“It’s nice and quiet at this time of night, isn’t it?”
“Mm, I prefer the night sky. It’s calming.”
“I’d expect as much from the Chosen of Celestia. How did Olivia go today?” Summer and I walked through the streets, checking busy places in the slums. As to disguise ourselves, we currently wore our old Bronze Grade and with a mixture from Summer we had dyed our hair. I currently had deep blue hair while she had white hair. Walking through the slums, which is our patrol route that we were provided by the Royal Guard, we kept our eye out for the criminal.
“She did well. Elise wanted her to go into a dungeon with Jasmine’s party tomorrow but Olivia said no, so we’ll be slowly introducing her to the other two and having them all over for dinner every now and then.”
“Poor girl. You’re a good friend for looking after her. Oh, how is the house coming along?”
“Not done yet. Will be done by next week, want to come over for dinner when it's done?”
“Oh! The future famous chef, Starcaller, is inviting me to dinner? And here I thought that would be reserved for Aubrey.”
“I mean-”
“I know.” Giving me a cheerful smile, Summer nodded. “Can I bring my sister?”
“Sure. I plan to ask Xeno and Aubrey as well, Ellie has already said yes. I can’t seem to find Leon…”
Sighing, Summer shook her head. “Leon hasn’t appeared at the Guild since then. Bloom saved his life and brought him to Vale, and losing him has taken a huge toll on Leon. His advisor still checks in on him, but he is refusing any contact.”
As we both go silent, we keep walking while the atmosphere around us becomes gloomy.
“So who is your sister?” Attempting to break the silence, I smiled towards Summer who returned it.
“Ah, I haven’t told you about her, have I? She’s twelve years old this month actually, she’d make a good friend for Alice.” Turning to face forward again, Summer smiled sadly. “She’s got a rather rare disorder. See, she was born without sight or sense of touch. She can’t circulate mana either. Yet she’s the sweetest girl you’d ever meet, kind to her core. Unlike us two.”
“Have you tried asking for Regrowth?”
“We’re not all well connected like you.” Giggling, Summer shook her head. “Regrowth won’t do anything for her. Regrowth doesn’t give sight or anything, it just regrows or repairs your body at the cost of lifespan. If you were blind from birth then Regrowth won’t suddenly fix that, it just restores your body to how it normally is in a way.”
Looking at Summer’s neck, it still had the scar from that day. She hadn’t required Regrowth, in fact it’s more like it would’ve been pointless. Unlike me, others could scar easily from injuries, even if healed with a healing potion. No, I too had a scar. Regrowth had simply healed the internal damage caused by whatever I had been poisoned by, the wound itself left a scar on my hip, I had forgotten about it until I saw Summer’s scar.
“Sorry for asking…I’m not familiar with how magic works.”
“You’re fine. The fact you asked makes me happy to know you care. Her name is Helen, she is the reason why I’m an adventurer and why I’ve made the decision to do my best to keep up with you, Alisha. I have a feeling if we stick together we’ll go far.”
Scratching my ear in embarrassment, I wasn’t sure what to say. While we continued talking, I sensed something wrong and did a double take. I saw the man from the portrait moving through the street ahead of us into an alleyway.
“Pretend like you didn’t see him.”
“You saw him too?”
“No, I just noticed your reaction. I’ll need to teach you how to avoid that reaction. I saw an average woman enter an alleyway ahead.”
“I saw him going that way too.”
“God, I’d literally kill to have eyes like yours. Alright, as planned we’ll just pretend we’re wandering around and go down the alleyway. Once we see him again we’ll determine what to do. We need to strike when there are no innocents around.”
A feat that is possible with Domain, yet I did not know how to do it. Summer did not have a Domain either, meaning we would have to be patient and wait. As we followed the criminal deeper into the slums, we found a chance. He seemed to be looking for something, though we didn’t know what it was, we knew now was a good chance. Summer disappeared, she’d work with me to pincer him.
He turned to walk down another alleyway and I flash stepped to the entrance of the alleyway. Summer was waiting for him at the other end of the alleyway, and the criminal had stopped and looked back at me before scoffing.
“Strange, you’ve found me. Two level 76 adventurers pretending to be Bronze Grade. I’d thought you to be a non-threat, but to think you know who I am.” I sensed a pulse of mana and watched as he started walking towards me, like I no longer existed. I heard a voice speaking from where he originally was. “I can pay you both double what they’re offering you. The adventurers Guild is lying to you both, keeping secrets about a war that will flatten Vale. It is in your best interes-”
An illusion? I saw nothing but I could hear him talking even though he wasn’t moving his mouth. Pretending I didn’t see him walking towards me and staring at where he had stopped, I waited till he just stepped past me and moved. Taking out a collar from my pocket, I grabbed his head, slamming it in the ground and snapped the collar around his neck as he squealed in surprise.
“H-how did you s-”
“Shut up. Don’t move, attack or use magic.” Instantly he stops talking. The collar on his neck is a slave collar that belonged to me. The Guild had provided us with one as they wanted him alive, not dead if possible. Hearing a crack followed by shattering, I turned to see Summer casually walking towards me.
“Perhaps you could teach me Lunar magic so I can get the same eyes. I had no idea he had put up an illusion. Alright, let's get him to the Royal Guard and claim our rewards. Ah, that box should have the stone.”
Summer walks over to the box that must’ve fallen out of the criminal’s pocket and picks it up. I grab the collar of the criminal who has stopped talking and as I’m about to drag him along, I see Summer open the box. The stone, an oval white beautiful stone, laid within in one second, then rose up and bounced up and down, seemingly happy. Suddenly it shoots towards me with such speed that I couldn’t even react. I had thought there would be an impact but it just…enters me.
Looking at my chest in confusion while tossing the criminal aside, I saw nothing as Summer said “Your mana realm!”
Sinking myself into it, I looked up and saw the blue gem and right next to it was the white stone. My knife sat in front of these as usual.
“What in the world?” The white stone started pulsing with a white light as the Celestial Eclipse Mana and Energy was drawn to it. It’s like it was draining my mana but it wasn’t at a rate that would become a problem, it was slow and calm.
***
“Sigh. Why is it whenever you go anywhere you cause more problems then fix, Alisha?” Elise sat opposite me with her head in her arms, looking as if she had just woken up…she had just woken up actually, and had rushed her once learning what happened.
“I didn’t exactly have control over that situation, I don’t even know what that stone is, nor the one that’s currently in there.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“It’s true Elise, the Guild didn’t inform us of anything but saying it’s a ‘stone’, nor was there a warning not to open the box.”
“I know.” Elise looked up from her arms before sighing and raising her head. “I know, yet the noble family who wanted the stone is now calling for your mana realm to be destroyed and the stone retrieved.”
“Which isn’t going to happen, I take it?”
“Of course not. They’re the idiots who failed to inform us of what it is. I’m just hoping Tails has some good news for us.”
Tails is a new executive for the Guild. She’s an evolved monster of a Morning Dawn Fox and a good friend of Elise. When we turned over the criminal to the Royal Guard, we had reported the problem with the stone. We had been detained, but not arrested, and Tails had arrived to bring us to the Guild as they were notified first. We were then told to wait and Elise had been woken up to sit with us.
“We do have the memory stone of what happened.”
“Thankfully. The Guild will keep your identity a secret, but the Royal Guard you spoke to is another story. The nobles just have to offer the right price and without an Oath in place anyone will speak.” Elise sighs and leans back just as the door opens.
“Sorry for the wait. I’ve spoken to the Royal Guard and nobles who submitted this request.” Tails walked in and closed the door. She had long, orange hair that matched her tail and ears. Her ears had white insides and overall looked similar to how I did, except her eyes were more foxlike and her fangs protruded from the top of her mouth.
Unlike with the other executives, Elise didn’t stand to attention and just sighed. “What’s the verdict?”
“The Royal Guard didn’t utter a word and told me he wouldn’t rat out the hero of the slums and swore an Oath to me. The nobles on the other hand have demanded we hand over the adventurer who stole their stone so they can remove the stone themselves. The Guild has refused their demands.”
Tails sits besides Elise before handing Summer and I two pouches. “The nobles are refusing to provide their end of the deal, so we have given you both the reward. As compensation you’ll both be given a spellbook of your choice, up to Platinum Grade. The lists are here.” Handing us a list, we looked over it and I decided on a spell called Lightning Cage. I had become impressed by the Getsuna’s Lightning Net and upon seeing this I could see it being useful if I could limit where enemies could move. Though I did have to actually learn Lightning Magic…I also needed to use the lake.
“So did you find out what the stone is?” Elise asked while stretching.
“Yes. Both are unborn Mana Spirits. Extremely rare spirits that live in mana realms and purify mana within it. They are found in pure mana lakes or pure mana crystal mines and go for upwards of four Jade coins. The one that threw itself into your mana realm is a Lunar Mana Spirit. It would’ve sensed your Celestial Eclipse mana and energy and chosen you. The fact you have two is…sigh, not a word of this leaves this room.”
All three swore an Oath despite my insistence they didn’t. According to Tails, when born they would slowly purify my mana realm, which meant my magic would become stronger. I knew I had to start focusing on magic, I’ve kept pushing back on learning it.
“Well, you have nothing to fear. You are after all the Branch Master’s disciple, no one here will utter a word if they knew. I imagine those nobles will likely push the Royal Family to do something, but the Guild isn’t technically a part of Vale, the staff and adventurers can easily remain neutral in the event of a war or just close down.” Tails shrugs before standing. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Alisha and Summer. My condolences for your loss. Bloom and Amelia were excellent adventurers and both will be missed dearly.”
Giving us a small smile, Tails left the room as Elise sighs. “She hadn’t expected the promotion and hated that she had to replace her old mentor, Xander. She’s probably the most affected by all of this.” After a few more words, Summer and I left the Guild as the sun started rising.
***
“So what kind of Shrine Master will your sister see?” I asked Summer curiously while we walked along the streets.
“She wants to help those in need that are like her. Those who have been crippled and can no longer work as adventurers, or even those that don’t know what to do since they lack the ability to fight. We found a Shrine Master that has expertise in helping those in need and I’ve been trying to save for her to see them. Thankfully we found that criminal so now I can put what I saved back into the funds that I will leave her in case of my death.”
We parted ways after making plans for Summer and Helen to join us for dinner once the new house had been finished. As I return home, I tell Olivia about the free Shrine Master ticket I had received and though she at first didn’t want to accept it since it was my reward, she ended up accepting after I told her I had no need for it.
After some discussion, she decided on a Shrine Master that could help her learn how to use her bow during combat. She already had good bow skills, but she wanted to raise them to the next level for when she was ready to join Jasmine. With plans to head there after we had dinner, I made a simple breakfast for everyone and headed upstairs, planning to look through the chest that had been left to me.
Opening it, I first brought out the clothing. I had stopped wearing the extraordinary clothing since Zalus, I no longer felt comfortable wearing it, instead opting to wear the dress I had at some point received, but it had become too tight around my chest and it wasn’t as long. I wore adventurers clothing when I left the house and the extraordinary clothing sat in a bag that had been thrown into a closet. The replica of The Blade’s sword still sat on the wall, but it only served one purpose now. A reminder that when I reached his level, I would kill him.
The clothing itself felt smooth to the touch. The shirt was a nice teal with no sleeves, a skirt that had a light pink colour to it and the pair of gloves were black. According to the System, these clothes were able to mend and clean themselves. In addition, it would grow if the user became taller or their physique changed. Putting it on, I enjoyed the feeling and freedom of these clothes. The skirt allowed easier movements and meant I could use Lashing Fire Kick without being hindered by pants. Xia, who had been with me, suggested putting shorts on under the skirt, and when I showed confusion, Xia had facepalmed.
After she convinced me, we had Olivia weave some simple and light shorts and with those on it felt a lot better to move. Satisfied with these clothes, I looked through the rest of the chest with Xia’s help.
About ten of the books were about the history of Zalus, the world and general knowledge of the city itself. We weren’t sure what to do about these books, we held no value in them but I wanted to keep my promise with Ash. We stored them away carefully and checked the other books. Most of them were about various forms of spellcasting, theories on spellcasting and empowering oneself with magic. Xia looked through them since my understanding of magic wasn’t great.
“These have a lot of value, you need to study these Alisha, they will benefit you greatly. Even I would benefit greatly from reading through them. The worth these hold are immeasurable, I can’t value them because I don’t know how far along magical studies have gotten. After all, most theories aren’t exactly for everyone.”
Storing those away carefully, we were left with two that stood out to us the most. The first one was about Spell Gems. Xia had never heard of these, and looking through it together we were fascinated to find that one could create these Spell Gems, which would store a spell for use later on. Anyone could use these Spell Gems once created and while it would decrease its overall power, the fact anyone could use it meant it would become a powerful weapon for an army, or adventurers.
We tried to read how to create them, but both of us were left confused, not understanding any of the material. Even the gems needed were ones Xia had never heard of, the only thing we knew was that this could forever change magic itself. If I were to create Spell Gems with Starfall and give them out, those who had the Starfall gem could use it at any time.
“Alisha, I don’t think we should sell this unless we’re absolutely sure. We…we really have something scary.”
Even I understood the implications this book had. The power of the spell depended on the strength of the one who created it, so if I were to create a Starfall Spell Gem when I stepped beyond the Pathways, Monster Tides would no longer be a threat. Even attacking armies would be devastated.
“I-I think I’ll take this to Alexander…” Muttering while holding the book, I glance at Xia, who had recently been speaking more freely.
“That’s likely the best case. The Guild is neutral, and even though he is standing with Vale if the war happens, he is still obliged to handle matters like this seriously from a neutral standpoint…”
We store the book away while I pick up the last one. This one interested me the most. The reason? It held many recipes for cooking, including using the fruits and vegetables I had found the seeds for. We had found similar books for weaving, which we gave to Olivia, weaponsmithing, armorsmithing and jewel making. The recipes were for meals that were a delicacy in Zalus, dishes they had crafted painfully over the years. Most of the ingredients were available now, like monster meat which usually can be used regardless of recipe, except in some rare cases but it was mainly for flavour.
Other ingredients needed to be made ahead of time and some I had never heard of, but the base components were still purchasable. I was rather surprised that we could get most of the ingredients listed here. Feeling rather excited to try these, I only needed to wait for our new house and for the new garden to be made and grown.
***
“Hunt and kill a dangerous monster attacking farms nearby…no. Help mentor a new adventurer…no. Oh? Assist the Royal Guard in training? Needed, those proficient with close combats with fists, shields, sword and lances. Reward is twenty Mithril in addition to training with the Royal Guard…is there a need for that?”
“It’s very helpful. It’ll help you fight against others around your skill level and it’s not just one on one training, it’ll be fighting in groups or fighting multiple of 'em at a time. You should come along, I’m a regular.”
Xeno stood next to me with his arms crossed, giving a strong nod. I had run into him on the way to the Guild and we had decided to take this chance to do a request together.
“It’ll be important with that coming up, won't it?”
“Very. Shall we?”
Deciding to go along with this request, Xeno and I grabbed the tokens and headed to the Royal Guard’s training centre.