded like "adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-adu-". It didn't take long for the parade of blasts to look like a steady stream of dragon breath.
Cecil on the other hand, was also on the test with Ingrid and the only one who wasn't distracted by her antics. Calmly he picked up a rock from a leather pouch, aimed at the dummy with his slingshot, pulled and let it fly. As it passed through his room's portal, it also passed through an enhancement lens. It was invisible until it crossed the portal, briefly creating a magic circle and causing the rock to accelerate. At the same time it was wreathed in raw ether and struck the target dummy with considerable force. He kept going and going, at his fifth shot, all the other candidates had snapped back to their senses and continued on with their test.
Cecil ended up being the first to shatter the barrier of his target dummy and Ingrid interestingly enough finished just in time. He wasn't worried however, as he was confident that the sheer amount of energy Ingrid demonstrated was more than enough for the proctor to judge her as extremely satisfactory if not a perfect score for showcasing her control of her magic.
___
On an office observing that courtyard sometime later:
"Based on my observations, Ingrid Lily seems to be more than just some Nemesis-Stalker from Elion-Nosco, her ability to make use of ether is something I…or I daresay we…have never seen before." Millarna quietly told the Guild Master.
The Guild Master licked his paw contemplatively before running it through his head fur. Closing one eye, he purred. "Makes you think she's one of those Oberon Fae. And you mentioned that one of the reasons she came to register as an adventurer here is to avoid certain….troubles?"
"Yes sir." Millarna said. "Unlike most humans she's exhibited high levels of sapience. She designates her teammate Zefir Aargrove as her Master, but it seems to be just a relationship of convenience."
"As a guildsman she will be immune to anyone trying to claim her like some animal, which she is clearly not." The Guildmaster said. ".... anyway, what is she doing?" He put his fore paws onto the railing so he could have a better look of the second courtyard below, his tail swishing with curiosity.
Shortly after her test, Ingrid had encased herself in ice. A bunch of candidates and even some guild members had come over to gawk, with the latter wondering who froze a poor human in the middle of their own courtyard. Some of them looked up at the Guildmaster and Millarna above but they shook their heads, indicating that they leave Ingrid alone.
Sitting near her was a Ciltran, the Enthana Sisters, and most intriguing of all, a moving portal inhabited by a talking slime. The four were conversing animatedly and the guildmaster's sharp ears picked up bits and pieces of their conversation. Something about the Ciltran, Human, and Slime belonging to some far-off country beyond the sea known as Earth and having been brought here due to the mischief of some witch. Seeing that it was mere idle gossip, the giant cat-like guildmaster retreated to his study to nap on the oversized basket with his pile of cushions.
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PARTY INFO
KVARIS and KINU ENTHANA have joined the party
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A Grassland somewhere, Border of Elion-Nosco and Veles:
As soon as Gwen heard the click, she quickly turned around and pulled out a pistol. Philia was already ahead of her and together they opened fire on the other maids. The noise was drowned by a series of loud explosions tearing through the camp. Philia had booby-trapped the box to activate the C-4 she and Gwen and secretly set up last night.
Philia then opened a long chest near the entrance of her tent and took out a trusty-looking AK-47 and tossed it over to Gwen. Together they quickly combed through the destroyed camp and shot down any survivors.
The last one was Ser Stryfe, the strongest of the knights in her entourage.
"What..." Ser Stryfe said "...what have you done?" He was bleeding badly and chances are high he wouldn't survive even if he was taken to a hospital, his legs were gone and one arm was torn off at the elbow.
"Typing up loose ends..." Philia said, pointing her rifle at him. "You all were right in calling me an embarrassment to the royal family. You see...I've been committing graft and corruption to fund my research, that way I can bring these to this world."
Ser Stryfe looked at her and the strange object she was pointing at him in horror. He's never seen a gun before but as he looked to the side and saw Gwen coldly executing survivors with it, he suddenly realized what horrors he and his men had been burying into the ground.
A shot rang out and Ser Stryfe's head hit the ground.
Gwen finished her bitter sobbing as Philia got to work. The two of them had just killed a lot of people they had grown up with. The maids, some of the knights and even some of those workmen. Philia however, did not trust them. In the end, she was an unwanted daughter of the king who was given a position of responsibility and power simply to spite his ministers and keep them on her toes. In the end, their ultimate loyalties were to him and not hers.
All except for Gwen, who alone passed the princess' test.
She watched listlessly as Philia operated the summoned excavator to pile up all the debris and corpses into a single pile. At first she assumed Philia's claims of having been reborn from another world were simply childish tall tales but years of witnessing her summon these fantastic machines have convinced her that she was indeed in Philia's own words a "Reincarnator." It was a big machine that trundled about on four wheels, not requiring any beast of burden to pull it along. Its body was a bright yellow and had a single long arm that held up a big toothed shovel, more like half a hollow cylinder.
With this, she effortlessly picked up the traces of destruction wholesale and dumped them all on a single spot. Philia had once explained that it was an inanimate machine but its inner mechanisms growled like an annoyed animal, as if finding itself an accomplice to this act to be distasteful to the extreme.
It didn't take her long and soon the pile was completed. Then, the mechanical monster began gouging out deep chunks of soil, digging the hole to hide all these bodies. The noise the machine was making as well as its bright yellow body was irrelevant. They were in a very remote location and had been gone from Elion-Nosco for almost a week. Philia had assembled this work team in secret; feeding them the lie that they were on a distasteful, but necessary mission on behalf of the king. Thus, they were able to leave the kingdom in absolute secrecy.
The apartments that housed Philia as well as her detail of maids had all been rigged to blow with C-4 and spread burning thermite everywhere hours after the team left late that night. She would later confirm that due to this thorough destruction everyone believed that Philia and her maids had perished from an unknown accident in the palace. The absence of the workmen and knights would not attract any attention. The former came and went as they pleased and as for the few knights that accompanied Philia they were low-ranking people from low-ranking houses and would not be missed.
Gwen looked up as Philia's road roller flattened the soil, further hiding all evidence. Part of her wondered if she was going to end up in a hole in the ground but it was too late for that. She was still armed and Philia barely gave her a glance as she worked the machines. She was also the only maid Philia had ever demonstrated the full extent of her abilities and knowledge to. Gwen mused that after all this. they would be living as fugitives. It was very likely that the one tent and wagon that weren't rigged to blow up carried their traveling supplies and probably gold and weapons… it had to be.
Finally done, Philia and Gwen returned to the tent and packed up what they could. A molotov cocktail set the tent on fire as Philia knelt and made a silent prayer. As much as she grew up with those maids, she could not trust them. Gwen was different. She was an orphan assigned to be her lady's maid. It was of course all a secret way for the royal family to have a jab at Philia, a nobody taken care of by another nobody. No one would send their precious daughter to be the assistant of a worthless human princess. That was what kept Gwen alive. She had nobody to go to, but Philia.
"Let's go. Gwen, you and I are runaways now." Philia said as she tightened the cinches on the aurochs that will pull their wagon. "As of a week ago, Princess Philia Elion-Nosco is dead. I rigged our palace apartments to explode on the morning we left the city." She put some hairclips on the sides of her head. Magic flowed into them and they took on the appearance of the short horns of Daos-folk. "I'll be Philia Lovelock from now on. You can stay as Gwen Hartpenny, you probably already know about this, but… barely anybody knows us in Elion-Nosco, so if I'm practically a nobody in the palace, then you're even better insulated."
Gwen nodded. Philia came over and squeezed her hand.
"You're coming with me Gwen, I promised we'd go on an adventure together." Gwen's eyes watered with tears and she hugged Philia, crying with relief. Philia had no intention of harming her.
"I'll protect you." Philia whispered, affectionately ruffling her hair.