Meeting with Alice in the lobby of the Guild, who had been playing with some sort of strange toy, I saw a Gold adventurer’s plate around her neck with a new necklace. Upon seeing me, she gave me a worried look and I knew it was because of the mix of emotions within me right now. Knowing Olivia was alive and well made me feel happy, but knowing she may be in danger right now scared me and made me feel worried.
Alice comes over and as I pick her up she hugs me. “Alice ok!” Smiling at her comment, I pat her back as I turn to Elise.
“Get going. I’ll have someone deliver everything tonight. Tell Xia her weapon is ready, she can come and pick it up from her advisor or any attendant here. Get some rest too. Don’t worry, we’re monitoring their lives through their adventurer plates, they’re all alive.” Patting me on the shoulder, Elise smiles softly. “Noon tomorrow. I’ll go through our battle and give you a proper assessment then we’ll meet up with the other two you’ll be going with and give you all a debrief.”
Frowning a bit, I asked a question I had at the back of my mind. “Why don’t you send people from Platinum or Ruby?”
“Ah. It’ll be explained tomorrow, but there is a reason why only Gold Grades can go in there. Now, go rest.” Thanking Elise, Alice and I walk out of the building while dealing with people looking at us. No one approached us, but I still felt glares of hatred, curiosity and excitement.
Arriving home while walking slowly, I entered to find Xia looking at the newly installed benches in the kitchen, something I had asked her to get arranged before leaving. Upon seeing me, Xia frowned for a moment before giving me a small bow.
“Is there a problem, Alisha?”
Knowing I must’ve had a complicated expression, I explained the full situation to Xia while making some tea for the both of us.
“I understand. What do you need me to do?”
“Mm, I need you to tell Tael I may not be back for two months. I can’t go, I need to wait for these ingredients. Can you also get Alice about two months worth of monster cores? Get the higher level ones, they fill her up a lot more.”
“Yummy!” Alice giggles as I once again could’ve sworn I saw fear in Xia’s eyes for a moment. Is there something about Alice and food that terrified Xia?
“Make sure to pick up your weapon. Oh, and while you’re there, sell off these items. Maybe do this first.” Handing her a bag that I had forgotten about, it had the two swords, Darkness gem and materials from Ruel.
“Certainly. Do you want me to request a new room from the courthouse for Olivia, as well as medical kits in case we require them after requesting Olivia and her team?”
Blinking in surprise at her thoughtfulness at the first suggestion, I nod. “Ask about the cost and if it’s reasonable go for it. We don’t have much left after all. The medical kits will take priority, so go to the courthouse last. If anything, Olivia can just sleep in my bed since I don’t exactly require sleep.”
“I see, an advantage to your evolution. Anything else?” Thinking about it, I look at Alice.
“Want to go with Xia?”
“Xi Xi!” Jumping into Xia’s arms from mine, Alice giggled.
“I’ll leave her with you.” Xia nods and with Alice she leaves. Taking a breath, I close the door behind them and enter the lounge room. Sitting down, I take a few minutes to organise my thoughts. For the time being, I couldn’t do much. I also needed to arrange for someone to take care of the garden, thanks to the magic circles it mostly looked after itself, but in the next two months about a quarter will be ready for harvesting. Perhaps Aubrey can do it. Planning to leave a message with Elise or ask Aubrey if she came over tonight, I turned my attention to my bag.
Taking out a certain tome, I looked at it as I felt a bit excited, which distracted me from the mix of emotions I felt. It had yellowing pages with some creases and tiny tears. It’s the tome about Ancient Magic, Gravity.
As I’m about to open it, I first heard a knock on the door followed by the sound of a chime throughout the house a second later. Frowning a bit, I put the tome away as I moved towards the doors. I had expected the delivery to be much later, though since it was an emergency they must’ve moved quick.
Opening the door, I found it wasn’t a Guild attendant but two elves, who looked nearly identical. One had black hair while the other had white hair. The black-haired elf had soft, feminine features and wore a white robe while the white-haired elf had a certain maturity to his face and wore a black robe. Around their necks they wore Bronze Grade medallions. They were gazing at me with curiosity.
“Oh, Sister. She does live here.”
“Yes, Brother, you were right. Hello, the one they call the hero of the slums, it’s an honour to meet you.”
Resisting the temptation to tilt my head, I wonder for a moment then ask “Are you here to deliver the ingredients?”
Both of them look at each other with a questioning gaze before looking at me. “Brother, I believe she has been waiting for someone else.”
“Indeed Sister. Hero of the slums, we are not here to deliver anything, we have come to ask for your help.”
A bit surprised, I recalled having seen these twins in the past. Something had been bothering me when I had seen them and as I recall, I remember I had seen them when I first entered the Guild, after my assessment to join. Looking at them, I sensed the strange energy they had, and as I remember it seemed…broken.
“Ah! Brother, you forgot to mention that we can pay. Hero, we have saved up two Gold coins and can pay you.”
“Oh, I forgot about that, thank you, Sister.”
Still rather confused about all of this, I cross my arms with a frown. I didn’t have the time right now to help them, I needed to prepare. And I didn’t know about helping them out of the blue, I didn’t know them after all. Thinking about it, I found myself rather curious about the energy that seemed odd within them. It was like a river between the two had been blocked, or broken off, but when I had first seen them, it had felt unstable.
“I’m very sorry, but I don’t have the time right now.”
“Oh…” Muttering at the same time, the two seemed dejected. For some reason I felt a bit guilty at this sight.
“I can hear you out, but you see I’ve got an emergency request so I can’t really help right now.”
“Oh! I see, so it’s her circumstances, Sister.”
“Indeed Brother! It is good she is not unwilling.”
Seeing the two of them look excited, the sister gives me a smile. “If you are able to help, we would be forever grateful. We do understand your circumstances, when will you be back?”
“Mm, in about two months.”
Seeing the two look a bit dejected, I decided to ask them a direct question. “Is this about the energy between the two of you?”
I had sensed it before as well, and seeing their looks of shock I knew that they had indeed come to ask for help about it, but I didn’t expect their response.
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“Y-you can sense it?” The boy asked me and as I nod their expressions go from shock to slight excitement.
“What do you sense?” The girl looked hopeful as she asked me.
“Mm, it’s like a river of energy between the two of you is broken. I can’t tell what type of energy it is, but merely you two seem to have it travelling between yourselves.”
I hadn’t ever sensed anything like this nor do I understand what it is, but for some reason I felt very curious about it.
“She can help us, Sister! She can truly help us!”
“Yes, Brother! How wonderful!”
Smiling a bit at their excited expressions, they turned to me.
“We will come and see you once you’ve returned. Thank you, hero of the slums.” Without another word, the two turned and walked away. Watching them as they disappeared down the street, I realised I hadn't asked for their names. I had a feeling they would return here in two months, so with that in mind I returned inside and picked up the tome once again, planning to read through it to see if I could understand it.
***
Setting the tome aside, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I had read about Gravity magic and one spell, and I had felt overwhelmed by it. Gravity magic used all sorts of different methods. The spell I had read was very complicated. It required all sorts of strange mana movement, a hand gesture and you had to keep focused on the spell. It also used three magic circles to maintain, but the results would be devastating if I could use it.
The understanding I had received from the book about Gravity was that it kept out feet on the ground and was a natural force. This natural force could be woven and used. The spell I had just learnt, or rather read about, used mana and this natural force to either increase or decrease it around someone, meaning you could increase the weight one felt by several times, or remove one's weight. It was possible to use it to float in the sky as well.
I liked the idea of that, it would certainly increase my dodging capabilities. Using it to increase one’s weight, or rather increase the gravity around them, would also really help with enemies who were fast. Feeling excited to try it, I picked up the tome and reread the spell.
***
Sitting back in a chair, I felt exhausted. After rereading the gravity spell, an attendant had arrived and I had started working immediately. Overall, I had made about 300 ration cubes, created a mess in the kitchen and drained half my mana. Xia and Alice had returned at some point, Xia helped me while Alice played. Currently it was midnight and Xia was serving me tea while Alice was asleep upstairs. Unlike Xia and I, Alice required sleep and while I didn’t need sleep, I did if I exhausted my stamina.
“Xia, stop being so formal. Come and sit down.” Xia, as usual, stood at attention to my side once she’d served me tea. “And pour yourself some tea.” I knew she hesitated at the suggestion of being less formal around me, but I didn’t like it. Watching as she sat down with some hesitation and poured herself a drink, we sat in silence with the only sound being the fireplace which we had activated.
As I’m thinking over what was coming tomorrow, I suddenly felt a surge of mana and a presence in front of me. Looking at the figure that had just appeared, I was about to stand up to face them before the smell of them hit me. Calming down and smiling at her, I watched as Tessa removed her hood. I had completely forgotten about her coming to find me, even though it was on my mind in the morning.
Before either of us could say anything, Xia shot up and kneeled on the ground, trembling. At first I had felt confused at her reaction before I remembered. Tessa is also a Blessed, and looking at Tessa, she seemed to realise this as well.
“Rise, Guardian. I am not your Blessed, do not bend your knee to me. I am merely visiting, attend your Blessed.”
Without a word, Xia stood and kept her head low as she bowed before walking to my side, standing once again at attention. Sitting down on the couch opposite me, Tessa poured herself some tea before reaching into a pocket and handing me a pouch.
“Snack?”
Tessa had almost always offered me snacks, in fact Selenia was similar. Was there a link between the Moon Goddess and snacks? Smiling at my own thoughts, I accepted as Tessa pulled out another pouch.
“The snacks here in Vale are truly unique. I must make a trip back here in the future.”
“Tessa, why are you here? What happened to the you inside of my mana realm?”
Sitting in silence for a few seconds, Tessa smiled. “The seed of consciousness inside of you that I placed had a failsafe in case anything happened to me. It breaking and fading is due to my imprisonment by the Sisterhood.”
“You were imprisoned?”
“Yup! In fact, I can’t be here long, so I’ll keep it short. I had been imprisoned because it was deemed that I had helped you too much, thus they sealed me and threw me into isolation to, as they say, think of the consequences of my actions. Those miserable old fools and their tradition. Did you know that the Moon Goddess never made that tradition, the old foggies just didn’t like the idea of anyone being a Blessed, even though She selected them.”
Listening to her rant, I felt a bit confused. The Moon Goddess never imposed such a thing, so why did they continue to follow it? “Is it because those old foggies only want strong people?”
“Exactly! They refuse to acknowledge any potential Sisters unless they pass the Crossroads, and even if one does they won’t accept them unless they ‘have the potential to be useful to Her’. A load of rubbish if you ask me. We should be accepting all Blessed unconditionally.”
Smiling as Tessa grumbled, I never thought of her to be one that complained like this. “Well, after I was imprisoned, and after a lot of time, you went ahead and prayed to Her on a full moon for help. As soon as you did, Selenia took me from my prison, brought me here and working with her we broke into that dungeon. You know the rest.”
I had a lot of questions, but Tessa gave me a tight smile. “I know I said I could answer your questions, but as I understand both of us don’t have the time right now. I would offer to plant another seed of consciousness within your mana realm, but you wouldn’t have the time to communicate through it. I wanted to just see you again. I had never thought the little fox in that hellhole would turn out to be a Chosen and not a Blessed.”
Pursing my lips at her comment, I watched as Tessa finished her tea. “I came here to give you both a warning and advice. The warning is that the Church is preparing to eliminate you, and they’re no longer bothering to hide it. The good news is that due to their precious spell, Starfall, has gone missing. They are delayed as they believe it to be a trump card to you. The bad news is that they’re not holding back. Thankfully they do not have one who has passed the Crossroads.”
“Crossroads?” I had heard this term coming up more recently. Smiling, Tessa breaths out before looking at me.
“Check my Status.”
Raising an eyebrow, I did and saw a very strange sight.
The One Who Shines Brightly, Tessa Moonflow.
Level 89 ⭐⭐⭐
Embodiment of the Stars, Pseudo-Demigod
Those who invoke her rage will join the stars.
Looking at the very strange Status, Tessa explained. “The Crossroads, otherwise known as passing level 100. It is unique to all, and ‘levelling’ becomes a vague term. It is called the Crossroads because in addition to being the last evolution for most, it is also where one walks their own path. No paths are the same, except for extremely rare situations, and others may not even have levels.
“My path is fairly straightforward. Each of those stars represents one hundred levels, so if we were to look at in terms of numbers I would be level 389. Though it's not as simple as that, there are many different factors to my path, but you will learn more about it when you reach the Crossroads. After all, your path will be yours, not mine.”
Looking at her in surprise, I had not expected to learn about this at all. Many had told me before level 20 that I would have to wait and see what laid beyond level 20, and while I did have to do that here it was for a completely different reason. Tessa hands me a hairpin.
“A gift from me. Don’t worry, it won’t bond to you or anything. It contains one high level spell that will trigger if your life is on the brink of death. It will whisk you and those you consider allies away back to this house. It will only trigger if there is absolutely no hope for you however, so don’t go around thinking you’re safe, if a child ran up to you and stabbed you it won’t work.”
Thanking Tessa, I watched as she stood. “Be careful in the Canyon of Ruth’s Rest. If you detect any Lunar magic, *do not approach it!* No matter how tempting it is, you will suffer a fate worse than death. Guardian, whack sense into her if she tries.”
“Y-yes, M-madam!”
“Now that I’m no longer attached to the Sisterhood I’m more free to help you, though I am kind of hiding from them so I can’t help often. I originally wanted to wipe the Church out, but seeing as you’re become so strong I figured I’ll let you handle them since you’d have some frustrations that you’d want to vent.”
Chuckling at her words, Tessa and I shared a smile.
“We’ll meet again, Alisha.” Tessa fades into a silver light. Looking at the hairpin she gave me, it was of course themed on the night sky. A nice black base, it had small silver dots running along the pin and a crescent moon at the end. Putting it into my hair, I looked back and smiled at Xia, who looked like she had escaped great danger.
“Come and sit down Xia, let's have some tea.”
***
Standing outside of the Guild, Alice, Xia and I were as prepared as we could be. Bundled in thick clothing and coats, Xia and Alice were on either side of me. Ensuring we had left nothing unprepared, we entered the Guild, preparing ourselves once again but this time for a month-long trip.