"So tell me more about these Divine Shards, especially the ones possessed by Elgram" Raevin asked his new friend and servant, Iosi, as they sat together in his bed. As expected of nobles, they had the typical sleepshirt, which was the typical cultural sleepwear of this world. Worn in autumn, winter, and fall, only summer when it gets too hot and even nobles often sleep naked does it get worn. And the higher rank the noble, the better the materials.
And in fact, both Raevin's and Iosi's sleepshirts were made of high quality materials that had defensive properties, and also possessed several high grade enchantments such as Automatic Barrier Deployment.
As for why Iosi was sleeping in Raevin's bed, that was because as Raevin recently had been the target of an assassination, Iosi who had combat abilities would be there to serve his nighttime needs such as a midnight snack and such, as well as to protect him from attack.
And Raevin had decided to use this chance to learn more about the Divine Shards, and The Shard Legacy. Although there were a lot of things in this world, due to the connection between the Divine Shard, Gods, and Otherworlders, it was worth investigating.
"Well, as you know, all Royalty, and high ranking nobles such as Dukes, all have at least one Divine Shard or a Relic made from a Divine Shard...so, I am not sure what else I can go into that you dont already know".
Iosi immediately pointed out that Raevin had this knowledge, and indeed he had some of it. However...
"Yeah, but you might have details I dont, especially about Elgram. He is a Duke, so he should have one or two right? If anything, confirming that I do know everything you know would be sufficient".
"Alright then. In fact, due to their status, wealth, and power, Duke Elgram possesses three Divine Shards directly, and has two direct subordinates who also possess one. He has one Divine Shard that is not in use, one that was formed into a sort of metal bracelet that apparently has high defensive and healing properties, and one that was forged into a mace that is able to make objects have attracting and repulsing fields, though I dont really get it much. Suppposedly it involves magnatism".
Iosi also went on to mention a few more details about the Divine Shards. For one thing, while they were useful and valuable equipment, since the original Divine Shard was split into hundreds, maybe even thousands, of fragments no one was really sure how many there were total, and since it was split up to so many pieces, the power of the shards themselves had been diluted quite a bit.
They also were not indestructable, but when they were destroyed, supposedly the Divine Shard would reform somewhere else, rather randomized but due to the condensation of magic power in them, Dungeons had a higher chance then other areas.
In other words, while useful, they were not all powerful, and certain ancient relics not using Divine Shards were actually stronger. Supposedly, there were a few relics that used multiple shards in their construction that showed far greater power though, and those were things to really keep an eye out for. Apparently, there was a holy sword that was created using two dozen rather large ones for that matter, and was considered potentially to be the strongest of them all. That was actually rather difficult, since some Divine Shards didn't work all that well with others for some reason.
So basically, they dont know too many specifics, and a lot of this is just guesswork. Well, in the end, even if they are not cheat codes, a useful object is still useful. An effort should be made to get them all for sure.
And not only that, but they might be useful symbols or such later on, in case they ever needed to win the support of the people.
Besides, there was something else about Duke Elgram that he wanted to investigate, but he didn't want to say much about it right now since his deduction had not yet concluded, due to missing details he lacked at the moment.
So for now, it seemed he would need to get some rest.
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"How long until we reach the human city?" Lutessa mentioned, remembeing to talk in Elvye, the language of the Elves. And to refer to the human city as a human city, and not just a city. Elvye had a very strange array of descriptive words and meanings, as they could be both very exact and very vague and metaphorical. Even Elves tended to make and use a shorthand for their own language, although sometimes the shorthand could be very diverse depending on the region. It could be thought of something akin to a dialect though, if one thought about it.
"We should be there soon. Using this information, we should be able to spur the adventurers into action".
"Good, because time is of the essence...to be honest, I am a bit curious also. To see what these other places are like".
"I suppose that would make sense. But perhaps, you are saying that more because after seeing all them die, you may not wish to return after this is all over?"
Lutessa seemed a bit shocked, but the man leading the expedition, Evelo, saw right through her.
"...so you knew?"
"You always felt like you had something that would call you to leave the village one day....so I figured after all this, you probably would".
"You always were one of the most observant".
As the two talked like that, one of their scouts came to them.
"The roads are clear ahead. We should be able to make it to the city tomorrow safely".
"Excelent, then let us hurry Lutessa. Towards the future, and our destiny".
"Right" she said, as she stepped forward. However, at that moment, she could feel something instinctively.
Her Overseer skill registered she was getting close to someone who was registered on it.
It seems like it is worth going at a faster pace....
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And so as day became night once more, and a certain individual was getting especially worried.
"That thief....just what is that brat planning...." the lord of Tyrla, Vartan, mentioned. He was at his wits end with this elusive thief that had somehow managed to steal such sensitive documents, about Otherworlders, Hero Summonings, Divine Shards, and ancient magic. Frankly, the way she managed to bypass Anti-Magic locks and multiple barriers was shocking in itself, even if the location didn't have specifics it was still decently guarded.
At least, that was what he thought, but in truth he had been embezzling from the defense funds from those places, and did not properly maintain the barriers all that well. It should still be enough to keep out the average thief, but it was severely weaker then it should have been.
Hence why he wanted her caught as soon as possible, especially before the next heist. If this happened too many times, his leaching from those funds would be exposed and he might get in trouble.
"Urak" the noble said, looking at his butler. "We cant let my secret dealings be exposed by this thief either, especially in connection to those people. Make sure the security is being upgraded properly".
It had been two nights now since the last break in, so maybe the thief had already left the city. As he watched his butler nod and leave though, he had a bad feeling that tonight would be different.
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He looked out the window, and had a bad feeling, as if he was being watched from within the darkness. Even as the dark clouds began to let loose the waters of the sky, quicking turning into a downpour that would be enough to make certain ill-equipped areas flood, he still had to wonder.
A thief with that skill though...assuming they would just up and disappear, or only do one heist, was foolish. He knew that, he knew greed and desire. One only got those skills with strong desire, and that meant he had something to look forward to. Understanding this, he walked back, heading away from the balcony and through a set of heavy, stone doors, that seemed to have a magic opening mechanism once he placed his hand on a crystal.
Once he was through, the doors sealed behind him, and he looked at a team of mages and archanists who were all monitoring the situation in front of him. There was an astral projection of his manor, as well as various guards he had, magical security systems, barriers, and so on. The only defense budget he didn't skimp on was his own, instead he bolstered that one immensely.
It was something out of a mix of fantasy and sci-fi though this room, with the astral projection basically being a holo projector, and all the networked barriers and magical security essentially making an outragously advanced and high tech security system. It was an entire interconnected system, made using hundreds of enchantments and optimized for maximum efficiency. It had several dozen magic stones to power it at all times, with even more for high powered modes.
One could actually see those magic stones in the room, as there were sockets filled with them. The mages there both controlled the system, and helped provide power for its basic standby mode with their mana, as magical energy flowed out of them and into the system, resulting in it draining less power from the stones normally.
They also seemed to be making some adjustments with the controls as he entered.
"Well, what is the status?"
"The vault room right above us has gone into maximum security mode".
"All perimeter defenses are clear".
"All guards reporting in, all sentries are active and ready to go".
"Precognition Spells are now active and on full power".
So far, everything was all clear. None of the precognition spells seemed to be triggering either, so maybe, he had been overthinking it.
Well in the first place, he was a man who believed what he wanted to believe at his own convienence.
However, suddenly, two blips that indicated guard positions went down.
"We have confirmed guard takedown on the lower terrrace! Signal crystals are down!"
"We cant reach them with Telepathy!"
"So its begun...place the castle into high alert mode now!"
Suddenly, all the inactive crystals began to light up, and streams of blue energy, of mana, flowed from them and through the air, interconnecting all the systems at once. On the astral projection of the castle in the room, the various magical defenses activated in full force.
"I spot..."
One guard managed to say that, before the signal managed to cut out before he could finish. This put everyone in the room in an ominous and wary mood, as concern built up among them.
And then, a few more guards suddenly was cut out. They were making their way upwards, right towards them. As such, that ominous feeling they had, the wariness they had, were being amplified greatly, with some wondering if their attackers were actually demons or such.
"Sound the alarms! Get that thief!"
"Sir, several signals went out in several areas!"
"She has accomplices? Then kill them all! And summon the Caestus!"
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As an alarm blared, Sora tore through a spacial attribute dimensional barrier with his claws. That might seem impressive, but Sora was adept at manipulating mana. It was why he could also manipulate threads and make clothing.
And his claws were the claws of a Dragon, which had special Anti-Barrier properties, so this was something that should be expected.
However, as the four moved through the hall, they could tell the security was getting more serious as walls of steel came crashing down and sealed off several passageways.
"This guy...he seems decent on the surface, but clearly he is not that decent".
"Many of the nobles serving him had no idea either when I scouted them out. He plays the saint, but is actually a sinner" Herra mentioned. "My shadow clones are doing a good job at keeping them guessing of our true location and numbers though. And my Shadow Arts I focused on disrupting their precognition sensors and Oculus devices".
"Then I will go next. 'Water, form the force, the power, that can erode through all barriers, all material objects. Let nothing stand in your path or in your way...Power Water Drill!'".
Using a more powerful water attribute spell that required a chant, Rikuo created a powerful water drill or water saw, and used it to blast through the door. Such a thing actually existed in his previous world, but this one was far stronger and more powerful due to the magic involved.
"That was nice! That seemed way more powerful then what your skill level is, master!"
"I used some mana manipulation to help form the spell, so more of the skill went to its power".
That said, I feel like I just used two different systems in combination there. I used my Multi-Parralel Thought Processing to do it, but...it seems a bit weird still. Well, I am probably just not used to it yet.
As he thought that, the next hallway was much larger, with large pictures of art, and two large metal armored statues that guarded the door on the opposite side, with six smaller ones around them. Their metal and design were sleek and shiny, and were clearly well maintained and possibly even usable in battle, rather then just being decoration.
The art had some statues and paintings which had depictions of nature and natural beauty, some with beasts and dragons, a few people of all genders and types, completely naked, in various positions, although many of them looked like they were related. There was also a painting of a grand army and war, and the most notable one...it was one of a modern day city.
Clearly, the painting was not of this world, at least that was what seemed likely. It looked like Paris, France, considering the tower and other landmarks in it.
"Dodge!"
Arila warned them all as large weapons wooshed down upon them, cutting the air with an eeriely silent but deadly force. They managed to get out of the way in time, but the power of the force shattered the floor and send the rubble flying, including hitting Rikuo in the arm which hurt quite a bit.
His renegation skill had already activated, but as he saw the movement of the silent, metal guardians, the smaller ones had moved in to surround them and finish them off.
"Lets go, Max Body Enhance!"
"Partial Transformation Technique: Dragon's Tail!"
"Shadow Arts: Identity obscurement!"
"Those who would tresspass in the domain of my will, recieve my cold reception and let it freeze your hearts to ice. Frozen Ceremony!"
From that exchange, they had already determined the threat to be a big one. The first two to react were the ones who were only from this world, followed by the quick witted Herra, and then finally Rikuo. In addition to a chant spell, Rikuo also placed several magic barriers on them all.
Magic Barriers could be made out of an element one had affinity with or skill with, but they could also be non-attribute. As for Non-Attribute magic, it was generally something you were as strong in as the attribute of magic that you had the highest skill level for. There were a few other things that could be done from it as well, things that did not fit into any attribute of classification as well.
"We can use our skills to some extent without worry. My Shadow Arts skill will make it difficult, if not impossible, to identify us!"
Herra said that as she observed the room, which was now frozen over and coated in ice. The metal golems had been covered in ice too, but they easily broke free and attacked them. Sora and Arila immediately went into close combat with some, two broke past them and headed straight for Rikuo.
So Rikuo unleashed a standard ice blast from his hand, while also casting a low power Spacial Magic on his shoes.
Its a shame that all of the cool stuff is high level dependent, but I suppose this is good too...
Rikuo suddenly seemed to move around like he was skating, even though he was wearing normal shoes and not ice skates. One of the larger soldiers broke the ice in front of him, to try and stop him, but that did not affect Rikuo at all.
When people thought of Spacial magic, they thought of things like space expansion, teleportation, spacial barriers and blades. But that was all high level techniques. He couldn't do those, at least not well, yet. The spell Rikuo had cast was one that affected the space on his shoes or his feet, and let him control and adjust the friction they applied on surfaces. Basically, it let him turn his shoes into skates, very effective and good ones, and now RIkuo who appeared the weakest at close combat of the four was now moving around the battlefield gracefully.
And while chanting a spell, he jumped right over one of the soldiers.
"Enemy, you shall no longer exist in this battlefield, you shall no longer be awake and be forced to move. Accept the cold sanctum of your final slumber...Ice Coffin!"
And as such, the golem was suddenly encased in ice, unable to move or fight, and this allowed Sora and Arila to worry about one less while one of the big ones came swinging down at him. And yet, suddenly that soldier also found himself frozen.
"Multi-Parallel Thought Processing Ability: Double Casting".
With such numbers reduced, Sora quickly tore through the other large one while Arila and Herra defeated the other golems.
"The longer we take, the more forces they will marshall to our location, and we dont have unlimited stamina. Lets get to that vault".
The other three nodded at Herra's words, and the four of them moved forwards.
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"It appears the golems have fallen, boss" one dark cloaked figure said to another,
:"Of course they were. If we were called upon to deal with them, it would have been a waste if they could not get past such weak cannon fodder" the leader replied, looking at the door expectantly. "Well, it is good to know that our time is not being wasted. I wonder, what sort of cries for mercy will they make when we make them beg for their lives...or make them wish we simply killed them?"
A few others formed smiles full of malice and depravity, as their targets were heading their way.