Dodging an attack, I threw a punch towards the man’s head, my speed had increased likely thanks to the Agility given by Lunaria’s Fury. Blocking it once again, the man this time winced at the force behind my blow. Knowing that the force of my punches had gotten stronger because of the gauntlets, I knew I had found an opening.
Before I could take advantage of this, I sensed the other three surrounding me move. Two headed towards me, William being one of them, while the other headed towards the three at the back. The Mimic must’ve been causing trouble for them like I had hoped, and feeling thankful for that, I prepared myself as Alice let out a cry.
Erupting from her is her spell, Blindness, however it’s targeted at all three around us. The effects wouldn’t last as long, perhaps only a second against enemies like the ones we faced, but it would be more than enough. As the magic hits them, I release the wind that is wrapped around me and use Wind Explosion and quickly use mana to cover myself in wind, moving straight towards the fighter I had been fighting.
Blinded, it seemed he knew I was in front of him as he raised his hands once again, this time I swung a fist from below, connecting with his plated armour with such force that it lifted him for a moment while denting the armour so much that I felt it hit his flesh. Unwilling to give him a moment to recover, I threw another punch where his heart would be, once again connecting and denting the armour to the point of hitting his flesh.
Doubling over in pain, I wrap both hands around his neck, place a foot on his shoulder and with a roar I tore his head off. At the same time I smelled a human right behind me, and failing to dodge completely I felt a sword slash my back.
Sucking a sharp breath through my teeth, I knew the wound was rather deep. Turning quickly, I grabbed the sword of this human and filled my free fist with Lunar magic. I threw a punch at his head while pulling him towards me. Shattering his helmet, I chase the fist downwards, slamming him into the ground with force. I heard a sickening crunch and standing once again, I started feeling woozy.
My mind was light headed, back seared in pain and there were bruises all along my arms from fighting the man that used his fists. Staring at William, I ignored the signs of fighting I heard behind me, and the massive surge of mana coming from somewhere behind me to the right.
Looking at me then the two corpses to my side, his face looked grim. I’d killed three of the eight who were here, even if I were to die here I wouldn’t mind. My body was reaching its limit, the Lunar Blessing would wear off within a few seconds, my mana was less than ten percent and my Domain couldn’t be used again.
I used a lot of my strength to finish these two quickly, leaving myself in this state. Taking another breath, I prepared myself as a figure blew past me, bleeding and barely breathing. Seeing it was the Mimic, I ignored it while facing William. Hearing the other plate wearing human come over, I breathed out.
“It’s a shame, it truly is. I would’ve made a lot of coin from selling you off, but you just had to act like a monster. Well, that’s to be expected.” Taking a stance as he raised his sword horizontally at waist height, a flame spread along it, he steps forward, swinging his sword.
Feeling an eruption of mana behind me, I jumped above the sword as I felt the heat of the blade under my feet. Looking at the source, ready to block a spell, my eyes landed on Aubrey, a massive green magic circle below her as she yelled.
“Heed my call and come forth, bind my enemies and weaken them, Vines of Gaia!”
The magic circle spreads outwards, covering the entire room as thick green roots shoot out of the ground and with speed that matches mine wrapped themselves around everyone, excluding myself, Aubrey and the Mimic in Elizabeth’s form. Alice still sat on top of my head, safe from harm.
The vines completely entangled the humans and started…drinking is the only word that made sense of this scene. Looking back at Aubrey as I landed from my jump, I was surprised at the scale of this magic, I saw she had gone from bronze skinned to extremely pale, clutching her chest while breathing heavily. This magic must’ve taken a massive toll on her body.
Suddenly snapping her head to look at me, her free hand grasped her head as she continued speaking.
“Oh Gaia! The enemy still threatens us, ah how it terrifies me so! Grant my allies your blessing so they may vanquish our foes! Gaia’s Blessing!”
Feeling a huge surge of mana from the magic circle, two vines shoot out towards me, as another pair shoots towards the Mimic. As they latched onto my arms, I felt a rush of different types of energies enter my body, a power I’ve never felt before.
You have received Gaia’s Blessing!
You will receive the following for a short duration:
Increased Health Regeneration
Increased Mana Regeneration
Doubled Stats
Once Gaia’s Blessing has worn off, you will lose 50% of your Stats for two hours.
Breathing in, I felt more alive than I had before. I felt the wounds inflicted on me healing at an incredible rate as mana flowed through my body quickly. Knowing I had a short time left, I turned to William who was still entrapped in the vines.
“Aubrey! You dare! Withdraw this spell or face the consequences!”
Hearing fear in his voice for the first time I’ve met him, I took a step towards William as his head snapped to me while he struggled to free himself.
“D-don’t! I can give you anything you need! Men, money, equipment, I can get it all fo-”
Grabbing his throat, I ignored his words. Effortlessly, I tore this pathetic man's head from his shoulders. Turning, I threw the head to the side and made my way to the other plate wearer. The armour these people wore made it difficult to do anything but grab their exposed necks, and doing the same to the woman in front of me, I saw the Mimic slash its sword, decapitating one of the three mages.
Slightly annoyed, I moved quickly to the other two and grabbed their faces, slamming them to the ground, crushing their skulls. Turning to the Mimic, I saw it face me and…sheathed its sword before rushing to me. Feeling angered at this, I stepped back and threw a Lashing Fire Kick at it. The Mimic seemed shocked for a moment and quickly reacted, raising its arms and blocking my blow.
Stepping back, the Mimic looked at me before quickly speaking. “Alisha, wait! It’s me, Elizabeth!”
Without a word, I step forward again. Since the Mimic was empowered as well, it wouldn’t be as easy to kill as the other humans. Throwing a fist towards its chest, the Mimic leapt back before yelling “Ignis protect me!”
An orb of flame sprung out from her palm, getting in between my fist and the Mimic’s chest. Exploding into pieces, the summon managed to surprisingly stop my punch. Glaring at the Mimic, I pushed my palm forward as a magic circle appeared. As I’m about to use Astral Ice Wind, a faint voice reached my ears.
“Alisha…wait!”
Turning to Aubrey, she was on her knees, bleeding heavily from her nose. She didn’t seem to care about it as she stared at the Mimic.
“W-wait. That isn’t a-a Mimic.”
Turning to Aubrey while keeping the magic circle ready, I simply respond “It is. It’s from my memories, it’s impossible for her to be here.” Turning back to the Mimic, I’m about to release my magic when Aubrey spoke again.
“She isn’t. She protected me.”
Raising an eyebrow, I turn to her. “Aubrey, this Mimic has copied my friend, someone I dearly trust. Her mana signature doesn’t match, and most importantly she’s on the other side of this world. It’s impossible. That is a Mimic.”
Keeping an eye on the Mimic, it hasn’t moved at all, it simply just stood there, smiling at me, tears running down its face. I felt pain in my heart, I wanted this to be her so badly, so so badly, but I knew better. Turning once again towards the Mimic, I heard Aubrey speak once again.
“Ask her a question, one that only you two would know. Remember, Mimics don’t take memories.”
Throwing an annoyed glare at Aubrey, I grew impatient with her. I could feel Gaia’s Blessing fading, I didn’t have time to have this back and forth. Why am I listening to Aubrey?
“In Crater Hell, your handler’s name was Gerald.”
Feeling a shock run down my very being, I lost complete focus on my spell as the magic circle disappeared. Slowly turning to face the Mimic, I felt myself get dizzy.
“In the swamps of Crater Hell, Sally, Gray, you and I were saved by Olivia while fighting a Guardian named Noodles.”
Shaking my head and stepping back, I muttered the only thing I could think. “Impossible.” I felt my guard slip as I stared in horror at the figure that is Elizabeth. As if to deliver the final blow to me, she spoke once more.
“On our first night, I saved the three of you from a monstrosity that found our little cave. Afterwards, you and I shared a drink by the pool of water.”
As if it was waiting for those words, Gaia’s Blessing ran its course as I felt a heavy weakness overcome me, as tears ran down my face. Alice flew off my head and landed on Elizabeth’s head. At that moment, I knew it was Elizabeth and not a Mimic, a question remained in my mind…how the fuck is she here.
Opening and closing my mouth, I didn’t know what to say, I was completely speechless. Before I could find the words, I heard Aubrey speak up.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“We’ll have enough time for emotional talks later. We have more problems to sort out now, you might’ve forgotten but we did just kill nine people and have two more bound and gagged. Both of you should also be feeling the backlash of my spell.”
Glancing around, I saw she was right. Both people were glaring at me in rage while struggling with their bindings. Looking back at Elizabeth, I found myself still speechless when another thought came to mind. Isn’t she the one who is bound to my soul? I haven’t been in Vale long, about five or six days, but what had happened to Elizabeth in that time?
Watching Elizabeth gently pat and play with Alice, she looked as weakened as I was and glancing at my System I knew it was due to the loss of stats. Leaving the other notifications for now, I glance at Aubrey who was digging around in a side pocket of her giant bag before pulling out three balls.
Throwing me one, she says “Inject whatever mana you have left into that ball and throw it towards the passageway.” Throwing one at Elizabeth she says “Do the same, but throw it at those two idiots.”
Without a word, we both do as Aubrey says and throw the balls. Nothing happens with my ball, but Elizabeth’s ball releases a strange mist around the bound pair as they collapse. Seeing they were still breathing, I knew they were asleep.
Aubrey drops her ball on the ground as it dissolves and sinks into the ground as I tilt my head, wondering what happened. Looking at me, Aubrey explains.
“These balls are Spell Orbs. They contain weak magic that need mana to activate. The one your friend used contained a basic sleeping spell while the two we used is a spell that wards off monsters under level 30. They won’t stop other adventurers from finding us though. They’ll last a few hours, so rest now.”
As I’m about to refuse, I felt a wave of sleepiness hit me heavily. Looking down, I saw a ball at my feet, light green in colour as a mist came from it. Glancing at Aubrey, I saw her nod at me as I felt myself collapse, falling asleep.
***
Stirring awake slowly, I slowly raised myself and looked around. I’m still in the room with the pile of monsters, and now humans. Squinting my eyes, I remembered that Elizabeth had appeared…somehow. Moving my groggy and heavy head, I found her next to me, fast asleep with Alice on her head. Seeing her red hair partially covering her face, I wondered how she got here.
Getting up, I felt oddly groggy. Looking around, I found Aubrey squatting over one of the humans I had killed. Turning to me, I saw a shy expression on her face as she smiled meekly at me.
“Need help?” Walking slowly over to her while stretching, she shook her head. Squatting down next to her, I saw the body was Williams.
“I-I’m collecting their i-identification p-plates. The G-Guild offers a small reward for b-bringing them back. I-I’m also collecting the l-loot they have.”
Sitting down next to her, I asked her a question I had on my mind.
“Why do you seem shy then get really serious?”
Staying silent for a while, Aubrey worked on removing the armour from William's body. Getting the chest plate off, she looked at it before shaking her head and throwing it away.
Looking at me before she switches from crouching to sitting, she says “I-I’m n-not too sure how to explain it…sorry.” Looking downwards, she seemed ashamed. “It’s like a different me, but I’m still me. I-I know it sounds s-strange, but it’s b-been like this since I can r-remember.”
Recalling the times when I had to resist my monster side, I sort of knew what she meant. Looking at Aubrey I could tell she had been pushing herself ever since casting that spell.
“Aubrey, what was that spell? I thought you had no combat abilities.”
Moving her head and resting it on her knees, she stayed silent for a minute before speaking.
“I-it’s the only spell I know. I require absolute f-focus to use it, i-it takes several minutes t-to use and completely d-drains me of all my m-mana while causing m-my mana to s-stop recovering for some t-time and a small part of m-my l-lifeforce is used. I d-don’t even know the element i-it uses, o-only that the name of the G-God is said to be the o-origin of all l-life.”
Listening to her slowly talk about this spell of hers, I found myself shocked at the cost of the spell itself as well as how long it took to use. The benefits it provided me were huge however, but the burden it gave her was too much. I understood now what Elise and Aubrey meant when saying Aubrey had no combat ability…she only knew this one spell.
“Go rest Aubrey, we can do this work later, I’ll keep an eye out. I feel rested.”
Looking at me and nodding meekly, she closed her eyes and fell asleep right there. Standing, I made my way over to the entranceway and sat down. Opening my System, I checked over all the notifications that had come up.
You killed William, gained 30,000xp
You killed Henry, gained 25,000xp
Gained 20,000xp
Gained 20,000xp
Gained 20,000xp
Gained 20,000xp
Gained 10,000xp
Gained 10,000xp
You have levelled to 27!
Gained the following Stats:
Agility: +80
Strength: +40
Intelligence: +15
Toughness: +5
You gain 10% more Stats due to Aspiring Hero, you gain the following:
Agility: +8
Strength: +4
Intelligence: +1
Toughness: +0
Health increased to 2,300.
Lunar Mana Increased to 17,000.
Seeing the amount of experience I’d earned, I managed to skip level 26. Closing my eyes, I felt my body changing. I’d experienced the feeling of levelling in passing many times, but I’ve never paid close attention to it.
Each muscle changed ever so slightly, becoming stronger and more agile. I barely felt it, but my skin felt ever so slightly tougher, even though it was barely. The weakness that had came over me because of Gaia's Blessing had faded, telling me I've slept for some time.
Feeling the grogginess and exhaustion be washed away, I sighed and looked at the last few notifications.
Feeling your anger, Lunaria’s Fury answers your call. Your anger doubles the bonuses of Lunaria’s Fury.
Glancing at my gauntlets, I had guessed it was something like this. So the gauntlets were bound to me then? Attempting to take one of them off, it easily came off. I noticed that the moon was no longer shining, did it shine only when I was angry? Taking the gauntlets off, I stored them in my bag. I still felt weird about wearing or using anything from the Moon Goddess or anything related to Her.
You have overcome a life threatening ordeal. Your Race has become less restricted.
Previous:
You gain +1 Stat rank to Intelligence and Agility.
Your Lunar Mana Talent now increases all Lunar type magic by 25%. Reduces the strength of other magic by 15%.
You gain additional strength at night, +20% to all stats during night. You will be weakened during the day, -20% to all stats during the daytime.
You have a stronger affiliation with Lunar magic.
New:
You gain +2 Stat rank to Intelligence and Agility.
You gain +1 Stat rank to Strength.
Your Lunar Mana Talent now increases all Lunar type magic by 30%. The strength of all other magic is no longer weakened.
You gain additional strength at night, +30% to all stats during night. You will be weakened during the day, -15% to all stats during the daytime.
You have a much stronger affiliation with Lunar magic.
Your unique connection to the Moon Goddess deepens. Once a year on a Full Moon you may pray to meet Her.
Upon reaching Level 30, and every 10 Levels afterwards, you will gain an opportunity to gain knowledge of Lunar and Astral energy and magic.
“W-what the fuck?” Muttering out loud in sheer surprise, this change was unexpected. My Race has become less restricted? Looking over the two new additions, I felt myself in a state of sheer shock. I could pray to meet this Moon Goddess? How does that even work?! And I could get knowledge on my magic at Level 30?? But the System doesn’t provide knowledge like that…does it?
The other shocking part was reading that my magic other than Lunar would no longer be weakened. I had completely forgotten that my Wind and Astral magic had been weaker this entire time. The bonuses to my Lunar magic and Stats during night had improved, and I would be slightly less weakened during the day.
Concerned, I found myself questioning why I’d received this boon. Sure, the situation had been very dire for a moment, but we managed to get through it with the assistance of Aubrey. Upon rethinking it however, I considered how it was in the moment.
I had sustained multiple injuries, exhausted my mana, Domain energy and stamina. At that time there had been five of the humans remaining and I was staring down Williams sword. If Aubrey had been a second late, or if Elizabeth hadn’t protected her for that moment, I would’ve died. The jump I had done to avoid Williams sword had taken a toll on me, and thinking it over, the situation at that moment had been extremely dire.
Shaking my head, I understood that I had been in danger of losing my life at that moment, I had been prepared for it as well. I’d rather die than become a slave again. Looking at a new notification that popped up, I saw it was an update to my Stat ranks.
Your Stat Ranks have been updated:
Strength: D- to D
Agility: C- to C
Intelligence: F+ to D-
Opening my Stats, I was in awe with how much they had grown.
Stats
Alisha, the Aspiring Hero
Strength: D 284 Agility: C 518 Intelligence: D 215 Toughness: F 88
Wishing my toughness would be higher, I took a moment before I moved onto the second last notification I had.
Alice has gained 10,000xp
Alice has gained 10,000xp
Alice has gained 10,000xp
“Is this when she used her spell?” Seeing the experience she had received, I noticed it wasn’t the same amount I had used. As I'm about to check the last notification, I felt a strange shock from somewhere close, and turning my head to where it had come from, I found Elizabeth looking towards me, she’d woken up at some point. Meeting her eyes, I could see relief in them mixed with happiness.
As she gets up and moves towards me I wondered what to say. I’d been trying to come to terms that she’s even here in the first place. Sitting down next to me, she looks at me once again and says “I think I have some explaining to do, judging from your expression. I will say though, I barely recognized you, the stars in your eyes are certainly new.”
Unsure how to respond to her, Elizabeth pets Alice who remained on her lap while looking at me.
“Well, where to begin…”