A small creaking sound was heard while a carriage drove over the dirt road, hitting up against smaller rocks and causing those inside the carriage to bounce around like toys. The carriage itself seemed unfamiliar to normal carriages; all black with a brown wooden surface as the flooring, skeleton horses that had dark-purple flames inside of them, raging like wildfire.
Grimhild, Kyto, and Elizabeth were all in the back of the carriage as the skeleton steeds rode them outside of Mesnil Country, also known as the country of magic.
"We finally made it out! Whew… I thought it was impossible!"
Elizabeth slouched back in her seat, dropping her head back over the carriage.
"That was pretty close… almost too close. We could've been caught back there. Just how do you do it Grimhild?"
"…That's none of your business."
Kyto's facial expression converted into a bewildered expression to Grimhild's reply.
"Your replies are so cold most of the time…"
Kyto said, now leaning back against the interior of the carriage walls.
"Well, I'm also curious as well Kyto. Grimhild got us through the borders of Mesnil like it was a piece of cake! That's not something you see every day you know? You should tell us more about yourself from the last conversation we had Grimhild!"
***
[A few hours earlier.]
"There's one thing concerning me…"
Elizabeth was standing on top of a large cliff while having her hand over her eyes to block out the sun above her. Both Kyto and Grimhild were standing next to her, glancing at her concern.
"What is it?"
Kyto has asked the unsettled Rozenheart before she turned around to face them both, placing her hands on her hips in the process.
"The borders of Mesnil, how are we gonna get past them?"
Grimhild and Kyto both looked at each other after hearing her question.
"I'm pretty sure we can just walk out…?"
Well, the Cyrodel was right. You could leave the country of Mesnil with ease, just like coming in, but something seemed off—
"The Border patrol down at the Border explicitly said that no one is allowed to bypass the border nor enter inside the country."
Kyto was clueless as to what Liz was talking about, so of course he asked her how she was able to decipher this.
"How do you know that? The border patrol right now is at least two fifty miles away from where we are!"
"Well, it's a trait of Non-Mana borns silly! Since we have no mana, all our other senses are heightened exponentially! I can even smell what they're having for lunch back at Magic Academy… and man, I wish I would've stayed for it! It's my favorite, roasted dragon!"
"Let's not waste any more time. I have a plan on getting past the border patrol and their magic detection."
The Golden mage walked forward and off the edge of the cliff, staring out into the vast view in front of her.
"…I will summon forth a great disaster."
Grimhild, once again hollow in her tone, would warn both Kyto and Elizabeth behind her.
"W-W-Wait, how are you gonna exactly do that, Grimhild?! Hold on a second—"
Kyto was worried by the golden mage's sudden words and started to dread them.
"ALRIGHT GRIMHILD! THAT'S THE SPIRIT! I'M RIGHT WITH YAH!"
Elizabeth jogged right next to Grimhild, raising her arms up into the air and shouting out loud into the heavens!
"We're not gonna let some border patrol stop us from doing what we want! We have a golden mage with us!"
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Abyssal Lord Nyarlathotep!"
Up in the sky, a large rip in space opened up, while two massive hands exited from the dark void, grasping onto the sky as if it was solid. A large eldritch creature would pull itself out, its body hovering in the sky, being the size of an entire mountain. It was at least 1,000 meters tall. Its body is bulky, and its eldritch appearance grotesque.
"What in the world…?"
Kyto gasped at the sight of this eldritch horror, his body trembling as his eyes seemed to widen even more than before.
"T-This was something I definitely did not expect! W-Why isn't any of the border patrols freaking out right now?"
Elizabeth asked Grimhild as her tone of voice seemed to be distressed.
"…Nobody can see Nyarlathotep except me, and those I choose. This is a Forbidden Magic, also known as Eldritch Magic."
"What's Eldritch magic? I've never heard of that one before… then again I'm not surprised since you're a gold mage."
Kyto questioned Grimhild while the massive figure in the sky finally pulled its body out of the black void.
"…You ask a lot of questions Kyto, but I'll answer anyway. Eldritch magic was long ago forgotten, and it dates all the way back even past the age of legends. It's a very… very old magic…"
"Even past the age of legends? It's that old?"
"…Yes. As of now, it is the year 665, and the calendar of the world started when during the time of government power, and politics. The world government didn't start until 665 years ago, and they created a calendar to keep up with dates of historical events and whatnot."
Grimhild cleared her throat and turned her head to the side.
"…And the age of legend happened over 700 years ago from now. But Eldritch magic existed for… over… Seven hundred million years…"
".....Huh?"
Kyto was clueless as ever, as was Elizabeth. They both stared at her, questioning everything up to now.
"The world is that old huh?"
Liz said to herself, laughing this off (What's surprising there?). However Kyto… he was… suspicious now.
"YOU MEAN YOU HAVE SOMETHING THATS FORGOTTEN OVER SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION YEARS AGO? THAT MEANS YOU'RE OLDER THAN EVEN THAT!!!"
Kyto shouted loudly, but his words seemed to make Grimhild show actual emotions of sadness.
"Y-Yeah… I guess I'm really old huh? I'm that old and I got no boobs on me. See…?"
Grimhild turned to face Kyto, cupping her nonexistent boobs. She was just flat! Nothing was there, you could even mistake her for a guy from the lack of chest meat on this girl.
"You and Elizabeth are the same actually-"
"WATCH IT KYTO!"
Elizabeth's hyperactive attitude turned into straight violence!
"I'm already insecure about my height you know?! Keep that up and you'll be talking to my Non-Mana fists!"
".....How is that a threat? Saying you have no mana is like the opposite of threatening someone…"
"Grrr… you wanna test me, do you?"
Elizabeth stomped towards Kyto, rolling up her sleeve in anger.
"I may have no magic but the level of damage I can do with physical attacks is more than enough— WOAHHH!!!"
Liz suddenly tumbled back and forth, as did Kyto and Grimhild. The entire cliff they were on would shake, even cracking on its surface.
"What's going on?!!"
Liz quickly ran over to Grimhild as she felt the safest with her. Kyto did the same…
"…Nyarlathotep is simply doing what I called him here for. He's cursing the land, spreading curse magic all around the borders. Eldritch magic focuses on maddening the opponent, cursing the opponent, or either killing the opponent with potent death magic. Right now the country is being destroyed from Nyarlathotep being in Midgard for too long."
"That's scary… I don't wanna get on Grimhild's bad side, that's for sure."
Elizabeth was holding onto the golden mage's cape.
"If he's about to destroy the entirety of Mesnil, then get him out of here! Are you insane?!?"
Kyto felt himself tilt over on his side and lose his footing, tripping over.
"This is seriously bad. I think he's done enough Grimhild, send him back home!"
The Golden mage would glance over at Kyto, and then close her eyes.
"…Very well. The Border Patrol is now cursed, and their life will be a hellhole from now on. I would say… they would be cursed for a good week or two."
Grimhild simply swung her staff to the side while her small cape behind her fluttered in the winds as the eldritch horror was suddenly swallowed up by the black void in the sky, sending him back home.
"…Now then, we can continue our journey outside of Mesnil."
Grimhild would raise her staff into the air.
"Gravity Magic: Earth Formation!"
Suddenly the rocks and parts of the cliffside started to swirl around each other, creating perfect steps for the three to walk down the cliff and into the land below. They all made their way down, seeing black fog around the open lands, and people running around in havoc. The border patrol was screaming as if they were driven mad, causing them to leave the area in a hurry.
"…These poor people. They're all tourists and traders who entered Mesnil. Are they all gonna be okay?"
Elizabeth asked Grimhild in a worrisome tone of voice.
"…Yes they shall be fine. The curse is only bad luck, and a little bit of a maddening status effect. It's to get them panicking so we can bypass the border without the need of fighting someone."
The three mages made their way towards the border on the small dirt road while people ran past them screaming, however walking would take too long, therefore Grimhild went with another idea.
"Carriage of Arvos!"
Summoning forth from a magic circle was a black carriage and two skeleton horses, having a dark-purple fire inside their interior.
"Alright, hop on. We have long of ways to go…"
***
[Present time]
"…I won't fight all of your battles. I'm not here to be your full-time guardian. Sometimes in the world, there are times when you both need to win your own battles or make your own strategies."
Grimhild closed her eyes, holding onto her staff in one hand.
"Right… we need to be stronger! As of now, we're outside of Mesnil country, and danger awaits ahead in the outside lands! During this trip, we'll get stronger along the way to our destination!"
"The only problem I have is planning strategies. My strength is enough… but my mental strength lacks as of now. I will make sure to mentally grow stronger along the way, Grimhild."
"…Good…"
The Golden mage smiled slightly, turning her head to the side and facing the back of the carriage, placing her small hand onto her witch hat.
"I am very happy…"